O > ^0' <^. ;^ V \^ :< -^^o^ • - / '^\- ^. *'..«* A o..- G^ \d *^!^;V a <.'<>.»* .G^ \5 "'T'.^^ 4 O -p t-o^ * ^^ .0 ^^s- 0° .'j«i;> °o RUGBY, MORGAN COUNTY, TENNESSEE, SETTLEMENT Founded October Sth, 1880, BOARD OF AID TO LAND OWNERSHIP (LIMITED), OF LONDON, ENGLAND. THOMAS HUGI-IES, ESQ_, Q,C., President. CINCINNATI : ROBERT CLARKE & CO., PRINT. iSSo. A' V ^■^o \^'\ A-^^ RUGBY, TENNESSEE. NOTICE. The j)ublication of this pamphlet has been dehiyed by reason of the great influx of visitprs and settlers since opening day (5th Oetobei'). There is still considerable pressure on the house I'oom at the disposal of the Board, and intending settlers and visitors are, therefore, requested to give a few days' notice, addressed to "The Secretar}^ of the Board of Aid, etc., Kugby, Tenn.," of the accommodation which they will i-cquire. EuGBY, Tennessee, October 25, 1880. The oflEicc of The Board of Aid to Lmid Oicnership, Limited, is at 57 Moorgate street. London, E. C They have agencies at 43 Beaver street, iVeiy York, a.nd (till the end of this year) at 11 Pemberton Square, Boston, U. S. A., where all information as to the settlement can be obtained. The Board was original!}^ formed in Boston during the hard times there, but these passing away before it had completed its arrangements, its contract for land in East Tennessee passed into the hands of the present London Board, who took up the cnt(;rprise as a business matter, but in conjunction with the original members of the Boston Board, and with the imj)lied understanding that ihi'V would pro- mote their objects should occasion require. The Board have since acquired the site of ilugby. and other lands between it and the point on the Cincinnati Southern Eailwa}' (221 miles from Cincinnati, 7 miles from Rugby;, where their newly opened [4] station (Sedgemoor) stands, and have made a road from the station to Eugby. The town site of the latter was formally opened on the 5th of October, 1880, by Mr. Thos. Hughes, the President of the Board, assisted by the Bishop of Tennessee, and many other American and English friends. On this occa- sion the President delivered the following address: ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. I am anxious to take this opportunity — the first public one I have had — to remove an impression which seems to have got abroad that the settlement wo are planting on these mountains and opening to-day is intended to be an English colony in a somewhat exclusive sense. Nothing can be further from the wishes and intentions of the founders. In a sense it is an En- glish colony, no doubt, because at present all the settlers are English, but we hope that this will very soon cease to be so. Our settlement is open to all who like our principles and our ways, and care to come here to make homes for themselves, freely, with- out reserve or condition of any kind which does not bind us English also. Although the majorit}' of us — the members of this board — are English, we have already amongst us a large, and, I am happ3^ to say, an increasing number of American citizens. Leading men, not only in Boston, where the enterprise was first undertaken, but in New York, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati be- long to us, and are as earnest and active in the work as any of our English members. They are as firmly convinced as we, that the future of our own race, and indeed of the world, in which our race is so clearly destined to play the leading part, can never be what it should be until the most cordial alliance, the most in- timate relations, have been established firmly, without any risk or possibility of disturbance or misunderstanding between its two great branches. We know of no way in which this can be brought about better than by such eff'orts as this we are making, in which Englishmen and Americans can stand shoulder to shoulder, and work with one mind and one heart for the same great end. If we knew of any such better waj's we would gladly [ 5] exchange our own for them. These, then, are our views, which we have already endeavored to express on more than one occasion in this State. And here let me take the opportunity of expressing our cordial thanks for and appreciation of the more than friendly spirit with which we have been met here, in our adopted home of Eastern Tennessee. We have been the guests already, by special invitation, of the citizens of Chattanooga and Knoxville, and have received invitations from Memphis, Nashville, and Louisville, which we greatly regret not to have been able to ac- cept; in short, we have on all sides met not only with a lavish and thoughtful hospitality, but with assurances of sympathy and cordial understanding and appreciation, which have gone far to strengthen our purpose and remove all fears of failure in this mountain home, where we are trying our 'prentice hands on problems which we shall need all the strength and all tlie wis- dom we can get hold of to solve satisfactoril}'. And while ex- pressing our thanks let me add my own confident belief that our kind neighbours, many of whom I trust are here to-day, will not find any reason to regret the frank and generous welcome which they ha've given to a band of strangers. And now turning to the business on hand, let me sa}^, at least for myself, that I do not know how any group of men and wo- men, gathered