CONTINENTAL AGRICULTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL CO-OPERATIVE COLONY. Introduction and Constitution, ORGANIZED October ist, 1880. / 2 - ITS AIM IS: 1st. To secure homes away from the crowded centers of pop- ulation, give air to the shop, society to the field. 2d. To combine manufacturing and farming in such a way, that one may alternately wprk in the fields or the shops: to pro- duce collectively to consume freely, 3d. Organize labor for the good of all, by creating permanent and healthful employment to obviate workingmen from being periodically made unable to obtain work. To put a stop to im- position. To proclaim everybody’s right to work. To conquer independence by legally obtaining possession of the soil; to es- tablish just dealing in the direct exchange of our goods, and to establish solidarity. MOTTO. Decentralization; Free Soil; tree Shop; Liberty; Labor; Economy; Solidarity; Justice. ERA OF JUSTICE. As main force has perfected the present political order, that barbarous organization born of war, work of despo- tism and death, so we have to employ reason, the pacifi- cation in the new social order, being a work of indepen- dence and life, that is to say, the organization of labor, which is nothing else but revindication of our rights. Nobody in this world has actually security neither capitalist, master, nor workmen who are dispossessed of everything; there is for all of them always inquietude, fear and over all hatred ! This night, that chaos has to find one end, and the light, or social harmony has to be born. The master has to abandon his responsibility and his title of protector ; the workmen has to think of directing his work himself, must cease to be a mere pupil, and has to accept the whole responsibility of his work. The one must cease to be a master, the other must cease to be a slave, all will be unified. THE ERA OF THE MACHINE Carries with it per force, emmancipation ; it is not any- more possible that so powerful an instrument shall not work for the interest of all. We therefore have to appro- priate it, and must develop its power and usefulness, which will shorten the hours of labor and will give us, conse- quently an increase of leisure and abundance. Man need no longer to keep man by speculation and competition ; there will be similitude of exchange, the simple, will take place of the complicated, security will replace doubt by solidarity ; bankruptcy will grow to be impossible, as well as fraud ; credit will be destroyed, because it will no long- er be a necessity. It is therefore, .an abolition of rents, — 4 — all the intermediate will be made tributary to production, which will consequently increase abundance by economy. The mutual insurance societies in their thousand forms will be amalgamated, and security will be mad j more perfect. Charity, this monstrosity, this humiliation, will exist no more, and the slothful, who come together to give it, as well as those who receive it, will be also made help- mates in the production ; every state of servitude will be given back to production, for all those serve by them will be obliged to serve themselves, be it by cleaning their houses ' and cooking and making their own dress and washing their clothing, also economical. Man will leave this social hell of misery, and will enter the social para- dise of abundance and independence. He has to fear nothing anymore but the scourges of nature, against which he will find time to preserve himfelf. Devotion to his family will be his highest aim, the home, fireside, will again spring forth by stability. Should the locomotive detach any member from the fireside quickly, it will be united again by telephone, and life which now weighs us down often by the absence of those dear to ns, will exist no more, the fireside near and far will be the sanctuary. Then, degradation, hypocrisy, parasitism will disappear, welcome will then be washed in reality, one will not incline anymore to evil and. idleness which is death ; but will appear in the presence of light, good and work, which is life. SELF DELEGATION. The right of labor gives us the right of self-delegation without the ballot-box. Every man must represent him- self in any case. That is majorities and minorities must be suppressed. - Nobody can breathe for you, eat for you, drink for you, sleep for you, work for you, walk for you, love for you or reprocreate for you. There are natural functions, all what man need is therefore natural functions and must — 5 — fill them himself. Nobody must represent you anywhere but yourself. You must alternately (if co-operatively engaged) have the superintendence in every case, be it in work, iii exchange, in justice, etc. When people want representatives they are an aristo- cratic people, because they have servants employed at wages. Delegates or representatives are such servants. People must live in democracies, democracies must rep- resent themselves in person, not b} T delegation, because one man can represent but one man. Superintendence and other offices must be a duty, every man must fill it. When a man accepts the office of a delegate for money he is a slave, because the act is one of speculation and submission. None may decline the du- ties of office ; all must perform them in turn. The su- perintendent must be replaced monthly by the next high- est member of the administration which must be composed of at least seven members. (see const, art. 8, second par. ) In this way all will govern in rotation, no government will exist to enslave people. All laws shall be to govern work and not man. Justice will be administrated by a certain nomber of the oldest members of the colony, or in rotation as it is said before. Man must decline no duty except in case of mental or bodily disability. When his place will be filled by the next in succession. ACCOUNT BOOK CURRENCY. 