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Experiment in Utopia: The United Order of Richfield 1874-1877
EXPERIMENT IN UTOPIA The United Order of Richfield 1874-1877
BY FERAMORZ Y. FOX
INTRODUCTION
Experimentation with economic and social institutions was characteristic of the American frontier. America's pioneers were not "standpatters"; they did not hesitate to modify the arrangements under which they lived and worked. Many of the unique experiences in the nation's history were products of this incessant change and experimentation.
Perhaps the most interesting and instructive experiment in pioneer Utah was the attempt by Brigham Young and his associates to institute the "United Order of Enoch." More than a hundred of these cooperative community Utopias were established in Mormon localities in the West during the 1870's. Prompted by forces which threatened the political and economic independence of the Mormon people, and by the obvious advantages of cooperative activity in achieving common social and economic goals, the United Orders illustrate the fundamental idealism of Brigham Young and his followers in seeking to realize the status of Jesus' apostles: "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men, as every man had need."
Four types of United Orders were established:
1. In certain communities every producer was asked to assign his economic property (land, livestock, tools) to a community cooperative, and the labor of all was directed by an elected board of management. Each shared in the common product according to his contribution in labor and property. This type of order had first been established at St. George during the winter of 1873-74, and was duplicated in many "Mormon valleys," including Sevier County.
2. In other communities this collectivization was carried one step further by the maintenance of communal living. Everyone ate in a common dining hall, wore clothes from the same bolts of cloth, and shared more or less equally in the common product. Reverently referred to as "the Gospel Plan," this arrangement was followed at Orderville, Utah; Bunkerville, Nevada; and at several Mormon settlements in Arizona.
3. Some of the larger and more complex communities, such as Salt Lake City, participated in the movement by forming a single cooperative enterprise in each ward or division of a city. Thus, one ward might cooperatively establish a woolen factory, another a machine shop, still another a cooperative dairy.
4. Finally, in Brigham City and Hyrum, Utah, and at Paris, Idaho, the establishment of independent cooperative enterprises multiplied until virtually all aspects of community economic life were managed by a central board of cooperatives, with almost universal ownership of cooperative shares, and with virtually all settlers employed within the cooperative network.
Although most of the United Orders were dissolved within three years after their founding, the objectives — cooperative labor, cooperative investment, and greater equality in distribution—remained dominant motifs in Utah's economy for many years. Despite their lasting influence on Mormon thought and practice, however, few of these orders have been objects of scholarly investigation. Much the most intimate study of the workings of the United Order in Utah communities was compiled by the late Dr. Feramorz Young Fox, president of the L.D.S. Business College in Salt Lake City from 1926 to 1948. President Fox's fascinating treatise, "Experiments in Cooperation and Social Security Among the Mormons: A Study of Joseph Smith's Order of Stewardships, Cooperation, and Brigham Young's United Order," completed in 1937, was never published. Prior to his death in 1957, however, President Fox left a typewritten copy in the L.D.S. Church Historian's Library and generously permitted the Utah State University Library to reproduce his personal copy. With the consent of Mrs. Anna Wilcken Fox, the present article has been prepared from Chapter IX of "Experiments," which was entitled "The United Order in Sevier Stake." This chapter was selected for publication at this time because 1964 marks the 100th anniversary of Richfield's settlement. The Utah State Historical Society chose to recognize the centennial by publishing Dr. Fox's study. Other chapters deal with "Joseph Smith's Plan for Social Security," "Cooperation in Irrigation," "Cooperative Communities," "The United Order of St. George," and the "Orderville United Order."
Because of limitations of space, the original chapter by President Fox has been reduced by almost one-half. This has necessitated some rewriting; and in a case or two new material added. But, in general, President Fox's own phrasing and analysis have been preserved. The title and section headings were provided by the editor. Unless otherwise noted, President Fox's article is based upon a study of manuscript records in the L.D.S. Church Historian's Library, Salt Lake City. These include: "History of Sevier Stake," "Minute Book of the Richfield United Order," "Richfield United Order Record," and "History of St. George Stake."
THE UNITED ORDER OF SEVIER STAKE
Beginnings were made in the settlement of Richfield, county seat of Sevier County, during the 1860's; but the Black Hawk Indian War of 1865-67 forced the abandonment of the Sevier country. Families began to return in the fall of 1870. By March 1874, the village of Richfield had a population of 145 families, comprising a total of 753 persons. The material possessions of most of these families consisted of the few necessities that could be brought in by team and wagon. Though a few houses, mostly of one room each, had been built, many families were still crudely sheltered in their covered wagons or in dugouts. A large element in the population had so recently arrived from Denmark that instructions presented in public meetings were repeated in Danish.
Before 1874, the Richfield folk had been briefly schooled in the principles of cooperation, and in conjunction with residents of nearby settlements had organized a cooperative general store, gristmill, cattle herd, horse herd, and sheep herd. They had also constructed in a cooperative manner an irrigation canal, and had opened roads into nearby supplies of timber. These roads had made it possible for Richfield's residents to supply their quota of poles (450 poles) for the cooperative Deseret Telegraph line, which was extended to the Sevier settlements in 1872. Nevertheless, although these efforts and their activities in the church had brought Richfield's early settlers into neighborly and friendly contact, they were too recently brought together to have developed strong group loyalties such as are necessary if people are to dwell together as a well-regulated family.
It had been common policy for the L.D.S. Church to place the settlements in each district or valley under a strong spiritual and temporal leader. Called to preside over the Mormon wards in Sevier County in 1872 was Joseph A. Young, son of Brigham Young. Associated with his father in the construction of the Union Pacific and Utah Southern railroads, Joseph Young had accumulated a small fortune which he converted into land, water rights, mills, and livestock in Sevier, becoming by right of ecclesiastical position and wealth the most influential man in the county.
