AN AIR VOYAGE--CHANGE OF SCENERY--HOMES FOR MOTHERS--EVOLUTION
FROM COMPETITIVE INDIVIDUALISM--THE MOUNTAINS--BATTELL JOINS
US--ORBITELLO--A PERPETUAL WORLD'S FAIR--DEPARTMENT OF EXCHANGE--THE
BUSINESS OF A CONTINENT--NORRENA--PUBLIC PRINTING--THE COUNCIL--ALL
MATTERS SUBMITTED TO THE PEOPLE--LIBRARY OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE.
[Illustration]
EVERY preparation had been made for our proposed voyage into the
interior and as the sun appeared from behind the eastern edge of the
southern verge we were embarking on the airship. Our party consisted of
MacNair, Iola, Oqua, Captain Ganoe and myself. I took my place at the
helm with MacNair and told him that I wanted to take lessons in aerial
navigation. He kindly explained the use of the electric keyboard which
controlled the machinery, and I found it so simple that I felt no need
of an instructor. In this placid atmosphere all I had to do was to set
the ship in the direction we wanted to go and turn on the power until
we reached the speed at which we desired to travel. All the motions
of the vessel were under absolute control. I found that the steering
apparatus could be readily adjusted to overcome a light wind, and
reasoned that the same principles would enable us to ride the storm.
This first practical experience in aerial navigation gave me confidence.
Our course was a little north of west, and we were soon leaving the
great communal agricultural district which we now regarded as our home.
According to our reckoning it was now the 1st of February and I had
begun to figure whether it would be possible for us to be ready to
attempt the proposed journey to the outer world during the northern
summer. If we did, it would certainly require intense application.
These thoughts were continually running through my mind, and they
spurred me up to gather all the information possible for the book that
I was preparing.
The country over which we were passing was still agricultural, but
the surface was more broken and the general arrangements were changed
accordingly, presenting to our vision an agreeable variety. We still
saw the magnificent communal homes with correspondingly large areas
of cultivated lands, but we also saw cottages gathered into groups,
with large public buildings which MacNair informed us were schools,
public halls, homes for the aged, hospitals, and especially homes for
prospective mothers who felt that the ideal conditions which these
homes afforded would secure the best possible development of their
offspring.
I was forcibly struck by the number and grandeur of these homes for
mothers. I had noticed that every communal home had its department
for the care of mothers, and now I found that the grandest structures
that I had ever seen were devoted exclusively to this purpose. In
reply to my inquiries I was informed that this care for motherhood was
a universal feature throughout the inner world. But in this, as in
everything else, liberty prevails. The mother is always free to select
her own conditions. Many prefer these large public homes which are
exclusively under the control of women, while others, with different
temperaments, prefer greater exclusiveness in their own apartments, but
all alike make this period of prospective motherhood, one in which all
the environments are calculated to produce the best possible pre-natal
influences upon the unborn child.
For this purpose, different temperaments require different
surroundings. The impressions produced by beautiful scenery and social
enjoyments on one, may be more readily produced by reading, lectures,
music and intellectual entertainments on another. The unperverted taste
of the mother is always accepted as a sure guide to what is best in
each case, and the best is always provided.
While the country over which we were passing did not have the same
artificial appearance as if laid out by one uniform pattern, like
that where we had been located since our arrival in Altruria, I still
noticed the general tendency of the people to get together in large
communities. We passed over large districts of wild lands which
afforded ample opportunities for isolated homes but nowhere did we see
anything of the kind. This induced Captain Ganoe to ask if there was
any law against people getting out by themselves and cultivating these
wild lands.
