John Bellers Educator of Marx

8/18/2019 John Bellers Educator of Marx

1/6

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John Bellers —Educator of Marx?Author(s): John T. ZepperSource: Science & Society, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 87-91Published by: Guilford PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40402151 .

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2/6

COMMUNICATION

JOHN

BELLERS- EDUCATOR

OF

MARX?

The

name

of

John

Bellers oes

not

ppear

n

any

of theworld

histories

ofeducation y nyAmerican uthor. ven nBritish istoriesfEng-

lish ducation

here s scant

eference

o

this conomistnd his educa-

tional

lans,

s

Hans

pointed

ut.1

However,

Nadezhda

K.

Krupskaya,

the

wife

nd

political

olleague

of Lenin

and

the best

known

oviet

educator

rom 918 to

1939,

dentified

ohn

Bellers s

the

first duca-

tor

in the Marxist radition.2

n

her

history

f Marxian

ducation,

Krupskaya

id notdetail

heeducationaldeas

of Bellers s she did for

other

educators

dentified s

holding

viewsor

plans

consistent ith

Marxism.3

This fact

would lead

one to

conjecture

that

Madame

Krupskaya

id not read

Bellers'

Proposals 4

which

was and is

very

difficulto locate),but became awareofJohnBellersthroughKarl

Marx's

Capital.

Marx mentions

ellers nd

his

writings

en

times

n

the textor

notes

f

Capital?

Marx was

primarily

nterested

n theeconomic

deas

of Bellers such

s land

and labor

s thetrue

riches f

a

nation,

rade

as

more

mportant

han

money,

what

men can do

together

n

large

groups

hat

annot

e done

individually

nd

in

small

groups,

nd

the

labor of

the

poor

as

the

source

mines)

for the

rich.

However,

Marx

does

refer

o educational

omments

s well:

JohnBellers, very henomenonn thehistoryfpoliticalconomy,awmost learlyt

the nd

of

the

1

th

entury,

he

necessity

or

bolishing

he

present

ystem

f

education

1

The

project

f

John

Bellows

f

1696

College

of

Industry)

as not well

known,

Nicholas

Hans,

The

Russian

raditionn

Education

London, 1963),

p.

160.

2

N.K.

Krupskaya,

Public ducation nd

Democracy,

zbrannye

edagogic

eskie

rioz-

vendeniya

Moscow,

957),

p.

138.

3

Ibid.,

p.

138-215.

4

Proposals

or

Rasing

College

of

Industry

orAll

Useful

Trades and

Husbandry,

with rofit or he

Rich,

Plentiful

iving

or

he

Poor,

nd a Good

Education or

Youth. Which

WillBe

an

Advantage

o the

Government,

y

the

Increaseof the

People

nd

Their

Riches

London,

1695,

eprinted

n

1696).

Referredo

throughout

thispaperas Proposals.

5

Karl

Marx,

apital

London,

1908),

p.

107,

1

15,

122,

316,

340,427,

485,

494-5,

627,

and

804.

87


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3/6

88

SCIENCE

AND

SOCIETY

and divisionof

labour,

which

begat hypertrophy

nd

atrophy

at the two

opposite

ex-

tremities f

society.

Amongst

other

things

he

says

this:

An idle

learning

being

little

better han

the

learning

of

idleness.

.

.

Bodily

abour,

it's a

primitive

nstitution

f God.

.

. .

Labour

being

as

proper

for the bodies'

health

s

eating

s

for ts

iving;

for

what

pains

a man saves

by

ease,

he will find

n

disease.

. . Labour adds

oyl

to the

amp

of

life,

when

thinking

nflames

t. ..

A

childish

illy

mploy

a

warning

his,

by

presentiment,

gainst

the Basedows

and

their modern

imitators)

leaves

the

children's

minds

silly. 6

This

quotation

ontains

Marx's

trilogy

f

intellectual,

hysical,

nd

labor

ducation,

ut Marx

goes

no further

n

stating

r

developing

he

educational

deas

of

Bellers,

nor does

he

develop

his

own educational

ideasin anydetail.7

Robert

Owen,

another

ducator abeled

Marxist

y

Krupskaya,

as

familiar

ith he

plans

of Bellers.

How

much he atter

nfluenced

he

ideas and

writings

f the

formers still

nclear

mong

Owen scholars.