together to-day in any part of the world, can be engaged in a more absorbingly interesting, or, indeed, in a more responsible, and I will add solemn, work than that to which I hope most of us have now made up our minds to put our hands eai-nestly, here, in this place, at this time. For we are about to open a town here — in other words, to create a new centre of hu- man life, human interests, human activities — in this strangely beautiful solitude; a centre in which, as we trust, a healthy, hopeful, reverent, or in one word godly, life shall grow up from the first, and shall spread itself, so we hope, over all the neigh- bouring region of these Southern highlands. Now, surely just to put this idea into words ought to be enough to sober the spirits and brace up the energies of the lightest hearted and strongest amongst us. He to whom the work does not commend itself in this light had better not put his hand to it at all in this place. We are here, then, to-day — in this year 1880, as pioneers — fol- lowing, 1 hope and believe, as true an instinct, or, 1 should rather say, as true a call, as any that has been leading our fathers across the Atlantic to this land of promise for the last quarter of a mil- lennium. There seem to be as clear indications now as in the [6] early 3'ears of the seventeenth century in the political and Bocial conditions of all the old settled JSIations of Christendom, and in none more than our own England, that this is a swarming time of the race, a time of great movements of population which no human power can check, but which maj- be either left to work themselves out by rule of thumb without intelligent direction and guidance, or ordered and directed from the first on distinct principles. Well, those who are interested in this enterprise have no doubt as to which of these alternatives is to be prefer- red. AVe are to do our best to organize our infant community on SQcli lines and principles as our own experience and observa- tion, and the study of the efforts of those who have gone before us, seem to point out as the right and true ones. AVell, then, how are we to set about this great work? What is to be our starting point? What the idea which we are to try to realize? This is our first need. We must spare no pains to clear our minds on this point. Unless we do so, we shall get no coherence and consistency in our later efforts. We shall be pull- ing different ways, and building up a Babel, and not a commu- nity, which sooner or later will share the fate of all Babels, which the Lord will come down and scatter abroad. In this search, then, let us see whether the word I have alread}' used will not give us our clue. We want to establish a comrmmity. What docs that imply ? This much, at any rate, that we should all have something in common; that we should recognize some bond which binds us all together, and endeavour, each and all of us, to keep this in view, to strengthen it in all ways. But what )3ond — what is it to be that we who come to live here are to have in common? The word community has gained an unenviable character in our day. We can scarcely think of a community without coming upon the traees of those who have kept and are keeping tbe Old World in a state of dangerous distrust and alarm, and even in the New World have given some ominous signs of sinister life. Certainly we can all agree at once that we have no sympath}^ whatever with the state communism of Eu- rope, represented by Lasalle and Karl Marx, and on this conti- nent by very inferior, and even more violent and anarchic per- sons. We have no vision whatever to realize of a paternal state, the owner of all property, finding eas}- emploj-ment and liberal maintenance for all citizens, resei'ving all profits fjr the commu- nity, and paying no dividends to individuals. Again, while re- specting the motives and lives of many of those who have [ 7 ] founded or are carrying on communistic experiments here and in Europe, we have no desire or intention to follow in their eteps. We are content Avith the laws relating to private prop- erty, and family life, as we find them, feeling quite able to mod- ify them for ourselves in certain directions as our corporate con- science ripens, and becomes impatient of some of the evils which have resulted from that overstrained desire of possession and worship of possessions which marks our day. But it is time to leave negation, and to get upon positive ground. As a commu- nity, we must have something in common. What is it to be, and }\ow are we going to treat it? Well, in the first place, there is this lovely corner of God's ♦"■arth which has been intrusted to us. What, as a community, »s our first duty with regard to it? There can be no hesitation iboiit the answer. It is, to ti*eat it lovingly and reverently. We nan add little, perhaps, to its natural beauty, but at least we can be careful to spoil it as little as possible. We may tais-e care that our children, or whoever our successors may be here, shall not have cause to say : '• See, what a glorious chance those old fel- lows had when they came Iiei'e in 1880, and how they threw it away ! This town might have been the most beautiful on this continent, and look what the}' made of it!" How, then, are w^e going to treat our site so that this reproach may never follow our memories? First as to the laying