Margaret F. Hammond

“ We have room for the oppressed, the enterprising, the industrious and the patriotic of every clime and country. They are welcome. We would say to them, come—our arms are open to receive. Come ... and be naturalized into our free American brotherhood.
Yet when an effort is made to plant amongst us, and that, in a slave State (Texas) a colony of French Socialists and abolitionists (they are endorsed by the New York Tribune) then we demur, most positively and absolutely. ”

“ What fields of action! What a theatre of manoeuvres for a great colonization operating in the combined and collective mode! What reserves for the cradle of Harmony, and how powerful and prompt would be its developments, if the living and 40 the willing elements of the World of the Future were transported there! A horizon of new ideas, new sentiments and hopes, suddenly opened before me, and I felt baptized in an American faith. [8]
Considerant does not describe the town of Preston and his reaction to frontier life as exhibited there. ”

“ God forbid that I should follow the example of those new comers who, having scarcely set foot on a great country where they find hospitality, freedom, and an immense field open to their activity, hasten to take part in its internal affairs, mixing themselves up in questions of which they cannot yet understand the first elements, speaking, judging and deciding, right or wrong, on all sorts of subjects, which demand long study and profound knowledge of things in order to be comprehended. ”

“ This new system became known as socialism and was a middle class movement which developed out of the shattered eighteenth century era. Side by side with socialism developed communism, a doctrine developed out of the working class needs which, it was thought by some, neither socialism nor capitalism could satisfy. Socialism, as maintained by nineteenth century philosophers, stemmed not only from the old totalitarian doctrine of the Greek city-state but from the old concept of a universal pattern of cultural religion and economics of the medieval period. ”

“ Considerant either was a novice in his judgment of American political attitudes and was mistaken concerning the essential results of the Know-Nothing Party on foreigners, or he was showing masterful diplomacy. It seems the former was the case. He always esteemed the American people very highly, ascribing to them far more love of liberty and toleration than they possessed. It seemed absolutely impossible to him that the Americans, steeped in democracy, would deny newcomers a small piece of the vast uninhabited wilderness in which to live, no matter what form of democracy they might profess. ”

“ But Socialists are system-makers, government builders, and communists—they are political incendiaries and propagandists, and would not only plant themselves and their social institutions upon our soil, but would endeavor insidiously and furtively to erect the system of government which they espouse, on the same soil. ”

“ Considerant had explained in his Au Texas, to those who contemplated investing in the company, that La Réunion was to serve as a center from which would radiate numerous lines leading to other counties, or even to other states. Not only were there to be other colonies growing out of the central foundation, but there was to be continual in-coming and out-pouring of individuals. These individuals, having lived in the colony and having imbibed of its policies, would go out and settle nearby on new ground, but would retain their connection with the establishment in a cultural and commercial way. ”

“ It is by a minute division of their details; by convenient and labor-saving machinery; by healthy, even elegant workshops, where a certain refinement could be introduced, and scientific thought combined with the pursuit of industry; by short sessions of labor, and the prosecutions of all of its branches by groups of persons united in taste and in sympathy of character, thus bringing the play of the sentiments into industry, and identifying the social and productive life of man ”

“ Considerant could dream of phalansteries all over Texas, linked together by trade and culture, and talk of a super-race bred from a vigorous and active American people mixed with the cultured French; in fact, he might 100 be classed as a great dreamer and philosopher, but as a manager of commercial affairs or as to meeting the land speculators on even terms, he was a sad failure. ”

“ Socialism was too new and the principles were too little known for an adherent to have an unbiased hearing in a country seething with nationalism, and in a country where political demagogues would not hesitate to appeal to any prejudice that they might discover in an ignorant people.
Brisbane was a remarkable man who really felt the necessity of revamping the institutions of the world. ”

“ We are far from being fit subject for the transcendental theorists of the North and of France. The thousand isms of the day find no congenial soil in the South, and besides this, the hatred of the Slave Institution, cherished by these Socialists and avowed openly by them in our State, must only the more remind us of our duty and awake us to action.
It was said in the same issue that socialists were to be emptied upon Texas by the thousands, and already that their surveyors were working through several counties in which the colony had secured nearly every available piece of ground. ”

“ Thus, woman would have time to help produce the material necessities of life and be an equal to man. Such an idea of combinations, 32 Brisbane thought, could be applied to all industries and especially to that of agriculture. There are only two methods to be followed he believed: the incoherent or the combined. In his book, Social Destiny of Man, or Associations and Reorganization of Industry, with the impulse of a fanatic and the learning of a philosopher, he weighs the merits of one against the merits of the other, always with prejudice in favor of the “combined.” ”

“ French dreamers and intellectuals had seen, in a short time of twenty-five years, the ultimate hopes of a nation rise to exalted heights in a sort of religious fanaticism and then plunge to depths of despair. A culture or civilization in which such a catastrophe as that could happen, so the philosophers thought, must be faulty beyond repair. ”

“ We want no abolition plantations or colonies here, whether they are foreign or native. We want no European ideas of liberty. We carved out, by our own strong arms, the independence of this country, and we want nothing of foreign origin infused into our system. ”

