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THE
FUTURE COMMONWEALTH,
OR
WHAT SAMUEL BALCOM
SAW IN SOCIOLAND.
BY
ALBERT CHAVANNES.
[Copyright secured.]
NON
CIRCULATING
NEW YORK:
TRUE NATIONALIST PUBLISHING COMPANY.
1892.
Chapter 1.
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4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
CONTENTS.
The Exodus,
The Object in View,
Some Reflections,
A Philosophical Digression,
The Changes Made,
At The Hotel,
•
•
Page.
1
6
15
19
•
•
Public Management,
The Right Spirit,
The Apprentices,
About Education,
Ancient Institutions,
67
Housekeeping in Socioland, . 73
A True Commonwealth,
80
A Pleasant Ride,
87
. 94
The Land Question,
Arbitration and Laws,
101
108
The Conditions of Success,
26
33
40
47
•
53
3
. 60
EXPLANATORY.
In presenting the following pages to the public, I desire
to say a few words to explain the motives which have led
to their publication. This can best be done by first quoting
a few sentences from an address upon the Problems of our
Second Century, delivered by Ex-Senator Ingalls at Glen-Echo
in the summer of 1891.
Speaking of the evil results of our present industrial sys-
tem, Mr. Ingalls said: "From 1860 to 1890 the country has
grown richer at the rate of 250,000 dollars for every day
and hour of these thirty years. There has been accumulated
during that term one hundred thousand millions of dollars,
enough to give every man, woman and child beneath the flag
a competency, enough to secure to every family a comfortable
home, to educate and keep the wolf from every door, and to
guard against every misfortune and calamity.
"And yet," he continued with a dramatic uplifting of his
hands, "there are ten millions of people out of sixty-five
millions that never get enough to eat from one year's end
to the other.”
The speaker presented a strong contrast between the laborer
working incessantly, only to end his life in helpless mendicity,
and the 31,000 persons who hold more than one half of the
acquired earnings for the last hundred years. With a scathing
denunciation of the extravagance which spends 10,000 dollars
on flowers for a wedding, and repeating that 31,000 men
controlled one half of the wealth of the country, Mr. Ingalls
strolled to the front of the platform, and raising his slender
form to its full height, exclaimed: "If thirty thousand men
can do this, what is to prevent one man from getting control
of all?
"The doctrine of the devil takes the hindmost'," continued
ii
EXPLANATORY.
Mr. Ingalls, "is a good one, but just now it seems as if there
were more hindmost than foremost. If the present condition
of things were to continue without being retarded, this land,
instead of being the land of the free and the home of the
brave, would be the land of the rich and the home of the
slave."
Making due allowance for the exaggeration of an impulsive
speaker, there is enough truth in Mr. Ingalls' indictment to
explain the general dissatisfaction which now exists with the
results of our present economic system.
Mr. Ingalls does not believe in the efficiency of the remedies
offered by the Nationalists, and he presented his objections in
a very forcible manner.
"There is," he said, "a growing sentiment in favor of Pater-
nalism in this country-of the government doing everything-
of the people doing nothing. We have now a new school
of political philosophy that is repudiating the declaration of
independence and is endeavoring to overthrow the maxims of
democracy and to insist that the race shall not be to the
strong, that the distinctions ordained of God shall be an
obliterated statute, that idleness shall bring the same reward
as industry and thrift, that the ignorant shall be as wise as
the learned, that debts shall be paid by acts of Congress, that
money shall be made as plenty as the autumn leaves, that
taxation shall be abolished by acts of the Legislature, and
that property shall be forcibly distributed among men."
It is to answer just such objections that this story has been
written, for they are often heard among practical men who
have really the welfare of the community at heart. These
objections cannot be answered in a few words, and it has seemed
to me that it could best be done by portraying a Common-
wealth where the changes we advocate have already been
accomplished, showing how the desired results can be attained
EXPLANATORY.
iii
without resorting to such revolutionary methods as would never
meet with the approval of sensible and practical men, and
that without passing the limits of the possible and practicable,
many changes could be made that would cause great impro-
vement.
For in this picture of a Future Commonwealth I have not
drawn on my imagination, but I have carefully studied the
line which progress has followed since the dawn of civiliza-
tion, and have endeavored to portray the changes which will
probably take place in the course of coming years.
If my readers will take the trouble to investigate, they will
find that what I have described as being part of the public ins-
titutions of Socioland, already exists in its incipient stages in
one or the other of the civilized nations. And furthermore
they will find that the tendency to progress in the direction
described manifests itself now in a greater degree than it
did one or two hundred years ago.
Many of these tendencies, it is true, are not yet strong
enough to affect the laws or public institutions, but their in-
fluence is felt among the most intelligent part of the popula-
tion, that is, among those who lead in the march of progress.
As some objections have been made, during the publication
of this story in serial form, in the True Nationalist, both as
to the philosophical belief and to the spirit which controls the
enactment of the laws in Socioland, it seems well to me to
say a few words in explanation.
The reaction of all changes upon the surroundings is now
recognized as a positive fact. We realize now that the success
of one nation affects more or less all other nations, and that
a change in one country implies a corresponding change in
all other countries.
But too many students of social science fail to understand
iv
EXPLANATORY.
that the same law holds good in the social relations, and we
now have the spectacle of a world full of social reformers who,
dissatisfied with some of the present conditions, strive with
main and might to change them, and at the same time
strive just as hard to prevent corresponding changes in other
directions. With one hand they push along the car of progress
and with the other they work just as hard to hold it back.
Nothing, in my estimation, has more influence upon progress,
aside from the motive power furnished by the desire for
increased happiness, than the religious beliefs of the people.
They control its conduct, public and private, and are respon-
sible for the spirit of its laws.
Increased knowledge has opened to mankind greater prospects
of happiness, which have been checked by religious beliefs
handed down to us by past generations.
The result is that our religion and our environment no
longer agree. The environment is of to-day, the religion is
of the past.
This is felt and realized by all those who earnestly study
the social problems, and strenuous efforts are made to shape
and trim the old religious doctrines so as to make them fit
the new social conditions.
At the rate this work is progressing, it will not be a great
many years before the spirit of the Christian religion will
have been entirely changed; and according to the changes
which have already taken place within the church, supplemented
by the beliefs which are growing in favor outside the church,
I think I am justified in claiming that sometime in the near
future, religion will resolve itself in something like the philo-
sophical beliefs expressed by Mr. Walter in the third Chapter
of this story.
The influence of the religious beliefs upon laws and conduct
has led me to devote some space to the subject, for I claim
*
EXPLANATORY.
V
that our economic condition is the logical outcome of our pre-
sent religious belief, and that both must change together if
any progress is achieved.
In the sixteenth Chapter, I have, very briefly and inadequa-
tely, tried to express my views as to the spirit which will
animate the coming generations and control the enactment of
their laws.
Every thinking person must acknowledge that nations are
growing more sympathetic and less quarrelsome, and that a
spirit of leniency is replacing the "eye for an eye and tooth
for a tooth" doctrine of olden times. In proof thereof I can
point to the exemption clauses in the laws for the collection
of debts, and the growing tendency to compel arbitration in
cases of disputes between employers and their laborers. Both
exemption and enforced arbitration are steps away from exact
justice and natural rights, and are the result of a sympathetic
desire to help those who are defeated in the battle of life.
It is true that the American people, as a nation, have as
much faith as ever in the efficacy of the law as a moral re-
gulator, but among their best men the feeling is growing that
people cannot be made moral by law, and other nations have
progressed beyond us in this direction.
I have not touched upon the population question, and have
said but a word about the marriage relation, not because I
do not recognize their importance in the solution of the social
problems, but because they are not as fundamental as the ques-
tion of religious beliefs.
Yet I wish to put myself on record here as believing that
the tendency of the times is toward educating the individuals
so as to enable them to fulfil their duties as citizens in a
satisfactory manner without the need of state control, and that
the coming generations will be able to allow individuals much
more freedom in their personal actions.
vi
EXPLANATORY.
Nationalism, in fact, will only prove acceptable in so far as
it will know how to reconcile economic organization with per-
sonal liberty.
I not only believe that it can be done, but I feel confident
that it will be done; and that it will come to pass in the evo-
lution of social progress, that wrangling, competing humanity
as we know it to-day, will, in its persistent search after in-
creased happiness, organize itself into true Commonwealths,
with institutions somewhat like those I have tried to picture
as existing in Socioland.
How long will it take before it comes to pass? How far
will the work of organization progress? are questions the
future alone can answer.
For the present I shall be satisfied if I succeed in con-
vincing some inquiring mind that Nationalism is not an im-
possible dream, and that it offers prospects of improvement
for society, which are well worth the consideration of intelligent
citizens.
Albert Chavannes.
Knoxville, Tenn.
THE
FUTURE COMMON WEALTH
CHAPTER I.
THE EXODUS.
Spencer, Socioland, Africa,
June 1, 1950.
My dear friend Harry :
I have at last reached this place after a long and interest-
ing journey, and I will at once commence a journal, which
when complete, will enable me to fulfil my promise that I
would try to faithfully report to you whatever I should see
or hear which could throw any light upon the social pro-
blems in which we are both interested.
I have no doubt, from what I have seen of the people
since I entered the Commonwealth of Socioland, that if I do
not find here a complete solution of the problems which
perplex us, I will find at least the results of interesting ex-
periments in Sociology, and valuable hints as to the best
course to be followed to secure a better distribution of wealth,
and an increase of general comfort.
For I must at once acknowledge that these people seem
much better satisfied than we are, and while they recognize
that they have not yet attained perfect social conditions, still
they are confident that they are travelling in the right direc-
CA
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
tion, and that all desirable changes will come easily and
naturally in the course of time.
But before I enter upon a detailed account of what I see
and hear, I want to tell you of the canses which led to the
settlement of Socioland, as well as of the aims of the first
emigrants, which controlled their conduct and form the basis
of their public and private institutions.
I am enabled to do so from information I received from
Mr. Walter, an old gentleman whom I found on the boat,
a native of Ohio, who nearly fifty years ago emigrated to
this country, and I judge from his conversation, took an
active part in shaping the policy of the Commonwealth.
You know as well as I do that the latter end of the
XIXth century was a time of great changes. Not only of a
great development of the natural resources and of the producing
power of mankind through the increased use of steam and
of electricity, but also of changes in the religious, scientific
and philosophical beliefs of the educated classes.
It was then that through the researches of Darwin, Spencer
and others, commenced that period of religious doubt in which
we still are in the United States. Truly before their time
there had been skeptics and railers at the Christian religion,
men and women who denied the authority of the Bible, but
their number was small, their influence null, and civilized
society was willing yet to be controlled by persons who either
believed, or claimed to believe, that the ten commandments
were the expression of the will of God, and that the more
closely they could be followed and enforced, the better the
results would be. These persons explained the suffering and
misery of the masses as due to the innate depravity of human
nature, and the poor were kept quiet by alternate doses of
charity and of promises of eternal bliss in the world to come.
The doctrine of evolution, taught and accepted towards the
THE EXODUS.
3
end of the century, sapped this belief at its basis, and it was
soon recognized by those who undertook to follow it to its
logical conclusions that the whole philosophy of the past,
built upon a belief in special creation, would have to be re-
modeled until an entire change had been effected in religious
Lelief, and that eventually the social institutions themselves
would be thereby influenced.
The spread of these doctrines among persons of progressive
minds caused naturally a great commotion, and for a long
time confusion worse confounded was the result. According to
Mr. Walter these years were the scene of such intellectual
wrangling as the world had never seen or will probably ever
see again. First came the believers in these new teachings,
enthusiastically fighting for the acceptance of what they con-
sidered the truth, and thus ruthlessly tearing down the foun-
dations of the Christian beliefs, who were met and opposed
by those who, honestly or from interested motives, clung to
Christianity, and resisted all attacks which threatened its
existence; while mixing in the din of the battle were a legion
of persons, each with a patent remedy of his own for all the
ills of society, striving for recognition, and trying by all
means in their power to bring their schemes before the public
while the masses, fast losing their interest in things spiritual
and their fear of damnation, and more interested in physical
comforts than in speculations of a philosophical nature, turned,
their attention to the practical work of developing the natural
resources opened to them through the increase of mechanical
forces, and the extension of the means of communication.
Out of this intellectual struggle soon emerged here and
there practical men and women who, discarding religious
speculations as to a future existence, and the Bible as a
guide for their actions, studied the laws of conduct in a
scientific spirit, and with the firm intention to profit by any
4
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
#
new truths they might discover. These persons, scattered in
every part of the United States, were soon drawn together
by a common aim, and under the name of Sociologists, or
students of Social Science, formed themselves into clubs for
the pursuit of social knowledge, and to seek for means of
practical application of such knowledge as could help them.
to a more satisfactory mode of life and a better form of
government.
In the pursuit of new knowledge they claim to have been
entirely successful, and to have discovered many new social
laws which, if applied, would greatly benefit society. But
when they tried to give their new knowledge practical force,
they found it a more difficult task than they had anticipated.
The number of persons interested in such studies as they
pursued was comparatively very small, and the whole control
of the government was in the hands of men who had a direct
interest in opposing any changes and were entrenched behind
centuries of possession. The masses were too indifferent
ignorant to offer a fair hope of awakening to a better way
out of their misery, and personal conduct was yet largely
controlled by laws enacted by men who were earnest believers
in the infallibility of the Bible, and who felt it their duty
to compel by force those who might disagree with them.
or
It is not strange that out of such conditions grew an ear-
nest desire to seek by emigration a land where their new ideas
could find free development in a virgin and unoccupied coun-
try, and that like the Pilgrim Fathers, earnest men and
women should decide to leave home, friends and relations, in
the endeavor to found a settlement where they would be free
to follow the dictates of their intelligence.
The opening of the Dark Continent furnished them with
the desired opportunity. Several European powers had esta-
blished protectorates over large and unsettled portions of the
THE EXODUS.
5
10
country, and were anxious to see them inhabited by a popu-
lation which could help to check the slave trade, and open
new outlets to commerce.
Taking advantage of this situation, trusty men were selected
to spy the country and see what prospect it offered. They
were remarkably successful, found a large valley with fertile.
soil and healthy climate, and capable of supporting a large
population. They made a treaty with the protecting power
which guaranteed to the proposed settlement complete autonomy
in their internal government, and they were assured of pro-
tection against foreign foes so long as they could not protect
themselves.
In the mean time the home clubs had made ready for the
coming immigration as soon as the way should be open, and
a comparatively large and steady exodus took place from the
United States to the land of promise which they baptized
with the name of Socioland.
↓
Of course they had many difficulties to contend with, but
now they have overcome them and they are a prosperous and
happy people. Their prosperity and happiness is not the
result of chance or of special advantages pertaining to their
new country. It is due to the fact that their conduct, public
and private, is intelligently controlled by what they claim to
be scientific principles. They believe in a social science, which
they claim is something different from political economy.
They study this science, and instead of allowing the doctrine
of Laissez faire full sway, and trusting to natural forces alone
to remedy existing evils, they are not afraid to help nature
along, and to experiment in new lines of public co-operation
whenever they seem to lead in the right direction.
So much it was necessary for me to say, to explain to you
how it came to pass that in this far off land, a settlement of
our countrymen has been made, embued with entirely different
6
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
ideas from those which obtain in Europe and America.
Just as New England was settled by earnest men and women,
having special aims and profound convictions, who infused a
new country and a new nation with a new spirit, which has
stamped its mark upon the United States government and upon
the character of the people, so in this land a new spirit has
been infused, which, according to my information, has produced
wonderful results.
Of this, however, we can judge better when I have mixed
more with the people, and I am better acquainted with the
institutions which they have here inaugurated.
CHAPTER II.
THE OBJECT IN VIEW.
I found Mr Walter a very pleasant companion, and during
the few days we spent together I received from him much
valuable information. When from questions I made to him
he understood why I was going to Socioland, and learned from
my lips of the deep interest I felt in social problems, he
seemed as desirous of imparting knowledge as I was to receive
it, and tried to facilitate by all means in his power the aims
I had in view.
"Mr. Balcom," he said to me one evening as we were
sitting in the cabin conversing upon Socioland, "it will help
you very much to understand what you will see in our country
if you know the object we had in view in coming here, as
well as some of the means by which we expected to attain it.
"There has been, as you know, many an exodus before our
own, but I believe they were all actuated by very different
THE OBJECT IN VIEW.
邓
​motives from those which induced us to leave our native land.
The Hebrews were fleeing from bondage, the Puritans were
trying to escape religious persecution, and the Mormons wanted
to establish a religious hierarchy.
On a smaller scale, but
under similar influences, many communities and co-operative
colonies have been started, but they all had a definite plan
which they wanted to work out. We had no settled plan, no
definite scheme, but we had a very clear idea of the results
We were going to strive for.
"We were dissatisfied with society as organized in the
United States, and did not believe that it afforded to the
individual all the facilities for comfort and happiness which
the natural advantages warranted.
"With the increase of population and wealth many abuses
had been fostered that we felt powerless to remedy, and a
spirit of greed, strife and competition had been engendered
which was uncongenial to our character. Besides we had out-
grown the old ideas of religious morality, and were tired of
having our personal actions under the control of laws enacted
by men whose standard of morals was not based upon the
result of our conduct on our happiness, but upon certain com-
mandments and precepts which may have been proper enough
in the barbarous times in which they were promulgated, but
had become superannuated several centuries ago.
"These causes of dissatisfaction affected not us alone, but
the conservative influences were yet so strong that improve-
ment was very slow, and we preferred to go to a new country
where we would be free to live according to our own ideas
of right.
"We had faith in the good disposition of human nature, and
believed that, if rightly taught, all persons would recognize
that whatever promoted the general welfare would also pro-
mote personal happiness. We wanted to educate our people to
8
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
30
the recognition of the solidarity of the interests of the human
race, and by this knowledge replace as far as possible the
checks to selfish greed, now restrained, but not diminished,
by religious authority and human law.
"But, Mr. Balcom, we were not reformers according to the
meaning of the word among you. We had no patent remedy
warranted to cure all the ills that the flesh is heir to. We
did not claim to know everything, and we were fully aware
that we could not lay down any positive rule of conduct as
best for us to follow. We were dissatisfied with existing
conditions, and wanted to see what desirable changes we could
make. We had no desire to overturn the existing conditions.
of society, or to give up anything which then gave satisfac-
tion. We wanted to try to improve the public institutions
a little faster than was possible with the ideas prevailing in
the United States, and to conform our conduct to the laws
of nature, and thus increase our prospects of earthly happiness.
"As you can see our aims were very broad, for it was not
one special evil we wanted to correct, but we wanted a ge-
neral improvement, based upon a radical change in the foun-
dations of the aims and beliefs which control society.
"The broadness of our aims was a great help to the success
of our experiment. Our object being the attainment of hap-
piness, all efforts which resulted in its increase were welcomed,
and no fault found with the means employed. Our submis-
sion to nature's laws made us submissive to nature's methods,
and we could but approve of what nature rewarded.
"In a word, we applied to social science the same tests that
are universally applied to chemistry, mechanics, or any other
exact science. If any one claims to have discovered some
chemical formula, or mechanical combination, which gives
satisfactory results, all he has to do is to prove it by practical
experiments, and if successful it is adopted by general consent.
THE OBJECT IN VIEW.
9
But in your country you have no test to apply to socia! ex-
periments, for you have no social science worthy of the name,
and the best results would be either ignored or denounced, if
brought about by means opposed to the commandments of
Moses or the teachings of Jesus.
"We believed then, and we believe now, that a righteous-
end sanctifies the means, and not as is taught among you
that righteous means sanctify the end. And we further believe
that, so far as man is concerned, an increase of his earthly
happiness is a righteous end, approved of by the laws of na-
ture, and that all means which tend to accomplish that result
are right and proper.
"And it is because we Sociologists have accepted the increase
of happiness as a legitimate pursuit, encouraged and rewarded
by the laws of nature, and have accepted the achievement of
happiness as a correct standard for public and private actions,
that we decided to leave home, family, and friends, and es-
tablish a new Commonwealth where greed, strife, and compe-
tition would be held at a discount, and peace and happiness
fostered."
Mr. Walter paused a moment, for our conversation had
taken him back to the days of his youth and to the memories
of the past. But not for long, for fixing his earnest grey
eyes on me he contiuued: "Mr Balcom, when you reach
Socioland you will find yourself in a new atmosphere. Re-
member what I am telling you, for it will help you to un-
derstand how we have succeeded to accomplish many difficult
undertakings. The desire for happiness brings many valuable
results in its train. It fosters peace, leads to kindness, en-
courages unity. It teaches the value of health and comfort.
It softens the heart and broadens the sympathies. Seekers
after happiness cultivate their minds and exercise all their
faculties. Yes, the pursuit of happiness is a wonderful civilizing
10
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
influence. I have watched it at work for fifty years and
more, and it has accomplished greater results than centuries
of fear or of promises of eternal bliss.
