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diff --git a/2352-h/2352-h.htm b/2352-h/2352-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..79359fc --- /dev/null +++ b/2352-h/2352-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2517 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Eurasia, by Christopher Evans +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Eurasia, by Christopher Evans + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Eurasia + +Author: Christopher Evans + +Posting Date: November 5, 2008 [EBook #2352] +Release Date: October, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EURASIA *** + + + + +Produced by David Schwan. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +EURASIA +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Christopher Evans +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE BANK OF EURASIA.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">DEPARTMENT OF MINES.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE WAR DEPARTMENT.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE INCOME TAX.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURES.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">PUBLIC UTILITIES.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">UNITED WORKERS OF EURASIA.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">A VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF STATE.</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PREFACE. +</H3> + +<P> +In "Eurasia" the author describes an ideal republic where many of the +problems that confront us are worked out. The book describes in an +interesting and readable way how government is administered in this +ideal republic. The government is one in which women take their full +share of responsibility, the school children are trained in the +problems they will meet in life, and more emphasis is laid on character +building than on the dead languages. The children of both sexes are +taught useful trades. All school children are taught to swim. The idle +are employed in the construction of roads, canals and irrigation works. +The problems of distribution are so arranged that the worker receives a +more equitable reward for his labor. +</P> + +<P> +The author, Chris. Evans, speaks with a firsthand knowledge when he +discusses the army prison management and the administration of law. Mr. +Evans, who was born in Vermont, is an old cavalryman, having served in +the Civil War. After the war he served with the cavalry in the West, +fighting Indians. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE. +</H3> + +<P> +One pleasant afternoon in the month of May, 19—, I launched my boat, +and after rowing about half a mile from shore I shipped my oars, +stepped the mast, hoisted sail and reclining on a cushioned seat at the +stern with my hand on the tiller, I waited for a breeze to spring up, +and whilst so doing I fell asleep. How long I slept I know not, for +when I awoke my boat was close to shore, and to my' astonishment I was +in strange waters. I went ashore, when I was accosted in English with a +foreign accent by a venerable looking man with the question: "Where did +you come from?" I replied: "From the United States of America, and what +country is this?" His answer was Eurasia, and beckoning to a man in +uniform, who was passing by and who immediately joined us, he told him +that I was from the United States of America and did not know what +country I was in. The official addressed me very kindly and invited me +to accompany him, and leaving the boat in charge of my first +acquaintance, with instructions to take good care of it, he escorted me +into the city and left me at a hotel with a request that I would permit +him to call on me the next day at ten a. m., and he would show me all +the principal buildings and introduce me to the President, "who I have +no doubt will be delighted to see you." At the appointed time he +arrived, and, taking my place by his side in an automobile driven by +electricity, we passed in succession the buildings occupied by the +different Departments of State, and stopped in front of a modest +building set back a short distance from the street, and at the gate we +were at once admitted by the officer on duty, who informed us that the +President was holding a Cabinet meeting and would receive me +immediately. The President's private secretary met me at the door and +introduced me to the President, who shook my hand warmly, and +introduced me to his Cabinet in the following order: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> + Mr. __, the Minister of State.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Justice.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Railways.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Education.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Finance.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Information.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Agriculture.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Health.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Commerce.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Manufactures.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Mines.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of War.<BR> + Mr. __, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.<BR> + Mrs. __, the Minister of Labor.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +I informed the President that I wished to learn all I could about the +Government and Institutions of the country, to which he replied by +handing me the Official Directory, and added that he and his Cabinet +would assist me to the fullest extent. I expressed my heartfelt thanks +for their kindness, and, going back to my hotel, I opened the Official +Directory. I found the country governed by a President elected directly +by the people for five years, but the law provided that if his +government was not satisfactory to the people, a petition signed by +five per cent. of the voters called for an election, and if a majority +voted against him, he was removed from office and the Minister of State +assumed the Presidency for the remainder of the term. The Cabinet was +composed of fourteen members-seven men and seven women-and were chosen +by the Parliament, who were free to select them from their own members +or outsiders, provided that the person chosen was a voter and +twenty-five years of age. When the Parliament met, which it did on the +first day of January, and adjourned on the first of March, sine die, +the Ministers presented their reports of their work for the previous +two years, and if the Parliament approved them, they continued in +office; but if the Parliament by a majority vote disapproved of any of +them, then the Minister resigned and the Parliament appointed another +person to take his or her place. The members of Parliament were elected +for two years and to serve without pay, but their expenses were paid by +the Government and the amount necessary was fixed by law and could not +be raised or lowered, only by two-thirds vote of the qualified voters +of the Nation. The country was divided into districts and every +district elected a member for every hundred thousand of population, +provided that every other member from a district should be a female, +thus giving both sexes full representation in the Government. Each +district was governed by a Governor, elected for two years, and a Court +of Judges, consisting of a Chief Justice, a Prosecuting Attorney, an +Attorney for the Defense and twelve Justice Jurors, who tried all +felony cases and civil cases that could not be settled by Arbitration, +and who sat also as a Board of Equalization and as Supervisors. +</P> + +<P> +The law provided that eight Jurors or two-thirds of them (if any were +absent through sickness or any other reasonable cause), in every case +could bring in a verdict of guilty in criminal cases or for the +Complainant or Defendant in civil cases, and if eight did not find the +Defendant guilty, the case was dismissed-but if guilty the Defendant +had only to say "I appeal," and a copy of the evidence was sent +immediately to the Supreme Court, composed of Judges, elected by the +people, one from each district, to serve for five years. +</P> + +<P> +The Court sat six days in each week, excepting four weeks in +July-August, when all the Courts were allowed by law four weeks' +vacation. They were required to work eight hours each day beginning at +eight a. m., with one hour rest at noon, and ending at five p. m.; but +they could work longer if they so desired, but the law forbade any +adjournment and to prevent bribery the documents in every case-civil or +criminal-arriving daily were placed in a lottery wheel, and, on the +Court assembling at eight a. m., the wheel was revolved, and in the +presence of the Minister of Justice a blind boy and girl drew the +documents out and handed them to pages who delivered them to the Judges +in alphabetical order. Three Judges, forming a committee, decided every +case that came into their hands on the same day. There was no delay in +Justice, and, if any Judge misbehaved, the voters in his district could +remove him under the same law that applied to the President. +</P> + +<P> +The law of recall applied to all officers of the Government elected by +the people. The salary of the Supreme Court Judges was fixed by law at +ten dollars per day and that of a Chief Justice of a district at five +dollars per day. That of the Prosecuting Attorney and Attorney for the +Defense at four dollars per day, and that of Justice and Jurors at +three dollars per day the year 'round. +</P> + +<P> +No costs were charged to either complainant or defendant in any case, +either civil or criminal, but if a person brought complaint without +just and sufficient cause, the law provided that they should be +examined by the Court, and if found sane, they should be imprisoned for +one year at hard labor, and if insane, to be sent immediately to the +Lunatic Asylum. In every case the complainant was first warned by the +Court of what would happen if the charge proved to be unfounded. +</P> + +<P> +I made inquiries among the people and was told that the law was a great +promoter of peace and good will. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. +</H3> + +<P> +During the following week I called on the Minister of Justice and +informed her of my desire to learn the workings of her Department. She +handed me a copy of the Penal Code, and I was astonished to find how +simple the course of procedure was compared with that of my own +country. Felonies ranked in the following order: Murder, Rape, Incest +and crimes against nature, Arson, Robbery, Assault to Murder, +Manslaughter, Mayhem, Bribery, Larceny and Perjury. The law held one +degree of murder and that was with malice aforethought, but where a +person killed a human being wantonly, without cause or malice, the +homicide was committed to the Lunatic Asylum, and, after one year's +imprisonment, deprived of the sexual organs, and if his or her conduct +endangered the peace or safety of the community, were to be +chloroformed. +</P> + +<P> +The penalty for murder was imprisonment for life, subject to parole +after ten years. Rape fiends were sentenced to twenty-five years, and +after one year's imprisonment to be desexualized and subject to parole +after five years. +</P> + +<P> +Persons found guilty of Incest and crimes against nature received the +same punishment as Rape fiends and subject to parole after five years. +The penalty for Arson was twenty years, subject to parole after four +years. For Robbery fifteen years and subject to parole after three +years. The same penalty for Assault to Murder and subject to parole +after three years. Manslaughter, Mayhem and Bribery were punished by +imprisonment for ten years and subject to parole after two years. +Larceny and Perjury were punished by five years' imprisonment, and +subject to parole after one year. Public officials who embezzled public +funds were committed for Perjury as well as Larceny, and were debarred +from ever holding office. The law provided that in the course of the +trial of any person charged with Felony, if the evidence showed they +had committed a felony, other than the one for which they were being +tried, then the Court could sentence them for the crime that the +evidence showed they had committed, even if there was not sufficient +evidence to convict them of the crime