Front matter (continued 5)

Our course was a little north of west, and we were soon leaving the great communal agricultural district which we now regarded as our home. According to our reckoning it was now the 1st of February and I had begun to figure whether it would be possible for us to be ready to attempt the proposed journey to the outer world during the northern summer. If we did, it would certainly require intense application. These thoughts were continually running through my mind, and they spurred me up to gather all the information possible for the book that I was preparing.

The country over which we were passing was still agricultural, but the surface was more broken and the general arrangements were changed accordingly, presenting to our vision an agreeable variety. We still saw the magnificent communal homes with correspondingly large areas of cultivated lands, but we also saw cottages gathered into groups, with large public buildings which MacNair informed us were schools, public halls, homes for the aged, hospitals, and especially homes for prospective mothers who felt that the ideal conditions which these homes afforded would secure the best possible development of their offspring.

I was forcibly struck by the number and grandeur of these homes for mothers. I had noticed that every communal home had its department for the care of mothers, and now I found that the grandest structures that I had ever seen were devoted exclusively to this purpose. In reply to my inquiries I was informed that this care for motherhood was a universal feature throughout the inner world. But in this, as in everything else, liberty prevails. The mother is always free to select her own conditions. Many prefer these large public homes which are exclusively under the control of women, while others, with different temperaments, prefer greater exclusiveness in their own apartments, but all alike make this period of prospective motherhood, one in which all the environments are calculated to produce the best possible pre-natal influences upon the unborn child.

For this purpose, different temperaments require different surroundings. The impressions produced by beautiful scenery and social enjoyments on one, may be more readily produced by reading, lectures, music and intellectual entertainments on another. The unperverted taste of the mother is always accepted as a sure guide to what is best in each case, and the best is always provided.

While the country over which we were passing did not have the same artificial appearance as if laid out by one uniform pattern, like that where we had been located since our arrival in Altruria, I still noticed the general tendency of the people to get together in large communities. We passed over large districts of wild lands which afforded ample opportunities for isolated homes but nowhere did we see anything of the kind. This induced Captain Ganoe to ask if there was any law against people getting out by themselves and cultivating these wild lands.

"Nothing but the natural law," said Oqua, "which impels people to do that which is the most conducive to their happiness. The people of this country do not like drudgery and they have learned by experience that in order to avoid drudgery, they must work together on a large scale, as one family, each for all and all for each. In the olden time, people in their ignorance scattered into single families consisting of a man and wife and their children. They wasted their energies in their isolated efforts, and were at the mercy of the few who had the intelligence to work together. When the masses became more intelligent they gathered into communities and co-operated with each other to make the most out of their labor and to avoid the payment of tribute to speculators who did not work at all. They soon found that they could not possibly consume all that they were able to produce and they began to work less and enjoy more."

"But," asked the Captain, "have you no arrangement by which a man and his wife could get out on these wild lands and make a home for themselves?"

"We certainly have no arrangement," said Oqua, "that would prevent their doing so. But if they should try such an experiment it would not last long. As soon as they found themselves toiling incessantly to procure a bare subsistence, while the great masses in the communities were spending eleven-twelfths of their time in the enjoyment of rest and pleasurable recreations, they would seek admission into a large communal home, where all who are willing to perform their share of the labor are welcome."

"But," said the Captain, "you say that the people of this country once lived in isolated homes. The people in the outer world do so now, and they feel that to be the best possible condition for the development of the highest qualities. How were the individualists of this country persuaded to give up their individual holdings and accept in lieu thereof a community interest in the products of their own labor?"

"They outgrew their preconceived opinions," said Oqua. "Among the reformers of the olden time none were more earnest than a large and very intelligent class of individualists, who believed that the people ought to own the land, and that the individual holder ought to pay the community for its use, in proportion to its value as land, not counting the value of the improvements. These reformers agreed to the abolition of land titles, and in accordance with the doctrines which they had promulgated long and earnestly, they took their lands in severalty and paid the community a tax for its use. As individualists, they could not object to other people forming communities and having all things in common. But when they discovered how much more they had to work than their neighbors, they were true to their own interests and joined the communities where their labor became so much more effective. They found that instead of sacrificing any of their individual rights by so doing, they actually made those rights more valuable by being relieved of drudgery. The land tax to the community was abolished in the course of time, and then any individual might take a homestead and cultivate it in his own way without being taxed for the privilege of doing so, but this right is never exercised, as it would deprive the individuals thus setting up for themselves, of free access to the common wealth of the community, and the common advantages which belong to community life. They could only enter the communal homes as guests and strangers, and while free entertainment is never refused, proud spirited individualists would never think of securing a subsistence by visiting around. They would naturally prefer doing their share of the work to create the common stock. And hence our individualists are all in our communal homes and have no desire for individual holdings of any kind. Their community interest in the common wealth is worth vastly more to them than all the wealth that they could create by individual effort."

"But," asked the Captain, "do you permit no private ownership of property at all in these communities?"

"Yes, we do," said Oqua. "All persons may accumulate property which they create by personal labor, if they wish to burden themselves with the care of it. But as there is an abundance in the common stores to supply every want, there is no motive for the private ownership of anything but personal belongings which are ordinarily of no value to anyone else. Members of the community may have anything they need out of the common stock and intelligent people would not encumber themselves with the care of more than they have a use for. The greed for the accumulation of property which I am informed is so prevalent in the outer world, if manifested here would be taken as an evidence of insanity and would be treated accordingly. It is very difficult for the average Altrurian to realize that people should ever desire to hoard up wealth which it is impossible for them to consume. But when we scan the pages of our early history at the time when legal money was the medium of exchange and the standard of value, the people made a mad scramble for money, in which they disregarded every interest of humanity."

We were now approaching a region where art and nature seemed to have united in one mighty and persistent effort to excel each other in the entrancing beauty and rugged grandeur that could be added to the picture. On either side was a broad expanse of cultivated lands, interspersed with parks, lawns and ornamented grounds, which revealed the work of the most artistic landscape gardeners. Beneath us the Cocytas meandered its way toward the distant ocean, between its wooded shores, like a shining pathway of silver, while before us the great continental divide with its towering mountain peaks piercing the clouds, closed our view towards the west. At one moment we were admiring the rugged grandeur of this lovely mountain chain and at another entranced by the beauty of the highly ornamented landscape, where art had improved upon nature. Take it all in all, the scenery presented to our view from the cabin of our airship, sailing at a height of several thousand feet, was sublime, beyond the power of words to describe.

As we neared the mountains, MacNair took charge of the ship and made a detour toward the south, which brought into view the mighty canon through which the Cocytas reaches the plain. On either side were mountain torrents dashing over the rocks on their way to join the waters of the deep flowing river. Here, nature in all her majesty revealed her titanic powers. But suddenly another scene opened upon our vision, in which art revealed itself as master of all the forces of nature. It was more like a city than anything we had seen since leaving San Francisco. And yet it was very much unlike any city I have ever seen. I was bewildered by its sudden appearance upon this wonderful panorama of nature and art which seemed to hold us spell bound.

Palatial buildings in white and silver appeared in every direction, surrounded by highly ornamented grounds. No smoke, no dust and no miserable shanties to remind us of the poverty and misery which characterized the cities of the outer world. In the distance, it presented a panorama of beauty and grandeur, more like the paintings of a gorgeous midsummer dream, than any real achievement of human skill and human taste. It was more like the fancied abode of the gods than the dwelling place of men.

This was Orbitello, and as it lay spread out before us, it presented a scene beyond my powers of description. It was located on an elevated plateau and almost enclosed within a bend of the river, which flows around it on three sides, the west, south and east, like a silver highway, over which electric yachts of almost every size and description were gliding. It was a dream of beauty that once seen, could never be erased from the memory.

"This," said MacNair, "is our continental headquarters. Here, was at one time a large city, but every remnant of the old structures was removed long ago. The location, however, is so central that it was selected as our chief center of business for all the departments of the public service. It is a favorite gathering place for large numbers of people from all parts of the world. Hence the number of buildings for the accommodation of visitors. It is in fact a perpetual World's Fair, a miniature picture of the world as it is to-day. There is no better place to study the civilization of the inner world in all its phases."

