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EURASIA

By Chris. Evans

October, 2000 [Etext #2352]

****The Project Gutenberg Etext of Eurasia, by Chris. Evans****
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This Etext prepared by David Schwan <davidsch@earthlink.net>

EURASIA

By Chris. Evans

PREFACE.

In "Eurasia" the author describes an ideal republic where many of the
problems that confront us are worked out. The book describes in an
interesting and readable way how government is administered in this
ideal republic. The government is one in which women take their full
share of responsibility, the school children are trained in the problems
they will meet in life, and more emphasis is laid on character building
than on the dead languages. The children of both sexes are taught useful
trades. All school children are taught to swim. The idle are employed in
the construction of roads, canals and irrigation works. The problems of
distribution are so arranged that the worker receives a more equitable
reward for his labor.

The author, Chris. Evans, speaks with a firsthand knowledge when he
discusses the army prison management and the administration of law. Mr.
Evans, who was born in Vermont, is an old cavalryman, having served in
the Civil War. After the war he served with the cavalry in the West,
fighting Indians.

CHAPTER I.

A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE.

One pleasant afternoon in the month of May, 19--, I launched my boat,
and after rowing about half a mile from shore I shipped my oars, stepped
the mast, hoisted sail and reclining on a cushioned seat at the stern
with my hand on the tiller, I waited for a breeze to spring up, and
whilst so doing I fell asleep. How long I slept I know not, for when I
awoke my boat was close to shore, and to my' astonishment I was in
strange waters. I went ashore, when I was accosted in English with a
foreign accent by a venerable looking man with the question: "Where did
you come from?" I replied: "From the United States of America, and what
country is this?" His answer was Eurasia, and beckoning to a man in
uniform, who was passing by and who immediately joined us, he told him
that I was from the United States of America and did not know what
country I was in. The official addressed me very kindly and invited me
to accompany him, and leaving the boat in charge of my first
acquaintance, with instructions to take good care of it, he escorted me
into the city and left me at a hotel with a request that I would permit
him to call on me the next day at ten a. m., and he would show me all
the principal buildings and introduce me to the President, "who I have
no doubt will be delighted to see you." At the appointed time he
arrived, and, taking my place by his side in an automobile driven by
electricity, we passed in succession the buildings occupied by the
different Departments of State, and stopped in front of a modest
building set back a short distance from the street, and at the gate we
were at once admitted by the officer on duty, who informed us that the
President was holding a Cabinet meeting and would receive meimmediately.
The President's private secretary met me at the door and introduced me
to the President, who shook my hand warmly, and introduced
me to his Cabinet in the following order:

Mr. __, the Minister of State.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Justice.
Mr. __, the Minister of Railways.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Education.
Mr. __, the Minister of Finance.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Information.
Mr. __, the Minister of Agriculture.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Health.
Mr. __, the Minister of Commerce.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Manufactures.
Mr. __, the Minister of Mines.
Mrs. __, the Minister of War.
Mr. __, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Labor.

I informed the President that I wished to learn all I could about the
Government and Institutions of the country, to which he replied by
handing me the Official Directory, and added that he and his Cabinet
would assist me to the fullest extent. I expressed my heartfelt thanks
for their kindness, and, going back to my hotel, I opened the, Official
Directory. I found the country governed by a President elected directly
by the people for five years, but the law provided that if his
government was not satisfactory to the people, a petition signed by five
per cent. of the voters called for an election, and if a majority voted
against him, he was removed from office and the Minister of State
assumed the Presidency for the remainder of the term. The Cabinet was
composed of fourteen members-seven men and seven women-and were chosen
by the Parliament, who were free to select them from their own members
or outsiders, provided that the person chosen was a voter and
twenty-five years of age. When the Parliament met, which it did on the
first day of January, and adjourned on the first of March, sine die, the
Ministers presented their reports of their work for the previous two
years, and if the Parliament approved them, they continued in office;
but if the Parliament by a majority vote disapproved of any of them,
then the Minister resigned and the Parliament appointed another person
to take his or her place. The members of Parliament were elected for two
years and to serve without pay, but their expenses were paid by the
Government and the amount necessary was fixed by law and could not be
raised or lowered, only by two-thirds vote of the qualified voters of
the Nation. The country was divided into districts and every district
elected a member for every hundred thousand of population, provided that
every other member from a district should be a female, thus giving both
sexes full representation in the Government. Each district was governed
by a Governor, elected for two years, and a Court of Judges, consisting
of a Chief Justice, a Prosecuting Attorney, an Attorney for the Defense
and twelve Justice Jurors, who tried all felony cases and civil cases
that could not be settled by Arbitration, and who sat also as a Board of
Equalization and as Supervisors.

The law provided that eight Jurors or two-thirds of them (if any were
absent through sickness or any other reasonable cause), in every case
could bring in a verdict of guilty in criminal cases or for the
Complainant or Defendant in civil cases, and if eight did not find the
Defendant guilty, the case was dismissed-but if guilty the Defendant had
only to say "I appeal," and a copy of the evidence was sent immediately
to the Supreme Court, composed of Judges, elected by the people, one
from each district, to serve for five years.

The Court sat six days in each week, excepting four weeks inJuly-August,
when all the Courts were allowed by law four weeks' vacation. They were
required to work eight hours each day beginning at eight a. m., with one
hour rest at noon, and ending at five p. m.; but they could work longer
if they so desired, but the law forbade any adjournment and to prevent
bribery the documents in every case-civil or criminal-arriving daily
were placed in a lottery wheel, and, on the Court assembling at eight
a. m., the wheel was revolved, and in the presence of the Minister of
Justice a blind boy and girl drew the documents out and handed them to
pages who delivered them to the Judges in alphabetical order. Three
Judges, forming a committee, decided every case that came into their
hands on the same day. There was no delay in Justice, and, if any Judge
misbehaved, the voters in his district could remove him under the same
law that applied to the President.

The law of recall applied to all officers of the Government elected by
the people. The salary of the Supreme Court Judges was fixed by law at
ten dollars per day and that of a Chief Justice of a district at five
dollars per day. That of the Prosecuting Attorney and Attorney for the
Defense at four dollars per day, and that of Justice and Jurors at three
dollars per day the year 'round.

No costs were charged to either complainant or defendant in any case,
either civil or criminal, but if a person brought complaint without just
and sufficient cause, the law provided that they should be examined by
the Court, and if found sane, they should be imprisoned for one year at
hard labor, and if insane, to be sent immediately to the Lunatic Asylum.
In every case the complainant was first warned by the Court of what
would happen if the charge proved to be unfounded.

I made inquiries among the people and was told that the law was a great
promoter of peace and good will.

CHAPTER II

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.

During the following week I called on the Minister of Justice and
informed her of my desire to learn the workings of her Department. She
handed me a copy of the Penal Code, and I was astonished to find how
simple the course of procedure was compared with that of my own country.
Felonies ranked in the following order: Murder, Rape, Incest and crimes
against nature, Arson, Robbery, Assault to Murder, Manslaughter, Mayhem,
Bribery, Larceny and Perjury. The law held one degree of murder and that
was with malice aforethought, but where a person killed a human being
wantonly, without cause or malice, the homicide was committed to the
Lunatic Asylum, and, after one year's imprisonment, deprived of the
sexual organs, and if his or her conduct endangered the peace or safety
of the community, were to be chloroformed.

The penalty for murder was imprisonment for life, subject to parole
after ten years. Rape fiends were sentenced to twenty-five years, and
after one year's imprisonment to be desexualizcd and subject to parole
after five years.

Persons found guilty of Incest and crimes against nature received the
same punishment as Rape fiends and subject to parole after five years.
The penalty for Arson was twenty years, subject to parole after four
years. For Robbery fifteen years and subject to parole after three
years. The same penalty for Assault to Murder and subject to parole
after three years. Manslaughter, Mayhem and Bribery were punished by
imprisonment for ten years and subject to parole after two years.
Larceny and Perjury were punished by five years' imprisonment, and
subject to parole after one year. Public officials who embezzled public
funds were committed for Perjury as well as Larceny, and were debarred
from ever holding office. The law provided that in the course of the
trial of any person charged with Felony, if the evidence showed they had
committed a felony, other than the one for which they were being tried,
then the Court could sentence them for the crime that the evidence
showed they had committed, even if there was not sufficient evidence to
convict them of the crime with which they were charged.

Any person found guilty was remanded to the custody of the Governor of
the district to await the decision of the Supreme Court. If they
appealed, and the appeal was not confirmed, they were sent to the
nearest State Prison, of which there are at the present time twenty-five.

No fines were imposed for any crime and no confiscation of property for
any cause.