Fully aware of the religious and social ideals of his father, Joseph Young traveled to St. George in the spring of 1874, where he observed the formation of the "first" United Order of Enoch. Upon his return, on April 19, 1874, he organized, on a similar basis, the United Order of Sevier Stake, and in rapid succession set up local units in each of the eight communities in the Sevier region. Rosy pictures were painted at organization meetings. It was expected that the Order would result in greater production, more economical consumption, lower costs for goods produced, higher prices for goods sold, and rising levels of living for all. For example, freighting by team, which because of competition had become a starvation job, would be controlled to yield adequate returns. Such household drudgery as the family wash would be largely eliminated by the use of machinery and the release of nine-tenths of the labor. And $20,000 a year would be saved by the more economical use of teams.
On the other hand, there were misgivings. One brother wisely remarked that "it takes pure people to live pure principles." Although two- thirds of the settlers on the Sevier joined the Order, there were dissenters in every community. In some places as many as half the total number of families refused to join. At the farming settlement of Joseph, 14 miles southwest of Richfield (and named after Joseph A. Young), the bishop demurred, saying that though he expected to die in the church "he could not see the Order." He was immediately released and succeeded by one who was in harmony with the plan. Finally, after President Joseph A. Young had worn himself out in argument and admonition, he won a unanimous vote of support from those present.
Members were permitted to enter the local associations by the subscription of all or part of their property, and in the record many of the names are followed by the phrase, "With all I have." Debtors were advised to clear their obligations before subscribing encumbered property, but as a gesture of good intent were permitted to place their names on the lists.
The stake organization, of which Joseph Young was president, was concerned primarily with the encouragement of intercommunity exchange of products, the development of manufactures, and the opening of roads to Cove Creek and other nearby valleys. The stake U. O. also constructed and operated a tannery, later incorporated as the Sevier County United Order Tannery. However, the United Order was basically a community movement, and the emphasis was upon village self-sufficiency, rather than on intervillage exchange.
THE UNITED ORDER OF RICHFIELD
In a sense the Richfield Order got off to a bad start. There was little time for ripening of ideas or maturing of plans. While Joseph A. Young had brought back some first-hand observations of beginnings at St. George and a copy of the articles of association for the Order at that place, he remarked at the organization meeting in Richfield that all speculation about the Order was vain, and that the only way to comprehend it was to get it into operation and profit by day-to-day experience. Thus, the first year was one of intense idealism, but hasty preparations and tentative decisions. In the making of decisions, all members possessed equal voting power, regardless of property contributed. This setup, said Erastus Snow, leader of the Mormons in southern Utah, was characteristic of "the Gospel Plan," as distinguished from the corporate plan which was adopted later. In keeping with the rule of choosing the ranking ecclesiast as president, Joseph Young was elected to this office and remained president and superintendent until his untimely death in August 1875. He was succeeded by the Richfield bishop, William H. Seegmiller, who served until the fall of 1876, when he declined re-election because he was in disfavor with Brigham Young. Seegmiller was succeeded by Lars P. Christiansen, but continued to be the real leader of the Order in the capacity of general superintendent.
Four-fifths of the residents of Richfield (ultimately 135 families) entered the Order, and the door was kept wide open for the admission of new settlers who cared to come. After the harvest, teams were sent to bring in those who had no means of their own to make the journey from northern settlements. "We have sent our teams," wrote one member, "for emigrants and for poor, whenever they have desired to come here, and Saints even from Bear Lake to St.
George have come here to join the Order." According to a statement by Joseph Young, the qualification for membership was not the amount of money possessed by the individual, but
The articles of association, modeled after the St. George United Order, required all the time, labor, energy, and ability of a member and such property as he wished to invest. It was decided at Richfield to retain as individual stewardships homes and such domestic animals as the family cow, pigs, and chickens. All else was "turned in" at appraised values. Much of the spring planting had been done when the Order was organized on April 19. As there were as yet no legal titles to land, appraised values were agreed upon at $3.00 an acre for prepared land and $1.00 an acre additional for seed. A farmer who turned into the Order a 10-acre piece planted to grain received a book credit of $40.00. Horses, cattle, and sheep were turned in at appraised values, or if a member had previously invested his surplus livestock in one of the several cooperative herds, his shares were transferred to the Order.
In the spirit of equality on which the Order was founded, a first concern was to provide creature comforts to all, as far as the resources of the association would permit. Cows were supplied to every family. An inventory revealed that among them all they possessed 9,150 pounds of flour, barely a month's supply. Thus, it was necessary to borrow grain from northern settlements on the credit of the Order, and charges were made on the books for family requisitions. Joseph A. Young set a fine example by distributing his extra clothing, and a supply of ducking was purchased for distribution to those in greatest need. Even so, many were shabbily and inadequately clad, though better off, no doubt, than they would have been outside the Order. An attempt to obtain on credit $500 worth of cloth from the Provo Woolen Mills, to be paid indirectly by labor on the St. George Temple, failed. After harvest exchanges were made for grain — always an equivalent for cash. Meat was supplied from the co-op herds at the rate of two beeves a week.
Every family without adequate shelter wanted a house, and those that had provided a room or two by their own exertions wanted more. There were many who needed fences, pig pens, poultry houses, and outdoor privies. It was one of the dreams of the advocates of the Order that such requirements could be provided more economically and more promptly through systematic utilization of labor than by the old individualistic methods. Combined farming would, it was thought, release labor for mechanical pursuits. Joseph A. Young had a steam sawmill that went with the rest of his property into the association and became the basis of a lumber department that was feverishly busy all the time until winter closed the hastily-constructed roads.