MacNair was interrupted by a familiar voice with the well remembered "Ship Ahoy!" and as we turned around to see from whence it came, another airship came alongside, and we exchanged greetings with our old shipmates, Battell and Huston, and our saviors, as we called them, Polaris and Dione, who both addressed us in English.

"Please speak Altrurian," I said. "I have abandoned English except in cases of emergency, as I am anxious to perfect myself in the use of your native tongue. Remember that I have become a citizen of Altruria, and have no desire to perpetuate the use of a foreign language."

"And we," replied Polaris, "want to perfect ourselves in the use of English, as we want to visit America and talk like natives, just as soon as a ship can be constructed that will enable us to navigate the frozen regions without being frozen ourselves."

"And one," I responded, "that can hold to its course with a side wind of a velocity from fifty to one hundred miles an hour."

"Have no fears on that score," interposed Battell. "We have the principal parts of the machinery completed, and all that remains to be done, is for you to take a trial trip to the southern verge and see how it will work in a storm, and in the meantime we will try our hands at constructing one that will be proof against the cold of a polar winter. Better go to the southern verge now, while it is comparatively temperate and test our improvements in a gale."

"All right," I said. "I am willing. But who will go with me? I ought to have the assistance of someone who could not only stand the exposure, but be able to make observations. It will keep one person busy to manage the ship during a storm, no matter how perfect your machinery may be."

"I suggest," said Battell, "that you take Lief and Eric, who are first-class mechanics as well as scientists. This is their request, and it ought to be granted. We need both Huston and Captain Ganoe, to assist in the construction of a cold proof vessel. This is the plan of work that I suggest. How will it suit you?"

"Anything suits me that looks toward success," I said. "Since you have already completed the inventions that I had contemplated, it is but fair that you dictate how they should be used until we can improve on your improvements, which, by the way I hope may not be necessary."

"Oh yes, it will," said Battell. "Just as soon as there is no room for improvement, everything will be perfect, and with nothing to do, nothing to live for and no improvements to make, constituted as we are now, we would very likely be just as unhappy, as we are now anxious to improve the airship or to accomplish any other object that is dear to us. This is a working world and we are workers, and when there is no work to do, there will be no use for us on our present plane of development."

"You talk like a philosopher," I said. "One would think you had graduated from an Altrurian university."

"So I have," said Battell. "Were you not talking Altrurian philosophy all the time we were together on the Ice King? So I was to some extent prepared for what we have found in this highly developed country."

"But what's the matter?" I asked, as Battell's airship came to a full halt, and seemingly began to fall. Before I recovered from my surprise, it had settled lightly on the top of a stupendous structure, and MacNair was evidently aiming for the same place, as he set our ship to circling around in the way I have often described. I had seen the practical workings of one of Battell's improvements, and could not help seeing that it was an undoubted success. The mechanism that would control the vessel while dropping toward the earth, seemed to me, more difficult of construction than that which would hold it on its course against contrary side winds.

A minute later and we had reached the surface. Polaris, and her crew, so to speak, had disembarked and we had a cordial handshaking, and then took a stroll around the roof of this immense building. Everything about it seemed to indicate that it was especially designed for the accommodation of business on a gigantic scale. It was built of the semi-transparent material which we had found so common in the district where we had made our homes. The cornice, windows and doors were trimmed with aluminum, which gave it a peculiar grandeur of appearance.

MacNair, who was ever ready to make explanations, informed us that this was the Continental Department of Exchange through which all the commercial transactions between the various districts throughout the continent were carried on. This was the chief center of distribution, and bore the same relation to the continent, that the District Exchange bore to the several communities of which it was composed. The community stores made the actual distribution of products to the people. These larger exchanges, District and Continental, did not really handle the products at all, but collected the orders from the consumers and sent them direct to the communities where the goods were wanted, in this way saving very much unnecessary labor in handling and transportation. The actual exchange of commodities was always direct between the producers and the consumers.

I did not quite comprehend all this, but it prepared me for the object lesson which was to come. I was keenly alert to everything that was to be seen and heard, as it was valuable material for the book which I now felt sure I would be able to lay before the people of the outer world.

It was now noon, and MacNair suggested that it was about time for dinner. "No doubt," he said, "your fifteen hundred miles of travel has given you an appetite." And suiting the action to the suggestion, we all stepped upon an elevator, and descended to the largest dining hall I had ever seen. It seemed that thousands of people were seated at the tables, quietly conversing and enjoying their midday meal. We seated ourselves at a vacant table and Oqua said:

"I shall order for all, as our American visitors are not yet perfectly familiar with our customs." And manipulating a button at her side, I was surprised to see the center of the table disappear, but it reappeared before I had sufficiently recovered my equilibrium to ask questions, and it was loaded with the most tempting viands. Oqua explained that these central tables which carried the food stood on the top of an elevator that connected with the kitchen below. That when an order was received, a table was already prepared to take the place of the one which the elevator brought down. Everything moved with quiet celerity; no bustling waiters, and no waiting for orders to be filled.

After dinner we passed into a large sitting room, elegantly furnished with chairs, divans, sofas, etc., splendidly upholstered. I noticed chairs and divans on wheels and asked MacNair for an explanation, and he replied:

"These chairs are moved by electricity, supplied by storage batteries just under the seats. You apply the power by pressing a button on the arm by your side, and guide them with your feet. You will often find them in use, particularly in large places like Orbitello, where travelers coming in fatigued, and people on business with the various departments, having many places to go, need some easy means of locomotion. In the olden time, waiters used to push these chairs around by hand, but with the advent of electricity, electric motors were substituted, and now the people who use these chairs need no such assistance, and all the chair-men have to do is to see that the chairs are returned to their proper place."

After a little instruction we found no difficulty in going where we pleased in our chairs, and regulating their direction and speed with perfect ease. This novel experience was so agreeable that we decided to visit the leading points of interest in these electric chairs.

The first place to visit was the business offices of this great Continental Exchange. We took our places in a large elevator room and passed down to the office of the Commissioner of Exchange. On either side of the great hall were shelves containing large books in which we were informed, were statistics of production that are sent in from every district twice a year, at the close of each crop season. These records show just how much surplus each district has for exchange, and of what it consists. This information is for the Order and Supply Department which is on the same floor, toward which we were directing our chairs.

Here we entered a long hall, on either side of which were arranged desks and electrical instruments. The clerks in attendance, each represented a district, and were selected by the districts to fill these positions because of their intimate knowledge of the wants of their several localities and of the surplus they had for exchange.

The District Commissioners sent their orders to their own clerk which was written out by telautograph on his own desk. The order was at once transmitted by the same method, to the district having the surplus, through its own clerk, and a duplicate of these orders to the Record Department. These orders when received from the District Commissioners were transmitted to the communities having the surplus. The Community Department of Exchange then shipped it directly to the place where it was needed.

Under this system of distribution, products passed directly from the producer to the consumer and were never handled but once. The producers held their surplus in their own possession until they had orders from consumers by whom it was needed. The Commissioner of Exchange at Orbitello had a tabulated report of the surplus held by each district, and each district had its clerks in the Order and Supply Department of the Continental Exchange. When an agricultural district wanted machinery, musical instruments, furniture, clothing, etc., the order for the same was transmitted to its own clerk in the Department of Exchange and it was at once sent to the district, or districts, having a surplus of the products needed. And when a Manufacturing District needed food supplies the orders were sent to the clerk in the Continental Exchange and the order was transmitted to the nearest agricultural district that had a surplus for exchange.

Under this system of organized exchange, if any district found that it had a surplus accumulating in its warehouses for which there was no demand, this was all the notice required that a time had come to curtail production in that particular line. From what we could see of the workings of this system, by going through this department, we could readily see how the law of supply and demand, if permitted to act freely with no artificial restrictions, would be a perfect regulator in the world of commerce. Neither would there ever be, under this Altrurian system of exchange, a glut in the market at one place while there was a scarcity at another.

"You see here," said MacNair, "a business house which handles the trade of a continent, containing over two hundred millions of people. All the products of the soil, the shop, the factory and the mine, are practically bought and sold in this establishment, and yet without any of the excitement and bustle, hard work and worry, which characterize the comparatively diminutive business houses of New York and London."

"I see evidences," I remarked, "of a most admirable business system on a stupendous scale. But the question that will be asked in the outer world will be, How are these goods paid for and how are the prices fixed and the accounts adjusted without money? This is what the people of the outer world will want to understand. I am asking more for them than for myself."

