History of American Socialisms - dana ward's homepage

42 AMERICAN SOCIALISMS.
other by Mr. Maclure. They sold, rented, or gave away
the houses and lands, and their heirs and assigns have
continued to do so to the present day."
Fifteen years after the catastrophe Macdonald was at
New Harmony, among the remains of the old Comtllunity
population, and he says: "I was cautioned not to
speak of Socialism, as the subject was unpopular. The
advice was good; Socialism was unpopular, and with
good reason. The people had been wearied and disappointed
by it; had been filled full with theories, until
they were nauseated, and had made such miserable
attempts at practice, that they seemed ashamed of what
they had been doing. An enthusiastic socialist would
soon be cooled down at New Harmony."
The strength of the reaction against Communism
caused by Owen's failure, may be seen to this day in
the sect devoted to "Individual Sovereignty." ] osiah
Warren, the leader of that sect, was a member of
Owen's Community, and a witness of its confusions and
downfall; from which he swung off into the extreme of
anti-Communism. The village of" Modern Times,"
where all forms of social organization were scouted as
unscientific, was the electric negative of New Harmony.
Macdonald thus moralizes over his master's failure:
" Mr. Owen said he wanted honesty of purpose, and
he got dishonesty. He wanted temperance, and instead,
he was continually troubled with the intemperate. He
wanted industry, and he found idleness. He wanted
cleanliness, and found dirt. He wanted carefulness, and
found waste. He wanted to find desire for knowledge,
but he found apathy. He wanted the principles of the
formation of character understood, and he found them
misunderstood. He wanted these good qualities com-