THE NEW CRUSADE.
The beautiful seance room at Fenwick Hall, was known to the chosen few,
as the "Tower of the Psychics." In fittings, furniture, and equipment,
it was much the same as the square room in the central tower at Fairy
Fern Cottage. From the beginning, this room had been devoted to but one
purpose; that of an audience chamber for the intercommunion of the Two
Worlds, the spirit and the mortal. Every visiting mortal felt the
presence of a refined spiritual atmosphere, a highly charged,
electrostatic potential, which made possible superior spiritual
conditions. In this room, Fennimore Fenwick was at home, to the chosen
few of his friends on the mortal plane of existence. On the afternoon of
the conference, we find our hero and heroine in this room, awaiting the
coming of Fennimore Fenwick.
While Fillmore was admiring the full length, life size painting of his
spiritual friend and benefactor, which hung on the wall opposite the
entrance to the room; the familiar voice of the original, through the
trumpet very near, gave him a cordial greeting.
"Bless you, my son! How glad I am, to welcome you to Fenwick Hall, as
its new master! May your reign here as such, prove long and prosperous!
In the enthusiasm of my fatherly pride, allow me to congratulate you on
your rare good fortune, in winning the hand and heart of my daughter,
Fern. She is a pearl above price! Ever love her devotedly, my boy!
Cherish her tenderly, as the brightest jewel in your crown of life!"
"Thank you, Mr. Fenwick! For your affectionate and kindly words of
welcome! To me, they are more gracious, more inspiring and more
delightful, than words can express! They have so taken me by surprise,
that I am overwhelmed by the strong tide of emotions welling up from my
grateful heart! As to your commands in relation to my precious wife; you
may trust me! Waking or sleeping, I shall never forget them! They are
burned into my heart, by the intensity of my love for her, by the force
of my lasting esteem and admiration for you! How can I ever properly
thank you, my noble benefactor, for your great goodness to me; for your
supreme confidence in my integrity? In return, I can only ask you to
accept my pledge, to ever strive to merit that confidence!"
"Do not thank me, my son! Thank Love! Destiny's messenger; who, as a
reward for your unselfishness, has kindly led you to the goal of your
present happiness!"
"And you, my beloved daughter! Are you quite happy! May I also
congratulate you, on having so wisely chosen a husband, who is in every
way worthy? Do you remember the promise I made to you, on the night of
my transition? A promise to bring to your side, a friend, a counselor, a
protector, whose wisdom and integrity, should at all times, prove
sufficient for the needs of the hour. Are you satisfied, my dear girl?
Have I faithfully kept my promise?"
"Yes, father! I am more than satisfied! I am a contented woman, I am
very happy! The quiet delicious calm of my happiness, is a new
experience for me. Heretofore, I had supposed that happy women must be
vivacious and voluble, from the very effervescence of their happiness.
Now I know that it is not so. Your characteristic words of praise, for
the one I have chosen as a husband, have made me very proud of him and
deeply grateful to you! In him, I have found the promised friend,
counselor and protector; also, an ideal lover. But, my dearest, kindest,
best of fathers; you know very well, that to trust you implicitly, is a
law of my life! I have always trusted you! Therefore, I am not
disappointed; neither am I very much surprised. I am just perfectly
happy. That is the whole story in a nutshell!"
"This is as it should be, my children! When I first saw you, Fillmore, I
felt intuitively, that you and Fern were made for each other. I knew I
could trust you together, to finish my work. Now, I rejoice, that my
intuitions were so prophetic!
"In your work at Solaris Farm, Fillmore, you have succeeded beyond my
most sanguine hopes. I congratulate you heartily, my son, on this
initial success for the co-operative movement! This is but the beginning
of the work. As we go farther, wider fields are opened for more extended
efforts. You have already correctly surmised, that selfishness in
humanity has become so dominant, so crystallized, from long centuries
under the heartless reign of competition, that only a far-reaching, well
organized, especially designed scheme of education, can conquer the
evil. By means of this educational program, we shall be able to open the
eyes of both poor and rich, to the benefits of co-operation.
"It has been wisely and truthfully said, that: 'The destruction of the
poor, is their poverty. That conversely, the poverty of the poor, is the
real power of the rich.' In these two short sentences, we have the most
scathing indictment against present social and industrial conditions,
that could be made! These conditions are wickedly abnormal! They are
entirely out of harmony with the law of progress, and of planetary
evolution! To change them for something better, is the crying need of
the hour!
"It were a mercy to both rich and poor alike, to make them financially
independent of each other! Then, freed from the thraldom of selfishness,
they could discover and appreciate, each for themselves, the true object
and purpose of human life. For this reason, our new educational
movement, must be so arranged, that it may successfully appeal to all
classes.
"For the industrial classes, the agriculturalists and the artisans, we
can use the co-operative farm movement as a basis of education. As for
the wealthy remainder, they must first be taught to respect the
sacredness and the true purpose of human life, before they can
contemplate any form of social or co-operative progress, with feelings
other than contempt, or at least angry opposition. This is to be
expected. It is the natural outgrowth of the teachings of a society,
which is controlled by the hierarchy of competition. Both the
co-operative farm and the broader educational movement, are to be
embraced by the work of the New Crusade.