The demand for construction was particularly acute. A committee of the board, made up of representatives of the building trades, carpenters, rock layers, and adobe layers, looked after all building requirements. The three members of this committee began by making a survey of needs and an inventory of materials. The responsibility looked forbidding, and there were frequent disputes within the membership followed by resignations and reorganization. Stability was temporarily achieved within six weeks and the committee continued to function as an arbiter of needs, commissary of supplies, and coordinator of labor. But the problems were insuperable. In approving plans for houses, the committee was expected to be guided by considerations of taste, comfort, and economy. But the first applicant had to modify his plans and accept a less expensive shelter; other applications were filed, the sawmill worked at capacity, and delays became longer and longer. Counting roadbuilders, haulers, and the mechanics used in construction, about 35 men were used in providing shelter. Yet, from the viewpoint of the Order, houses were "dead property" and added nothing to the ability to produce more grain, wool, and hides.
The principle of equality required the adjustment of wages, piecerates, and prices, so that farmers, unskilled laborers, and mechanics would receive approximately the same credits and work approximately the same number of hours. Accordingly, the eight-hour day was accepted as standard, with $1.50 a day for a man and $3.00 for a man and team. Mechanical work, it was thought, could be done under a contract system, but the problem proved so difficult that specific recommendations were deferred. The sawmill was operated as a cooperative business and delivered the finished product to the Order at agreed rates per thousand feet. Piecerates per thousand were to be agreed upon for stockers, sawyers, haulers, and sellers. Similar arrangements were planned for other activities including farming and herding.
Meanwhile, the members were urged to be diligent in their labors, though they had only the vaguest idea as to what they would realize from it. Most of them were willing to accept the situation on faith, and the block teachers were sent to all the homes to urge diligence. Special difficulty was met in irrigation, as running water is not amenable to eight-hour rules. Much may be guessed from a note in the minute book that the block teachers were to see if the Order members would "give all their time, and if not, why not."
At harvest time, particularly with threshing, the eight-hour day interfered seriously. The Order had purchased a thresher in Salt Lake City in late August, with which threshing proceeded slowly owing to the indifference of the laborers assigned to the task. A competing machine came in from Fillmore, and despite the need of the Order to avoid loss of toll grain, managed to get some work from members who laid claim to the stacks from their own farms. At the end of the season, it was stated that the Order thresher had not done a very good business, but no blame was attached to the overseer.
It was foreseen that there would be attempts at withdrawal. In the original agreements, therefore, capital was entered for five years and withdrawal penalized by the retention of one-half its book value. This procedure was without legal sanction and was enforceable only by the good faith of the members. In the phraseology of the church's Doctrine and Covenants, members entered the Order by a "covenant that could not be broken." Notwithstanding, there were those at Richfield who took these arrangements lightly, and at harvest time helped themselves to what they judged was a fair share of the grain. Encouraged by these high-handed actions, still others undertook to recover the yields of their lands after the threshed grains were in the bins. Following the order of the church, these actions were taken before the Quorum of Teachers, which found in favor of the Order and demanded a settlement from the offending brethren who otherwise would be branded as covenant-breakers. Later, the United Order board summoned the chief offender to appear—a man who, though he had been a member of the original board and had placed all his possessions into the Order, pleaded ignorance of its rules. His position was emphatically pointed out to him, as one board member after another spoke against his actions and labeled him as a covenant-breaker whose offense was like that of the betrayer of Jesus. To regain the confidence of his brethren he was required to restore what he had taken.
THE INCORPORATED ORDER
While the Richfield Order and those at other places were gaining significant though perplexing and painful experience, general church authorities in Salt Lake City were engaged in revamping the plans for the various orders and moulding the system into a series of stock companies with legal protection for capital. On his way south to St. George in August 1874, Erastus Snow visited Richfield and explained the standard articles of incorporation. These were discussed in subsequent mass meetings in both English and Danish. Titles to real property were reconveyed by the association to the original owners, and new schedules of the property to be invested were prepared and transferred to the Order by trust-deed or lease. The Order was duly incorporated on November 9, 1874, with two-thirds of the village folk supporting the plan. The authorized capital was $ 1 million, with shares valued at $25.00 par. Shareholdings were indicated as capital credits according to appraised values, and fractional shares were recognized. The names of 139 subscribers with schedules of property are attached to the articles of incorporation.
The stewardship principle observed at the inception of the Order was still applied, so that homes and farmyard stock, exclusive of teams, were omitted from invested capital. Most of the members had little else and it is not surprising to discover that about half of the subscribers invested $50.00 or less. Joseph A. Young and his Richfield wife — he had another family in the Order at Gunnison and one in Salt Lake City — held $30,000 in capital stock, more than all other stockholders combined. Joseph A. Young's schedule is so significant in what it reveals of the nature of productive property at the time and of the absorption of local cooperatives by the Order, that it is reproduced below: *
Largely through the investments of Joseph Young, the Richfield Order came to hold nine-tenths of the stock in the Sevier Horse Herd (200 head), and three-fifths of the stock in the Sevier Cattle Herd (800 head). The Order also owned 1,700 sheep. In general, a subscriber who was well enough off to turn over a span of mules with harness and wagon — an outfit valued at around $500 — was a comparatively large stockholder. Many were permitted to acquire a share of stock in exchange for labor, a means adopted to bring into the Order those worthy of admission but too poor to have any economic property.
