Ruskin Colony - Cooperative Economics

Cooperative Economics

By requiring that all members of the colony become equal shareholders in the endeavor, Wayland constructed Ruskin so that it operated more as a legally-sanctioned corporation. Every colonist was then, in essence, a stockholder. The colony, with its elected board of directors, was to run much like any other company, except that it would "do all things necessary to make a success, financially and socially, of a co-operative colony." (Coming Nation, Feb. 3, 1894) Ruskin colonists manufactured and marketed pants, "cereal coffee", a vapor bath cabinet, chewing gum, belts and suspenders. The system of work itself changed little from that of the world outside Ruskin in terms of hours devoted to the various industries, however the hours, schedules and rates of pay, and industries selected were all determined by the workers. Ruskinites eventually abolished cash wages and adopted a system of script which was used in exchange for goods within the colony. In securing their economic dependence, members of the settlement also gave ample time to creative crafts, theater, and other intellectual pursuits. At one time late in the history of the colony, there even existed a band which toured southern Georgia.

Many of the products created in Ruskin were intended to supplement the income from the newspaper, Coming Nation, which was the primary source of financial stability. The majority of the colony's money and time was put into the paper, which had at its peak in 1896 around sixty thousand subscribers. Besides being the chief flow of assets, the paper also gave voice to the men and women of the colony throughout its many editors. Although Julius Wayland almost single-handedly founded the colony, he left in 1895 due to conflicts about ownership of the newspaper that ran counter to his claims of collective ownership. Under Alfred S. Edwards, who succeeded Wayland, Coming Nation included articles from the likes of George Herron, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Herbert Casson (who later took up the editorial reigns after Edwards left the colony).

The eventual breakup of the Ruskin colony was due to several elements, the most problematic being the unequal distribution of membership rights of colonists complicated by the "shareholder"-type initial investment fees. Much of the blame lay in the original charter members, which had become entrenched in leadership and direction of Ruskin. One particular issue which drew ideological divisions through the colony was that of polyamorous relationships, or the practice of "free love", within members of the colony. Ruskinites opposed to these beliefs brought harsh criticism down on those who harbored free love sympathies, which were in many ways linked to anarchist currents that had been growing within the colony. This could be traced to Alfred Edward's editorial slant towards anarchism during his time as editor of Coming Nation.