with which they were charged. +</P> + +<P> +Any person found guilty was remanded to the custody of the Governor of +the district to await the decision of the Supreme Court. If they +appealed, and the appeal was not confirmed, they were sent to the +nearest State Prison, of which there are at the present time +twenty-five. +</P> + +<P> +No fines were imposed for any crime and no confiscation of property for +any cause. +</P> + +<P> +A Magistrate was elected in every sub-district, according to +population. One for every ten thousand inhabitants, at a salary of +three dollars per day the year 'round, and who tried all persons +charged with Felony, and if proven guilty, committed them to the +District Court-but a charge of Felony could be made before the District +Court, and if probable cause was shown, the case came up for trial. The +Magistrate was authorized by law to release any person charged with a +misdemeanor on probation, or to sentence them from one month to twelve +months' imprisonment at hard labor within the district, and the +prisoners were paid for their work from five to twenty-five cents per +day, according to their ability and skill, and the money they earned +was sent to their wives and children, if they had any. If they were +single, what they earned was paid to them at the expiration of their +sentence. No handcuffs, balls or chains or Oregon Boots were permitted +to be used, but if the person in custody was violent, a jacket with +straps at the waist to secure the hands at the side was provided and no +punishment was inflicted for violation of the prison rules-but bread +and water for three days at any one time. If a prisoner committed +sodomy or other infamous crime against nature, while in custody, he was +castrated, and if he still persisted in committing crimes against +nature, he was chloroformed. No trial by jury was permitted in cases of +misdemeanor-but an appeal to the Governor was allowed by law and a copy +of the evidence in the case was sent to him and he had to decide +according to the law and evidence within thirty days and publish his +reasons therefor in the District Newspaper. By permission of the +Minister of Justice I was granted authority to visit the State Prison, +carrying with me a letter instructing every prison official to assist +me and to furnish me all the information within their power. The prison +was located in the center of a Military Preserve, consisting of +ninety-two thousand one hundred and sixty acres, all in a high state of +cultivation. Railways traversed the reservation, but no trains but +military ones were permitted to stop within its limits. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON. +</H3> + +<P> +The Minister of Justice placed an automobile at my service, and when I +arrived at the boundary of the reservation, I was stopped by a military +officer. I handed him my letter from the Minister of Justice, and, +glancing over it, he replied, "You are welcome," and, taking a seat by +my side, we drove to the prison grounds, where I was introduced to the +Superintendent, and invited by him to be his guest during my stay. I +found the prisoners garrisoned in company quarters. One hundred and +thirty-five privates, nine corporals, three sergeants and one company +clerk constituted a company, with a captain in command of them holding +the same rank and pay as a captain in the army, and who was chosen from +the non-commissioned officers in the army for distinguished services. +The prisoners were classified in twelve companies. Four companies +formed the first grade, consisting of Companies A, B, C and D; four +companies formed the second grade, consisting of Companies E, F, G and +H, and four companies formed the third grade, consisting of Companies +I, K, L, and M. The first grade received fifteen cents per day and the +third grade five cents per day, and no pay was forfeited for violation +of prison rules and regulations, but prisoners received no pay during +the time they were on bread and water. Corporals received fifty per +cent. more pay than privates, and sergeants and company clerks one +hundred per cent. more. Prisoners were required to work eight hours +each day, Sundays excepted-commencing at eight a. m., with one hour for +dinner, and ending at five p. m., and to attend night school from six +p. m. until eight p. m. five nights in the week, and once a week +musicians and singers visited the prison and gave entertainments. +</P> + +<P> +The company quarters were only one-story high, but were large and well +ventilated, being eighty feet square with wide verandas and furnished +with steam and hot water pipes for cold weather, and lighted throughout +by incandescent lamps. +</P> + +<P> +The beds were all singly arranged in rows and well furnished with +mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows, and the room had nine large +wash basins at one end of the room, where all the company could wash +their hands and faces and comb their hair. +</P> + +<P> +The captains were required to sleep in the same rooms with the +prisoners, and to eat with them in the dining-room, and were held +responsible for their care and good conduct. He could sentence them for +misconduct to three days on bread and water, but for serious offences +they were tried by a Court of three Judges, appointed by the Minister +of Justice. +</P> + +<P> +The regimental dining-room where all the companies dined was divided +into three sections, with partitions eight feet high between them, each +section having a door connecting with the kitchen, and the food +furnished of good quality, but differing in degree according to grade. +</P> + +<P> +The hospital was on one side of the square, and was fitted with every +modern appliance and at the distance of half a mile was a pest house, +to which all prisoners suffering from leprosy, cancer, syphilis and +other malignant diseases, were consigned. What most attracted my +attention was the bath house, a one-story building, one hundred feet +long, adjoining the laundry. It had a swimming tank in the middle of it +sixty feet long, forty feet wide and twelve feet deep. At the two ends +were porcelain bathtubs for the old and feeble, with hot and cold water +faucets, and on one side were shower-bath nozzles overhead, with hot +and cold water connections; on the side next the laundry were rows of +shelves reaching to the ceiling and numbered from one to eighteen +hundred, holding a change of clothing for the entire regiment of +prisoners, with a passageway and counter in front, and every prisoner +was compelled to bathe on every Sunday, passing over the counter the +clothes worked in; when they had undressed and when they had bathed, +they received clothes, washed and ironed, to put on. Any prisoner who +did not bathe was placed in solitary confinement for three days on +bread and water, then taken to the bathhouse and well scrubbed. +</P> + +<P> +Two prisoners were assigned to work as chiropodists to keep the feet of +the prisoners in good condition, and the laundrymen, besides washing +and ironing all the clothes, sheets and pillowcases, had to wash and +disinfect all the blankets once a month. There were no walls +surrounding the prison building, but the reservation being the +headquarters of an army corps with barracks on all sides, escapes by +prisoners were very rare. +</P> + +<P> +On marching out of the dining-room after breakfast the roll was called, +and also after supper, by the captains of companies, and after nine p. +m. the doors were locked and no smoking or talking was permitted. +</P> + +<P> +A parole commissioner appointed by the Minister of Justice resided at +the prison, who was also Superintendent of the Night School, with +authority to parole any prisoner according to law that in his judgment +was a fit person to be paroled. A paroled prisoner, if he did not have +friends to take care of him, was given employment by the Government, +and no money deposit was required. The Government paid over to him what +money he had earned, and gave him a dress suit and a working suit of +clothes and two changes of underclothing-by those acts of justice +giving him encouragement to become a useful member of society. He was +required to report by a letter once a month to the Governor of the +District from which he came, and the Governor was authorized by law to +pardon him when he thought proper. Those rules and regulations applied +equally to both sexes. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BANK OF EURASIA. +</H3> + +<P> +Leaving the prison, I returned to the Capitol and, calling at the +Department of Finance, was given a copy of the laws governing it, and +learned that it operated under the name of the Bank of Eurasia, with +headquarters in the capital, having a branch in every district and in +every town of one thousand inhabitants or more. It paid out all money +owed by the Government and received and receipted for all taxes due, +and accepted all deposits from one dollar upwards, and issued all +banknotes and bills of exchange, and in consequence there were no +panics and no necessity of issuing clearing-house certificates. To +avoid the folly of locking up large amounts of money received for taxes +each year on the one hand, or permitting stock-gamblers and +money-sharks, on the other hand, to use it, each district was allowed +by law to issue district banknotes of one dollar denomination, +guaranteed by the Government, drawing two per cent. a year interest up +to eighty per cent. of the yearly expenses of the district. The taxes +were payable on the first day of November, and if not paid on that day +a delinquent tax of ten per cent. The banknotes issued by the district +were called in and canceled by this means, keeping the money of the +people in circulation. +</P> + +<P> +Every branch bank in a district was required to send daily accounts of +all money received and paid out to the central branch bank of the +district, which in turn sent a daily account of all bank transactions +in the district to the Bank of Eurasia at the capital. No district +treasurers were required, nor treasurers in any department of the +Government, but vouchers to be paid by the Government had to be signed +and scaled by the proper authorities. The bank also conducted a +National Lottery, with tickets for sale at every branch bank for one +dollar per ticket; drawings monthly, and the highest prize drawn was +five thousand dollars, and the lowest five dollars. Five per cent. of +the gross proceeds going to the Government for the maintenance and +education of orphan children. The amount received each month and the +names of the prize winners was published in the National Gazette (a +weekly paper), and a copy sent to every prize winner. This paper was +published by the Government and every voter was free to subscribe for +it without cost, but no advertisements were allowed in it. It published +the work of every department of the Government and all bills approved +by Parliament, and all laws recommended by the Parliament for whilst +the Parliament could approve and legalize all Government expenditures, +it could only recommend by a two-thirds vote the amending or creating +of any acts pertaining to the Political, Civil and Penal Codes, which +had to go before the people at the next general election, when they +became the law of the land by a two-thirds vote of the qualified voters +who took part in the election, and had a universal circulation, as the +Government owned and operated all railways, telegraphs, teleposts, +telephones, wireless telegraphy stations and levees, all water power, +steamers and boats for freight and passenger service, and, in fact, all +public utilities. +</P> + +<P> +Besides, the Government manufactured and sold all liquors, tobaccos, +drugs, teas, salt, sugar, coals, petroleum, lumber, iron in pigs and +steel in plates and bars. It is easy to see that the Bank of Eurasia +transacted an immense volume of business daily. +</P> + +<P> +The bank coined gold in denominations of fifty dollars, twenty dollars, +ten dollars and five dollars; silver in dollar, fifty and +twenty-five-cent pieces; nickel in ten-cent and five-cent pieces, and +aluminum in one-cent pieces. All money coined with ten per cent. alloy +and at bullion value. The coinage was readjusted every ten years and +silver, nickel and aluminum coins were exchanged for gold at their face +value. The Government issued banknotes drawing two per cent. a year, +and loaned money on land and on goods in the Government warehouses and +conducted a fire insurance business, but no insurance was paid on any +property that was insured in the building where the fire broke out, and +on no buildings that were not fireproof. No life insurance was allowed +and no corporation or individual was allowed to carry on an insurance +business and no person was permitted to insure property or life in the +country in any foreign corporation, and no stock exchanges or gambling +in futures were allowed. +</P> + +<P> +The Bank of Eurasia published every month in the National Gazette the +amount of money on hand, so that the people might know when it was +necessary for the Government to make a new issue of banknotes, so as +not to cripple the circulation. +</P> + +<P> +I was greatly, impressed with the reply of the Minister of Finance when +I asked him why he published those statements, "We deal honestly with +the people and they trust us." In answer to my question if there were +any trusts in his country, he smiled and replied, "One trust: the +People." +</P> + +<P> +Corporations are allowed, but no watered stock and every stockholder +has the same vote in electing officers of the company, whether he holds +one share or any other number of shares, and any conspiracy to corner +the market or to enhance the price of any article produced or +manufactured is punished as a felony, the penalty being five years at +hard labor in prison. