The Llano Colonial
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT LLANO COLONY
LEE3VILLE. LOUISIANA.
BY THE LLANO PUBLICATIONS
Entered a» second-class matter. May 14, 1921, at the postoffice at
Leesvilie, La., under act of March 3, 1879.
• ________
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Make all remittances for subscriptions and address al! communica
tions regarding the publications to The Llano Publications, Leesvilie, La.
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RENEWALS AND CHANGES OF ADDRESS—When renewing, al
ways give the name as it appears on your label. When changing address,
you MUST always give us the OLD as well as the new address.
CARL GLEESER—Editor.
Self-reliance and the right kind of
teaching would make profiteering im
possible.
Mutual co-operation, concord, and
community of interest yield more sat
isfactory returns than competition has
ever provided for the people.
Observance of natural law in human
affairs will provide plenty for all and
there is no natural reason why those
who produce that abundance should
yield any of it up to those who are en
gaged in non-beneficial or destructive
activity.
The right way of human fellowship
has been found and demonstrated. Ga
ther yourselves together in bonds of
friendship. Pool your possessions, co
operate together; help yourselves and
your redemption from economic slav
ery will have been accomplished.
By self-employment and voluntary
intelligent mutual co-ordination and
po-operation, the maximum production
of supplies, amenities, and enjoyments
can be provided with a minimum ex
penditure of effort. Leaving abund
ance of time for leisure and sociability
and opportunity for the highest culture.
Evervone must decide for himself
whether he will live in the land of plen
. u c «- TL i * j
ty or m the house or want, lhe kind
of a life people lead is optional with,"
them. Want and suffering are due
to erroneous notions and not to any
great obstacle in the way of plenty
and a happy life. A comfortable house
can be built for less than the purchase
price of an automobile; nevertheless,
people will overflow cities where rents
are high and housing inadequate.
Enough food for a family can be rais
ed on an acre of ground with a few
days* work, precluding all the possi
bilities of being exploited by extortion
ate freight charges apd the profiteer
ing of a host of middlemen. The men
who sell their labor and buy their liv
ing are exploited in both transactions.
There is no other way to improve hu
man affairs than to go directly to the
individual and teach him better ways
of living and of providing himself with
the necessaries and comforts of life.
B^ familiarizing ourselves with the na
tural laws of this world and acting in
conformity with them, plenty, leisure,
and abundance will result as a normal
condition. Legislatures can neither re
peal nor abrogate the laws of nature,
but individual disregard of them will
inflict the self-enforcive penalties.
President Harding certainly must
be a great optimist when he makes the
statement that America is on the way
of eliminating poverty. He surely must
must have failed to read a recent ad
vehement of the National City Bank
of New York City, which ? ays:
"Statistics show that of 100 people,
25 years old. 54 v -i'l be dependent on
S™ b, 65 ; r y °'
tÄ
for a meagre living; 4 will be well-to-,
isfactory circumstances."
Is there any valid reason why 95
per cent of the population should go to
wreck and ruin when the productive
power has increased a hundredfold?
HAYS MOVIES WILL NOT
FILL EMPTY STOMACHS
Washington. — Will N. Hays, yield
ing to Hubert Work as postmaster-gen
eral, is to undertake to "keep the Am
erican public from getting radical"—
by his dictation of the policy of the
organized producers and distributors
of moving pictures.
It is explained; on the highest possi
ble confidential authority, that Hays
looks upon the American people as k
parent looks upon a crying baby—it
must be distracted and amused, when
it begins to cry and to get red because
it is unhappy. To an unhappy baby
a mother gives a prettily-colored rat
) tie. To the American public the mov
ies are serving the same purpose. The
public is to look at the motion pictures
and read the sentiments printed upon
screen and smile and forget its
lie unhnppiness and drop its
inclinations.
THE OBJECT OF NEWLLANO S
CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENT
Perhaps many readers of the Col
onist do not realize the full scope
the co-operative work that the people
at Newllano are engaged in. It is not
a mere group enterprise for the pur
pose of improving the economic con
dition of the people devoted to the es
tablishment of the different industries
and activities here. If only the 'im
mediate' personal advantages of the
resident co-operators were aimed at, a
icdiuciic. aiiiiwu ai, «
great deal of the propaganda carried
on might readily be dispensed with
Such, however, is not the aim or
the purpose of the Llanoites. The
object is to demonstrate the right me
thods of human fellowship and to es
tablish righteous economic institutions
that can be expanded all over the
world.