"Nothing difficult about it," said MacNair. "Product pays for product here just as it actually does in the outer world, but under co-operation, the elements of interest, profit and rent have been eliminated. The price of an article is fixed by the amount of labor expended in its production and distribution. This of course only applies to such commodities as are in demand. A great deal of labor might be expended in the production of something that no one wanted. Such labor would be wasted here as it would be anywhere else."

"I had thought of this contingency," I replied, "but was not seeking a difficulty. I referred only to such articles of necessity, comfort and luxury as the consumers wish to secure. How are the prices fixed, what is the standard and how are balances settled?"

"These questions," said MacNair, "are well put, to draw out a concise, as well as a comprehensive statement of our business methods. We readily ascertain by statistics, the average number of minutes, hours and days of labor invested in the production of every commodity which enters into common use. This includes the labor invested in the necessary transportation, superintendence and distribution. Hence in our accounts, the value of products of all kinds are credited and debited as given amounts of labor. This is what in the outer world would be called the price. A given number of hours of labor in one branch of useful service to society is worth just the same number of hours of labor in some other branch, and the exchange is made on that basis. The one primary object of this system of exchange is to secure equal and exact justice to all."

"But how are all these numerous employes on your railroads, in your stores and the various departments of industry paid?" asked Captain Ganoe.

"Very easily," said MacNair. "The people produce all the supplies and render all the service, and the people enjoy all the benefits. This is about all there is of it. We produce what we consume, and consume what we produce, without paying tribute to anyone else for the privilege of exercising these natural rights, as the people in the outer world are forced to do."

"But," said the Captain, "would you have me infer that all these expert clerks and accountants, and the commissioner who superintends all this business do not receive any more than the laborers on the farms and in the shops, factories and mines?"

"Why should they get more than people who are engaged in laborious occupations?" asked Iola. "They get all they can consume. If they should use a little more or less no one cares. They can have all they want without working any more hours than other people and I cannot understand how they could use any more food or clothing without ruining their health or making themselves very uncomfortable. I cannot conceive of any person wanting to eat more food or wear more clothes, because he or she is employed in some position of trust. Can you, Captain Ganoe?"

"I admit," replied the Captain, "that your question is a poser. And this is not the first time that I have been puzzled by your remarks. I do not say that you are wrong; but I never heard questions handled in this way until I drifted into this inner world. I can only say that I am bewildered and while I do not comprehend your philosophy I do admire your civilization."

"And," responded Iola, "I cannot comprehend how anyone can admire our civilization without accepting our philosophy. The civilization of a people is only reducing to practice, the mental and moral concepts of the people. Our civilization is the logical outcome of our philosophy. People always think first and act afterward. Our philosophy is what we think, and our civilization is the result of what it induces us to do."

"Well," said the Captain, "it has certainly induced your people to do many things that would look very strange in the outer world, but which seem to work rightly here."

Oqua, who had quietly dropped out of our party without being observed, now joined us, accompanied by a man of commanding appearance. He was about six feet, four inches in height, brown hair, full beard, blue eyes, fair complexion and a high intellectual forehead. Oqua introduced him as Norrena, Chief of the Continental Department of Education. His address was most gentle, pleasing and kind, but firm and decided. Turning to me he said:

"I had hoped to have an opportunity to make the acquaintance of Jack Adams, the scientist of the Ice King, but Oqua tells me that I must be content with Nequa, the teacher. She informs me that you are preparing a book to be published in your own country, and to that end you are making a close study of our civilization."

"That is true," I said, "and she has spoken to me of you as one who could render me great assistance, in gathering the lessons that would be of the most value, in our transition from competition to co-operation."

"I shall gladly render you any assistance in my power," he said, "but what you can see here of our completed system of co-operation in every department of human endeavor, will be indispensable to a clear comprehension of the lessons to be drawn from the history of our own Transition Period."

"Thank you," I said. "And I would be pleased to have you show me through the departments, and call my attention to such features as will be of the greatest advantage for me to understand just at this time."

"That is the same request that was made by Oqua, as it would take a long time for you to find just what you want without the assistance of someone who is familiar with all the departments and who also understands the nature of the work in which you are engaged. To begin, we will now visit the Department of Public Printing and News Distribution."

We now dispensed with our electric chairs, as we felt the need of exercise. As we emerged from the Exchange building, Norrena took the lead, and conducted us into another stupendous structure, devoted to the Public Printing and the Distribution of News to all parts of the world. The upper story was an immense auditorium, where public meetings of unusual proportions could meet and have ample room, and where the acoustic properties were so scientifically adjusted, that all could hear the speaker in ordinary tones of voice.

Norrena conducted us first into the press room, where printed sheets were being turned out with a rapidity I had never before witnessed. These passed on an endless belt into the binding department and from thence in completed form to the mailing rooms for distribution. Everything seemed to move with the same quiet celerity that we had noticed in the Exchange Department.

From the press rooms we ascended in an elevator to the composing department, where we found a number of machines turning out stereotype plates, but no operators were anywhere in sight. Norrena informed me that the machines were operated on the same principle as the telautograph, or writing telegraph, and with the multiplex system of transmission, an expert could operate a number of these machines in different parts of the world at the same time. The matter for publication, was thus delivered in the composing room in the shape of plates ready for the presses.

But the most interesting and important feature of this great publishing house is the manner of collecting and distributing news. The News Department is connected by telegraph with news offices throughout the world and is continually receiving items of general interest, which are classified and distributed by the same means to the people in every home throughout the continent. The printed pages are of matter of a more permanent character, which is regarded as worthy of preservation. Copies of new books are sent to similar establishments in the other grand divisions and by them reproduced and placed in their local libraries where all have access to them. This free distribution of intelligence to the whole people is under the direct control of the Department of Education.

During the meetings of the Altrurian Council, this department has another important duty to perform. The council, through this department, is practically, at all times, in communication with the majority of the people. When a matter of public interest has been carefully discussed pro and con, it is formulated and transmitted to every community where the people are interested, a vote is then taken at once, and the result transmitted to the council. By this means, a majority of the people can be heard from in regard to any matter of importance in a few hours. The people are at all times familiar with the matters which are being considered by the council, and are prepared to respond promptly. The communities ordinarily have decided any important question in their minds before it is submitted to them and reply at once. I could readily see how, under an advanced state of civilisation, direct government by the people is not only practicable, but remarkable for its simplicity and promptness of execution.

The council acts upon all matters in which two or more districts are interested and the matter is formulated and submitted at once to the people of such districts for their approval or disapproval. But in any matter of great importance the people are not compelled to wait for the regular meeting of the council, but may by the action of the communities place the matter before the executive committee which meets every day, and it becomes their duty to submit the question to a vote of the people. In this way, under this system, the people can always secure prompt action, as it is the duty of their officials to serve, but not to govern, as they do in the outer world.

If a public improvement is agreed upon, the districts and communities interested, make an appropriation of necessary material and labor, and the work is pushed forward. In all things this great council is advisory in its character and the executive committee only takes such action as the people have agreed upon, and when any matter has been agreed upon the executive power acts at once without question. The will of the people is the law which no one ever assumes to question.

We passed rapidly through a large number of magnificent structures, filled with exhibits of all kinds. In Machinery Hall were samples of every conceivable mechanical device. Another vast building was devoted to textile fabrics of all kinds. Every industry had its exhibit. All the great Grand Divisions had similar buildings. Everywhere, accommodating attendants were ready to show us anything and give us any information we wished. And one remarkable thing was, that while every one seemed anxious to display the goods on exhibition, no one ever tried to sell us anything, as would have been the case in the outer world.

Here, as MacNair said, was indeed a miniature picture of a world. I could write a volume on each one of these great buildings without exhausting the subject. But for the present I had seen enough and requested Norrena to conduct us next to the Library of Universal Knowledge which was the most highly finished and imposing of all these palatial structures. It was built of the usual semi-transparent material which shut out the direct rays of the sun while it admitted a mellow radiance rendering artificial light as a rule unnecessary.