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION. +</H3> + +<P> +I called at the Department of Information, and when I was introduced I +realized that I was in the presence of one of the world's greatest +teachers. She gave me a warm handshake and said, "I have been expecting +you, and now that you are here, I will take pleasure in showing you the +workings of the department over which I have the honor to preside. +There are no Government or private detective agencies in our country, +but a constant watch is kept on all public officials as well as private +violators of the law, by the Government placing for sale in every +postoffice and every military station and every prison Government +envelopes with fifty-cent stamps on them, and any person interfering in +the sending or tampering with said letters is punished by imprisonment +for five years at hard labor. Steel boxes with a slit in the lid to +receive the letters were placed in every postoffice, military station +and prison, and could not be opened except by a commissioner from the +Department of Information. Any person could buy one, for there was a +printed address on them, and send it to the President, who has at the +present time three hundred secretaries (young ladies chosen from the +orphan home) to read the letters, answer them and send a copy to the +Minister of Justice who has them Classified, and acting on the +information sends orders out to bring the guilty parties to justice, +and as punishment is meted out only to the bribetakers, for it is only +acting according to the mandates of human nature for a relative or +friend to try to get a person out of trouble to offer a bribe, carried +with it no penalty, but it left the bribetaker at the mercy of the +other party, and in consequence of adopting this system very few public +officials proved untrue, and crime has greatly diminished. Our +department has charge of all mail matter and telegraph, telepost and +telephone lines and wireless stations and all newspaper books and +magazine publications, and we edit the National Gazette; besides we +have charge of all Government scientific research parties, and if you +will call again to-morrow I think I will be able to introduce you to +the Chief Engineer who stands very high in his profession, and who has, +by placing an Astronomical Observatory on the summit of Mount Everest, +attracted the attention of the civilized world." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF MINES. +</H3> + +<P> +I called at the appointed time and was introduced to the Chief +Engineer, who invited me to accompany him on an inspection tour, to +which I gladly assented, and, after a week's pleasant travel by rail, +we arrived at the station on the southwestern slope of Mount Everest at +an elevation of twelve thousand feet above the sea. We had arrived in +the evening and enjoyed a good night's rest, and, eating a hearty +breakfast, we walked out to take observations of the locality, before +taking our trip to the summit, and the Chief told me of the way by +which they finally erected an observatory on the highest mountain of +the earth. +</P> + +<P> +"Five years ago the President sent for me," explained the Chief +Engineer, "and asked if I could plan an observatory on Mount Everest. I +replied that I would try to do so if the Government saw fit to place me +in charge of the undertaking. I received my commission the next day +and, calling to my aid two of the ablest engineers in the service of +the Government, we selected a site for the entrance of the tunnel and +next we searched for suitable power to do the work. We found a +waterfall twenty miles distant, where we built a power house, installed +turbines and dynamos and built an electric line to this place. We then +erected a machine shop, in which we placed our electric engines and air +compressors, and built a railroad connecting with the main line, and +after we had done that we started the tunnel. As you will observe, the +tunnel is a round bore twelve feet in diameter, and no explosives were +used in making it. We used a tunneling machine driven and operated by +compressed air, boring on the average fifty feet every twenty-four +hours, and we washed the debris away by a powerful stream of water +directed against the face of the tunnel so as not to obstruct the work. +We gave the tunnel for the first five miles a grade of one foot in ten +and from that point to the summit a grade of sixty degrees, and laid +heavy steel segment rails six feet apart bolted to the solid rock, by +this means dispensing with ties and permitting a free flow of water and +slum. We found it necessary to build a chamber within the mouth of the +tunnel sixty feet long, with automatic doors opening and shutting, to +secure an abundance of air in the tunnel, and also in the observatory. +The tunnel required no timbering, as we bored all the way through +synetic granite and encountered very little water, and when we were +about to break through at the summit we provided the workmen with fur +clothing, and with air respirators, so that they would not be overcome +by the cold and rarety of the atmosphere. We had a car driven by +electricity to carry the men and material into the tunnel, having four +cogwheel drivers on each side, and the tunnel throughout was lighted by +electricity. We built the observatory of composition metal and glass, +which was carried up on the car-but come along and you shall see for +yourself." +</P> + +<P> +We entered an observatory car that was run by its own dynamo but in +case of the dynamo giving out a trolley wire overhead could furnish +power any moment. After a pleasant ride of an hour's duration we came +out of the tunnel into the observatory and I saw two magnificently +mounted telescopes, one for visitors to look through and the other one +for taking photographic views. I looked through the visitors' telescope +and to my astonishment the sun was blue and when I asked one of the +astronomers present the reason for it he replied that the sun was a +great dynamo and that the dazzling brightness seen at low altitudes was +caused by our atmosphere offering like the filament in an incandescent +lamp great resistance to the electric energy of the sun producing a +brilliant glow and if you were able to go outside the atmosphere of our +earth you would only see the sun as a dark body in space and you would +find yourself in absolute darkness and eternal silence. Night fell and +when I looked again through the telescope and gazed on the countless +hosts of heaven's millions of suns there came into my mind and I +repeated aloud that noble passage in the Bible, "The heavens declare +the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork." I remarked +to the Chief Engineer as we went down to the station, that a great many +people visited the observatory, for I had looked in the visitors' book, +where every person was required to sign his name. He replied, "Yes, if +a private company owned it, it would make the stockholders wealthy, for +it has become to the globe-trotters what Mecca is to the Mohammedans +for no tourist would dare to return home without registering at the +observatory and we encourage them by publishing their names in the +National Gazette. +</P> + +<P> +"If you would like to accompany me I think I can show you another work +we are engaged in that is adding to the accumulated knowledge of the +ages." I gladly assented and after ten days of railway travel we +arrived at the great platinum mine of Eurasia. It was on the +continental divide between Europe and Asia and had been worked on a +small scale at the surface for a great many years, but had not produced +much platinum and owing to an increasing demand for it in the arts the +value of it greatly exceeded that of gold, while at the present time it +is on a par with silver, owing to the government selling it in the +market of the world for what it will bring and smashing any gambling +ring that would attempt to corner the market. We entered a cage and +were lowered to the one thousand-foot level; then we got out of the +cage and, walking about twenty yards, we entered a chamber where there +was another shaft and hoisting works and were lowered to the +two-thousand foot level, which opened out in every direction, +connecting with a drainage tunnel eight miles long, which carried off +all the water for sixteen square miles of surface. After explaining to +me the old methods of mining he said with a smile: "Come with me now +and I will show you our new method," and entering a large chamber that +looked like an immense warehouse, we stepped into a cage and went down, +changing from one cage to another every thousand feet, until we stopped +at the sixty-four-thousand-foot level. We visited several crosscuts and +drifts on this level and found several hundred men at work taking out +platinum ore of a high grade, and my companion told me that they were +doing the same work on several other thousand-foot levels, the ore +improving in quality as they went down. "You no doubt observed as we +came down that the shaft was circular, but you may not have seen a +second shaft of the same diameter as the hoisting shaft forty feet +away. The second shaft is used for air pipes, water pipes and insulated +electric wires." +</P> + +<P> +All the electric current to run the hoists and the compressed air to +drive the drilling machines and to maintain free circulation of air +throughout the workings, comes down that shaft and all the surplus +water is pumped up it to the two-thousand-foot level, where it is +carried off by the drainage tunnel and a complete system of escape +ladders-besides at every level is a hoisting engine and cage to take +the workmen up if danger threatens them. To insure an even temperature +in the mine we keep a supply of liquid aid on every level, which is +renewed daily, connecting the liquid air chest with the pipe that +supplies fresh air to the workings. No expense is spared in taking care +of the health and safety of the workmen and if a man gets sick or +injured he gets the same pay as if he is working, and if a workman gets +killed his wife receives the same pay that he received as long as she +lives, and his children are as well provided for by the government. +None but married men are employed and there is lively competition to +secure employment with us." +</P> + +<P> +He informed me that they sank the shaft with rotary drilling machines, +cutting a channel one inch wide and five feet in depth, leaving a core +nine feet ten inches in diameter in which four holes were drilled four +feet six inches in depth and loaded with a new explosive as powerful as +dynamite but without its injurious fumes and perfectly safe to handle +at any temperature. They averaged in sinking twelve feet daily and as +they went down the rock became more compact and finer grained. As there +were no hot springs in the vicinity and no signs of volcanic action +even in prehistoric times, the temperature of the rock even at the +sixty-four-thousand-foot level was only one hundred and twenty degrees +Fahrenheit, and any increase