"You can have no idea what a help it has been to
us in
the first years we spent here, when the many different opinions
which must naturally manifest themselves at the beginning
of such an enterprise might have divided us in many factions.
But instead of each insisting on the special merit of his
scheme, we were all willing to submit to the test of practical
experience, and were also decided to remain united whatever
might happen, for we believed that the friendship of our
associates was more conducive to our happiness than the
adoption of some pet opinion of ours.
And now that we
have safely launched our social bark, and have achieved satis-
factory results, we are more united than ever."
I was very much interested in Mr. Walter's statement, and
in the earnestness of his convictions, and as he paused I re-
marked to him that I thought he had given me a clearer
idea of the object they had in view, and that I wanted him
to tell me how they went to work to reorganize society.
"But do you not understand," he replied, "that we did
not intend to reorganize society. We wanted to improve it.
We did not believe in setting aside all the past experience of
mankind, and reconstructing society on entirely new lines.
We wanted to improve it on the same old lines, which is a
very different thing. New conditions had created new abuses,
and we wanted to stop them as far as possible. Not only did
we want to feel free to work out our own happiness in our
own way, but we could see also that while the United States
produced plentifully, the distribution was very defective."
"You are entirely right," I remarked, "and probably more
dissatisfaction is felt among us on account of the inequality in
the distribution of wealth than from any other cause."
THE OBJECT IN VIEW.
11
"It is natural that it should be so," continued Mr. Walter,
"for while production is not as large as it might or will
eventually be, still it is large enough to keep every
one in
comfort if it was rightly distributed, and it is a crying shame
that in this advanced age of ours, some should be rolling in
wealth, while others are shivering and starving.
"We consider the distribution of products as the most im--
portant question placed before civilized communities, and that
its correct solution offers the best prospect of increasing the
sum total of human happiness. From our standpoint, unequal
distribution is a two-edged sword which cuts both ways. On
one side you have the wealthy class, which lives in idleness,
their wants supplied by hirelings, having no aim in life
except to pass the time which before middle age drags heavily
on their hands, while all around them lives another class,-
unable to secure a little of the leisure and some of the
luxuries which prevent the exercise of the most valuable
faculties of their more wealthy but not more happy neighbors..
"Nor are the relations between the two classes satisfactory.
The sympathies of the rich are wounded by the sight of the
privations of the poor, while the poor see with more and
more envious eyes the ever increasing possessions of the rich..
Thus the relations between the rich and the poor become
more strained, and in a measure the steady increase of pro-
duction tends to diminish instead of increasing the happiness
of mankind."
"You need not enlarge upon this theme, Mr. Walter," I
replied. “You cannot frame a stronger indictment against the
evil effects of our system of distribution than you will hear
at any time in the United States. All who study the social
problems realize the evil, for it is much worse now than it
was at the time you left our country. The rich have grown
in number and wealth and are drawing everything into their
12
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
hands, while the poor, growing more intelligent and better
educated, realize more and more that they do not receive
the full reward of their labors.
"But what can we do about it? Where is the remedy?
We cannot despoil the rich for the benefit of the poor, for
it would destroy the accumulation of capital and diminish pro-
duction. The diffusion of capital in the hands of so many
untrained and incompetent persons would soon destroy it, and
the final result would be the impoverishment of the whole
country without any improvement in the condition of the poor."
"Very true," answered Mr. Walter. "It is a difficult ques-
tion, but I can tell you what we have done, and how We
have succeeded in keeping down this inequality between the
classes, and prevented the acquisition of the lion's share of
the produced wealth by a few privileged members of society.
"But let me remind you of one thing. It is not because
we believe in perfect equality, or that all men are entitled
to an equal share of the production, that we object to the
wide distinction which now exists between the opulent rich
and the abject poor. It is because the rich have more than
they can enjoy, while the poor have less, that we believe a
better system of distribution will benefit all. This very much
simplifies the problem, for if we can find the source of ex-
cessive wealth, and turn it into a reservoir for the benefit of
all classes, our aim will be practically attained.
"And that is what we have done. The large accumulation
of wealth in private hands is not the result of the toil of these
persons, for no man can by daily labor accumulate more than
will insure him a comfortable living: Excessive private wealth
is the result of social causes which encourage and reward the
cumulative power of capital.
"No, we knew well enough that the diffusion of capital
leads to its destruction, and that all means which would tend
THE OBJECT IN VIEW.
13
to its equal distribution would result in a diminution of pro-
duction and a reduction of general comfort.
"So the measures we took led in an entirely different direc
tion. We made our new Commonwealth the great Capitalist,
and thus as far as possible prevented the undue accumulation
of wealth in private hands.
"There, Mr. Balcom, is the whole secret of it. Co-operation
on a large scale, not practised by a few, for the advantage
of a few, as it exists among you, but carried by the Common-
wealth, for the advantage of the whole population, for the
rich as well as for the poor, for the women as well as for
the men."
I must confess I was somewhat disappointed, for it was
nothing new for me to hear such doctrines, and I exclaimed:
"Oh! then your Socioland is simply a Socialistic settlement,
where the state controls everything. It may suit you, but
I doubt if it would suit me or many of the free and in-
dependent citizens of America."
A malicious twinkle gleamed in Mr. Walter's eyes.
"Free and independent indeed! Then things have wonder-
fully changed since my time. When I lived in the United
States, in the days of my youth, I recollect hearing a great
deal about the slavery of labor, and freedom in trade with
foreign countries was unknown. We had Sunday laws regu-
lating the use of the days, and marriage and divorce laws
controlling private associations. Prohibitive laws on liquor
were in force in many states, while to crown this free social
edifice, the Mormon persecution was in all its glory.
"Reassure yourself, we have not abridged personal liberty
as much as you have, and are not Socialists as you understand
the term. All governments are somewhat Socialists, some a
little more, others a little less. We are a little more, and
have intrusted the Commonwealth with the accumulation and
14
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
use of a portion of our capital for the benefit of our people,
while you only intrust your government with the spending of
such capital as you raise by uuequal taxation, or by
borrowing from the wealthy class, thus increasing the burdens
of the producers by compelling them to pay the interest on
the money your government spends.
"Do you sometimes reflect, Mr. Balcom, how the different
enterprises, created by the growing needs of our civilization,
are divided in the United States? Take the cities for instance.
Whatever costs money to maintain, as the streets and the
parks, the police and the fire department, etc., is placed in
the hands of the government, and the people are taxed for
its support, while those enterprises which offer opportunities
to make money, as the supply of light and water, the life
and fire insurances, are allowed to fall into the hands of
corporations and individuals.
"We are so far Socialists as to claim that the sweet ought
to go with the sour, and to keep in the possession of the
people many valuable privileges which you give away to men
who use them for their private benefit.
"But," pulling out his watch, "I see it is getting late, and
we had better retire. To-morrow we will find plenty of time.
to talk before we reach Spencer, and I will explain to you
at length the changes we inaugurated in the public institu-
tions of Socioland."
SOME REFLECTIONS.
15
1
CHAPTER III.
SOME REFLECTIONS.
I believe, my dear Harry, that what I will see and hear
in this country will keep my mind busy, and that I will have
many new ideas to digest. I can see already that their way
of looking at the social problems is entirely different from
ours. They look them square in the face, with a
clear con-
ception of the ends they are striving for, and do not allow
themselves to stray hither and thither after false issues as
we are inclined to do.
Mr. Walter was emphatic, and his whole manner expressive
of quiet determination, and he succeeded in giving me a clear
impression of the aims and methods of the people of So-
cioland.
After I had gone to rest it was a long time before I could
go to sleep. That which had struck me the most in our
conversation was Mr. Walter's frank avowal that as a people
they were engaged in the pursuit of happiness. There was
no false pretense of trying to serve the Lord, no claim of
helping to promote morality, no holding aloof a beacon for
the benefit of other nations.
Instead, these people freely acknowledged that they were
experimenting for themselves, trying to increase their own
happiness, owing no allegiance except to the laws of nature,
recognizing no duty except that of improving their faculties
and making the most of existing conditions.
That was something entirely new in my experience. I had,
of course, come across young people with more money than
brains, who said they wanted a good time, and were going to
enjoy all the pleasure that this life can afford, but among
16
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
the sensible, respectable people of my acquaintance, the pursuit
of happiness was looked down upon as a low standard of life,
leading to selfishness, and degrading in its tendencies.
To be sure I could not tell what was the aim in life of
these respectable acquaintances of mine. Ilad I asked them,
which I never thought of doing, I would probably have found
they did not know themselves. I knew the religious teachings
on that subject, and that we are admonished to so live as to
glorify God. But my friends did not believe any such doc-
trines, or if they believed them, they made no pretense to
put them in practice in their daily life, being of the kind
who give their religion a Sunday airing, putting it carefully
away during the week to preserve it from unseemly wear, so
as to have it bright and shining on the rare occasions they
are called upon to parade it before the world.
As my mind roamed over the list of my acquaintances, I
could think of Mr. B., whose whole ambition seemed to be
to make money, of which he had already more than himself
or his family could use. His wife was a society leader, and
her object in life was to outshine her rivals. His sons were
certainly bent on pleasure, but with their expensive habits,
effeminate tastes, and shattered constitutions, were not happy,
and were positive proof of the fact that the pursuit of hap-
piness and of pleasure are entirely different.
And our neighbor D., is he living for happiness? If he is,
he seems to make a miserable failure of it. An overworked,
tired-out man, without a minute he can call his own, follow-
ing an incessant round of occupations which have no interest for
him, he is kept constantly tramping in a commercial tread-
mill for a bare support for himself and his large family. His
wife, whom I can remember as the lively, sweet Alice T., is
now a tired, dissatisfied woman. That couple had probably
in the early days of their marriage anticipated a happy life,
SOME REFLECTIONS.
17
but the result had not come up to their fond expectations.
From them my thoughts turned to the contemplation of
myself. What was I living for? I really could not answer.
An Agnostic, I was not living in view of a future life, and
yet I realized that I was certainly not studying how to attain
the highest satisfaction possible in this world.
As I reflected, I could see very clearly that I had
no de-
finite standard of conduct, and that the principles which
controlled my life were of a very composite nature. Raised
outside the church, by parents who had outgrown the Christian
beliefs without accepting any other, my moral education had
been desultory in the extreme. At one time my father railed
at the Christian dogmas, or made fun of their puritanical
ideas and sanctimonious ways. At other times he would im-
press upon me the beauty of the Christian doctrine of self-
renunciation, quote the goldenle, and call Christ the
greatest teacher that ever lived. Again he would preach the
doctrine of duty, how we must respect our parents, obey the
laws, help our neighbors, work for humanity. But these moods
did not last always. I was also taught that I must learn to
take care of number one, fight for standing room, and strike
out for myself if I would not be crushed.
Out of such teachings the usual results had followed. I
simply drifted, one day following the voice of duty, and the
next allowing the care of self to predominate. The outcome
was not very satisfactory, but I could not see my way to
anything better, aud I consoled myself with the thought that
I was doing about as well as the average of those by whom
I was surrounded.
Now that my attention was called to it, I could
see that
instead of having a well-defined aim in life, and controlling
conduct in the manner best calculated to attain it, I
allowed myself to be swayed by the ideas, beliefs and habits
my
18
COMMONWEALTH.
THE FUTURE COM
#
of the people among whom I lived, who themselves had no
accurate knowledge of right or wrong, but were following
blindly in the footsteps of their superstitious ancestors.
Mr. Walter's conversation made a profound impression upon
me, for I was logical enough to see that our conduct in life
must be largely controlled by the character of the solution.
we accept for the problem of existence, and if practically
concurred in by a whole people, it must have a great influ-
ence on their public institutious. A nation with divided or
indefinite aims would drift along, where one with clear and
decided opinions would adopt efficient means to insure success.
As is the seed, so must the tree be, and if the people of
Socioland are happier and more contented than the people
of the United States, then I must conclude that they have
the best institutions.
I cogitated over these things a long time, wondering if these
people were really right, and if the pursuit of happiness is
the only safe guide to conduct; and if the old barriers erected
to restrain selfishness were thrown down, who would protect
the weak from the strong, or settle the terms of compromise
between individual happiness and public welfare when they
came in conflict?
Worn out with thoughts, I decided to present these questions
for solution to Mr. Walter the first thing in the morning,
and after hearing what he has to say on the subject, to
wait and see with my own eyes the working of these prin-
ciples in Socioland. Theoretical ideas must give way before
practical results. I would try and set aside all prejudice and
pre-conceived beliefs, and impartially observe the life of the
inhabitants of the Commonwealth.
Of one thing I am certain. There is a great deal of misery
in this world, and even a slight increase of happiness is well
worth striving for.
A PHILOSOPHICAL DIGRESSION.
19
CHAPTER IV.
A PHILOSOPHICAL DIGRESSION.
The next morning I took the first opportunity to propound
my questions to Mr. Walter. I told him that before he said
any more about the social changes they had instituted, I
wanted to have some explanations of their doctrine of accept-
ing the attainment of happiness as a standard of conduct, and
presented to him some of the objections which had arisen in
my mind.
"My young friend," he answered, "I am glad to see that
you appreciate the importance of this question. One of the
first conditions of success is the concentration of our powers
towards the object we wish to attain, which is only possible
if we have a clear conception of what we wish to accomplish.
"If there is so little happiness in this world, it is largely
due to the fact that not many of the efforts of men have
been directed towards it.
"Some men seek for pleasure, others for wealth or fame,
many are trying to serve God and Mammon, others are only
anxious to secure eternal bliss, while all Christians, sincere
or otherwise, are under the influence of teachings which de-
precate the pursuit of earthly happiness as inimical to the
will of God.
"We, on the other hand, believe in the pursuit of happiness
just as the sincere Christian believes in serving the Lord.
We believe that in so doing we are working in the line of
progress, and that to attain it we must not only cultivate
all the best there is in us, but that it will also induce us.
to adopt those public institutions best calculated to increase
the welfare of society.
20
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
*
"I cannot explain to you why we believe those things except
by indulging in a little philosophical talk, something that is
not always interesting to the young.
the young. However, if you will
kindly listen to what I want to say, I will try to be brief,
and possibly you may be rewarded for your patience.
"We believe in evolution, in development, in latent poten-
tiality. We believe that until the advent of man, development
followed what we call the natural process, and that under this
process, plants, animals, and men were evolved:
"But we further believe that when this natural process had
finished its work, the latent potentiality of development was
not yet exhausted, and that the way was just made ready
for a further stage of development which we call artificial,
-in contrast to the natural, although both are according to
the laws of nature-which requires for its accomplishment a
highly organized and intelligent agent.
"Man, who is the last and highest product of natural evo-
lution, is this agent calcutated to promote this artificial de-
velopment, and is well fitted for the work by his ever-
increasing consciousness and intelligence. Through consciousness
he dreads pain and enjoys pleasant sensations, by intelligence
he recognizes the nature of his surroundings, and learns how
to control his conduct so as to escape the one and increase
the other.
"The law of progress, as we understand it, is this: All
those actions of men which tend to advance artificial development,
—or civilization, to give it its popular name-produce at once,
or ultimately through their complex results, pleasant sensations,
and thus encourage men to repeat them; while all those
actions of men which tend to obstruct civilization, produce
at once, or ultimately by their complex results, unpleasant
sensations, and thus discourage men from repeating them.
"Under this law civilization has been
carried and all the
A PHILOSOPHICAL DIGRESSION.
21
things we enjoy have been evolved, for this artificial develop-
ment consists in combining in numberless different ways the
natural material, and
and is the stage of evolution through
which we are passing now.
"This boat which carries us so smoothly and swiftly, the
houses we live in, the clothes we wear, the books we read,
are simply combinations called into existence by the desire
of men for pleasant sensations, or in other words, by their
efforts to increase their happiness.
"I will not weary you by enlarging on this theme, but I
will point out to you that it is of the utmost importance for
our success that we should know if we are working in har-
mony with the forces which have brought the earth to the
present stage of development. Whether we believe that pro-
gress is controlled by laws alone, or that it is directed by
an intelligent power, the first condition of success is that we
should work in harmony with the law of progress.
"But how shall we know that we are in accord with the
march of civilization? Who shall decide when doctors disagree?
We answer that if we can find what is the incentive to right
conduct, we can tell by the result upon our happiness if our
actions are in harmony with the advance of civilization.
According to the law of progress as I have stated it to you,
pleasant sensations are the motive power of civilization, and
thus we believe that whenever our conduct causes an increase
of pleasant sensations, it co-ordinates with the advance o
civilization, which is equal to saying that the increase of hap-
piness is the true standard of conduct.
"And it is thereon, Mr. Balcom, that our philosophy differs
from that of all other civilized nations. They have moral
codes, revealed laws, ancient maxims, but they have no standard
of conduct by which they can test the correctness of their
actions. We also have codes, laws, and maxims, but they are
+
22
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
all derived from a scientific standard which provides a correct
test for all our actions. This applies to the Commonwealth as
well as to the individual. By that standard we test our public
institutions, and find that those which secure the most happi-
ness are also the most conducive to a high state of civilization,
and by that standard each individual is taught to test his own
actions, and soon learns by experience that the conduct which
creates the most pleasant relations with his surroundings, is
that which harmonizes the best with nature's laws and fosters
his truest happiness.
"I do not know if this brief explanation will convince you.
An entirely different philosophy has held the minds of Christ-
ian nations so long that it is difficult to weigh impartially
the proofs of what we advance. For two thousand years the
fear of Hell has brooded as a dark pall over the Christian
world, and the whole study of conduct has been turned in the
direction of learning how to serve the Lord and obey his
commandments so as to escape the wrath to come.
Success
has been branded as the badge of wickedness, and enjoyments
shunned as the temptations of our fallen and sinful nature.
But the time has come when better knowledge has dissipated
our fears, and an honest study of the subject has taught us
that success in the realm of conduct means precisely the same
that it means in the realm of other pursuits. It simply proves
that we are acting in harmony with nature's laws, and we
have as much right to all the happiness we can attain, as
we have to the wages of labor faithfully performed. Pleasant
sensations may be called the wages given by nature for con-
duct which it approves, and the larger the wages we receive,
the
we have that we
more assurance
are moving in the
right direction.
"But whether I have convinced you or not, I have said
enough to give yon an outline of our philosophy. If it strikes
A PHILOSOPHICAL DIGRESSION.
23
you favorably, you can study it at leisure, and follow it in its
numerous ramifications. It will bear the test of investigation,
I assure you, and if once you accept it for your own, you
will never regret it.
"And now let us pass to the practical objections to its
adoption by the Commonwealth, which you presented to me
this morning. How, do you ask, is the innate selfishness of
men to be restrained? Who shall decide in case of a conflict
of interests?
"Before answering you, I might put some questions myself.
What leads you to believe that men are so selfish? Is it not
because you have heard so much about their innate depravity
that you fail to recognize the good there is in them? Are
you sure the display of selfishness is not the result of the
social conditions in which they have lived till now, and that
competition is not largely responsible for it? Or have you ever
experimented whether in a true Commonwealth there is so
much antagonism between public and private interests?
"We have more faith than you in human nature, and are
not afraid of a certain amount of selfishness, for we know that
it underlays all attempts at improvement. But it must be
tempered by sympathy. They are the centripetal and centri-
fugal forces of society, which ought to balance each other,
and would do so if properly controlled.
"But your system of society fails to recognize the true
functions of these forces, and selfishness has the control of the
government, and no power is given to sympathy to restrain
it. Selfish individuals are allowed to grasp all the valuable
privileges, while sympathetic persons waste their efforts in
vain attempts to palliate the sufferings endured by those who
are worsted in the battle of life.
"We recognize the value of both factors, and instead of
preaching against selfishness on one hand, and allowing it to
24
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
run riot on the other, we keep it within proper limits by
public measures, demanded and supported by the united sym-
pathies of the community.
"The same sympathetic feeling prevents the Commonwealth
from passing laws that would antagonize with the welfare of
individuals, and leads it to encourage all its members who
honestly try to improve their condition. But it is also the
business of the Commonwealth to restrain those persons who
would abuse their power to the detriment of others. The
Commonwealth meddles as little as possible with private actions,
but f any person presumes on its toleration to impose upon
others, it promptly interferes and puts a stop to it. We try
to be as a large family with many interests in common, and
where there is a sympathetic bond uniting all its members,
but if one of the family so conducts himself as to be unpleasant
to others, the head of the family asserts his authority and
obliges him to keep his proper place. The Commonwealth
as a whole represents the head of the family, promoting the
happiness of all its members, instructing and helping, with
kindness towards all, but prompt to control when the public
good requires it."