"The New Crusade, is to be organized, promoted and maintained, for the
peaceful conquest of poverty; and the consequent banishment of ignorance
and crime. These grand purposes, shall be emblazoned on its banners,
appealing to the chivalry and knighthood of the republic for support.
Never before has the bugle of the crusader, blown the assembly call for
so noble a cause! Victory for this glorious cause, means a recognition
of the true nobility of labor: The establishment of peace on earth, and
happiness for all: An abundant harvest, for all productive toil: The
sacredness and divine significance of life: The brotherhood of humanity:
And the solidarity of all social interests. To the victors, shall come
the well earned plaudits of a thousand future generations; whose sons
and daughters shall chant the story of the unparalleled chivalry of such
noble, unselfish deeds!
"To you, my children, is assigned the task and the honor of inaugurating
this peaceful campaign. From you, it will demand extraordinary activity,
courage and administrative ability; reinforced by large sums of money.
Fortunately, the Fenwick fortune is ample. Use it without stint. Fenwick
Hall, is roomy and well fitted for the headquarters of the New Crusade;
and for the housing of its organizing staff; which, from the magnitude
of the work, will be a large one. A bureau of literature must be formed.
A newspaper and a magazine, devoted to the cause of the Crusade, must be
published. They must be the best of their kind. The editorial talent
must be of the highest order, the ablest in the land. Every State in the
Republic, must be made a department of the Crusade. A select army corps
of teachers, organizers and leaders, must be assembled, trained and
thoroughly prepared, to take charge of these departments. They will be
the executive and recruiting officers of the Crusade; rendering weekly
reports to the headquarters in Washington. Every co-operative farm, will
become an outpost and a recruiting station; every State, a grand
encampment.
"In recruiting crusaders from the ranks of the wealthy, a special effort
should be made, to have them take up the cause as a fashionable fad.
They can be diplomatically led, where they cannot be coaxed or driven.
In the face of any opposition they may display, it must ever be borne in
mind, that the hearts of nine-tenths of the wealthy, are good and true.
Their natural promptings are to do right; to use their riches for the
advancement of science, and for the cause of humanity. They would do
better, if they only knew how. They must be educated. The competitive
system, under which they were born, trained and made rich, is at fault.
By it, they have been taught, that poverty is a necessary and permanent
state; to which, a large majority of the people of the earth, are
assigned by the action of a divine law. Therefore, any attempt to banish
poverty would be not only useless, but actually sinful. Nevertheless,
prompted by a higher law, many of them annually dispense large sums in
charity. Under the competitive system, charity only aggravates the
malady. It is money thrown away! As the recipients are thus enabled to
work for less wages; increasing the gains of competitive masters; and
finally, swelling the ranks of the helpless poor. After a few trials,
even the most persistent alms-giver soon discovers, that as an antidote
to poverty, charity is a wretched failure. Taking it for granted, that
the competitive system is a permanent one which is to endure forever, he
gives up the problem as hopeless.
"It is to be the business of the New Crusade, to show why the
co-operative should be substituted for the competitive system. It must
teach the wealthy classes, the vast importance of the great lesson
taught at Solaris. Namely, that by organized, unselfish co-operation;
independent self-employment, producing an abundance for all, may be
speedily and practicably substituted for every form of poverty. The
Crusade must demonstrate, that ignorance, poverty and crime, are
handmaidens, which cannot exist apart. That if one-half the money
expended for charity during the past fifty years, had been used to
promote co-operative self-employment, poverty, tramps and ignorance,
would now be things of the past.
"To the people of the republic at large, must be taught the significance
of the contrast between the war-like competitive system, and the
peaceful methods of a co-operative association. Co-operation, makes
combined individual effort, equal to the wealth of independence. The
co-operator, being self-employed, no longer strives to displace a fellow
workman by offering service at a lower price.
"Competition, emphasizes the poverty and helplessness of the individual,
because it sets every man against his neighbor, against the whole world.
The competitor deliberately shuts himself away from all gain that might
come to him from the force and effectiveness of associated effort. He
loses all faith in mankind; in honesty and justice. He views the good
fortune of a fellow toiler, as a personal injury, which he ought to
resent. In fact, he becomes too selfish to even be patriotic!
"The quickest way to convince the people of the barbarism, the cruelty,
and the wickedness of such a system, is to establish a co-operative farm
in every available township throughout the land. The free, healthy,
trained, and well-educated social communities, growing up on these
farms, will become the units of a true society; the underlying
foundation, on which to build the true republic.
"Society dominates the political expression of nations. It molds and
controls public opinion, business methods and commercial usage. Under
the reign of competitive business and society, the market is largely
composed of small wage earners, whose necessities are so great, whose
tenure of employment is so uncertain, and whose wages are so scanty;
that they are forced to buy the cheapest of everything. On the part of
tradespeople, the fierce competition to control this cheap market,
encourages the use of an outrageous system of food adulteration, and
with it, every possible degree of lying, cheating, fraud and deception;
until the moral tone of both business and society, has become blunted;
yes, well nigh destroyed. As a result of this shameful state of
commercial affairs, the successful man in any line of business, can no
longer afford to be honest. He knows very well, that in competitive
business, he can utterly ignore honor, conscience, and self-respect,
without losing the approval of competitive society. Can such a rotten
society ever become a safe foundation for the government of a true
republic?