of temperature in the workings was owing +to the electric light generating heat in the dense atmosphere of the +lower levels. My companion invited me to weigh myself on the ore scales +and to my astonishment I only weighed one hundred and twenty pounds, +and I exclaimed that something was wrong with the scales, but my +companion offered to take the scales up with us to the surface and test +them. We did so and on weighing myself again the beam tipped at one +hundred and sixty pounds my regular weight. +</P> + +<P> +Then he informed me that there was a progressive fall in weights on +every level as they went down and that if no unforeseen obstacle +interfered they would reach the limit of attraction from the surface +downward and in his opinion it would be at fifty miles. I asked him +what they would find there and he replied that in his opinion it would +be the same subtle and elastic essence that fills stellar space, but he +added: "God alone knows the secret of the universe in his keeping." We +visited the great smelting, refining and assaying works in the vicinity +and he introduced me to the general superintendent of all the mines on +the continental divide, who invited me to accompany him on a mine +inspection tour and he would show me the improved method they used in +prospecting for ore and extracting and milling it to the best +advantage. "When our mining experts discover a mineral belt containing +precious metals or copper, iron, lead, nickel, platinum, cobalt, +quicksilver, manganese or any other ore used in manufactures and the +arts, the first thing we do is to sink a shaft on the most likely ore +chimney and at every one hundred feet in depth we run levels to develop +it and if we continue to find ore as we go down and the ground requires +drainage, we survey for a drainage tunnel that will drain the mine at +the greatest depth, even if we have to run a tunnel ten miles. We sink +the shaft to within twenty feet of the tunnel level and then quit +sinking until the tunnel is completed. We use a tunneling machine, +boring a tunnel six feet in diameter at the rate of one hundred feet +per day. We run the tunnel directly under the shaft and then withdraw +all the men and machinery from the tunnel, put a six-inch drill into +the shaft that makes a hole into the tunnel, and quickly drains the +mine. Then we begin to stope out at the lowest level, filling in the +waste upward, and taking out only ore to be conveyed to the mill or +smelter. While the shaft is being sunk the ore taken out is sent to the +reduction works and carefully tested to find out the best way of +reducing it so that when the mine is in good condition to work we know +how to handle ore to the best advantage. +</P> + +<P> +"We have only a few reduction works for refractory ore, but they are on +a grand scale, some of them handling one hundred thousand tons daily, +and as the government owns and operates all the railways the cost of +transporting ore is under two mills a ton per mile. We employ a corps +of metallurgists experimenting to discover better methods in reducing +and they have made great progress so that ores that were left in the +mine or on the dump are now worked with handsome profit to the +government Our workmen all carry life and health insurance, one-half +paid by the men monthly and the other half by the government, and where +a mine is shut down by the government the miners are furnished +employment in another place, so that they are never idle. +</P> + +<P> +"We also bore thousands of artesian wells throughout the country, some +of them to the depth of five thousand feet, for artesian water, gas, +and petroleum, and occasionally we locate fine bodies of coal by those +means and those that we don't need to supply the market we cap and stop +the flow and use them in the future, always using the best flowing +wells for the present time. When we have to use drainage tunnels for +our mines we carry the water off from the mouth of the tunnel in a +flume, placing quicksilver in the riffles, and if it is a copper mine +we place scrap iron in the water and we also use the water for power to +assist us in mining, so that at the present time we extract and reduce +ore at a lower rate than in other parts of the world, for there is no +wastefill management and no overproduction, for in all our mining +operations we work those that cost the least, and we operate our coal +mines in the same way." +</P> + +<P> +I thanked him for the courtesy shown me and took the train for the +capital, and my next visit was to the Department of Education. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. +</H3> + +<P> +I was ushered into the office of the Minister of Education and was +introduced to a charming lady who filled that position with signal +ability. "I am told that you are from the United States of America." +she said with a winning smile, "and I hope that you will have a +pleasant time while you remain with us." She spoke perfect English and +informed me that it was the language of Eurasia, but that it differed +from English used in other countries in one way. "We write the words +the way they sound and eliminate all useless letters, saving a great +deal of time and paper." She informed me that in no school throughout +the country, save one, were the dead, or foreign, languages taught, and +in that one only for the purpose of correct translation in the interest +of science, for practical education is what people need. "We have one +great university for orphan children and those without a name, and from +it all the departments of the government are supplied with secretaries, +clerks, typewriters and messengers, and as they are physically, +mentally and morally trained for the duties of life, they are highly +prized in the matrimonial market. All our common schools have a +gymnasium and swimming tank annexed to the study room; the gymnasium +being divided into two compartments, one for boys and one for girls, +with a door from each communicating with the study room and also with +the swimming tank." The tank was only four feet deep so as to remove as +much as possible the chance for a child being drowned, and no little +children were allowed in the tank without two or more boys and girls of +fourteen years of age being present. +</P> + +<P> +The doors leading into the tank room were kept under lock and key and +were only opened once a day and that at the noon hour. The youngest +children, up to the age of twelve years, when they had learned their +lessons both in the forenoon and afternoon went into the gymnasium to +play, and by those means the children are physically well developed and +knowing how to swim are not liable to become frightened if thrown into +the water and know what to do to save others from drowning. They are +taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, typewriting, +typesetting and practical geometry, so as to draw lines, angles and +circles and find their volumes and areas, but algebra, astronomy, +grammar, geology, physiology, biology and metaphysics are reserved for +the high schools, where every boy and girl is sent when they are +fifteen years of age and kept there for three years at the expense of +the government. The high school is located in the district reserve as +near the center of the district as conditions will permit in the +vicinity of the court house and the Governor's residence and has +adjoining it not less than one thousand acres, according to the +population of the district, so as to make it as self-sustaining as +possible and to teach the students agriculture, horticulture and the +care and management of stock and poultry. +</P> + +<P> +"We have a foundry, machine shop, woolen mill, cotton mill and chemical +works at every high school, and while both sexes are taught farming and +gardening the boys are taught mechanical trades and the girls knitting, +spinning, weaving, cooking, housekeeping and nursing, so as to know how +to take care of the sick and injured, and at the age of eighteen years +the boys are drafted into the army and serve three years, building +railways, levees, canals, irrigation ditches, docks, warehouses and +other public buildings, and the girls are sent to the chemical +factories, woolen mills, cotton mills, paper mills, flax mills, sugar +mills and tobacco factories. No exceptions are made from service; all +must serve. Both boys and girls are dressed in military uniform and are +drilled two hours in rifle practice, firing ten shots at an imitation +enemy in a military suit, stuffed with straw, in different positions, +from one hundred to one thousand yards distance, every Sunday weather +permitting and in actual war one brigade of girls is assigned to every +division of the army to carry off the wounded and nurse them and to +assist in the defense whenever it is necessary, and also to garrison +and hold the lines of communication and their presence in the field has +been so inspiring to our boys that they never have turned their backs +to the enemy." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WAR DEPARTMENT. +</H3> + +<P> +My next trip was to the War Department, where I was shown the Rules and +Regulations governing the army, and navy. +</P> + +<P> +The army was organized in twenty-five corps of eighty thousand men +each, besides the ladies' army corps of an equal number; each corps +composed of three divisions of foot infantry and one division of +mounted infantry. Each division was composed of three brigades of +infantry, one regiment of sharpshooters and one regiment of artillery; +each brigade of three regiments and each regiment of twelve companies, +one hundred and fifty men each. The company was divided into three +sergeants' commands and those into three corporal squads. Each company +consisted of one hundred and thirty-five privates, nine corporals, +three sergeants, one company clerk, one lieutenant and a captain. Four +companies composed a battalion, commanded by a major, and the regiment +by a colonel. There were no lieutenant colonels; the senior major +taking charge of the regiment in case of death or disability of the +colonel until the regiment elected an officer to fill the vacancy. All +vacancies above the rank of colonel were filled by the corps commander, +all vacancies up to and including that of colonel by the votes of the +men, but the colonel had to be chosen from the majors, a major from the +captains of his battalion. The lieutenant succeeded to the captaincy +without a vote-but the lieutenant had to be chosen from the sergeants +and company clerk and the sergeant from the corporals of his command. +The corporals were elected by the privates of the squads, so that any +soldier could rise from the ranks through merit to high command. +</P> + +<P> +The corps commander holds the rank of lieutenant general, the general +of division that of major general, and the commander of a brigade that +of a brigadier general. The regiment of sharpshooters was chosen from +the best rifle shots in the division and in war time received double +pay for they were always at the front of the division and the first to +engage the enemy. A one-pounder rapid-fire gun was attached to every +company and was operated by the lieutenant assisted by the company +clerk. In the artillery regiment there were twelve batteries, six +three-inch caliber guns and one one-pounder rapid-fire gun to each +battery, and as they were under the direct control of the general +commanding the division he could mass them to fire on any point of +attack. The privates were paid fifteen dollars a month, the corporals +twenty dollars, the sergeants twenty-five dollars, company clerks +thirty dollars, lieutenants forty dollars, captains sixty dollars, +majors eighty dollars, colonels one hundred dollars, brigadier generals +one hundred and fifty dollars, major generals two hundred dollars and +the lieutenant general three hundred dollars a month, and officers and +privates were allowed the same rations and the same amount of clothing. +No fixed ration was issued on account of climatic conditions-but plenty +and no waste was the rule and every captain and lieutenant had to sit +at meals with his men and eat the same food. No violation of this rule +was allowed and as a result of this common sense regulation the men +were well fed and provided, for every colonel was held to account for +the welfare of the men under his command and every officer up to the +rank of field marshal could be reduced to the ranks for violation of +the rules and