The economic and social methods
of Newllano are intended to appeal to
the reason and good common sense of
the people; to awaken in them the
desire to imitate and to adopt the same
methods and to prove to themselves
that they are the very best that up
to the present have been discovered.
The right system of co-operation can
not satisfactorily be imposed from
' wi î hou '" , h must £ e initiat , ecl \ nd de "
sloped because the people who en
gage m the task are impelled trom with
r ® * _f . . .
1 l .° lak V ■ V P a " d deV ° te the ' r llVeS
to its establishment.
At last week's psychological meeting,
two letters were read. One from a
friend m New York City laying bare
the terrible distress of hundreds of
thousands in that modern Babylon,
The other one from a former colonist
who is absent from the Colony and
feels something lacking at his present
location—the spirit of comradeship that
permeates every activity at Llano Col
ony.
At Llano Colony no purpose is har
bored that will be inimical or detrimen
tal to the well-being and the just rights
and needs of any one. Our motives
and methods are right and in harmony
with the laws of nature as far as known
to the membership. The spirit of help
fulness prevails; and there is no dis
position to impose the best system
of co-operation on people who have
not yet reached that plane of develop
ment.
CO-OPERATIVE INSURANCE
A BIG WINNER
(By The Federated Press)
New York—It cost the farmers of
Woodridge, N. Y., less than I cent per
$100 for fire insurance last year.
They "wrote" their own fire insurance,
.
°V c °-°P erat > ve P^.and the re
told m . a bulletin issued by
t Co-operative League of Amer^a. 2
' 3 f
• V th $ ?'^°' 66 S of / ,re ' trance
? f ° rCe at the end ° f !ast September
Vr '? o " ly $l,0 ° • <w
13tral,Ve a nd °P eratlve expe nses. .
N,CHT 0F MARCH <™
COLDEST OF WINTER
Most people did not realize it, per
haps; but last Saturday night, accord
ing to the United States Weather Bu
reau Observers* Station at Newllano,
was the coldest night of the winter.
The temperature tumbled to the 25
mark, but evidently did not stay there
long, as Sunday proved to be a fine
spring day—just right for hiking and
baseball and other out-door amuse
ments. The farmers, and gardeners
have been taking advantage of the ex
cellent weather this week and consid
erable progress has been made with
the plowing and planting already.
Follows the official report:
Feb. 28—max. 55, min. 42
Mch I—man. 54, min. 35
Mch. 2—max. 45, min. 31
Mch. 3—max. 45, min. 29
Mch. 4 —max. 56, min. 25
Mch. i—max. 68, min. 36
Mch. 6—max 63, min. 59
Ram fell on Feb. 28 and Mch
the amount of .65 inch.
Barometer would indicate warm
weather the first part of the week, and
colder the latter part of the week. 1
I,to
Co-operative Harmony
Results From Self-Control
Please just realize that sophtsjry, |
superstition, or just say-so's of iny
man, nô matter of how high a station
or reputation, can not change a sin
gle fact; and begin to do your planning ,
and thinking on the basis of known
facts only. Genuine ideas are facts in
nature and can be demonstrated ; to
those who are willing to learn them,
An assumption a guess, an opinion, a ■
speculative theory, is not an idea; and
all 'the antagonisms, wranglings from
opposing viewpoints are simply due to
the fact that the opponents are neglec
ting to take concrete conditions and
the concrete requirements of human
life and social relations into consider
ation. Their aircastles are built on a
foundation of sand and cannot stand.
Only when the mind builds on the bed
rock of natural facts, discovered and
verified by demonstration, can it erect
a structure that will withstand the
stress and storm of time anl all the at
tacks of the adversary.
Circumstances alter cases in many
respects. The farmer on the cut-over
iànds in Louisiana is confronted by a
different problem from that which
confronts the farmer in New England,
or on the western prairies, or up in
Canada, and the co-operator in Amer
{v^anaaa, ana in
j ca w }j 0 really wants to accomplish
something, has a different element
and different conditions to deal with
from those that surround and confront
co-operators in the various countries
of Europe.
'V Y —
succes ? ° these foreign-born co-oper
Europe.
From time to time reports are pub
lished of the remarkable success scored
in co-operation by foreign-born Amer
ican citizent m various sections of the
country, notably among the Finns, the
Danes and the Yiddish speaking immi
grants from Poland and Russia. AH
these are homogeneous groups, among
whom exists a bond of fellowship and
very often also religious ties as wèll;
not overlooking the more highly es
sential prevalence of personal relia
bility and mutual confidence ascertain
ed and developed by long years of so
cial intercourse. Only on the basis of
such experience can the remarkable
ators in America be explained.