A number f

writers8 aintain

hat

Owen's

deas

were

developed

by

the

time he discovered

he seventeenth

entury

Proposals

f

John

Bellers r

mply

hat

e

was

original

n terms

f

orientation.

r.Cole

s

relatively

eutral

n

stating

hat

Owen

published

ohn

Bellers'

Propo-

sals s a

means

o foster

propaganda

ampaign

orhis

own

deas

and

that

the

proposals

n some

respects losely esembling

wen's

were

brought

orward. 9t the

opposite

xtreme,

atrell nd Podmore10

give

Bellers

place

in the

thought

f Robert

Owen. This

controversy

hangs

on the

nterpretation

f Owen's

own words:

6

Ibid.

pp.

494-5,

citing

Proposals

(London,

1696),

pp.

12,

14,

18.

7 William

N.

Blake,

Karl

Marx's

Concept

of

Education,

Philosophy

f

Education

968,

George

L.

Newsome,

Jr.,

editor

Ed

wards

ille,

llinois,

1968),

pp.

179-185,

and

Gert

Hellerich,

Some

Educational

Implications

of Karl

Marx's

Communism,

Educational

Forum,

XXXIV

(May,

1970),

471-478.

8

Margaret

Cole,

Robert

wen

of

New

Lanark

London,

1953),

pp.

116-117;

R.G. Gar-

nett,

Co-operation

nd the

Owenite

ocialist

ommunities

n

Britain,

825-45

(Manchester,

1972) p. 20; J.F.C. Harrison,RobertOwenand theOwenitesn Britain nd America

(London,

1969),

p.

23;

Hasselmann,

The

Impact

of

Owen's

Ideas

on

German

Social

and

Cooperative

Thought

During

the

Nineteenth

Century.

Robert

wen:

Prophet

f

the

oor,

Sidney

Pollard

and

John

Salt,

eds.

(London,

1971),

p.

285;

and

A.L.

Morton,

The

Life

and

Ideas

of

Robert

wen

London,

1962),

Ch.

X.

9 G.D.H.

Cole,

Robert

wen

London,

1925),

p.

164.

10 V.A.C.

Gatrell

(ed.),

Introduction

to

Robert

Owen,

A

New View

of

Society

Har-

mondsworth,

ngland,

1970),

writes

n terms

f

probability:

Owen

may

have

discov-

ered this dea

in

John

Bellers,

the

seventeenth-century

amphleteer

whose

advocacy

of

a labour

standard

of

value

he

had

reprinted

n

1817,

or of course

in Ricardo

[Principles

f

Political

conomy,

817]

himself:

he

concept

of labour

value had

both an

ancient

and

a

respectable

ancestry,

p.

70;

while

Frank

Podmore,

Robert

Owen:

A

BiographyLondon, 1923), is muchmorepositive hatthe classes n Owen's September

10,

1817,

publication

are

obviously

borrowed

from

Bellers,

p.

250;

and

The

re-

semblance

in its broad

lines

between

Beller's

College

of

Industry

nd

Owen's

village

of

co-operation

s

unmistakable.

. . Owen

shortly

roceeded

still

further

o

develop

his Plan

upon

the lines

laid

down

by

Bellers,

pp.

236-7.




4/6

JOHN

BELLERS AND

MARX

89

Since

writing

he

preceeding ages,

which avebeenwrittent differentndsometimes

at

distant

eriods,

havebeen

reminded f

several ccurrences

eserving

otice

n

this

volume.

One

of

these

s,

the

ccidental

iscovery,

y

Francis

lace,

whenhe

was

rearranging

his

ibrary

nd

putting

utwhat e deemeduseless nd worthless

rinted

apers,

s these

were

being

wept

ut,

of

an

old

pamphlet,

ritten

50

years

efore

yJohn

Bellers.As

Mr.

Place was

t that

imemuch nterested

n

my

New

Views

he

immediately

rought

this

amphlet

o

me,

aying

I

havemade

great

iscovery

of work

dvocating

our

social

views

century

nd a half

go.

