COMMUNE 



1516 



COMMUNITY INTERESTS 



COMMUNE, kommunc', corresponding to 

 the township of the United States and the 

 English parish, is the smallest district of local 

 government in France. A commune has the 

 power to buy and sell property, contract debts 

 and appear in court. It is governed by a moire, 

 or mayor, who is assisted by several deputies 

 and the const- il municipal, a deliberative assem- 

 bly. A commune may be a village of but a 

 handful of people or a great city, like Paris. 



COMMUNE OF PARIS, in French history, a 

 name applied to two different governing bodies 

 that ruled over the city of Paris. The Com- 

 mune of 1792 was established during the French 

 Revolution at a time when disorderly condi- 

 tions in the capital and the timidity of the 

 city authorities made extraordinary measures 

 necessary. The regular officials were turned 

 out of office by the leading citizens of the 

 different wards, who organized themselves into 

 a city council and governed Paris themselves. 

 The power of the Commune increased until it 

 overshadowed that of the National Assembly, 

 and its history became the story of the Revo- 

 lution itself. See FRENCH REVOLUTION. 



The name is also applied to an organized 

 mob which was in control of Paris from March 

 18 to May 27, 1871, at the close of the Franco- 

 German War (which see). Almost as soon 

 as the German army left Paris there were 

 signs of revolt, and on March 18 the insurrec- 

 tionists defied the authority of the regular 

 French troops, took possession of the city and 

 declared the National Assembly, in session at 

 Versailles, to be without constitutional rights. 



The French government placed Marshal Mac- 

 Mahon at the head of the army, and on April 

 6 a siege of the city was begun. All opposi- 

 tion was crushed out by May 27, when the reign 

 of the Commune came to an end. During the 

 siege the Communists destroyed many public 

 buildings, including the Palace of the Tuileries, 

 the famous former royal palace of France. 



COMMUNISM, kom'uniz'm, a theory of 

 governmental and social order in which, when 

 put into operation, property and the means 

 of production are held as a common trust, and 

 the profits arising from all labor are devoted 

 to the general good. It is based on the theory 

 that the individual should not hold property 

 as his own. As a theory it has not only in- 

 spired some of the best characters in history, 

 but also much of the gradual evolution of 

 economic organization, especially in the case of 

 cooperation. 



Communistic schemes have found advocates 

 in almost every age and in many different 

 countries, but no communistic society has as 

 yet been entirely successful, though many have 

 been organized and some still exist. The most 

 famous of these in the United States were 

 New Harmony, Ind., established by the Eng- 

 lishman, Robert Owen, and Brook Farm, in 

 West Roxbury, Mass, (see BROOK FARM). Of 

 those still in existence, the Oneida Community 

 in New York, which was converted in 1881 into 

 a joint stock industrial company, and the 

 Amana Society near Davenport, la., are of the 

 most importance. See ONEIDA COMMUNITY; 

 AMANA. A.E.R. 



OMMUNITY INTERESTS . The best 

 thought of the world to-day is directed toward 

 an ideal of universal peace; the realization of 

 that ideal will mean that the nations of the 

 earth have acknowledged and demonstrated 

 that they are all members of one great family. 

 On a small scale this "get together" sentiment 

 is bringing into close fellowship the families 

 that make up the community. It is serving to 



exalt the spirit of neighborliness, in itself a 

 symbol of world unity. As someone has written : 



The starting point of every good 



Of larger life is Neighborhood. 



Its fear-free banners now unfurled 



Mean hope of peace to all the world. 



If we can meet and join as one. 



Here, from all lands beneath the sun, 



Then neighbor-nations, too, shall in our time 



Forge world-wide union in a bond sublime. 



