The ''New Moral World'' was an early
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
newspaper in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, once the national official publication of
Owenism
Owenism is the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th-century social reformer Robert Owen and his followers and successors, who are known as Owenites. Owenism aimed for radical reform of society and is considered a forerunner of the cooperative m ...
.
The publication was launched by
Robert Owen in November 1834 as the successor to ''Crisis'', and carried the subtitle "A London Weekly Publication. Developing the Principles of the Rational System of Society".
[Laurel Brake and Marysa Demoor, ''Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism in Great Britain and Ireland'', p.444] Later subtitles included "Manual of Science" and "Gazette of the Universal Community Society of Rational Religionists", while the paper briefly had an alternative title of ''Millennium''.
[John Harrison, ''Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America'', p.282]
Following closely the development of Owen's ideas, the newspaper initially advocated
general union
A general union is a trade union (called ''labor union'' in American English) which represents workers from all industries and companies, rather than just one organisation or a particular sector, as in a craft union or industrial union. A gene ...
ism and peaceful revolution, but soon moved to instead advocate the formation of utopian communities. It did this through a mixture of news, comment, letters, poetry, and the publication of policy.
Unlike ''Crisis'', ''New Moral World'' was largely sold rather than given away, and therefore had a smaller circulation. The newsagents who sold it typically also sold the
Chartist ''
Northern Star''.
Initially published in London, publication moved to Manchester, Birmingham, then in 1839 to Leeds, where its publication was arranged by
Joshua Hobson. In 1842, publication moved back to London, then in 1845 to Harmony Hall in Hampshire.
This colony soon collapsed, and Owen sold the newspaper to James Hill, father of
Octavia Hill.
[Gillian Darley, ''Octavia Hill'', pp.27-28] George Fleming attempted to relaunch the paper as ''Moral World'', but both the original and relaunched versions of the paper had stopped publication by the end of the year.
Editors
:1834:
Robert Owen
:1837: George Fleming
:1845: James Hill
References
{{Authority control
Defunct weekly newspapers
Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom
Owenism
Publications established in 1834
Publications disestablished in 1845
1834 establishments in the United Kingdom