regulations governing the army. As there was a mailbox +under the control of the Minister of Information in every military post +in which complaints were posted to be sent to the President it had a +very salutary effect in keeping the officers attentive to their duty, +as no officer wanted to lose his position and salary and be a private. +All trivial violations of the rules by non-commissioned officers and +privates, such as insolence, drunkenness, filthy habits and disorderly +conduct, could be punished by the captain with three days on bread and +water-but no pay could be forfeited for any offense, for no fines were +allowed in the republic. For serious offenses committed by either +officer or private in time of peace, such as sodomy, crimes against +nature, adultery, seduction, larceny, embezzlement or any other felony, +the accused was sent to the district court for trial and on conviction +was dismissed the service and committed to prison for the term of years +provided by the law for the crime he had been convicted of and five +years additional for perjury, he having violated his oath of office +that he would be honest and upright in all things so help him God, and +any officer could be reduced to the ranks for conduct unbecoming a +gentleman as the result of a trial before a jury of twelve men drawn by +ballot from any other command than his own. No sashes, jewelry or +regalia of any kind was permitted to be worn. +</P> + +<P> +Officers and privates were dressed alike and the insignia of rank was +worn on the collar, and no revolvers, bayonets, sabres, swords, rapiers +or lances were allowed to be carried-but every officer was required to +carry a rifle so that he could not be marked out by the enemy's +sharpshooters and to set an example of good shooting to his men when +under fire. Every soldier seriously injured in the service of his +country in time of peace as well as in war, received the same pay and +care as if he was still in the service and if he was killed or died +from disease his father and mother or either of them, as long as they +lived. The army was truly a great industrial army, for every officer +and man was required to work eight hours a day and for six days in the +week, at remunerative labor, and two hours on Sundays at rifle +practice. The rules and regulations governing the army applied equally +to both sexes. Both boys and girls, when drafted into the army, were +first sent to the headquarters of the army corps to which they were +assigned, the boys mostly afterward to the department of railways, +mines, commerce and agriculture and the girls to the department of +finance, manufactures, education and information, distributed all over +the republic so as to become acquainted with the people in general, by +so doing wiping out sectional feeling and realizing that God was their +father and that they all belonged to a common brother- and sisterhood +united together under a government for the people, of the people, and +by the people. I paid a visit to the navy yard and inspected two +battleships that were undergoing some slight repairs to their machinery. +</P> + +<P> +One was a second-class battleship and her dimensions and armament were +as follows: Length five hundred and twenty-five feet, breadth of beam +seventy-five feet, draught of water twenty feet and six inches, height +of gun deck from the water line twelve feet; armament: ten twelve-inch +caliber guns mounted in turrets on the center line of the ship. The +turrets were bolted to the deck, five of them forward and five aft, and +were eighteen feet in diameter, eight feet high, with a slope from deck +to parapet of thirty degrees and made of armor steel twelve inches +thick. One gun in each turret and the guns could swing around on +four-fifths of the circle, so that every gun could be brought to bear +on an enemy either to port or starboard. No other guns were carried in +time of war and no cruisers, torpedo boats, or torpedoes were used, for +experience in war had shown that they were useless waste of men and +money. The battleship was propelled by rotary engines developing fifty +thousand horsepower, driving the ship at a sustained speed of thirty +knots an hour. The ship had four propellers, two on each side at the +stern, and the boilers were heated by petroleum with automatic feed. +The engineer informed me that they had tried gasoline and other +explosives (for the rotary engines worked well with them) but they +endangered the safety of the ship and the lives of the crew. There were +only two decks in the ship, the lower deck just above the waterline and +the gun deck; the lower deck floor was two-inch steel and was not +divided into compartments, having no partitions, so that if solid shot +or shell entered the side of the ship it could not scatter a shower of +steel splinters to kill or wound the men, and for further protection +against fragments of shell heavy woolen blankets were hung on the +inside from the ceiling. A double partition of two-inch steel ran bow +to stern through the center of the ship, reaching from the floor of the +hold to the lower deck, with a space between the partitions of four +inches filled in with concrete, and the gun deck was supported by heavy +steel pillars, as the space between the lower deck and the gun deck was +twelve feet. A fireproof platform four feet wide with a railing four +feet high of netting, encircled the smokestack about twenty feet above +the gun and connected with it by a rope ladder. It was the lookout +station and the Captain's post in battle from where he directed the +action. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one smokestack on any battleship and no bridge or +superstructure or any inflammable material above the waterline, and the +officers and men eat at the same tables and partake of the same food. +If any officer or private objected to it or violated this rule, he was +dismissed the service, for it was considered injurious to the service +on board ship to keep any discontented person. The crew consisted of +two hundred privates, fifty corporals, five sergeants, ten lieutenants, +ten captains, one chief engineer with two assistants, one lieutenant +commander and the commander, who was captain of the ship and had the +same rank and pay as a colonel in the army. +</P> + +<P> +The gunner and assistant gunners held the same rank and pay as captains +and lieutenants in the army. The chief engineer received the same as +the commander and took orders only from him, and his assistants +received the same pay as majors in the army, and the sergeants, +corporals and privates the same pay as in the army. The gunners and +assistant gunners were chosen from among the crew for the best +shooting, for it was justly held that victory in a naval battle rested +mostly on the shooting qualities of the man behind the gun. +</P> + +<P> +The other battleship was rated first class and her dimensions were as +follows: Length, six hundred and thirty feet, breadth of beam ninety +feet, draught of water thirty feet. Armament: sixteen twelve-inch +caliber guns in single turrets and placed in the following manner: +forward on the lower gun deck, five guns; one on the center line of the +ship near the bow and two on each side further back. Five guns aft on +the lower gun deck; one on the center line of the ship near the stern +and two on each side in the same way as in the first part of the ship. +Three guns forward on the upper gun deck, one on the center line of the +ship and one on each side nearer amidships; three guns aft on the upper +gun deck in the relative positions. All the guns were placed so that +twelve guns could be brought to bear on an enemy ship. The lower gun +deck was twelve feet above the water line and the upper gun deck two, +and they were constructed and equipped as those on the second class. +</P> + +<P> +The first class battleships carried one hundred and two more men than +the second class, consisting of six gunners, six assistant gunners, +eighteen corporals and seventy privates. No additional force was +required for the Engineer department of the ship. I inquired of the +Chief Engineer what make of engine they used and he replied that it was +the Hammond & Co. Rotary Engine and added: "We are indebted for this +engine to a countryman of yours named Leonard Hammond, who perfected it +so that at present it is in universal use and has revolutionized the +industries of the world by its saving of fuel and the low price at +which it call be manufactured, so that it has consigned every other +make of engine, reciprocal and turbine, to the scrap pile, and of the +most notable benefits derived from it has been in the shipping not only +in economy of fuel, but also in the small space they occupy so as to +give more room for cargo and in the almost total absence of vibration, +and in the battleship from their being on the propeller shaft at the +stern far below the water line." +</P> + +<P> +The battleships remain for ten months of the year in the rivers and +harbors, where the officers and men are kept busy dredging, building +levees, wharves and breakwaters, and they take a cruise to different +parts of the earth during the months of December and January, and +during that time engage in gunnery practice. A battery of three-inch +caliber guns is taken on board each battleship for that as the big guns +will not stand continual firing and are only used on special occasions +to see if the gunners have improved. The men are highly pleased with +the service and the majority of them re-enlist. On inquiry I was told +that they had thirty first-class and thirty second-class battleships +and that they kept them always together so that they could strike an +enemy with force, but as they held no people in subjection and had no +colonies or outlying possessions there was at the present time very +little danger of war-but if it should come they were ready to fight and +to strike hard. As I left the navy yard I thought what a pity it was +that the people inhabiting the other countries of the earth were not +governed as these people are, for then there would be no need of +battleships and the kindly earth would slumber lapped in Universal Laws. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. +</H3> + +<P> +On inquiring at the Department of Commerce I was informed that it had +charge of all vessels engaged in internal traffic as well as in foreign +trade, and operated lines of steamers running to all ports of the +globe, carrying freight at a rate between home and foreign ports that +defied competition, but they did not carry freight between foreign +countries. The men for the Mercantile Marine were furnished by the Army +and had the same pay. They were required to load and unload cargo in +every port where they took on or discharged freight, and shippers did +not have to pay wharfage charges or pilot fees, for everyone took his +ship into port and out without a pilot. The department also had charge +of all Government warehouses, wharves and docks and appointed all +consuls to foreign countries and received their reports, which were +published in the National Gazette. +</P> + +<P> +The business of the Department was run on the principle of the greatest +good to the whole people, so that whenever the profits any year +exceeded the expenses and the sinking fund, freight rates were reduced. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS. +</H3> + +<P> +I went from there to the Department of Railroads and was given a copy +of freight and passenger rates which on examination proved to be very +simple and that required no great lawyers with legal cunning to draw up +as they did in my country in making tariff schedules to fool the people +and open a wider door for graft rebates and special privileges. The +passenger rate was five mills per mile for any and every distance, with +children under seven years of age free, with but one exception-all +children attending the District High School were carried free to and +from school. +</P> + +<P> +Sleeping cars were provided for all persons traveling over one thousand +miles on the train, but no person under that distance was permitted to +occupy one. There were no Pullman or Palace Coaches and no special +train was allowed save only to the President or member of his Cabinet +on official business. The railway lines were run through the country so +as to bring the produce of the people to market and to bring all the +people in touch with one another. Hundreds of short lines were in +operation that by themselves did not pay operating expenses, but as +they formed a part of the whole railway system of the Republic under +one management, they were beneficial to the people. The rate for all +kinds of freight, except grain and vegetables, was five mills per ton +per mile for all distances, and for grain, fruit and vegetables two +mills per ton per mile. +</P> + +<P> +All Government freight and employees were carried free, but a strict +account was kept so as to prevent fraud. No discrimination between +persons or places was allowed. Everyone was placed on the same footing, +but to prevent conspiracies in restraint of trade if a person in any +district shipped goods into another district and offered them for sale +for a less price, with the freight added, than he sold them for in his +own district, he was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor +in the district where he violated the law, and if any person, either of +his own account or acting as agent for another party, sold goods +brought from a foreign country for a less price than the wholesale +price of the goods at the place where they were produced or +manufactured with twenty per cent. added for freight and other +expenses, was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor, and +if not a citizen of the Republic of Eurasia, was expelled from the +country after serving out his sentence, for, as a prominent officer +remarked to me: "We do not permit any Standard Oil methods in our +country." There were no tariff duties levied. Every article produced or +manufactured (except those produced or manufactured by the Government, +which were prohibited) were admitted free, provided the Government of +that country admitted articles produced or manufactured in Eurasia +free; if not, then a non-intercourse decree was issued by the President +of Eurasia to be in force until the other country accepted free trade. +The railways were built directly by the Government, employing soldiers +to do the work, and no contracts were allowed, Government +superintendents and foremen bossing the construction, even to getting +out ties in the Government forests and the rails made in Government +mills and foundries. The Government built railroads at less cost than +they were built for in any other part of the world and politicians had +no chance to get their political friends into soft berths at the +expense of the taxpayers. No money was paid by the General Government +for right of way. +</P> + +<P> +All claims for damages arising out of the building of railways had to +be presented to the District Court, and the law provided that the +District Court could grant such compensation as was just, but in no +case could it exceed the assessed value of the land per acre that the +owner had sworn to previously as the full value of his land, to be paid +out of the funds of the district. There were only two forms of taxation +in Eurasia, a land tax and a graduated income tax. There was no tax on +improvements of any kind, either on city or country property, but on +the land only; by this wise system of taxation encouraging the people +to improve their property and beautify and discouraging land +speculation; and when the Government wanted land owned by private +parties who were citizens of the Republic (for no foreigner was +permitted by law to own land directly or indirectly, so that the curse +of Absentee Landlordism which was the ruin of Ireland, should never +blight the happiness of the people of Eurasia), they added up the +assessments for the previous five years and divided them by five and +added twenty per cent. to it in payment for the land, together with +fair compensation for any buildings there might be on it; so that if +the owner swore to a low valuation on his land he was the loser; but +the District Court, sitting as a Board of Equalization every year, +could fix the value of the land at what they considered proper. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE INCOME TAX. +</H3> + +<P> +The income tax was a graduated income tax beginning with persons having +on income one thousand dollars a year and above what they laid out in +improving their property. All persons whose income was less than one +thousand dollars paid no income tax. The tax was one per cent. on one +thousand dollars, the rate increasing with the amount of income up to +fifty thousand dollars a year, when it was fifty per cent., leaving the +owner twenty-five thousand dollars, and for all incomes over fifty +thousand dollars a year the surplus over twenty-five thousand dollars +went to the Government and as a result of this wise policy there were +no Jay Goulds or J. D. Rockefellers in Eurasia. All money received from +land and income taxes went into the District Fund for the expenses of +the district and schools, and building and maintaining of good, +macadamized roads, for every district had a rock crusher from which the +roads were supplied with broken stone at a trifling expense to the +district. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURES. +</H3> + +<P> +The Government derived its revenues from the sale of liquors, drugs, +chemicals, tobacco, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, coal, oil, stone, +charcoal, iron, steel, copper, lead and the precious metals. The +greatest revenue was derived from liquors. Every commodity produced or +manufactured by the Government was sold in lots or packages at one +dollar a lot or package. The Government made and sold wine in three +grades, The first-grade wine was put up in quart bottles at one dollar +a quart, the second-grade wine in half-gallon bottles at one dollar a +bottle, and the third-grade wine in gallon bottles at one dollar a +gallon; alcohol in half-gallon bottles at one dollar a bottle, and +brandy in the same way and sold at the same price. There were no grades +in brandy. All brandies were sold at one dollar for half a gallon. +Whisky, of which there was only manufactured one grade, but out of +different cereals or vegetables, was put up in one-gallon bottles and +sold at one dollar a gallon. Beer was sold in five-gallon kegs at one +dollar a keg, but the purchaser of beer had to pay in addition for the +keg, which was refunded when he returned the keg in good condition. The +Government manufactured pure liquors and no foreign liquors were +admitted into Eurasia. +</P> + +<P> +In the chemical factories every drug required by the Medical +Pharmacopoeia and every chemical required in the arts and manufactures +was made, but no drugs were sold except on a medical prescription, or +chemicals except to responsible parties. The voters of any district +could by a majority vote prohibit the use of any or all liquors or +drugs in the district, and on receiving official notice of the law +enacted by the district the Minister of Manufactures issued an order +withdrawing from the district any or all liquors or drugs prohibited, +and any person bringing into the district any prohibited drug or +liquor, unless under a prescription from a Government physician, was +punished by six months at hard labor within the district. +</P> + +<P> +At every Government warehouse where drugs and chemicals were sold the +Government employed a competent physician, on a salary fixed by law, to +superintend their sale, and he could prescribe and the Government +furnished the medicine free to those who were sick and did not have the +money to pay for it. +</P> + +<P> +Tobacco was manufactured and sold in three grades, viz., cigars, which +were sold in packages twenty cigars for a dollar, and smoking tobacco +and chewing at one dollar a package. No cigarettes were manufactured or +sold by the Government or admitted into Eurasia, as it was recognized +by all intelligent people who took a warm interest in human progress +that the use of tobacco in the form of cigarettes had an injurious +effect on the young, through the pernicious habit of inhaling the +smoke. Coffee and tea were put up in three grades at one dollar a +package, the packages weighing in proportion to grade, and sugar was +made and sold in two grades, viz., common sugar and refined. The common +was put up in twenty-five-pound sacks and sold for one dollar a sack, +and the refined sugar in twenty-pound sacks and sold at one dollar a +sack. Salt was put up in one-hundred-pound sacks and five sacks of +common salt were sold for one dollar and four sacks of refined salt for +one dollar, or at the rate of four dollars a ton for rock salt and five +dollars a ton for refined salt. +</P> + +<P> +The Government manufactured charcoal on a large scale in fireproof +brick kilns, that turned out ten thousand bushels of charcoal to the +kiln, with elevated railroad tracks running between the rows of kilns, +so that the wood was unloaded from the cars into the kilns and on the +outside of the kilns were sunken railroad tracks so that the charcoal +when drawn from the kilns could be loaded into the cars with the least, +amount of labor, enabling the Government to sell charcoal in +one-hundred-pound sacks at one dollar for two hundred pounds, or at the +rate of ten dollars a ton. The Government reserved for its own use all +anthracite coal, but sold bituminous coal in two-hundred-pound sacks +for a dollar, at the rate of five dollars a ton. The Government +reserved for its own use crude petroleum, but refined it as coal oil +and sold it at ten cents a gallon in dollar lots. +</P> + +<P> +Pig iron and bar steel were sold by the Government at a price yielding +a profit of twenty per cent. over cost of production; lead and copper +at the same rate of profit, and all the gold and silver mined or +brought into Eurasia was coined and went into circulation. Every +commodity produced or manufactured by the Government in the above list +was sold at the same price, whether the Government warehouse where the +goods were sold was in the most populous city of Eurasia or at a lonely +fishing-station in the icy regions of the Arctic or in the torrid +deserts of the Tropics. +</P> + +<P> +Every person buying a commodity in a Government store was required by +law to register his name in the Government account book opposite the +list of articles purchased, which was always open to the public for +inspection, so that any intelligent person could see who was addicted +to the use of intoxicating liquors, and the manager of the warehouse +was compelled by law on the complaint of a wife or mother to deny +liquor to the husband or son that was complained against and to publish +the name in the district newspaper of largest circulation as well as +posting it on the bulletin board on the front of the warehouse, and any +person who gave liquor directly or indirectly to the person prohibited +was sentenced, on conviction thereof, to six months' imprisonment at +hard labor. The Magistrate was forbidden by law to release on probation +any person over the age of fifteen years convicted of this offense, and +a child under the age of fifteen violating this law was sent to the +reform school, of which there was one in every district. +</P> + +<P> +No credit was allowed in the purchase of goods from the Government and +the manager of the warehouse had discretionary power to limit the sale +of any commodity so as to treat rich and poor alike and to prevent +speculation. As every purchaser could buy a dollar's worth of any +commodity for sale by the Government and as no rebate was granted no +matter what the amount purchased, it placed every purchaser on an +equality in dealing with the Government. No liquor was allowed to be +drunk on or about the premises where it was sold, neither could it be +sold by any private party directly or indirectly to any person. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +PUBLIC UTILITIES. +</H3> + +<P> +The Government, through its ownership and operation of all public +utilities, placed within the reach of every person the necessaries and +some of the luxuries of life, no matter what their trade or profession +or where situated, so that when I became acquainted with their system +of government I was not surprised at the spirited character and noble +bearing of the people, in striking contrast to the cringing servility +of the ignorant laborer in England and the negroes of the United States +of America, for in Eurasia there were no kings, dukes or lords, but +every man was addressed as "Mister" and every female as "Madame" or +"Miss," and there was practically realized Burns's famous song: "A +man's a man for a' that." