PEACTICAL UTOPIAS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 86, 11 April 1935, Page 18

PEACTICAL UTOPIAS

A W.E.A. LECTURE

In the third of his short aeries of igt'» lures on ihc subject oi 1 "Utopias,1 given for the .Workers' L'JcluufltJfjoai Association at■tho.Trudcß Hull on I'ues--day evenings, Professor Q, Vf, Veil Zediitz deult with the writings GJf lesd ing Utopiuus who had a conception 0( n Utopia of n prnctlca) miture, mti wlioso work therefore lmd the most illilucncc on our own time.

The Arst wns'Jmnoa Hnrrlngton, an English country gentleman oi smalt n\enns who lived during Cromwell's period. He wns eduented at Trinity College, Oxford, and afterwords tray oiled extensively on th& Continent to complete his education. In tho Nutlier lunds Harrington was able to obsorv* what the people were doing to mould their country,,while in 'Venice ho »«w the eflect .of established institution?) After seeing two republics,!at work, he came back to England at n tltrio of great political unrest, and his mind was therefore directed to political rather than social reform. Though a Republican, Harrington followed Charles the First to the. scaffold, and consequently suffered tor his opinions, enduring a long imprisonment, during the reign of Charles the Second His great work, "Oceana." was a political Utopian romance . based on' a Consti tution like Plato's Laws, and the scene of which was laid in'an imaginary country just about where New Zea land is situated. Its central idea; was the sovereignty of the people, (uidi the author looked to1 a republic -with a Reign of Law in a written Constitution. He believed that a perfect political government would secure alli other/perfections, ari<3 he stresses.,the..political importance of the distributibri' ot-prb-perty, recognising that the economic element in a State determines its government. In the history of political thought Harrington was a pathfinder, and his ideas had a tremendous vogue 200 years later when the Americans framed their Constitution on his writings. He believed that it was easier to effect a balance of property in.a republic, and he advocated sovietic methods of election and rotation of all offices and '• three-year terms, with an annual retirement of one-third. He also instituted a scheme of adult education for the people. ■: ; '

VOLTAIRE AND ROUSSEAU.

The upheaval caused by the, French Revolution brought forth the work of two eminent Utopians whose ideas and outlook were entirely different. They were Voltaire and Rousseau. Voltaire was not a believer in revolution, and he held that the emancipation of man could be brought about by self-educa-tion. He believed in freedom of thought and liberty of discussion, and was keen on acquiring property. Rousseau was a completely different person in every way, and belonged to the lower strata of society. He made a passionate plea for the restoration of the Golden Age by a return to nature. Voltaire and Rousseau between them brought about a great upheaval, and many abuses were swept away. The people were on new ground and felt a curious sense, of dissatisfaction when they began to realise .that the talk of "Equality" did not really bring about equality. .The backward idea of progress >yas prevalent, buti there was still a note. ol optimism in the human mind that society, could be changed for the better; , , The nineteenth century produced a swarm of Utopias* and they were all the work of practical men who yet were dreamers of perfection. They dreamt of a reconstruction of society which would; be the result of deliberate, purpose imposed on all lor trie good of all. They, were all martyr*,; vet still in essence looked, back;W.,.a past age of perfection. Rousseau's idek dominated their minds rather than that of Voltaire, and they held to the dogma of the primitive goodness of man. Professor Yon Zedlitz then went .on to deal with the Utopias of Morelly. Babeuf, Cabet, and Fourier, and gaye a detailed analysis of each.The^ub-. iect of his final lecture will be "The Role of Utopias in Progress. ; ;^,