Few changes were effected in the nature and operation of the Order by incorporation. The most important change was the power granted to the board to prevent the withdrawal, at any time, of invested capital. The board functioned through committees appointed to supervise the various activities and interests of the Order, the duties of which were modified as experience dictated. Board meetings were held every two or three days and required hours of time of the directors. At first, every request for cash or equivalent was acted on by the board. A member could not go fishing, visit his relations a few miles away, or attend the general church conference in Salt Lake City without a grant of released time by the board. A few quotations taken from the Richfield United Order Record are given to indicate the extent of control that the board deemed it necessary to exercise:
Bro. Swen Borgquist met with the Board and stated his circumstances and wished to be assisted in his present destitute condition or released to go off and earn means to clothe his family.
Moved by Bro. H. P. Miller that Bro. Borgquist be instructed to be patient and trust in the Lord and share with us. Motion seconded and carried.
Bishop Seegmiller stated the reasons of Bro. Brandley's going to Salt Lake; said F. W. Ellerbeck had telegraphed for him to come and assist in laying the city waterpipes — had written him previously and offered him three dollars per day in cash. Bishop Seegmiller had sanctioned his going and had instructed him that what means he had left, over and above his board bill and necessary expenditure, be deposited with the Z. C. M. I. to our credit on their account against us. Action approved of.
Resolved that all persons whose labor is not entirely directed by the Board furnish an itemized and explanatory monthly report to the secretary in writing to be presented to the Board.
Moved by H. P. Miller that G. Ence's pigs be taken to the gristmill to be fed there for the use of the Order, he having credit for the same and being allowed to retain and feed one for his extra trouble; motion carried.
Bishop Seegmiller stated that Godfrey Hafen desired to go north to procure mulberry trees. Moved by H. M. Petersen that the request of G. Hafen in regard to going to the City for mulberry cuttings be laid over till spring, motion carried.
Simon Christensen met with the Board, said last season he desired to get a pig, applied to the brethren in the Order, but did not succeed, he therefore purchased one from H. C. Holdensgaard, promising to pay grain after harvest, namely four bushels of wheat for the same, which he would like to have paid.
Moved by R. Ramsay that the debt of Simon Christensen to H. C. Holdensgaard as stated by him be paid, with the understanding that no more debts be contracted without the consent of the Board; motion carried.
Bro. Swen Borgquist met with the Board; stated that his brother in the city desires him to come to Salt Lake City and take charge of his harness shop the beginning of the following month for one month; stated that he needs a stove very much, which he could procure by going to the city.
Resolved, that if on inquiry Bro. Borgquist can make satisfactory arrangements, he be permitted to go.
A note was read from T. S. Kenner, stating that as he had now returned, he desired employment, having been absent to Beaver for a short time, without the consent of the Board.
Resolved, that T. S. Kenner be required to appear before the Board and give an account of his absence before we give him any more employment.
Later the board used the device of an executive committee to expedite business and economize time. Too late the practice of holding frequent discussions of problems with all the stockholders was inaugurated. At such meetings, which were held semimonthly during the final year of the Order's existence, a good deal of pent-up emotion was released. But the device was inadequate to turn sentiment against the dissolution which was eventually demanded.
PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES
It was an early decision that most kinds of work were to be done by contract, based on cash prices, with the surplus earned over and above the sustenance of each laborer and his family placed to his credit on capital stock. At the time the Order was launched in 1874, spring planting was well advanced, and the board of management attempted immediately to effect a classification of labor to realize the promised economies. Mechanics such as carpenters, adobe layers, blacksmiths, and shoemakers, were relieved of any farming operations in which they may have been engaged, and farming was carried on as a full-time specialized occupation. Farming lands were divided into three zones, and a superintendent for each zone directed the agricultural laborers. As with their co-partners in the trades, the farmers adopted the eight-hour day and were credited with wages at the agreed rates of $ 1.50 a day.
Though farm labor was in general much more efficient than previously, there was complaint about indolence and indifference. The assurance of regular wages without regard to intensity of application proved to be a great temptation to those disinclined to hard work. Accordingly, the board changed the plan for the second and subsequent years and organized eight "large" farms of 150 acres, with a foreman and crew of four men for each, chosen by lot. The Order supplied each crew with a team, wagon, tools, and seed, and required that all their production be turned into the common storehouse. Each crew member was allowed a share of the yield as credits on the Order books. The incentive thus provided was weakened by delay on the part of the board in fixing the basis of division between the Order and the farm crews. The board struggled with the problem but delayed the answer pending a study of the wage and price structure to be set up to establish comparative equality among the various classes of labor. It was more than a year before the rates were fixed. Impatience for a definite understanding was met by exhortation to cultivate faith in the Order plan and unselfishness in adherence to its principles. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the uncertainties surrounding their wage-rates, farmers in general worked with diligence and showed improving results each year. Both in 1874 and in 1875 grain had to be borrowed from distant communities. The yield of wheat in the latter year was 12,000 bushels as compared with 5,000 in 1874. It was still greater in 1876. In addition to wheat, oats, and barley, the farmers raised potatoes.
Hay lands were attended by a separate company, and there were ten four-acre plots of sugar cane (in 1875), each cared for by a manager with necessary help. Godfrey Hafen set out a nursery. The yield of hay is reported to have been adequate, the cane crop a failure. The Order was terminated before it could benefit from the nursery. It will be recalled that each family had its own acre lot and raised garden vegetables. No reckoning was kept of the products of the home garden, it being assumed that approximate equality was attained by the possession of equal areas by all families. There must have been in fact great differences in such incomes due to differences in ability and size of family.
As noted above, wages were based on an eight-hour day in 1874, with the standard fixed at $1.50 a day. No wages were actually paid but earnings were entered on the books as credits to be drawn against for necessary supplies. Because of disappointing crop yields, however, it was impossible to pay the credits earned with crops produced and goods and services available from the mechanical departments. Obviously, the $1.50 standard was excessive, as Order officials later realized.