"Nothing but the natural law," said Oqua, "which impels people to do
that which is the most conducive to their happiness. The people of
this country do not like drudgery and they have learned by experience
that in order to avoid drudgery, they must work together on a large
scale, as one family, each for all and all for each. In the olden time,
people in their ignorance scattered into single families consisting
of a man and wife and their children. They wasted their energies in
their isolated efforts, and were at the mercy of the few who had the
intelligence to work together. When the masses became more intelligent
they gathered into communities and co-operated with each other to make
the most out of their labor and to avoid the payment of tribute to
speculators who did not work at all. They soon found that they could
not possibly consume all that they were able to produce and they began
to work less and enjoy more."
"But," asked the Captain, "have you no arrangement by which a man
and his wife could get out on these wild lands and make a home for
themselves?"
"We certainly have no arrangement," said Oqua, "that would prevent
their doing so. But if they should try such an experiment it would not
last long. As soon as they found themselves toiling incessantly to
procure a bare subsistence, while the great masses in the communities
were spending eleven-twelfths of their time in the enjoyment of rest
and pleasurable recreations, they would seek admission into a large
communal home, where all who are willing to perform their share of the
labor are welcome."
"But," said the Captain, "you say that the people of this country once
lived in isolated homes. The people in the outer world do so now, and
they feel that to be the best possible condition for the development
of the highest qualities. How were the individualists of this country
persuaded to give up their individual holdings and accept in lieu
thereof a community interest in the products of their own labor?"
"They outgrew their preconceived opinions," said Oqua. "Among the
reformers of the olden time none were more earnest than a large and
very intelligent class of individualists, who believed that the people
ought to own the land, and that the individual holder ought to pay the
community for its use, in proportion to its value as land, not counting
the value of the improvements. These reformers agreed to the abolition
of land titles, and in accordance with the doctrines which they had
promulgated long and earnestly, they took their lands in severalty and
paid the community a tax for its use. As individualists, they could
not object to other people forming communities and having all things
in common. But when they discovered how much more they had to work
than their neighbors, they were true to their own interests and joined
the communities where their labor became so much more effective. They
found that instead of sacrificing any of their individual rights by so
doing, they actually made those rights more valuable by being relieved
of drudgery. The land tax to the community was abolished in the course
of time, and then any individual might take a homestead and cultivate
it in his own way without being taxed for the privilege of doing so,
but this right is never exercised, as it would deprive the individuals
thus setting up for themselves, of free access to the common wealth
of the community, and the common advantages which belong to community
life. They could only enter the communal homes as guests and strangers,
and while free entertainment is never refused, proud spirited
individualists would never think of securing a subsistence by visiting
around. They would naturally prefer doing their share of the work to
create the common stock. And hence our individualists are all in our
communal homes and have no desire for individual holdings of any kind.
Their community interest in the common wealth is worth vastly more to
them than all the wealth that they could create by individual effort."
"But," asked the Captain, "do you permit no private ownership of
property at all in these communities?"
"Yes, we do," said Oqua. "All persons may accumulate property which
they create by personal labor, if they wish to burden themselves with
the care of it. But as there is an abundance in the common stores to
supply every want, there is no motive for the private ownership of
anything but personal belongings which are ordinarily of no value to
anyone else. Members of the community may have anything they need
out of the common stock and intelligent people would not encumber
themselves with the care of more than they have a use for. The greed
for the accumulation of property which I am informed is so prevalent
in the outer world, if manifested here would be taken as an evidence
of insanity and would be treated accordingly. It is very difficult for
the average Altrurian to realize that people should ever desire to
hoard up wealth which it is impossible for them to consume. But when
we scan the pages of our early history at the time when legal money
was the medium of exchange and the standard of value, the people made
a mad scramble for money, in which they disregarded every interest of
humanity."