A Magistrate was elected in every sub-district, according to
population. One for every ten thousand inhabitants, at a salary of three
dollars per day the year 'round, and who tried all persons charged with
Felony, and if proven guilty, committed them to the District Court-but a
charge of Felony could be made before the District Court, and if
probable cause was shown, the case came up for trial. The Magistrate was
authorized by law to release any person charged with a misdemeanor on
probation, or to sentence them from one month to twelve months'
imprisonment at hard labor within the district, and the prisoners were
paid for their work from five to twenty-five cents per day, according to
their ability and skill, and the money they earned was sent to their
wives and children, if they had any. If they were single, what they
earned was paid to them at the expiration of their sentence. No
handcuffs, balls or chains or Oregon Boots were permitted to be used,
but if the person in custody was violent, a jacket with straps at the
waist to secure the hands at the side was provided and no punishment was
inflicted for violation of the prison rules-but bread and water for
three days at any one time. If a prisoner committed sodomy or other
infamous crime against nature, while in custody, he was castrated, and
if he still persisted in committing crimes against nature, he was
chloroformed. No trial by jury was permitted in cases of misdemeanor-but
an appeal to the Governor was allowed by law and a copy of the evidence
in the case was sent to him and he had to decide according to the law
and evidence within thirty days and publish his reasons therefor in the
District Newspaper. By permission of the Minister of Justice I was
granted authority to visit the State Prison, carrying with me a letter
instructing every prison official to assist me and to furnish me all the
information within their power. The prison was located in the center of
a Military Preserve, consisting of ninety-two thousand one hundred and
sixty acres, all in a high state of cultivation. Railways traversed the
reservation, but no trains but military ones were permitted to stop
within its limits.

CHAPTER III.

A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON.

The Minister of Justice placed an automobile at my service, and when I
arrived at the boundary of the reservation, I was stopped by a military
officer. I handed him my letter from the Minister of Justice, and,
glancing over it, he replied, "You are welcome," and, taking a seat by
my side, we drove to the prison grounds, where I was introduced to the
Superintendent, and invited by him to be his guest during my stay. I
found the prisoners garrisoned in company quarters. One hundred and
thirty-five privates, nine corporals, three sergeants and one company
clerk constituted a company, with a captain in command of them holding
the same rank and pay as a captain in the army, and who was chosen from
the non-commissioned officers in the army for distinguished services.
The prisoners were classified in twelve companies. Four companies formed
the first grade, consisting of Companies A, B, C and D; four companies
formed the second grade, consisting of Companies E, F, G and H, and four
companies formed the third grade, consisting of Companies I , K, L, and
M. The first grade received fifteen cents per day and the third grade
five cents per day, and no pay was forfeited for violation of prison
rules and regulations, but prisoners received no pay during the time
they were on bread and water. Corporals received fifty per cent. more
pay than privates, and sergeants and company clerks one hundred per
cent. more. Prisoners were required to work eight hours each day,
Sundays excepted-commencing at eight a. m., with one hour for dinner,
and ending at five p. m., and to attend night school from six p. m.
until eight p. m. five nights in the week, and once a week musicians and
singers visited the prison and gave entertainments.

The company quarters were only one-story high, but were large and well
ventilated, being eighty feet square with wide verandas and furnished
with steam and hot water pipes for cold weather, and lighted throughout
by incandescent lamps.

The beds were all singly arranged in rows and well furnished with
mattresses, blankets, sheets and pillows, and the room had nine large
wash basins at one end of the room, where all the company could wash
their hands and faces and comb their hair.

The captains were required to sleep in the same rooms with the
prisoners, and to eat with them in the dining-room, and were held
responsible for their care and good conduct. He could sentence them for
misconduct to three days on bread and water, but for serious offences
they were tried by a Court of three Judges, appointed by the Minister of
Justice.

The regimental dining-room where all the companies dined was divided
into three sections, with partitions eight feet high between them, each
section having a door connecting with the kitchen, and the food
furnished of good quality, but differing in degree according to grade.

The hospital was on one side of the square, and was fitted with every
modern appliance and at the distance of half a mile was a pest house, to
which all prisoners suffering from leprosy, cancer, syphilis and other
malignant diseases, were consigned. What most attracted my attention was
the bath house, a one-story building, one hundred feet long, adjoining
the laundry. It had a swimming tank in the middle of it sixty feet long,
forty feet wide and twelve feet deep. At the two ends were porcelain
bathtubs for the old and feeble, with hot and cold water faucets, and on
one side were shower-bath nozzles overhead, with hot and cold water
connections; on the side next the laundry were rows of shelves reaching
to the ceiling and numbered from one to eighteen hundred, holding a
change of clothing for the entire regiment of prisoners, with a
passageway and counter in front, and every prisoner was compelled to
bathe on every Sunday, passing over the counter the clothes worked in;
when they had undressed and when they had bathed, they received clothes,
washed and ironed, to put on. Any prisoner who did not bathe was placed
in solitary confinement for three days on bread and water, then taken to
the bathhouse and well scrubbed.

Two prisoners were assigned to work as chiropodists to keep the feet of
the prisoners in good condition, and the laundrymen, besides washing and
ironing all the clothes, sheets and pillowcases, had to wash and
disinfect all the blankets once a month. There were no walls surrounding
the prison building, but the reservation being the headquarters of an
army corps with barracks on all sides, escapes by prisoners were very
rare.

On marching out of the dining-room after breakfast the roll was called,
and also after supper, by the captains of companies, and after nine p.
m. the doors were locked and no smoking or talking was permitted.

A parole commissioner appointed by the Minister of Justice resided at
the prison, who was also Superintendent of the Night School, with
authority to parole any prisoner according to law that in his judgment
was a fit person to be paroled. A paroled prisoner, if he did not have
friends to take care of him, was given employment by the Government, and
no money deposit was required. The Government paid over to him what
money he had earned, and gave him a dress suit and a working suit of
clothes and two changes of underclothing-by those acts of justice giving
him encouragement to become a useful member of society. He was required
to report by a letter once a month to the Governor of the District from
which he came, and the Governor was authorized by law to pardon him when
he thought proper. Those rules and regulations applied equally to both
sexes.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BANK OF EURASIA.

Leaving the prison, I returned to the Capitol and, calling at the
Department of Finance, was given a copy of the laws governing it, and
learned that it operated under the name of the Bank of Eurasia, with
headquarters in the capital, having a branch in every district and in
every town of one thousand inhabitants or more. It paid out all money
owed by the Government and received and receipted for all taxes due, and
accepted all deposits from one dollar upwards, and issued all banknotes
and bills of exchange, and in consequence there were no panics and no
necessity of issuing clearing-house certificates. To avoid the folly of
locking up large amounts of money received for taxes each year on the
one hand, or permitting stock-gamblers and money-sharks, on the other
hand, to use it, each district was allowed by law to issue district
banknotes of one dollar denomination, guaranteed by the Government,
drawing two per cent. a year interest up to eighty per cent. of the
yearly expenses of the district. The taxes were payable on the first day
of November, and if not paid on that day a delinquent tax of ten per
cent. The banknotes issued by the district were called in and canceled
by this means, keeping the money of the people in circulation.

Every branch bank in a district was required to send daily accounts of
all money received and paid out to the central branch bank of the
district, which in turn sent a daily account of all bank transactions in
the district to the Bank of Eurasia at the capital. No district
treasurers were required, nor treasurers in any department of the
Government, but vouchers to be paid by the Government had to be signed
and scaled by the proper authorities. The bank also conducted a National
Lottery, with tickets for sale at every branch bank for one dollar per
ticket; drawings monthly, and the highest prize drawn was five thousand
dollars, and the lowest five dollars. Five per cent. of the gross
proceeds going to the Government for the maintenance and education of
orphan children. The amount received each month and the names of the
prize winners was published in the National Gazette (a weekly paper),
and a copy sent to every prize winner. This paper was published by the
Government and every voter was free to subscribe for it without cost,
but no advertisements were allowed in it. It published the work of every
department of the Government and all bills approved by Parliament, and
all laws recommended by the Parliament for whilst the Parliament could
approve and legalize all Government expenditures, it could only
recommend by a two-thirds vote the amending or creating of any acts
pertaining to the Political, Civil and Penal Codes, which had to go
before the people at the next general election, when they became the law
of the land by a two-thirds vote of the qualified voters who took part
in the election, and had a universal circulation, as the Government
owned and operated all railways, telegraphs, teleposts, telephones,
wireless telegraphy stations and levees, all water power, steamers and
boats for freight and passenger service, and, in fact, all public
utilities.

Besides, the Government manufactured and sold all liquors, tobaccos,
drugs, teas, salt, sugar, coals, petroleum, lumber, iron in pigs and
steel in plates and bars. It is easy to see that the Bank of Eurasia
transacted an immense volume of business daily.

The bank coined gold in denominations of fifty dollars, twenty dollars,
ten dollars and five dollars; silver in dollar, fifty and
twenty-five-cent pieces; nickel in ten-cent and five-cent pieces, and
aluminum in one-cent pieces. All money coined with ten per cent. alloy
and at bullion value. The coinage was readjusted every ten years and
silver, nickel and aluminum coins were exchangd for gold at their face
value. The Government issued banknotes drawing two per cent. a year, and
loaned money on land and on goods in the Government warehouses and
conducted a fire insurance business, but no insurance was paid on any
property that was insured in the building where the fire broke out, and
on no buildings that were not fireproof. No life insurance was allowed
and no corporation or individual was allowed to carry on an insurance
business and no person was permitted to insure property or life in the
country in any foreign corporation, and no stock exchanges or gambling
in futures were allowed.