This, my dear Harry, is in substance what Mr. Walter told
me, and I must acknowledge that it impressed me very favor-
ably. Among the many points in its favor which presented
themselves to me, I will only mention to you two which
seem worthy of special consideration.
If he is correct, then society is slowly progressing towards
a state of perfect harmony, where all factors will find their
proper sphere and the highest civilization be attained, and we
can explain the conflicts through which society passes now,
and has passed up to this time, as the educative stage of
mankind, and necessary to its full development. It is the
social phase of the struggle for existence, and will eventually
A PHILOSOPHICAL DIGRESSION.
25
result in the survival of the most satisfactory public and
private institutions.
The other point goes to confirm the claim made by Mr.
Walter for the beneficent influence of the pursuit of happiness.
His assertions brought to my mind some facts that have come
under my notice. You know that I am interested in farming.
Now I have often had occasion to see the influence of a
correct standard upon the character and the social relations.
You recollect Mr. Daval, our neighbor. He has a high
standard of farming, and is successful in his operations. He
is not soft-hearted, but all the same his men are comfortably
housed and are well and punctually paid; his horses are of
the best and receive all the care they need, and his stock
is well fed and sheltered. His relations with his men are
always pleasant; he treats them well, and they know it and
are anxious to remain in his service.
Not far from him lives Mr. Thornwald, a much kinder man
and easy-going in all his business relations. But he is a poor
farmer and everything about him is in a dilapidated state.
His children leave him as soon as they can make their way
in the world, his men are ill paid and dissatisfied, his horses
are poor and his cattle half starved. All the difference in results
comes from difference in aims. To accomplish his ends, Mr.
Daval had to treat his surroundings right, even his fields
which receive the best of care, and give him large returns.
Call it selfishness, or call it by any other name, the result
has been to create around him a little community where exist
the best conditions for men and beasts, while life in Mr.
Thornwald's home is barely supportable.
These facts seem to me to point to an harmony in nature
which compels us, if we would be happy, to help improve the
conditions of our surroundings, which would go to prove that
Mr. Walter's claims rest on a solid foundation.
26
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
CHAPTER V.
THE CHANGES MADE.
The morning was nearly spent before we had exhausted
the subject, and yet nothing had been said about the social
changes they had made in Socioland, although that was to be
the topic of our conversation, and we were called to dinner
before I could get Mr. Walter to tell me what they had done.
At the table the conversation became general, and when we
left it, some time elapsed before I could get him disentangled
from his surroundings, and seated in a place where I felt safe
from interruption.
ני
"Now," said I, sitting down comfortably by his side, "you
have treated me to a bit of history, and to an essay upon
philosophy, let us come down to Socioland, and to what you
have done to ameliorate its social conditions."
"Certainly, I will tell you with pleasure," he answered. "I
see I have yet time enough before we reach Spencer. And
for a beginning I will tell you of one of our first measures,
which I believe would find favor in all countries and with
all classes of people. We have abolished all taxes."
"What!" I exclaimed, "abolished all taxes! That is indeed
a practical step towards happiness. But how then does your
government raise the money to meet its necessary expenses?"
"Well," rejoined Mr. Walter, "it honestly earns it as every
government ought to do. Our Commonwealth carries on busi-
ness, earns money by legitimate means, and spends it for the
benefit of all.
"The system of taxation, Mr. Balcom, firmly entrenched as
it is in the habits of civilized society, is in fact a relic of
barbarism. It is a remnant of the times when the strong
THE CHANGES MADE.
27
fived altogether on the labor of the weak. Civilization has
modified it, and the iron hand is more cunningly masked by
the velvet glove, but the fact remains that the producer is
made to support all the public burdens. Of course the Com-
monwealth must have means to defray the public expenses,
but by what logical argument can it be maintained that if
it is trusted to spend money, it cannot also be trusted to earn it?
The truth is that when the ruling classes were compelled to
surrender a portion of their privileges, and give the people
a voice in the control of the government, they threw on the
public all that which cost money, and under various pretexts
kept in their own hands all the profitable enterprises. As
plundering the producers was then the only known process for
providing funds to carry on the government, it was legalized
and made legitimate by acts of the legislatures, and legal
taxation was organized. When that proved insufficient, and the
people refused to bear heavier taxation, the rich, instead of
giving of their surplus to supply the deficiency, 'Ient to the
government the money they had accumulated, and tl us created
for their own benefit a perpetual lien on the production of
the country. To you, who are used to that system, it probably
seems perfectly right and proper, but to us who have a much
better way to provide for public needs, we look upon taxation.
as an unjust and needless imposition.
"But the release from taxation is not the only advantage
which has resulted to the country from the management of
business enterprises by the Commonwealth.
"We spoke yesterday of the growing evil of large fortunes.
Our system has cut off the evil at its roots. Excessive fortunes
are not the result of individual economy or persistent labor;
they are the result of the cumulative power of capital. If you
inquire into the origin of the vast fortunes which exist in
your country, you will find that most of them are due to
-28
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
the investments of profits made in certain lines of business,
carried for the benefit of the community. We readily ac-
knowledge the need of those services, we know that under your
system they could not be performed unless some persons had
saved, often by great denial, the needed capital; nor do we
believe that those services are over-paid. But we claim that
the field of activity they opened was so vast that it enabled
those persons to accumulate such large fortunes as to endanger
the welfare of the community.
"Those are the lines of business we decided to withdraw
from the field of competition, and to place in the hands of
the Commonwealth, to be prosecuted for the benefit of all.
"That is the first change we have made in our internal eco-
nomy. Our Commonwealth, instead of levying taxes from its
citizens, carries on all the most extensive and profitable enter-
prises of the country, with the avowed object of making
money to be spent for the good of the whole people.
"Thus, Mr. Balcom, we have accomplished what I told you
was our aim, We tap the Source of Excessive Wealth, and turn
it into a Reservoir for the benefit of all classes."
Mr. Walter's information was interesting, for the changes
he was describing seemed practical and well worthy of consider-
ation. So I asked him to tell me which were the lines of
business the Commonwealth had kept in its own hands, and
how they were inanaged to avoid peculation and waste.
"My young friend," he answered, "the question of the ma-
nagement of public affairs is too large for us to go into now
and you will be able to study it carefully while you stay in
Socioland. But as to the lines of business we place in the
care of the Commonwealth, I can state in broad terms that
it is those which require large capital, and return through the
magnitude of their operations large profits. For the present
the Commonwealth controls the Wholesale Trade, the Trans-
THE CHANGES MADE.
29
f
portation of Letters, Parcels, Merchandise, and Persons, the
Telegraph and Telephone, the Banks, the Life and Fire In-
surances, the Street Railways, the Supply of Lights and Water,
the Working of the Mines and a portion of the Manufactures.
"These, as you will see, are distributed between the Common-
wealth and the several Townships, so as to take advantage
of the best localities, and to secure the most efficient manage-
ment. Each case is decided on its own merits, with due regard
to the comfort and happiness of our whole people. We try
to prevent the waste of competition, and the evils of undue
personal accumulation of wealth, and to make our Common-
wealth rich and prosperous so that it can reduce the expenses
of living, increase the comfort of all its citizens, and protect
the poor and disinherited against want and suffering.
"But let us pass on to other changes we have made. Let
me tell you about our laws in regard to land."
I signified my desire to hear whatever he thought would
interest me, and Mr. Walter continued.
"Our Commonwealth never admitted the right of individual
ownership in land, and holds it in trust for the whole people.
For purposes of improvement it sells leases, equal for practical
purposes to complete ownership. These leases can only be
cancelled if the public good requires it, and the tenant must
be paid for actual damages inflicted upon him. No rent is
paid, and those leases can be divided, bought and sold, but a
limit has been placed upon the number of acres that each
person can get under his control. By this policy, the Com-
monwealth has retained in its possession all the best business
locations, or can reclaim them at reasonable rates. No pro-
perty can be held for speculation, nor can
any man or set
of men levy exorbitant tolls in the shape of rents because
they are the lucky owners of a piece of land so situated as to be
indispensable to the efficient transaction of business.
50.
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH..
1
"We hold that the land is common property, but we re-
cognize also that its division among the people leads to a higher
development and to better culture. We appreciate upon cha-
racter the good effects of personal enterprise and independent
management, provided they are kept within proper limits. It
is only when private enterprise overshadows and antagonizes
public welfare that we see
to circumscribe it. This land
policy of ours has been a
success so far. It has stopped
speculation in land, it has prevented the premature settle-
ment of distant portions of our territory, and yet those of us
who wanted to make a living by agriculture have been able
to get possession of all they could cultivate.”
"I think I understand the trend of your public policy," I
remarked, when Mr. Walter ceased speaking. "You use the
power of the Commonwealth to regulate the distribution of
wealth. In the United States, we expect the government to
insure political equality, while you add to the functions of
yours the task of maintaining social equality. With this object
in view, the means you use must exert a very good influence
in that direction."
"Indeed you are correct, my dear Sir, and to insure the
success of our scheme, we have made some radical changes in
the methods of educating our young people.
"We claim that equal advantages in education are necessary
to maintain equal chances of success in society. Furthermore
we claim that it is of the utmost importance to educate and
train the physical as well as the mental faculties.
"The education of the mind, the training of the intellect,
can of course best be accomplished in the schools, and except
that we have reduced the number of hours of study, and
pay more attention to recreation, there is but little difference
between our schools and yours. The great difference is in the
industrial training of the youths of both sexes. The numerous
THE CHANGES MADE.
31
business enterprises carried on by the Commonwealth and the
Townships offer splendid opportunities for practical training,
and all our young people are compelled to serve a six years'
term of apprenticeship to the state."
"It seems to me," I rejoined, "that it is a very arbitrary
measure, and one that must create a great deal of dissatisfaction."
"It seems so to you," answered Mr. Walter, "because you
are thinking of its application under the old conditions, but
the public apprentice system is very popular with us. You
will stay long enough among us to see how our youths are
treated and understand why it is popular with them, and I
can tell you why it is popular with the grown people also.
"By entrusting to our youths a large portion of the work
connected with the business of the Commonwealth, we have
opened to them an extensive industrial school, where there is
an almost unlimited choice of occupations, and by requiring
of them only a few hours of actual work, we give them ample
time and facilities to keep on with their studies. Our system
is far superior to your industrial schools, for our boys do not
play with tools among other boys, but do real work alongside
of men, under conditions which train the mind to face all
kinds of emergencies, and compel them to exercise all the
faculties they may possess. One year in an industrial school
may teach a boy how to saw to a mark or plane a board
straight, and aay teach him many of the technicalities of his
profession, but one year of apprenticeship will teach him all
that and much more.
"So we believe in our apprentice system because it gives
our youths the best training under the best possible conditions;
we believe in it because it considerably reduces public expenses,
and thus increases public wealth; we believe in it because it
has had a moral result which has been satisfactory beyond
our expectations.
32
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
"There is always a tendency among the children of the mer
who are the most successful, to believe that idleness and lux-
ury are badges of superiority, and that they are made of
different and better clay than those persons who are raised in
the lower walks of life. Six years of apprenticeship, subject
to uniform rules, and where merit is the only factor in pro-
motion, generally takes such ideas out of their heads.
"Those, Mr. Balcom, are the changes we have made in the
public policy of Socioland, and I have no doubt that when
you see the results, you will acknowledge that we have suc-
ceeded, and that our people have much better facilities for the
pursuit of happiness than can be found anywhere else.
"By making our Commonwealth a co-operative business
concern, we have made it rich and placed all its citizens
above want. We have entirely abolished overgrown fortunes
and greatly diminished the accumulation of capital in private
hands, and yet we have retained sufficient fields of activity for
private enterprises, which being relieved from the pressure of
monopolistic competition, give to their operators agreeable
occupation and full reward for their labor.
"By retaining in the hands of the Commonwealth the con-
trol of the land, we have prevented its unjust distribution and
sinful waste, and yet we have secured to all our citizens a
fair chance to its acquisition.
"By our system of public apprenticeship we are training
our youths to useful occupations, developing their bodies as
well as their minds, and giving them a just appreciation of
the conditions of life. It brings all classes together and equa-
lizes their chances, and is without doubt the measure that
will have the most far-reaching effects."
We were nearing Spencer, and I thanked Mr. Walter for
his kindness to me, and the interest he had manifested in my
desire to investigate.
AT THE HOTEL.
33
"You are welcome indeed," he rejoined. "It is a pleasure to
give information where it is So thoroughly appreciated. But
we are nearly at the landing, and as I live in Spencer I
hope to see you again and have more conversation with you,
and that you will soon learn to know us and like us.
"Where do you intend to stay while in the city? You do
not know. Well, I would advise you to stop at one of the
hotels kept by the city, near the wharves and depots, for the
convenience of travellers. You will be comfortable and the
charges are very moderate. It will be more interesting than
if you stop at a private boarding house in the center of the
city, for it will be your first introduction to one of our public
institutions."
CHAPTER VI.
AT THE HOTEL.
Spencer is the commercial center of Socioland, and is situated
at the lower end of lake Norlay. It is the gateway of
communication with the civilized world. Now a city of 50,000
inhabitants, it has a great future before it, and the character-
istic American thought came to my mind of the fine field
it would offer for speculation, were it not prevented by the
land policy of the country.
We steamed slowly into port, and when we landed at the
wharf, I looked around for some one to take me to the hotel.
Mr. Walter was busy, yet found the time to poind out an
official whose functions, he said, were to give information to
travellers, and help them on their way. This gentleman, for
34
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
undoubte lly he was one in appearance and demeanor, asked
me where I wanted to go, and advised me to stop at the
nearest City hotel, which was only a stone's throw from the
landing. He also pointed to me the government baggage agent,
a bright young man in uniform, who took the number of my
check and the address to which I wanted my trunk sent, and
after he had checked off on my baggage card the amount due
for city transportation, I was ready to go on my way.
And here I may as well explain to you that in Socioland
there are
no ticket offices at the railroad depots or steamboat
landings. Travelling cards are bought in the stores, good for
a given number of miles. These cards are good on all roads
or boats, in all directions and at all times. The conductor
checks off the number of miles travelled, and when the card
is used, a new one
new one is bought. There are no excursion or return
tickets, and the card does not give free transportation of baggage.
Baggage cards are bought in the same way, good for trans-
portation on the cars or boats, and also for transfer from
the residences to the depots. The price of all these cards is
exceedingly low, according to our standard, but with the ex-
ceptional facilities possesse by the Commonwealth, and the
concentration of all the business in its hands, it is claimed
the profit is quite large. The freight business is also managed
differently from ours. All goods must be prepaid, stamps
being used for that purpose. These changes do away with
some of the complications which increase the expenses in our
country, but are only possible where all the means of trans-
portation are concentrated in one hand.
I find, my dear Harry, that I am not making much progress
in my journey, but I must manage to take you as far as
the hotel, which proved to be a large brick building of plain
appearance, with City Hotel No. 3, written on the facade
and over the entrance. Its interior did not differ materially
1
AT THE HOTEL.
35
from our large hotels; probably as much comfort, but less luxury.
At the clerk's desk stood a bright young woman, who after
I registered, had me shown to a room where I proceeded
to make myself at home.
That which struck me at once, as we made our way to the
upper regions where my room was located, was the number
of young people who seemed to be busy in the house, and
whom I concluded were some of the apprentices Mr. Walter
had told me of. Both boys and girls wore plain uniforms, and
were evidently engaged in doing the regular housework.
The afternoon was well advanced when we reached Spencer,
and supper was ready by the time I had attended to my toilet.
At the table, where a goodly number of guests were seated,
we were waited on by these youths who performed their task
with due courtesy, but without servility. The service was
under the supervision of an elderly lady, who showed the guests
to their places, and saw that their wants were provided for.
After supper, I strolled a while in the city, and when I
returned to the hotel, made my way to the parlor, where I
found, besides many of the guests, quite a number of young
people in uniform, evidently the attendants of the house.
These youths were not busy at work, but were engaged in
social pastimes, and were treated on terms of social equality.
At the piano, a middle-aged gentleman and a pretty brunette
were singing, while I recognized in the girl who played the
accompaniment, one of our waiters at the table. The young
man who had showed me to my room was one of a party
who were playing cards, while many groups engaged in con-
versation were scattered in the room. Some of the ladies had
their work, and there seemed to be very little formality, but
plenty of mirth and good nature.
I quietly took a chair and watched the novel scene, wou-
dering what our United States friends would say if the menials
36
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
of an American hotel should invade the parlor and make
themselves at home therein. But I soon reflected that these
youths were not menials, as we understand the terin, but that
they were simply passing a term of apprenticeship which
would fit them for the different duties of life, and that there
was nothing more degrading in their work than there is in
waiting upon customers in a store, or in working in a milli-
nery establishment.
As I sat there, looking and thinking, a lady entered the
room, and probably recognizing me as a stranger, and noticing
my lonely position, came towards me and opened the conver-
sation by a casual remark about the singers at the piano. As
my principal object here is to get all the information I can,
I managed to turn the conversation towards their peculiar
method of treating the employees of the house, and remarked
that I was a stranger in the land, and not used to their ways.
"Yes," said the lady, "it must be somewhat unexpected to
find the help of the establishment enjoying themselves in the
parlor, and must be a shock to your ideas of social position."
"It is indeed unexpected," I answered, "and at first it may
have seemed undesirable, but I can see that these young people
are sufficiently educated to be at home everywhere. No, what
surprises me is, that they should be spared from their occupa-
tions, and I wonder how the work can be attended to and
these boys and girls enjoy themselves at the same time."
"I understand that very well," she replied, "for our ways
are in some respects so different from yours, that many things
you will see here must naturally surprise you. We are able
to give our youths plenty of time for recreation on account
of the difference in our social system.
"In your country, a portion of the population has managed
to throw the burden of labor on others, so that those on
whom the burden has fallen have very little leisure time.
AT THE HOTEL.
37
With us it is entirely different. All our young people must
do their share of work, and it is difficult for the adult to live
in idleness here.
+
a
"Do you see that young girl," turning and pointing toward
another part of the room, "talking to that bright-faced boy?
She is the daughter of one of our best men in the town,
sensible, practical, business girl, with the same qualities which
With his
have made her father a successful man among us.
business abilities, he would in your country have accumulated
great wealth, and his daughter would have been educated to
fill a leading place in society. The result would have been
that she need never have done any work, and until she married
would have led a useless life, supported by the exertions of
the laboring poor. Besides the waste of her own time, she
would have required the services of a waiting maid to attend
to her artificial wants. Nor would she have been happier, for
she is born for better things.
"Her life here has been entirely different. Her father has
used his abilities for the benefit of the Commonwealth; as
one of our Managers he has earned the trust and confidence
of all who know him, and is in easy circumstances and no
more. His daughter has had to do her share of the public
work ever since she was fourteen, and thus has relieved of its
extra burden some of her less fortunate sisters. As she learned
the work, and her good qualities showed themselves, she has
steadily advanced, and now fills a position of trust in this house.
"Thus you see that as we all have to do our share, none
have to work very long or very hard, and we can give our
young people time to rest, or study, or enjoy themselves, as
they prefer. We use as little compulsion as possible in Socio-
land, but
we provide ample facilities for study, and are
anxious to encourage all that tends to the intellectual develop-
ment of our children.
38
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
"You seem to be quite a believer in the public apprentice
system," I remarked. "It is pleasant to find that the people
here are satisfied with their institutions. A contented people
is something very unusual nowadays."
"And it ought to be," the lady rejoined, "for all other
nations are cramped by institutions they have outgrown, and
no longer fit the intellectual stature they have reached. Here
we are always ready to change whenever we have cause for
dissatisfaction.
"But so far as our apprentice system is concerned, it is
undoubtedly a great success. It greatly facilitates public busi-
ness, provides pleasant employment for the young, and best of
all, has proved a great educator, by teaching those who would
be idle how to work, and by elevating the lower classes and
educating them to hold their places among people of taste
and culture.
1
"The girl I pointed out to you is an example of the first
now if you will look in the direction of this window, I will
show you an example of the other. That young man you see
reading there is an orphan. His father, a common laborer,
died young, leaving his family destitute. He came here from
the old country and was a worthy man, but with little edu-
cation. Under these conditions, in your country
country this boy
would have had to go to work to help his mother, and would
have remained an uneducated drudge all his life. With us,
his mother was provided with a good place in one of the Town
Laundries, where she receives liberal wages for short hours of
labor, and thus was enabled to easily raise her family, while
our apprentice system has given her boy an equal chance in
the world with more favored children. He has been with us
two years, and it has made a wonderful difference in him;
his manner has greatly improved and he is getting interested
in intellectual recreations.
r
¡
AT THE HOTEL.
39
"But you see he has had opportunities which our system
alone could give him, for it has brought him in close contact
with much better educated persons than he was in the habit
of associating with.
"The actual results of our system have been a steady gain in
deportment and intelligence, and you will find no better be-
haved people than the inhabitants of Socioland, which is due
to the training they receive in their youth.