We were now approaching a region where art and nature seemed to have
united in one mighty and persistent effort to excel each other in
the entrancing beauty and rugged grandeur that could be added to the
picture. On either side was a broad expanse of cultivated lands,
interspersed with parks, lawns and ornamented grounds, which revealed
the work of the most artistic landscape gardeners. Beneath us the
Cocytas meandered its way toward the distant ocean, between its
wooded shores, like a shining pathway of silver, while before us the
great continental divide with its towering mountain peaks piercing
the clouds, closed our view towards the west. At one moment we were
admiring the rugged grandeur of this lovely mountain chain and at
another entranced by the beauty of the highly ornamented landscape,
where art had improved upon nature. Take it all in all, the scenery
presented to our view from the cabin of our airship, sailing at a
height of several thousand feet, was sublime, beyond the power of words
to describe.
As we neared the mountains, MacNair took charge of the ship and made
a detour toward the south, which brought into view the mighty canon
through which the Cocytas reaches the plain. On either side were
mountain torrents dashing over the rocks on their way to join the
waters of the deep flowing river. Here, nature in all her majesty
revealed her titanic powers. But suddenly another scene opened upon our
vision, in which art revealed itself as master of all the forces of
nature. It was more like a city than anything we had seen since leaving
San Francisco. And yet it was very much unlike any city I have ever
seen. I was bewildered by its sudden appearance upon this wonderful
panorama of nature and art which seemed to hold us spell bound.
Palatial buildings in white and silver appeared in every direction,
surrounded by highly ornamented grounds. No smoke, no dust and no
miserable shanties to remind us of the poverty and misery which
characterized the cities of the outer world. In the distance, it
presented a panorama of beauty and grandeur, more like the paintings of
a gorgeous midsummer dream, than any real achievement of human skill
and human taste. It was more like the fancied abode of the gods than
the dwelling place of men.
This was Orbitello, and as it lay spread out before us, it presented
a scene beyond my powers of description. It was located on an
elevated plateau and almost enclosed within a bend of the river,
which flows around it on three sides, the west, south and east, like
a silver highway, over which electric yachts of almost every size and
description were gliding. It was a dream of beauty that once seen,
could never be erased from the memory.
"This," said MacNair, "is our continental headquarters. Here, was at
one time a large city, but every remnant of the old structures was
removed long ago. The location, however, is so central that it was
selected as our chief center of business for all the departments of the
public service. It is a favorite gathering place for large numbers of
people from all parts of the world. Hence the number of buildings for
the accommodation of visitors. It is in fact a perpetual World's Fair,
a miniature picture of the world as it is to-day. There is no better
place to study the civilization of the inner world in all its phases."
MacNair was interrupted by a familiar voice with the well remembered
"Ship Ahoy!" and as we turned around to see from whence it came,
another airship came alongside, and we exchanged greetings with our
old shipmates, Battell and Huston, and our saviors, as we called them,
Polaris and Dione, who both addressed us in English.
"Please speak Altrurian," I said. "I have abandoned English except in
cases of emergency, as I am anxious to perfect myself in the use of
your native tongue. Remember that I have become a citizen of Altruria,
and have no desire to perpetuate the use of a foreign language."
"And we," replied Polaris, "want to perfect ourselves in the use of
English, as we want to visit America and talk like natives, just as
soon as a ship can be constructed that will enable us to navigate the
frozen regions without being frozen ourselves."
"And one," I responded, "that can hold to its course with a side wind
of a velocity from fifty to one hundred miles an hour."
"Have no fears on that score," interposed Battell. "We have the
principal parts of the machinery completed, and all that remains to be
done, is for you to take a trial trip to the southern verge and see
how it will work in a storm, and in the meantime we will try our hands
at constructing one that will be proof against the cold of a polar
winter. Better go to the southern verge now, while it is comparatively
temperate and test our improvements in a gale."
"All right," I said. "I am willing. But who will go with me? I ought to
have the assistance of someone who could not only stand the exposure,
but be able to make observations. It will keep one person busy to
manage the ship during a storm, no matter how perfect your machinery
may be."
"I suggest," said Battell, "that you take Lief and Eric, who are
first-class mechanics as well as scientists. This is their request,
and it ought to be granted. We need both Huston and Captain Ganoe, to
assist in the construction of a cold proof vessel. This is the plan of
work that I suggest. How will it suit you?"
