第59章 TO THE COUNTRY!--THE FARM COLONY.(6)

There are few animals more useful than the pig.He will eat anything,live anywhere,and almost every particle of him,from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail,is capable of being converted into a saleable commodity.Your pig also is a great producer of manure,and agriculture is after all largely a matter of manure.Treat the land well and it will treat you well.With our piggery in connection with our Farm Colony there would be no lack of manure.

With the piggery there would grow up a great bacon factory for curing,and that again would make more work.Then as for sausages they would be produced literally by the mile,and all made of the best meat instead of being manufactured out of the very objectionable ingredients too often stowed away in that poor man's favourite ration.

Food,however,is only one of the materials which will be collected by the Household Salvage Brigade.The barges which float down the river with the tide,laden to the brim with the cast-off waste of half a million homes,will bring down an enormous quantity of material which cannot be eaten even by pigs.There will be,for instance,the old bones.At present it pays speculators to go to the prairies of America and gather up the bleached bones of the dead buffaloes,in order to make manure.It pays manufacturers to bring bones from the end of the earth in order to grind them up for use on our fields.

But the waste bones of London;who collects them?I see,as in a vision,barge loads upon barge loads of bones floating down the Thames to the great Bone Factory.Some of the best will yield material for knife handles and buttons,and the numberless articles which will afford ample opportunity in the long winter evenings for the acquisition of skill on the part of our Colonist carvers,while the rest will go straight to the Manure Mill.There will be a constant demand for manure on the part of our ever-increasing nests of new Colonies and our Co-operative Farm,every man in which will be educated in the great doctrine that there is no good agriculture without liberal manuring.And here will be an unfailing source of supply.

Among the material which comes down will be an immense quantity of greasy matter,bits of fat,suet and lard,tallow,strong butter,and all the rancid fat of a great city.For all that we shall have to find use.The best of it will make waggon grease,the rest,after due boiling and straining,will form the nucleus of the raw material which will make our Social Soap a household word throughout the kingdom.

After the Manure Works,the Soap Factory will be the natural adjunct of our operations.

The fourth great output of the daily waste of London will be waste paper and rags,which,after being chemically treated,and duly manipulated by machinery,will be re-issued to the world in the shape of paper.The Salvation Army consumes no less than thirty tons of paper every week.Here,therefore,would be one customer for as much paper as the new mill would be able to turn out at the onset;paper on which we could print the glad tidings of great joy,and tell the poor of all nations the news of salvation for earth and Heaven,full,present,and free to all the children of men.

Then comes the tin.It will go hard with us if we cannot find some way of utilizing these tins,whether we make them into flowerpots with a coat of enamel,or convert them into ornaments,or cut them up for toys or some other purpose.My officers have been instructed to make an exhaustive report on the way the refuse collectors of Paris deal with the sardine tins.The industry of making tin toys will be one which can be practised better in the Farm Colony than in the City.

If necessary,we shall bring an accomplished workman from France,who will teach our people the way of dealing with the tin.

In connection with all this it is obvious there would be a constant demand for packing cases,for twine,rope,and for boxes of all kinds;for carts and cars;and,in short,we should before long have a complete community practising almost all the trades that are to be found in London,except the keeping of grog shops,the whole being worked upon co-operative principles,but co-operation not for the benefit of the individual co-operator,but for the benefit of the sunken mass that lies behind it.

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF COLONISTS.

A document containing the Orders and Regulations for the Government of the Colony must be approved and signed by every Colonist before admission.Amongst other things there will be the following:--1.All Officers must be treated respectfully and implicitly obeyed.

2.The use of intoxicants strictly prohibited,none being allowed within its borders.Any Colonist guilty of violating this Order to be expelled,and that on the first offence.

3.Expulsion for drunkenness,dishonesty,or falsehood will follow the third offence.

4.Profane language strictly forbidden.

5.No cruelty to be practised on man,woman,child,or animal.

6.Serious offenders against the virtue of women,or of children of either sex,to incur immediate expulsion.

7.After a certain period of probation,and a considerable amount of patience,all who will not work to be expelled.

8.The decision of the Governor of the Colony,whether in the City,or the Farm,or Over the Sea,to be binding in all cases.

9.With respect to penalties,the following rules will be acted upon.

The chief reliance for the maintenance of order,as has been observed before,will be placed upon the spirit of love which will prevail throughout the community.But as it cannot be expected to be universally successful,certain penalties will have to be provided:--(a)First offences,except in flagrant cases,will be recorded.

(b)The second offence will be published.

(c)The third offence will incur expulsion or being handed over to the authorities.

Other regulations will be necessary as the Scheme develops.