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. +</H3> + +<P> +I visited several experimental farms under the management of the +Department of Agriculture and was informed by the superintendent of the +farm that the Government had a small farm of six hundred and forty +acres in every district in which was situated the District High School +where boys and girls were taught how to farm and to raise stock and +poultry to the best advantage, and also large farms at every military +reservation where persons convicted of crime were taught how to become +useful members of society. The Government raised only thoroughbred +stock and poultry on the farms, and the service of the males was given +free to every farmer that desired to improve his stock. +</P> + +<P> +As Eurasia covered a vast extent of country, enjoying every variety of +climate, the Department of Agriculture had all almost unlimited field +to work in and was yearly producing some new variety of plants that +enriched the labors of the husbandman as well as discovering remedies +to successfully combat parasites and other enemies of the fruitraiser +and horticulturist as well as the farmer. District fairs were held once +a year in every district at which prizes were given to the best butter +and cheese makers and to the best breeder of every kind of live stock +and poultry raised in the district, but no stock or poultry imported +into the district could receive a prize. The owner of anything +exhibited at the fair had to make an affidavit that he or she had +raised it on his or her farm. Prizes were given to the owner of the +best cereals and vegetables of all kinds as well as for hemp, flax, +cotton and silk, and for the best manufactured articles of every +description. The Government exhibited at every district fair the most +improved machinery in use for bettering the means of production with +skilled mechanics to operate it and any person desiring to purchase a +machine could buy it from the Government at the actual cost of +manufacture with twenty per cent. added. The Government prizes at the +district fairs excited and aroused a growing interest in the people to +improve their condition and by bringing them together in great +gatherings made them more friendly to one another with a broader and +deeper feeling for humanity. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. +</H3> + +<P> +I did not see any foreign Ambassadors in the Capital and on enquiring +for the cause of their absence was referred to the Minister of Foreign +Affairs for information. He told me that the presence of Foreign +Ministers in Eurasia would be in violation of the laws as no privileges +were allowed to any person that could not be enjoyed by all the people, +"and no doubt you are aware that under the monarchical system of +government Ambassadors and their suites were privileged persons who +could not be arrested and punished for violating the laws of Eurasia, +and they could bring into the country everything that they wanted for +their own use without paying any duty on them, even if the use of the +article was prohibited by law; and taking advantage of this immunity, +some of them brought into the country and circulated obscene books that +would not be allowed to go through the mails and that would subject any +citizen of this country to six months at hard labor, if they were found +in his possession. +</P> + +<P> +"When a government by the people came into power in Eurasia the +President called our Legations home and dismissed the foreign +Ambassadors and Ministers and notified every Government that we had +dealings with that in the future the Government of Eurasia would +communicate with them by mail and telegraph and would publish in the +National Gazette of Eurasia all correspondence that passed between +them, so that the people of both countries should know the character of +the men to whom they had entrusted the management of foreign affairs. +We do not interfere in the affairs of other countries, but try to +promote peace and good will among all nations. We have enforced a law +that met with bitter opposition in England and the United States of +America and brought us to the verge of war, but the common sense of the +working men and women in both countries forced their Government to +yield and it has proved a blessing to the sailors. The law commands +that if a sailor on any vessel that comes into Eurasian ports, no +matter what flag she flies, makes a complaint of ill-usage, the party +complained against shall be arrested and tried and if found guilty sent +to prison for the term of years corresponding to the offense." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +UNITED WORKERS OF EURASIA. +</H3> + +<P> +I was introduced to the President of the United Workers of Eurasia and +he told me that all the working men and women were united in one great +union and that the present Minister of Labor was a lady who for years +had championed the cause of Labor and that she was unceasing in her +efforts to better their condition now that she was at the head of the +Department of Labor. The wages of all Government employees were fixed +by law and could not be raised or lowered except by a two-thirds vote +of the people, and only one bill from each department could be +submitted by the Parliament to the people to vote on at each election, +so that graft and corrupt practices could gain no footing by appealing +to selfish interests. +</P> + +<P> +The law provided a liability fund for sickness, injuries and death +among working men and women; one-half of the fund payable by the +working men and women and the other half by the employers. The money +for the fund had to be paid monthly. Every working man and woman had to +pay out of his or her wages a fixed sum for which the employer was held +responsible and every employer had to pay an equal sum for every person +in his employ. This law applied equally to every person in Eurasia, the +employer as well as the employed. There was no charge for membership in +the labor union and no walking delegates, for the Government gave them +permission to hold their meetings in the churches, which were all +Government property, and in the public schools. Whenever the members of +the union in any district wanted an increase of wages the law required +them to serve a written notice on the employer and a copy of it on the +District Court. The Chief justice then called both parties before the +Court and ordered them to each select one person as arbitrator, and for +those two selected to settle the dispute and if they could not agree, +then the case went immediately before the District Court and a majority +vote of the Court settled it. As a result of this common-sense method +of settling labor disputes there were no strikes. +</P> + +<P> +Every corporation, before shutting down its works, had to serve ten +days' notice on its employees and also file a copy of it with the +District Court, stating its reasons for so doing, and if the labor +union protested, the Court heard the case and if there was unsufficient +cause shown by the corporation it had to continue work until such time +as it showed good and sufficient reasons to stop work. The Government +strictly enforced the eight-hour law, and no working woman was +permitted to work overtime. Children were not allowed to work for wages +under any circumstances for they were the wards of the State, but men +could work overtime if the union permitted them, with double pay for +it. The Government granted a pension of half the wages yearly received +by every working man and woman that was over sixty years of age and a +full pension wage to every working man or woman over seventy years of +age, no matter what their financial condition was at that time. +</P> + +<P> +Every person before casting a ballot at the polls was required to show +a receipt from the Department of Health that two dollars had been paid +into the Old Age Pension fund for the previous year, which was a +salutary measure in preserving the purity of elections by eliminating +the shiftless and improvident from participation in the election. +</P> + +<P> +The Government obeyed the Fourth Commandment, "Honor thy Father and thy +Mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God +giveth thee." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. +</H3> + +<P> +I learned that the Department of Health had greater responsibilities +than any other department of the Government, for the physical, mental +and moral welfare of the people was in its keeping. One of its duties +was to prevent the introduction of any diseases into Eurasia, and to +make it effective every person coming into the country had to undergo a +physical examination by three Government physicians, and all persons +that were idiotic or insane or had any of the following diseases, viz.: +syphilis, tuberculosis, cancer, leprosy, yellow fever, smallpox, or any +other contagious disease or fever, or was shown on examination to be +addicted to vicious habits, were denied admission. Another of the +duties of the Department of Health was to examine every person that +applied to practice medicine and surgery or to engage in any +professional calling. The law required a medical examination to be made +of the person, who was granted a license every year, so as to keep the +professions up to a high standard. +</P> + +<P> +Before granting license to any man, three male physicians in Government +employ examined him, and if a female three female physicians examined +her. The first examination was physical, and if found to be in good +physical health they were passed up for a mental examination, and if +they qualified for their profession they were examined morally, when +they were asked the following questions: "Do you believe in the +Brotherhood of Man? Will you do unto others always as you would desire +that others should do to you? Do you promise that you will not render +obedience directly or indirectly to any person or persons outside of +Eurasia and that you will render willing obedience to the laws and do +all that lies in your power to maintain the honor of the country?" If +they did not agree to those rules of conduct they were denied a +license. If any person attempted to practice any profession without a +license he was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor. +</P> + +<P> +Any person practicing fortune-telling or any other fraudulent calling +was tried for obtaining money under false pretenses, and on conviction +thereof was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at hard labor at the +rock crusher. The result of this wise law showed in the total absence +of bands of gypsies, dancing dervishes, holy rollers and strolling +vagabonds of every description in Eurasia. If a man or woman was found +anywhere in Eurasia without visible means of support the Department of +Health found work for them until such time as they could better their +condition. They were required to work eight hours a day if they were +able to do manual labor and if not able to work they were sent to a +Government Sanatorium. +</P> + +<P> +The Department of Health had charge of the sewerage system in every +district, city as well as country. In the cities it supervised the +erection of every new building, and any old buildings that it +pronounced unsanitary had to be torn down. It saw also to the removal +of all garbage and refuse material. The Department of Health had charge +of all births, marriages and deaths, and could order the cremation of +any dead body when it believed that it would be to the benefit of the +health of the community to do so. The Department of Health was also +required by law to make a physical examination of children when they +were born and to take care of them if the mother was unable to do so +and to send all illegitimate children to the Government Orphan College. +It superintended the sale of all medicine and drugs, having a +Government physician at every Government warehouse where they were +sold. It had also charge of all idiots and insane persons as well as +dangerous criminals. +</P> + +<P> +The Superintendent and two Assistant Superintendents of the lunatic +asylums (of which there were only two, one for males and one for +females) were required by law to castrate male lunatics and emasculate +females who had become insane through masturbation or other vicious +habits and to chloroform dangerous lunatics who had homicidal +tendencies. Those three physicians in committee examined every +dangerous lunatic