"Anything suits me that looks toward success," I said. "Since you have
already completed the inventions that I had contemplated, it is but
fair that you dictate how they should be used until we can improve on
your improvements, which, by the way I hope may not be necessary."
"Oh yes, it will," said Battell. "Just as soon as there is no room
for improvement, everything will be perfect, and with nothing to do,
nothing to live for and no improvements to make, constituted as we are
now, we would very likely be just as unhappy, as we are now anxious
to improve the airship or to accomplish any other object that is dear
to us. This is a working world and we are workers, and when there is
no work to do, there will be no use for us on our present plane of
development."
"You talk like a philosopher," I said. "One would think you had
graduated from an Altrurian university."
"So I have," said Battell. "Were you not talking Altrurian philosophy
all the time we were together on the Ice King? So I was to some extent
prepared for what we have found in this highly developed country."
"But what's the matter?" I asked, as Battell's airship came to a full
halt, and seemingly began to fall. Before I recovered from my surprise,
it had settled lightly on the top of a stupendous structure, and
MacNair was evidently aiming for the same place, as he set our ship
to circling around in the way I have often described. I had seen the
practical workings of one of Battell's improvements, and could not
help seeing that it was an undoubted success. The mechanism that would
control the vessel while dropping toward the earth, seemed to me, more
difficult of construction than that which would hold it on its course
against contrary side winds.
A minute later and we had reached the surface. Polaris, and her crew,
so to speak, had disembarked and we had a cordial handshaking, and then
took a stroll around the roof of this immense building. Everything
about it seemed to indicate that it was especially designed for the
accommodation of business on a gigantic scale. It was built of the
semi-transparent material which we had found so common in the district
where we had made our homes. The cornice, windows and doors were
trimmed with aluminum, which gave it a peculiar grandeur of appearance.
MacNair, who was ever ready to make explanations, informed us that
this was the Continental Department of Exchange through which all the
commercial transactions between the various districts throughout the
continent were carried on. This was the chief center of distribution,
and bore the same relation to the continent, that the District
Exchange bore to the several communities of which it was composed.
The community stores made the actual distribution of products to the
people. These larger exchanges, District and Continental, did not
really handle the products at all, but collected the orders from the
consumers and sent them direct to the communities where the goods were
wanted, in this way saving very much unnecessary labor in handling and
transportation. The actual exchange of commodities was always direct
between the producers and the consumers.
I did not quite comprehend all this, but it prepared me for the object
lesson which was to come. I was keenly alert to everything that was to
be seen and heard, as it was valuable material for the book which I now
felt sure I would be able to lay before the people of the outer world.
It was now noon, and MacNair suggested that it was about time for
dinner. "No doubt," he said, "your fifteen hundred miles of travel has
given you an appetite." And suiting the action to the suggestion, we
all stepped upon an elevator, and descended to the largest dining hall
I had ever seen. It seemed that thousands of people were seated at the
tables, quietly conversing and enjoying their midday meal. We seated
ourselves at a vacant table and Oqua said:
"I shall order for all, as our American visitors are not yet perfectly
familiar with our customs." And manipulating a button at her side,
I was surprised to see the center of the table disappear, but it
reappeared before I had sufficiently recovered my equilibrium to ask
questions, and it was loaded with the most tempting viands. Oqua
explained that these central tables which carried the food stood on the
top of an elevator that connected with the kitchen below. That when an
order was received, a table was already prepared to take the place of
the one which the elevator brought down. Everything moved with quiet
celerity; no bustling waiters, and no waiting for orders to be filled.