out of our town here. We must do this with a view to the common good, and with care that neither convenience nor beauty is neg- lected. And as the guiding rule we may start with this, that there shall be ample provision for all public wants from the first. We have here two beautiful streams which will be a delight for- ever to those who dwell here if they arc left free for the use and enjoj'ment of all. Therefore, in laying out the town we have reserved a strip of various widths along the banks which will remain common property, and along which we hope to see walks and rides carefulh' laid out, and kept in order bj* the municipal authorities. We have already, in a rough Avay, made a begin- ning bj' carrying a ride along the banks of the Clear Fork and White Oak streams. Then there must be reservations for parks, gardens, and recreation grounds. In the j^resent plans provision has been made for these purposes. There is Beacon Hill, the highest point, from which there is a view of the whole surround- ing country such as few towns in the old or new world can boast. This also will be common propei-ty, and the English gardens, [ 8 ] Lawn tenuis and cricket ground. What, if any thing, more is required, I hope we may consider and determine at once, and I can assure you that the proj^rietors are ready and anxious to coni^ult with and meet tlie wishes of those who propose to make homes here. Our wish is to preserve the natural beauties of this place for the people wlio live and visit here, and make them a constant means of educating the eye and mind. With this ex- ample and ideal before their eyes we may hope that the lots which pass into the hands of jn'ivate owners will also be bandied with an eye tc the common good. Private property must be of course fenced in, but the fences may surely be made with some regard to others than the owners. It is hoped that the impervi- ous walls and fences, so common in England, may be avoided, and that in dealing with lawns and trees we may each of us bear his part in producing a beautiful j^icture. Next conies the question of buildings, and here we must bear in mind that these are, in fact, or should be, the expression in timber, brick, and stone of the thought of men and women as to the external conditions under which folk should live. Con- sider for a moment the different impressioms in this matter which the visitor carries away from the streets of Chester, or Wells, or Salisbury, and from those of a town in our manufacturing dis- tricts. Now we hope that visitors from the first will carry away from this place the feeling that we here have understood some- thing of what homes should be. Of course we must act pru- dently and cut our coats according to our cloth. We have no money to spare for superfluous decoration, and our first build- ings, both public and private, must be simple aud even rough in materials and construction. But there is no reason whatever why they should not at the same time be sighth' and good in form and proportion. And at this I hope we shall all aim. We shall try to set you a good example in the public build- ings. These will consist, in the first instance, of a church and school-house, and then of a court-house and town hall, which will be built as soon as we can see our way to doing so pru- dently, and can make arrangements with the government of the state for our establishment as a county town. We shall also pro- mote, so far as we can, good habits in this matter of building, by providing plans and models of houses of difi'erent sizes, such as wi; think will suit the site and do us credit as a community. Of course every man will build his house according to his own fancy, and use it for whatever purposes he pleases, except for the [ 9 ] sale of intoxicating liquors, which will be strictly prohibited p but if as a community we can guide his fancy in certain direc- tions, we shall be glad, and consider that we have done good service. So far, then, 1 hope, we have travelled the same road without disagreement. We shall be all of one mind, I think, as to the preservation of all natural beauty here in the treatment of grounds and buildings, and the sense of a common interest and life which an ample provision of public buildings and grounds will secure to our community. Shall I carry 3^ou with me in the next step? Hitherto we have been concerned only in the first and most necessary step of housing ourselves, but now, we have to ask, whether, after we are housed, and living in our houses, the idea of a common life and common interests must cease, and the isolated straggle for existence, in which every man's hand will be for himself and against his neighbour, must begin. The survival of the fittest is recognized as a natural law, which means that men will always live upon, and not for, one another. Are we prepared to accept it unconditionally, or to tiy how far it can be modified by rea- son and agreement ? I. myself, have do doubt that it can and ought to be so modified, and that we have a good op- porunity here for making the attempt. And there is, for- tunately, no question as to the direction which that effort should take in the first instance. We have all of us a number of imperative wants which must be provided for and satisfied day by day. We want food, clothes, furniture, and a great va- riety of things besides, which our