"But have we not talked long enough on serious subjects, and
would you not like to join us in some of the recreations of
the evening? We have very pleasant times, I assure you,
and it is largely due to the presence of our young people, for
they make the charm of our social gatherings. Our travellers
come and our travellers go, but our boys and girls are here
all the time, ready to amuse and be amused. By freely mixing
together we learn to know all about them. They tell us
about their early lives, they confide to us their plans, their
hopes, their dreams, and we give them the benefit of our
experience, and try to make their life pleasant.
"But come, let me introduce you to Miss Bell, the lady
I pointed out to you. You will enjoy her society, I believe,
and when you get acquainted here, you will find that the
time passes quite pleasantly."
I was easily persuaded, and was soon engaged in conversa-
tion, then joined in some games, and when I retired for the
night, I thoroughly appreciated the friendly spirit which had
so quickly made me feel at home among my new surroundings.
40
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
CHAPTER VII.
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT.
The lady with whom I had the conversation I reported to
you, proved to be Mrs. Wilton, wife of the Manager of the
hotel. I made the acquaintance of Mr. Wilton the next day,
and had some interesting talks with him upon their methods
of managing public business.
Mr. Wilton is an American, while his wife is a native of
Socioland. He is about fifty years of age, and came here
about fifteen years ago, having been in business in Cincinnati
before he came to Spencer.
"Mr. Balcom," said he, "I understand that you should be
surprised at our ways, for they are quite different from those
of the United States. I was surprised myself when I first
came, and wondered how business could be done in such easy-
going ways. For we all take life easy here, and no one has
to hurry out early in the morning or work till late at night.
But understand me, I am speaking of productive labor. Of
course we do not idle away such a large portion of our time,
but we spend it in what we might call recreation, in so far
that we all are at liberty to follow the dictates of our own
sweet will, and use our time as we like best. But there is
method in our madness, and if we have short hours of labor,
we make good use of them, and if none work very hard or
very long, all have to follow some useful occupation
part of
their time.
"Do you know that one of the most striking results of the
policy of this people-of our policy, I might say, for I am
entirely one of them-has been to so reduce the supply of
labor for domestic services, that there are many things which
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT.
41
រ
It is much easier to do for onrselves than to hire done, and
there are very few persons or who are not obliged to wait
on themselves more or less. You see, when our young people
have finished their term of apprenticeship, they all have a
complete knowledge of some lucrative trade, and but few are
found willing to do menial labor. This fact, added to the
difficulty, if not the impossibility, of accumulating large for-
tunes, prevents the formation of a class who can
command
the services of others, and thus withdraws them from the field
of production. Having no drones to support, we can accom-
plish much more, and still be able to considerably reduce
the number of hours of labor.
"But excuse me, this was not the subject we were to talk
about. You wished me to explain to you the way in which
we manage public business."
"Yes, it is precisely what I want to know," I answered▾
"With us the assertion is usually made, with more or less
trath, that whatever the government undertakes costs more
than what is done by private management, and that the
assumption of business by the state opens the door wide to
mismanagement and corruption."
"Well, my dear Sir," Mr. Wilton replied, "I have not been
here so long but what I can recollect how things went in
the United States, and probably there is a foundation for the
opinion you now express, although it may be fostered by those
who have a direct interest in preventing the government from
extending its operations.
"But there is a fundamental difference between your govern-
ment and ours. Yours is a Republic, established to maintain
civil and political rights. Ours is a Commonwealth, organized
to secure those rights, and besides, to manage public business
for public benefit.
"The founders of your Rep blic had no idea of national
42
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
co-operation for business purposes, for post offices, railroads,
street-cars, the lighting of streets, etc., was then unknown,
and when your Republic tries to manage business enterprises,
it tries to accomplish something for which it has never been
organized.
"A republican government is in theory a part of the people,
but in practice is something above it. You elect your repre-
sentatives to make your laws, and your officers to execute
them, and so long as they hold their mandates, they are your
masters as much as if they had been appointed by a king.
"There is no inducement to abuse that power so far as civil
rights are concerned, but it is only a question of time for
the men you elect to find out that a representative govern-
ment can grant, against the will of the people, lucrative places,
and legislate men into valuable positions where they can be
taken care of out of the proceeds of taxation. All financial
places of trust are in the gift of political officers, and are
disposed of as rewards for personal services. Men thus appointed
cannot be expected to be competent or trustworthy, and all
kinds of safeguards have to be thrown around them to keep
them in the path of honesty.
"Yours is the Individualistic system, where the whole aim
of the government is to help the individuals to develop the
resources of the country by affording equal protection to all
its citizens.
"But a stream never rises higher than its source. A nation
where the individual is taught to look upon himself as en-
tered upon a race for wealth, where the winner reaches the
goal exhausted by the efforts he has made to distance his
competitors, where individual greed is encouraged by the
most tempting rewards, and where a most intricate system of
laws, courts and prisons, is needed to preserve some kind of
order among the contestants will never evolve the right kind
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT.
43
of a government, or organize a satisfactory public management.
"It is something to have succeeded in restraining competition
within legal bounds, but you will have to entirely change
your policy before you can inaugurate the true Commonwealth,
and when you try to apply the machinery of your representa-
tive government, to the management of business interests,
you fail of entire success because it gives too much power to
your public officers and legislatures.
"Our Commonwealth is organized in a different spirit and
with a different purpose. It not only aims to preserve peace
and order, but also to co-ordinate our producing power, and
to make all its citizens participate in the increased production.
Thus our welfare is intimately connected with the pecuniary
success of the Commonwealth, and we are all interested in its
proper management. On that account the people never sur-
render the law-making power to their delegates, but exercize
a constant supervision over all their actions, and if they fail
to properly conduct the business committed to their care, they
are quickly called to account for their mismanagement."
"You do not then," I said, "surrender to your political offi-
cers the business interests of the country, and do not expect
your President and Governors to manage them through agents
of their own selection."
"No, not at all. In the first place we have no Presidents
or Governors, their functions being filled by the Chairmen of
the executive committees, but if we had, we would not place
our financial interests in their hands.
"We have added to our government a Business department,
îndependent of the Political and the Judiciary, which has
entire charge of the business enterprises of the Commonwealth,
and is responsible to the people alone for the result of their
labor. Through this department we co-ordinate the producive
power of the whole people, and constitute ourselves into a
44
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
co-operative association. It creates a bond through the com-
munity of interests, and tends to destroy the spirit of competi-
tion among us.
"We, the people, thus become a business firm, and hire a
certain number of men to manage the work for us.
We re-
cognize that if those men are competent, they are much better
situated than we can be to know what is the best course to
follow to succeed, and we place in their hands both power and
responsibility. We recognize also that there must be stability,
and on that account the Managers and Advisers are elected
for indefinite terms, and are retained in place so long as the
people are satisfied with their services. But should dissatisfac-
tion arise, specific charges must be laid before the Advisers.
for investigation, and if they are sustained, a new election is
ordered, which is the final verdict pronounced by the people.
Thus we are learning the art of self-government, and while
liable to make mistakes, they are corrected as soon as discovered.
"Those, you see, are the principles that govern us in the
organization of the Business department. Elections of officers
by the people, responsibility to the people, confidence in them
so long as they give satisfaction, recall of their powers by the
people whenever they are no longer pleased with their ma-
nagement."
"These principles," I remarked, "seem sound enough in the-
ory, but may work badly in practice. The people who control
your machinery are often a very unwieldy element. 'What is
everybody's business is often nobody's business,' is a saying
which contains more truth than poetry, and I should be afraid
that the public supervision of which you speak would prove
inefficient and easily evaded."
"You are right," answered Mr. Wilton, "and it is partly on
that account that we have established Advisory Boards.
"The functions of these Boards are three-fold. To advise, to
I
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT.
45
supervise, to co-ordinate. They are clothed with no authority
except such as they need to enable them to attain the needed
information, and report to the people through publication.
"It is to them that we look for that close supervision so
necessary to : nccess. Their duties are to overlook the whole
business situation, reconcile the different interests, keep watch
over the receipts and the expenses, study the best means
promote the general welfare, and suggest them to the public
and to the Managers.
to
"They are the oil which lubricates the co-operative machine.
Their position enables them to take a broad look at the
situation, and to give impartial information. As they occupy
places of great influence, we are careful to select men of good
judgment and known integrity, for our material prosperity
depends largely upon the soundness of their advice.
"But as I have named the Managers, let me explain to you
what are their functions. Their name is the best explanation
I can give you, for they really manage the business placed
in their charge, and within their departments have full au-
thority placed in their hands. I am the Manager of this hotel,
and have all the needed power to run it successfully, provided
I use that power according to the recognized policy of the
Commonwealth. Our position is somewhat like that of the
captain of a vessel. A ruler on board, a private citizen on shore..
"Some of our Managers are elected by the Commonwealth,
for they direct enterprises which must be under a central control,
but all local business is controlled by Managers elected by the
Townships, a division we have adopted in place of counties or
incorporated cities, and which replaces them both. These
Townships have each a business department of their own
which looks after their local interests.
"We have, as I told you, formed ourselves into a business
firm, and have tried to follow the same course that a practical
46
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
•
business man would take under the same circumstances.
"Success demands a general direction by men who can overlook
the whole field of operations, and co-ordinate to a successful
end the means under command. We secure this through our
boards of Advisers, whose duty it is to gather information,
and furnish it to the inhabitants of the Commonwealth. We
do not entrust them with the execution of the measures they
recommend, because it would give them more power than
any man, or set of men, should have except in times of public
danger.
"The next thing that success demands is an efficient executive
management, which shall not be hampered by intricate laws
and regulations, but left free to attain the desired ends in the
best manner consistent with the means placed at its disposition.
This, we secure through our Managers, who, elected by the
people, and responsible to the peopi alone, have
ducement to fulfil their task to the best of their ability.
every in-
"Next, we must have a division of responsibility, which
we secure through our system of Townships, which are really
branches of the whole firm or Commonwealth, having special
interests under their control.
"Believing as we do that co-operation ought to replace
competition as far as possible, that each individual has social
as well as political rights, and that a Commonwealth which
helps its citizens to attain to a fair share of coinfort and
enjoyment is as far superior to a Republic as a Republic is
to Despotism, we have tried to. secure that result through
our organization.
"We have retained political and judicial organizations, but
their importance is steadily diminishing, not because their
functions are encroached upon by the business department, but
from the results of our policy, which are constantly dimi-
nishing the causes which compel the enactment of laws and
THE RIGHT SPIRIT.
47
the need of restraint. All wars, disputes, contentions, are the
outcome of the competitive spirit, either in nations or indi-
viduals, and whatever promotes the co-operative interests,
diminishes the spirit of greed which has to be restrained by
law, and thus diminishes the need of the laws themselves.
"We believe in social equality, in the solidarity of human
interests, and instead of using our skill and intelligence in
trying to remedy the evils of society by law, we use our
intelligence in devising means to diminish the need of laws
by creating harmonions relations between man and man."
Mr. Wilton then had to lere, so I thanked him for his
jnformation, hoping to hear more at some future day.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE RIGHT SPIRIT.
Several days passed before I renewed my conversation with
Mr. Wilton, days which I spent in viewing the city and its
surroundings, and also in getting acquainted with the people.
Undoubtedly there is a difference between life here and in the
United States; s much, I suppose, as there is between life in
the United States and in Europe.
One thing is quite noticeable. It is that they know how
to work and how to enjoy themselves. During working hours
everything seems to move briskly, each one has something to
do, and without any fuss and worry, an immense amount of
work is accomplished. But the working hours are short, and
when they are over, one might believe himself in one of those
Italian cities, where after sunset it looks as if the whole
48
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
population had turned out to enjoy an evening stroll in the
open air.
The stores open late and close early, especially the wholesale
stores which do not keep open more than six hours. The
retail stores, which are left to private enterprise, keep open
longer, but no one is found willing to work from early morning
till late at night, as so many are obliged to do under our
system. The more even distribution of wealth has fostered a
quieter spirit, and as great accumulations of property are not
possible, and poverty is practically unknown, there are none
of those strong incentives to extra exertions which are found
in other countries.
I have made some casual acquaintances in my rambles, and
have had some conversations with persons I met on the cars
or in the stores, and I find everywhere the same satisfaction
with existing conditions.
In a retail store I entered to buy underwear, I found the
owner to be a quiet, unassuming old gentleman, who liked to
talk, and who told me some things that g to show the
influence which surrounding conditions have in
modifying
character.
"I am surprised," I said to him, "at the easy way in which
you do business here, and that some of your energetic men
do not take advantage of it to crowd to the wall their less
ambitious neighbors."
"I believe," he answered, "that if you were to remain here
some time, you would understand it better. It is natural that
in your country you should strive for wealth, for wealth is not
only comfort, it is more, it is
is power.
"Under your system everything is for sale, and the man of
wealth can get possession of everything which is worth having.
Your rich men own your railways, your street cars, your
steamboats. They own your palaces, your most valuable lands,
J
THE RIGHT SPIRIT.
49
the stores and the goods they contain. They own the ma-
nufactures, the banks and the money, and worse yet, they
own mortgages upon the homes of the workers and upon their
future production in the shape of public bonds.
"But it is not so here. Suppose I shonld bestir myself to
accumulate a fortune, what should I do with it? All our most
valuable property is in the hands of the Commonwealth and
cannot be bought at any price. We have no government
bonds or railroad stocks to furnish investments here. There is
a small demand for private capital, mostly for manufacturing
purposes, but on account of the high price of labor, and the
abundance of money furnished by the Commonwealth, interest
is very low, and we have little inducement to increase our
wealth beyond what will secure us a comfortable existence."
With my ideas fresh from America, where wealth is all
powerful and its acquisition the chief end in life, I expressed
my astonishment that the people of Socioland should be sa-
tisfied under such a regime, and ny fear that this stifling
of private ambition might result unfavorably to the general
prosperity.
"Yes, yes," said my new acquaintance, "you reason precisely
as would have done, some hundred years ago, a French mar-
quis or a German baron. They could not have understood
that life was worth living in a country without an army and
without an aristocracy. Yet you have learned in America
that there are other things worth living for besides parading
at Court or killing our fellow-men, and we have found out
here that there are other things worth living for besides the
acquisition of money.
"But you are entirely mistaken in your supposition that a
diminution of private ambition will have a bad influence on
the public prosperity.
"Our men have as much brain, as much physical activity,
50
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
and are just as enterprising as yours, and as ready to conceive
and execute, but, unable to concoct schemes by which they
can exploit their weaker neighbors for their own benefit, they
have to place their intelligence and their activity at the
disposal of the Commonwealth to be used for the people's
benefit.
SO
"My dear Sir," and the old gentleman getting a little
excited, emphasized his words as to bring the whole
weight of his argument to bear npon me, "which do you
suppose displayed the truest ambition. The freebooter barou
of old who, at the head of a band of private retainers,
plundered the unwary traveller for his personal advantage, or
the officer of a modern army, fighting for the preservation of
the whole country? Yours is the freebooter system, where
Every one for himself and the Devil take the hindmost' is
the motto inscribed on your banner, while ours is the organized
army of labor, where individual effort is trained to promote
the welfare of all.
"No, no, this old argument of the decline of enterprise under
a better co-operative system will not stand fire or hold water.
It is based upon a false estimate of human nature, and ex-
perience disproves it every day. Even in your country the
greatest achievements have been done under government aus-
pices, and the best work is done by men who have no financial
interest in the result of their labor.
"You may have in your midst men who, under the incentive
of private gain, will do more and be keener in the pursuit
of wealth than they would be were they working for public
benefit, but also how many men with as keen intellect they
may crush, and how many efforts they may cause to abort in
their struggles to distance their competitors! All of which is
clear loss to the Commonwealth, and may more than balance
the gain made by those who are successful.
THE RIGHT SPIRIT.
51
"Not only do we escape this waste of energy, but our efforts
at improvement are better co-ordinated and better sustained,
for they are backed by the whole power of the Commonwealth.
The result is that we are a wealthy people, producing at less
cost than other nations, and far beyond our daily wants."
I did not try to answer the old gentleman, for really I did
not know what to say. My objections could not be founded
on practical knowledge, but on preconceived ideas fostered by
education. These people had tried their system and were
satisfied. Still it seemed to me that all this government control
could not be maintained without a serious loss of personal
freedom.
I expressed my thoughts to my new acquaintance, and asked
him whether, for instance, he was not compelled to order his
goods from certain stores, and give for them a price arbitrarily
fixed by the government?
·
"Not at all," he answered. "It is strange how the idea of
compulsion clings to whatever is connected with government
control. Our wholesale trade is perfectly free, and the prices
are regulated by the law of supply and demand as in all
other countries. It is in the hands of the Townships instead
of being in private hands. That is all the difference. I order
where I please and what I please and every one does the
same. It is true that we have some regulations here that do
not exist in other countries, but they are for the protection
of the whole people. One is a regular scale of profits, without
any admixture of speculation in it. I know that the price
give the Town for the goods bears a regular ratio to the
price paid to the producer and manufacturer, and I also know
that I have nothing to fear from those speculative fluctuations
in price which so often ruin the most careful dealer.
"Another rule is that we must pay the cash. The Common-
wealth furnishes an abundance of money for all transactions,
52
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
and as it never speculates, we have no panic or stringency in
the money market. We, the merchants, are not at the mercy
of the bankers, and the whole trade of the country is never
paralyzed because these money kings feel the need of protecting
themselves.
"Again there is one wholesale price for all. The price of
goods in all wholesale stores is open to inspection, and our
customers can buy at the same price we do if they buy in
sufficiently large quantities. We are only distributors whom
the people are willing to pay for their trouble, but there is
no chance for exorbitant profits.
"Thus by a few simple rules, which are approved of by all
sensible persons, and from the power which results from their
position, the Townships are able to regulate all the trade, to
insure to the customers a large choice of goods at the minimum
cost of distribution, and protect them against speculation.
"Outside of these regulations the most perfect freedom exists,
and I can deal with another Township, or with the manufac-
turer direct if I find it to my advantage. Besides, many
articles, as fruits, vegetables, meats, milk and others of a
perishable nature, never find their way to the wholesale stores,
but are left to private hands. We are not working out any
definite plan, and would as soon leave the wholesale trade to
private citizens if the result was more satisfactory. But our
system enables us to better provide for the people, and to
protect them from trusts and other speculative combinations.
And the profits derived from the wholesale trade forin one of
the most available public revenues.
"As for the question of individual freedom, you are I think
entirely mistaken. The well digested regulations, approved of
by the majority of the people, and enforced by the Common-
wealth, are not nearly as oppressive as the rules arbitrarily
enacted according to the whims of the money kings. Order is
THE APPRENTICES.
53
one of the conditions of society, and must be enforced either
by private edicts or public laws. All that we can ask is
that they should be such as tend to accomplish the desired
end with the least infringement of individual freedom. We
willingly submit to the government's control, but we never
would stand the treatment you receive from private corporations,
who have no respect for the desires of their customers, except
so far as it can influence the amount of money they expect
to make out of them.
"Besides, we have extended the sphere of personal freedom,
and are willing to leave private conduct to be regulated by
natural results, and many laws which are yet in force among
you, would not be tolerated an instant here."
Much more did the old gentleman tell me, for we talked a
long time, and I must acknowledge that the more I understand
the spirit which controls their public organization, the more I
believe that they are moving in the right direction.
CHAPTER IX.
THE APPRENTICES.
The next day I had occasion to resume my conversation
with Mr. Wilton. I am getting very much interested in all
I see and hear, and while I do not find Socioland different
in its features and products from other countries I have
visited, I recognize that Mr. Walter was right when he warned
ine that I would find myself in an entirely different atmos-
phere. This does not appear on the surface, although indica-
tions can be seen by the careful observer, but its influence is
$4
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
strongly marked on their internal economy. I am more and
more convinced that they are in a fair way of solving problems
which have puzzled mankind for a long time, and I desire to
learn all I can as to the manner in which they are solving
them. So I was glad to find the next evening that Mr.
Wilton had no previous engagement, and could spare the
time for a long conversation.
After a few words on general subjects, I asked him to tell
me more about the management of public business, especially
of that part connected with the apprentices, for I meet them
at every turn, and they are one of the most conspicuous
features of the society in Socioland.
"I can probably best explain what you want to know," said
Mr. Wilton in answer to ay questions, "by giving you a short
account of the management of this hotel. When the Township
of Spencer, for reasons we will not go into now, decided to
open another hotel, the first thing to be done was to select
a suitable spot upon the land in its possession, and upon that
tract to erect a building for that purpose. This was done by
the Town Architect under the supervision of the Board of
Adyisers, the means coming from the surplus fund, which, with
the resources in the hands of the Township, is always large.