The Bank of Eurasia published every month in the National Gazette the
amount of money on hand, so that the people might know when it was
necessary for the Government to make a new issue of banknotes, so as not
to cripple the circulation.

I was greatly, impressed with the reply of the Minister of Finance when
I asked him why he published those statements, "We deal honestly with
the people and they trust us." In answer to my question if there were
any trusts in his country, he smiled and replied, "One trust: the
People."

Corporations are allowed, but no watered stock and every stockholder
has the same vote in electing officers of the company, whether he holds
one share or any other number of shares, and any
conspiracy to corner the market or to enhance the price of any article
produced or manufactured is punished as a felony, the penalty being five
years at hard labor in prison.

CHAPTER V.

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION.

I called at the Department of Information, and when I was introduced I
realized that I was in the presence of one of the world's greatest
teachers. She gave me a warm handshake and said, "I have been expecting
you, and now that you are here, I will take pleasure in showing you the
workings of the department over which I have the honor to preside. There
are no Government or private detective agencies in our country, but a
constant watch is kept on all public officials as well as private
violators of the law, by the Government placing for sale in every
postoffice and every military station and every prison Government
envelopes with fifty-cent stamps on them, and any person interfering in
the sending or tampering with said letters is punished by imprisonment
for five years at hard labor. Steel boxes with a slit in the lid to
receive the letters were placed in every postoffice, military station
and prison, and could not be opened except by a commissioner from the
Department of Information. Any person could buy one, for there was a
printed address on them, and send it to the President, who has at the
present time three hundred secretaries (young ladies chosen from the
orphan home) to read the letters, answer them and send a copy to the
Minister of Justice who has them Classified, and acting on the
information sends orders out to bring the guilty parties to justice, and
as punishment is meted out only to the bribetakers, for it is only
acting according to the mandates of human nature for a relative or
friend to try to get a person out of trouble to offer a bribe, carried
with it no penalty, but it left the bribetaker at the mercy of the other
party, and in consequence of adopting this system very few public
officials proved untrue, and crime has greatly diminished. Our
department has charge of all mail matter and telegraph, telepost and
telephone lines and wireless stations and all newspaper books and
magazine publications, and we edit the National Gazette; besides we have
charge of all Government scientific research parties, and if you will
call again to-morrow I think I will be able to introduce you to the
Chief Engineer who stands very high in his profession, and who has, by
placing an Astronomical Observatory on the summit of Mount Everest,
attracted the attention of the civilized world."

CHAPTER VI.

DEPARTMENT OF MINES.

I called at the appointed time and was introduced to the Chief
Engineer, who invited me to accompany him on an inspection tour, to
which I gladly assented, and, after a week's pleasant travel by rail, we
arrived at the station on the southwestern slope of Mount Everest at an
elevation of twelve thousand feet above the sea. We had arrived in the
evening and enjoyed a good night's rest, and, eating a hearty breakfast,
we walked out to take observations of the locality, before taking our
trip to the summit, and the Chief told me of the way by which they
finally erected an observatory on the highest mountain of the earth.

"Five years ago the President sent for me," explained the Chief
Engineer, "and asked if I could plan an observatory on Mount Everest. I
replied that I would try to do so if the Government saw fit to place me
in charge of the undertaking. I received my commission the next day and,
calling to my aid two of the ablest engineers in the service of the
Government, we selected a site for the entrance of the tunnel and next
we searched for suitable power to do the work. We found a waterfall
twenty miles distant, where we built a power house, installed turbines
and dynamos and built an electric line to this place. We then erected a
machine shop, in which we placed our electric engines and air
compressors, and built a railroad connecting with the main line, and
after we had done that we started the tunnel. As you will observe, the
tunnel is a round bore twelve feet in diameter, and no explosives were
used in making it. We used a tunneling machine driven and operated by
compressed air, boring on the average fifty feet every twenty-four
hours, and we washed the debris away by a powerful stream of water
directed against the face of the tunnel so as not to obstruct the work.
We gave the tunnel for the first five miles a grade of one foot in ten
and from that point to the summit a grade of sixty degrees, and laid
heavy steel segment rails six feet apart bolted to the solid rock, by
this means dispensing with ties and permitting a free flow of water and
slum. We found it necessary to build a chamber within the mouth of the
tunnel sixty feet long, with automatic doors opening and shutting, to
secure an abundance of air in the tunnel, and also in the observatory.
The tunnel required no timbering, as we bored all the way through
synetic granite and encountered very little water, and when we were
about to break through at the summit we provided the workmen with fur
clothing, and with air respirators, so that they would not be overcome
by the cold and rarety of the atmosphere. We had a car driven by
electricity to carry the men and material into the tunnel, having four
cogwheel drivers on each side, and the tunnel throughout was lighted by
electricity. We built the observatory of composition metal and glass,
which was carried up on the car-but come along and you shall see for
yourself."

We entered an observatory car that was run by its own dynamo but in
case of the dynamo giving out a trolley wire overhead- could furnish
power any moment. After a pleasant ride of an hour's duration we came
out of the tunnel into the observatory and I saw two magnificently
mounted telescopes, one for visitors to look through and the other one
for taking photographic views. I looked through the visitors' telescope
and to my astonishment the sun was blue and when I asked one of the
astronomers present the reason for it he replied that the sun was a
great dynamo and that the dazzling brightness seen at low altitudes was
caused by our atmosphere offering like the filament in an incandescent
lamp great resistance to the electric energy of the sun producing a
brilliant glow and if you were able to go outside the atmosphere of our
earth you would only see the sun as a dark body in space and you would
find yourself in absolute darkness and eternal silence. Night fell and
when I looked again through the telescope and gazed on the countless
hosts of heaven's millions of suns there came into my mind and I
repeated aloud that noble passage in the Bible, "The heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. I remarked to the
Chief Engineer as we went down to the station, that a great many people
visited the observatory, for I had looked in the visitors' book, where
every person was required to sign his name. He replied, "Yes, if a
private company owned it, it would make the stockholders wealthy, for it
has become to the globe-trotters what Mecca is to the Mohammedans for no
tourist would dare to return home without registering at the observatory
and we encourage them by publishing their names in the National Gazette.

"If you would like to accompany me I think I can show you another work
we are engaged in that is adding to the accumulated knowledge of the
ages." I gladly assented and after ten days of railway travel we arrived
at the great platinum mine of Eurasia. It was on the continental divide
between Europe and Asia and had been worked on a small scale at the
surface for a great many years, but had not produced much platinum and
owing to an increasing demand for it in the arts the value of it greatly
exceeded that of gold, while at the present time it is on a par with
silver, owing to the government selling it in the market of the world
for what it will bring and smashing any gambling ring that would attempt
to corner the market. We entered a cage and were lowered to the one
thousand-foot level; then we got out of the cage and, walking about
twenty yards, we entered a chamber where there was another shaft and
hoisting works and were lowered to the two-thousand foot level, which
opened out in every direction, connecting with a drainage tunnel eight
miles long, which carried off all the water for sixteen square miles of
surface. After explaining to me the old methods of mining he said with a
smile: "Come with me now and I will show you our new method," and
entering a large chamber that looked like an immense warehouse, we
stepped into a cage and went down, changing from one cage to another
every thousand feet, until we stopped at the sixty-four-thousand-foot
level. We visited several crosscuts and drifts on this level and found
several hundred men at work taking out platinum ore of a high grade, and
my companion told me that they were doing the same work on several other
thousand-foot levels, the ore improving in quality as they went down.
"You no doubt observed as we came down that the shaft was circular, but
you may not have seen a second shaft of the same diameter as the hoisting
shaft forty feet away. The second shaft is used for air pipes, water pipes
and insulated electric wires.

All the electric current to run the hoists and the compressed air to
drive the drilling machines and to maintain free circulation of air
throughout the workings, comes down that shaft and all the surplus water
is pumped up it to the two-thousand-foot level, where it is carried off
by the drainage tunnel and a complete system of escape ladders-besides
at every level is a hoisting engine and cage to take the workmen up if
danger threatens them. To insure an even temperature in the mine we keep
a supply of liquid aid on every level, which is renewed daily,
connecting the liquid air chest with the pipe that supplies fresh air to
the workings. No expense is spared in taking care of the health and
safety of the workmen and if a man gets sick or injured he gets the same
pay as if he is working, and if a workman gets killed his wife receives
the same pay that he received as long as she lives, and his children are
as well provided for by the government. None but married men are
employed and there is lively competition to secure employment with us."

He informed me that they sank the shaft with rotary drilling machines,
cutting a channel one inch wide and five feet in depth, leaving a core
nine feet ten inches in diameter in which four holes were drilled four
feet six inches in depth and loaded with a new explosive as powerful as
dynamite but without its injurious fumes and perfectly safe to handle at
any temperature. They averaged in sinking twelve feet daily and as they
went down the rock became more compact and finer grained. As there were
no hot springs in the vicinity and no signs of volcanic action even in
prehistoric times, the temperature of the rock even at the
sixty-four-thousand-foot level was only one hundred and twenty degrees
Fahrenheit, and any increase of temperature in the workings was owing to
the electric light generating heat in the dense atmosphere of the lower
levels. My companion invited me to weigh myself on the ore scales and to
my astonishment I only weighed one hundred and twenty pounds, and I
exclaimed that something was wrong with the scales, but my companion
offered to take the scales up with us to the surface and test them. We
did so and on weighing myself again the beam tipped at one
hundred and sixty pounds my regular weight.