We took an elevator to the top where we began our survey of the contents. Elevators at frequent intervals connected every story. A description of one story would in a general way apply to all the others. Each floor is divided longitudinally into three halls or suites of rooms. The central division is ordinarily a single hall fifty feet in width by six hundred in length, and in these central halls are stored all the books, papers and relics of the past. Also specimens of ores, metals, alloys and compounds of everything that goes to make a complete museum of natural history, and scientific methods in chemistry and the mechanic arts. Different stories are given to Archeology, Ethnology, Geology, Chemistry, Electricity, etc., and constitute a most instructive feature of this Library of Universal Knowledge.

The divisions on either side are given up to reading rooms, lecture halls and schools for culture in technical branches that can be studied to better advantage here in this vast library than elsewhere. In the reading rooms, which are always open to the public, full catalogues are always kept for visitors, and courteous attendants are ever ready to give any information and procure any book that may be needed. Books are all numbered and catalogued, so the visitor has but to press the number on an electric keyboard, and it is delivered at once by a pneumatic tube. The attendants return the books to their proper places in the same rapid and quiet manner. No noise, bluster, or confusion anywhere. Everything is reduced to system, and moves along like clock work.

Instruction is free in any of the technical schools, to all who apply and submit to the rules. These schools embrace every specific branch of study, and are usually patronised by graduates from the public schools who desire to perfect their knowledge of some specific branch in order to be better qualified for a special calling. Here, can be studied under the most favorable conditions, the progressive development of a world, illustrated at every step by the relics indicative of its status which are carefully preserved in the museums, thus tracing in the most instructive and satisfactory manner, the progress of the people from their primitive condition of barbarians to their present high state of culture.

I saw at a glance that this was the place where my contemplated work of investigation, into the practical methods which had enabled the people of this country to develop such ideals, could be prosecuted under the most favorable conditions. I determined to make good use of these facilities for gathering the ripened sheaves of human thought in every age and condition of life, for the benefit of the people of my own native land.

In the lower story, we passed into the department where new publications are received and catalogued. The first thing that attracted my attention was the translations from the library of the Ice King, which seemed to have the right of way over everything else. Among these translations, I noticed the American Cyclopedia, Ridpath's History of the World, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, histories of the United States and the leading countries of the world, together with a selection of works on polar exploration, and a number of scientific works. I was astonished at the progress that had been made, but Norrena informed me that, under their system, a work could be translated almost as fast as it could be read, and that the work had been divided between the scholars of all the grand divisions.

I asked Norrena if there was much demand for these translations of outer world literature, and he replied:

"Yes, the orders from each grand division, amount to millions, and they can be translated in all parts of the concave as rapidly as the presses can turn them out. This is especially true of everything pertaining to America, whose history up to date is so similar to the early stages of our own."

"But," I said, "with the usual large attendance at the reading rooms, one volume will do for a number of persons, and I should think that would greatly decrease the demand."

"That is true," said Norrena, "but all have an equal right to be served, and this addition to our knowledge of the outer world is in such great demand, that all want to be supplied at the same time."

"Of course that is impossible," I said, "and so I suppose that with all your improved methods many will be compelled to wait."

"Not so very many," said Norrena. "All may not be able to get books, but all who desire to do so can hear them read."

"How," I asked, "can that be, when millions are asking to hear them read all at once?"

"Not so very difficult," he replied, "when we use the multiplex phonograph. One reader can be heard all over the concave. A vast number would rather listen to a good reader, than to read themselves, and as the voice of this reader can be connected with a large number of phonograph reading rooms at the same time, in each such room, as many can listen as can be seated."

"You astonish me," I said. "Will you please explain how this is done?"

"I will do more than that," he said. "I will show you how it is done. Come with me."

I followed him into a large room, where I found, I should think, from two to three hundred people, composedly sitting in chairs, or reclining on sofas and divans, with phonographic attachments in their ears.

"These," said Norrena, "are all listening to readers at Lake Byblis who are assisting in the translation of these works. They are using these attachments in the ears because they are not all listening to the same matter. This is a fair sample of what is going on in every room of this character, throughout the concave. A large number of professional readers are employed who are connected by telephone and phonograph with every home and reading room in all parts of the country. By such means you see that we can disseminate knowledge almost simultaneously, to all who are most anxious for it. The demand for printed books is mainly from libraries and reading rooms, public and private. The masses of the people at this time are spending much of their ample leisure, in listening to the reading of this new addition to our literature. It will not be long, before the most industrious, intellectually, have absorbed, to a considerable extent this most valuable addition to our knowledge, and then a very large number will apply themselves to the study of the English language, so that they may be able to judge for themselves as to the accuracy of the translations."

"I see from your admirable system of distributing knowledge that there must be an extraordinary demand to be supplied."

"Nothing extraordinary for us," said Norrena. "The demand is steady with a tendency to increase. Our people are all workers who have enough physical exercise to keep their bodies in good condition, and this stimulates the mind to demand food, which it is our duty to provide."

"Do you not often find this difficult?" I asked.

"Not at all," he replied. "In this, as in the supply of food for the body, the quantity is always ample where the operations of natural law are not antagonized in the administration of public business. We have ample facilities for gathering news, and everyone who has a thought to express finds an opportunity to do so. There is a steady supply which we distribute alike to all. This demand for mental food is even more pressing than the demand for physical nourishment. The real man and the real woman are not their physical bodies, but the living souls which occupy these bodies, and it is the duty of this department of the public service to provide these souls with the staff of life, which is knowledge."

Before leaving the library, Norrena requested us to record our names on the visitor's book. We complied, and then continued our rambles until I, for one, was utterly exhausted, and asked to be excused from further exercise.

"Then," said Norrena, "we will retire to the Department of Public Comfort, where I have my private rooms, and while you are resting, we can talk over plans for the future, or other matters that may demand attention. I am much interested in this move to improve the airships with a view to opening up a line of communication with the outer world."

"And," I remarked, "I am, if possible, more interested in the completion of my book in time for it to go to the United States by the first airship, for publication. And I want it to contain every lesson of importance to our people that can be gleaned from the present condition and the past history of the people of this country."

As we were speaking, Norrena hailed a passing electric carriage, and in a few minutes we were landed at the grandest hotel I had ever entered in my life. I could see at a glance why it was called the Department of Public Comfort. Every facility for the comfort and enjoyment of guests was provided. But the dimensions assigned to this volume will not permit a description. I need only say that all its appointments were complete, for the accommodation of thousands of guests.

While each of the department buildings had its own arrangements for accommodating its own force of employes and its own guests, this Department of Public Comfort was designed more especially for guests from other Grand Divisions. Here, the heads of departments of all the Grand Divisions held their conferences; and here the continental heads of departments very appropriately had their headquarters.

After supper, Norrena informed me that on the morrow, he would devote an hour to oral lessons at the institute of district school superintendents and that his subject would be the History of the Transition Period.

"This," he explained, "covers that period in the history of Altruria which marks the decline and fall of the old system of competition and the introduction of co-operative methods. It may be just what you want in the way of lessons from history. If you think that you do not yet understand our language well enough to fully comprehend all the points, I will provide you with a translation into English."

I thanked him for his interest in my work and assured him that while I wanted to hear him in his own tongue, if he could provide me with the same matter in English, it would help me to a better understanding of the language of the country, and that certainly I did not want to miss any point of real value in the subject matter.

CHAPTER XII.

The institute of school superintendents—Norrena's address on the Transition Period—From Competition to Co-operation—The closing decades of Money supremacy—The power of gold—Its conquest of the world—Political governments its tools—The people helpless—A hint at the way out.

T an early hour we were up and had our breakfast. I felt that my journey to Orbitello and the hasty glance through the leading departments had been the most instructive day I had ever experienced. But I was not surfeited, and looked forward with interest to the meeting of the Institute of School Superintendents and especially to Norrena's oral lessons from the Transition Period of the great Industrial Commonwealth of Altruria.

We met in the Auditorium over the Department of Public Printing. Many had already arrived and were gathered into groups in various portions of the vast hall conversing with each other. I took a seat on one side by myself to contemplate the scene before me. I was by nature a student, and here I was among, as it were, a nation of competent instructors, and in a country where everything demonstrated the power to control the great potent forces which govern the external world, and the innate force of our higher moral and spiritual concepts of what should be our relations toward each other in order to convert this earth into a heaven of blissful, happy contentment. I was among a people who universally regarded "an injury to one as the concern of all," and hence health, happiness and abundance for all was their normal condition.

