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Title: My Dear Sir
Author: Josiah Warren
Date: March 12, 1853
Language: en
Topics: letter
Source: Retrieved on October 7, 2011 from https://web.archive.org/web/20111007013905/http://www.crispinsartwell.com/warrenletter.htm

Josiah Warren

My Dear Sir

This is a letter in Warren’s bold, flowing hand, dated “Thompson’s

Station, Long Island, New York [i.e. Modern Times]. March 12, /53. It is

addressed to a person in England, whom one might speculate is A.C.

Cuddon. (At the end of True Civilization, Warren suggests that people

responding in England address their correspondence to Cuddon). A

surprising moment comes at the end, when Warren says of the spiritualist

movement then sweeping his circle “it is no delusion.” A few of Warren’s

letters are preserved at the University of Michigan. All but this one

are, in the copies I obtained, illegible due to bleed-through.

---

With much pleasure I received your interesting letter of the 15^(th)

Feb.

There is no danger of your “becoming tedious” and if I don’t always

respond immediately to your valuable communications, I pray you

attribute to a pressure of other matters, or to anything rather than

indifference.

Mr. [Stephen Pearl] Andrews was here just in time to see your letter,

and sat down immediately and wrote to you, which will render much that I

might say, unnecessary. I would very gladly enter minutely into the

consideration of the points at issue between Antient and Modern Times,

but I could not do so with much less space or labor than such as are

embodied in the works already printed. One element of society is so

connected with another that neither can be detached or abstracted from

the other without danger to the whole. One wheel of a coach will not

carry us on our journey. We must have the whole coach and the horses

too, and all must move together; and I feel a degree of timidity in

attempting to move any one part without the others.

Mr Andrews, who is the publisher of the works on “Equity,” will see that

you have a supply as early as possible.

Yes “such leaders as [?] Chambers are positively destroying all correct

notions of right and wrong.” The lead must be taken out of such hands.

The order must be reversed — or rather order must supersede disorder.

Those who have heretofore been followers must be the leaders — the

leaders must become followers — “The last must be first and the first,

last.” The most astonishing thing to see, since I have understood the

world’s wants, is the amazing ignorance with which it has been led and

governed! and I have found in practice, the very best appreciators and

leaders of Equity among those who were in humble positions and who

seemed totally unconscious of their superiority. And we have found those

who are ambitious to lead to be the most incapable of it, and the most

troublesome of any.

You will learn more of my printing inventions now, as I am making them

more public than ever; because I have not till now obtained all the

results which I aimed at. I wish I could at once put you in possession

of them, but this cannot be done by any means short of personal example

and instruction. I will from time to time send you proofs that I have

attained the means of printing from type without the expensive and

tedious process of setting type; and I invite you to take the earliest

opportunity of getting the art and the materials among you. I have

already a patent half through your English law machinery — this was done

more to prevent its being monopolised in that country than for any other

purpose. I wonder if some of you could not complete this, and make it

profitable, as well as remuneration to me? But some one must come here

and learn it practically, or someone must carry it over to you. At

present, no person but myself knows the process, nor would they by any

quantity of experiments be likely to find out all that is indispensable

to the result. I have had these experiments in hand twenty three years!

I see, by your remarks on “land tenures” that you do not fully grasp the

whole of our issue with the world’s wrong. You would have the land a

national interest, a combined interest, a common property. Now the most

prominent point we make against all the world’s institutions and

practices and against all the reforms is that we entirely repudiate all

common or combined or partnership interests and consequently all

national or state interests; and insist upon it that all interests must

be thoroughly individualized before society can begin to be harmonious.

Of course, with us, there can be no such a thing as a nation or state.

There should be only the family of mankind — each individual managing

his own affairs supremely and absolutely, but equitably, with his fellow

man. The ownership of the soil for the sake of order and harmony, for

the sake of disposing with legislation, must be absolute in the

individual, guaranteed by a public sense of justice, the purchases and

sales of it being conducted upon the cost principle, which remunerates

only the labor in the transaction; [this] destroys all landlordism,

profitmongering, or usury as based upon traffic in the soil. I admit

that land tenures are a fundamental consideration and we not the means

of completely and harmoniously adjusting them, I should not now be

writing to you from this place where something like a thousand acres are

sold or for sale to settlers, without a dollar of profit beyond an

equitable compensation for the labor of purchasing, surveying, making

deeds, &c. I respectfully and affectionately invite you and your friends

to look into this and study it, till you see in it all that you desire,

and more than you expect.

I thank you for the handbill. My blood has boiled and trembled in my

veins at every word of the movements of the noble Kossuth and Mazzini,

but at the same time, at best I could but consider that their mission

was to plough up the soil, to disencumber it of rocks and trees.[1] The

planting and culture is necessarily the mission of others.

In all this I often feel envious to know how the present rulers of the

earth would receive “Equity” were it once made known to them. It is

certainly no more at issue with them, than it is with what is generally

called Reform. The strongest argument for despotism is founded upon

individuality, which is the first corner stone of Equity, and which

asserts the absolute right of despotism in every individual over his

own, while despotic governments assert it only for a few, and this from

the absolute necessity of despotic power where there is any power at

all. To have no governmental power at all, there should be no public

interests to manage. All interests must become individualized before we

can dispense with governments or despotisms. This disintegration of

interests is a new proposition. It is precisely the opposite in

principle to reforms which have failed and been rejected and opposed by

the governments as the elements of disorder and “insecurity.” The

governments are right in this view of the ordinary reforms and I

therefore feel anxious to know how they treat Equity when it comes to be

made known. It really seems to me to be the platform upon which rulers

and ruled can amicably meet, shake hands, and weep over the past or look

forward to the future with a feeling of inexpressible joy.

I have not yet received the pamphlets, which I much regret. I thank you

for sending them and shall be glad to read them, but think you will not

need my opinion on them after you have read and understood all our

positions, for they seem to be a kind of standing criticism on all

reform propositions.

Yes, I believe I have had as good opportunities to examine the spiritual

development as any one, the result of all of which is, that I would

advise any one to take all convenient opportunities to examine for

himself, for no description of other persons can do the subject or the

enquirer justice. I would not advise you to incur much expense in this,

as it cannot be long before plenty of opportunities will be presented to

every one without expense. It is no imposture, nor is it a delusion.

Affectionately,

Josiah Warren

(write again soon)

[1] Lajos (Louis) Kossuth (1802–1894) was a Hungarian politician and

liberal dissident, widely beloved of 19^(th)-century reformers.

Giusseppe Mazzini (1805–1872) was a leader in democracy and independence

movements in Italy.