"All the material was paid for in cash, that which came
from the Township stores, as well as that bought from private
persons. The labor was hired by the day or the week at
liberal rates, but as many apprentices as possible were kept
at work, to reduce expenses, and also because we find that
physical exercise of that kind is a good training for our
young men, and has a beneficial influence on their body and
on their mind.
"And here, Mr. Balcom, let me point to you the difference
between our system and that of the United States. In the
building of this hotel we have eliminated the profit on the
THE APPRENTICES.
55
land which would have gone to some speculator, the profit
on the material, which was mostly furnished by the wholesale
stores, and the profit of the contractor. That which has cost
us more money has been the labor which commands high
prices here, yet the final result has been to reduce the cost
one third. All this has been achieved without doing injustice
to any one, but simply by preventing the monopolization of
natural resources by individuals.
"When the house was finished, I presented myself as can-
didate for Manager. I have been connected with hotels all
my life, and since my arrival in Socioland have been Head
Steward in another establishment. I had borne a good cha-
racter, and was elected without opposition. I have given sa -
tisfaction and have held the place ever since. My salary is
liberal, but not extravagant, and I am well satisfied.
"As soon as elected, I took charge of the house which was
not yet furnished. That part of the outfit was purchased under
my care, conjointly with one of the Advisers who was detailed
to help me until the work was finished. I furnished the
knowledge of what 'would be required, while he safeguarded
the interests of the Town. We were not limited in our expenses
by an appropriation, but confidence was placed in our judgment
and in our integrity.
"When the work was done, the full Board was invited to
carefully examine the hotel throughout, the accounts were
submitted to their inspection, and when all was recognized as
correct, both the Architect and myself were notified that our
work was satisfactory, and a notice to that effect, as well as
a full statement of all our expenses, was published for the
benefit of the inhabitants of Spencer.
“Once in charge, I proceeded to hire help, and besides,
made an application to the Apprentice Bureau for as many
of them as I thought I could employ. Those young people,
56
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
who receive no wages, and are often very intelligent and
anxious to learn, are a great help to reduce expenses, and
there is always a great demand for them.
-
"When we put in a requisition, we must state the kind of
occupation we have, for it is not only the apprentices just
called out that are free to choose to work for us, but all those
in the Commonwealth. Except that all apprentices are ex-
pected to keep at work, they have all the freedom of choice
they can desire.
At any time a young man or woman working
for me can leave if they have a place offered to them where
they think they would be better satisfied, but I can also
send back to the Bureau any of them who does not give me
satisfaction. Of course there are checks to the abuse of these
privileges, for the Commonwealth has the welfare of its young
people very much at heart, and the Apprentice Bureau is
specially charged to see after them, and to advise them so as
to prevent unwise changes. The parents have also influence
with their children, and are consulted by the Bureau and the
Managers so as to attain the best results.
"It is also the duty of the Bureau to investigate the corn-
plaints of the apprentices, and if, as sometimes happens with
Managers newly elected, it is found that they cannot get along
with the young people, it is considered a sufficient reason to
put in motion the machinery necessary to secure a new election.
We have also among our children some who have a roving
disposition, and want to change often and without good cause.
For these, places are found with Managers specially qualified
to deal with such characters, and they are compelled to remain
until there is an improvement in their disposition. Thus,
without strict rules or harsh measures, we try by a process of
natural selection to make the most of the material at our
command.
"Once provided with a suitable building and the necessary
THE APPRENTICES.
57
personel, I am left free to run this hotel as if I owned it
myself. I am expected to charge moderate prices, to give
satisfaction to my guests, to deal kindly with my help, and
to clear a moderate profit. I must keep a strict account of
my receipts and expenses, which I can easily do with the
help of the apprentices, several of whom are fair accountants
and book-keepers. My accounts must always be open to the
inspection of the Board of Advisers, or whoever they choose
to delegate.
"The result of this union of responsibility and freedom is to
create a body of men trained to the management of public
enterprises, and we are educating the growing generation in
the special qualifications needed for the responsible position
of Managers. It is the process of the survival of the fittest
applied to public affairs, and makes Socioland the best mana-
ged country in the world."
"But, Mr. Wilton," I remarked, "do you not have trouble
with some of the apprentices? Of course the most of them
are to be trusted, but are not several of them careless and
unreliable, and more anxious to play than to work?"
"No," he answered. "We have very little trouble in that
direction. Probably it is due to the spirit which reigns in
Socioland and which affects all our people, and has its influ-
ence even upon the children. In the first place, all kinds of
work are honorable here, and a moderate amount is looked
upon as healthy for both body and mind. Our children are
not taught that labor is a curse entailed upon the human fa-
mily by the fall of Adam. On the contrary, they are taught
that it is through labor that all that which makes life worth
living has been attained, and that further progress will only
result from labor intelligently directed. Then we teach them
the great advantages which result from the combination of
labor, and try to make them understand that concerted action
-
58
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
1
is only possible when the right kind of spirit animates the
whole population.
"As our aims are different from yours, we preach to our
youths an entirely different doctrine. Your sins are the sius
against the will of God, ours are the sins against the welfare
of society. You trust in the authority of the law, we trust in
each other, and frown down any conduct which tends to des
troy this confidence. You envy and try to imitate the man
who enriches himself at public expense; we look upon him
as a public enemy. You excuse the man who betrays a public
trust; we look upon him with the same contempt as the brave
soldier looks upon the man who runs away in the midst of
battle. We thus create a public spirit which is an important
factor toward the success of our institutions.
"No, Mr. Balcom, we have very little trouble with our ap-
prentices. Having a common aim and common interests, the
desire for success perineates all our people and is felt by our
children, so that they are willing to do their part, and those
whose character inclines to neglect their work, are morally
compelled to keep step with their surroundings.
"However there are other causes which induce our apprentices
to work cheerfully. We try as far as possible to make them
happy, and want them to enjoy life as much as the conditions
permit. We believe in happiness, and want our children to
be happy. They are not only well cared for, but as you have
seen, they have much more recreation and also much more
freedom than they have in your land. We ask nothing from
them in the way of work but what they can see is for the
general good, and when their task is accomplished, not only
do we leave them free to do what they please, but we help
them to spend their time agreeably and profitably."
"That, Mr. Wilton," I remarked, "must be a very good plan
for boys and girls of good disposition, but we would be afraid
THE APPRENTICES.
59
to give so much freedom to our children, for it must be a
great temptation to abuse the privilege, and form habits and
associations which might have a bad influence on the character."
"You give me here, Mr. Balcom, a very old argument
against every extension of individual freedom, an argument
which is logical enough in the mouth of a Christian who
believes in innate depravity, and is taught to pray to be kept
out of temptation, but which, if you will allow me to say to,
is entirely out of place in the mouth of an Agnostic and an
American citizen.
"You, as an Agnostic, cannot believe in natural depravity,
and as an American, you ought to know that the same criti-
cism is launched at you by the Europeans on account of the
greater freedom you give to the youths of both sexes, and yet
you have no reason to believe but what their conduct is just
as good as that of their European brothers and sisters.
"No, our experience has shown us that we can better afford
to trust our young people than to mistrust them, and that if
we taught them right we could safely allow them to control
their own personal actions.
"Besides all these influences, our system is such as to induce
our apprentices to their best exertions, for it is those who
learn and improve, and show the most executive ability, who
advance in position. There is really more incentive to well
doing in our system than there is under private competition
for the best prizes are won by actual merit, and not by favor
or the privilege of birth.
"I have tried to explain to you, Mr. Balcom, how we try
to foster from the start the spirit which alone can make our
public policy a success. That is the base, the foundation,
which lacking would wreck all our efforts. Public institutions
are built upon private character, and the marked advance
we think we have made over other nations, we would soon
60
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
lose unless we cultivate the same spirit which animated our
predecessors."
This opinion of Mr. Wilton is worthy of a careful study.
If he is correct, then a change in public spirit must precede
a change in public institutions. The lessons of history would
show that he is right, for several times, under the leadership
of progressive men, nations have tried to advance further than
was warranted by the state of public knowledge, and after
short trials the ground gained was lost, and the people had
to fall back to their original institutions.
CHAPTER X.
ABOUT EDUCATION.
I am staying longer in Spencer than I had at first intended,
but I am enjoying myself at the hotel, where I have many
friends, and where reigns a home feeling which I had never
found in a hotel before.
This feeling is not due to the special character of the
guests, but is due to the social feeling among the employees
of the hotel, young and old. As their tasks are comparatively
light and they have much spare time, and as special efforts
are made to spend this time in common, they constitute a social
circle open at all times to the guests, and form the bond that
keeps this pleasant home feeling alive. Every afternoon quite
a number of people meet in the parlor, and every evening
some entertainment is provided.
I find that music is very much cultivated in Socioland, and
the children are taught to play and sing in the public schools.
ABOUT EDUCATION.
61
As
There are many good performers on several instruments among
the hotel people, and concerts are of frequent occurrence.
for dancing, it is the order of the day here, and children are
taught to dance almost as soon as they can walk. Besides
these social advantages, there is a good library in the hotel,
and it is well patronized.
On the other hand, there is very little style and it IS
not encouraged. Everything is nice and good, and all con-
veniences for comfort are provided for, but there is very little
for show. The table is well supplied, and the service sufficient
for those who are willing to eat at leisure.
One thing which makes it much easier for the people of
the hotel and which is characteristic of the habits of the
country, is that there is little or no travel at night.
In adjusting the time tables of public conveyances, the com-
fort of the employees is consulted as much as the desires of
the travelling public, and they are so arranged as to prevent
their being called upon to work at undue hours. That seemed
very strange to me at first, for it is an unheard of thing
among us that the convenience of the workers should be con-
sulted in the running of public conyevances, and I could not
understand that the travellers should be satisfied, but I learned
that it is one of the natural consequences of the emancipation
of the laborer from the thraldom of poverty.
In a country where a large part of the public labor is done
by the young people, and where wealth is so distributed that
want stares no one in the face, and where the attainment of
happiness is made the chief incentive to labor, it would be
unlogical to request the public employees to turn night into
day for the convenience of those who want to be carried at
night. Not that all night work can be dispensed with, only
it is reduced to its minimum.
Such a course would be impossible with us for everything
62
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
is rushed through at railroad speed, and the motto "Time is
money" is a true index of the practices of our country. But
here if time is also money, yet money is not valued above
comfort, and it will not buy the discomfort of a large portion
of the people as it will do among us.
You may remember that the first day of my arrival I was
presented to Miss Bell, whom Mrs. Wilton told me was the
daughter of one of the influential men of Spencer, one of the
class who among us would be a merchant prince and a finan-
cial power. I was very much pleased with
inuch pleased with her from that
evening, and as she seems to enjoy my society, we have be-
come very good friends indeed. She is not strikingly hand-
some, but is a pleasant looking girl of about nineteen years
of age. She is a little above the medium height, with fair
hair and honest blue eyes. One of those girls who improve
in looks as they advance in years, and make the best of wives
and mothers. I have not fallen in love with her, so my dear
Harry, do not weave a little romance at my expense, but I
find her well-informed and intelligent, and we enjoy conver
sing together. Miss Bell is as much interested in learning
something of our usages as I am in learning from her, and
it adds greatly to the pleasure of our conversation.
"Tell' me, Mr. Balcom," she said to me one evening as we
were sitting in the parlor, "how do girls of my age spend
their time in the United States?"
-
"Ah! Miss Bell," I replied, "that is too hard a question for
me to answer, for it depends very much in what station of
life they are born."
"That is true," she remarked, "I had forgotten you told me
that you have no public apprentices there. Do you know it
seems impossible to realize that there should be so much
difference in the education of children? Now here all have
an equal chance, and the only difference is what results from
ABOUT EDUCATION.
63
our special ability, or from the choice of vocations. But tell
me, how would I have been educated bad I been born in
the United States?"
"Well, Miss Bell, I will tell you as near as I can. You
would have lived in a very large house, surrounded by a great
many servants who would have waited on
you, and would
have been nearly all your society until you were old enough
to go to school.”
"What!" she exclaimed, "and my parents?"
"Oh! your father would have been too busy getting rich to
spend much time at home, and too tired and nervous to stand
the effervescence of your overflowing spirits, and as for your
mother, the demands of society would have absorbed all her
time, and she would have been compelled to leave you in the
care of the nursery maid.
"You would have been first sent to private school, then
to a finishing school until you were twenty years or more,
when you would have come out in society, and spent your
time in dressing, and making and receiving calls."
"Do you mean to say, Mr. Balcom, that I would have been
kept at school more than ten years of my life? And what do
these girls learn during all that time?"
"Really, Miss Bell, it is more than I can tell you. So far
as I can judge, what they learn they keep to themselves,
for 1 have never been able to detect it in their conversation.
I have some times asked them what they learned at school
and they would answer latin, algebra, geometry, chemistry,
etc., but I never could get them to tell me what was the
object of their studies, or how it was expected that it would
help them through life."
"But surely, Mr. Balcom, these girls do not spend all their
time in such studies. They must
They must be taught some practical
knowledge, something of housekeeping or cooking, or dressmaking.
64
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
Something that will be of use to them in their married life."
"All that must seem strange to you, Miss Bell. It ought to
be incredible, but it is a fact that in the United States the
daughters of rich men are not expected to do any useful
work in their life. What is expected of them is to adorn
society, and they are taught accomplishments to enable them
to fill in a graceful manner their appointed place. These
accomplishments would be well enough if these girls had a
useful background to hang them upon, but they know nothing
of life and its realities, and have no desirable aims or serious
purposes. They form among themselves a sort of mutual ad-
miration society, where the false coin of fashion passes in place
of the real currency of this busy world, and are failures so
far as the welfare of mankind is concerned.
"Of course you understand that I am talking now of the
daughters of our richest men, but unhappily they are the chil-
dren of our most energetic and intelligent citizens, those best
qualified to maintain a high standard of womanhood, and the
number of girls so educated is increasing all the time. Their
position makes them leaders in fashion, and all those persons
who want to raise themselves in society follow in their foot-
steps, and actually believe that this useless education is a mark
of distinction, and stamps its recipients as something superior
to the rest of humanity.
"We think we have made a great advance because we have
abolished the aristocracy of birth, but we have replaced it by
an aristocracy of wealth, and the lessons of history are re-
peating themselves. Our aristocracy, instead of cultivating the
qualities which have raised it above the common level, educate
their children in idleness and uselessness, and thus fail to
maintain the high standard they have attained, and demoralize
all below them by the pernicious example of their luxurious lives."
"I cannot help believe, Mr. Balcom, that it is only one side
ABOUT EDUCATION.
65
of the picture you are showing me now. You must have a
large number of girls who receive a practical and an intellec-
tual education, and who, like us here, can turn their hands
and brains to all kinds of useful occupations, possessing culture
and accomplishments, and feeling at home everywhere."
"Of course we have," I answered. "The force of circumstances
teaches many a girl the practical side of life, but it is not
looked upon favorably, even by the most sensible portion of
the community. The rich set the fashion, and all other classes
follow as far as their means will allow. You have
a check
here on such pernicious influences in your social institutions
which prevents the private accumulation of wealth, and trains
all your people to useful occupations, but we have no checks,
and the evil is running riot, aud is fast demoralizing society.
"The results of our system of education are just as bad among
the lower classes. Their children are not taught any useful
knowledge, such as would help them to rise in the world,
and our cities are full of girls who have to earn their living
and are thrown upon their own resources without any preparation.
You can have no idea, Miss Bell, of the misery of their ex-
istence. Ignorant, ill-paid, overworked, they are surrounded by
their rich sisters, who flaunt in their faces their carriages and
their silk dresses, and monopolize all the enjoyments.
"No, you cannot realize here how great a difference there is
in the education of our children, and how far from an equal
chance our system-or to be correct our lack of system-gives
them of reaching a desirable position in society."
"But, Mr. Balcom, if it is as you represent it, why do you
not adopt some system like ours?"
"You cannot understand," I answered, "how difficult it is
to make changes in old settled countries. Many of us want
a change, and in time will be sufficiently numerous to compel
a change. The dissatisfaction with the inequalities in conditions
66
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
is becoming greater every year, and it is one of the most
encouraging signs of the times.
"It is only of late that this dissatisfaction has dared to
manifest itself, for the religious beliefs of the past were
opposed to changes, and their tendency was to encourage abject
submission. For centuries the poor have been taught that God
had created the existing conditions of society, and that he had
chosen some to be rich and powerful, and others to be poor
and submissive, and that any attempt to change these social
relations was an act of rebellion against the decrees of an all-
wise Providence.
"Those are, I suppose, arguments against progress you never
heard before, and which would have. no effect on
you, and
you would probably laugh at the person who told you that
health or sickness, success or failure, happiness or misery, are
not the result of the wisdom or foolishness of our actions,
but the result of the will of God.
"Yet for ages this doctrine has been preached to us by
those who were regarded as best qualified to teach, and any
doubt as to its truth has been threatened with fearful pu-
nishment in a future existence. This doctrine is no longer
believed, although it is still preached and listened to with res-
pect, and the number of persons who believe that it is possible
to equalize the social conditions is yet far too small to enable
us to accomplish any important change.
"We are just emerging out of the toils of an iron-bound
spiritual despotism, which has held society so long in its em-
brace that now that its arms are beginning to be loosened
we are yet so cramped that very few realize that we are free
to stretch out and seek for a more comfortable position. We
commence to dare to express our belief that our position is
not as satisfactory as it might be, and to deny the claims of
those who oppose changes from fear that they might prove
誓
​ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS.
67
disastrous to their spiritual authority, but we are not yet far
enough advanced as a people to know how to modify our
public institutions.
"You can see, Miss Bell, by what I tell you, how much
there is to be done before we can improve a state of society
which is not only far from perfect, but fails utterly to promote
the highest happiness of the rich as well as of the poor."
CHAPTER XI.
ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS.
I had not realized, my dear Harry, until I conversed with
Miss Bell, how great a difference there is between their edu-
cation and ours, especially from a religious point of view. Here
was a young girl who had never entered a church or even
seen one, had never conversed with a preacher or been ap-
proached upon the subject of the salvation of her soul, and
never been told that there was any possible relation between
her beliefs and conduct here, and her happiness or misery
in a future existence.
The point which struck me was not the question of her
religious beliefs, for while I have never asked her, yet from
some words dropped in conversation I have reason to believe
that she leans toward Spiritualism, but that which interested
me was the fact, pure and simple, that her conduct was
entirely free from religious influences.
We have no such characters among us, at least I have never
seen any. We have unbelievers, agnostics, heathens even. The
slums contain many youths who have never entered a church
68
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
or attended Sabbath school, but still they have come in contact
with men and women who go to both, and their conduct is
influenced by what they hear from them. I doubt if any
person can be found but what has heard of the Ten Command-
ments and know that they are held in reverence by persons
that they themselves respect.
K
But not only this girl, but all these youths by whom I am
surrounded, live in a country where there is no church, no
Bible, no preachers, and where right" and wrong are judgel
entirely upon the desirable or undesirable results of their
actions.
What a different basis from ours! How flexible and open
to change a nation thus educated must be, compared to one
which is hampered by old traditions, and whose people respect
and obey ancient laws, not because they fulfil any useful
purpose, but because they are prefaced by a "Thus says
the Lord."
How it simplifies the solution of the social problem to place
it on a purely natural basis, by surrendering the belief that
somewhere there resides a creator who has promulgated laws
for the guidance of men, which are
are in direct opposition to
the laws that control the balance of the Universe, and who
compels obedience to these laws by rewards and punishments
outside of the realm of natural results.
me
It brought strongly to my mind what Mr. Walter had told
on the boat, that they had adopted a standard of conduct
in accord with the law of evolution, and which would greatly
facilitate progress. As I get a better insight into the philoso-
phy of these people, and learn to understand the beliefs which
guide their conduct, I realize how difficult it will be for us to
make any marked advance so long as we try to follow at the
same time the teachings of the Bible and the dictates of our
natural desires. We are a house divided against itself, and it
ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS.
69
helps us but little that our religious beliefs do not penetrate
deeper than the surface, and our obedience to the Bible is more
in form than reality.
The day after I had the conversation on education with
Miss Bell was Sunday, and in the morning as I sauntered in
the parlor after breakfast, she came to me and said: "You
know, I suppose, Mr. Balcom, that this is a holiday with us.
We cannot stop work entirely here, for there are many things
which have to be done, but we suspend all but the most
necessary occupations, and try to enjoy the day as much as
possible. My work is such as can be laid aside for the day,
and what little I have to do consists in helping those who
are not so well favored. But I have most of the day free,
and I would be pleased if you will come home with me and
get acquainted with my parents."
Of course I gladly assented, and not long after we started
to walk to their house. The streets were quiet, most all the
stores closed, and the people whom we met were in their holi-
day attire. In the course of the conversation 1 remarked to
Miss Bell that the absence of churches was something an
American would be sure to notice.