Then he informed me that there was a progressive fall in weights on
every level as they went down and that if no unforeseen obstacle
interfered they would reach the limit of attraction from the surface
downward and in his opinion it would be at fifty miles. I asked him what
they would find there and he replied that in his opinion it would be the
same subtle and elastic essence that fills stellar space, but he added:
"God alone knows the secret of the universe in his keeping." We visited
the great smelting, refining and assaying works in the vicinity and he
introduced me to the general superintendent of all the mines on the
continental divide, who invited me to accompany him on a mine inspection
tour and he would show me the improved method they used in prospecting
for ore and extracting and milling it to the best advantage. "When our
mining experts discover a mineral belt containing precious metals or
copper, iron, lead, nickel, platinum, cobalt, quicksilver, manganese or
any other ore used in manufactures and the arts, the first thing we do
is to sink a shaft on the most likely ore chimney and at every one
hundred feet in depth we run levels to develop it and if we continue to
find ore as we go down and the ground requires drainage, we survey for a
drainage tunnel that will drain the mine at the greatest depth, even if
we have to run a tunnel ten miles. We sink the shaft to within twenty
feet of the tunnel level and then quit sinking until the tunnel is
completed. We use a tunneling machine, boring a tunnel six feet in
diameter at the rate of one hundred feet per day. We run the tunnel
directly under the shaft and then withdraw all the men and machinery
from the tunnel, put a six-inch drill into the shaft that makes a hole
into the tunnel, and quickly drains the mine. Then we begin to stope out
at the lowest level, filling in the waste upward, and taking out only
ore to be conveyed to the mill or smelter. While the shaft is being sunk
the ore taken out is sent to the reduction works and carefully tested to
find out the best way of reducing it so that when the mine is in good
condition to work we know how to handle ore to the best advantage.

"We have only a few reduction works for refractory ore, but they are on
a grand scale, some of them handling one hundred thousand tons daily,
and as the government owns and operates all the railways the cost of
transporting ore is under two mills a ton per mile. We employ a corps of
metallurgists experimenting to discover better methods in reducing and
they have made great progress so that ores that were left in the mine or
on the dump are now worked with handsome profit to the government Our
workmen all carry life and health insurance, one-half paid by the men
monthly and the other half by the government, and where a mine is shut
down by the government the miners are furnished employment in another
place, so that they are never idle.

"We also bore thousands of artesian wells throughout the country, some
of them to the depth of five thousand feet, for artesian water, gas, and
petroleum, and occasionally we locate fine bodies of coal by those means
and those that we don't need to supply the market we cap and stop the
flow and use them in the future, always using the best flowing wells for
the present time. When we have to use drainage tunnels for our mines we
carry the water off from the mouth of the tunnel in a flume, placing
quicksilver in the riffles, and if it is a copper mine we place scrap
iron in the water and we also use the water for power to assist us in
mining, so that at the present time we extract and reduce ore at a lower
rate than in other parts of the world, for there is no wastefill
management and no overproduction, for in all our mining operations we
work those that cost the least, and we operate our coal mines in the
same way."

I thanked him for the courtesy shown me and took the train for the
capital, and my next visit was to the Department of Education.

CHAPTER VII.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

I was ushered into the office of the Minister of Education and was
introduced to a charming lady who filled that position with signal
ability. "I am told that you are from the United States of America. "
she said with a winning smile, "and I hope that you will have a pleasant
time while you remain with its." She spoke perfect English and informed
me that it was the language of Eurasia, but that it differed from
English used in other countries in one way. "We write the words the way
they sound and eliminate all useless letters, saving a great deal of
time and paper." She informed me that in no school throughout the
country, save one, were the dead, or foreign, languages taught, and in
that one only for the purpose of correct translation in the interest of
science, for practical education is what people need. "We have one great
university for orphan children and those without a name, and from it all
the departments of the government are supplied with secretaries, clerks,
typewriters and messengers, and as they are physically, mentally and
morally trained for the duties of life, they are highly prized in the
matrimonial market. All our common schools have a gymnasium and swimming
tank annexed to the study room; the gymnasium being divided into two
compartments, one for boys and one for girls, with a door from each
communicating with the study room and also with the swimming tank." The
tank was only four feet deep so as to remove as much as possible the
chance for a child being drowned, and no little children were allowed
in the tank without two or more boys and girls of fourteen years of age
being present.

The doors leading into the tank room were kept under lock and key and
were only opened once a day and that at the noon hour. The youngest
children, up to the age of twelve years, when they had learned their
lessons both in the forenoon and afternoon went into the gymnasium to
play, and by those means the children are physically well developed and
knowing how to swim are not liable to become frightened if thrown into
the water and know what to do to save others from drowning. They are
taught reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, typewriting, typesetting
and practical geometry, so as to draw lines, angles and circles and find
their volumes and areas, but algebra, astronomy, grammar, geology,
physiology, biology and metaphysics are reserved for the high schools,
where every boy and girl is sent when they are fifteen years of age and
kept there for three years at the expense of the government. The high
school is located in the district reserve as near the center of the
district as conditions will permit in the vicinity of the court house
and the Governor's residence and has adjoining it not less than one
thousand acres, according to the population of the district, so as to
make it as self-sustaining as possible and to teach the students
agriculture, horticulture and the care and management of stock and
poultry.

"We have a foundry, machine shop, woolen mill, cotton mill and chemical
works at every high school, and while both sexes are taught farming and
gardening the boys are taught mechanical trades and the girls knitting,
spinning, weaving, cooking, housekeeping and nursing, so as to know how
to take care of the sick and injured, and at the age of eighteen years
the boys are drafted into the army and serve three years, building
railways, levees, canals, irrigation ditches, docks, warehouses and
other public buildings, and the girls are sent to the chemical
factories, woolen mills, cotton mills, paper mills, flax mills, sugar
mills and tobacco factories. No exceptions are made from service; all
must serve. Both boys and girls are dressed in military uniform and are
drilled two hours in rifle practice, firing ten shots at an imitation
enemy in a military suit, stuffed with straw, in different positions,
from one hundred to one thousand yards distance, every Sunday weather
permitting and in actual war one brigade of girls is assigned to every
division of the army to carry off the wounded and nurse them and to
assist in the defense whenever it is necessary, and also to garrison
and hold the lines of communication and their presence in the field
has been so inspiring to our boys that they never have turned their
backs to the enemy."

CHAPTER VIII.

THE WAR DEPARTMENT.

My next trip was to the War Department, where I was shown the Rules and
Regulations governing the army, and navy.

The army was organized in twenty-five corps of eighty thousand men
each, besides the ladies' army corps of an equal number; each corps
composed of three divisions of foot infantry and one division of mounted
infantry. Each division was composed of three brigades of infantry,
one regiment of sharpshooters and one regiment of artillery; each
brigade of three regiments and each regiment of twelve companies, one
hundred and fifty men each. The company was divided into three sergeants'
commands and those into three corporal squads. Each company consisted
of one hundred and thirty-five privates, nine corporals, three
sergeants, one company clerk, one lieutenant and a captain. Four
companies composed a battalion, commanded by a major, and the regiment
by a colonel. There were no lieutenant colonels; the senior major taking
charge of the regiment in case of death or disability of the colonel
until the regiment elected an officer to fill the vacancy. All vacancies
above the rank of colonel were filled by the corps commander, all
vacancies up to and including that of colonel by the votes of the men,
but the colonel had to be chosen from the majors, a major from the
captains of his battalion. The lieutenant succeeded to the captaincy
without a vote-but the lieutenant had to be chosen from the sergeants
and company clerk and the sergeant from the corporals of his command.
The corporals were elected by the privates of the squads, so that any
soldier could rise from the ranks through merit to high command.