1st. Every member of the colony, ought to have a photog- raphed account table, which will make thieving almost impossible or unprofitable, in case of loss it shall be re- place after application. This book will have a similar one at the magazine. The owner may have many similar books with the picture of his wife or children, but what his inscribed in one of these books can notbe in the other. 2nd. All the goods deposited shall be entered accord- ing to their real worth into this book, by the hours it has taken to produce the goods, which will be inscribed as well as in the great book of the magazine or store, or depot. — 6 — The minimum deposit should be counted by fractions according to necessity from one to ten hours at least. Suppose that you buy goods, then the number of hours, or value will be betached from your book and as many in the one deposited in the store and both will be destroyed in presence of the exchanger. So when the value is re- ceived back, the bond (or certificate) will be destroyed in the same manner as the postage stamp. In this way there can be no more bonds in circulation than for the val ue of goods in the store. Furthermore, these bonds rep- reseiiting from one to ten hours and over can be put into circulation and can serve for private transactions outside of the magazine. It will therefore after the means of re- ducing exchange to its utmost simplicity and greatest jus tice, will suppress stock jobbing for speculation, and those who will not produce will not consume and there will be no capital or extra bonds to abuse the products of others. Every producer will have his money or bonds at his mark, there will be no necessity to put this bonds into circulation, the most part of the time they will be ex- changed by the proprietors in the store of his depot. If the proprietor is traveling he may have his photographed account table, there will be no doubt about his personality, the seller will detach the bond from the book and send it to the department where the depot were made to be de- stroyed and to receive an equivalent value as the one taken in his store. RESOLUTIONS, (OR BY-LAWS. 1st. Whereas, the political action puts off for to long a time the organization of labor, which we are considering the immediate means to assure our existence, because it will insure us work and just repartition. 2d. Whereas, our products are brought into commer- cial houses and we cannot redeem them, because of a com- bination ingenious, but criminal, and as we do not receive the actual worth of our products, and that, speculation — 7 — puts them at an extravagant price, and whereas products and money are in the same hands, in the business houses. 3d. Whereas, our women and children have to submit to an abominable evil, they having to work for less wages* than men, and are used to replace us in our workshops, without control to their morality, they are liable to find a thousand ways of being corrupted, and, 4th. Whereas, we cannot, without paying taxes, lodge ourselves in the house which we have built, and which be- long to us, and as we are by this put below the brute, which built its own nest, and which lives there without paying taxes : 5th. Whereas, man needs the horison, and to realize the local saying: u man must earn his bread at the sweat of his brow” means, firstly to be agriculturist, the me- chanics, then artist, scientist, etc. 6th. Whereas, decentralization is the suppression of all despotism and all vices, as war, domineering, servitude, prostitution, policy, charity, laziness, all miseries ; and it is also impossible to organize a new social order (or state) based upon justice and harmony in a center corrupted by injustice and speculation without coming in contact with a thousand inconveniences, therefore, in order to avoid an interested opposition we have thought, that it is pref- erable to return to where our nature calls us, and to or- ganize ourselves ; the antagonism of the existing system which, feeling itself perishing, will try inevitably to drag us down or fetter our action. 7th. Whereas, the earth is a universal property, which no one has a right to deliver up to speculation, without committing an act of robbery and treason to mankind ,and whereas the habit of such speculation is the production of social madness, brought forth by war, despotism and ignorance, and is maintained by some ambitious ones, who are pretentious enough to govern their fellow citizens by main force considering them their slaves. 8th. Whefeas, man upholds his existence from the product on of the soil, which he must cultivate, as other- wise he would starve ; and whereas everyone has a right to settle where there is no settlement yet, and to take as much of land as may be necessary for the maintenance of himself and family. 9th. In order to avoid conflicts we hereby declare to submit ourselves to the social laws of to — day — that is, that we take possession of the soil under such conditions as those who own the land may demand, but, on the other hand, the delegates of the nation believe in this truth and this social justice : The infranchisement of the soil, all money paid for deeds of sale, shall be reimbursed to those who are entitled to same as soon as this social evil has been rectified, therefore be it resolved, that we start to-day for one n