USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Florence > The history of Florence, Massachusetts : including a complete account of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry > Part 6
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The next step was to draw up the declaration of principles and articles of association, which was probably done by Prof. Adam and David Mack, and on the fifteenth of February. 1842, the following preliminary circular, stating the object and aim of the proposed association, was sent out. It was printed on two sides of an eight by ten inch sheet, and space was left at the close for the names of subscribers for shares in the stock company.
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NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
PRELIMINARY CIRCULAR.
When existing institutions are found inadequate to promote the further progress of society, it becomes the duty of those who perceive the necessity of reform, to associate together upon principles, in their opinion, the best calculated to fulfill the designs of God in placing man in this life. Among those designs are believed to be the progressive culture and high development of all the pow- ers and faculties of our nature ; the union of spiritual, intellectual, and practical attainments ; the equality of rights and rank for all, except that those stations and pursuits should be regarded as most honorable which promote self-conquest and the most expansive philanthropy ; and the practical recognition of the responsibility of every individual to God alone in all his pursuits. These designs Geolo. Benson, of God demand the co-operation of man as an essential condition, but existing institutions of education and business do not afford it, inasmuch as they fail to provide for the full development of the faculties of any class or individual ; rec-, ognize invidious distinctions, assigning the highest rank for other reasons than moral worth ; establish separate and conflicting action for various kinds and degrees of culture, skill, and labor ; forbid such freedom of thinking and acting as is required by personal accountability ; sever intellectual culture from action in such a manner as to make it barren and even subversive of moral principle ; and separate labor from speculative pursuits so as to make it drudgery, thus causing the degradation of a necessary means of education, health, and happi- ness. The following Articles of Association are proposed, as a means of reduc- ing to practice the foregoing principles :-
ARTICLE I. The name and style of this association shall be The Northamp- ton Association of Education and Industry.
ART. II. The management of the affairs and undertakings of this Association shall be conducted by two distinct companies : Ist, a Stock Company ; 2d, an Industrial Association.
ART. III. The Stock Company shall be first formed by obtaining a subscrip- tion of $100,000, to be paid in money or some equivalent at the option of the Stock Directors. As soon as $50,000 are secured by binding subscriptions, $30,000 of which, at least, shall be paid by the first of April next, the company shall be organized by choosing a President, Secretary and Treasurer, who together shall, as Trustees, hold all the property of the Association in trust, until their successors shall be appointed by the Company.
ART. IV. The President and Secretary shall sign all contracts and papers binding the Company, and the Treasurer shall give security to the satisfaction of the Company for the safe keeping of its money and papers; but the Trustees shall not have power to buy or sell, as agents of the Company, on credit.
ART. V. The Secretary shall keep a book in which copies of all the shares shall be entered, with the names of their owners, and all interest and dividends due thereon. No transfer of stock shall be valid unless indorsed by the Presi- dent and Secretary ; and a copy of every transfer shall be entered on the Secre-
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
tary's book. But no transfer shall be authorized for any person indebted to the Association until security be given for the payment of his debt.
ART. VI. The Secretary shall keep account of all the property, contracts and obligations of the Company, and of the obligations and money transactions of each member with the Company ; and at suitable times those accounts may be inspected by any member of the Company.
ART. VII. The Secretary shall make annually an inventory of all the prop- erty of the Association, an adjusted statement of its pecuniary condition, and a full settlement of its transactions with other parties and with each member of the Company ; so that at the beginning of each year new accounts may be opened.
ART. VIII. New stock may be raised at any time and to any amount deter- mined by a vote of two-thirds of the stockholders.
ART. IX. Shares shall be for $100 each, negotiable under the restric- tions of the fifth Article, and shall be entitled to an- nual interest not exceeding six per cent .; but interest shall not be pay- able under four years, when the an- nual interest and the interest for the MEADOW STREET BRIDGE IN WINTER. four years then due may be paid, or the arrears may be equally divided between the next four years, at the option of the Company.
