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John Pickering on “Equitable Commerce” (1847)

June 14, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

John Pickering, The working man’s political economy: founded upon the principle of immutable justice and the inalienable rights of man; designed for the promotor of national reform. Cincinnati : Stereotyped in Warren’s new patent method by Thomas Varney, 1847. CHAPTER XIX. “EQUITABLE COMMERCE.” A work bearing the above title, published by Josiah Warren, New Harmony, Indiana, has lately appeared before the public. The work professes to be, “A new development of principles for the harmonious adjustment and regulation of the pecuniary, intellectual and moral intercourse of mankind, proposed as elements of new society.” The author of this work, and myself, […]

Left-Libertarian Library Proposal

June 9, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m in the midst of putting together a first-stage proposal for a digital library of left-libertarian and related material, a more “walkable” version of my Libertarian Labyrinth. I would be interested in input at this stage from folks who see themselves using, or perhaps contributing to, such an archive. For those unfamiliar with my general archiving project, I’ve been amassing public domain anarchist texts, with a heavy emphasis on William B. Greene and the mutualist tradition, in the Labyrinth archive and at the From the Libertarian Library blog. My collection strategy has been to ignore questions of ideological purity and […]

on the “Boston House of Equity,” 3/26/1856

June 9, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

“To Correspondents,” Boston Investigator, 25, 48 (March 26, 1856), 3. “J. N.”—The “Boston House of Equity” (established for the sale of provisions and groceries at about wholesale prices or a small advance upon cost,) and the “People’s Paper,” (pledged to advocate the enterprise,) have both failed or suspended operations.—The principle, however, upon which the movement was founded was a very good one, and deserved to succeed; but in a city where rent and labor are high, such an experiment is doubtful, even if well managed, and this probably was not. It undertook to do more than it had means to […]

Peaceful Revolutionist: contents

June 9, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

The Peaceful Revolutionist: Contents [Monthly; Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1833)-v. 1, no. 4 (Apr. 5, 1833); v. 2, no. 1 (May 1848).] Volume 1 No. 1: January, 1833 Volume 1 No. 2: February 5, 1833 5. Surrounding Circumstances 6 (?): Of Our State Difficulties (J.W.) 6: Principles and Progress of an Experiment of Rational Social Intercourse Continued 7: Written on Hearing Unwelcome News (poem: J.W.) Progress of Equal Exchange in England 8: Society as it Is: The Causes of Its Evils, and the Practical Applications of the Proposed Remedies “Themistocles said…” A General Convention of the States “The two […]

A Taste of Lucifer

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Lucifer the Lightbearer, aside from having one of the more provocative and wonderful names ever, was an important anarchist newspaper. Originally the Kansas Liberal of Valley Falls, and eventually the American Journal of Eugenics, it was, throughout its incarnations, it was concerned with marital and sexual freedom, as well as more strictly political aspects of anarchism. I have made a number of issues available in scanned pdf form. They are unlovely, multi-generation reproductions, but scanned at a resolution where they are at least usable. Dana Ward’s Anarchy Archives also includes some transcriptions from Lucifer.

Modern Times “card” in The Circular

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

[notice], The Circular, 2, 41 (April 6, 1853), 162 The Tribune of April 4th, publishes a “Card to the Public,” signed by four leading men at the ‘Modern Times’ settlement on Long Island, setting forth in brief the object of the settlement, the advantages it offers to laboring men and women, and the terms of admission. The object of the settlement is “to build a large town, or ‘Equity Village,’ upon just and reciprocal principles,” based on the philosophy of “Cost the limit of Price,’ and the ‘Sovereignty of the Individual,’ as set forth in the publications of Josiah Warren […]

Stephen Pearl Andrews “converts”

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

“Literary,” The Independent, 3, 111 (January 16, 1851), 16. “Mr. S. P. Andrews has become a convert to what purports to be a New Theory of Society, discovered by Mr. Josiah Warren, of Indiana, formerly of New Harmony. To exhibit the system, he has commenced a series, or periodical issue of pamphlets, under the title of “The Science of Society: The New Constitution of Government, in the Sovereignty of the Individual, as the Final Development of Protestantism, Democracy, and Socialism.” We opine he will have some hard problems to solve before he succeeds in converting the people to his doctrine, […]

note on “Letter from Josiah Warren”

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

[notice], Boston Investigator, 19, 21 (September 25, 1849), 3. The letter of friend Warren, in another column, should not be passed over on account of its length. It is the first of a series of familiar correspondence on one of the most important questions of the day, and will be found very interesting.

Josiah Warren: from the National Reformer

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

[notice], Boston Investigator, 19, 2 (May 16, 1849), 2. Josiah Warren, the indefatigable pioneer of Reform, accompanied by Amos E. Senter, and his accomplished wife, passed through here last week to join the brotherhood who give “Labor for Labor,” in Utopia. A few friends called upon them, and had a graphic sketch of the cheering reception given to friend Warren’s views, in Boston; where, during their exposition in public, the closest scrutiny of questioning brough only satisfactory responses, and faully satisfied the most skeptical opponents of progress, that “Equitable Commerce,” which makes “cost the limit of price,” is the true […]

Equitable Commerce [extract]

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

“Equitable Commerce,” Boston Investigator, 19, 2 (May 16, 1849), 2. Equitable Commerce. We extract the following paragraphs from a pamphlet with this title, by Josiah Warren, published at Utopia, Ohio:— If a traveller in a hot day, stops at a farm house and asks for a drink of water, he generally gels it without any thought of price. Why?—Because it costs nothing, or its cost is immaterial. If the traveller was so thirsty that he would give a dollar for the water rather than not have it, this would be the value of the water to him; and if the […]