The corps commander holds the rank of lieutenant general, the general
of division that of major general, and the commander of a brigade that
of a brigadier general. The regiment of sharpshooters was chosen from
the best rifle shots in the division and in war time received double pay
for they were always at the front of the division and the first to
engage the enemy. A one-pounder rapid-fire gun was attached to every
company and was operated by the lieutenant assisted by the company
clerk. In the artillery regiment there were twelve batteries, six
three-inch caliber guns and one one-pounder rapid-fire gun to each
battery, and as they were under the direct control of the general
commanding the division he could mass them to fire on any point of
attack. The privates were paid fifteen dollars a month, the corporals
twenty dollars, the sergeants twenty-five dollars, company clerks thirty
dollars, lieutenants forty dollars, captains sixty dollars, majors
eighty dollars, colonels one hundred dollars, brigadier generals one
hundred and fifty dollars, major generals two hundred dollars and the
lieutenant general three hundred dollars a month, and officers and
privates were allowed the same rations and the same amount of clothing.
No fixed ration was issued on account of climatic conditions-but plenty
and no waste was the rule and every captain and lieutenant had to sit at
meals with his men and eat the same food. No violation of this rule was
allowed and as a result of this common sense regulation the men were
well fed and provided, for every colonel was held to account for the
welfare of the men under his command and every officer up to the rank of
field marshal could be reduced to the ranks for violation of the rules
and regulations governing the army. As there was a mailbox under the
control of the Minister of Information in every military post in which
complaints were posted to be sent to the President it had a very
salutary effect in keeping the officers attentive to their duty, as no
officer wanted to lose his position and salary and be a private. All
trivial violations of the rules by non-commissioned officers and
privates, such as insolence, drunkenness, filthy habits and disorderly
conduct, could be punished by the captain with three days on bread and
water-but no pay could be forfeited for any offense, for no fines were
allowed in the republic. For serious offenses committed by either
officer or private in time of peace, such as sodomy, crimes against
nature, adultery, seduction, larceny, embezzlement or any other felony,
the accused was sent to the district court for trial and on conviction
was dismissed the service and committed to prison for the term of years
provided by the law for the crime he had been convicted of and five
years additional for perjury, he having violated his oath of office that
he would be honest and upright in all things so help him God, and any
officer could be reduced to the ranks for conduct unbecoming a gentleman
as the result of a trial before a jury of twelve men drawn by ballot
from any other command than his own. No sashes, jewelry or regalia of
any kind was permitted to be worn.

Officers and privates were dressed alike and the insignia of rank was
worn on the collar, and no revolvers, bayonets, sabres, swords, rapiers
or lances were allowed to be carried-but every officer was required to
carry a rifle so that he could not be marked out by the enemy's
sharpshooters and to set an example of good shooting to his men when
under fire. Every soldier seriously injured in the service of his
country in time of peace as well as in war, received the same pay and
care as if he was still in the service and if he was killed or died from
disease his father and mother or either of them, as long as they lived.
The army was truly a great industrial army, for every officer and man
was required to work eight hours a day and for six days in the week, at
remunerative labor, and two hours on Sundays at rifle practice. The
rules and regulations governing the army applied equally to both sexes.
Both boys and girls, when drafted into the army, were first sent to the
headquarters of the army corps to which they were assigned, the boys
mostly afterward to the department of railways, mines, commerce and
agriculture and the girls to the department of finance, manufactures,
education and information, distributed all over the republic so as to
become acquainted with the people in general, by so doing wiping out
sectional feeling and realizing that God was their father and that they
all belonged to a common brother- and sisterhood united together under a
government for the people, of the people, and by the people. I paid a
visit to the navy yard and inspected two battleships that were
undergoing some slight repairs to their machinery.

One was a second-class battleship and her dimensions and armament were
as follows: Length five hundred and twenty-five feet, breadth of beam
seventy-five feet, draught of water twenty feet and six inches, height
of gun deck from the water line twelve feet; armament: ten twelve-inch
caliber guns mounted in turrets on the center line of the ship. The
turrets were bolted to the deck, five of them forward and five aft, and
were eighteen feet in diameter, eight feet high, with a slope from deck
to parapet of thirty degrees and made of armor steel twelve inches
thick. One gun in each turret and the guns could swing around on
four-fifths of the circle, so that every gun could be brought to bear on
an enemy either to port or starboard. No other guns were carried in time
of war and no cruisers, torpedo boats, or torpedoes were used, for
experience in war had shown that they were useless waste of men and
money. The battleship was propelled by rotary engines developing fifty
thousand horsepower, driving the ship at a sustained speed of thirty
knots an hour. The ship had four propellers, two on each side at the
stern, and the boilers were heated by petroleum with automatic feed. The
engineer informed me that they had tried gasoline and other explosives
(for the rotary engines worked well with them) but they endangered the
safety of the ship and the lives of the crew. There were only two decks
in the ship, the lower deck just above the waterline and the gun deck;
the lower deck floor was two-inch steel and was not divided into
compartments, having no partitions, so that if solid shot or shell
entered the side of the ship it could not scatter a shower of steel
splinters to kill or wound the men, and for further protection against
fragments of shell heavy woolen blankets were hung on the inside from
the ceiling. A double partition of two-inch steel ran bow to stern
through the center of the ship, reaching from the floor of the hold to
the lower deck, with a space between the partitions of four inches
filled in with concrete, and the gun deck was supported by heavy steel
pillars, as the space between the lower deck and the gun deck was twelve
feet. A fireproof platform four feet wide with a railing four feet high
of netting, encircled the smokestack about twenty feet above the gun and
connected with it by a rope ladder. It was the lookout station and the
Captain's post in battle from where he directed the action.

There was only one smokestack on any battleship and no bridge or
superstructure or any inflammable material above the waterline, and the
officers and men eat at the same tables and partake of the same food. If
any officer or private objected to it or violated this rule, he was
dismissed the service, for it was considered injurious to the service on
board ship to keep any discontented person. The crew consisted of two
hundred privates, fifty corporals, five sergeants, ten lieutenants, ten
captains, one chief engineer with two assistants, one lieutenant
commander and the commander, who was captain of the ship and had the
same rank and pay as a colonel in the army.

The gunner and assistant gunners held the same rank and pay as captains
and lieutenants in the army. The chief engineer received the same as the
commander and took orders only from him, and his assistants received the
same pay as majors in the army, and the sergeants, corporals and
privates the same pay as in the army. The gunners and assistant gunners
were chosen from among the crew for the best shooting, for it was justly
held that victory in a naval battle rested mostly on the shooting
qualities of the man behind the gun.

The other battleship was rated first class and her dimensions were as
follows: Length, six hundred and thirty feet, breadth of beam ninety
feet, draught of water thirty feet. Armament: sixteen twelve-inch
caliber guns in single turrets and placed in the following manner:
forward on the lower gun deck, five guns; one on the center line of the
ship near the bow and two on each side further back. Five guns aft on
the lower gun deck; one on the center line of the ship near the stern
and two on each side in the same way as in the first part of the ship.
Three guns forward on the upper gun deck, one on the center line of the
ship and one on each side nearer amidships; three guns aft on the upper
gun deck in the relative positions. All the guns were placed so that
twelve guns could be brought to bear on an enemy ship. The lower gun
deck was twelve feet above the water line and the upper gun deck two,
and they were constructed and equipped as those on the second class.

The first class battleships carried one hundred and two more men than
the second class, consisting of six gunners, six assistant gunners,
eighteen corporals and seventy privates. No additional force was
required for the Engineer department of the ship. I inquired of the
Chief Engineer what make of engine they used and he replied that it was
the Hammond & Co. Rotary Engine and added: "We are indebted for this
engine to a countryman of yours named Leonard Hammond, who perfected it
so that at present it is in universal use and has revolutionized the
industries of the world by its saving of fuel and the low price at which
it call be manufactured, so that it has consigned every other make of
engine, reciprocal and turbine, to the scrap pile, and of the most
notable benefits derived from it has been in the shipping not only in
economy of fuel, but also in the small space they occupy so as to give
more room for cargo and in the almost total absence of vibration, and in
the battleship from their being on the propeller shaft at the stern far
below the water line."

The battleships remain for ten months of the year in the rivers and
harbors, where the officers and men are kept busy dredging, building
levees, wharves and breakwaters, and they take a cruise to different
parts of the earth during the months of December and January, and during
that time engage in gunnery practice. A battery of three-inch caliber
guns is taken on board each battleship for that as the big guns will not
stand continual firing and are only used on special occasions to see if
the gunners have improved. The men are highly pleased with the service
and the majority of them re-enlist. On inquiry I was told that they had
thirty first-class and thirty second-class battleships and that they
kept them always together so that they could strike an enemy with force,
but as they held no people in subjection and had no colonies or outlying
possessions there was at the present time very little danger of war-but
if it should come they were ready to fight and to strike hard. As I left
the navy yard I thought what a pity it was that the people inhabiting
the other countries of the earth were not governed as these people are,
for then there would be no need of battleships and the kindly earth
would slumber lapped in Universal Laws.

CHAPTER IX.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.

On inquiring at the Department of Commerce I was informed that it had
charge of all vessels engaged in internal traffic as well as in foreign
trade, and operated lines of steamers running to all ports of the globe,
carrying freight at a rate between home and foreign ports that defied
competition, but they did not carry freight between foreign countries.
The men for the Mercantile Marine were furnished by the Army and had the
same pay. They were required to load and unload cargo in every port
where they took on or discharged freight, and shippers did not have to
pay wharfage charges or pilot fees, for everyone took his ship into port
and out without a pilot. The department also had charge of all
Government warehouses, wharves and docks and appointed all consuls to
foreign countries and received their reports, which were published in
the National Gazette.

The business of the Department was run on the principle of the greatest
good to the whole people, so that whenever the profits any year exceeded
the expenses and the sinking fund, freight rates were reduced.

CHAPTER X.

DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS.

I went from there to the Department of Railroads and was given a copy
of freight and passenger rates which on examination proved to be very
simple and that required no great lawyers with legal cunning to draw up
as they did in my country in making tariff schedules to fool the people
and open a wider door for graft rebates and special privileges. The
passenger rate was five mills per mile for any and every distance, with
children under seven years of age free, with but one exception-all
children attending the District High School were carried free to and
from school.