The majority were reasonable and courageous and willing to accept adversity as the price of ultimate success; but there were many who took a very selfish view and demanded the book value of their earnings in storepay. The board of management was harassed with requests that it could not justly meet. Accordingly, at the general meeting held at the beginning of the year 1875, it was agreed on recommendation of Joseph A. Young that the 10-hour day become the standard. Some jobs were changed from a day wage to a piece-rate basis of remuneration. The herder who took the cows out to graze was allowed one cent a head per day; he hired two boys to assist and was charged for the use of horses. Farmers in 1875 were allowed 7/% cents a pound net for grain produced and l /$ cents a pound net for potatoes. This proved to be relatively excessive and the next year they were allowed one cent a pound on grain, J/3 cents a pound on potatoes, but were required to bear half the expense for repair of equipment and shoeing of teams. The sawmill gang worked on a contract (1876) and received $11.00 on every $25.00 of lumber produced, meeting breakage expense below $15.00.
Where piece-rates were impracticable, day wages were fixed by the board but not with absolute uniformity. The best or most skilled workers were credited with $2.00 a day, and others as the board decided. The harness-maker, the chief blacksmith, and the schoolteacher received the maximum and their assistants $ 1.50 a day. Those with large families often were granted additional credits on the assumption that their children would produce a surplus when they grew up.
Against the credits members were charged for withdrawals. There was always a shortage of cash and its equivalent, store-pay. Grain was readily convertible and in fact was frequently used in making cash exchanges, but the Order was a borrower of grain in 1874 and in 1875 and was later making an heroic effort to fall in line with the counsel of President Brigham Young to store grain for future security. Even in a year of heavy yield, the grain could all have been exhausted in exchange for storegoods and cash.
A few examples will make vivid to the reader just what the board was up against. One George Frazer was granted in January 1875 an order for $100.00 to assist him in starting housekeeping. Five weeks later he asked for $15.00 more to pay debts in Provo and redeem his watch. Request denied. In April a brother who petitioned for $10.00 was disgruntled at receiving only $3.00 and another who wished to go away to earn cash was advised to stick to the Order and trust in the Lord. The petition of another for a new hat so that he might make a visit to the temple in Salt Lake City was granted (February 1876). Another was allowed 50 cents a week for hired help for his sick wife during his own necessary absence from Richfield.
The record is full of similar requests that occupied the board for hours at their frequent sessions. It should be borne in mind that most of the petitioners had book credits for work performed and only wished to draw a part of their earnings. Many, of course, either because of the size of family or of indolence, overdrew their credits, which was inevitably the case with the invalid and the infirm. The haphazard and unequal dispensing of store-pay led to an attempt at uniformity in December 1876, when the following rules were adopted:
1. That we allow male members above 14 years of age to draw 6 percent of their earnings and 1 percent for each wife and l 1/2 percent for each child under 14 years of age in shoes, cash articles, and store-pay.
2. That we allow all female members 25 percent of their earnings and 10 percent more for each child under the age of 8 years in shoes and store-pay.
3. That we allow every male member half a day per week for private use and that we require them to labor faithfully the balance of their time.
4. That we have a complete statistic of every family, their occupations, and what they are most suitable for and would like to do.
DIFFICULTY IN ACCUMULATING CAPITAL
Despite strenuous effort, the board found it impossible to keep its grain. For years, Brigham Young had vigorously opposed the sale of grain to "outsiders," and the Richfield United Order had accepted the storage of wheat as a cardinal principle. But the pressure for its conversion into cash was uncontrollable. As with other communities, Richfield had an insistent demand for imported goods — goods that could be had directly or indirectly only for cash. Much attention was given in board meetings to the importance of moving toward community independence, and the tannery with its associated shoe shops was regarded as a step forward. Definite plans for a dairy farm and cheese factory at Rabbit Valley (near Loa, western Wayne County) were terminated by the dissolution of the Order. Some homespun was made and tailors belonging to the society were kept busy.
But the Order was in debt to Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI) in Salt Lake City from the beginning, and was constantly scheming to get cash to settle. It has already been observed that Joseph A. Young in 1874 distributed his extra clothing to those in need to avoid immediate purchasing. In the same year a contract was taken by the several Orders of Sevier County, including Richfield, to do grading for cash wages for the Utah Southern Railroad. In the fall of 1875 the Richfield Order contracted to herd 300 head of stock for the church and some for ZCMI, earnings to be applied on account. The Order was a borrower of grain in 1874 and 1875 but held a surplus after the harvest of the latter year. Some wheat was traded at 80 cents a bushel for cloth from the cooperative cotton factory at Washington, Utah. Some was traded in the spring at $1.50 a bushel to increase the Order's holdings in the Richfield Cooperative Sheep Herd.
The needs of Joseph A. Young's families at Richfield and at Gunnison, after his death in 1875, proved a heavy draft on the cash and grain resources of the Order. Requests could not be denied as there was always the possibility that the Young property might be withdrawn from the association, as indeed was finally the case. In mid-January 1877, ZCMI made demand for payment for goods purchased by the Order for the co-op store. Grain was the only cash equivalent and there was a good market at the mines, but because of Brigham Young's attitude and the rules of the Order, the directors seriously debated before finally deciding to send grain on consignment to an agent at Kanarra. So much grain was disposed of that by the middle of May it was necessary to put the members on rations of eight pounds of flour a week to all over ten years old, six pounds to those between five and ten, and four pounds to children under five. Brother Ence, whose task it was to deliver the flour, thought the plan justified as a check on those families that habitually drew unnecessarily large amounts.