and two of them could order the person chloroformed +if in their judgment it was necessary. Lady physicians had charge of +the female lunatic asylum with the same authority as the men. The two +asylums were located in the center of a fine tract of farming land in +the Southern part of Eurasia, consisting of ninety-two thousand one +hundred and sixty acres in a high state of cultivation with flourishing +orchards and vineyards, and at the time I visited it had a population +of sixty thousand male inmates and thirty-five thousand female +inmates-besides the officers and guards. +</P> + +<P> +The mildest and most tractable of the inmates were in communities +organized in military style in different parts of the grounds and were +busily employed in doing everything that was required to make the +institution self-sustaining. The physicians of the State prisons were +required by law after one year's imprisonment (one year after sentence +was passed was allowed to prove innocence) to castrate all males +convicted of rape, incest, or any other infamous crime against nature, +and to castrate every male prisoner who committed sodomy or other +infamous crime while in prison; but only after trial and conviction for +the crime before the District Court, and they could by a majority vote +chloroform any dangerous criminal that showed homicidal tendencies. +</P> + +<P> +I saw no red-light sign of houses of prostitution, and on making +inquiries I was informed that there were no houses of prostitution in +Eurasia, for as soon as information was given to any Magistrate the law +required him or her to issue an order for the arrest of the female +practicing prostitution, and on conviction she was committed to the +female reformatory for five years, subject to parole after one year, +and for a second offense of the same crime she was deprived of the +power to propagate the race. Gentle reader, don't think that this law +is cruel or unjust, for the amount of evil that a depraved woman can +commit in spreading, that loathsome disease, syphilis, is incalculable, +and Christ when he told the woman that had committed adultery that he +did not condemn her also added: "Go and sin no more." A committee of +six physicians, three males and three females, in the service of the +Government in every district were required by law to examine every +person desiring marriage and if the person examined was affected with +tuberculosis, cancer, scrofula, leprosy, syphilis, or any other +loathsome or contagious disease, then that person was denied a license +to marry; and also if they were mentally unsound. +</P> + +<P> +Under the law no person was allowed to marry until twenty-one years of +age, male and female, and any person violating this law was punished by +one year's imprisonment at hard labor in the district in which this law +had been violated. In no case was a Government physician permitted to +receive any compensation for services rendered as physician, for they +were the servants of the people, elected by the people in every +district and paid by the Government a salary fixed by law, and no bonds +were required of them or of any public official, for the people elected +every public official with the exception of officers in the Army and +Navy, who were elected by the soldiers up to the grade of Colonel, and +the Brigadiers and Major-Generals were appointed by the Minister of +War, was was Commander-in-Chief and directed all the operations of the +Army and Navy in war, and also the agents of the Department of +Information, who were appointed by the Minister of that department on +the recommendation of his assistant chiefs, of whom there was one in +every district who was elected by the people after having passed a +successful examination showing their ability to do the work required of +them. +</P> + +<P> +Every person appointed to office, as well as those elected by the +people, had to be examined physically, mentally and morally in the same +manner as those applying for a license to practice a profession or +desiring to marry. All were placed on the same footing. The law for +divorce was enforced by the Department of Health, as doctors were, from +their knowledge of human frailty, the best judges to decide whether a +man and woman should live together in the married state or be +separated, and while the law provided for a compulsory decree of +divorce for adultery, which was a felony, it also allowed divorce for +incompatibility of temperament. A court of six Government physicians, +three males and three females, heard all divorce cases in every +district. +</P> + +<P> +The Minister of Health gave me the reasons why the marriage law was +passed fixing twenty-one years of age as the time when young men and +women could marry. He said it was done to allow the youths of both +sexes to become well acquainted with one another before being united in +marriage, and also to be well trained in useful callings, so that both +parties to the marriage contract would be able to assist each other, +for many an innocent young girl had ruined her life by marrying a man +at an age when she was ignorant of the duties of wifehood and +motherhood, "but by keeping our boys and girls in training schools +until they are eighteen and then teaching them trades in the Army until +they are twenty-one years of age we fit them for the duties of life." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF STATE. +</H3> + +<P> +Before returning to the United States of America I called on the +Minister of State, who is also the presiding officer of the Parliament, +and told him that I would regard it as a great favor if he would tell +me how such changes had taken place in the Government of his country, +"for," said I, "from what I read about your Government when I was a boy +it was an absolute monarchy, and one man's will was the law of the +land." +</P> + +<P> +"You have the key to the problem in that statement," he replied, "for I +am free to confess that it would have taken centuries to have brought +about our present system of government under so-called democracy. Near +the middle of the last century an absolute ruler in our country by a +stroke of his pen freed twenty-three millions of slaves, while in your +country it required four years of bloody war at a cost of ten thousand +millions of dollars and the lives of one million of brave men, and +through the widespread demoralization that ensued through your bravest +and best being killed or giving to the corrupt element in your country +(for a dishonest man is always a coward) the opportunity to inaugurate +a reign of monopoly where graft and bribery flourishes and the slave +element that you freed are a menace (and will be as long as they remain +in the country) to society. +</P> + +<P> +"The last absolute ruler we had was one of those great men that God in +His infinite wisdom brings into the world at stated intervals to +exercise a dominating influence in human affairs and to give a fresh +impetus to human progress. Of the great men that we class with him are +the following: Confucius, Buddha, Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, +Abraham Lincoln. The first thing he did when he became Emperor was to +summon sixty of the most liberal minded men and women in the empire to +the palace to draw up under his supervision a political, civil and +penal code, which with slight modification is in force at the present +time, and he called all the newspaper editors into conference and asked +them to assist him in promoting the welfare of the people and then he +issued a decree granting liberty of speech and of the press throughout +Eurasia, which he announced as the name of the Empire in future, and +the reason that he gave for it was that his people were composed of a +great many nationalities and by dividing the empire into districts and +numbering them in arithmetical order he abolished the old political +divisions and he also decreed that the present language we speak should +be the official language of the empire for the ancient language of the +ruling class had created a bitter feeling amongst great numbers of the +people and besides the present had become the commercial language of +the world. +</P> + +<P> +"He reorganized the Cabinet into fourteen departments and held the +Minister at the head of each department responsible. He converted the +Army and Navy (who were eating up the hard-earned wages of the working +men and women of our land in idleness and dissipation), into a great +industrial army and assigned them to work under the different +departments as they were required, weeding out the worthless and +reducing to the ranks all officers that conducted themselves in a +manner unbecoming a gentleman and by election of officers giving every +soldier equal opportunity to rise to the highest rank. This great +measure eliminated the aristocracy in the Army and made the Emperor the +idol of the soldiers, so that from that time forward every effort of +the aristocracy to oppose the Emperor in giving to the country a +Government by the people was futile for the Army supported him with a +force that was irresistible. He ordered the districts laid out +according to latitude and longitude, making due allowance for +population, the smallest district being one degree of latitude in +breadth and two degrees of longitude in length, and the largest (which +were situated in the frozen regions of the Arctic or in the great +desert) five degrees of latitude in breadth and ten degrees of +longitude in length, and when they were surveyed he ordered that the +land should be assessed without improvements at its full value, and the +owner had to swear that he would sell to the Government the land at its +assessed valuation. +</P> + +<P> +"The aristocracy almost to a man swore to a low valuation, so when five +years had passed the Emperor issued a decree appropriating to +Government use all land over and above six hundred and forty acres held +by private owners and paying for it one-fifth of the total assessment +for the previous five years with twenty per cent. added for +improvements, the aristocracy had to accept it and their power was +broken forever, for the Emperor leased the land to the cultivators of +the soil at the rate of four per cent. per annum of the price that the +Government paid for the land, dividing the land into small farms and +giving the renter the right of purchase at any time. +</P> + +<P> +"The aristocracy and the Church have been in every country the enemies +of liberty and human progress. The Emperor saw the evil effects of the +liquor traffic and to abate the evil he abolished the manufacture and +sale of liquors by individuals and placed their manufacture and sale in +the care of the Department of Manufactures and year by year he added +tobacco, drugs and chemicals, sugar, salt, tea, coffee, coal oil, stone +coal, charcoal and all the metals, and placed the coinage and currency +of the Empire under the control of the Department of Finance known +throughout the world as the Bank of Eurasia. He established our present +system of education and forbade the teaching of religious dogmas in the +public schools, and when every district in the Empire was surveyed and +the people thereof enjoyed a District Government by electing their +Governors, Judges and other public officials and the Government owned +and operated all public utilities, he decided that the time had arrived +for a Government of the people, for the people and by the people and +called a general election to elect members of Parliament and to submit +to the people the political, civil and penal code of the Empire. The +people by an overwhelming vote ratified the code and endorsed the +Government. Four years afterward the Emperor called a general election +to choose his successor and retired to private life, beloved by his +people. +</P> + +<P> +"Your people had a President who gained worldwide fame not only by the +vigorous way that he wielded the Big Stick, but also through his +undaunted courage and inflexible honesty. Place him again in the +Presidential chair and he will open the way for a government of the +people, for the people and by the people." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eurasia, by Christopher Evans + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EURASIA *** + +***** This file should be named 2352-h.htm or 2352-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/5/2352/ + +Produced by David Schwan. 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