"It is to be the mission of the New Crusade to teach and to demonstrate,
that under the reign of a co-operative system, and society, these
conditions would be reversed. All incentives to cheapen goods, or to
adulterate food products, would vanish. The co-operators would then form
the bulk of the market. Buying at wholesale collectively, to sell to
themselves individually; they would be in a financial condition to pay
remunerative prices, for whatever was genuine, pure, wholesome, good,
reliable and lasting. Inferior articles, they would not purchase at any
price. The demand for cheap stuff would cease. The dominant motive of
the commercial world, would be revolutionized. Among manufacturers and
producers, the cry would be, not how cheap, but how excellent, can we
make our goods! The long-practiced, skillful chicanery of competitive
methods, would be at a discount; they would be worse than useless!
Honest men could then engage in business, without violating either
honor, or conscience! Cheating and lying, would no longer form a part of
the business code! At all times, and under all circumstances, to respect
the sacredness of life, and the natural rights of man, would become the
universal watchword! Justice would dethrone charity! The high moral tone
of the industrial and commercial world, would pervade the social and
political. The injury of the weakest, would become the concern of the
strongest. The rising tide of humanitarianism would submerge poverty.
The fires of ignorance and crime, would be extinguished by its
conquering flood.
"Than this, no lesson more important, could be taught to the people. The
scales of selfishness having fallen from their eyes, they can be made to
understand, that all of these wonderful things may be accomplished,
quickly and easily, by the plain, practical methods of unselfish
co-operation. Methods, whose assured results are as easily demonstrable,
as the solution of a mathematical problem. Once convinced, they will
make haste to discard the wasteful methods of the competitive system;
substituting therefor, the co-operative conservation of national wealth.
In this conservation, the wealth of the unit, will be the measure of the
wealth of the nation.
"This conservation will usher in a new era, of the means of gathering,
and of the higher uses of national wealth. A magnificent national fund,
accumulated for the benefit, education, refinement and enjoyment of all.
The swiftness of its accumulation and the magnitude of its billions,
will become the marvel of the world! By contrast, all former standards
of the wealth of nations, will fade and shrink to insignificance! Why
must this prove true? Because, under the beneficent reign of
co-operative equality, money, shorn of its power, would only be valued
for its use. The store of national wealth, being for the equal use and
benefit of every individual citizen; the incentive for its accumulation,
would inspire all alike. As a result, the people as a mass would enjoy
all the benefits of great wealth, minus its burdens, abuses, temptations
and dangers. In this, any one of them might be envied by the competitive
millionaires.
"Among the many lessons in addition to those enumerated, which the
Crusade must teach to the people; I would strongly emphasize the
following:
"That human life, as the flower and fruit of the planet--each individual
being a microcosm of the macrocosm--must always be held as the most
sacred and the most precious of all things. Because it is the object and
purpose, the beginning, the expression, the commandment and the
fulfillment of the law.
"That the law of life and the law of progress, are complements of each
other. Like twin sisters, they act as a bond between the systems of the
universe; they embrace all things, from an atom to the Infinite!
"That activity, is the expression of life! Necessity and glory, are the
two poles of human activity; its inspiration and its motor power!
"It is the evident purpose of natural law, that the activity of man
shall unceasingly produce for all, an abundance of the necessities,
comforts and luxuries of life.
"Ignorance, is the giant who bars the pathway of progress! Labor from
necessity, reigns as a rule, in all ages of ignorance! Misery and
poverty, are its children!
"Labor for glory, marks the age of enlightened progress, where all may
have an opportunity to express individuality, through their handiwork;
to taste the great joy, that comes with the consciousness of
participation in spontaneous, unselfish, intelligent activity, which
shall insure the reign of perpetual peace and plenty. In this, man's
conquest over matter, becomes the true glory of labor! In the variety of
self-chosen, self-directed, co-operative, productive labor, is found
life's greatest blessing.
"Organized, unselfish co-operation, will teach the people to appreciate
the dignity, and the true nobility of labor. From it, they will learn
that labor, however simple or insignificant, is far nobler than any kind
of enervating idleness; no matter how much that idleness may be gilded
by the varnish of honor! Godin says: 'A day's work well done, is worth
more than a whole existence of inactivity!'
"Labor develops the possibilities of life! It is the effective
instrument which makes possible the progress of nations, the
emancipation of peoples! The labor of passing ages has evolved a fund of
ideas, best adapted to guide humanity towards a true interpretation of
the object and purpose of human life.
"Labor will cease to be a burden, when man comprehends its true mission.
Stripped of its drudgery, released from the harness of toil and the spur
of necessity, the brightness of the blessing of labor shines forth
resplendent. In the halo of this radiant truth, can anyone be guilty of
a blasphemy, which degrades labor to the penalty of a punishment.
"The question of politics is intimately associated with the question of
labor. The science of politics, is the science of life. Government, is
its expression. Self-government by the individual, is its keynote. The
study of this science should be pursued by all classes, with the
enthusiasm born of a religious zeal. A few of its most important
principles may be found embodied in the following propositions. If we
wish to be able to take an interest in moral life; we must first satisfy
the demands of physical life. If we wish to practice justice, we must
first learn the law of Right and Duty; that is, in striving to satisfy
our own material wants, we must learn how to protect the rights of
others. We must remember, that they too are toiling for the same
purpose.