I could hardly realize that this country had once been the abode of poverty and all of its consequences of ignorance, vice and crime; that here where equal rights, equal opportunities and an equal share in the unlimited abundance which nature places within the easy reach of intelligent labor were the universal and unquestioned law of being, there had once been a grasping and cruel financial and commercial power that condemned the wealth-producing millions to lives of unrequited toil. But such, I was repeatedly told, had been the fact, and Norrena, at this meeting was to give an oral lesson from that period and describe the power that had oppressed and degraded the people in those early ages.

But a short time had gone by since my first meeting with these people and yet I had become thoroughly absorbed in their mental, moral and spiritual life. I felt myself to be to all intents and purposes one of them. What was it that had so entirely taken possession of my consciousness? In all my life I had never felt so completely at home, and at peace with myself and all the world. I was fully satisfied.

Norrena broke in upon my reverie by asking:

"What is it Nequa, that so absorbs your attention that you seem to be utterly oblivious of the presence of this large assemblage of teachers from all parts of the country to talk over the history of the olden time when 'wealth accumulated and men decayed?' Have you forgotten what I told you last evening? Oqua will report the lesson from the Transition Period in English for you and you can afford to give some attention to your old friends, Iola, MacNair, Polaris, Dione and your comrades of the Ice King."

I looked around and found that while I had been musing, our party had all gathered near me without attracting my attention and I said apologetically: "I must have been dreaming."

"Then you were dreaming with your eyes wide open," said Oqua. "I noticed that you seemed to be unusually absorbed. What were you thinking about?"

"I was pondering," I replied, "how it was possible that this country could ever have been cursed with poverty as the normal condition of the masses of the people while the few were rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and held those masses bound by fetters that they could not break."

"It is now time for the exercises to commence," said Norrena. "I will explain the mystery in my address, at least so far as the leading factors are concerned, for in its entirety it is indeed a long and ghastly picture of human ignorance on one side and human greed directed by a morally perverted human intelligence on the other."

The chairman called the meeting to order and stated that the first thing on the program would be an address on the Transition Period, by Norrena, the Continental Commissioner of Education. Without extended preliminary remarks, the speaker opened the discussion of the question under consideration from which I condense the following from Oqua's report in English. Yet notwithstanding my short residence in the country I believe that I could have given the gist of the address myself without any assistance.

"I need not," said the speaker, "enter into any lengthy explanation before an institute of teachers, as to how our ancestors under the old civilisation exchanged the products created by their labor for products created by the labor of others, by the use of a law-created medium of exchange called money. Neither need we trace the history of many kinds of products and devices which were used in different ages as a medium of exchange, such as cattle, slaves, shells, tobacco, the skins of animals and certain stones and metals. These things are only of interest to the antiquarian. It is enough to know for our present purpose that money had originally been devised as a substitute for barter, and marked the first step towards the establishment of a system of exchanging products which required the exercise of a higher order of mental faculties. During the early part of the Transition Period, gold and silver were the exclusive materials from which money was coined, except for sums of only a few cents, when the so-called baser metals were used. As the supply of gold and silver was not equal to the demands of business, banks were established to issue notes to circulate as money with the consent of both parties to the exchange. These notes were made redeemable in gold and silver on the demand of the holders, and at frequent intervals the banks failed and the people lost the wealth which they had exchanged for the notes. This was a transfer without compensation, of the actual values created by the labor of the people, to the note issuing power, and this process, oft-repeated, laid the foundations for many colossal fortunes.

"In this connection, it may be well to note that in times of great public danger when the metal coins disappeared from circulation, the government exercised the right to issue a legal tender paper money to meet the deficiency. It served all the purposes of gold, and often in the midst of adversity and disaster brought great industrial prosperity to the people. But when the danger had gone by, strange as it may appear, the government funded this legal tender paper into government bonds, payable, interest and principal, in coin. This process of converting the debt paying medium of the country into an interest bearing debt that must be paid in another kind of money which had been hidden away by the more wealthy in times of danger, was the foundation of the great bonded debt of this country which was established during the Transition Period. This bonded debt was made the basis of a national bank currency for the redemption of which, at first in legal tender paper and coin, and later in gold, the people as debtors to the banks were in the last analysis responsible. In other words the national bank currency derived its sole value as a reliable medium of exchange from the fact that it was based on the public credit, and this public credit belonged to the people, but the private banking associations got the benefit for the private gain of their stockholders, and the service rendered, cost the people many times its worth.

"During the Transition Period in this country the people had three kinds of legal tender money, gold, silver, and paper, together with the national bank notes which were a legal tender as between the people and the government. At the close of this period, silver coin, and legal tender paper were made redeemable by the government in gold, on the demand of the holder; and all deferred payments were made payable in gold on the demand of the creditor. The great bulk of the business of the country among the people was transacted by the use of silver, paper and bank notes but the holders of these forms of currency could demand gold in exchange, and if for any cause the government failed to collect enough gold from the people to meet the demand it became the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to sell interest bearing gold bonds to meet the deficiency.

"Such in brief, was the complicated, cumbersome and unscientific system of exchanging, or distributing wealth, which existed under the old civilization. The means of production being fixed by natural law were the same then as now. Wealth always was and must always continue to be, the product of human labor and skill applied to natural resources, facilitated by such mechanical contrivances and business methods as human skill may devise. But the system of distribution being entirely under human control is continually changing as affected by human impulses, whether they be selfish, as in the olden time, or altruistic as they are now.

"We now exchange a product for a product of equal value, for the convenience and benefit of all, without any charge except for the necessary labor expended in the production and distribution. But under the old civilization the product was first exchanged for money and the money was then exchanged with some one else for the product that was wanted in return. As a method of exchanging one value for another, this was a very awkward and unscientific process, but in and of itself it was not necessarily unjust and oppressive; yet the system such as it was, could be used by the greedy few who controlled the financial and commercial affairs of the country, for the purpose of exacting such exorbitant tribute from the many as would, and did, condemn the millions to poverty. The few, with their superior business sagacity took advantage of this semi-barbarous idea of a perpetual money token which was supposed to contain within itself an actual value, equal to the values which it was used to exchange, and they organized banking as the chief factor in the mechanism of exchange among themselves, which in its operations also gave them control of the perpetual money tokens which the people must have to carry on their ordinary business transactions with each other.

"These shrewd financiers had no use for money except to pay balances, and at the time of the end, ninety-seven per cent. of the great business transactions of the country were carried on by means of organised credit through banks and clearing houses. This system of minimising the use of legal money through banking methods, as a matter of course left a large surplus in the hands of the great operators, which was loaned to the people, who in their unorganised condition were compelled to pay cash. These loans bore various rates of interest, but always much above the average increase of wealth, and very often so exorbitant that the states for very shame's sake were compelled to establish certain arbitrary rates beyond which the money lender dare not go.

"It will be seen at a glance that this system of transacting the business of the country on a cash basis by the people and by organized credit through banks by large operators who controlled finance and commerce could not fail to give to the latter an enormous advantage in the aggregate business of the country. The great masses of wealth producers naturally became a debtor class. As all wealth was the product of their labor, they must necessarily create the means of paying all indebtedness, interest and principal. Hence they constituted the interest paying masses while the comparatively small number of large operators constituted a powerful creditor class who were continually receiving interest, and hence always had money to loan or invest in such a manner as to be able to receive more interest. And the larger the interest-charge against the people, the more they needed money and the more inclined they were to borrow. Cities and towns often voted a bonded debt upon themselves for improvements, for the express purpose of providing employment for the workers, so that business might derive some temporary advantage by having the wages expended in their midst. The great masses of the people did not realize that a part of the same dollars they borrowed most go back to the lender to pay interest, and that the consequent deficiency in the means of payment could only be met by transferring to the creditor a portion of the wealth created by their labor equal to the interest. And the larger the aggregate indebtedness in proportion to the volume of money available for debt paying purposes, the larger must be the deficiency to be met out of their savings, or what should have been their net income from the exercise of their producing power.

"But the interest on loans, public and private was only a small fraction of the burden of usury imposed upon the wealth producing masses. All the large industrial, financial and commercial enterprises of the country were on a debt-creating basis. Stock companies owned the railroads of the country; the streetcars, waterworks, gasworks and electric light and power plants of the cities; all the great manufacturing, mining and commercial enterprises; the steamship lines, and even vast bonanza farms and stock ranches. All these interests were operated with a view to paying dividends on the stock in addition to the operating expenses, and were therefore equivalent to a perpetual interest bearing debt, the principal of which never could be paid.