ART. X. Interest or dividends of profits may be paid in stock or in cash, at the option of the stockholder ; but the Company shall not be obliged to pay cash, unless previous notice be given to the Secretary thirty days before the payment becomes due.
ART. Xl. In settling with individual members, each shall be charged with rent of apartments furnished by the Stock Company at a reasonable rate, and with supplies furnished by the Association at cost.
ART. X11. In stock transactions, every share shall be entitled to one vote. provided that no one proprietor shall be entitled to more than ten votes. In the absence of stockholders, their shares may be represented by proxies.
ART. XIII. Every certificate of stock shall contain a condition providing that shares owned by persons not members of the Industrial Association may be bought
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NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
n, upon payment of principal and interest, by members of the Association, when notice of such intention shall be given thirty days before the annual interest becomes due.
ART. XIV. In making the annual settlement, the disbursements shall be made in the following order : Ist, expenses of stock transactions and manage- ment, including labor; 2d, expenses of supporting members of the Industrial Association unable to earn a support, the property of such members in the stock account being first applied as far as it will go; 3d, six per cent. on all stock ac- tually paid in. The balance shall be divided among the members of the Indus- trial Association in proportion to their several services in labor and talent or skill, to be estimated by the books and reports of the Leaders of Divisions and Subdivisions, two-thirds of said balance being awarded to labor, and one-third to skill.
ART. XV. The Stock Directors shall determine in what manner their funds shall be invested, and shall make such appropriations for carrying on the differ- ent branches of business as they shall judge best, those branches being most favored that are necessary and less attractive. They may always attend the meetings of the Board of Directors of the Industrial Association and give their advice, but shall not be allowed to vote.
ART. XVI. Any member expelled or choosing to withdraw, shall receive all that is his due on the stock account, at the next annual settlement, if he give ninety days' previous notice, and before receiving the same shall sign a full discharge of all claims against the Company or the Association.
ART. XVII. The Stock Company when duly organized shall elect twenty families to commence the Industrial Association. Those twenty families, together with such families and individuals as shall be admitted members, shall elect all subsequent members, and may expel an unworthy member.
ART. XVIII. The Industrial Association shall be organized by choosing a Director for each branch of employment established by the Association, with the advice of the Stock Trustees. Such Directors shall form a Board, who shall see that suitable employment for all the members shall always be provided ; shall be arbitrators to settle all difficulties between the Divisions or Subdivisions, or between individuals, at the expense of the party by them decided to be in the
DeMach
Autograph written Oct. 15, 1843.
Hall Quad,
Autograph written March 21, 1846.
wrong, such expense being only the value of time, rooms, etc., caused by the arbitration ; and shall fix the rate of compensation for the various employments and ages, awarding higher compensation to the most necessary and disagreeable rather than to the most productive. They shall manage the purchase of mate- rials and goods for the Association and for individuals, and the sale of articles produced or manufactured by the Association, but they shall never buy or sell on credit.
ART. XIX. Each branch of employment shall be prosecuted by such as
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
choose it, who shall form a class, consisting of as many Divisions as the Directors shall determine; each Division shall choose a Leader who shall determine the number of Subdivisions ; and each Subdivision shall choose its Leader, who shall keep an account of the labor and skill of each member of his Subdivision at each time of meeting, and shall report the progress of his undertaking to the Board of Directors annually and as often as necessary. All the Leaders of Subdivisions shall form a Committee for consultation concerning the best ways and means of managing the business of their Division.
ART. XX. Each Sub- division shall determine the manner in which their employment shall be per- formed, shall assign differ- ent portions to individuals according to their quali- fications, and shall admit new members, who may be qualified, upon their appli- cation.
ART. XXI. Each Sub- " Where sprawling frogs, in loveless key, Sing on and on incessantly." -James Whitcomb Riley. division shall, as far as practicable, consist of dif- ferent sexes and ages, so that the heavier parts may be performed by the stronger ; the lighter, by the more delicate individuals.
ARI. XXI. No charge shall be made to any member of the Association or his family for religious or other instruction, for medical attendance or nursing by members of the Association, or for the use of baths, public rooms, or what- ever is provided for the general use and benefit, unless used for some private or particular purpose.