"In order to protect the welfare of each political unit, these
principles must form the basis of all scientific politics. In the social
units evolved by co-operative life, these conditions are embodied and
expressed. In them, we shall find the basis upon which to build a grand,
social, industrial and political organization. An organization, which
shall truly represent Liberty and Justice; which, in its expression as
a whole, shall be the government of the New Republic!
"Co-operation is the foe of despotism! Associated, intelligent,
political co-operation, is the educator which shall teach the people,
that a true republic cannot exist until, in the minds of its leaders,
every vestige of the spirit of despotism has been cast out.
"In the accomplishment of this great political work, faith in the
destiny of this republic, its people, and its mission, is to prove a
most important factor. To endow a people with faith, is to multiply
their strength tenfold! Faith, reinforced by knowledge, is an
irresistible force, against which naught can prevail! Hence, it becomes
imperative, that in each school and kindergarten of the republic, its
children should be taught in broad outlines, the vastness of its
territory, and the magnitude of its natural resources.
"I cannot too strongly emphasize the necessity for this important part
of the political education of children! As the future guardians and law
makers of the republic, its children should acquire a thorough knowledge
of the widely diversified characteristics of each geographical
sub-division. This, they must accomplish, before they can be prepared to
appreciate the overshadowing significance, of its past, present, and
future destiny.
"The kindergarten offers perfect conditions, for the introduction of a
primary course of this political instruction. By using a large outline
map, showing the geographical and geological formation, the mineral
deposits, the extent or area of timbered and agricultural lands, the
manufacturing centers, the principal wagon-roads and lines of
transportation, the natural trade centers, the population, the schools,
the chief officers, and the well known political leaders of each
sub-division; a series of intellectual excursions could be so arranged,
and made so interesting to the children, that they would soon master
these statistics, as identified with every State and Territory in the
Republic. Having finished the subdivisions, attention could then be
given to a much larger map of the United States, on which the States and
Territories on a smaller scale, would show the same statistics. From
this map, the study of the political statistics of the States and
Territories, by groups, could then be commenced.
"A comparative study of the groups, would be full of interest for the
children, and would offer a great number of delightful surprises. The
six groups in natural order, should be classified as follows: The New
England, the Middle, the Southern States; the States of the great basin
of the Mississippi Valley, including the imperial State of Texas; the
Rocky Mountain States, and the States of the Pacific Slope, including
that remarkable, and only partially explored Territory, Alaska.
"From these group studies, the children may learn many object lessons,
which might demonstrate to them, the natural supremacy of this republic,
over other nations. I may mention the following, as noteworthy: The
Great Lakes of the Middle West; with a coast line of more than three
thousand miles in length; with an interstate commerce which exceeds in
tonnage, the combined shipping trade of France and Germany. The
marvelous capacity of the great agricultural States of the Mississippi
Valley to become the granary of the world; to furnish its entire food
supply, of bread, beef and pork. The imperial State of Texas, with its
wealth of wheat, cane, corn, cotton and cattle; with a domain so wide,
that it equals in extent, that of Great Britain, European Turkey,
Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal. Again, passing to the uttermost
regions of the Great Northwest, we should find the mammoth Territory of
Alaska, rich in its unexplored forests, mineral deposits and golden
sands; with a picturesque coast line of fabulous extent, stretching away
to the North far beyond the Arctic Circle, indented by a multitude of
romantic bays and inlets, where jutting crags, bold promontories of
basaltic rock, countless islands, sparkling water and shining glaciers,
fill the measure of beauty and grandeur.
"Thus educated, the future guardians of the political welfare of the
republic, would understand the natural wants of its widely separated
sub-divisions; they would fully appreciate the significance of its
destiny as a nation. They would always be loyal to the demands of that
destiny, which should be commensurate with its inexhaustable resources,
with the magnitude of its domain. A domain so immense, that when
compared with the countries of the Old World, without counting island
possessions, or the Territory of Alaska, it exceeds in extent, the
combined areas of China proper, Japan, Austria, Germany, France, Spain,
Portugal, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, Great Britain, and European Turkey. With the hearts of its
voters inspired by such patriotic teachings, the Republic must endure;
must fulfill its prophetic destiny! Naught can prevail against it! Not
even the selfish schemes of a corrupt oligarchy; no matter how boldly
they plan or how many billions of capital they may control!
"In teaching these things, my children; also in enlarging and perfecting
the work of the Crusade, I can promise you the support and co-operation
of the spirit world. The broad outlines, which I have given, will
suggest the more complete details of the work, which I now leave in your
hands."
"That thought alone, Mr. Fenwick," said Fillmore, "ought to prove a
tower of strength to us. May we not make that co-operation more
effective, by a closer study of the conditions that prevail, and of the
laws which govern spirit life?"
"Later on my son, that will be advisable. But just at present, it is of
the utmost importance, that every effort should be made to improve the
social, industrial, mental and physical condition of mortals, as the
necessary foundation for true spiritual growth.