“ In order to raise money for the colony, Considerant realized that he had to depend upon the capitalists for a great deal of the money, to which many of his followers objected. However, Considerant pleaded for 56 the co-operation of capital and labor. He wanted the capitalists to furnish the capital for an interest payment. The appeal for funds on the ground of gain was made directly to the men of affairs and not to the potential settlers; the settlers were to receive freedom, a home, and higher development. The capitalists and the company were to receive the profits. ”

“ The philosophers were only substituting economics for medieval religion in the new social theory. The spirit of co-operative good, of theoretical equality and ultimate perfection of society are common to both Utopian socialism and religion. The socialists visualized a world of productivity sufficient to abolish poverty and furnish abundance to those who worked. The problem, as they understood it, was to prevent the concentration of enormous wealth in the hands of a few individuals by which those who possess wealth deprive the masses of equitable distribution of goods. ”

“ In the first place, the colony was not communistic but socialistic; that is, a socialism partaking of both present day socialism and advanced capitalism. Several times Considerant voiced his objection to communism and once stated that nearly all new societies had been ruined by a “gross and rudimentary form of Communism.” [23]
In La Réunion a person was to be either worker or proprietor, and no equal division of earnings was ever to be made. Each person was to reap the reward of his own labor, and partake of the profits of the company as they accrued. ”

“ The society itself was not to be exclusive: all other societies that desired to co-operate—whether of the same opinion or not—had the right to participate. The function of the European-American Colonization Society was to prepare a place of liberty and prosperity and to represent liberal doctrines. Other societies were invited 60 to come to try out their doctrines by experience and application, and if they were proved workable, then the Fourieristic society would accept them, for there existed no right or reason for the members to attempt to impose any pre-conceived plan upon the colonists. ”

“ Again, the socialist is an abolitionist everywhere. He would not be less opposed to slavery by living in Texas than in France or in Ohio. It is part of his creed. Now, we are told that John Allen, of Ohio, and Mons. Victor Considerant, propose bringing out from France to western Texas a colony of socialists. This move, for the purpose of building up a sect opposed to our political institutions, may well be regarded with jealousy, and the founders may rely upon it that they will not be suffered to tamper with our institutions. ”

“ Nowhere was peace, nowhere security—the most important interests neglected for questions of party—The welfare of the country was notoriously turned into a game. Disturbances arose at several points, as at Paris, Lyons, Muhlhausen. Then the public sentiment gradually began to react against these merely political movements and to become weary of them. People no longer wanted Revolution, and addressed themselves to other problems. The idea of material welfare emerged from the back ground, presenting its claims in opposition to political movements. ”

“ Lack of interest on the part of the Americans might be explained on the grounds of the intense American nationalism of the time, the sad experiences of Peter’s Colony, and the “law of reserve” which had caused a very sudden rise in the price of land in the vicinity of La Réunion. After Brisbane’s visit and the first flush of excitement and investment, very little attention was paid by Americans to the experiment. The attitude of the Texas newspapers and the total lack of interest, even hostility, of the state legislature, certainly contributed to the failure. ”

“ One writer has defined socialism as:
A socialized industry is one in which the material instruments of production are owned by a public authority or voluntary association and operated, not with a view to profit by sale to other people, but for the direct service of those whom the authority or association represents. A socialized system is one the main part of whose productive resources are engaged in socialized industries. [2]
Over against the socialist theory was the pragmatic theory of capitalism already operating in many parts of Europe and America. ”

“ To hold out inducements to these Socialists is to take steps to make every part of the State where they may inhabit, undesirable for settlement to Southern citizens of other States, and as the Socialist increases, must we look forward to the repulsion and retirement of slave-holders. ”

“ Such a settlement in our midst, of a nation celebrated for its intelligence, genius and skill in the mechanic arts, cannot fail to add greatly to its prosperity. Some of the leading republican minds and most distinguished authors of France, who, since the usurpation of the “Man of the 2nd December” have been exiled from their country for opinion’s sake, are engaged in this enterprise. A welcome and success to all say we. [2]
It is not known just how many were in the party, but some joined Cantagrel and Roger at Cincinnati and others were hired along the way to do labor at La Réunion. ”

“ The colonists “must possess every moment, not only an abstract and theoretical kind of liberty, but a practical guarantee, by the very nature of organization, of the faculty to detach themselves from it at their individual pleasure.” The colony was to be an example of co-operation one with the other. The members could work in communities practicing “individualism” and take advantage of the co-operative organizations in so far as they desired. One might live several miles from the colony, or he might live in the colony, and work as an individual or in a group (phalanx) . ”

“ In order to insure such a development, Considerant proposes that there should be two phases of development in the colony. Americans, already accustomed to the climate and modes of cultivation practiced in Texas, were to be the chiefs of the first operations. These chiefs were to be assisted by volunteer workmen of Europe and America who expected to participate in the colony and who apparently were to labor for the “faith and interest of the enterprise,” while any lack of helpers was to be supplied by hired labor, men who were already familiar with frontier life. ”

“ At La Réunion the plan was to have the colony self-sustaining and able to manufacture various materials for exportation, such as furniture, pottery, brass work, glass, smelted iron, as well as articles of food, especially pickles, and meat products. [31]
His supreme concept of the colony was expressed as follows:
Instead of a life consumed by cruel anxieties, we shall have conquered at last the right of Freedom from Care, which results from the blessed sentiment of solidarity and which gives to each the consciousness that his individual life is integrant of the social life. ”