ART. XXII. Every man, woman, and child above the age of five years shall have a separate account with the Association, and shall have a separate and dis- tinet interest. The expenses and the compensation of children shall be so arranged that the profits of their industry shall refund the cost of their support, by the time they become admissible as members of the Association.
ART. XXIV. This Association and any of its Boards or Committees may establish such By-laws not inconsistent with the spirit and intention of this Declaration and of these Articles, as they may think proper, from time to time.
ART. XXX. Any of these Articles may be altered at a regular meeting of the Association, by a majority of two-thirds of the members ; provided notice of the proposed alteration shall be given in the manner to be prescribed in the By-laws,
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NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
BROUGHTON MEADOWS, NORTHAMPTON, February 15, 1842.
At a meeting of the owners of the property known as the Northampton Silk Factory Estate, held this 15th day of February, 1842, Joseph Conant was voted President, and William Adam, Secretary. Whereupon, it was unanimously
Resolved, That, approving of the principles and objects developed in the preceding Declaration and Articles of Association, we, the owners of the afore- said Estate, consisting of about four hundred and twenty acres of land; six dwelling houses ; a large brick factory, nearly new, four stories high, measuring one hundred and twenty by forty feet, with water-wheel, gear, and shafting fit for operation, and situated on a durable stream of water called Mill River, hav- ing from twenty-seven to twenty-nine feet fall; a dye-house, with necessary apparatus ; a wooden building about thirty feet square, formerly used for manu- facturing purposes, with water-wheel, in good condition ; a saw-mill; a Ray- mond's shingle mill, with patent right secured for the town of Northampton, capable of cutting ten thousand shingles per hour ; a planing machine for plan- ing and jointing boards, planks, and timber ; turning lathes, circular saws, &c., &c., together with machinery in the factory adapted to the manufacture of silk, and sundry other articles of personal property : also a lot of pine timber, con- taining about fifty acres, about a mile and a half from the saw-mill :- the whole estimated to be worth about thirty thousand dollars,- are willing and ready to place it at the disposal of the projected Northampton Association of Education and Industry, at a fair valuation, whenever fifty thousand dollars of stock shall be subscribed, and thirty thousand dollars paid up, as specified in the Articles already referred to.
[Signed]
Joseph Coment President.
Secretary.
In conformity to the preceding Declaration of Sentiments and Articles of Association, and in consideration of the foregoing proceedings of the proprietors of the Northampton Silk Company Estate, We, the undersigned, do severally subscribe to the Stock Company therein set forth the number of shares set against our names, the amount of which we promise to pay as herein specified to the Treasurer of said Company ; the said Stock property to be forever holden and managed in all respects according to the principles and provisions of the aforesaid Declaration and Articles.
ORGANIZATION .- The circular had the desired effect, awakening an active interest in the new venture especially in this neighborhood, and by the first of April the amount of stock set forth in the circular as necessary for organization had been subscribed. The charter members were the four leaders, Adam, Benson, Mack, and Hill, together with Joseph Conant ; Samuel Brooks from Hadley, Samuel Bottum from
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Mansfield, Connecticut, Erasmus D. Hudson from Bloomfield, Connecti- cut, Hall Judd from Northampton, Theodore Scarborough from Brook- lyn, Connecticut, Earle Dwight Swift and Hiram Wells from Mansfield, Connecticut. The first item in the "Journal of the Northampton Association of Education and Industry " is :-
At a meeting held in Broughton's Meadows, Northampton, Mass., this eighth of April (Friday), 1842, present Joseph Conant, Erasmus D. Hudson, G. W. Benson, Theodore Scarborough, Hiram Wells, E. D. Swift. William Adam. The following preamble, principles, and regulations were read, discussed, and adopted.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS.
IT is impossible to survey the present condition of the world, the institutions of society, the general character of mankind, and their prevailing pursuits and tendencies, without perceiving the great evils that afflict humanity, and recog- nizing many of them as the direct consequences of existing social arrangements.