This was

the

only

opy

known o be in

existence,

nd

I

begged

t

of

him,

nd told

him

would

print

ne thousand

opies

of t

for

distribution,

nd that would

give

the

authorhe redit foriginatinghe dea^ lthoughminehad beenforced ponmeby he

practice

f

observing

acts,

eflecting

pon

them,

nd

trying

ow far

they

wereuseful

for he

every-day

usiness

f ife.

T

had

the thousand

opiesprinted,

nd

I

widely

irculated

hem,

with he

printed

papers giving

he

account

f

my

great

public

meetings

n

1817,

t

one of

which,

s

previously

tated,

denounced ll

the

superstitions

then

alled

religions),

hich

were

forced

pon

different

ations ver

the world.11

It

is

obvious hat

othMarx

nd Owen rediscoveredheeconomic

and

educational

aradigms

f

John

Bellers bout

150

years

fter

hey

werewritten.

Bellers greedwithMartin uther,who wrote n favor fschools

for the education

f

youth

n

his 1524

Letter

o the

Mayors

nd

Aldermen

f

all

theCities f

Germany

n

behalf

f

Christian

chools,

concerning

he

inadequacy

f

parents

n

educating

hildren.12

he

four

problems

f

the

English

oor

dentified

y

Bellers ncluded ne

evil

the education

given

the

children

y

their

parents-

nd three

needs

the

need

for

parental

nd

child

employment,

he

need for

markets

or

what

he

poor

raise

or

make,

nd

the

need for

ufficient

food

for heir

abor.

All

four

f

these

problems

were o be

relieved

y

the

College

of

ndustry

cheme

which ellers

presented

o the

EnglishParliamentn 1697.13 n

presenting

is

proposals

Bellerscalled on

1

1

Robert

wen,

The

ife f

Robert

wenWritten

y

imself

London,

1967),

ol.

,

p.

240.

John

F.C. Harrison

maintains

hat

t is not

necessary

o doubt

Owen's

honesty

n

claiming riginality

f

his

views,

ut hat

his claim annot

e taken t tsfacevalue

forhe was

nfluenced

n his

writing

tyle y

Scottishuthors

ven

hough

e

seldom

quoted

ny

of them.

ohn

.C. Harrison

ed.),

Vtopianism

nd

Education:obert

wen

and

the

Owenites

New

York,

1968),

pp.

11-13.

12

John

Bellers,

Essays

About he

Poor,

Manufacturers,

rade,

Plantations,

nd

Immortality

(New

York,

972),

p.

2-3,

. . . thePoorhave

very

ll

Qualities,

nd are as

ill

Tutors,

as well s evilExamples o theirChildren,nd thereforet's ofabsoluteNecessity

their hildren

houldhave

better

nstructors

nd a

more

ndustriousducation

han

their arents

will

ive

them;

he

Happiness

f the next

Age

much

epending pon

the

good

Education

f the Children

f

this.

13

Ibid..

pp.

3-4.




5/6

90

SCIENCE

AND

SOCIETY

good Christians o be wise stewards fwealth and wisdombyproviding

for the

welfare and education

of the

poor.

Developed

in times

which

had

only

small

industry

nd

agriculture

as

an

economic

base,

the

Proposals

were

geared

to

rural

conditions

rather

than

to

the

complex

industrialized

ociety

of

the twentieth

en-

tury.Early experiments

n Communist

ducation

in the

U.S.S.R.

were

also

related

to rural

conditions,

e.g.,

the

schools/communes

f

S.T.

Shatskii

and

A.S.

Makarenko.

Bellers

decided

to

name

his

planned

community college,

meaning

a

body

of

associates

or

colleagues,

rather

than

a

work-house

r

community,

ecause

the name

is

more

grateful,

useful

learning

can be

taught,

and it indicates outward

fellowship

rather

than inward

communion.

A work-house

denotes servitude

nd

community

mplies

a

greater

mix

of

people

than

would

exist

in the

college.

The standard

of value

within

he

college

would

be labor

rather

than

money,

for

which there

would

be little

use.

Labor was

the source

of

enriching

men with

enough

land

to em-

ploy

and

to

provide

for the

laborers;

therefore,

Bellers

thought,

he

rich would

support

the

colleges.

To

appeal

to both

groups,

the

colleges

had a

triune

purpose:

to

provide

profit

or the

rich,

plentiful

iving

for

the poor, and a good education fortheyouth.