nurture and culture have made all but essential to us. These must all be provided here, either by each of us for himself or by some common machinery. Well, we believe that it can be done best by a common machinery, in which we should like to see every one take a hand. We have a commissary already established, and have used that word rather than " store " to indicate our own wishes and intentions, as a commissary is especially a public institution. Our wish is to- make this commissary a centre of sui)ply, and that every settler, or at any rate every householder here, should become a member and part owner of it. The machinery by which this can be done is perfectly familiar in England, and here also. If it is adopted, the cost price of establishing the present commissary, as it stands, will be divided into small shares of five dollars each, 80 that the poorest settler may not be inconvenienced by the- [10 ] outlay for membership. Every one will get whatever profits are made on his own eonsumption, and the business will be directed and superintended by a board of council chosen by the mem- bers themselves. In this way again we shall have a common in- terest and common property, and in the supplying of our own •dail}' wants shall feel that if one member sutfers, all suffer ; if one rejoices, all rejoice. In this wa}-, too, if we please, we may be rid once for all of the evils which have turned retail trade into a keen and anxious and, c^enerally, a dishonest scramble in older communities ; rid of adulteration, of false pretenses, of in- debtedness, of bankruptcy. Trade has been a potent civilizer of mankind, but only so far and so long as it has been kept in its place as a servant. As a master and an idol, it has proved a destroyer in the past, like all other idolatries, and is proving it- self so in the present in many ))laces we know of Let us, as a ■communit}-, take hold of it and master it here from the first, and never release oiw grasp and control of it. There is another direction in which like common action may be taken at once. The company will for many years own large tracts of land round the town site which are well adapted to raising and pasturing cattle. We intend to establish this in- dustry here at once, and desire to do so on the same lines as those already indicated with respect to the commissary. When it has been settled, therefore, what amount of capital will be required to make the experiment on the most favorable conditions, settlers will be invited to subscribe in small shares for such por- tion as they please and the balance will be taken by the company. The common herd will be managed by a committee elected by the share-holders. It is probable that considerable difficulty may occur in managing a large herd in this country, but the ex- periment can be made gradually and at once, and the Board are ready to give all the help in their power. As time goes on, many other openings of a like kind may occur, but these will, for the present, be sufficient to establish and keep alive the corporate feeling which is the main strength of all healthy communities. If any of 3'ou should doubt whether such arrangements as these will not interfere with and dwarf the energy and enter- prise of an infant community, and keep from it the ablest and most virgorous kind of men, I would submit that there will be full scope in other directions. No doubt there is a healthy and worthy rivalry which should exist in every community; but •surely this may well be satisfied in the development of the num- berless productive industries for which this region offers so wide a field : Who sluill grow the best corn, tobacco, fruit ; who shjill raise the best stock on their own farms ; produce the best articles, b)e they what they may ; write the best books or articles; teach best, govern best ; in a word, live most nobly. Surely here may well be scope enough for all energy, without rivalry of shop-keeping and the tricks of trade, adulteration, puffing and feverish meannesses which follow too surely in its train. I must take you yet one step higher, and then I have done. Hitherto, we have been dealing with the outside only of our lives here, and questioning how far the idea of a community can be healthily realized in relation to these visible material things which we can see and taste and handle. Bat we all know, and confess to ourselves, if not to others, that no success in dealing with or handling these can satisfy us as men — or at any rate ought to satisfy us — that we are one and all in contact with and living in a world in which we have to do with other things tlian those which rust and moth can corrupt. But here at once, it may be urged, we are fighting against the Zeit Gheist — the spirit of our time — no where so strong and so decided as here in America — if Ave make any eff'ort to deal as a com- munity with the invisible. Here, at any rate, we may be told, experience speaks emphatically that men must be left free to follow the guidings of their own consciences. You may possibly succeed in supplying the material wants of all by one central organization started at once, but the spiritual wants you will leave, if you are wise, to find their own satisfaction, and to de- velop in such directions and by such methods as chance may 2-, » "-> * / \ ^^'''<^, ^^-n^. '. v*^-^ '^^' -^^ 6>- *•»■•• .