"This constructive indebtedness was intended to be perpetual, and its volume was not limited to the actual cost of the various enterprises that were incorporated. The railroads, for instance, sold stock to many times the cost of the roads, or as it was called, 'watered their stock,' and then they ordinarily bonded the roads for vast sums besides. These bonded debts however, were very often created for the purpose of bankrupting the companies for the enrichment of an 'inside ring.' This process was known as 'freezing out the stockholders,' and by thus reducing capitalization it was not necessary for the roads to exact so much tribute from their patrons in order to pay dividends. Other corporate enterprises also 'watered' their stock, and some of them got such a hold upon the people that they continued to pay exorbitant dividends on their fictitious valuation until they were absorbed into the larger combination of the whole people.

"At the close of the Transition Period the volume of interest bearing indebtedness and dividend earning investments was estimated at fifty thousand millions, and the average cost to the people six per cent. per annum, or an aggregate of three thousand millions every year to be taken out of the wealth produced by the people. The bulk of these obligations, public, corporate and private was held by the great banking institutions which had been established by the corporation and trust magnates, who practically owned the lands and all the machinery of production and distribution. They owned not only the indebtedness against the people but they controlled the medium by which it must be paid, and on their demand under the law, this medium of final payment was gold.

"As this great creditor class was the principal employer of labor and controlled both the buying and selling of products which the people must have for the purposes of consumption, thus fixing both the income and the expenses of the producer, it was not difficult to collect their tribute. A pro rata of the great annual charge of interest, dividends and profits against the people was collected from the producer in the shape of a discount on what he had to sell, whether it was his labor or its products. The remainder was charged up to consumption and constituted a part of the price that was paid for every article that was purchased. The cost to the consumer of every commodity purchased, consisted of five distinct elements: First, interest on the money supposed to be invested in its production and distribution; Second, rent upon all the buildings in which it had been stored, which would include cars or vessels used in transportation; Third, profit to all who had handled the product; Fourth, its pro rata of taxation and Fifth, the wages paid to the labor expended in its production, transportation, superintendence and distribution. This fifth element in the cost was all that went to useful labor, while the other elements went to the great financial, industrial and commercial combines which held the masses of the people in their grasp.

"Of course under the operation of this system, where both the income and the expenses of the producer were determined by this great creditor class for its own selfish purposes, it is not strange that the condition of the average toiler was one of poverty, nor is it strange that a widespread spirit of unrest, and often of angry and violent discontent threatened the peace of society and the perpetuity of established institutions and a stable government. But to us, it does indeed look strange that the brawny millions whose strong arms and undaunted courage had conquered the untamed forces of nature and made the wilderness a fit dwelling place for a refined and cultured people, could have been bound, hand and foot, by such a gossamer thread as the puny power of a few owners of gold. But when we take into consideration the fundamental truth that mind controls matter, and that the few who were at the top had cultivated brains while the many who were at the bottom had only cultivated muscles, the mystery is solved. The toiling masses had no conception of their power, and on their plane of intelligence were utterly unable to hold their own against the wily schemes of the more intelligent few.

"At the time of which we speak, four-fifths of the aggregate wealth of the country had passed into the hands of a small fraction of the people, and millions were landless, homeless and dependent for subsistence upon the crumbs, so to speak, that fell from the tables of their lordly masters who controlled every avenue to employment and dictated the terms upon which they were permitted to live. Being few in numbers, they could and did co-operate with each other for their mutual advantage. All they had to do in order to keep wages at a minimum was to leave a large number of applicants unemployed, and hence very poor, who at all times, would be ready to take the place of workmen who demanded more liberal wages. The self-employed farmers were but little better off than the wage workers, as they were forced to sell their products and purchase their supplies at prices fixed by the great financial, industrial and commercial combines which controlled the business of the country. Under the inequitable methods of exchange which existed at that time, the masses of the people were powerless to help themselves. The fortunate few who controlled money, dictated how much they might receive for their labor or its products and how much of the products created by the labor of others they could purchase with the proceeds.

"To us the natural remedy for discriminations of this kind, so unjust and oppressive to the masses of the people seems so self-evident and easy of application that it is not strange that many have been inclined to doubt the correctness of much that is recorded in the history of the economic conditions which existed under the old civilisation, when human selfishness ruled supreme in business affairs. But when we take into consideration the fact, that at that time, the world had never had a single object lesson large enough to be seen by the great of mankind, as to what would constitute an equitable system of distribution, we are forced to the conclusion that the adverse conditions existing during the Transition Period were just what might have been expected under the circumstances. The few who had the ability to conduct the business of the world did not understand that the productive power of the earth is practically unlimited so that under an equitable system of exchange there is absolutely no possibility of any person being reduced to poverty. Then, too, the great masses were but a few generations removed from a condition of absolute serfdom, and were just what ages of drudgery had made them, and could not be expected to take broad and comprehensive views of the great economic problems by which they were confronted. The world had never known anything but the private ownership of all the means of production and distribution and the desire to lay up treasures was universally regarded as laudable and praiseworthy. Under these circumstances neither the few who had monopolized the earth nor the many who were disinherited could have been reasonably expected to be other than they were. Both alike were the product of long ages of growth. The wheat and the tares must necessarily grow up together, nurtured by the same soil, until the harvest is ready, and then the separation takes place strictly in accordance with natural law.

"The gold power which established itself in this country during the Transition Period was an exotic that had been imported from the old world. Its object was to control every nation on earth, for its own gain, without being the loyal supporter of any. It had secured absolute control over the nations of the Old World before it succeeded in financially conquering the New. Whenever it succeeded in establishing the gold standard in any country, it established its local branch for controlling that country's finances. Its first object was to promote the creation of national bonded debts, payable, principal and interest, in gold. For this purpose, it was always ready to loan money to carry on wars, and each country could negotiate its loans through its own local branch, but the creditor in every case, as a matter of fact, was the international Gold Power of the world, which had no preferences between nations but sought to impose a bonded debt alike upon all. There was absolutely nothing patriotic about it. All it wanted, was a lien upon the industries of the world, that would produce a steady income in the shape of interest.

"In this country, we had a Republican form of government and with our vast area of public lands the people were more independent by far than the people of any other country ever had been, notwithstanding the fact that they were robbed unmercifully by the private banks which issued notes and then suspended so that the notes which the people had accepted for their property became worthless. At frequent intervals, these bank panics reduced thousands of people to bankruptcy. But the country was new and land could be had for the asking, so when pressed to the wall, as it were, in the more populous districts along the eastern border, they came west on the public lands, made new homes and soon accumulated another competency. It is not strange that this international Gold Power of the world cast longing eyes upon a country that was so productive, and could recover so rapidly from industrial depressions and financial disasters.

"For nearly one hundred years after the establishment of our Republic, notwithstanding the prevalent 'wild cat' banking system as it was called and the absurd reverence for the so-called precious metals, the people of this country were practically independent of the great Gold Power which had its headquarters in Atlan. While the founders of the Republic had made gold and silver coin the standard money of the country, they reserved the right to issue treasury notes and also to make them a legal tender, and as there was no great debt, and land could be had for the asking, the economic independence of the people could not be entirely crushed out, and therefore Altruria offered an effectual barrier to the encroachments of the gold power. Before the people could be actually subjugated financially, a vast bonded debt must be created, and in order to induce the people to agree to such a debt, the life of the Republic must be placed in jeopardy. A foreign war was not to be thought of, as it would arouse to fever heat all of the innate democratic hatred against aristocratic rule of every name and description, but a war between the states would serve the same purpose.

"The conditions that made such an interstate struggle possible, had unintentionally been provided for by the founders of the Republic. At the time when the Republic was established the colored people were held as slaves in nearly all of the original colonies. This institution was regarded by the founders of the Republic, as inconsistent with the spirit of its institutions, and it was unsparingly denounced as the 'sum of all villainies' by a large number; and one state after another emancipated its slaves, and new free states were admitted, until the country was practically half slave and half free.