After dinner we passed into a large sitting room, elegantly furnished
with chairs, divans, sofas, etc., splendidly upholstered. I noticed
chairs and divans on wheels and asked MacNair for an explanation, and
he replied:
"These chairs are moved by electricity, supplied by storage batteries
just under the seats. You apply the power by pressing a button on
the arm by your side, and guide them with your feet. You will often
find them in use, particularly in large places like Orbitello,
where travelers coming in fatigued, and people on business with the
various departments, having many places to go, need some easy means
of locomotion. In the olden time, waiters used to push these chairs
around by hand, but with the advent of electricity, electric motors
were substituted, and now the people who use these chairs need no such
assistance, and all the chair-men have to do is to see that the chairs
are returned to their proper place."
After a little instruction we found no difficulty in going where we
pleased in our chairs, and regulating their direction and speed with
perfect ease. This novel experience was so agreeable that we decided to
visit the leading points of interest in these electric chairs.
The first place to visit was the business offices of this great
Continental Exchange. We took our places in a large elevator room and
passed down to the office of the Commissioner of Exchange. On either
side of the great hall were shelves containing large books in which
we were informed, were statistics of production that are sent in from
every district twice a year, at the close of each crop season. These
records show just how much surplus each district has for exchange,
and of what it consists. This information is for the Order and Supply
Department which is on the same floor, toward which we were directing
our chairs.
Here we entered a long hall, on either side of which were arranged
desks and electrical instruments. The clerks in attendance, each
represented a district, and were selected by the districts to fill
these positions because of their intimate knowledge of the wants of
their several localities and of the surplus they had for exchange.
The District Commissioners sent their orders to their own clerk which
was written out by telautograph on his own desk. The order was at once
transmitted by the same method, to the district having the surplus,
through its own clerk, and a duplicate of these orders to the Record
Department. These orders when received from the District Commissioners
were transmitted to the communities having the surplus. The Community
Department of Exchange then shipped it directly to the place where it
was needed.
Under this system of distribution, products passed directly from
the producer to the consumer and were never handled but once. The
producers held their surplus in their own possession until they had
orders from consumers by whom it was needed. The Commissioner of
Exchange at Orbitello had a tabulated report of the surplus held by
each district, and each district had its clerks in the Order and Supply
Department of the Continental Exchange. When an agricultural district
wanted machinery, musical instruments, furniture, clothing, etc., the
order for the same was transmitted to its own clerk in the Department
of Exchange and it was at once sent to the district, or districts,
having a surplus of the products needed. And when a Manufacturing
District needed food supplies the orders were sent to the clerk in
the Continental Exchange and the order was transmitted to the nearest
agricultural district that had a surplus for exchange.
Under this system of organized exchange, if any district found that
it had a surplus accumulating in its warehouses for which there was
no demand, this was all the notice required that a time had come to
curtail production in that particular line. From what we could see
of the workings of this system, by going through this department, we
could readily see how the law of supply and demand, if permitted to act
freely with no artificial restrictions, would be a perfect regulator
in the world of commerce. Neither would there ever be, under this
Altrurian system of exchange, a glut in the market at one place while
there was a scarcity at another.
"You see here," said MacNair, "a business house which handles the
trade of a continent, containing over two hundred millions of people.
All the products of the soil, the shop, the factory and the mine, are
practically bought and sold in this establishment, and yet without any
of the excitement and bustle, hard work and worry, which characterize
the comparatively diminutive business houses of New York and London."
"I see evidences," I remarked, "of a most admirable business system on
a stupendous scale. But the question that will be asked in the outer
world will be, How are these goods paid for and how are the prices
fixed and the accounts adjusted without money? This is what the people
of the outer world will want to understand. I am asking more for them
than for myself."
"Nothing difficult about it," said MacNair. "Product pays for
product here just as it actually does in the outer world, but under
co-operation, the elements of interest, profit and rent have been
eliminated. The price of an article is fixed by the amount of labor
expended in its production and distribution. This of course only
applies to such commodities as are in demand. A great deal of labor
might be expended in the production of something that no one wanted.