Here in America on the other hand
among a population more or less of a
m ig ra tory character, heterogeneous in
sent iment and disposition, and various
convictions, the introduction of co-op
eration has far more difficulties to con
tend with. Where the would-be co
operators do not personally know one
another, where the personal reliabili
ty of prospective trustees and the man
agerial personnel is not definitely
known by would-be co-operators, some
other bond of unity must be found.
A bond of scientific knowledge with
a determination to scrupulously cpn
form to and live up to it is the only
one that will withstand all the viciss
tudes of every description. Scientif
ic knowledge will be as true in a thou
sand years from now as it is tô-day.
It is as true in America as it is in all
sections of the world, and only differs
in application as climatic and other
conditions vary.
Since the days of Owens, co-opera
tive experiment on the Wabash in In
diana in the early days of the 19th
century, many others have been made
and most of them failed because the
different character of the human ele
ment involved was not talcen into con
sideration and the individuals were not
as yet adapted to co-ôperate voluntar
ily, peacefully and harmoniously. So
cial life requires co-operation, produc
tive and otherwise, and where it does
not voluntarily evolve in some way or
another, it will be arbitrarily imposed
by some means of deception or vio
lence, and such often very trying forms
of co-operation may be maintained for
many generations by false teaching,
threats, or even the infliction of vio
lence to deter any one to question their
validity. Fettering the minds of those
compelled to submit to involuntary and
iniquitous forms of co-operation has
been the most approved method pre
ferred by the exploiters of mankind in
all ages. And to prevent any escape
of their victims from that thraldom ev
ery attempt at enlightening them to
better forms has by every stratagem
that low cunning could devise been ob
structed or circumvented. When the
people have partly waked up, contra
dictory speculations have been dissem
. j
mated among them, to confuse them
and to create dissension and to make
the growth oî co-operative sentiment
impossible.
It is becaure of this fact that the
old Greek injunction, "Man, know thy
self" is so imperative. He must know
himself and he must know the world
in which he lives and he must know
the best methods and ways to bring
about conditions that Wiil secure his
well-being, security and happiness. All
this is involved in the study of mental
science. Anti that means dep-j-'te at
tention to his"" particular pr
hand until he finde the sei? 0/ sol
ution forit, and then to ar 1 """^
tions to conform with th-' io
ge.
"Get onto your job" is the slogan at
Llano Colony. We have only an ideal,
but we are studying and planning and
thinking day and night to transfer that
ideal from the domain of transcenden
talism to the plane of material actual
ization.
It is not a mere bread and butter
proposition that this Colony is engàg
ed in. Practical experience of many
years has shown that the problem is
pre-eminently a psychological one ; that
the mind and the heart must be right
before a person can intelligently co
operate with satisfaction to himself and
his associates in a voluntary co-opera
tive enterprise. If a person aspiring
to membership in such a group has no
other ideal except of getting the good
things of fife for himself without con
cerning himself what happens to any
one else, he has not as yet reached the
right mental attitude or the right kind
of feelings for the rest of the folks.
The job of fitting himself for co-op
erative living is up to every individual
and it must be done from within, as
it never can be brought about from
without. All the selfish and anti-so
cial traits must be starved out. They
must disappear, and you must become
a new kind of man or woman, willing
to do the right thing spontaneously to
everyone concerned.
HARDING ADMINISTRATION
ANTAGONISTIC TO WORKERS
(By The Federated Press)
Washington. — "Our experiences
with the present administration com
pelled us to conclude that the workers
need expect no consideration at its
hands," says Fred Hewitt, editor, Ma
chinists' Monthly Journal, in the April
issue of that publication, discussing the
needless and ruthless dismissal of thou
sands of veteran workers at the navy
yards.
W. VA. RED CROSS AIDS
OPEN SHOP DRIVE
'By The Federated Press)
Cleveland. — Following the person
al appeal by a committe of West Vir
ginia miners to chiefs of the Railroad
Brotherhoods in Cleveland, W S Stone,
grand chief of the Brotherhood of Lo
comotive Engineers, has sent out a cir
cular to the local divisions of the or
ganization, asking individual contrib
utions from the engineers to aid th;
miners' relief committee that is now
endeavoring to save 18,000 destitute
miners' families from perishing for the
lack of food. The miners of West Vir
ginia themselves contribute $12,000 a
week, but the 66 cents per family thus
raised is wholly inadequate to buy ev
en beans and cornmeal for the starving
miners and their children.
