An Experiment in Socialism

An Institution Where Pure State Socialism Prevails

JAMES L. FORD

THE "ideal state", dreamed of by the visionary and demanded by a certain school of Socialists, is by no means the novelty in communistic living that we have been led to believe. There are in this country several communities in which State control of industries, an equal wage for all, short hours of labor and abundant time for leisure —everything, in short, that the most advanced Altruism could wish for—are found in their finest fruition. Here are no swollen fortunes to cause discontent and produce those "intolerable conditions'' that pave the way for Anarchy, for the State provides food, raiment and shelter for all, and bitter poverty is unknown.

A model community of this sort which has long since passed the experimental stage and outgrown the huge buildings in which it is housed and now has a long waiting list, is situated not far from New York. Here each member, no matter what his ability or previous worldly status, receives exactly the same wage, which gives him the supreme satisfaction of knowing that none of his associates is better off than himself.

The hours of toil are few and far between and the work is limited to the making of clothing and shoes and the other necessities of life. To secure any export trade for these goods would mean competition with foreign workmen which is contrary to the principles of Idealism.

The short hours of labor leave the toilers ample time for self-improvement and also for those forms of recreation which the State deems suitable. Chief among these are those unrivalled delights of the American public, baseball, moving pictures, and occasional entertainments by visiting singers and players.

The community differs from that earlier experiment in plain living and high thinking, Brook Farm, in that it attracts men of almost every occupation and every variety of thought and habit. Brook Farm, on the contrary, was recruited exclusively from the intellectual class and the period of retirement from the world of grosser ideals bore ample fruits. Hawthorne went forth from there to write The Scarlet Letter; Dana to become a power in American journalism, and Hecker to found the Paulist Fathers. In like manner do the ample leisure, easy hours of toil, and that complete freedom from carking care that only State supervision can bestow, tend to promote self-improvement and intellectual and moral uplift.

THIS is evidenced by many recorded instances. A young bank clerk had as a roommate during his two years' residence an expert mechanic who taught him much of his trade. He returned to the outer world a skilled locksmith and his mastery of this trade combined with his knowledge of banking quickly yielded him an easy living.

Another inmate, whose skill in fancy penmanship had long been a subject of admiring comment in the best banking and commercial circles, conceived a strong liking for a younger and less experienced fellow-member and instructed him in his useful craft to such good effect that the pupil was able to make a facsimile of a bank bill that only experts could distinguish from the product of the government press.

More surprising still is the effect of this life of easy toil, abundant leisure and freedom from carking care on the moral and religious sense of those whose privilege it is to enjoy it. Criminal operations are seldom carried on here with any success, and no church in the land can show such attendance as that which marks the services held in the chapel of the institution. No congregation listens so quietly and devoutly to the Chaplain's exposition of the gospel; none joins more heartily in the singing of such favorite hymns as "There is a happy land, Far far away" and "Shall we gather up the river?"

Shortage of food, coal and other necessities is unknown here, for although the State conducts the experiment at a considerable loss, instead of making it self-supporting—as it easily could—the tax-payers are called upon to make good the difference.

To the chance visitor the fact that the inmates of the community dress alike, eat the same food at the same hours and endure prolonged periods of enforced silence suggests a life of painful monotony. The answer to this is that those who have once partaken of these benefits and then returned to the outside world are quite likely to come back, usually for a longer stay, and there are even some who become permanent guests of the institution.

Just now this excellent community is well worth the thoughtful consideration of the wise as an example, on a small scale, of what the country will be like under pure State Socialism. Those who are interested in visiting the community, should repair to the Grand Central Depot in New York, and purchase a RETURN trip ticket to Sing Sing.