"It is true that we have no churches in Socioland," she
said, "and I have often wondered what people went to church
for. Can you explain to me what is the attraction which
takes them there?"
"Well, Miss Bell, I suppose it is habit more than anything
else which takes people to church now. It is one of those
duties which I told you of yesterday, that have been imposed
upon us by the iron hand of spiritual authority. You may
have heard that the Bible teaches that God created the
world in six days and rested on the seventh, and on that
account ordered that man should rest one day out of seven.
Of course no one believes that now, but still the consecration
70
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
1
of the seventh day to God's worship is upheld by men who
believe one thing and preach another, and law and public
opinion euforces it.
"Then some three thousand years ago, a Jewish k ng named
Solomon built God a fine temple, for it was believed in those
days that God took special pleasure in temples and had to be
worshipped there. So in imitation of Solomon, Christians built
churches everywhere and now, although they no longer believe
in such a God, and no longer go to church to worship him,
they go there to hear fine music, to listen or pretend to listen
to a flowery discourse on subjects that have lost their interest
for them, and to join in prayers which no longer come from
the heart and are addressed to God, but are elaborate compo-
sitions pronounced for the entertainment of the congregation.
And the force of habit is so great that churches are still
built, and people found to attend them, although the belief
which originally led to their construction and filled them
with sincere, but ignorant worshippers, has been entirely out-
grown.
"Do you understand now why it is so difficult to change
our institutions? From the standpoint of Socioland there are
no excuses for churches. The cost of their construction and
the salaries of the preachers are useless expenses, for they do
not contribute one iota to the public prosperity, or even preach
a scientific code of morality.
"There would be some excuse if an honest religious belief
was at the foundation of church-building and church-going, out
that belief is nearly entirely gone. No educated person now
believes in the six days' creation, or that God takes special
pleasure in expensive buildings, or in fine organs, or in famous
singers, and very, very few believe that to be a church member
secures a passport to Paradise.
"No, it all rests upon inherited habits. It is the habit to
ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS.
71
uphold the churches, so they are upheld. It is the habit to
say grace before meals, to open the sessions of legislatures
with prayer, to grind the poor, to monopolize the land, to
cheat the government, to settle all disputes by war, to spend
millions upon the army, and so these things go on and no
one dreams of changing them.
"But let any one propose something new, as for instance
any legislation which might curtail the power of the rich and
improve the condition of the poor, or promote a better distri-
bution of the land, or reduce the expenses of the army and
thus lighten the load on the shoulders of the workers, or a
diminution in the number of the hours of labor, then an outcry
is made by the conservative portion of society, for such dan-
gerous demands were never made before, and if not promptly
checked, the social edifice will be overthrown, and civilization
buried under its ruins."
I stopped abruptly, for I recognized that I had got unduly
excited, and I excused myself to Miss Bell. "I am afraid," I
said, "that you will think me
very uncourteous 10 allow
such a digression to take up our time this pleasant morning,
when agreeable thoughts alone ought to fill our minds. It
was very wrong in me to indulge in such fault-finding, but I
must acknowledge that I sometimes lose patience with these
nominal Christians who are trying to save their souls and gain
the whole world at the same time.
"What vexes me the most, Miss Bell, is that our best men
and women, many of whom earnestly desire to see the social
conditions improved, allow themselves to be turned aside from
an honest study of the best solution of the problems involved,
through fear that it might destroy the respect now entertained
for these ancient institutions."
"I do not know," Miss Bell remarked, "that I correctly
understand you. I can see that your people do many things
72
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
that we would not think of doing, and you seem to think that
they have no better reason for it except that it used to be
thought the right thing in the past."
"Precisely so," I answered. "Thus if our ancestors had never
gone to church, never observed the Sunday, the reasons now
given would not be deemed sufficient to establish the custom.
This matter of church-going is in itself of small importance,
but it shows the tendency to hold on to old habits which
prevents more important changes."
"Then, Mr. Balcom, the trouble seems to be in the conser-
vative character of the people as much as in their religion."
"Yes and no. Not in the special religion, for the Buddhists
and the Mahomeddans are yet more conservative than we are,
but the influence of all so-called revealed religions is to chrys-
talyze the character and customs and thus prevent improvement.
"At the beginning, when first promulgated, they are a great
force to impel forward civilization, but when their work is
accomplished, and their strength has spent itself, they cannot
be modified to suit the new conditions they themselves have
helped to create, for they are supposed to come directly from
God, so all the influence of their believers is exerted to pre-
vent changes which would leave all their paraphernalia high,
dry and useless. The more useful a religion has been in the
past, the stronger is the hold it has taken upon the people, and
the more difficult it is to hrow off the fetters it has placed
upon its followers.
"But let us drop the subject, and now that I have told you
about our national ideas upon keeping the Sunday, and why
we go to church, please tell me how you spend the day here."
"Really, Mr. Balcom, there is very little to tell, for we have
no special way of spending it, except as a day of rest and
pleasure. It is the day of family gatherings, of feasts and
picnics. We visit on that day more than upon any other, and
HOUSEKEEPING IN SOCIOLAND.
73
public entertainments are provided for by the Townships, such
as music in the parks, and dances. Those who are intellectu-
ally inclined can attend lectures and debates in our public halls,
and we have also free excursions on the lake, rivers and rail-
roads, although not very often on account of the extra work
it gives to many persons who thus lose their chance of Sunday
recreation. Every one spends his time as he chooses, and
really the greatest difficulty is to select among the many
pleasant ways provided for our amusement.
"But this is our house we are coming to, and I will have
the pleasure of introducing you to my father and mother, and
to the balance of the family."
CHAPTER XII
HOUSEKEEPING IN SOCIOLAND.
Mr. Pell is a good-looking gentleman, yet in the prime of
his strength and activity, and impressed me as possessing great
will power and a sound judgment. He is heavily built, with
a round head, keen gray eyes, a strong face, every lineament
well defined. His wife is quick and impulsive, slender, with
a refined face, and black hair and hazel eyes. They have two
sons, one older and the other younger than their daughter.
With the oldest one, a thriving young lawyer, I struck quite
an acquaintance later on.
I was received very pleasantly by the family, and it seemed
quite natural that the daughter should have invited me to
spend the day at their house.
"We are very glad to see you, Mr. Balcom," Mrs. Bell said
74
THE "FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
-I
to me after I had been introduced. "Mary has told us about
you and how interested she is in all you tell her about the
older countries. It is something new" to her to hear about
them, just as a great deal of what you see here must be new
to you also."
I assented to her remarks, and thinking that it would be a
good opportunity to learn something of the way in which
their new institutions affected the female portion of the popu-
lation, I turned the conversation in that direction by asking
Mrs. Bell if they did not find it very difficult to hire house
help in Socioland.
1
"Yes, of course," she answered. "It is not only difficult, but
it is impossible here to have servants such as you are
used to. Whoever we get to help us in the house we must
treat as one of the family. Nobody would submit here to eat
at a different table, receive their company in the kitchen, or
sleep in a cupboard under the roof. You see our system of
apprenticeship has a great influence upon the character of
our girls. In the first place, the Commonwealth controls all
their time from the age of fourteen until they are twenty.
During that time these girls are much thrown together, often
indeed dwell in the same house, eat at the same table, sleep
in the same room, work in the same department, and associate
in the same pleasures. It is not to be expected that girls so
trained would be willing to accept a menial's position in a
private family, especially as there are plenty of other occu-
pations open to their choice, for everyone coming out of the
training school is well fitted to earn her living in whatever
direction she may prefer. There are girls who like to do
house-work, and are willing to help in private families, but
they must be treated as equals and not as servants, and we
have to pay them as good a salary as they would earn
book-keepers or clerks in a store."
as
HOUSEKEEPING IN SOCIOLAND.
75
"That, Madam," I rejoined, "must be very pleasant for the
girls, but cannot prove so satisfactory for those ladies who
must either do their work without help, or must sulmit to
close association with persons who may not be at all congenial
to their tastes."
"I think that on the whole, Mr. Balcom, our system is
preferable to yours, at least so far as I understand the way in
which servants are treated in other countries. If idleness was
the chief aim of woman, and happiness was reached by com-
ing in daily contact with persons without education or culture
it would be different, but we would strongly object to bringing
into our houses the class of persons on
of persons on whom your women
depend for the help they believe they must have. You may
relegate your servants to the kitchen, and build back stairs for
their especial use, and keep them at arm's length as much as
possible, but the fact remains that they are a discordant ele-
ment in the household, and while they may cater to the
luxurious habits of your female population, it is not
is not to be
wondered at that there should be so much dissatisfaction as
we hear exists with your servant system.
"Your women do not seem to look at this question in that
light. They hire help to do their work, and if it is done in
a satisfactory manner and at a reasonable price, they are
willing to accept the annoyance of the daily contact as a
necessary result.
"To us, who have never been used to the class from whom
you draw your servants, for it does not exist here, the an-
noyance would be much greater, and I would never
never consent
to bring into my home a person with whom I would be
unwilling to associate on terms of equality."
"I know, Madam," I answered, "that there is much com-
plaint at home about the servants. In the United States
labor is so much better paid than in Europe, and so many
76
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH,
more chances are open to the women to otherwise earn their
living, that if it were not for the inmigration, from the
older countries, the supply would fall short of the demand.
As it is, our help occupies a middle position between yours
and that of Europe. We have many ladies who would prefer
to do their work alone, but who find that they cannot stand
it and at the same time keep their place in society. Their
health and strength fails them, and they have to get help
as a measure of self-preservation. How is it that you can
manage it here, and are satisfied with all the burden of
housekeeping resting upon you?"
"Mr. Balcom, the burden of housekeeping is largely what
we make it ourselves, and if it is too heavy for us, it is usu-
ally our own fault. You will find that those ladies whose
strength fails in doing their work, are trying to live in the
same style as those who keep help. That is a pretty big un-
dertaking, but there is worse yet. Your leaders in society
not only have servants, but they have many more than they
need, and are using their power in trying to outshine their
less fortunate sisters, who, unwilling to be outdone, put out
all their efforts to make what they call a respectable appear-
ance. Is it surprising if they find it a hopeless struggle,
and if they are compelled to hire help to enable them to
make even a faint show of keeping up with the inflated style
of living expected from all those who have some pretension
to education and culture?
"We have got rid of that pernicious influence. We have
no inordinately rich class to set up a false standard of life,
no fashionable class to create useless wants and to inaugurate
senseless fashions. Our fools-and I am sorry to say we
have some yet among us-are in the minority, and instead
of setting up for models, as with you, have to conform their
conduct to that of the sensible portion of the community.
HOUSEKEEPING IN SOCIOLAND.
77
* "You can understand that this difference in
our standard
of living, which leads us to eschew all unnecessary display, is
a great help to us. We aim to retain all the comfort possible,
but those willing to live plainly can attain a great deal of
comfort with a very reasonable amount of work. Besides, it
is the policy of the Commonwealth to make life in Socioland
as pleasant as possible, and the lightening of the labors of
the women has not been forgotten in planning their public
institutions. One of the most unpleasant features of house-
keeping does not exist among us. I mean the washing and
ironing of clothes. This is done free of charge by the Town-
ships. In every Town there are public laundries where that
work is done, and every week the cart comes around and takes
away our soiled clothes and brings them back when clean. It
is a great relief and a great saving of time, for it is a work
which can be done much better and quicker in buildings which
are fitted with proper mechanical appliances, than it can be
done at home."
"I would have expected," I remarked, "to see such work
done by private co-operation, but I find that the system does
not meet with much favor with you."
"No, it does not," answered Mrs. Bell. "You see, co-ope-
rative laundries would only benefit a portion of the population,
and cleanliness, which is said to be next to godliness, ought to
be in reach of every one, especially of those who have the least
time and money to spare. We have some co-operative enter-
prises, but the people do not seem ready to adopt the system
in its closest relations where it would cause too much friction.
We are making slow progress in that direction, and every
year some families unite their fortunes and keep house toge-
ther, but such experiments require for success special qualifi-
cations in character which are not yet common, although they
are certainly increasing among us.
}
(
78
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
"But it is in public co-operation that we are succeeding best.
For instance, by its help we have inaugurated a reform in
visiting which has added to our leisure and enjoyment, and
at the same time reduced our expenses and the labor of
housekeeping. We have abolished the private parlor at home,
and in its place the Towns have built Club houses where all
our visiting is done. Instead of spending much time and
money in keeping the best room ready to receive company,
and having our time taken up in making or receiving calls,
we see each other at the Club, where comfortable rooms are
always open, and where we go whenever we feel disposed and
can spare the time.
"This is comparatively a late innovation, and is the result
of our peculiar condition. We found that we were drifting ·
into a position where we must cease to visit at all except
our most intimate friends, or let visiting take more of our
time than was convenient under the circumstances. So we put
our heads together, and after full discussion decided that the
best remedy was for the Towns to erect buildings for social
purposes, and very soon one was built for an experiment.
The results were so satisfactory that now they are found all
over the land, and formal calls are no longer known in So-
cioland. These Club houses are provided with comfortable
parlors, music and reading rooms, and are open to all. They
not only relieve us from the tediousness of formal calls, but
furnish a pleasant place to spend a few hours, and help to
keep up the social life among us.
"Thus you see, Mr. Balcom, that we have learned to relieve
ourselves from too great a pressure at both ends of the social
scale, and intend to make more progress in the same direction.
The aims of the people have much to do with the march of
improvement, and we must expect that ours will take a dif
ferent course from what it has followed in other countries.
HOUSEKEEPING IN SOCIOLAND.
79
"In Furope, for instance, the rich have mastered the art of
enjoying life, and of enhancing by all means in their power
the pleasure of their existence, while all the efforts of the
poor have been directed toward catering to that desire of
the rich, so as to earn the necessary means to satisfy their own
wants. The result has been that the genius and labor of that
country have been turned in the direction of striving to please
the taste and gratifying the whims of the owners of accu-
mulated wealth. In your country, its immense resources have
encouraged the creation and acquisition of wealth, and in
that direction your powers are turned.
"Here our aims are changed. We have no rich class to
cater to, nor any prospect of accumulating large amounts of
wealth. It is not the individuals but the Commonwealth that
is rich, and our efforts are directed to the increase of the
comfort and happiness of all, women not excepted. Up to
this time, the Commonwealth has had enough to do in placing
within the reach of all its citizens those every-day comforts
which in your land are the prerogative only of those who
are said to be in easy circumstances, but we are fast in-
creasing in public wealth, and expect soon to make further
improvements which will make life still more pleasant and
enjoyable.
claims of the women will not
"When that time comes, the
be forgotten, for here we are a political as
political as well as a social
power, and we have
as much voice as the men in the
management of the Commonwealth, but really 1 must say
that we have little need to exert our influence, for the men
are very considerate of us, and are always studying means by
which they can make our tasks easier or our lives morc
pleasant."
Just then we were called to dinner by the younger brother,
and adjourned to the next room where a plain meal was ready
80
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
A
for us.
Miss Mary and her brothers had quietly gone out of
the room while we were talking and had set the table. We
all sat around the board, and were, soon engaged in a general
conversation which was very interesting and lively, but which
did not run on such topics as I have been writing to you,
and on that account I will not try to reproduce it here.
CHAPTER XIII.
A TRUE COMMONWEALTH.
After dinner we adjourned to the garden, and soon Mr. Bell
remarked that he judged from my conversation that I was
interested in their public policy, and that if I wished he
would explain some things which he thought might interest
me. Of course I was glad to avail myself of such an oppor.
tunity, and expressed my willingness to hear whatever he
might wish to say.
"The United States is a very rich country," he commenced,
"but it cannot by any means be called a Commonwealth, for
all the means of production are held in private hands, and
very few or none are held in common. We believe in a true
Commonwealth, and aim to make it rich so as to benefit the
whole people. As wealth cannot be created by individual
effort alone, but is the result of the combined industry of the
whole people, it is but common justice that as far as possible
the whole nation should profit by its increased production.
"As a result of your extreme individualism, you have no
public wealth to be handed down from generation to gene-
ration, and the child of the poor man does not benefit in any
A TRUE COMMONWEALTH.
81
2
degree by the labor of his ancestors, for long before his birth
all the valuable property in the country has passed into the
hands of the capitalists, and he has to work just as hard to
supply his wants as his parents did before him. The laborer
draws his wages day by day, it is true, but the capitalist draws
his interest, or his rent, or his profit, and besides reaps the
whole benefit of the increased value of all investments, or
what we call the unearned increment, which always follows
the gradual improvement of the country.
"Such a condition of things is not just, and the philosophy
on which it is based has been entirely repudiated by us. We
believe it is both the protecting care of society, and the co-
operation of capital and labor which makes this unearned
increment possible, and that the whole Commonwealth ought
to profit by it as far as conditions permit.
"And now let me explain to you how we went to work to
establish what we consider a true Commonwealth.
"The founders of Socioland, as you know, came from the
United States. They had seen in less than two centuries the
whole wealth of the nation pass into the hands of a privileged
class. The land was held by a few while multitudes were
homeless; gold and silver mines yielded their riches into the
hands of a few millionaires, who conjointly with the money-
kings controlled the financial policy of the nation; the coal
mines were in the hands of monopolists who checked the
output so as to create an artificial scarcity; the railroads, in-
stead of being managed in the interests of the people, were
manipulated for purposes of speculation, or combined so as to
prevent competition. Everywhere, private individuals, either
singly, or banded in limited numbers, were striving to accumu-
late fortunes by compelling the consumer to pay them tribute,
and using all lawful means to give fictitious value to the
property in their hands.
82
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
"These results were not due to any of the causes from
which the oppressed peoples of Europe had suffered. There
was no aristocracy with vested rights, no kings to give away
the people's substance to court favorites, no standing army to
prey on the wealth of the nation. They were the outcome
of perfect freedom in competition, and of the policy which
had thrown open to all comers the chances of taking and keeping
possession of all the means of production. Individualism in
economics had run mad, and the weakest members of society
had been crowded to the wall in the unequal struggle.
"Our predecessors decided rightly that they would provide
against such results here, and that measures should be taken
to prevent the monopoly by individuals of the means of
production.
"The first thing to be done was to create a fund which
would enable the Commonwealth to carry on its own business
enterprises. That was not an easy undertaking, for when they
came here they brought but little wealth with them, and
what they did bring was private property. The Commonwealth
could, of course, have taxed some of that property, or it could
have borrowed it, but either course would have been opposed
to the policy they wanted to inaugurate. Taxation in any
form is always objectionable, and borrowing is worse, for none
can lend but the rich, and it is placing a mortgage upon; the
labor of the country for their benefit. Both borrowing and
taxation are crude methods practised by nations ignorant of
the laws which ought to control social interests, and would
long ago have been abolished, were it not that through
their agency the rich contrive to throw all the financial burdens
on those who labor.
"No, the first settlers managed the business of the Common-·
wealth precisely as a wise young man starting in life would
have managed his own. They husbanded their resources, and
A TRUE COMMONWEALTH.
83
kept their expenses below their receipts. The first money
which came into their hands was made by providing the people
with a medium of exchange. Treasury notes were issued and
made a legal tender for all debts, and no other money was
recognized as having a legal existence. Then the land was
thrown open for settlement, and rights of occupancy sold which
helped to fill the Treasury.
"With the funds thus secured, the Commonwealth started
the wholesale trade and the business of common carrier. Of
course it was slow work at first, but it was for the common
interest to see the public fund increase and prosper, and by
good management and economy the profits accumulated till
ample means were provided for all public enterprises.
"Yet it took nearly twenty-five years before the Common-
wealth felt rich enough to commence repaying to its citizens
the returns secured by their abstinence, but now that we are
receiving the full benefits accrued to us by the wise policy
of our parents, we can bless them for the rich inheritance
they have secured to us. They have planted the seed, and
it has grown and prospered, and every year it gives us a
plentiful harvest.
"Now, Mr. Balcom, if you will tell me what is the amount
of taxation in the United States, I will try and show you
the difference it makes to the working people between our
policy and yours."
"I cannot tell you positively," I answered, "for we have city,
county, state and federal taxes, and they are levied in so many
different ways that there are no means of learning the exact
amount of our taxation, but I suppose that each person must
contribute at least twenty dollars a year to support our dif
ferent governments."
"Taking your estimate as proximately correct," continued
Mr. Bell, "and if there is one able-bodied man to every four
84
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
persons, we find that each one has to produce eighty dollars a
year to help pay public expenses.
"Here we have no taxes at all. Instead the Commonwealth
has an income over and above all expenses of twenty-five
dollars to each person, or one hundred dollars to each able-
bodied man.
"We have now here about one million inhabitants, and our
surplus income is over twenty-five million dollars, earned in
our import and export and wholesale trade, our transportation
agencies and our insurance policies. As the Commonwealth
has accumulated over four hundred million dollars of capital,
you can see that our surplus income only represents a fair
interest on the capital invested, and not one cent for profit.