According to evidence furnished by
the miners, the Red Cross in West Vir
ginia is dominated by the mine owners
and has done very little to relieve the
situation beyond offering relief to min
ers who will .sign non-union contracts.
SINISTER MORGAN INFLUENCE
AIMS TO DEGRADE
"If the United States Steel Corpor
ation to-morrow said 'Let the unions
in the West Virginia be recognized,\
they would be recognized, Samuel Un
termeyer, noted lawyer and himself,
perhaps, the largest individual stock
holder in the Steel Corporation, told
the United States Senate committee on
education and labor during its recent
investigation into industrial conditions
in the unorganized coal fields of that
state.
Behind the so-calldd "open shop"
drive in West Virginia, Untermeyer de
clared, are the United States Steel Cor
poration, and the Pennsylvania Rail
road, both "sponsored" by J. P. Mor
gan and Co. These corporations, he
said are attempting to put the coal in
dustry of West Virginia on a "solid"
non-union basis and use it as an enter
ing wedge to smash unionism in the en
tire coal industry of America.
INDEPENDENT POLITICAL ACTION
FAVORED IN NORTHWEST
(By The Federated Press)
Seattle. — Powerful support is be
ing directed behind Farmer-Labor par
ty forces in this state for independent
political action. John C. Kennedy,
state secretary of the party, and for
merly Socialist city councilman in Chi
cago, has expressed confidence that
workers here will not try the policy of
functioning through the old parties.
James A. Duncan, secretary of the Se
attle Central Labor council, has pro
nounced for independent politics.
A woman is like your shadow; fol
low her, she flies: fly from her, she
follows.—Chamfort.
Women are the flowers of life, as
children are its fruits.— Bernardin de
Saint Pierre.
t
A Story With a Message
for Co-operators
CO-OPERATION has been successful in European countries for
many years in the retail and wholesale grocery and provision
business, and has recently branched into the manufacturing end.
But co-operatiur -"or dividends or for savings on thé weekly grocery
needs, is ^alright as far as it goes.
The Llano Co-operative Colony was founded to extend this co
operation into every phase of human need. With this in view, there
is no limit to the possibilities for co-operation in a community where
all land, machinery, tools, industries, etc., needed and used for the
welfare of all, are owned equally and controlled^ collectively.
No individual greed or desire tor special privilege can benefit at the
expense of the needy.
lhe dominant thought of the Llano Co-operative Colony is that it
shall be an association of workers banded together to protect the in
terests of each and of all in such a manner that they may secure the
entire result of their labor, using such methods and devices as shall
be necessary to accomplish this end. In order to make this possible,
it' was necessary that a favorable location blessed with natural re
sources should be secured.
The Llano Co-operative Colony is located o n a 20,000-acre tract
of land in the healthful Highlands of Western Louisiana, two miles
from Leesvilie, the county sta! -f V—nan Parish. It is about 15 mil«
'■im the Sabine River, 100 miles from Shreveport, and nearly 300
J* hfm New Orleans. The Kansas City Southern Railway runs
through the tract.
The Highlands at this place are gently-rolling hills, giving perfect
drainage,—which is a very important thing. Health reports, as well
as thé experience of the colonists during more than three years, indi
cate that health conditions here will compare favorably wiih those
in any section of the United States. No sickness has been exper
ienced which can be attributed to location or climate.
The Colony contracted Id purchase 20,000 acres on very advan
tageous terms. Five thousand acres have already been deeded to
the Colony. In making the contract of purchase of this tract, the
stores and buildings of a former lumber town were included. Among
them are the hotel, with its dining room and kitchen, rooms for
guests and the library; two great sheds; two large barns; a store;
an office building; dozens of small houses; hundreds of thousands
of feet of lumber; a concrete power house; a four-cell dry house;
and other buildings. The value of these buildings to the Colony is
almost incalculable; as they now house inhabitants and industries.
Resident members of the Colony are in direct control of its in
dustrial activities. An executive board of directors are chosen each
year and may be removed by a vote of the members. In turn this
executive board selects the heads of departments, who are respon
sible to the board for the conduct of their work.
