S&S Quarterly, Inc.

Guilford Press

John Bellers Educator of Marx?

Author(s): John T. Zepper
Source: Science & Society, Vol. 43, No. 1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 87-91
Published by: Guilford Press
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COMMUNICATION
JOHN BELLERS- EDUCATOR OF MARX?
The nameofJohnBellersdoes notappearin anyof theworldhistories
of Engof educationbyanyAmericanauthor.Evenin Britishhistories
to thiseconomistand his educalisheducationthereis scantreference
tionalplans,as Hans pointedout.1However,NadezhdaK. Krupskaya,
the wifeand politicalcolleagueof Lenin and the best knownSoviet
educatorfrom1918to 1939,identified
JohnBellersas thefirsteducaIn her historyof Marxianeducation,
tor in the Marxisttradition.2
Krupskayadid notdetailtheeducationalideas of Bellersas she did for
othereducatorsidentifiedas holdingviewsor plans consistentwith
Marxism.3This fact would lead one to conjecturethat Madame
Krupskayadid not read Bellers'"Proposals"4(whichwas and is very
to locate),but became aware of John BellersthroughKarl
difficult
Marx's Capital.

ten timesin the textor

Marx mentionsBellersand his writings
in theeconomicideas
interested
notesof Capital?Marxwas primarily
- suchas land and laboras thetruerichesof a nation,trade
of Bellers
than money,whatmen can do togetherin large
as more important
and in smallgroups,and the
be
done individually
cannot
that
groups
laborof the poor as the source(mines)forthe rich.However,Marx
as well:
does referto educationalcomments
in thehistory
ofpoliticaleconomy,
sawmostclearlyat
JohnBellers,a veryphenomenon
ofeducation
forabolishing
thepresentsystem
thenecessity
theend of the 17thcentury,
1 "The projectof JohnBellowsof 1696 (Collegeof Industry)was not well known,"
in Education
NicholasHans,TheRussianTradition
(London,1963),p. 160.
2 N.K. Krupskaya,
"PublicEducationand Democracy,"
heskie
PriozIzbrannye
Pedagogic
vendeniya
(Moscow,1957),p. 138.
3 Ibid.,pp. 138-215.
forAll UsefulTrades and Husbandry,
4 "ProposalsforRasinga Collegeof Industry
withProfitfortheRich,a Plentiful
Livingforthe Poor,and a Good Educationfor
Youth.WhichWillBe an Advantageto the Government,
by the Increaseof the
in
Their
Referred
tothroughout
and
Riches"
1695,
1696).
(London,
reprinted
People
thispaperas "Proposals."
5 KarlMarx,Capital(London,1908),pp. 107,115, 122,316,340,427,485,494-5,627,
and 804.
87

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88

SCIENCE

AND

SOCIETY

and division of labour, which begat hypertrophyand atrophy at the two opposite extremitiesof society. Amongst other things he says this: "An idle learning being little
betterthan the learningof idleness. . . . Bodily labour, it's a primitiveinstitutionof God.
. . . Labour being as proper forthe bodies' healthas eating is foritsliving;forwhat pains
a man saves by ease, he will findin disease. . . Labour adds oyl to the lamp of life,when
thinkinginflamesit. ... A childishsillyemploy"(a warningthis,by presentiment,against
the Basedows and their modern imitators)"leaves the children's minds silly."6