As an additional means of relief, men were sent to earn cash wages at the Horn Silver Mine at Frisco, near Beaver, Utah, which they turned into the Order for book credits. They were allowed 15 per cent for personal use as encouragement. Two who had saved money by boarding themselves instead of paying $8.00 a week were allowed the difference, but the balance was turned in. The attitude of these men at a time when the Order was crumbling is indicative of the high degree of loyalty that they and many others exhibited toward this experiment in communal effort. It was stated in a general membership meeting on August 27, 1877, that in sending men out to work for cash wages the board had "gone against counsel," by which was meant that working at the mines for the Gentiles had been strongly condemned by President Brigham Young. It was also stated that during the year grain had been sacrificed to get cash articles, a policy also condemned. "But," said the speaker dejectedly, "whichever way we turn is against counsel." Though approving the wisdom of the church policy of storing grain, the Richfield United Order had over a four-year period found it impossible to do so.
TREATMENT OF NEWCOMERS
It was well-established Mormon policy to occupy irrigable lands as fully as possible and head-off the influx of non-Mormons. New communities were expected to receive Mormon immigrants freely and local leaders were ambitious to build up their own settlements rapidly. After the establishment of the orders, operating branches were glad to welcome those who avowed their faith in the system and whose motives were apparently honest. Although at first the door to admission at Richfield was wide-open, experience revealed the importance of selection based on the possession of property or of occupational skills needed by the community. A few examples will enable the reader to observe the changing attitude of the board in regard to membership.
October 26, 1874. The board decided to send teams after harvest for many good working people who had made applications to join the Order. November 12,1874. Three teams were sent for the Hafen family and nursery stock.
February 23, 1875. It was decided to accept young men under twenty-one if they were their own masters and in good standing in the Church. February 26, 1875. It was decided to accept the Milford family, though destitute, after they declared to the board that they wished to join the Order "on principle" and not for support.
August 28,1875. Ole Peterson was admitted despite an indebtedness of $50 for immigration expense on condition that he would later be released for a period to work out the debt.
September 16,1875. An applicant was refused because the Order could not use another blacksmith.
February 5, 9, 1876. Members of the Prattville United Order wish to disband and accept membership in the Richfield United Order. It was decided to accept the Prattville members if they settle their debts first.
April 12,1876. A shoemaker from Gunnison was accepted and a team was sent for him.
August 12, 1876. Two applications approved provided the applicants will submit to the inconveniences necessary under present circumstances. November 7, 1876. Rigid restriction of admissions was advocated in a general meeting of stockholders.
February 20, 1877. It was resolved that no more immigrants be sent for at present.
PROBLEMS OF PLANNING
One of the big difficulties in operating a planned society is to regulate labor and consumption so as to achieve at least a rough approximation of economic equality. Under the competitive system the forces of demand and supply are always at work to adjust production to consumption. In the long run, wages will tend to equal the value of the laborer's product. The United Order, in obedience to church teachings that "It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin," aimed at relative equality of effort and of consumption and a steady elevation of the level of living. The proponent of the system, Brigham Young, was under no illusion concerning the necessity of initial sacrifice, but he and his followers anticipated ultimate and comparatively early prosperity.
In Richfield one weakness was the failure to work out a schedule of prices. It was no doubt felt by the directors that since all were (theoretically) working with the same intensity and consuming in the same amount, delay in rendering account on the books was relatively unimportant. That too little had been produced and too much consumed in the first season was painfully obvious. Much of the difficulty was attributed to the eighthour day and some to laziness. In any event, some felt that the shiftless were riding on the backs of the thrifty and the industrious, and that the cure for this evil lay in exhortation and better system. A special committee consisting of a chairman, a farmer, a mechanic, and a laborer was appointed in July 1875 to recommend a schedule of wages and prices, but apparently the committee was unable to agree. Nor did the foremen promptly or completely report the labor of all their subordinates. Thus, it was impossible for the secretary to keep a current record of individual labor credits. No individual knew where he stood, nor could the board determine if he were overdrawn.
In the year 1874, when the Order operated on the Gospel Plan of living as though all were of a family, accounts were of small importance. But they were absolutely essential under the requirements of the corporate plan. It was a regular occurrence for the president of the board to express regret to the members at general meetings that accounts were far behind and to attribute the delay to the procrastination and ignorance of foremen. The members for the most part accepted the explanation with composure and confidence in their leaders. When a faultfinder publicly stated, in June 1876, that many were becoming impatient, he found no support from the audience. By November 1876, the books had been brought up to March 1, covering the operations of the first crop year under the corporation. Some excitement was occasioned by the discovery of some members that they were in debt to the Order. Whether the situation had become worse or better since spring could not be known for an indefinite time.
A member of the board stated that the Order was carrying 100 nonproducers, by which he doubtless meant those whose charges exceeded their credits. He favored rigid limitations on supplies furnished to those in debt. Bishop Seegmiller, more kindly disposed, remarked that it would not be right to cut off supplies so abruptly. The disappointing revelations of the incomplete books created an insistence for more and prompter record-keeping, but the poor secretary toiled over his thankless task in vain, always months behind.
Meanwhile, the directors were learning much about individual differences. That some would work for the glory of God and others only when hungry, was quickly apparent; and Captain John Smith's example was eventually followed. A typical instance: One Sam Rosley demanded storepay to purchase shoes, as he could not get them at the shoe shop (orders on the shoe shop were always months ahead of output). He threatened to seek work outside the Order unless his requests were granted. This challenge to the board was met by a motion to cut off his supplies until he should conform to Order rules. In exactly three months he was back expressing his willingness to work and requested a little store-pay in advance. The board told him he must first bring vouchers for work performed.