Bellers

appealed

to the self-interest

f the

rich,

advancing

several

of

the same

arguments

used

by

the

American

common school

crusaders

in

the

nineteenth

entury.

Till the

rich be satisfied

o

put

it

[the

col-

lege]

a-foot,

the

poor

cannot,

f

they

would,

for want

of materials

p.

181).

Care

of the

poor

would

guarantee

the care

of the heirs

of the

rich

and

lessen

the

possibilities

f

revolutions

nd social

change.

A hundred

pounds

spent

in

colleges

would be

better

pent

than

the

same

amount

spent

on

prisons

and

hospitals.

A

college

would need 200

people's

labor

to

produce

the necessities

for a total population of 300. The 200 laborers would include 44

tradesmen,

82

women and

girl

workers,

4

men

and

boys

to

work

on

the

farm,

nd

50

working

for

money.

The

labor

of the additional

100

would

produce

a

profit

f

1,000-1,500

pounds

per

annum

to be used

by

the

founders

or

to

improve

the

colleges. Aged

and

decrepit people

were to

be excluded

from

olleges

n

the

beginning

because

the

colleges

would be weak and

would

have

to be nurtured

nto

strong

nstitutions;

at

a later

time those who cannot

be industrious

ould be added.

Col-

leges

could

vary

n

size

from 300 to

3,000

or more

persons

established

in

English

agricultural

or

fishing

reas.

A

total

capital

investment

f

18,000 pounds was necessary, o be divided as follows: 10,000 to buy

land at

500

pounds

per

acre;

2,000

for

stock;

3,000

for

necessary

ools

and

equipment

in

the

trades;

and

3,000

for new

buildings

nd

repairs.

Detailed

suggestions

and

plans

for

the

distribution

f

trades,

use

of




6/6

JOHN

BELLERS AND

MARX

91

money,ules, nd use ofprofits ithin hecollegewere lso contained

in the

Proposals.

In

addition

o the

planned

economy,

ome sound

educational d-

vice

was

included

n

the

1695

Proposals. Anticipating

enjamin

Franklin,

ellersmaintained hat:

... in

learning

of

language,

words should be first earned and afterwards ules

to

put

them

together;

children first

earning

the words

of their

mother-tongue,

nd then sen-

tences;

but to understand what

rules their

language

hath,

requires

a

ripeness

of

judge-

ment;

and the

putting

of rules

upon

children

before,

cripples

their

understandings;

when

boys

of

twelve

years

old are as

long again

at

school

learning

language

by

rules,

as

a

child of threeyearsold withoutrules (p. 173).

Skinner's

einforcement

heory,

s

wellas behavioral

ngineering

and

modeling

or

behavior,

s

suggested:

Raise

a child's

ove

to what

he

should

learn,

by

rewards and

emulation,

for

beating

them

(only)

to

make

them

earn,

spoils

their natural

parts,

more

than

the

acquired

(they

are

beat

to)

will make

up;

by

which

ome,

that

would

make

anything

etter

han

scholars,

re

made

only

mere scholars

p.

172).

.

. . children re

guided

more

by

sense than

reason;

and

thereforemustbe

hedged

from

all

evil

more

by

wise

management

than

discourse,

as

we see colts are tamed

more

by

it

than words

p.

174).

As

in the

education

f

Emile

y

Rousseau

nd

the aterGreat

Prin-

ciple

of

Education

f

Marx,

hildren

were o be

taught

ow

to use

the

hands and

legs

rather

han

ust

the

mind,

for abor maintains

nd

upholds

mankind

while

cademic

earning

s

ust

varnish.

t was

recog-

nized hat

t

s

muchharder

o breed

educate)

child han o feed

him.

For those

nterested

n this remarkable

nd

strangely eglected

pioneer

f

educational

hought,

he

collegeplan

and

educational

iews

of

John

Bellers re

reproduced

n toto

n

Appendix

L,

Proposals

or

College

of

Industry

f

All Useful

Trades and

Husbandry, p.

155-

181, n RobertOwen,The

Life

f

Robertwen,

upplementary

ppen-

dix,

1803-1820,

Vol.

-A

London:

Effingham

ilson,

oyal

xchange,

1858).

JOHN

T. ZEPPER

Universityf

New Mexico


Documents

John Bellers Educator of Marx