‛ { €
"This income, earned in common, is spent for the common
good and in promoting the comfort of all. A large proportion
is re-invested every year in improvements calculated to increase
the producive power of the Commonwealth, and in developing
its natural resources. What in your land is left to private.
enterprise, acting purely from selfish impulses, and regardless
of the best interests of the nation, is done by us under the
broader principle of a wise and scientific development of our
producing power, and no money is spent in permanent impro-
vements until a thorough scientific investigation has been made
to see that they co-ordinate with the plans which have been
previously decided upon as offering the best prospect of pro-
moting public success. The industrial development of Socioland
bears to that of the United States the same relation that the
systematic drainage of a large tract of land would bear to
the drainage of the same land by a number of individuals or
private corporations, each working for private advantage and in
competition with the interest of others.
"Besides the capital we thus invest each year, a large amount
of our surplus earnings is spent for the direct comfort of the
*
A TRUE COMMONWEALTH.
85
people. It is now over one half, and as our pro lucing power
increases, the proportion we can thus spend will increase also.
"My wife told you about our public laundries and our Club
honses, and you have seen our parks and know of our schools,
but you may not know that the bread cart furnishes to all-
the citizens, free of cost, all the bread they wish to consume,
or that both gas and water are free in every house,
or that
we pension the aged and the needy, and have free hospitals
and asylums.
"Thus you see, Mr. Balcom, we have reason to congratulate
ourselves upon the results of the policy inaugurated by the
founders of Socioland, but there is another advantage which it
is difficult to estimate in dollars and cents, and yet which
must not be forgotten. It is the great reduction in the price
of all necessaries of life. A reduction which has not been
effected by forcing down the wages of the working men, but
by eliminating from our Commonwealth all methods through
which one class of people can live at the expense of the other:
Rent, interest and profit are kept within reasonable bounds
and the heavy load they place on the shoulders of labor has
almost disappeared.
"You can see now the difference in the prospects of a child
who is born here and one born in other countries. If born in
the United States, as soon as he commences to produce, he will
be taxed eighty dollars a year to maintain the government,
and in return has been educated at public expense, and will
be protected in his civil and political rights. The country he
is ushered into has long ago passed into the hands of indivi-
duals or corporations who look upon such as he as tools in
their hands to increase their wealth. His predecessors, instead
of saving and investing property, borrowed money and left it
as a mortgage on his work in the form of a public debt.
"Of Commonwealth there is none, and while there is a large
86
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
amount of producive capital, it is all in private hands, and
the child of poor parents has little to be thankful for that
his lot in life has fallen in what is called a civilized country
for all that which makes life desirable is already appropriated,
and his education only makes more galling the load he has
to bear.
"Here the child finds himself in entirely different conditi ons.
No taxes to pay, no idle class to support, no monopolies to
levy tolls on his labor. Instead a well-invested public fund of
four hundred million dollars, of which he is a share-holder, and
which will help .him to raise himself to the position his na-
tural capacities enable him to occupy. It will not destroy his
incentive to improvement, or make him the equal of his fellow-
citizens, but it will insure him a standing place in the com-
munity, from which he can raise himself as high as his abilities
will allow him.
"All these results are attained without curtailing individual
enterprise, or preventing any one from getting all the property
they can use to their advantage, or which is necessary to
minister to their comfort. It is simply due to a policy which
prevents the monopoly of natural resources, and the excessive
accumulation of wealth in private hands."
1 have here, my dear Harry, given you more the substance
than the form of our conversation, for we spoke of many other
things, and the ladies
were not so entirely left out as my
account would make it appear, for in this advanced state the
women are interested in public affairs, and not only vote, but
hold positions of trust. But the conversation was mostly carried
on by Mr. Bell, his wife and children having a natural respect
for his opinions, and allowing him to explain the working of
their institutions, only occasionally putting in a remark here
and there.
A PLEASANT RIDE.
87
CHAPTER XIV.
A PLEASANT RIDE.
Toward the middle of the afternoon Miss Bell proposed that,
if I thought I would enjoy it, we take a ride to the park
and out in the suburbs of the Town.
Of course such an offer was not to be refused, and as Mr.
Bell keeps a very neat turnout, not
elapsed till I found myself seated at her side.
a long space of time
Miss Bell held the reins, and turning to me said: "I have
offered to take you to the park, Mr. Balcom, but if you prefer
it we can drive some other way."
+
“No, Miss Mary," I answered. "I place myself in your hands
and I am sure I shall enjoy myself wherever we go."
"Then if you leave it with me," said Miss Bell, "I will
first take you to the park that you may see how we enjoy
ourselves, and after we will drive out in the country."
So we drove along the street where Mr. Bell lives, and
soon reached the river on which Spencer is built. The park,
situated on that river, is very large and is left quite wild.
Except at the entrance, where a portion is laid out in walks
aud drives, and ornamented with lawns and flowers, it has been
left almost entirely in its natural state, except that roads and
paths have been cut in available places, and rough benches
and tables constructed for the convenience of the picnickers.
The park contains also a large music stand with a dancing
floor attached to it, where a merry and noisy crowd was en-
joying itself heartily. Merry-go-rounds, swings, shooting galleries
and all the many amusements usually found at fairs were
there in abundance, and the whole place seemed to be given
up to harmless enjoyment.
►
88
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
The woods and lawns were full of pleasure parties, many
seeming to have spent the day there, having set up their
croquets and hammocks, and otherwise having made themselves
entirely at home.
After taking in the sights in the park, we struck out for
the country on a road skirting the river. The day was beau-
tiful, the air had become cool, and as we sped along at a
fine rate I found my position very pleasant, and as I leaned
back on my seat, thinking of all I had heard and seen since
my arrival in Spencer, 1 seemed to realize more and
the advantages enjoyed by the people of this favored Common-
wealth, and turning to my companion, I said to her:
more
"Miss Mary, you must be very happy here, for your posi-
tion in life is pleasant indeed, and you live in a community
where the people certainly possess the art of enjoying
themselves."
Miss Bell paused a moment before answering, seeming to be
in deep thought, but finally remarked. "Yes my life is very
happy, but really I have never given the subject much thought.
You see
our days flow on so evenly that we enjoy our hap
piness as a matter of course. All our lives are pleasant here,
mine no more than those of the people with whom I live."
"But Miss Bell," I remarked, "has all your life been happy?
Did you not have an unpleasant time when you left your
home and went to live among strangers? Please tell me a little
about your early life and your school days."
"There is really very little to tell, Mr. Balcom. I think
here every one is kind to children and tries to make them
happy. My earliest recollections are of the pleasant time I
had with my parents while yet a little girl, of long walks and
rides, of helping mother in the lightest tasks of house-work, and
of how proud I was when I could feel that I had been of
some use. Then my parents helped me to learn how to read
A PLEASANT RIDE.
89
and write, and I soon appreciated the pleasure I received
from study, so as I grew older and began to understand the
alvantages of knowledge, was eager enough to get all the
information within my reach.
"I never went to school until I was ten years of age, and
by that time I had acquire with a little help from my
parents the rudiments of an English education, and had gone
as far as I could without teachers. So I was glad to receive
help from competent persons who had ample time to devote
to me. In school I found myself among children of my age
or older, who were also interested in their studies and needed
no urging from their teachers. Yes indeed, those were plea-
sant days when we commenced to drink deep at the fountain
of knowledge, and our minds began to appreciate the beauties
and wonders of nature. Botany, astronomy, chemistry, physic,
history, geography, were taught to us,
to us, and we liked our
studies so well that the time seemed far too short for all we
wanted to learn."
"But," I remarked, "were not those interesting studies
mixed with some not so pleasant? What about many subjects
which are not supposed to have much interest for young girls,
but which they must learn if they want to be thoroughly
educated?”
"Of course, Mr. Balcom, all studies did not have the same
interest for us, but we never were requested to learn what
we did not want to. For instance, if a scholar did not wish
to study arithmetic, the teacher would explain to him its use,
and how much he would need it in his work, but no effort
would be made to compel him, and if he could not see that
it would be for his advantage to study it, the teacher would
simply tell him that he was the one to decide, for if a mis-
take was made he would be the one to suffer from it.
"Some special studies, as geometry and algebra were only
90
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
undertaken by those who had a taste for them, and teachers
were provided for those who had a taste for artistic parsnits.
"And thus the few years that were spent at school passed
all too quickly, and left a very pleasant impression behind."
"From what you tell me," I said, "I juige that the same
difference exists between the methods of education here and
ours, as exists between all our public institutions. With us,
scholars are made to study, whether interested or not, and no
efforts are made to teach them the benefits that will follow
from their education, except that it is the usual and proper
course to take for children in their social position. You, on
the other hand, induce the children to study by helping them
to increase their knowledge of those things which interest
them, and by explaining to them the help they will receive
in their future carreers from the knowledge that is placed
within their reach."
"I do not know how it is in other countries," replied Miss
Bell, "but I know that in Socioland very litte compulsion is
ever used. We are told that if we desire to attain certain
ends, certain means must be used, and we are left free to use
those means or neglect them as we choose. But let ine
assure you that very few of us neglect them, and that the
spirit of improvement and the desire to learn
learn are so strong
that our teachers are more anxious to restrain than to urge.
On that account the hours of study are short, and as much
out of door exercises intermingled as possible. Many studies
are taught in pleasant talks in the open air, and short lectures
given us in our rambles."
" think I have been told, Miss Bell, that the time of ap-
prenticeship for girls commences in their fourteenth year. If
that is the case, your school days are soon over.
but four years, if I count right?"
You have
"Yes, you are right, and then we enter into an
entirely
A PLEASANT RIDE.
91
different, but not unpleasant life. We are expected at that
time to have arrived at an age when we can appreciate the
need of work, and the necessity that we should fit ourselves
for the battle of life. We are taught while
We are taught while at school, that
all the advantages we enjoy here are the result of man's
and woman's labor, and that incessant care is needed for their
maintenance, and we are impressed with the fact that when
old enough we shall be enrolled in the army of workers who
are engaged in taaintaining and increasing the welfare of
the Commonwealth. Thus we are led to realize that we will
turn become useful members of society.
in our
in us.
"It is with those feelings that we enter upon our term of
apprenticeship, and we are proud of the trust which is placed
When I was fourteen my name was enrolled among
the apprentices, and I was directed to make my choice between
the vacant places offered by the different Managers. The two
first years we are requested to do housework, and to commence
with the most simple and easy occupations, so I entered in
the hotel where I am now, and made myself useful in the
housekeeping department. But except that I had to live
away from home there was nothing unpleasant about it. The
work was light, for there is always an abundance of help,
and I had many hours I could devote to study. I have some
taste for music, and could find all the time I wanted to prac-
tice, and had good teachers to help me along.
"At the end of two years I was allowed to make my choice
of the kind of occupation I wanted to perfect myself in, and
as my taste led me more toward office work than to house-
keeping, I devoted less time to my horse duties and commenced
to learn short-hand, type-writing and book-keeping, and was
set to work in the office. As other girls left, I had more
work put under my charge, so that now I have all the cor-
respondence and most of the books under my supervision. It
92
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
is work I like, I have all the help I need, all the leisure I
can enjoy, and you see I have good reasons to be satisfied."
"But, Miss Bell," I said, "this will not
not last. In one
year from now all that will be changed. You will be through
with your term of apprenticeship and you will have to leave
the hotel, for I do not suppose that Mr. Wilton can afford
to keep you when he will have to pay you a salary."
"I do not know, Mr. Balcom, what I shall do when that
time comes.
Our motto here is, 'Care not for the morrow,
for sufficient unto the day is the Good thereof,' but I know
that if it does not suit Mr. Wilton to keep me,
I can find
plenty of occupations to choose from. I may get married, or
I can return home and help mother, or start in business for
myself, or find employment in some public or private office.
Oh! no, we are never troubled with lack of opportunities here,
the difficulty is all the other way,
all the other way, to select from the many
openings offered to us."
"I suppose, Miss Mary, that the same liberty is given to
all in selecting a vocation?"
"Certainly, all have the same liberty, but all, boys and
girls, are required to start at the hottom of the industrial
scale, and to stay there some time too. They run errands,
help the older persons, and learn the A. B. C. of the indus-
trial alphabet. But as new recruits come in, they are promot-
ed, until having mastered the rudiments of industrial knowl-
edge, they are allowed to select the special branch in which
they wish to perfect themselves, and places are found for
them according to their desires.
"Had I desired to learn housekeeping, I would have been
put in charge of some minor departments, and gradually
promoted to the higher ones. If I had selected teaching, a
place would have been found for me in the schools. What-
ever we choose, we are helped to make it a success, but no
A PLEASANT RIDE.
93
*
compulsion is ever used, and we are left free to decide for
ourselves the occupation in which we desire to improve our
opportunities."
are
"Yes! yes! I see." I could not help saying. "You rely upon
kindness and intelligence. You instruct your young people in
the construction of society, and show them the relation which
exists between useful knowledge and success and happiness.
Our children have no such teachings, and most of them
led to believe that their success or failure will depend on a
lucky or unlucky chance. Very few of our youths have any
idea of the relation which exists between their education and
their success in life. Education is accepted by most of them
as one of the requirements of their position, and not as a
means to a well-defined end.
"Of course many of them, as their minds mature, see that
it is a mistake and commence to study with an intelligent
purpose, but they are left to make the discovery for themselves,
and the majority of our boys and girls never find it out, and
only study because they are made to, and because it is the
proper thing in the class to which they belong."
Our conversation after this drifted away from that subject,
and after a very pleasant ride of several miles through a
rich and well cultivated country, we returned to the city,
and I was kindly invited by the family to spend the evening
with them.
94
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
CHAPTER XV.
THE LAND QUESTION.
You know, my dear Harry, that among the many social
questions which influence the welfare of humanity, there is
none of more importance, or which at this time has been
more discussed, than the ownership of land.
The absolute ownership of the soil, as enforced in Europe
and America, has given rise to so many abuses, has enabled
individuals and corporations to get possession of such vast tracts,
and to ask such enormous prices for desirable parcels of land,
that it is everywhere recognized as one of the great factors.
in the inequality of wealth, and a great impediment to the
equitable distribution of products.
On the other hand it is argued by the conservative mem-
bers of society, that the absolute ownership of land by the
individuals is necessary for the best improvement of the soil,
and that unless owners are certain of reaping the benefits of
their labors, they will only skim the surface and spend neither
time nor money in those improvements which must be made
if the country is to attain its highest development.
You are as familiar as 1 with all the arguments, pro. and
con., of this momentous question, as well as with the many
schemes which have been proposed to reconcile the interests
involved.
I was aware, from what Mr. Walter had told me, that they
had a somewhat different land tenure in Socioland from that
which obtains with us, and I was glad of the opportunity
offered by an evening spent with Mr. Bell to get some infor-
mation from him on the subject. I feel that he is a clear-
THE LAND QUESTION.
95
headed, well-informed man, whose opinions ought to have
weight, and who would not willingly color any statement he
should make. So I took the first convenient occasion to broach
the subject.
"This land question," he said, "is one of the most difficult
we had to contend with, and we cannot claim to have settled
it yet, nor is it likely to be settled for ages to come. Noth-
ing short of a state of perfect millenium, a time when pro-
duction will have become so large as to supply all possible
wants, and when centuries of peace and prosperity will have
so softened all hearts, and so bound men together as to destroy
the incentive to private interests, will enable men to reconcile
public and private claims to the ownership of land.
"But if we have not reached that stage, I believe we have
made some advance, and our system, if still open to objections,
is yet greatly preferable to that
that which obtains in other
countries.
"I could in a few words explain to you what our system
is, but I think you will understand us better if I go back a
little and explain to you our position from the beginning. It
will take a little more time, but it will be more satisfactory
in the end."
I signified my assent and Mr. Bell continued.
"The foundation of our system was established before my
time, but the traditions of the first settlement of the country
were part of my early education, and if I did not participate
in the events of those days, I lived on terms of intimacy with
those who took an active part in the decisions of those times.
"Our predecessors had seen enough in the United States to
make them keenly alive to the evils of private ownership of
land, and they decided unanimously that the Commonwealth
would retain for ever the control of the land, but that all
persons who desired to settle and improve some of it, should
96
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
be allowed to acquire a right of occupancy to a vacant tract,
and that this right should hold good against all private inte-
rests, but should be forfeited to the Commonwealth upon the
payment of actual damages, whenever the land was needed
for public purposes.
"After so much had been decided upon, the next question
which presented itself was this: Should this right be a free
gift or should it be paid for? Should it be for a limited or
unlimited number of acres? These questions were soon forced
upon the new community. When the site for the city of
Spencer had been decided upon, there soon manifested itself
a natural desire from each one to possess as well-located and
as large a tract as possible. On the other hand, the Common-
wealth needed money, and was anxious to secure funds without
resorting to taxation.
“The result of these contending forces was that, after special
tracts had been reserved for public use, the land was divided
into zones, commencing at the centre of the city. In the
inner zone no one could occupy more than one acre, in the
next zone the limit was placed at five acres, in the next at
ten acres, while it was decided that thirty acres for one per-
son, or sixty for a married couple, would be the largest tract
granted, even at the furthest extremity of the Commonwealth,
and taking in consideration the public need of money, and
the desire that all should have the same chance to the land
of their choice, it was decided unanimously to sell the tracts
at auction."
"And did the plan succeed?" I asked, "and is the public
satisfied, and does it still regulate the ownership of the soil?"
"Yes," answered Mr. Bell. "It proved in the main satis-
factory, and not nearly as liable to abuse as the
the old system.
The plan is the same, but we have reduced the size of the lots
to suit the needs of our increased population, for
you know
THE LAND QUESTION.
97
that we claim that it is one of the advantages of our institu-
tions that we can change our policy to suit the needs of the
times.
but as the
"No changes were needed for many years,
country became settled, small business centers began to grow
in many directions, and new Townships had to be established,
and thus new and independent zones had to be marked out.
At the sites selected for the business locations of these new
Townships, many persons had to be dispossessed of their
rights because the land was needed for public use. They
were repaid the money they had paid at first, and were
compensated for the improvements they could not remove. Of
course it was not pleasant, but as their
their neighbors had to
reduce the size of their holdings, they were enabled to make
satisfactory purchases, and the increased prosperity of the whole
settlement was રી fuli compensation to all the parties for
their trouble."
"And here in Spencer itself, I suppose you found it neces-
sary to make some changes?"
"Oh! yes, we had to make them also. The Town had to
take back some of the land it had sold, and in the center
of the city the limit has been cut down to half an acre,
while the limits of the acre zone have been much extended."
"But do not these enforced changes create much disturbance?"
I asked. "I represent to myself what a commotion it would
create among us if such an order was enforced."
"You would find," Mr. Bell answered, "that it would only
affect the very rich in your large cities, for the high price
of your land brings about the same results. With you the
division of the soil is fostered by its increased value, which
makes it more profitable for the owner to sell than to hold
it. With us it is different. Our system of land tenure des-
troys speculation and prevents high prices, so we must resort
98
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
>
to other means to compel its division. And we find our policy
answer very well our purpose.
"Those who have acquired rights of occupancy in a growing
city, know that they will some day have to divide with others,
and act accordingly. Many a father gives his children a por-
tion of his land who would have held on to it till death
released his grip. Many a person sells at a reasonable price
a piece of land to the man who needs it, who would have
taken advantage of his power to drain him of his last pos-
sible dollar.
"Besides we give plenty of time for the changes to take
place easily and gradually. Our citizens are
more induced
than compelled to divide with those in need. When the land
within the acre limit had been practically all occupied, there
were found many persons willing to pay the occupants a fair
price for a part of their lots, and the persons in possession,
knowing that eventually they would be compelled to sell, were
inclined to make a virtue of necessity, and part with what
they otherwise might have preferred to keep.
"Mark you, nothing is taken which is necessary to the
possessor's comfort and welfare. The size of the lots is always
ample for all legitimate wants. It is only the superfluous they
are compelled to give up, and the sense of insecurity it gives
in the possession of the superfluous is an important factor in
inducing our people to divide with those who are less favored.
"You must have noticed, Mr. Balcom, that our aims are
entirely different from yours. You are after stability, you are
afraid of changes, you dread the weakening of the existing
order of society. We care nothing for these things. We are
trying to improve our condition in life, and are ready to
change every day if we are better satisfied thereby. That
which we want to see enduring is not the institutions, but
the happiness of the community.
•
THE LAND QUESTION.
99
"But to return to the land question. As population increases,
the tendency is to an amiable division of the property, as
preferable to an enforced one, which is sure to come sooner
or later. When this process has been going on for a sufficient
length of time to allow all right minded persons to adjust
the size of their lots to the public welfare, a vote is taken
and two or three years given for the enforced reduction of
the hollings to the new limit, after which the occupants lose
their rights to the excess of their property which reverts back
to the Commonwealth without compensation."