Life is with some a mere round of frivolous occupations or vicious enjoy- ments, with most a hard struggle for the bare means of subsistence. The former are exempted from productive labour while they enjoy its fruits : upon the latter it is imposed as a task with unreasonable severity, and with inadequate compensa- tion. The one class is tempted to self- indulgence, pride, and oppression : the other is debased by ignorance and crime, by the conflict of passions and interests, by moral pollution, and by positive want and starvation.
The governments of the world are sys- tematically warlike in their constitution and spirit, in the measures they adopt, and in the means they employ to establish and support their power and to redress their real and alleged grievances, without regard to truth, justice, or humanity ; and politi- OUT FOR A RIDE. cal parties are notoriously and character- istically destitute of all principle except the love of place, and the influence and emoluments which it bestows, with- out consideration for the true advancement of society.
Religion, whose essence is perfect spiritual liberty and universal benevolence, is prostituted into a device for tyrannizing over the minds of men by arraying them into hostile serts, by substituting audible and visible forms for the inward power of truth and goodness, and by rendering the superstitions fear and irre- sponsible dictation of men paramount to the veneration and authority that belong only to God.
For these evils, viz., extreme ignorance and poverty in immediate juxtapo- sition with the most insolent licentiousness ; adverse and contending interests ;
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NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
war, slavery, party-corruption, and selfishness; sectarian exclusiveness and spiritual tyranny, society as at present constituted affords no remedy. On the contrary, it has sprung out of these evils, is maintained by them, and has a direct tendency to reproduce them in a constantly increasing progression ; and the human mind is driven to the conclusion either that the Infinitely Wise and Benevolent Creator of the world designed to produce a state of things subver- sive of moral goodness and destructive to human happiness, which is a contra- diction in terms ; or that man, necessarily imperfect and therefore liable to err,
" LOVERS' LANE "-NORTH END.
has mistaken his path by neglecting the light which Nature and Religion were intended to afford for the attainment of Truth and Righteousness, Purity and Freedom.
No believer in God can doubt that it is not He who has failed in his purpose, but man who has wandered from his true course, and after the perception of this truth and of the insufficiency of existing institutions to correct the manifold evils of society and promote its further progress, it is the duty of all to endeavour to dis- cover and to adopt purer and more salutary principles, and to apply them individ- ually and collectively to the regulation of their conduct in life. The vices of the present form and practices of civilization are so gross and palpable that no apology is required for the honest attempt to escape from them, even although it should not be accompanied with the pretense of peculiar wisdom and virtue and should not be followed by the complete success which is both desirable and attainable. The following principles indicating dangers to be avoided, duties to be performed, and rights to be maintained, are adopted as a bond of union and basis of co-operation :
I. Productive labour is the duty of every human being, and every labourer has the exclusive right of enjoying and disposing of the fruits of his labour.
II. The opportunity of self-improvement in all knowledge is the right of every human being.
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
Ill. It is the right of every human being to express the dictates of his con- science on religious and all other subjects, and to worship God under any form or in any manner agreeable to his convictions of duty, not interfering with the equal rights of others.
IV. Fair argument is the only legitimate means of controlling the opinions or belief of another, and no praise or blame, no merit or demerit, no reward or punishment, ought to be awarded for any opinions or belief for which every human being is responsible to God alone.
V. The rights of all are equal without distinction of sex, color, or condition, seet or religion.
VI. The family relation, the relation between husband and wife, and between parents and children, has its foundation and support in the laws of nature and the will of God, in the affections of the heart and the dictates of the under- standing. Other and wider relations may be formed for the purposes of social improvement, but none that are inconsistent with this which is sacred and per- manent, the root and fountain of all human excellence and happiness.