"Mental growth must precede the spiritual. Power exercised by the mind
over the body, in moulding physical structure, multiplies the power of
the spirit acting on matter, again reacting on both mind and body.
Consciousness, is spiritual life. To enlarge the sphere of
consciousness, is to add to spiritual growth. Evolution, is nature's
effort towards progression. The new spiritual era, which began with the
last half of the nineteenth century, was marked by a dawning
consciousness in the mind of man, that he might become a self-directing
factor in his own evolution. This consciousness in turn, became the
starting point of spiritual evolution on the mortal plane of existence.
The last, having been made possible by the first.
"Reasoning from the premises stated, we must logically conclude that the
embodiment of more mind, of better mind, is a matter of the utmost
importance to the whole human race. As body and brain are working parts
of the mind, its machinery of expression; it is equally important, that
both mind and body should be perfected together. Hence, the necessity
for better social conditions, more financial independence, less labor,
more leisure, longer life and larger brain capacity; and finally, as the
crowning requirement, to be well born! To banish poverty, is to make
these things possible.
"Before a proper conception of the spiritual world can be entertained by
mortals, their minds, by the aid of the sciences, must have acquired
such knowledge of their environments, as shall satisfy the requirements
of spiritual evolution. Every item of real knowledge thus gained, is
just so much added preparation towards the understanding of the
spiritual; towards a harmonious interblending, and co-operation of the
two worlds. In accordance with the law of progression, truth, to the
ever changing stages of consciousness, is relative. In order to
illustrate the relativity of truth, and the magnitude of the domain of
knowledge in the mortal state, which must be conquered before
consciousness can be extended beyond the confines of the spiritual; let
us consider the following, somewhat approximate postulates.
"Let us suppose, that the life of the planet, Earth, embraces all forms
of life; each individual life pulsating in harmony with the great mother
heart of the planet.
"Let us suppose, that spirits, both embodied and disembodied, incarnate
and excarnate, considered as a mass, may act as the terrurgic spiritual
body and brain of the planet; subjective and responsive to the
inspiration and guidance of the universal cosmic mind, acting from the
cosmic center.
"Let us suppose, that the material world, with the atom as its smallest
unit, is the medium of mortal existence. Again, that the impalpable
ether of the interstellar spaces, is the medium of existence for the
spiritual world. And again, as a measure of the fineness of ether, that
the difference between an ether particle and an atom, should be as wide
as the difference between the atom and the planet.
"Considering these posits as a basis for comparing life in the two
realms, we at once perceive that life, organized to correspond with the
coarse meshes of the material plane of existence, can be permeated,
filled and quickened, by organized spiritual life, without disturbing
the unity of either organization. The interblending of spirit and
matter, is accomplished. The mystery of the dual existence of soul and
body, is explained. The soul in the body, yet, not of the body! The
permanent and the enduring, mated with the changing and the ephemeral!
The cell life of the physical, with the soul life of the eternal!
"In comparing the two states of existence, the physical with the
spiritual, we find the horizon of consciousness in the former, is
vaguely defined and very much limited; while in the latter, it is
sharply defined and widely extended. The more we study and compare, the
more readily we understand, that space, duration, size, minuteness,
solidity and porosity, are all relative terms which depend for their
significance entirely on the standpoint of consciousness. So apparent is
this fact, that we soon learn how impossible it is for the mortal mind
to understand, even the more simple elements of spirit life, until the
dual or spiritual mind, with its consciousness, has grown and unfolded
to the required extent. Hence, growth of consciousness, is growth of
spirit; the spirit which molds and controls matter.
"Self-conscious consciousness, is the immortal ego! As a part of the
progressive, all inclusive, spiritual life of the planet, it takes part
in the evolution and progression of the mass. This mass, in the
fulfillment of the purpose of existence, is subjective and responsive to
cosmic law, and to cosmic inspiration.
"In these postulates, we have the key which unlocks the mystery of life.
We catch a glimpse of its true meaning, purpose, glory and grandeur.
They raise the theory and practice of human progress to a question of
the first magnitude; to a science of life, which demands the attention
of every student. The school of human life, lies at the base of the
curiculum of knowledge. It becomes the foundation of spiritual progress,
as well. Hence, the importance of rightly cultivating the mind, of
extending its consciousness to the uttermost limits of human capacity.
"Selfishness and despotism, are frowning barriers across the pathway of
human progress. They thrive by war. War, is the foe of spirituality, the
mother of murder! War must be abolished, before man can hope for true
spiritual evolution! It is the fortunate destiny of this republic, to
lead the race in a crusade against it; to open the way for its final
abolition. It is to be the province of the Crusade to teach the people,
that war has been the scourge of humanity since the beginning of the
historical era; the greatest crime ever perpetrated against the
sacredness of human life! Peace, multiplies the products of labor.
Labor, is the genius of life! War, destroys the laborer and his product.