"In the manufacturing states uncultured slave labor was not profitable and hence there was but little objection to its abolition. But in the agricultural states such labor was valuable, as the old world furnished an unfailing market for all the surplus products. The gold power of Atlan took advantage of the situation to sow the seeds of discord between the two sections.

"Missionaries were sent into the manufacturing states, papers established and literature distributed appealing to the sympathies of the people in behalf of the slaves and creating a public sentiment against the slaveholding states. These anti-slavery missionaries came in the name of religion and humanity and it cannot be denied that ample grounds existed for all that could be said against chattel slavery, but the PURPOSES for which the anti-slavery agitation was used by the Gold Power were, if possible, to destroy the Republic, or failing in this, involve the country in an interstate war and induce the patriotic lovers of liberty to consent to the establishment of a vast bonded debt.

"Another class of missionaries were sent into the slaveholding states and another class of literature circulated, proclaiming that 'cotton is king' and that if Free Trade with all the world was established, the planters would be the wealthiest and happiest people on earth. That all that stood in the way was the union with the anti-slavery states, which sought to abolish the 'peculiar institution' that enabled the planters to produce such a magnificent surplus, which the Old World stood ready to take in unlimited quantities, at high prices in gold, just as soon as Free Trade could be established. To secure this grand victory for agriculture, all that was needed was to dissolve the union with the anti-slavery states and their pet hobby of tariff duties on imported goods.

"Both sections of the country were flooded with literature, all of which contained enough of truth to make it attractive to honest people, and enough of misrepresentation to engender the most bitter and antagonistic feelings between them. The institution of slavery was wrong, in and of itself, but the anti-slavery agitators ignored the fact that the masses of the slaves were not qualified for self-government, and that the perpetuity of free institutions depended upon the intelligence of the voters. They did not try to convert the slaveholding states to the policy of educating their slaves and preparing them for freedom, but they went to the non-slaveholding states and demanded the immediate and unconditional abolition of slavery in the other section. This was, as a matter of course, most exasperating to the people of the slave states who in their capacity as independent states felt themselves amply competent to attend to their own affairs.

"In the political discussions of that time, half truths served all the purposes of full grown falsehoods as a means of deluding the people. The Free Trade agitators of the slave states were unqualifiedly right when they called attention to the fact that all import duties were a tax upon the people in proportion to their expenses instead of their incomes and were therefore unjust and oppressive to the great masses of the people; but they ignored the fact that the absolute Free Trade that did exist between all sections of the country was of vastly more importance to the slaveholding states, than Free Trade with any foreign country could possibly be. The manufacturing states of their own country were over two thousand miles nearer to them than the manufacturing countries of the Old World, and that fact, with a fair compensation to labor would have given them an assured market for their surplus products without paying transportation charges both ways across the ocean.

"But the leading object of these Free Trade agitators, was to appeal to the selfish impulses of the few who owned slaves, and to the race prejudices of the masses of non-slaveholders, by telling them that the abolitionists proposed to place them on terms of political and social equality with the slaves. They were taught to believe that under the prevailing tariff regulations, they were taxed for the special benefit of the 'mudsills' of the manufacturing states, who being low down in the social scale themselves wanted to bring the proud, chivalrous people of the slave states down to the level of their chattel slaves.

"As a matter of fact, neither the producing masses of the Free States or the non-slaveholders of the slave states had the remotest conception that the international gold power of Atlan was taking advantage of the discussion of slavery and free trade through its paid agents, to sow the seeds of discord between the two sections of the Great Republic of the New World. And they permitted their resentments for fancied wrongs to be fanned into a flame of fierce indignation, which, as was intended, culminated in a bloody strife and the creation of a vast bonded debt.

"This fratricidal struggle lasted nearly five years, and when it ended, the people found themselves in debt, billions of dollars, to a class of people who had speculated on their necessities. The unsuspecting masses on both sides had bared their breasts to the storm of battle, endured all the privations and suffered all the losses, and were in debt for all the expenses of the war INCLUDING THEIR OWN SERVICES, to an international money power which ruled the world.

"In order to carry on the war, paper money was issued and paid out to the soldiers, sailors and citizens for their services. This money performed all the functions of gold and notwithstanding the fact that the people were engaged in a most destructive war, it stimulated all branches of business and brought on an era of great industrial prosperity. But after the war was over this same paper money which had been paid to the people as the original creditors of the government, and for which they had signed receipts in full for their services, was converted into interest bearing bonds, and these same soldiers, sailors and citizens were taxed to pay to those who speculated on their necessities in the hour of danger, the same debt that had originally been due to themselves, and for which they had received legal tender paper money.

"But had the process of funding the legal tender debt paying medium of the country into bonds ceased at this point, the international gold power of the world would never have been able to financially subjugate the people of this country, as under the law creating the bonds, the debt was payable in legal tender paper money. So another step must be taken. The debt had been created and a large portion of the money had been burned, but the bonds did not call for gold, except for interest. Hence a law was enacted resuming specie payments, and the bonds were made payable in coin, and now the people who had taken paper dollars for their services in saving the union, were taxed to pay gold dollars to the money kings for the paper dollars they had received.

"We can scarcely conceive at this distant day, how it was possible for our ancestors to have been so stupid, as not to see through this outrage that was perpetrated upon them, but nevertheless, history records the fact that for thirty odd years after this bare faced legalised robbery had been committed, a vast majority of men were voting their approval, which was proclaimed throughout the world as the triumph of patriotic statesmanship.

"As the direct result of this kind of financial legerdemain, which converted the debt-paying medium of the country into an interest-bearing debt, the wages of labor and the prices of products steadily declined, business enterprises were wound up in bankruptcy at the rate of more than one thousand per month and millions of workmen were forced into idleness and thronged the highways in all parts of the country, demoralized, degraded and becoming a sure menace to civilization.

"As a result of the war between the states, chattel slavery had been abolished, but another form of industrial servitude, the wage system, had fallen heir to all of its worst features. The owners of the chattel slaves had the power to be oppressive and cruel, but personal interest demanded that the slave should always be provided with food, shelter and raiment, while the wage slave could be turned out to starve when from sickness, age of any other cause it was more profitable to dispense with his services. The wage slave, who must work or starve was serving a much more exacting and cruel master than the most heartless owner of chattel slaves ever could have been. In the great sphere of human servitude the tables had been completely turned. While the slave owner had always been very careful not to give his chattel slaves an opportunity to run away, the wage slave very often lived in a perpetual dread that his master would pay him off and tell him to go.

"Conditions such as these could not fail to arouse a widespread feeling of dissatisfaction and as every man had a vote, political agitation was the logical result of the situation and politicians were kept busy in defending old policies and proposing new ones, all for the professed purpose of securing better conditions for the great masses of the people. A slight glance at a few of the popular economic and political ideas of that time indicates the average status of popular intelligence, and is therefore useful in tracing the evolutionary forces which were operating at that time for the elimination of selfishness and the establishment of equity in human affairs.

"As the times grew harder, the politicians of the old school told the people that the over production of wealth was the cause of all their poverty and distress, and for a time the great masses seemed to be satisfied with this explanation. They did not pause to inquire how it was possible for them to produce so much food and clothing and build so many houses, and for that reason be compelled to go hungry, dress in rags and be without shelter.

"Further on, this same class of politicians told the people that what they needed was to make their silver and paper money redeemable in gold and then they would have a dollar that would purchase more, and a majority of the people decided in favor of the gold standard. They did not reflect, that the larger the purchasing power of the dollar might be, the more of their labor it would require in order to get the dollar, and so without understanding what they were doing, the laboring masses of the country actually voted to decrease the money earning power of their own labor. But had they decided in favor of more money, while their wages would have gone up, their cost of living would have increased and they would not have been materially benefited except incidentally, as a part of the great debtor class, which was required to pay interest as part of the price of everything purchased for consumption. And we may add, that but for the fact that the great masses who produced wealth by their labor, constituted a debtor class, the advantages and disadvantages between a larger or smaller volume of money, would have formed a perfect equation, and the condition of the masses would neither have been better nor worse, as in either case, the banks would have determined the amount that was permitted to circulate among the people, by making or withholding loans as might at the time, best promote their own interests.

