In the centre is to be concentrated, what is to be spread everywhere, to benefit in the first place members of the Peace Union and by their instrumentality as many others as can be reached. Therefore co-operation and support from all who comprehend this book and their application to others is necessary to raise means, for establishing what is required in the centre. Although all who contribute for the centre, will not have chance to reside there, they will have a chance to send some of their children or relations to the institutions of the University for the New Era, which will be established there, according to our plan, according to which a great change will take place in studies, that all intellectual and moral faculties of students will be harmoniously developed, and much time will be gained for learning every day for some hours in the school and for some hours in the shops and elsewhere that to learn which each will be most qualified and inclined. Wherefore those who afford money and other property for the centre and what is needed there, acquire the right to reside there, when needed as teachers, or for mechanical branches, arts, sciences, for agriculture, horticulture, &c. What mankind need for the New Era, should be shown there to students theoretically and practically. Therefore all who have superabundant means, if they comprehend this book, will send such an amount as they can spare, as donations, which will become spiritual treasures to the donors. When the institutions which according to our plan should be at our centre, will be established, there will be such competition of students, that there will not be room for accommodation of all. All that is given as donation for raising our institutions, will be put in our ledger for the benefit of the donors, so that, when all students could not be accommodated at our centre, those recommended by the donors would be prefered to others, the case excepted, that others be found more useful in our mission, if they study the branches.
Those who have no superabundance of means to give a donation, are invited to invest for establishing the centre as much as their cicumstances permit, to be invested for their benefit, as belonging to them, although without any interest in money, but with the advantage, that when all students could not be accommodated at our centre, their sons and daughters would have the preference before such as have done nothing towards the foundation of the centre. And if any have land, who are desirous that on their land a settlement might be started according to our plan for the New Era, by their furnishing means for starting the centre they acquire the claim and right that their land shall be taken for that purpose rather than the land of another who had done nothing for the centre, when circumstances would not require the preference of the land of other for a new settlement of our Peace Union.
From what has been mentioned, the following general rule may be derived: Without having a centre of our communities we cannot accomplish our work. Therefore all who comprehend us, are solemnly entreated to contribute without delay what their circumstances allow. If they cannot send a donation, they are entreated to send what will be regarded as theirs without bearing interests, but bearing to them all the advantages to which according to the circumstances they are qualified, to come, when all will be prepared, to the centre, if they can be employed there; otherwise they may be useful to our community on the place which they now occupy, or they may join with an other place of our community. In this case the centre settles with that community in reference to what they have advanced to the centre, to be sent, when the centre is able to do so, to that community for them, if they should not prefer to leave it in the centre to be consumed there by such students as they would send to the University in the centre of our Peace Union, where all the knowledge and wisdom which can be obtained, will be concentrated to bring mankind into that situation which is promised and mankind are able to attain by the right application of their intellectual and moral faculties and their physical strength, and the proper use and right application of all the knowledge which has been propagated through the course of centuries and improved in our age.
No money or other property can or will be taken into the Peace Union, settlements to be put into their ledger for the benefit of the person who invests it, to be returned in the case that the person or one of his or her family should leave the Peace Union, except money that has been acquired in an honest manner. By the term honest we mean a manner which is not only justifiable according to the laws of the country, but also according to the moral laws attributable to the person who invests it, at least so far, that no person or society is known to whom it should be restored. We do not mean the severest scrutiny, but the usual course of affairs; because according to our plan by those who will join the Peace Union, the way will be opened for a final restoration of all human affairs into the right order. To this point we must gradually proceed.
By what we have remarked in regard to money as the root of all evil, if it is not managed for the commom welfere, it is a necessary evil as far as business is done with those who do not belong to our Peace Union, and we are compelled to make use of many evils which are yet in existence, to bring nations out of the evil into the New Era. We must make such use of money as to promote the welfere of the Peace Union which encloses the welfere of all nations, which would not he promoted, if we would take any amount of money from those who enter into our Peace Union under the condition to return it in case, they would leave the Peace Union. Under this condition we could take no more than one thousand dollars, so that, if any man or woman would come with his or her family, and bring more than one thousand dollars for each person belonging to his or her family, after having settled all matters of business with others, we could not take more than the mentioned sum under the mentioned condition, to wit, if husband and wife with parents and children, would join, for each of them one thousand dollars: the surplus they had to give as donation, if they would not accept the advice which is given below.
