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diff --git a/old/uasia10.txt b/old/uasia10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..993573c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/uasia10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1916 @@ +****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Eurasia, by Chris. Evans**** + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +EURASIA + +By Chris. Evans + +October, 2000 [Etext #2352] + + +****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Eurasia, by Chris. 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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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE. + +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 meimmediately. +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: + +Mr. __, the Minister of State. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Justice. +Mr. __, the Minister of Railways. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Education. +Mr. __, the Minister of Finance. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Information. +Mr. __, the Minister of Agriculture. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Health. +Mr. __, the Minister of Commerce. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Manufactures. +Mr. __, the Minister of Mines. +Mrs. __, the Minister of War. +Mr. __, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. +Mrs. __, the Minister of Labor. + +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. + +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. + +The Court sat six days in each week, excepting four weeks inJuly-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. + +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. + +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. + +I made inquiries among the people and was told that the law was a great +promoter of peace and good will. + + + +CHAPTER II + +DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. + +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. + +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 desexualizcd and subject to parole +after five years. + +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. + +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. + +No fines were imposed for any crime and no confiscation of property for +any cause. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE BANK OF EURASIA. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 exchangd 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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION. + +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." + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DEPARTMENT OF MINES. + +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. + +"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." + +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. + +"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. + +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." + +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. + +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. + +"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. + +"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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. + +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 its." 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. + +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. + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE WAR DEPARTMENT. + +My next trip was to the War Department, where I was shown the Rules and +Regulations governing the army, and navy. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS. + +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. + +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. + +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 theconstruction, +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE INCOME TAX. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURES. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +PUBLIC UTILITIES. + +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." + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. + +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. + +"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." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +UNITED WORKERS OF EURASIA. + +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. + +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 properly, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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-stustaining. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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." + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF STATE. + +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." + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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. + +"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." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Edition of Chris. Evans' Eurasia + |