The aim of the Colony is to make its community life as enjoyable
as possible. -In this it has succeeded admirably. The many education
al advantages for both children and adults are noteworthy. The
equality of all, the common interest in the prosperity and progress
made, the social equality, the equality of allowance made for living
costs, the freedom from worry, the spirit of the undertaking which
will erect a new method of living—these are the features of the colony
life which grip. Eight hours a day, an allowance made so that children
learn independence, everything sold as nearly cojt as possible, the
elimination of profit and rent, the sane, happy, carefree life of the in
habitants impress ail visitors. Never before did any community possess
such advantages, such prospects, such a pleasant life as does this one.
As the most direct basis for the support of the Colony, agricul
ture comes first. Allied to agriculture is the dairy department, with
its herd of 20 milk cows and 17 Holsteins, obtained on contract from •
the U. S. Government; will soon develop into source of in
come. To secure the greatest efficiency in the various farming op
erations, and for logging two Fordson tractors have been added
to the Colony equipment.
Experience proves that garden truck of almost any kind, many
fruits, berries, cotton, sweet potatoes, beans, corn, «ugar cane, and
peanuts do well, while rice, potatoes, and other crops may be grown
for home uses.
In this connection, the Colony last year harvested 3000 bushels
of fine sweet potatoes, which were put into the evaporator house
and cured.
In the cane-growing, the Colony is very successful, having made
1700 gallons of pur* sugar cane syrup and 700 gallons of sorghum mo
ulasses last season.
Recent harvests have proved to the colonists that soy beans,
peanuts, and velvet beans make splendid crops and are rich in food
value. -
An orchard of twenty acres has been planted, the fruit trees being
supplied by the government. It is a natural berry country, and many
kinds are found growing wild.
The mild, long season is especially adaptable to the raising of
live stock. The native grasses which grow rank among the timber
and along the creeks, provide excellent feed for the greater part of
the year.
Better than some gold mines is a splendid bank of clay, suitable
for brick and tile, right on the Colony's townsite. A modern brick
making plant, having a capacity of 15,000 brick per day, has recently
been installed. The bricks made are of excellent quality and find
ready sale. With the growth of this industry, it is now only a ques
tion of time when the small frame structures of the lumber days will
be replaced by commodious brick houses.
Among the other industries being operated for the benefit of the
community, are the following:
Wood-working and handle-making machinery; blacksmith shop, and
wagon-making department; steam laundry; broom-making factory;
shoe-repairing and harness-making shops; printing and publishing
plant; bakery; butcher shop; general commissary; sweet potato-dry
ing department; hospital; hotel; swimming pool; theater: and at
various other seasons other work is done.
Most of this has been accomplished in the last two years; for the
colonists have now learned how to co-operate and conquer their sel
fish desires in "favor of collective need.
s£ "»-cpenteiw" TSey bdSem a cs-operatea.
our it takes careful study and persistent training to eliminate the
competitive spirit which has been drilled into them from youth.
Thus, the Colony divides co-operators into two general classes: One
class may join the Colony and co-operate with their fellows com
pletely: The other class desires to live near a co-operative commun
ity, yet own iheir own land, tools, etc., desiring private ownership in
these things. These may buy land near the Colony at $15 per acre.
The Colony is now in a position to interest both. Those who "with
to come into the Colony may do so on the terms of membership given
in another plqce on this page. Those who wish to own land may
buy a Co-operative Farm, participating to an extent in the co-operative
advantages of the Colony. Thqr may market their crops with the
Colony, enjoy the social advantages, and many of the educational
advantages, with the privilege of exchanging land to be applied on •
membership if desired and if acceptable as ipembers. The Co-oper
ative Colony will retain about 5,000 acres for itself. The idea is to
build up a Co-operative Commonwealth.
The colony employs agents, but does n ot authorize them to close
any transactions. Memberships should be taken out through lhe
Membership department, Llano Cooperative Colony, Leesvilie, La.
The colony wants members. It wants people to become interest«»'
in this enterprise. No one makes any private profit. It is the opportun
ity which co-operators have dreamed of. It is now an established
fact. Will you do your part to extend the field ot its influente?
Those intending'to visit the colony should get off the train at Stables.
All trains stop here. You may not be able to purchase a tickftt
to this place; you may have to buy to Leesvilie, but yoir can get
a ticket from Leesvilie .here for ten cents without getting off the
train. We meet all trains; the colony town is right on the railroad.
Notify us when you expect to arrive if you can do so.
If you are interested, send for more information and ask such ques
tions as you wish. Send stamps for reply. We want you to know
about us and we want von to ask ouestions about everything no|
State ciear to you. uieraiws *ent tree on request.
Llano Co-operative Colony
LEESVILLE, LA.
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