There are many such instances in the records. Indolent members were often cited before the board. One had earned only $10.00 credit in six weeks. A good deal of pains was taken to bring such members into line. They were first urged, then commanded, at last expelled.
In addition to difficulties arising from human frailty, and common to all working branches of the Order, the Richfield society had to face a disastrous loss upon the sudden death of President Joseph A. Young on August 5, 1875. Half of all the capital in the Order had been subscribed by him, and his business acumen and leadership had sustained the hope of ultimate success. To have control of his property without his active participation seemed a heavy responsibility. A letter was dispatched to his father, Brigham Young, asking if it would be proper to make everybody stewards over their own property, as had been done in Salt Lake City. Brigham's reply indicates his faith in the original LI. O. principles:
Shortly after the above letter was received disaffection appeared in the Richfield Order that eventually came to the attention of President Brigham Young, occasioning a temporary break between him and the officials of the Order and aggravating the spirit of discouragement that was beginning to weigh upon them. The issue grew out of the desire of L. M. Farnsworth to withdraw his capital, consisting of a recreation and dance hall that he had built and operated for two years before the organization of the Order, and that he had transferred as a subscription to capital stock. With some alterations it was used by the Order for general meetings and for recreation. The board had good reasons for refusing to "buy in" the Farnsworth capital stock; it could not easily spare the hall, and it was furthermore committed to the church policy of holding its grain, the principal source of cash. Moreover, the successful withdrawal of so important a stockholder would set a bad precedent and lead to no end of trouble. Farnsworth carried the matter to President Young and induced him, by representations that there is reason to believe were one-sided, to advise the Order to make a settlement. It is not improbable that President Young was beginning to suspect the competence of the general superintendent of the Order, Bishop W. H. Seegmiller, for the families of Joseph A. Young were having difficulty along with everyone else in the Order in getting ordinary necessities. The condition of the records of account made matters worse, and it was rightly suspected that the Order capital was being slowly consumed. An agreement was finally negotiated by which the Farnsworth capital stock was purchased for $1,250.
Meanwhile, President Young had let Seegmiller know that he expected to dictate in regard to the Joseph A. Young property. In August 1876, B. T. Young, a son of Joseph A. Young, made a request in behalf of his mother at Gunnison for $1,000 at once, and $2,000 in the spring, to make repairs and alterations on her home and meet other expenses. The board decided to do the best it could and notified the applicant that the Young family would be treated fairly, as with other members' families. In October Bishop Seegmiller reported that President Brigham Young was dissatisfied with the treatment accorded his daughters-in-law and their families and that he had said he would withdraw the Joseph A. Young property from the Order. "We must do as he says, and be loyal," the bishop advised his colleagues.
At general meetings in November the members were apprised of the dark cloud hovering over the association and of President Young's expectations that the Joseph A. Young property should yield enough to support the family. His notion that the property was being squandered was correct, it was pointed out, insofar as members were busying themselves with pigs and chickens and gardens to the neglect of the needs of the Order. At the annual stockholders' meeting on November 30, Bishop Seegmiller and Stake President A. K. Thurber declined renominations to the board because, as Seegmiller said, their honesty had been questioned by President Young. The members, however, gave ample evidence of their esteem for the two brethren by voting that they make the nominations to fill vacancies and by prompt certification of their selections. The newly elected board members likewise honored them by requesting that they name the officers, by inviting them to attend all meetings, and by re-appointing Bishop Seegmiller general superintendent.
The new officers undertook to close the breach between President Brigham Young and the Richfield board of management, and to compose the feelings of the members. The president, Lars P. Christiansen, reminded the people that though the Order was beautiful in theory, there were practical difficulties that could only be surmounted by experience. He was sure that President Young had been misinformed by mischiefmakers. Clara F. Young, widow of Joseph A., expressed the opinion that President Brigham Young questioned the ability rather than the integrity of those who had managed the Order. On the authorization of the board, President Christiansen and A. K. Thurber went to St. George to interview President Young at his winter residence and to get his views on questions that had arisen in Richfield but had not been conclusively answered. They were empowered to agree to permit the withdrawal of the Joseph A. Young property on a legal basis if President Young so desired. On their return the brethren read a letter prepared by President Young in answer to the questions submitted and reported that as a result of their visit the president felt much better disposed toward the Order. He had for the time at least deferred any intention of withdrawing the Young family property.
Nevertheless, from that date (January 26, 1877) forward, requisitions of the Young family for "store goods," livestock, equipment, and other provisions were honored with greater liberality, though they were still meager compared with the $3,000 requested by B. T. Young a few months earlier. These requisitions, detailed in full, were a heavy burden to the Order with its very limited liquid resources. And it must not be overlooked that many others were petitioning the board for like consideration.
Nevertheless, the majority of the board still had faith unshaken in the Order and were determined to save it. As a means of economy in living, they proposed the organization of family associations within the Order. The idea met with favor and "The United Family Organization A" came into being, with eight families as members. What they did and the spirit of the attempt may be given in the words of one participant:
The last glimpse we have of this little group was three months later, on the eve of the dissolution of the Richfield United Order, when they were granted a supply of lumber to finish their community edifice.
DISSOLUTION
For months the semimonthly meetings designed to let off steam and acquaint the members with the decisions and activities of the board had been growing more and more vociferous. The explosions of the cantankerous members were not nearly so disheartening as the growing convictions of some who had been strongest in their support that disunion had gone too far to be repaired. "I am leaving the Order," said one member of the board, "because there is no order in it." Into this atmosphere came Apostle Erastus Snow with advice to disincorporate. Two conflicting interests had met in the Order, he said, the poor and those of property. Without disincorporation it would be illegal for the directors, who were under bond, to permit the withdrawal of capital.
