The Southern Cross. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, July 22. FOUNDING A NEW COLONY.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 17, 22 July 1893, Page 8

The Southern Cross. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. Invercargill, Saturday, July 22. FOUNDING A NEW COLONY.

The barque Royal Tar, Captain Logan, sailed from Sydney on July 16 for Paraguay with the first contingent of the New Australia emigrants. The departure of this vessel begins the second chapter in a very interesting story, the development of which will be watched with lively interest in this colon}' as well as in Australia. It will deal with the fortunes of the New Australia Co-operative Settlement Association, the members of which are described as a combination of workers who intend to found a settlement on communistic lines. The movement is one of the results of the fierce labor struggles of' which Queensland was several years ago the scene, and its promoter is a Mr. William Lane, an enthusiast in the cause of Socialism. In a recent conversation with this gentleman’s brother, Mr. J. Lane, the reporter of a Queensland paper obtained a number of interesting facts regarding the Association which are worthy of consideration by all concerned in the solution of the labor problem, and in the welfare of Australasia. It appears that persons joining the venture give ■ it all they posess, the lowest amount in each case being not less than £6O, and it is expected that 5000 men will be enrolled, giving a capital of £300,000. It will probably exceed this, as one member who came into a legacy of £4OO promptly paid it over, thus demonstrating his faith in the organisation. The enrolment of members was only started about eleven months ago, and already there are about 1500 members, and the number, we are told, is steadly increasing. As to the personnel of the emigrants, “we do not,” saidMr Lane, “ trouble the towns. Most of the men selected are of good physique and accustomed to roughing it. They are dissatisfied with the present social system, and are tired of waiting for the good time, and intend, by living socially together, and giving, up competition, to see if they cannot bringabout a better state of things.” It appears,' however, that all useful trades are represented. A doctor has joined; so has a Queensland journalist, with printing- machine and plant, while the education of the

children is ,to bp[ superintended by; a University professor, who resigns "for the sake of the work a lucrative office in Japan. Fanners, carpenters, builders, blacksmiths, and other industrial workers are also represented, “ but,” said Mr Lane significantly, “we have neither lawyers, auctioneers, nor commission agents.” Agriculture is to be the chief occupation, but simple manufactures will be started as early as possible. A good stock of tools and machinery has been secured, and the promoters think that all the members should share somewhat in the manual work, with the object, among others, of, removing the notion that there is anything degrading about it. A teacher, for instance, would work half a day in, school, and, finish the time on a farm, which would make his teaching more vigorous and at the same time improve his health The project, we learn, has not been undertaken as a mere moneymaking or even home-building specu-. lation, but from a desire to show the " world at large that socialism is practical. Thus we learn that after things are got into order, the members : will work no longer than is necessary for the production of the desired amount of wealth. “ Labour-saving machinery will then benefit the actual workers by shortening their working hours, instead of, as, at present,. swelling the number of the unem- , ployed. Statisticians tell us that if. work were shared out equally among’ all men and women, the hours of labour would be less than two perday. We don’t expect to x’ealise this, but feel sure that none will have to work longer than eight hours after matters are fairly settled.”. TheGovernment of Paraguay, which is described as one pf the most promising . States in South America, has given - the Association, free of cost,, an area of 450,000 acres of land on settlement . conditions, one requirement being that 800 families shall be settled on the land within four years. The site of the new settlement is within 14 ; miles of the railway which runs into Asuncion, the .capital pf the State,., and is within five days water-carriage of Buenos Ayres, where there is a large demand for timber, fruit, and vege-. tables, and where the colonists hope to dispose of their surplus products. Bach adult man and woman will have a share in the common, profits, irrespective of occupation or ability, and women will be treated as the equals of men. They will have full opportunity to marry should they so desire. Every family will have its own house, and there will be no weakening of family life or ties, but by a system of domestic co-operation it is hoped that it will be possible .for the working woman to be less, of a household drudge than she now.is. Temperance principles will rule, and the form of government is to. be purely representative, the ballot vote of the adult members being the supreme authority. Such, in outline, are the leading features of the latest effort to “ materialise ” Bellamy’s “ Looking Backward,” and in closing we cannot do better than reproduce Mr Lane’s own words regarding it —“lf we succeed, and we are determined to do so, our mode of living will be a great object lesson to those who are weary of the old competitive system. It will open up a new avenue, of hope to despairing multitudes, and will show all statesmen and peoples of this our nineteenth century civilisation that life may be made worth the living, and that progress need not always go hand in hand with poverty.”