"And how," I asked, "does your policy affect the general
settlement of the country?"
"Our country has been surveyed, the best locations for rail-
roads and public roads decided upon, which are built as fast
as needed, and we settle the country as we go, avoiding pre-
mature expenses and needless privations.
"We are in no hurry to develop all our resources at once,
for we have nothing to gain by it. We do not, as is the case
with you, build long lines of railroads going through deserts
and uninhabited countries, to carry settlers from rich farming
sections only half cultivated, to far-off states just opened to
civilization. It is private speculation which induces your people
to this course, and engenders the desire to get possession of
large tracts of land, but the result is an immense amount of
wasted labor and needless hardships.
"Your system of land ownership is suited to the ideas and
character of your people, and fosters the spirit of enterprise
which is fast making the United States the richest nation in the
world. Our system is suited to our character and aims. We do
not develop as fast, but we avoid the evil of land speculation and
monopoly of the soil. Yours is the hot-bed growth, fostered by
the desire for riches, ours is the healthier growth of a contented
people, following the line of intelligent development.
100
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
"And what about the titles to these rights?" I asked. "Do
you have the same system of transfer by deeds as obtains in
other countries?"
"No, we have not, and thus we have done away with
with a
fruitful source of litigation. The Townships alone can grant
those rights of occupancy or transfer them. Whenever a change
is made, the former occupant relinquishes his right, which
is cancelled, and a new one is issued. Transfer by inheritance
follows the same rule. And the change once made is final
and not to be disturbed or questioned, for we hold that it is
of the utmost importance that the men who labor on the
soil should feel all possible security, and that improvement
and occupancy are worthy of more consideration than ancient
deeds or mislaid wills.
"Many of the results of our land policy may seem hard and
arbitrary to those who are used to the absolute ownership of
the soil, and to the right of sale and mortgage, but to us
who have never been used to them, we look only to the
results on the public prosperity, and they are eminently
satisfactory.
"No public enterprise is thwarted by the selfishness or stub-
bornness of individuals or corporations, no large tracts mono-
polized by shrewd speculators, no exorbitant ground rents le-
vied on commerce or manufactures, no endless and expensive
litigation entered into because some lost marriage certificate
has been found, or a flaw discovered to invalidate some ancient
title.
"It might be thought that the feeling of insecurity to
individuals would more than offset those advantages, but we do
not find it so, for sudden changes are never made, and they are
always the result of the best judgment of the people, publicly
discussed and expressed, and always directed toward increasing
the prosperity of the community.
.....
ARBITRATION AND LAWS.
101
"Besides the tendency of our institutions is such that while
it checks the large accumulation of wealth in the hands of
those of a grasping disposition, it also checks the tendency to
waste of the property held by those who are inclined to be
reckless or extravagant, so that on the whole there are probably
less changes in the occupancy of the soil in Socioland, than
there is to be found under the absolute ownership of other
countries."
About that time the ladies came in, and after a pleasant
social evening, I walked back to the hotel with Miss Bell, well
satisfied with the way in which the day had been spent.
CHAPTER XVI.
ARBITRATION AND LAWS.
I believe I told you before, my dear Harry, that I had
found an agreeable friend in William Bell, the older brother
of Miss Mary. He is a bright young man, very enthusiastic
as to the future of Socioland, and thoroughly imbued with
the spirit which prevails here.
He is a lawyer by profession, but the word has an entirely
different meaning here from that which we give it, or it
would be more correct to say that it means here what our
best lawyers are and what they all ought to be. Instead of
fomenting trouble and fostering lawsuits, their work consists
in settling differences and adjusting difficulties, and in
presenting their client's case clearly and concisely to the judge
when their efforts do not meet with success. They act more
as counsellors and advisers than as advocates, and in fact I find
102
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
I
that the law has much less to do here than with us, in re-
gulating the relations of men to each other.
As I have plenty of time, I often drop in his office, and
if I find him at leisure
at leisure we drift in conversation upon all
kinds of subjects, and I think it will interest you if I repeat
some of our talks upon their ideas of law and government.
I was telling him a few days ago that, as far as I knew,
there had been only two forms of government tried. One was
the autocratic, where the rulers had succeeded in obtaining
control of the power and were using it to their own advan-
tage, and the other the representative form, where the people
try to govern themselves by delegating their powers to legislative
bodies who make the laws and provide means to enforce them.
But I said that it seemed to me that here in Socioland they
were experimenting on a third method, where the people tried
to govern themselves with as little intervention of delegates
as possible.
"Yes," he answered. "Our system is peculiar to ourselves,
and is the result of the philosophical beliefs of those who
founded our Commonwealth, and of the conditions under which
it has been started.
"I have," he further remarked, "read extensively about the
laws and customs of other nations, and I find that the constant
tread of the oppressed has been to have justice meted out to
them, and to gain possession of what they consider their rights.
In the pursuit of these aims they have elaborated constitutions
defining the relations of men to each other, and enacted
numberless laws to compel due respect for these rights in
order that justice might be maintained.
"Now we look upon these ideas as entirely natural for
those who are oppressed and at the same time are taught
that God has created all men equal; but for us who have
eliminated all forms of oppression from among us as inimical
ARBITRATION AND LAWS.
103
to happiness, and believe in the evolution of man from a
lower organism, and in the struggle for existence and the
survival of the fittest, such a view is entirely unscientific,
and cannot furnish a sound basis for the forming of constitu-
tions or the enactment of laws."
"What!" I said. "Do you not believe in the need of justice
or the enforcement of rights?"
"No, not in the sense in which you use these words," he
answered. "With us they only mean a form of conduct
which experience has shown to be beneficent to mankind,
and calculated to promote the best interests of society. But
we do not believe that in the light of the evolution theory
there can be such a thing in nature as abstract justice, or
that it is possible to attain perfect rights.
“In your search after this ignis-fatuus you are all the time
trampling upon justice and violating natural rights. Like the
man who loved peace so well that he was always willing to
fight to attain it, you are all the time unconsciously breaking
the very principles you are trying to establish. For instance
what greater violation of natural rights can there be than the
individual appropriation of land? By what right, please tell
me, can any man or a body of men say of a portion of the
soil: This is mine.' They did not create it. It was there
long before them, and will remain long after they have passed
away. And yet habit has so blunted your sense of right that
you talk about the natural right of men to their land, as if
they had an actual right to it instead of having only a legal
title to it, based originally upon spoliation and force.
"And talk about justice. Is it just, tell me, to take a
husband and father from his family, and send him to fight
the battles of his country because he happens to be under
a certain age, while an older man, with as much or more at
stake is allowed to remain at home? Is there any justice in
104
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTII.
}
preventing a man from voting until he is twenty-one years of
age, or in keeping a woman away from the polls altogether?
*
"Go to Europe, to America, to Socioland, or to any country,
and you will find that perfect justice does not exist, cannot
exist in fact, for it is not in accord with the law of evolu-
tion, and all the efforts of mankind do not enable them to
attain it."
To this tirade I could make no reply, for it was a new
idea to me, and one I had never studied, so I confined my-
self to asking my friend if they were going to do without
justice, by what did they intend to replace it?
"Those were the views entertained by the first settlers," he
answered, "so instead of seeking the establishment of justice
and the maintenance of individual rights, they sought to pro-
mote a spirit of friendliness and good-will toward all, and
shaped their laws so as to discourage litigation, and to induce
the people to settle their differences among themselves. They
abandoned the jury system as too expensive and cumbrous, and
abolished the right of appeal to higher courts. The. decision
of the judge is final and must be accepted as such.
"You believe that the enforcement of justice is the duty
of the government, and that you must see to
it that every
man is protected in his natural rights. We look upon the
men who cannot agree among themselves as undesirable citi-
zens, and we only settle their disputes for them because it is
the best way for the peace and happiness of the community.
But it must be done quickly, and at the least possible expense
of time and money. If the parties do not like the judge's
decision, they will be more inclined to come to a mutual un-
derstanding next time, or to resort to arbitration, which we
favor by all means in our power.
The law has very little to say about the enforcement of
contracts or the collection of debts, for we think it better to
ARBITRATION AND LAWS.
105
teach our people that they must look to the honesty of the
contracting parties, than to the help of the Commonwealth
for the fulfilment of promises made. Suits for damages are
discouraged, for we think it best to live down slander than
to intensify it by ventilating it before the public. In civil
suits, the statute of limitation promptly debars the complainant,
for we hold that differences ought to be quickly settled and
quickly forgotten, nor do we have sufficient respect for the
dictates of the dead to allow mislaid wills to disturb existing
conditions.
"Besides, we leave the individuals much freer to control
their private actions than is done in other countries. We
do not try to make the people religious or moral by law.
Marriage and divorce are free, religious convictions are never
interfered with, all days are equal before the law, and all
personal actions are left as much as possible to be controlled
by the intelligent judgment of the individuals concerned.
"Criminal cases are treated differently. They are rare with
us, because we have done away with the incentives to crime,
but when they do occur, we look upon the culprits as di-
seased persons and treat them accordingly.
"To all these changes the objection might be made that
justice must often suffer, and if perfect justice was our aim, we
would certainly be advancing in the wrong direction. But we
do not believe that perfect justice can be attained, and we
know that it is daily violated, even by those nations who have
the most elaborate code of laws. So we prefer to look to the
culture of kindly feelings and to the increase of community
of interests for the recognition of as many individual rights
and the establishment of as much justice as the social condi-
tions permit.
"It is by thus diminishing the number of the laws, and
teaching the people the art of individual control, that we can
106
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
govern ourselves by direct legislation, and take from our legis-
lative bodies the power they so often abuse in representative
countries, and I believe our people get along as well or better
than those nations who look for the proper regulation of in-
dividual conduct to the increase in number of their laws."
And it is true that the people of Spencer seem remarkably
well behaved. Bar-rooms are unknown, and drunkenness does
not seem to exist here, and no loafers are to be met on
the street corners. When I asked my friend how they had
succeeded in banishing these pests of civilized countries, he
said he did not know how it was brought about, for he had
never seen them and he did not believe the species existed
in Socioland or had been imported there. He supposed the
climate was not favorable to that kind of growth, for though
once in a while disreputable characters made their appearance
on the streets, they looked so lost and forlorn, and so quickly
disappeared from the public gaze. that probably they mended
their ways or left in search of more congenial climes.
A few days later, my friend gave me an interesting account
of the formation of their government as he had heard it
from the first settlers.
"I was told" he said, "that when the first emigrants arrived
here, they decided, contrary to all precedents, to draft no cons-
titution, to enact no laws, but to wait and decide each case
as it presented itself. They were not numerous then, and
used to meet in a large hall, which was one of the first buil-
dings they put up, and talk matters over and decide what
course they had better follow. These decisions, duly recorded
and voted upon, are the foundation of all our laws, but are
liable to modification by popular vote at any time.
"Our business system was organized in the same way, and
by the same process our first Managers were appointed. When
the time arrived for the Commonwealth to commence business
ARBITRATION AND LAWS.
107
on its
own account, the best men were selected to take it in
charge and do the best they could for the community. 'How
long shall we serve?' they asked. 'As long as you give satis-
faction,' we answered.
"The experiment was a success. These men took pride in
their work and spared no efforts to make it successful. It
was found best to give them much latitude of action and to
appoint Advisory Boards to help them co-ordinate their efforts.
"When the first disagreement among the settlers arose, there
was no court, jury or judge, so a reliable man was selected
to settle their dispute, and it was decided to enforce his de-
cision whatever it might be, and thus our first judge
created.
was
"For several years there was no legislature, for the people
met in mass-meetings to discuss and vote upon such questions
as presented themselves, and at this time all our Townships
are thus governed till the increase of population makes it
impracticable. But our legislative bodies have none of the power
they possess in other countries, and only act as committees
where the different opinions are discussed and condensed, and
finally put in shape to be voted upon by the people.
"Our system is not at all calculated to promote extensive
legislation, and if we were a law-making and a law-loving
people, we would not be satisfied with it. But we look upon
law at best as a necessary evil, and replace it as far as
possible by conciliation and kindly feelings."
108
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS.
I have not said anything to you about Mr. Walter, although
I have seen him often, and called
called upon him several times
at his house, because I have tried to confine myself as far
as possible to the topics and conversations which treat more
specially of the public institutions of Socioland. But I will
give you an account of the last conversation I had with him,
for I think it will interest you to know his views upon the
diffusion of the principles they advocate, and their adoption
by other countries.
I had been calling upon him, and seated in his library he
addressed me thus:
"Well, my young friend, you have been here some little
time, and must have formed some opinions as to what you have
seen, and must understand the results of the changes we have
made in our form of government. How does it strike you?
Have we progressed, or have we been taking backward steps
in civilization?"
"I must say," I answered, "that it seems to me that you
have made great progress, and have established here a Com-
monwealth from which you have eliminated many of the
defects which still exist in other countries, and I would be
pleased indeed if some of the changes you have inaugurated
here could also be made in the United States. It would go
very far
to ameliorate the condition of the lower classes, and
increase the comfort and happiness of the whole people."
"Yes, those changes are desirable, or at least we think so
here, or we would not have instituted them," he answered.
THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS.
109
"But unless the character of the people is quite different from
what it was in my time, you will find that there are difficul-
ties in the way that it will take many years, if not centuries,
to overcome.
"You must understand that when we left the United States
to come here, it was not a matter of choice, but of necessity.
Had we seen a fair prospect of effecting the desired changes,
we would not have expatriated ourselves and faced the hard-
ships of a new settlement. But we could see no prospect
of a complete change in our time, and only one of gradual
but slow improvement."
"Your views are not very encouraging," I said, "and hardly
in accord with your belief in evolution, for you must believe
in the gradual improvement of society."
"Certainly, I believe in it, and I know that mankind is
steadily progressing toward better conditions, and I feel con-
fident that if our institutions are the best calculated to promote
happiness and the highest form of civilization, they will be
adopted everywhere; for systems of government, as
well as
public or private institutions, roust stand the test of the
struggle for existence that the fittest may survive. But the
working, of this law is exceedingly slow, and under certain
conditions centuries may elapse before important changes can
be accomplished.
"A change such as you contemplate," he continued, "can
only be effected if based upon an increase in the intelligence
of the people. I do not believe, Mr. Balcom, that if our
institutions could be transplanted bodily in the United States,
they would endure for any length of time. Your people are
probably ready for some of the changes we have made, and
in time may adopt our whole system, but our government is
entirely too dependent upon the inner love of order and the
good conduct and kindliness of our citizens, to cope with
110
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
the spirit of greed and individualism which are the marked
attributes of the inhabitants of the United States.
"No, unless you can secure a much more intelligent popu-
lation, one which is fully imbued with the spirit of order
and conciliation, one which knows what is the true basis of
contentment and happiness, you had Letter adhere to the
existing order of society, improving it as fast as possible, that
is as fast as the knowledge of the true conditions of success
permeates society.
"Educate the people; educate them not in Greek or Latin,
but away from the superstitions which now control their lives;
educate them to what is their true position here, to their
dependence upon the forces of nature and the absolute necessity
of obeying natural laws. Teach them the advantages of co-
operation, the beauty of agreement, the vanity and emptiness
of show and style, the public danger of the private accumu-
lation of wealth, the folly of dissipation, the waste of quarrels
and litigation, and as fast as this education takes hold of the
masses, displaces and replaces the old ideas which now control
them, so fast, and no faster, will you be able to bring about
the changes you are striving for."
Mr. Walter leaned back in his chair in deep thought, and
his eyes seemed to take an inward retrospective look. In a
moment he raised his head and looking at me said: "Mr.
Balcom, our conversation takes me back to those early days
when we commenced our settlement.
I was a young man
then, with more enthusiasm and energy than experience, but
many of us were middle-aged or old people, who, tired of
strife and competition, were longing for peace and agreement.
We were nearly a thousand, men, women and children, and
far above the average in knowledge and intelligence. We had
left behind "s the suspertitious beliefs of the past, and had
progressed beyond the follies and weakness of modern civilization.
THE CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS.
111
Our men did not drink or gamble, or spend their time on the
streets. Our women did not sacrifice at the shrine of fashion,
nor consume their time and strength in foolish attempts to
substitute style for comfort. It was the character and the
intelligence of these people which enabled them to succeed,
and which stamped this young nation with the spirit with
which it is animated now, and which underlays and sustains
our institutions.
"Had we been quarrelsome, we would have been swamped
in the first months of our existence, for new conditions brought
to the front many new opinions. Had we been unruly, our
simple organization never would have restrained us.
Had we
been greedy, private ambition would have defeated all our
schemes for public welfare.
"But the seed planted by these choice spirits took root and
grew. Our children were raised under these influences, and
it permeated them thoroughly. Those who joined us later
were those who were attracted by a community of desires
an ilea, while those among us who became dissatisfied left
us to return to other countries.
"It is an axiom in physiology that in a healthy organism
the eliminating powers are sufficient to throw off all offen-
sive matter which may be absorbed, and thus the organism be
kept in a healthy state. It is just as true in Sociology, and
a body economic will drive out naturally all the individuals
it cannot control or assimilate, provided always that the influx
is not beyond the capacity of its eliminating powers.
"We have ever been mindful of this truth, and while the
United States have opened their doors wide to the poor and
ignorant of all nations, eager to develop their material re-
sources, and anxious to provide cheap labor for their capitalists,
regardless of the difficulty of transforming such persons into
intelligent citizens, we have been careful to not encourage
112
THE FUTURE COMMONWEALTH.
emigration, or do anything which would have brought upon
us such an outpour as you have received in the United
States.
"We are but little known, and do not care to be known.
We have no emigration bureau spreading the tidings of our
good fortune, and should we ever be threatened with an
undesirable emigration, we would not hesitate to prevent it
by force if necessary."
"From what you say," I remarked, "I judge that you can
give us but little hope of a speedy change, yet surely we
must be able to do something to bring about more desirable
conditions. We cannot see so much misery and suffering, and
know that it can be prevented, and yet fold our hands and
passively wait for the good work to accomplish itself. Some
one must take measures to enlighten the masses if it is ever
to become a reality."
"No, I do not believe that a
great deal can be accom-
plished soon, yet there are many things you
would promote the aims you have in view.
can do which
"A great deal can be done to educate the people in the
true functions of the government, and in the advantages of
public co-operation. If you can get the public interested
and lead them to study and discuss those questions, a great
advance will have been made, and it will open the way for
practical experiments.
"But the masses are more easily reached by object lessons
than by any other forms of education, and while it is impos-
sible to establish anywhere on American soil an independent
Commonwealth like Socioland, you can point out every instance
where the principles we advocate have been tried, and em-
phasize the fact that the results have been uniformely bene-
ficent for the people if honestly conducted. And when this
education has been carried long enough to imbue a sufficient
↓
THE }
113
CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS.
number of persons with these principles, you can gain political
control of some city or township, and give the most important
features of our system a fair trial.
"Experiments alone can teach what are the conditions that
will bring around the desired results, and if a number of
persons who have outgrown the present public institutions
should find themselves in a position where they could control
the public power, and use for their benefit the agencies of
public co-operation, their example would be a great edu-
cating force, and their influence would slowly radiate until it
would affect the whole population.
"The world moves in spite of all conservative influences,
and it moves in the right direction. So be of good cheer, and
do not feel discouraged because a heavy body like the United
States cannot move as fast as our little Commonwealth.
"When you return home you can work in the good cause,
and join your efforts to those of the persons who are even
now trying to educate the people so as to secure a better
form of government. I hope that what you have seen here
will help you in your task, and that you will prove a power
for good in your native land."
Amen! I say. And may this brief account of what I have
seen in this favored Commonwealth induce many to imitate
them, and may it be a factor, however humble, in the peace-
ful evolution of our industrial system, until every person in
the land shall receive an adequate share of the comforts that
should accrue to all from the progress of civilization.

114
NON
THE FUTURE COMMONW CIRCULATING
And now, my dear Harry, while I might write much more
that would interest you, I will not extend this account of
my visit here, but I will send it to you, that you may
reflect on what I have described, and see how it applies to
the solution of the problems we are studying.
to
made is due to
made
enables them
to
For my part, I am well satisfied of the superiority of the
institutions of Socioland over those of the United States, but
I realize fully that the progress they have
the development of their character which
place in the hands of the Commonwealth many of its most
important industries, while at the same time
time they have
been able to safely withdraw government control from the
departments of morals and religion. The material being better,
its cohesive power is greater, and they have been able to
erect a much better structure.
For the present, the example of Socioland can only serve
us as a beacon to guide our steps, trusting that those who
come after us will be able to realize the hope which sustains
us in our labors.
Your friend,
Samuel Balcom.

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