Also this is to be mentioned, that if a family comes on the place of the Peace Union and they invest for each member of the family a certain sum, and some of the family would be taken into the spirit world, and the others would leave the Peace Union, in this case only that has been invested for them, would belong to them. What was given for the departed, remains in the Peace Union. Also in the case, that a father would come with a large or with a small family and give for each individual a certain sum, and then the others would remain, but he himself would become a backslider, his claim would be only to the money which he had invested for his own person. The same priciple is to be applied in every case, in which somebody invests a certain sum for himself, and besides also sums for others.
To those who have greater riches than one thousand dollars for each individual of their family, is to be said, that they are only administrators of that property to make the poor rich and the rich truly happy. And whereas the Peace Union undertakes this great work, a rich person should be instructed and enlightened, that this will not take place in any other way than by a true community, for which we have given this sketch, only in this point deviating from the course which we would pursue if we would have to deal with perfect persons, that we found proper to concede, that if any body should leave the Peace-Union settlement, he should receive in due time the sum invested not exceeding one thousand dollars. But those whose property reaches higher, will go the safest way according to Christ's direction: "Go thy way, sell whatever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come and take up thy cross and follow me." Mark x: 21. This man to whom Christ gave that advice "had great possessions." And we give to those who have great riches the same advice, but with a different application. Jesus Christ, the Father of the New Era which is to be introduced by our mission, had not the chance in Palestine, which we have in the United States. He advised as he could in his circumstances, and we give in our circumstances to the rich who have great possessions the following advice and the best for them to be saved: "Give as a donation as much into our Peace-Union centre as you are able to do for raising our institutions as the best means for the redemption of the poor and degraded people from the existing misery and distress, and come and learn how to administer your possessions for the poor, and we will send with you to your possessions[AB] a man to commence there with you a community for the poor only, and you may call poor people of your choice together. And you should superintend, and our administrator should assist you and labor with you to educate the poor so as to make them truly rich and happy. And you, while you would have enriched our centre as much as would be possible without selling your possessions, would be the presiding elder at the community of the poor made rich by your possessions, and when you would be pleased to stop with those in the centre, you would be received as one of the founders, and you would have treasure in Heaven."
What I say to one I say to all rich men and women. If they receive our advice they will become very rich and happy; but now they are "wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked," Revelation iii: 17. They are the Heads in Laodicea, which means the judgment of the people, whom they are preparing for destruction, and for themselves the hell. Luke xvi: 23. From them is more required to be saved than from those who have only a small property in comparison with the great possessions of the rich, and their small property they have earned with hard labor. But it would be too troublesome to reckon, how they had acquired their riches. But instead of a long reckoning or a general confession of their sins and crimes we show them the shortest and surest way to Heaven.
We must say also to those who invest property not exceeding one thousand dollars for each member of their family into our Peace-Union with the reserve that if they leave the Peace-Union, that property should be returned to them in equivalent without any interest, and at a time in which the Peace-Union can easily do this without hurting their own business, that this reserve will continue only until the time in which they will be sufficiently strengthened in the principles of the true community, and convinced that this is the only way for redemption of oppressed humanity. When they will advance so far, they will sign the covenant of the New Era, they themselves and those of their family who are of age and with them united in the Spirit; and they will transfer the property which is their portion to the community, which secures their rights to the provisions for their body and their spirit to enjoy such happiness as the Peace-Union will be able to afford to prepare them for the society of blessed spirits.
From these hints you see, that the true community consists of members who give all their property, without any reserve, and receive all the advantages which a mutual co-operation in the true brotherly spirit affords. At the commencement they must be tried. On the title-page of this book we have mentioned, that it is published at the "Peace-Union Centre." We intended to give explanation of the matter in this plan. We are starting there the Peace-Union Centre. About five hundred acres of land, with farmhouse, barn, orchard &c. belong to that property, on a beautiful very healthy hill, with excellent springs of soft water, romantic locations for buildings, and all kinds of institutions for the New Era. The soil as far as may be cleared, is good for raising all kinds of fruits, and as much as we will need of vegetables. But our centre will be for literary institutions, surrounded with all kinds of the best mechanics and artists, from whom students will learn all kinds of work. Therefore the largest portion of grain will be obtained from other settlements to which productions at the centre will be sent in exchange. About one hundred acres of the land are cleared and much more can be cleared and used for different purposes, but the largest portion of that land is Toscarora mountain, producing wood, timber, stone for building, and is good for different other purposes, for instance, the top of the mountain for our observatory, &c.