.. and gave notice that those who
absented themselves from labor would be cut off from rations."[20] As
a result, Cabet, in 1856, was expelled from his own Icaria! With 170
faithful adherents he went to St. Louis, and there a few days later he
died. The minority buried their leader, but their faith in communal
life survived this setback. At Cheltenham, a suburb of St. Louis, they
acquired a small estate, where proximity to the city enabled the
members to get work. Here they lived together six years before
division disrupted them permanently.
At Nauvoo in the meantime there had been other secessions, and the
property, in 1857, was in the hands of a receiver. The plucky and
determined remnant, however, removed to Iowa, where on the prairie
near Corning they planted a new Icaria. Here, by hard toil and in
extreme poverty, but in harmony and contentment, the communists lived
until, in 1876, the younger members wished to adopt advanced methods
in farming, in finance, and in management. The older men, with wisdom
acquired through bitter experience, refused to alter their methods.
The younger party won a lawsuit to annul the communal charter. The
property was divided, and again there were two Icarias, the "young
party" retaining the old site and the "old party" moving on and
founding New Icaria, a few miles from the old.
Pages:
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102