VII. The combination of individuals and families is an evil or a good according to the objects to which it is directed. To combine for the purpose of inflicting an injury is evil : to combine for the purpose of protecting from injury or conferring a benefit is good. To combine for the purposes of war, aggression, conquest, tyranny, and enslavement is evil ; to combine for the purpose of living in peace and amity towards all, and in the exercise of mutual benevolence and friendly offices, is good. To combine for the purpose of spreading speculative doctrines and ceremonial observances, forms of religious worship and discipline is injurious to the welfare of mankind, because belief is constantly changing in every individual mind according to the fresh accessions of light and knowledge which it receives, and because a fixed profes- sion is not and cannot be the true index of a varying belief, and be- cause such combina- tions, therefore, necessa- rily tend to produce habits of insincerity, to restrain freedom of thought and expression on the most momentous subjects, to cause the outward show of relig- LOOKING FAST ON CENTER STREET. ion to take the place of its practical and spirit- ual influences, and to afford an instrument to priests and tyrants to enslave the mind and the body. On the other hand, to combine for the purpose of coun- teraction, within a greater or less sphere, the causes which have produced igno- france and vice, oppression and crime, bigotry, fanaticism and intolerance ; of
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NORTHAMPTON ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
raising labour to its true dignity and giving to it its just rewards ; of econo- mizing labour and increasing its productiveness by means of machinery, of co- operation, and of a wise division of the departments of industry ; of securing the full enjoyment of liberty in thought, in word, and in action ; and of promoting the progressive culture and full development of all the capacities of human nature by the union of spiritual, intellectual and practical attainments, is con- ducive to the happiness and improvement of the world, promotes the cause of freedom, of truth and of goodness, and according to their means and opportuni- ties is the right, the duty, and the interest of all.
Autograph written March 20, 1845.
Such are the principles and objects of the Northampton Association of Edu- cation and Industry, and it is in the full and distinct recognition of their truth and obligation and with the view of applying them in practice that the following regulations are adopted :---
NOTE .- Articles which are the same and practically the same as those in the Preliminary Circular are so marked .- [EDITOR.
I. NAME AND ORGANIZATION.
I. [Same as Article I.]
2. [Contained in Article II.]
3. The Stock Company and the Industrial Community shall be distinct from each other in their organization, in their deliberations, and in their accounts ; but the members of each body shall be allowed to inspect the records and accounts both of the Industrial Community and of the Stock Company ; and the Stock Directors may attend the meetings of the Industrial Directors, and give their advice, but shall not be allowed to vote, and the Industrial Directors may attend the meetings of the Stock Directors, and give advice, but shall not be allowed to vote.
4. The Association shall be organized by those persons who have paid three- fifths of the amount of stock for which they have subscribed, and they shall choose from their own number a President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Those officers shall be ex officio Trustees of all the property of the Association, and members of the Board of Stock Directors and of the Board of Industrial Directors. They shall be chosen annually by a majority of two-thirds of the votes of actual mem- bers ; every officer of the Stock Company and of the Industrial Community shall be chosen annually by a like majority of each body, respectively ; and in all cases the voting shall be by ballot.
5. The President, Treasurer, and Secretary, with four additional members chosen from the Industrial Community, shall constitute a Board for the admis- sion of new members, by a unanimous vote ; and two-thirds of the votes of mem- bers of the Association at a regular meeting shall be requisite to the expulsion of
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HISTORY OF FLORENCE.
a member, the decision to be confirmed by a similar majority at the next regular meeting.
6. [Same as Article XVI.]
II. STOCK COMPANY.
7. The Board of Directors of the Stock Company shall consist of the Presi- dent, Treasurer, and Secretary of the Association, and of four additional mem- bers.
8. The Stock shall be in shares of one hundred dollars each ; the Stock sub- scription shall be open until the subscriptions shall amount to one hundred thou- sand dollars ; and those subscribers only who have paid three-fifths of their subscriptions shall be entitled to vote.
9. Stock may be paid in money or some equivalent, at the option of the Stock Directors ; and if a person without any capital shall be deemed eligible as a member of the Association, and shall be desirous of subscribing stock, he shall be permitted to subscribe for one or more shares to be paid from the proceeds of his labour ; but he shall not be entitled to vote as a Stockholder or to receive interest or dividends on the sum at his credit, until it shall amount to three-fifths of the Stock which stands in his name.
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