Sleeping cars were provided for all persons traveling over one thousand
miles on the train, but no person under that distance was permitted to
occupy one. There were no Pullman or Palace Coaches
and no special train was allowed save only to the President or member of
his Cabinet on official business. The railway lines were run through the
country so as to bring the produce of the people to market and to bring
all the people in touch with one another. Hundreds of short lines were
in operation that by themselves did not pay operating expenses, but as
they formed a part of the whole railway system of the Republic under one
management, they were beneficial to the people. The rate for all kinds
of freight, except grain and vegetables, was five mills per ton per mile
for all distances, and for grain, fruit and vegetables two mills per ton
per mile.

All Government freight and employees were carried free, but a strict
account was kept so as to prevent fraud. No discrimination between
persons or places was allowed. Everyone was placed on the same footing,
but to prevent conspiracies in restraint of trade if a person in any
district shipped goods into another district and offered them for sale
for a less price, with the freight added, than he sold them for in his
own district, he was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor
in the district where he violated the law, and if any person, either of
his own account or acting as agent for another party, sold goods brought
from a foreign country for a less price than the wholesale price of the
goods at the place where they were produced or manufactured with twenty
per cent. added for freight and other expenses, was punished by six
months' imprisonment at hard labor, and if not a citizen of the Republic
of Eurasia, was expelled from the country after serving out his sentence,
for, as a prominent officer remarked to me: "We do not permit any
Standard Oil methods in our country." There were no tariff duties
levied. Every article produced or manufactured (except those produced or
manufactured by the Government, which were prohibited) were admitted
free, provided the Government of that country admitted articles produced
or manufactured in Eurasia free; if not, then a non-intercourse decree
was issued by the President of Eurasia to be in force until the other
country accepted free trade. The railways were built directly by the
Government, employing soldiers to do the work, and no contracts were
allowed, Government superintendents and foremen bossing theconstruction,
even to getting out ties in the Government forests and the rails made in
Government mills and foundries. The Government built railroads at less
cost than they were built for in any other part of the world and
politicians had no chance to get their political friends into soft berths
at the expense of the taxpayers. No money was paid by the General
Government for right of way.

All claims for damages arising out of the building of railways had to
be presented to the District Court, and the law provided that the
District Court could grant such compensation as was just, but in no case
could it exceed the assessed value of the land per acre that the owner
had sworn to previously as the full value of his land, to be paid out of
the funds of the district. There were only two forms of taxation in
Eurasia, a land tax and a graduated income tax. There was no tax on
improvements of any kind, either on city or country property, but on the
land only; by this wise system of taxation encouraging the people to
improve their property and beautify and discouraging land speculation;
and when the Government wanted land owned by private parties who were
citizens of the Republic (for no foreigner was permitted by law to own
land directly or indirectly, so that the curse of Absentee Landlordism
which was the ruin of Ireland, should never blight the happiness of the
people of Eurasia), they added up the assessments for the previous five
years and divided them by five and added twenty per cent. to it in payment
for the land, together with fair compensation for any buildings there
might be on it; so that if the owner swore to a low valuation on his land
he was the loser; but the District Court, sitting as a Board of
Equalization every year, could fix the value of the land at what they
considered proper.

CHAPTER XI.

THE INCOME TAX.

The income tax was a graduated income tax beginning with persons having
on income one thousand dollars a year and above what they laid out in
improving their property. All persons whose income was less than one
thousand dollars paid no income tax. The tax was one per cent. on one
thousand dollars, the rate increasing with the amount of income up to
fifty thousand dollars a year, when it was fifty per cent., leaving the
owner twenty-five thousand dollars, and for all incomes over fifty
thousand dollars a year the surplus over twenty-five thousand dollars
went to the Government and as a result of this wise policy there were no
Jay Goulds or J. D. Rockefellers in Eurasia. All money received from
land and income taxes went into the District Fund for the expenses of
the district and schools, and building and maintaining of good,
macadamized roads, for every district had a rock crusher from which the
roads were supplied with broken stone at a trifling expense to the
district.

CHAPTER XII.

DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURES.

The Government derived its revenues from the sale of liquors, drugs,
chemicals, tobacco, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, coal, oil, stone,
charcoal, iron, steel, copper, lead and the precious metals. The
greatest revenue was derived from liquors. Every commodity produced or
manufactured by the Government was sold in lots or packages at one
dollar a lot or package. The Government made and sold wine in three
grades, The first-grade wine was put up in quart bottles at one dollar a
quart, the second-grade wine in half-gallon bottles at one dollar a
bottle, and the third-grade wine in gallon bottles at one dollar a
gallon; alcohol in half-gallon bottles at one dollar a bottle, and
brandy in the same way and sold at the same price. There were no grades
in brandy. All brandies were sold at one dollar for half a gallon.
Whisky, of which there was only manufactured one grade, but out of
different cereals or vegetables, was put up in one-gallon bottles and
sold at one dollar a gallon. Beer was sold in five-gallon kegs at one
dollar a keg, but the purchaser of beer had to pay in addition for the
keg, which was refunded when he returned the keg in good condition. The
Government manufactured pure liquors and no foreign liquors were
admitted into Eurasia.

In the chemical factories every drug required by the Medical
Pharmacopoeia and every chemical required in the arts and manufactures
was made, but no drugs were sold except on a medical prescription, or
chemicals except to responsible parties. The voters of any district
could by a majority vote prohibit the use of any or all liquors or drugs
in the district, and on receiving official notice of the law enacted by
the district the Minister of Manufactures issued an order withdrawing
from the district any or all liquors or drugs prohibited, and any person
bringing into the district any prohibited drug or liquor, unless under a
prescription from a Government physician, was punished by six months at
hard labor within the district.

At every Government warehouse where drugs and chemicals were sold the
Government employed a competent physician, on a salary fixed by law, to
superintend their sale, and he could prescribe and the Government
furnished the medicine free to those who were sick and did not have the
money to pay for it.

Tobacco was manufactured and sold in three grades, viz., cigars,
which were sold in packages twenty cigars for a dollar, and smoking
tobacco and chewing at one dollar a package. No cigarettes were
manufactured or sold by the Government or admitted into Eurasia, as it
was recognized by all intelligent people who took a warm interest in
human progress that the use of tobacco in the form of cigarettes had an
injurious effect on the young, through the pernicious habit of inhaling
the smoke. Coffee and tea were put up in three grades at one dollar a
package, the packages weighing in proportion to grade, and sugar was
made and sold in two grades, viz., common sugar and refined. The common
was put up in twenty-five-pound sacks and sold for one dollar a sack,
and the refined sugar in twenty-pound sacks and sold at one dollar a
sack. Salt was put up in one-hundred-pound sacks and five sacks of
common salt were sold for one dollar and four sacks of refined salt for
one dollar, or at the rate of four dollars a ton for rock salt and five
dollars a ton for refined salt.

The Government manufactured charcoal on a large scale in fireproof
brick kilns, that turned out ten thousand bushels of charcoal to the
kiln, with elevated railroad tracks running between the rows of kilns,
so that the wood was unloaded from the cars into the kilns and on the
outside of the kilns were sunken railroad tracks so that the charcoal
when drawn from the kilns could be loaded into the cars with the least,
amount of labor, enabling the Government to sell charcoal in
one-hundred-pound sacks at one dollar for two hundred pounds, or at the
rate of ten dollars a ton. The Government reserved for its own use all
anthracite coal, but sold bituminous coal in two-hundred-pound sacks for
a dollar, at the rate of five dollars a ton. The Government reserved for
its own use crude petroleum, but refined it as coal oil and sold it at
ten cents a gallon in dollar lots.

Pig iron and bar steel were sold by the Government at a price yielding
a profit of twenty per cent. over cost of production; lead and copper at
the same rate of profit, and all the gold and silver mined or brought
into Eurasia was coined and went into circulation. Every commodity
produced or manufactured by the Government in the above list was sold at
the same price, whether the Government warehouse where the goods were
sold was in the most populous city of Eurasia or at a lonely
fishing-station in the icy regions of the Arctic or in the torrid
deserts of the Tropics.

Every person buying a commodity in a Government store was required by
law to register his name in the Government account book opposite the
list of articles purchased, which was always open to the public for
inspection, so that any intelligent person could see who was addicted to
the use of intoxicating liquors, and the manager of the warehouse was
compelled by law on the complaint of a wife or mother to deny liquor to
the husband or son that was complained against and to publish the name
in the district newspaper of largest circulation as well as posting it
on the bulletin board on the front of the warehouse, and any person who
gave liquor directly or indirectly to the person prohibited was
sentenced, on conviction thereof, to six months' imprisonment at hard
labor. The Magistrate was forbidden by law to release on probation any
person over the age of fifteen years convicted of this offense, and a
child under the age of fifteen violating this law was sent to the reform
school, of which there was one in every district.

No credit was allowed in the purchase of goods from the Government and
the manager of the warehouse had discretionary power to limit the sale
of any commodity so as to treat rich and poor alike and to prevent
speculation. As every purchaser could buy a dollar's worth of any
commodity for sale by the Government and as no rebate was granted no
matter what the amount purchased, it placed every purchaser on an
equality in dealing with the Government. No liquor was allowed to be
drunk on or about the premises where it was sold, neither could it be
sold by any private party directly or indirectly to any person.