War is the genius of death! War, is a symbol of barbarism; it is both
the throne and the refuge of despotism. For the purpose of maintaining
despotism, people for centuries have been subjected to the hard
conditions of unremitting toil, that they might endure the fatigues of
war without a murmur. For the same reason, despots have kept the masses
in ignorance, lest they should discover the true quality of justice; the
moral law, which condemns both despotism and war; lest they should come
to realize all the horrors of the most outrageous crime possible to the
conception of human reason; the crime of war! War is such an
overwhelming calamity, that it is almost impossible to estimate the ruin
and the destruction which it has wrought! If the millions of lives and
the billions of treasure spent in the world's wars, had been employed in
protecting the people, in generating, rearing, sustaining and developing
them to the highest attainable point, this earth would now witness a
social millennium; where peace and prosperity, high culture and
harmonious brotherhood, would reign supreme!
"I rejoice, that I am permitted to prophesy its downfall! Long before
the close of the twentieth century, standing armies will disappear; war
will be at an end; the angel of peace will spread her white wings over
all the nations of the earth! This Crusade, is the beginning of the end!
For the encouragement of our Crusaders, I will indicate two causes,
acting from opposite directions, which will serve to hasten war's
dissolution.
"First: The competitive system, for centuries, has been war's chief
recruiting office. Under its reign, in the fierce struggle for
existence, it has kept up a perpetual warfare between man and man;
always the stronger against the weaker. When vanquished, the weaker as a
last resort, could and did, enlist as a soldier. Thanks to the
co-operative farm, spread broadcast by the Crusade; the early
substitution of the co-operative, for the competitive system, will make
the weak strong; make them financially independent! Soldiering as a
trade, is made possible by poverty! Whenever a people are emancipated
from the cringing slavery of want, naturally averse to being
slaughtered, they will rise en masse, and refuse to be apprenticed to
the brutal trade of killing their kind. Thus it will happen, that armies
will melt away and disappear, for the want of fighting men!
"Second: Strange as it may appear, the inventors of mighty engines of
war, of terrible explosives, of deadly missiles, each in turn, more
horribly destructive than the others; are all envoys of peace; that
sweet peace, which shall bring rest, renewed energy, and swift progress,
to all classes. Through the multiplied and combined efforts of these
inventors, the bloody and barbarous art of war, is fast becoming so
suicidal, and so financially disastrous to the nations of the earth who
have the misfortune to engage in it; that such as wish to preserve a
national existence, must do so by making haste to ally themselves with
the friends of universal peace, through international arbitration.
"Under such circumstances, the nations of the earth, ground between the
inexorable, upper and lower millstones of the first and second cause,
acting under pressure of self-preservation, will, with one accord, join
in covenanting for a total disarmament, and a perpetual peace. All
hail, the glad day!
"Then, will dawn man's era of true spiritual evolution! Then, will the
true object and purpose of life, be understood! Then, will the
sacredness of human life, be rightly conceived, appreciated, maintained
and respected! Then, wholesale murder, no longer sanctioned by man-made
laws, it will be possible to banish the spirit of murder from the life
of the individual! Then, the lesser crimes, the demons of despotic
selfishness, greed, cruelty, and lust for power, which now clog progress
and prevent the realization of a practical brotherhood for humanity, can
be shaken off and rendered harmless!
"Then, the emancipated legions of toilers, will rise to a true
understanding of the blessing of labor as the real expression of life;
that the glory of labor, is man's conquest over matter; that food,
shelter, raiment, and sustenance for body, mind and soul, are the
essential elements of life; a natural equipment for the conquest! Then,
it will be the province of a natural religion to teach the people how to
help themselves! how to master the great problem of physical life, by
attaining the greatest perfection in feeding, clothing, housing,
educating, and spiritualizing humanity!
"Then, the solidarity of the spiritual welfare of mankind, will equal
that of the physical! Then, the measure of spiritual progress achieved
by the mass, will be the measure of progress attained by its weakest
unit! Then, will come perfect co-operation, between the spiritual and
the physical! Then, will come the reign of liberty and justice, the
guardian spirits of a true republic! Then, will come the social, the
industrial, and the spiritual millennium! Then, the barriers of
selfishness will have been burned away; the two worlds will be united;
in the new atmosphere of brotherly love, spirit and mortal may
harmoniously walk, talk, and work together for the perfection of the
race!
"Then, the great armies of the world, no longer in the guise of
organized barbarism, or a tax on the industries of the nations, will be
converted into armies of peace, engaged in the production of real
wealth! Then, the heretofore undreamed of store of public wealth, will,
in its proper distribution, give to all mankind, the acme of universal
education, civilization and happiness!"
CONCLUSION.
Born leaders of a progressive age; filled with the inspiration of one
great purpose in life; at all times, equal to the demands of the hour;
hand in hand, with hearts united by the bonds of a supreme love; nobly
unselfish, and spiritually refined; generous, handsome, accomplished;
wealthy, eloquent and magnetic; Fillmore and Fern, our hero and heroine,
were everywhere recognized as a commanding force in the social and
political world. A force which quickly overcame all opposing obstacles.
They were so much interested, and so absorbed in the ever increasing
success of the Crusade, that the happy months and years flew swiftly by.
Their devotion to each other, was a potent charm which begat in the
hearts of a legion of admiring followers, an intense loyalty to them,
and to the banner of the Crusade, which had led them to so many
victories in the cause of humanity.
