State

But simple communal living' was aba intoned as the com- iiiiinily began lo prosper. Strict Controls Exercised by Moravians Affairs in Salem were controlled by two groups. The Aeheslen Conjerenz was re¬ sponsible for the spiritual affairs of the congregation. Only this group could use the lot. In 1772 the A и f setter Collegium was established to look after the secular — largely financial — affairs of the com¬ munity. The functions of the Collegium were much like those of a present-day Board of Aldermen. There was. at least for a time, a third group known as the Crosse Heifer Conjerenz. which was com¬ posed of members of the other two bodies. It had no specific powers but. rather, served as the eyes of the com¬ munity much in the manner of a grand jury. What it observed it reported to the appropriate authorities for atten¬ tion. These groups exerted astonishing controls. The Aehesren Conjerenz. for exam¬ ple. watched over all religious affairs along with such matters as marriage, relations with neighbors, community behavior and the like. The following notes taken from the diary of the Salem Conjerenz are rather typical. April 6, 1774 — "It shall be recom¬ mended to Peter Rose that he marry Rosina Bockel.” April 7. 1774 — "Peter Rose has not accepted the proposal concerning Rosina Bockel but suggests Sister Christine Mcrk. The Aeheslen Con¬ jerenz considers it necessary to send on Bi/ CHESTER DAVIS No. 9 in "The Moravian Story” the proposal to her through Sister Graff.” "On the 8th Sister Merk posi¬ tively declined, as she is not fitted for work on a plantation." "Brother Peter Rose thereupon accepted the first sug¬ gestion, and Sister Rosina Bockel ac¬ cepted it." In Salem, however, the old com¬ munal ways were relaxed into a form of socialism. Brothers and Sisters were permitted to set up separate housekeeping. When Governor William Tryon and his wife visited Wachovia in 1767 they were delighted to learn that individual Mo¬ ravians could hold private properly. The Governor was particularly happy to discover that the Moravians were plowing their earnings back into the development of Wachovia rather than exporting them to Europe as was com¬ monly rumored. The craftsmen, professional men and others now worked for themselves. Except for the rental they payed on the land they leased (and that rental took the place of taxes in Salem), their earnings belonged lo them rather than to the community. Within a relatively short time some brothers — John Vog- ler was one — were quite well-to-do. However, certain businesses — the store, the tavern, the tannery, the two farms, the pottery and the mill — con¬ tinued to be operated for the benefit of the community. At the mill, for example, the miller received one third of the toll outright. The remaining two thirds was divided, with one fourth going to the miller and the rest to the community. Curiously, within this community economy you also found the separate economics of the Brothers and Sisters Houses. These choir economies (they were called diaconies) were headed by a business manager or vorsteher who worked through the Aufseher Colle¬ gium. In a sense, these choir diaconies pro¬ vided North Carolina with its first labor organizations and its first strike. That occurred in April, 1778, when the Aufseher Collegium, noting the fast depreciation of North Carolina paper money, ordered a general hike in price and wage levels. The Single Brothers, feeling that the rise was too little and too late, protested. When their pro¬ tests were ignored they refused to work. The strike was short lived. On April 1 1 the Single Brothers went back to work (without having gained their point) and, the Collegium reported, "the kiss of peace was given them." Over the years, and almost imper¬ ceptibly, the socialistic controls in Sa¬ lem relaxed a small bit at a time. But the lease system, the cornerstone of the Moravian system of community control, was not abandoned until No- bember II, 1856. For 400 years these people stub¬ bornly maintained their theocratic way of life within a larger society that was at first autocratic and, later, demo¬ cratic. Besides offering a fine tribute to their skill at organization, that fact provides a measure of the zeal that sparked their Brotherhood. REAL ESTATE LOANS • Hornet • Forms • Commerciol ••30 Yean, and Sot a Dltsatiifled Client" Bo. THE STATE. AUGUST 5. 1961