Produced by David Schwan. HTML version by Al Haines.
EURASIA
By
Christopher Evans
CONTENTS
I. A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE.
II. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.
III. A VISIT TO A STATE PRISON.
IV. THE BANK OF EURASIA.
V. DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION.
VI. DEPARTMENT OF MINES.
VII. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
VIII. THE WAR DEPARTMENT.
IX. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
X. DEPARTMENT OF RAILWAYS.
XI. THE INCOME TAX.
XII. DEPARTMENT OF MANUFACTURES.
XIII. PUBLIC UTILITIES.
XIV. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
XV. DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
XVI. UNITED WORKERS OF EURASIA.
XVII. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.
XVIII. A VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF STATE.
PREFACE.
In "Eurasia" the author describes an ideal republic where many of the
problems that confront us are worked out. The book describes in an
interesting and readable way how government is administered in this
ideal republic. The government is one in which women take their full
share of responsibility, the school children are trained in the
problems they will meet in life, and more emphasis is laid on character
building than on the dead languages. The children of both sexes are
taught useful trades. All school children are taught to swim. The idle
are employed in the construction of roads, canals and irrigation works.
The problems of distribution are so arranged that the worker receives a
more equitable reward for his labor.
The author, Chris. Evans, speaks with a firsthand knowledge when he
discusses the army prison management and the administration of law. Mr.
Evans, who was born in Vermont, is an old cavalryman, having served in
the Civil War. After the war he served with the cavalry in the West,
fighting Indians.
CHAPTER I.
A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE.
One pleasant afternoon in the month of May, 19--, I launched my boat,
and after rowing about half a mile from shore I shipped my oars,
stepped the mast, hoisted sail and reclining on a cushioned seat at the
stern with my hand on the tiller, I waited for a breeze to spring up,
and whilst so doing I fell asleep. How long I slept I know not, for
when I awoke my boat was close to shore, and to my' astonishment I was
in strange waters. I went ashore, when I was accosted in English with a
foreign accent by a venerable looking man with the question: "Where did
you come from?" I replied: "From the United States of America, and what
country is this?" His answer was Eurasia, and beckoning to a man in
uniform, who was passing by and who immediately joined us, he told him
that I was from the United States of America and did not know what
country I was in. The official addressed me very kindly and invited me
to accompany him, and leaving the boat in charge of my first
acquaintance, with instructions to take good care of it, he escorted me
into the city and left me at a hotel with a request that I would permit
him to call on me the next day at ten a. m., and he would show me all
the principal buildings and introduce me to the President, "who I have
no doubt will be delighted to see you." At the appointed time he
arrived, and, taking my place by his side in an automobile driven by
electricity, we passed in succession the buildings occupied by the
different Departments of State, and stopped in front of a modest
building set back a short distance from the street, and at the gate we
were at once admitted by the officer on duty, who informed us that the
President was holding a Cabinet meeting and would receive me
immediately. The President's private secretary met me at the door and
introduced me to the President, who shook my hand warmly, and
introduced me to his Cabinet in the following order:
Mr. __, the Minister of State.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Justice.
Mr. __, the Minister of Railways.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Education.
Mr. __, the Minister of Finance.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Information.
Mr. __, the Minister of Agriculture.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Health.
Mr. __, the Minister of Commerce.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Manufactures.
Mr. __, the Minister of Mines.
Mrs. __, the Minister of War.
Mr. __, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Mrs. __, the Minister of Labor.
I informed the President that I wished to learn all I could about the
Government and Institutions of the country, to which he replied by
handing me the Official Directory, and added that he and his Cabinet
would assist me to the fullest extent. I expressed my heartfelt thanks
for their kindness, and, going back to my hotel, I opened the Official
Directory. I found the country governed by a President elected directly
by the people for five years, but the law provided that if his
government was not satisfactory to the people, a petition signed by
five per cent. of the voters called for an election, and if a majority
voted against him, he was removed from office and the Minister of State
assumed the Presidency for the remainder of the term. The Cabinet was
composed of fourteen members-seven men and seven women-and were chosen
by the Parliament, who were free to select them from their own members
or outsiders, provided that the person chosen was a voter and
twenty-five years of age. When the Parliament met, which it did on the
first day of January, and adjourned on the first of March, sine die,
the Ministers presented their reports of their work for the previous
two years, and if the Parliament approved them, they continued in
office; but if the Parliament by a majority vote disapproved of any of
them, then the Minister resigned and the Parliament appointed another
person to take his or her place. The members of Parliament were elected
for two years and to serve without pay, but their expenses were paid by
the Government and the amount necessary was fixed by law and could not
be raised or lowered, only by two-thirds vote of the qualified voters
of the Nation. The country was divided into districts and every
district elected a member for every hundred thousand of population,
provided that every other member from a district should be a female,
thus giving both sexes full representation in the Government. Each
district was governed by a Governor, elected for two years, and a Court
of Judges, consisting of a Chief Justice, a Prosecuting Attorney, an
Attorney for the Defense and twelve Justice Jurors, who tried all
felony cases and civil cases that could not be settled by Arbitration,
and who sat also as a Board of Equalization and as Supervisors.
The law provided that eight Jurors or two-thirds of them (if any were
absent through sickness or any other reasonable cause), in every case
could bring in a verdict of guilty in criminal cases or for the
Complainant or Defendant in civil cases, and if eight did not find the
Defendant guilty, the case was dismissed-but if guilty the Defendant
had only to say "I appeal," and a copy of the evidence was sent
immediately to the Supreme Court, composed of Judges, elected by the
people, one from each district, to serve for five years.
The Court sat six days in each week, excepting four weeks in
July-August, when all the Courts were allowed by law four weeks'
vacation. They were required to work eight hours each day beginning at
eight a. m., with one hour rest at noon, and ending at five p. m.; but
they could work longer if they so desired, but the law forbade any
adjournment and to prevent bribery the documents in every case-civil or
criminal-arriving daily were placed in a lottery wheel, and, on the
Court assembling at eight a. m., the wheel was revolved, and in the
presence of the Minister of Justice a blind boy and girl drew the
documents out and handed them to pages who delivered them to the Judges
in alphabetical order. Three Judges, forming a committee, decided every
case that came into their hands on the same day. There was no delay in
Justice, and, if any Judge misbehaved, the voters in his district could
remove him under the same law that applied to the President.
The law of recall applied to all officers of the Government elected by
the people. The salary of the Supreme Court Judges was fixed by law at
ten dollars per day and that of a Chief Justice of a district at five
dollars per day. That of the Prosecuting Attorney and Attorney for the
Defense at four dollars per day, and that of Justice and Jurors at
three dollars per day the year 'round.
No costs were charged to either complainant or defendant in any case,
either civil or criminal, but if a person brought complaint without
just and sufficient cause, the law provided that they should be
examined by the Court, and if found sane, they should be imprisoned for
one year at hard labor, and if insane, to be sent immediately to the
Lunatic Asylum. In every case the complainant was first warned by the
Court of what would happen if the charge proved to be unfounded.
I made inquiries among the people and was told that the law was a great
promoter of peace and good will.