The second decade of the century was throbbing with the birth of
epoch-making events. The astrological forces seemed in conjunction with
planetary evolution. The time was ripe for the incoming wave of a new
social era. The spirit of progress was brooding in the air; stirring in
the hearts of the people, who hailed the Crusaders as blessed evangels
of the new life, for which they had yearned and prayed so many years.
The gospel of the new life, was the gospel of co-operative labor. The
wonderful strength and effectiveness of the co-operative farm movement,
to lift the laborer from conditions of ignorance and poverty, to those
of financial independence, comfort and refinement; was practically
demonstrated, a thousand times over. To the people, each demonstration
was an ever growing source of astonishment and delight. The enthusiasm
aroused, burning with the fires of a religious zeal, irresistibly drew
them into the ranks of this powerful organization. With rapidly
increasing numbers, it swept over the land with the force and fury of a
great tidal wave! In its track, on the ruins of the competitive system,
there was established, the reign of co-operative peace and plenty, the
social and political millennium.
Among the leaders of the Crusade, assembled at Washington, George and
Gertrude Gerrish were especially prominent. To them was assigned the
task of organizing the lecturing or missionary bureau of the Crusade;
its trained force of traveling educators. The good work accomplished by
this force, was another well earned tribute to their extraordinary skill
as organizers. As well fitted for the responsible duties; George Gaylord
and Honora Eloise Houghton, having become inseparable friends, engaged
lovers, and finally a well-mated, conjugal couple; were placed in
charge of the traveling educators on the Pacific Slope. So eloquently
and effectively did they labor in this wide field, that throughout its
length and breadth, they became very popular, winning hosts of friends
for themselves and the cause.
Solaris Farm and village, the working center of the movement, soon
doubled many times, its territory and population. It became an important
manufacturing center, which made an ideal home for the National
Co-operative Farm School; a normal school, which every year graduated
teachers by the score. The history of Solaris as the initial farm made
it so famous, that thousands of enthusiastic co-operators annually visit
it. It is the business of the reception committee appointed by the
normal school, to receive, entertain and instruct these visitors.
Gilbert Gerrish, true to his arisen sweetheart, and to his own peculiar
purpose in life; declined to leave Solaris, with his parents. Indeed, he
was so universally beloved by its young people, that they could not, and
would not give him up! To the visiting stranger, he seems by far the
most popular and the most highly honored young man in the village. This
distinguished consideration, he has rightfully and honestly earned.
Happy himself, in generously using his rare gifts for making other
people happy!
Thus endeth the story of Solaris Farm. May its purposes haunt the minds
of its readers, like the memories of some prophetic dream, which may not
be obliterated, which can not be forgotten.
* * * * *
A FEW POINTERS FROM THE PEN OF THE REVIEWER.
Solaris Farm is the title of a new book "with a purpose." In fact it is
a book with many purposes. While the author writes intelligently and
forcefully upon stirpiculture, education, invention, hygiene,
sanitation, moral, physical and mental growth and culture, and injects
many new, beautiful and practical thoughts into each of these subjects,
his chief theme is unselfish co-operation, his chief purpose is to
exhibit the benefits, moral, physical, social and financial, that will
be showered upon the human family when they become wise enough to cease
competing with each other, and progressive enough to begin co-operating.
The story is the logical development of the following situation:
Fern Fenwick, an heiress to a vast estate, had promised her father
before his death to use a good share of the Fenwick millions in
bettering the condition of the race. Her first experiment is a
co-operative farm of about five thousand acres, whereon about two
hundred and fifty families settle and work out the many problems which
the author desires to discuss.
In all of these operations she has the able assistance of Fillmore
Flagg, a farmer's son, who, having seen his father and dozens of his old
neighbors crushed in spirit and broken in fortune by the resistless
trend of events under the competitive system with all its waste of
misdirected energy, has become disgusted with the meager results of farm
work and having by great energy obtained a practical education has
determined to do something for the alleviation of the miseries of a
competition crushed society.
He meets Fern Fenwick and is by her employed to superintend the
co-operative farm.
A very pretty little love story, which the author has told with pleasant
humor, is the result of their meeting, but the weightier themes with
which the book is filled are likely to more fully engross the attention
of the reader.
Co-operative ventures have usually been founded upon some "ism," and
were held together by its religious or other influence. In the Solaris
Farm colony a very comprehensive scheme of insurance against accident,
poverty, sickness and old age is the binding principle. The premium is
the profit which the co-operators collectively make by producing what
they want (or by buying at wholesale what they cannot produce) and
selling the same to themselves individually at regular market rates. The
excellence of their wares attract many purchasers from the outside and
the profits resulting therefrom also tend to swell the insurance fund of
the co-operators.
All kinds of business, and manufacturing are carried on by the
co-operators in addition to farming. Co-operative thinking solves the
knottiest problems for the colony, invention flourishes and, once
started, money flows into their coffer at a fairly satisfactory rate.
Co-operation is the key-word, the essence, the very soul of Solaris
Farm. All the successes achieved by the characters that people the book
are the results of co-operative working, thinking and saving. Every
stockholder lends a hand, and lo! the hours of labor are short and
delightful; when a disagreeable task must be done, co-operative thinking
invents a machine which does the work better than a man could do it; the
dignity of toil is established on a sure foundation, and the statement
that "muscular effort is a mental demonstration," is verified.