This quotationcontainsMarx's trilogyof intellectual,

physical,and
in statingor developingthe
laboreducation,butMarxgoes no further
educationalideas of Bellers,nor does he develophis owneducational
ideas in any detail.7
RobertOwen,anothereducatorlabeled Marxistby Krupskaya,was
the
familiarwiththeplansof Bellers.How muchthelatterinfluenced
of the formeris stillunclearamongOwen scholars.
ideas and writings
maintainthatOwen's ideas weredevelopedby
A numberof writers8
the timehe discoveredthe seventeenth
century"Proposals"of John
Mr.Cole is
Bellersor implythathe wasoriginalin termsof orientation.
Bellers'
Owen
in
that
neutral
"PropopublishedJohn
stating
relatively
sals"as a meansto fostera propagandacampaignforhisownideasand
thatthe "proposalsin some respectscloselyresemblingOwen's were
At the oppositeextreme,Gatrelland Podmore10
broughtforward."9
giveBellersa place in the thoughtof RobertOwen. This controversy
of Owen'sown words:
hangson the interpretation
6 Ibid. pp. 494-5, citing"Proposals" (London, 1696), pp. 12, 14, 18.
7 William N. Blake, "Karl Marx's Concept of Education,"Philosophy
ofEducation1968,
and Gert
wards
179-185,
editor
L.
Illinois,
ville,
Newsome,
1968),
(Ed
pp.
Jr.,
George
Hellerich, "Some Educational Implicationsof Karl Marx's Communism,"Educational
Forum,XXXIV (May, 1970), 471-478.
8 Margaret Cole, RobertOwen of New Lanark (London, 1953), pp. 116-117; R.G. Garin Britain,1825-45 (Manchester,
and theOweniteSocialistCommunities
nett,Co-operation
1972) p. 20; J.F.C. Harrison, RobertOwen and the Owenitesin Britainand America
(London, 1969), p. 23; Hasselmann, "The Impact of Owen's Ideas on German Social
and Cooperative Thought During the NineteenthCentury."RobertOwen: Prophetof
thePoor, Sidney Pollard and John Salt, eds. (London, 1971), p. 285; and A.L. Morton,
The Life and Ideas of RobertOwen (London, 1962), Ch. X.
9 G.D.H. Cole, RobertOwen (London, 1925), p. 164.
10 V.A.C. Gatrell (ed.), "Introduction" to Robert Owen, A New Viewof Society(Harmondsworth,England, 1970), writesin termsof probability:"Owen may have discovered this idea in John Bellers, the seventeenth-century
pamphleteerwhose advocacy
of a labour standard of value he had reprinted in 1817, or of course in Ricardo
ofPoliticalEconomy,1817] himself:the concept of labour value had both an
[Principles
ancient and a respectable ancestry,"p. 70; while Frank Podmore, RobertOwen: A
Biography(London, 1923), is much more positivethatthe classes in Owen's September
10, 1817, publication are "obviouslyborrowed from Bellers," p. 250; and "The resemblance in its broad lines between Beller's College of Industryand Owen's village
of co-operation is unmistakable.. . . Owen shortlyproceeded stillfurtherto develop
his Plan upon the lines laid down by Bellers," pp. 236-7.

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JOHN BELLERS AND MARX

89

thepreceedingpages,whichhavebeen written
at different
and sometimes
Sincewriting
noticein this
at distantperiods,I havebeen remindedof severaloccurrences
deserving
volume.
One of theseis,theaccidentaldiscovery,
byFrancisPlace,whenhe wasrearranging
outwhathe deemeduselessand worthless
hislibrary
and putting
printedpapers,as these
150 yearsbeforebyJohnBellers.As
written
werebeingsweptout,of an old pamphlet,
in my"NewViews"he immediately
Mr.Place wasat thattimemuchinterested
brought
- ofa workadvocating
- "I havemadea greatdiscovery
thispamphletto me,saying
your
and a halfago."
socialviewsa century
and I beggedit of him,and told
This was theonlycopyknownto be in existence,
and thatI wouldgivethe
himI wouldprintone thousandcopiesof it fordistribution,
theidea^althoughminehad beenforceduponme bythe
authorthecreditoforiginating
facts,reflecting
upon them,and tryinghow fartheywereuseful
practiceof observing
businessof life.
fortheevery-day
T had the thousandcopiesprinted,and I widelycirculatedthem,withthe printed
papersgivingthe accountof mygreatpublicmeetingsin 1817,at one of which,as
whichwere
stated,I denouncedall the superstitions
(thencalled religions),
previously
nationsovertheworld.11
forcedupon different

theeconomic
It is obviousthatbothMarxand Owen rediscovered
and educationalparadigmsofJohnBellersabout 150 yearsafterthey
werewritten.
BellersagreedwithMartinLuther,who wrotein favorof schools
for the educationof youthin his 1524 "Letterto the Mayorsand
Aldermenof all theCitiesof Germanyin behalfof Christian
Schools,"
in
children.12
the
of
The
concerning inadequacy parents educating
Bellers
included
one
fourproblemsof the Englishpoor identified
by
evil- the educationgiven the childrenby theirparents-and three
the need for
needs- the need for parentaland child employment,
marketsforwhatthe poor raise or make,and the need forsufficient
foodfortheirlabor.All fourof theseproblemswereto be relievedby
schemewhichBellerspresentedto the English
theCollegeof Industry
Parliamentin 1697.13In presentinghis proposalsBellerscalled on
OwenWritten
11 RobertOwen,TheLifeofRobert
(London,1967),vol.I, p. 240.
byHimself
to doubtOwen'shonestyin
it
is
not
that
maintains
F.C.
Harrison
necessary
John
of hisviews,butthatthis"claimcannotbe takenat itsfacevalue"
claimingoriginality
authorseventhoughhe seldom
in hiswriting
forhe wasinfluenced
stylebyScottish
Owen
Robert
andEducation:
quotedanyof them.JohnF.C. Harrison(ed.),Vtopianism
andtheOwenites
(New York,1968),pp. 11-13.