CHAPTER XIII.

PUBLIC UTILITIES.

The Government, through its ownership and operation of all public
utilities, placed within the reach of every person the necessaries and
some of the luxuries of life, no matter what their trade or profession
or where situated, so that when I became acquainted with their system of
government I was not surprised at the spirited character and noble
bearing of the people, in striking contrast to the cringing servility of
the ignorant laborer in England and the negroes of the United States of
America, for in Eurasia there were no kings, dukes or lords, but every
man was addressed as "Mister" and every female as "Madame" or "Miss,"
and there was practically realized Burns's famous song: "A man's a man
for a' that."

CHAPTER XIV.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

I visited several experimental farms under the management of the
Department of Agriculture and was informed by the superintendent of the
farm that the Government had a small farm of six hundred and forty acres
in every district in which was situated the District High School where
boys and girls were taught how to farm and to raise stock and poultry to
the best advantage, and also large farms at every military reservation
where persons convicted of crime were taught how to become useful
members of society. The Government raised only thoroughbred stock and
poultry on the farms, and the service of the males was given free to
every farmer that desired to improve his stock.

As Eurasia covered a vast extent of country, enjoying every variety of
climate, the Department of Agriculture had all almost unlimited field to
work in and was yearly producing some new variety of plants that
enriched the labors of the husbandman as well as discovering remedies to
successfully combat parasites and other enemies of the fruitraiser and
horticulturist as well as the farmer. District fairs were held once a
year in every district at which prizes were given to the best butter and
cheese makers and to the best breeder of every kind of live stock and
poultry raised in the district, but no stock or poultry imported into
the district could receive a prize. The owner of anything exhibited at
the fair had to make an affidavit that he or she had raised it on his or
her farm. Prizes were given to the owner of the best cereals and
vegetables of all kinds as well as for hemp, flax, cotton and silk, and
for the best manufactured articles of every description. The Government
exhibited at every district fair the most improved machinery in use for
bettering the means of production with skilled mechanics to operate it
and any person desiring to purchase a machine could buy it from the
Government at the actual cost of manufacture with twenty per cent.
added. The Government prizes at the district fairs excited and aroused a
growing interest in the people to improve their condition and by
bringing them together in great gatherings made them more friendly to
one another with a broader and deeper feeling for humanity.

CHAPTER XV.

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

I did not see any foreign Ambassadors in the Capital and on enquiring
for the cause of their absence was referred to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs for information. He told me that the presence of Foreign
Ministers in Eurasia would be in violation of the laws as no privileges
were allowed to any person that could not be enjoyed by all the people,
"and no doubt you are aware that under the monarchical system of
government Ambassadors and their suites were privileged persons who
could not be arrested and punished for violating the laws of Eurasia,
and they could bring into the country everything that they wanted for
their own use without paying any duty on them, even if the use of the
article was prohibited by law; and taking advantage of this immunity,
some of them brought into the country and circulated obscene books that
would not be allowed to go through the mails and that would subject any
citizen of this country to six months at hard labor, if they were found
in his possession.

"When a government by the people came into power in Eurasia the
President called our Legations home and dismissed the foreign
Ambassadors and Ministers and notified every Government that we had
dealings with that in the future the Government of Eurasia would
communicate with them by mail and telegraph and would publish in the
National Gazette of Eurasia all correspondence that passed between them,
so that the people of both countries should know the character of the
men to whom they had entrusted the management of foreign affairs. We do
not interfere in the affairs of other countries, but try to promote
peace and good will among all nations. We have enforced a law that met
with bitter opposition in England and the United States of America and
brought us to the verge of war, but the common sense of the working men
and women in both countries forced their Government to yield and it has
proved a blessing to the sailors. The law commands that if a sailor on
any vessel that comes into Eurasian ports, no matter what flag she
flies, makes a complaint of ill-usage, the party complained against
shall be arrested and tried and if found guilty sent to prison for the
term of years corresponding to the offense."

CHAPTER XVI.

UNITED WORKERS OF EURASIA.

I was introduced to the President of the United Workers of Eurasia and
he told me that all the working men and women were united in one great
union and that the present Minister of Labor was a lady who for years
had championed the cause of Labor and that she was unceasing in her
efforts to better their condition now that she was at the head of the
Department of Labor. The wages of all Government employees were fixed by
law and could not be raised or lowered except by a two-thirds vote of
the people, and only one bill from each department could be submitted by
the Parliament to the people to vote on at each election, so that graft
and corrupt practices could gain no footing by appealing to selfish
interests.

The law provided a liability fund for sickness, injuries and death
among working men and women; one-half of the fund payable by the working
men and women and the other half by the employers. The money for the
fund had to be paid monthly. Every working man and woman had to pay out
of his or her wages a fixed sum for which the employer was held
responsible and every employer had to pay an equal sum for every person
in his employ. This law applied equally to every person in Eurasia, the
employer as well as the employed. There was no charge for membership in
the labor union and no walking delegates, for the Government gave them
permission to hold their meetings in the churches. which were all
Government properly, and in the public schools. Whenever the members of
the union in any district wanted an increase of wages the law required
them to serve a written notice on the employer and a copy of it on the
District Court. The Chief justice then called both parties before the
Court and ordered them to each select one person as arbitrator, and for
those two selected to settle the dispute and if they could not agree,
then the case went immediately before the District Court and a majority
vote of the Court settled it. As a result of this common-sense method of
settling labor disputes there were no strikes.

Every corporation, before shutting down its works, had to serve ten
days' notice on its employees and also file a copy of it with the
District Court, stating its reasons for so doing, and if the labor union
protested, the Court heard the case and if there was unsufficient cause
shown by the corporation it had to continue work until such time as it
showed good and sufficient reasons to stop work. The Government strictly
enforced the eight-hour law, and no working woman was permitted to work
overtime. Children were not allowed to work for wages under any
circumstances for they were the wards of the State, but men could work
overtime if the union permitted them, with double pay for it. The
Government granted a pension of half the wages yearly received by every
working man and woman that was over sixty years of age and a full
pension wage to every working man or woman over seventy years of age, no
matter what their financial condition was at that time.

Every person before casting a ballot at the polls was required to show
a receipt from the Department of Health that two dollars had been paid
into the Old Age Pension fund for the previous year, which was a
salutary measure in preserving the purity of elections by eliminating
the shiftless and improvident from participation in the election.

The Government obeyed the Fourth Commandment, "Honor thy Father and thy
Mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee."

CHAPTER XVII.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

I learned that the Department of Health had greater responsibilities
than any other department of the Government, for the physical, mental
and moral welfare of the people was in its keeping. One of its duties
was to prevent the introduction of any diseases into Eurasia, and to
make it effective every person coming into the country had to undergo a
physical examination by three Government physicians, and all persons
that were idiotic or insane or had any of the following diseases, viz.:
syphilis, tuberculosis, cancer, leprosy, yellow fever, smallpox, or any
other contagious disease or fever, or was shown on examination to be
addicted to vicious habits, were denied admission. Another of the duties
of the Department of Health was to examine every person that applied to
practice medicine and surgery or to engage in any professional calling.
The law required a medical examination to be made of the person, who was
granted a license every year, so as to keep the professions up to a high
standard.

Before granting license to any man, three male physicians in Government
employ examined him, and if a female three female physicians examined
her. The first examination was physical, and if found to be in good
physical health they were passed up for a mental examination, and if
they qualified for their profession they were examined morally, when
they were asked the following questions: "Do you believe in the
Brotherhood of Man? Will you do unto others always as you would desire
that others should do to you? Do you promise that you will not render
obedience directly or indirectly to any person or persons outside of
Eurasia and that you will render willing obedience to the laws and do
all that lies in your power to maintain the honor of the country?" If
they did not agree to those rules of conduct they were denied a license.
If any person attempted to practice any profession without a license he
was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor.

Any person practicing fortune-telling or any other fraudulent calling
was tried for obtaining money under false pretenses, and on conviction
thereof was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at hard labor at the
rock crusher. The result of this wise law showed in the total absence of
bands of gypsies, dancing dervishes, holy rollers and strolling
vagabonds of every description in Eurasia. If a man or woman was found
anywhere in Eurasia without visible means of support the Department of
Health found work for them until such time as they could better their
condition. They were required to work eight hours a day if they were
able to do manual labor and if not able to work they were sent to a
Government Sanatorium.

The Department of Health had charge of the sewerage system in every
district, city as well as country. In the cities it supervised the
erection of every new building, and any old buildings that it pronounced
unsanitary had to be torn down. It saw also to the removal of all
garbage and refuse material. The Department of Health had charge of all
births, marriages and deaths, and could order the cremation of any dead
body when it believed that it would be to the benefit of the health of
the community to do so. The Department of Health was also required by
law to make a physical examination of children when they were born and
to take care of them if the mother was unable to do so and to send all
illegitimate children to the Government Orphan College. It superintended
the sale of all medicine and drugs, having a Government physician at
every Government warehouse where they were sold. It had also charge of
all idiots and insane persons as well as dangerous criminals.