With four negative votes the assembly in which Apostle Snow had suggested disincorporation voted to maintain the association in its existing form at least until after harvest. In the interim there was time for deliberation and, though among Saints it should not have been so, for vituperation. Unfortunately, nobody would know until the books were brought up-to-date and balanced just how well or just how poorly the Order had got on financially.
Many were sick at heart at the thought of surrendering the program. They had seen in the Order the beginning of fulfillment of the most cherished dreams of a devout people. Undismayed by cloud or storm they had fervently wished to press on toward the new day. Convinced that the Order had been established to realize the purposes of the Almighty, they regarded continuance as inevitable and preferred advancement, even though difficult and uncertain, to any form of retreat. Opposing these were the wranglers and the wreckers who had lost "the spirit of the Gospel" and with almost undisguised malice and bitterness seized every occasion to attack the good men who had accepted the thankless task of managing the society's affairs. With a grain of truth on their side, such members maligned the movement and declared that the framework of the Order was the work of scheming lawyers who had distorted the original plan to serve "the god of the Gentiles." Between these extremists stood the men of calm, practical, conservative disposition aiming to pacify feelings, to keep the boat on even keel, and get it to port with as much of the cargo as could be saved.
After a meeting August 8, 1877, with a visiting church dignitary, John W. Young (also a son of Brigham), it was decided to bend all efforts to completing the record of individual accounts, and extra clerks were employed to work day and night. The chief lack lay in the determination of labor credits. Several members of the board who had served from the beginning had not yet been credited with wages. Whether due to modesty, indifference, or downright procrastination, this neglect is suggestive of the difficulties that made correct bookkeeping impossible. Now, however, a committee was appointed to recommend a scale of wages. The report was submitted to the board, revised downward and approved, then carried to a meeting of the stockholders, revised a second time, and ratified. This process required two months. In most instances lump sum settlements were arranged, but when day rates were applied the prevailing wage was $2.00. As an example of the standard followed, Bishop Seegmiller was granted $1,500 total for the years 1875 and 1876, and $1.75 a day for 1877. The secretary, J. A. Hellstrom, was granted $1,450 for two years of service and $2.00 a day thereafter.
Meanwhile, though legal steps to dissolve the corporation had not been taken, the property of the Order was in process of distribution. B. T. Young met with the board on September 8 and arranged terms for the release of his father's holdings, agreeing to leave the sawmill for the time being as a pledge against the Young share of any shrinkage in assets. Five per cent was added as a dividend to capital over the entire period of the corporation's existence. Dissolution was ratified on September 20, and an attempt made to return to each member the actual property he had subscribed on coming into the Order. It was voted to rescind debts of those who had served as missionaries during the existence of the Order; to cancel debts of the poor on the recommendation of the bishop; to collect debts from all others; and to pay tithing on crops for 1877 as had been done in each preceding year. Mischief-makers registered their disapproval and added to the general impoverishment by burning the stacked hay and machinery.
It was irregular to distribute property before paying labor, but the procedure was generally considered equitable inasmuch as the owners would share labor losses along with the two-thirds who had no property to begin with. Following the precedent in the settlement with the Young estate, the board voted that six per cent (per annum in this instance) be allowed as a dividend for the use of property. Whether it was paid or entered as a credit is not recorded. At the end of the year a financial report was made showing liabilities (labor and other credits) of $23,000 and resources of $10,000. It was explained that $8,000 had been paid as tithing and $12,000 contributed to the building of temples. These amounts should, it was suggested, be broken down and charged to individual accounts. If this were done the deficit would equal $3,800.
Except for the making of collections and final disbursements over the next few months the Richfield United Order had closed the last chapter. Its history does not make pleasant reading for those who believe it easy to improve on individualistic modes of living, but it does provide much help to the patient social reformer who, though zealous to increase the happiness of men, prefers to have a lamp in his hand as he moves along obscure and uncertain paths toward his goal.
GENERAL PRIESTHOOD MEETING MAY 24, 1874
At this meeting Elders Orson Pratt and John Taylor were present. President Joseph A. Young said he felt to extend a hearty welcome to Elders Pratt and Taylor with their companions. Stated that he had been requested by President Brigham Young and Smith, when on their visit last fall, to organize this as a Stake of Zion, that President Young had said that they would not attend to it at that time, but that he, Joseph A., might do so at any time, that at the last council meeting he had started to organize a stake, had called a High Council and had set some of them apart, but felt constrained to stop there and proceed no further; had since learned from President Young that it would have been better to have acted on written instructions, although as far as he (Jos. A.) had gone it was alright. And he, Joseph A., now felt to ask the Bretheren of the Twelve to proceed to the organization of the stake the same as though nothing had been done. The organization was proceeded with in the following order: Joseph A. Young, nominated and unanimously sustained as President of this
State of Zion. A. K. Thurber as vice-president. The members were then nominated and sustained in the following order: —
Richfield — Nelson Higgins, first member. Salina •— Henry M. Russell, second member. Richfield — Andrew Peterson, third member. Glen wood — Isaac W. Pearce, fourth member. Prattsville — H. C. Jacobs, fifth member. Prattsville —• Charles W. Seegmiller, sixth member. Richfield — Paul Poison, seventh member. Richfield — Gootlieb Ence, eighth member. Joseph — Alonzo L. Farnsworth, ninth member. Monroe — Thomas Hunt, tenth member. Monroe — P. M. Poison, eleventh member. Joseph — Elias Johnson, twelfth member. William G. Baker, Clerk.
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