12 John Bellers, EssaysAboutthePoor, Manufacturers,

Trade, Plantations,and Immortality

(NewYork,1972),pp. 2-3, ". . . thePoorhaveveryillQualities,and are as illTutors,

it'sof absoluteNecessity
as wellas evil Examplesto theirChildren,and therefore
Educationthan
and a moreindustrious
theirChildrenshouldhavebetterInstructors
theirParentswillgivethem;the Happinessof thenextAge muchdependingupon
thegood Educationof theChildrenof this."
13 Ibid..pp. 3-4.

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90

SCIENCE

AND

SOCIETY

good Christiansto be wise stewardsof wealthand wisdomby providing

for the welfareand education of the poor.
Developed in times which had only small industryand agriculture
as an economic base, the "Proposals" were geared to rural conditions
rather than to the complex industrializedsocietyof the twentiethcentury.Early experimentsin Communisteducation in the U.S.S.R. were
also related to rural conditions, e.g., the schools/communesof S.T.
Shatskii and A.S. Makarenko. Bellers decided to name his planned
communitya college, meaning a body of associates or colleagues, rather
than a work-houseor community,because the name "is more grateful,"
useful learning can be taught, and it indicates outward fellowship
rather than inward communion. A work-housedenotes servitudeand
communityimplies a greater mix of people than would exist in the
college. The standard of value withinthe college would be labor rather
than money, for which there would be littleuse.
Labor was the source of enrichingmen with enough land to employ and to provide for the laborers; therefore,Bellers thought,the
rich would support the colleges. To appeal to both groups,the colleges
had a triunepurpose: to provide profitfor the rich,plentifullivingfor
the poor, and a good education for the youth.
of the rich,advancing several
Bellers appealed to the self-interest
common school crusaders
American
the
of the same argumentsused by
to put it [the colrich
be
satisfied
"Till
the
in the nineteenthcentury.
of materials"(p.
for
want
if
lege] a-foot,the poor cannot, theywould,
of
the
heirsof the rich
the
care
181). Care of the poor would guarantee
and
social
revolutions
and lessen the possibilitiesof
change. A hundred
the same amount
than
better
would
be
spent
pounds spent in colleges
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,24 men and boys to work on
the farm,and 50 workingfor money. The labor of the additional 100
would produce a profitof 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 fromcolleges in the beginningbecause the colleges
would be weak and would have to be nurturedinto stronginstitutions;
at a later time those who cannot be industriouscould be added. Colleges could varyin size from300 to 3,000 or more persons established
in English agriculturalor fishingareas. A total capital investmentof
18,000 pounds was necessary,to be divided as follows: 10,000 to buy
land at 500 pounds per acre; 2,000 for stock; 3,000 for necessarytools
and equipment in the trades; and 3,000 for new buildingsand repairs.
Detailed suggestionsand plans for the distributionof trades, use of

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JOHN BELLERS AND MARX

91

money,rules,and use of profitswithinthecollegewerealso contained

in the "Proposals."
In additionto the plannedeconomy,some sound educationaladvice was included in the 1695 "Proposals."AnticipatingBenjamin
Franklin,Bellersmaintainedthat:
... in learning of language, words should be firstlearned and afterwardsrules to put
them together;children firstlearning the words of their mother-tongue,and then sentences; but to understand what rules theirlanguage hath, requires a ripeness of judgement; and the putting of rules upon children before, cripples their understandings;
when boysof twelveyearsold are as long again at school learninga language by rules,as a
child of three years old withoutrules (p. 173).

Skinner'sreinforcement
theory,as wellas behavioralengineering
for
is
and modeling behavior, suggested:
Raise a child's love to what he should learn, by rewardsand emulation,for beating them
(only) to make them learn, spoils their natural parts, more than the acquired (they are
beat to) willmake up; by whichsome, thatwould make anythingbetterthan scholars,are
made only mere scholars (p. 172).

. . . childrenare 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 theeducationofEmilebyRousseauand thelaterGreatPrincipleof Educationof Marx,childrenwereto be taughthowto use the

hands and legs ratherthanjust the mind,for labor maintainsand
upholdsmankindwhileacademiclearningisjust varnish.It was recognizedthatitis muchharderto breed(educate)a childthanto feedhim.
For those interestedin thisremarkableand strangely
neglected
pioneerof educationalthought,thecollegeplan and educationalviews
ofJohnBellersare reproducedin totoin AppendixL, "Proposalsfora
Collegeof Industryof All UsefulTrades and Husbandry,"pp. 155Owen,Supplementary
181,in RobertOwen,TheLifeofRobert
AppenWilson,RoyalExchange,
dix,1803-1820,Vol. I-A (London:Effingham
1858).
University
of New Mexico

JOHN T. ZEPPER

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