"Will it pay?" is sometimes called "the American question." In Solaris
Farm the author has successfully undertaken to present an unselfishness
that will pay--not in the fairy gold of a far-off Heaven, but in the
coin of the realm, here and now. Leisure for study and recreation;
books, pictures, objects of beauty and art; better health; longer life;
the society of delightful people none of whom are competing for the
lion's share, but all of whom are co-operating for the benefit of the
community; absence of the fear of poverty; certainty of support in
sickness and old age;--all these and thousands of other comforts are
some of the certain wages of unselfishness.
A feature of Solaris Farm which will commend itself to every well-wisher
of the race is the high estimate which the author places on humanity.
Man, he says, is the flower and fruit of the planet, its highest and
best product. To arrive at the highest point possible in his evolution,
it is necessary for him to be well born and this necessitates happy,
healthy, prosperous parents and proper environments. To follow out this
idea to its logical conclusion would be to repeat the author's
arguments, for he has completely filled the field. The reader is
referred to the story for the facts proving that unselfish co-operation
will furnish everything needful for the complete unfoldment of the now
almost dormant possibilities of human nature.
The pursuit of happiness and the hope of its ultimate possession is the
motor which induces all human endeavor. No act is ever done except in
obedience to this law of our nature which compels us to seek pleasure.
Ignorance of the nature of true pleasure has led us after many a
will-o'-the-wisp, and our unlearned race has soiled its garments many
times in error, commonly called "sin." "Sinful pleasures," against which
our parents, the clergy, and all moral philosophers have warned us, do
not exist. _There is no pleasure in sin._ Our race beliefs, based upon
untruth and ignorance, have bequeathed us a heritage of appetites,
passions and desires which are wrong, and hurtful when gratified.
Among the most hurtful of race beliefs is the fixed idea that labor is a
curse. Nothing could be further from the truth. As has been aptly said:
"Art is the expression of a man's joy in his work." Labor--muscular
exertion, having a definite productive object--is a blessing and a joy
when the worker is in love with his work. Work is a curse only under the
competitive system, which by its wasteful methods extends the hours of
toil beyond the limits of endurance, robs the worker of the full
benefits of his labor and gives him no time for self-improvement. The
experience of the stockholders of Solaris Farm shows how the ancient
curse was removed by unselfish co-operation, and labor crowned with the
dignity that is its due.
While Solaris Farm was not intended as a propaganda of spiritualism,
that cult has been introduced with considerable dramatic effect for two
apparent reasons. The first and least important of these reasons is to
cater to the ever-growing taste of the reading public for the occult;
but the second reason is peculiar to the book. In discussing man as the
most valuable product of the planet, and the relation which the soul
bears to the body, it became necessary to approach the subject from the
view-point of one who is in nowise affected by the petty altercations,
jealousies and strifes of the world; one who knows by experience all the
hardships of life and its many temptations, but who has also progressed
beyond the sphere of their influence. The most natural and obvious way
of obtaining this coveted point of observation was to let the spirit of
such a noble character as Fennimore Fenwick speak from the fulness of
his experience, both as mortal and spirit, of the needs of the race, the
curse of competition, the value of proper environmental conditions for
perfect motherhood, pre-natal education and adequate training of mind
and body, such as may not be secured even by the most wealthy in the
present condition of society, but which would be the heritage of every
individual in a co-operative community. The utterances of Fennimore
Fenwick rank with the best thought on these subjects and no person can
read them without having implanted in his breast a higher regard for his
race, and a greater solicitude for the material and spiritual unfoldment
of humanity.
For many years, orators and agitators have vied with each other in
proclaiming that capital and labor were the two factors of financial
success. They were and still are mistaken. Within the pages of Solaris
Farm the reader is given the true formula, which may be algebraically
stated thus: "Capital + Labor + Brains = Financial Success." Financial
Success, however is not the complete product of these factors when
selfishness, greed and wasteful competition are eliminated from the
equation by the substitution of unselfish co-operation. The happy result
of the experiment at Solaris Farm must convince the reader of the
correctness of the formula and the value of the substitution.
In considering the broad field covered by this attractive book; its wide
departure from the mission of the ordinary novel, its probable use as a
text-book of advanced thought on true socialism, progressive
co-operation, a new order of political economy and the ways and means of
making colony life desirable, successfully coherent, self-supporting and
practically delightful; the price of Solaris Farm (50 cts, in paper
covers, $1.25 in cloth binding) will commend itself to the purchaser as
not only reasonably moderate, but also if he be an interested reader,
with business intentions, that the large end of the bargain is very much
in his favor.
Solaris Farm was written by Captain Milan C. Edson, whose military title
was earned during the great Civil War. He was a farmer and the son of a
farmer. He enlisted as a private soldier and without influence rose to a
captaincy by merit and bravery alone. He is a profound thinker, a lover
of his race and has given many years to the study of social and
political questions. It has been his desire to found a community where
his ideas of true success might be wrought out, as an object lesson to
the world, of the advantages of unselfishness. This pleasure having been
denied him, he has incorporated his leading ideas in Solaris Farm, in
the hope that some one more fortunate than himself may be able to
receive the blessings which must inevitably flow from such a noble life.