The Superintendent and two Assistant Superintendents of the lunatic
asylums (of which there were only two, one for males and one for
females) were required by law to castrate male lunatics and emasculate
females who had become insane through masturbation or other vicious
habits and to chloroform dangerous lunatics who had homicidal
tendencies. Those three physicians in committee examined every dangerous
lunatic and two of them could order the person chloroformed if in their
judgment it was necessary. Lady physicians had charge of the female
lunatic asylum with the same authority as the men. The two asylums were
located in the center of a fine tract of farming land in the Southern
part of Eurasia, consisting of ninety-two thousand one hundred and sixty
acres in a high state of cultivation with flourishing orchards and
vineyards, and at the time I visited it had a population of sixty
thousand male inmates and thirty-five thousand female inmates-besides
the officers and guards.

The mildest and most tractable of the inmates were in communities
organized in military style in different parts of the grounds and were
busily employed in doing everything that was required to make the
institution self-stustaining. The physicians of the State prisons were
required by law after one year's imprisonment (one year after sentence
was passed was allowed to prove innocence) to castrate all males
convicted of rape, incest, or any other infamous crime against nature,
and to castrate every male prisoner who committed sodomy or other
infamous crime while in prison; but only after trial and conviction for
the crime before the District Court, and they could by a majority vote
chloroform any dangerous criminal that showed homicidal tendencies.

I saw no red-light sign of houses of prostitution, and on making
inquiries I was informed that there were no houses of prostitution in
Eurasia, for as soon as information was given to any Magistrate the law
required him or her to issue an order for the arrest of the female
practicing prostitution, and on conviction she was committed to the
female reformatory for five years, subject to parole after one year, and
for a second offense of the same crime she was deprived of the power to
propagate the race. Gentle reader, don't think that this law is cruel or
unjust, for the amount of evil that a depraved woman can commit in
spreading, that loathsome disease, syphilis, is incalculable, and Christ
when he told the woman that had committed adultery that he did not
condemn her also added: "Go and sin no more." A committee of six
physicians, three males and three females, in the service of the
Government in every district were required by law to examine every
person desiring marriage and if the person examined was affected with
tuberculosis, cancer, scrofula, leprosy, syphilis, or any other
loathsome or contagious disease, then that person was denied a license
to marry; and also if they were mentally unsound.

Under the law no person was allowed to marry until twenty-one years of
age, male and female, and any person violating this law was punished by
one year's imprisonment at hard labor in the district in which this law
had been violated. In no case was a Government physician permitted to
receive any compensation for services rendered as physician, for they
were the servants of the people, elected by the people in every district
and paid by the Government a salary fixed by law, and no bonds were
required of them or of any public official, for the people elected every
public official with the exception of officers in the Army and Navy, who
were elected by the soldiers up to the grade of Colonel, and the
Brigadiers and Major-Generals were appointed by the Minister of War, was
was Commander-in-Chief and directed all the operations of the Army and
Navy in war, and also the agents of the Department of Information, who
were appointed by the Minister of that department on the recommendation
of his assistant chiefs, of whom there was one in every district who was
elected by the people after having passed a successful examination
showing their ability to do the work required of them.

Every person appointed to office, as well as those elected by the
people, had to be examined physically, mentally and morally in the same
manner as those applying for a license to practice a profession or
desiring to marry. All were placed on the same footing. The law for
divorce was enforced by the Department of Health, as doctors were, from
their knowledge of human frailty, the best judges to decide whether a
man and woman should live together in the married state or be separated,
and while the law provided for a compulsory decree of divorce for
adultery, which was a felony, it also allowed divorce for
incompatibility of temperament. A court of six Government physicians,
three males and three females, heard all divorce cases in every
district.

The Minister of Health gave me the reasons why the marriage law was
passed fixing twenty-one years of age as the time when young men and
women could marry. He said it was done to allow the youths of both sexes
to become well acquainted with one another before being united in
marriage, and also to be well trained in useful callings, so that both
parties to the marriage contract would be able to assist each other, for
many an innocent young girl had ruined her life by marrying a man at an
age when she was ignorant of the duties of wifehood and motherhood, "but
by keeping our boys and girls in training schools until they are
eighteen and then teaching them trades in the Army until they are
twenty-one years of age we fit them for the duties of life."

CHAPTER XVIII.

A VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF STATE.

Before returning to the United States of America I called on the
Minister of State, who is also the presiding officer of the Parliament,
and told him that I would regard it as a great favor if he would tell me
how such changes had taken place in the Government of his country ,
"for," said I, "from what I read about your Government when I was a boy
it was an absolute monarchy, and one man's will was the law of the
land."

"You have the key to the problem in that statement," he replied, "for I
am free to confess that it would have taken centuries to have brought
about our present system of government under so-called democracy. Near
the middle of the last century an absolute ruler in our country by a
stroke of his pen freed twenty-three millions of slaves, while in your
country it required four years of bloody war at a cost of ten thousand
millions of dollars and the lives of one million of brave men, and
through the widespread demoralization that ensued through your bravest
and best being killed or giving to the corrupt element in your country
(for a dishonest man is always a coward) the opportunity to inaugurate
a reign of monopoly where graft and bribery flourishes and the slave
element that you freed are a menace (and will be as long as they remain
in the country) to society.

"The last absolute ruler we had was one of those great men that God in
His infinite wisdom brings into the world at stated intervals to
exercise a dominating influence in human affairs and to give a fresh
impetus to human progress. Of the great men that we class with him are
the following: Confucius, Buddha , Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell,
Abraham Lincoln. The first thing he did when he became Emperor was to
summon sixty of the most liberal minded men and women in the empire to
the palace to draw up under his supervision a political, civil and penal
code, which with slight modification is in force at the present time,
and he called all the newspaper editors into conference and asked them
to assist him in promoting the welfare of the people and then he issued
a decree granting liberty of speech and of the press throughout Eurasia,
which he announced as the name of the Empire in future, and the reason
that he gave for it was that his people were composed of a great many
nationalities and by dividing the empire into districts and numbering
them in arithmetical order he abolished the old political divisions and
he also decreed that the present language we speak should be the
official language of the empire for the ancient language of the ruling
class had created a bitter feeling amongst great numbers of the people
and besides the present had become the commercial language of the world.

"He reorganized the Cabinet into fourteen departments and held the
Minister at the head of each department responsible. He converted the
Army and Navy (who were eating up the hard-earned wages of the working
men and women of our land in idleness and dissipation), into a great
industrial army and assigned them to work under the different
departments as they were required, weeding out the worthless and
reducing to the ranks all officers that conducted themselves in a manner
unbecoming a gentleman and by election of officers giving every soldier
equal opportunity to rise to the highest rank. This great measure
eliminated the aristocracy in the Army and made the Emperor the idol of
the soldiers, so that from that time forward every effort of the
aristocracy to oppose the Emperor in giving to the country a Government
by the people was futile for the Army supported him with a force that
was irresistible. He ordered the districts laid out according to
latitude and longitude, making due allowance for population, the
smallest district being one degree of latitude in breadth and two
degrees of longitude in length, and the largest (which were situated in
the frozen regions of the Arctic or in the great desert) five degrees of
latitude in breadth and ten degrees of longitude in length, and when
they were surveyed he ordered that the land should be assessed without
improvements at its full value, and the owner had to swear that he would
sell to the Government the land at its assessed valuation.

"The aristocracy almost to a man swore to a low valuation, so when five
years had passed the Emperor issued a decree appropriating to Government
use all land over and above six hundred and forty acres held by private
owners and paying for it one-fifth of the total assessment for the
previous five years with twenty per cent. added for improvements, the
aristocracy had to accept it and their power was broken forever, for the
Emperor leased the land to the cultivators of the soil at the rate of
four per cent. per annum of the price that the Government paid for the
land, dividing the land into small farms and giving the renter the right
of purchase at any time.

"The aristocracy and the Church have been in every country the enemies
of liberty and human progress. The Emperor saw the evil effects of the
liquor traffic and to abate the evil he abolished the manufacture and
sale of liquors by individuals and placed their manufacture and sale in
the care of the Department of Manufactures and year by year he added
tobacco, drugs and chemicals, sugar, salt, tea, coffee, coal oil, stone
coal, charcoal and all the metals, and placed the coinage and currency
of the Empire under the control of the Department of Finance known
throughout the world as the Bank of Eurasia. He established our present
system of education and forbade the teaching of religious dogmas in the
public schools, and when every district in the Empire was surveyed and
the people thereof enjoyed a District Government by electing their
Governors, Judges and other public officials and the Government owned
and operated all public utilities, he decided that the time had arrived
for a Government of the people, for the people and by the people and
called a general election to elect members of Parliament and to submit
to the people the political, civil and penal code of the Empire. The
people by an overwhelming vote ratified the code and endorsed the
Government. Four years afterward the Emperor called a general election
to choose his successor and retired to private life, beloved by his
people.

"Your people had a President who gained worldwide fame not only by the
vigorous way that he wielded the Big Stick, but also through his
undaunted courage and inflexible honesty. Place him again in the
Presidential chair and he will open the way for a government of the
people, for the people and by the people."

End of the Project Gutenberg Edition of Chris. Evans' Eurasia