"While the Gold Power was international in its character, and not loyal to any country, it always took an active interest in moulding the opinions of the dominant political parties of all countries. It was necessary for it to have at least two favorites among the dominant parties, so that by turns they might spring reforms, so-called, based on half truths, to attract the constantly increasing number of dissatisfied voters. The demand for an increased volume of money in order to raise the wages of labor and the price of farm products was a question of this character, and it was sufficient to sidetrack and head off a more searching investigation as to the real causes of poverty. This was met by the demand for a better quality of money that would purchase more goods. The arguments in favor of both, contained half truths which were dwelt upon with great force, but the success of either, still left the gold power, directly or indirectly, in a position to control the situation.

"The same thing was true in regard to the tariff question which the gold power made a dominant issue between its favorite parties. The question itself could be used to call attention away from the question of finance, which had a more direct bearing upon the vital matter of EXCHANGE and was therefore more likely to educate the people to a point where they could no longer be deluded by an ingenious discussion of half truths. This question, in order to be made available for the purposes of the gold power, must necessarily have two SEEMINGLY antagonistic political parties to go before the people. One party advocated a tariff-for-revenue, with Free Trade arguments, while the other advocated a tariff-for-protection, and appealed to the laboring classes to maintain liberal wages for themselves by voting for a high tariff that would exclude foreign goods.

"The positions taken by these parties were about equally delusive and neither would have in the least delayed the dangerous encroachments of the gold power. A tariff-for-revenue could in no sense be a Free Trade party, but it did propose to raise revenue by duties on imports. This duty would of course be paid by the people as part of the price of the goods which they consumed, and hence the tax would be in proportion to their expenses without any reference to their incomes. Those who expended their entire incomes in consumption would be taxed upon the whole, while those who expended only a small fraction, would be taxed only on the fraction so expended. As a system of taxation it is difficult to conceive of one that would be more unequal in its bearings, and more oppressive to people of small incomes.

"On the other hand the tariff-for-protection party, proposed to make the duties on imports so high that foreign productions would be kept out, and the home market secured to the employers of home labor. This, it was claimed, would enable the employers of labor to pay higher wages, which was true; but the selfishness of the heartless employer, was always in favor of keeping wages at a minimum and the noble, generous, employer could not afford to pay any more. If he did, his heartless competitor would undersell him in the market and destroy his business. Hence we are not surprised that statistics proved the tendency of wages to be toward a minimum under both parties—that is, a sum barely sufficient to provide food, clothing and shelter, and to enable the workman to raise other toilers to take his place when he was no longer able to work.

"Under this tariff-for-protection policy, the revenues raised were just as oppressive and unjust to people of small incomes as under the policy of 'a tariff for revenue only,' but with this additional burden, that the increased price of home products was assessed upon the people in the same unequal manner. But on the other side, more home labor could be employed, which benefited the workmen in protected industries at the expense of the classes which were not protected. Of course, even the tariff-for-protection party which had so much to say in favor of holding the home market for home products, never seriously intended to exclude foreign products, as that would have put an end to all revenue.

"These delusive theories of a tariff for revenue and a tariff for protection, served the purposes of the Gold Power, by calling the attention of the people away from the real difficulty which stood in the way of wealth producers. All that the people needed was an opportunity to apply their labor to natural resources, and be able to exchange their products for products of equal value, produced by the labor of others. The foreign trade of the country was a matter of small importance compared with the home trade. If at almost any time during the latter part of the Transition Period, the people of this country had been guaranteed just such rations as were provided for soldiers, or even convicts, there would have been no surplus for exportation; and had the whole people been provided with all the clothing that was needed to keep them well clad, it would have taken the entire product of wool, flax, cotton and leather. But the press of that day, religious as well as secular, was to such a large extent under the control of the Gold Power, that facts such as these were kept away from the masses of the people. And it may be added in this connection, that the educational system of the country was controlled by this same power to suppress the truth on economic questions, and many eminent scholars were removed from professorships in the higher institutions of learning, because they refused to teach such sophistries as suited the purposes of the Gold Power.

"In our very brief mention of the political agitations of that time we have only referred to the leading measures advocated by the dominant political parties. It is due however to even that benighted age to state, that at every step taken by the international Gold Power to financially conquer the world, a few of the more enlightened and self-sacrificing spirits, boldly exposed the financial wrongs which were being perpetrated against the people for the still further enrichment of the money kings of the Old World and their agents and co-workers in the great centers of wealth in this country. But these courageous, clear headed and humanity loving pioneers of a higher civilization were frowned down as dangerous agitators and enemies of law and order, and every foul epithet was applied to them. If in business, they were boycotted, and if belonging to the ranks of labor, they were blacklisted and in many cases imprisoned on false charges, and some were even executed for crimes which they did not commit. And yet the measures of reform they advocated along political lines were usually of such a nature that had they been enacted into law they would only have prolonged, for a few decades perhaps, the false system which pauperized and degraded the toiling millions.

"So much for the political agitations which had for their ostensible object the improvement of the economic condition of the great masses of the people. Yet they did much good as a means of educating the more intelligent into a better understanding of the situation, and revealed the apparently utter hopelessness of ever being able to secure necessary reforms by political action, as no matter how pure at first might be the objects of a political party, just as soon as it was successful, and offices were in sight, the work of corruption set in and its principles became subordinate in the minds of its leaders, to the more profitable occupation of office seeking.

"But other more potent factors than political agitation, were at work among the masses in the shape of great industrial organizations of farmers and wage-workers. These organizations as a rule were strictly non-political. The farmers sought to secure higher prices for the products of the farm without any regard for the interests of the millions of wage-workers and others upon whom they depended for a market. Another object of the farmers was to reduce their cost of living by securing lower prices on their implements and other supplies. By concentrating their trade and taking advantage of the competition between dealers they often succeeded in securing very much reduced prices on goods, and this furnished what was regarded as a legitimate excuse for reducing the wages of the employes engaged in their manufacture. This reduction of wages crippled the market for farm products and offended both the employer and the workmen, so in the end the farmers defeated themselves and succeeded in arraying all other classes of people against them.

"But it was the wage-workers who suffered the most from the great oligarchy of wealth which had been established in the name of the people for the express purpose of exacting profits from the industrial classes. They organized Trade Unions which ultimately federated into one great national organization with a view to securing higher wages and fewer hours of labor without any regard to the interests of the consumers of their products. The number of workmen in these Trade Unions were at all times but a small fraction of the multitude which depended upon wages. As a rule the purposes and methods of these labor organizations were in practice, if not in theory, based upon the same false principles that characterized the industrial despotism against which they were protesting. Selfishness was a distinguishing characteristic and a fatal defect. The skilled workman who had employment, cared but little for the non-Union workman of his own craft except as a possible competitor for his job, and nothing whatever for the great masses of common laborers who were so numerous and so poor that organization could do them no good as a means of maintaining wages. The union workman recognized no interest in common with the unemployed outside of his own fraternity.

"Instead of banding together to devise ways and means by which all could find employment, the Trade Unions sought only to secure work and maintain wages for the comparatively small number who were members in good standing. Hence in case of strikes and lockouts the unemployed workmen were actuated by the same selfish motives and did not hesitate to take their places whenever they could be protected from violence. And whenever they did so, the union workmen made war upon them. While they recognized the relation of master and servant as one that was to be perpetuated, they denied the right of the 'scabs' as they were called, to accept employment from THEIR masters, no matter how destitute they might be.

"Neither did they question the right of employers, who in the days of the old civilization were principally powerful corporations, to control the enactment and the enforcement of the laws. As a rule, the workmen divided their voting power between the political parties which were controlled by their masters. With such evident inability to grasp the situation in which they were placed, it is not strange that the employers were enabled to obtain absolute control of every branch of government, state and national, legislative, executive and judicial, notwithstanding the fact that every laborer had a vote which counted just as much as that of the most wealthy corporation magnate. Conspiracy laws were enacted which could be used for their suppression as occasion required. The right of trial by jury was denied by the courts, and the champions of labor were imprisoned for long terms for disobeying the mandates of the courts. Finally the Supreme Court, in the case of a sailor who had refused to serve for the period for which he had hired, decided that his employer had a right to hold him in bondage until the expiration of the contract; that the ownership over himself had ceased for the time specified, and that the constitutional provision which prohibited involuntary servitude did not apply to such as him. One of the labor papers of that time characterized this opinion of the Court as the 'Fugitive Sailor Decision,' a name by which it is known in the history of those dark days of the Transition Period.