Such labor would be wasted here as it would be anywhere else."
"I had thought of this contingency," I replied, "but was not seeking a
difficulty. I referred only to such articles of necessity, comfort and
luxury as the consumers wish to secure. How are the prices fixed, what
is the standard and how are balances settled?"
"These questions," said MacNair, "are well put, to draw out a concise,
as well as a comprehensive statement of our business methods. We
readily ascertain by statistics, the average number of minutes, hours
and days of labor invested in the production of every commodity which
enters into common use. This includes the labor invested in the
necessary transportation, superintendence and distribution. Hence in
our accounts, the value of products of all kinds are credited and
debited as given amounts of labor. This is what in the outer world
would be called the price. A given number of hours of labor in one
branch of useful service to society is worth just the same number of
hours of labor in some other branch, and the exchange is made on that
basis. The one primary object of this system of exchange is to secure
equal and exact justice to all."
"But how are all these numerous employes on your railroads, in your
stores and the various departments of industry paid?" asked Captain
Ganoe.
"Very easily," said MacNair. "The people produce all the supplies and
render all the service, and the people enjoy all the benefits. This is
about all there is of it. We produce what we consume, and consume what
we produce, without paying tribute to anyone else for the privilege of
exercising these natural rights, as the people in the outer world are
forced to do."
"But," said the Captain, "would you have me infer that all these expert
clerks and accountants, and the commissioner who superintends all this
business do not receive any more than the laborers on the farms and in
the shops, factories and mines?"
"Why should they get more than people who are engaged in laborious
occupations?" asked Iola. "They get all they can consume. If they
should use a little more or less no one cares. They can have all they
want without working any more hours than other people and I cannot
understand how they could use any more food or clothing without ruining
their health or making themselves very uncomfortable. I cannot conceive
of any person wanting to eat more food or wear more clothes, because he
or she is employed in some position of trust. Can you, Captain Ganoe?"
"I admit," replied the Captain, "that your question is a poser. And
this is not the first time that I have been puzzled by your remarks. I
do not say that you are wrong; but I never heard questions handled in
this way until I drifted into this inner world. I can only say that I
am bewildered and while I do not comprehend your philosophy I do admire
your civilization."
"And," responded Iola, "I cannot comprehend how anyone can admire our
civilization without accepting our philosophy. The civilization of a
people is only reducing to practice, the mental and moral concepts of
the people. Our civilization is the logical outcome of our philosophy.
People always think first and act afterward. Our philosophy is what we
think, and our civilization is the result of what it induces us to do."
"Well," said the Captain, "it has certainly induced your people to do
many things that would look very strange in the outer world, but which
seem to work rightly here."
Oqua, who had quietly dropped out of our party without being observed,
now joined us, accompanied by a man of commanding appearance. He was
about six feet, four inches in height, brown hair, full beard, blue
eyes, fair complexion and a high intellectual forehead. Oqua introduced
him as Norrena, Chief of the Continental Department of Education. His
address was most gentle, pleasing and kind, but firm and decided.
Turning to me he said:
"I had hoped to have an opportunity to make the acquaintance of Jack
Adams, the scientist of the Ice King, but Oqua tells me that I must be
content with Nequa, the teacher. She informs me that you are preparing
a book to be published in your own country, and to that end you are
making a close study of our civilization."
"That is true," I said, "and she has spoken to me of you as one who
could render me great assistance, in gathering the lessons that
would be of the most value, in our transition from competition to
co-operation."
"I shall gladly render you any assistance in my power," he said, "but
what you can see here of our completed system of co-operation in
every department of human endeavor, will be indispensable to a clear
comprehension of the lessons to be drawn from the history of our own
Transition Period."
"Thank you," I said. "And I would be pleased to have you show me
through the departments, and call my attention to such features as will
be of the greatest advantage for me to understand just at this time."
"That is the same request that was made by Oqua, as it would take a
long time for you to find just what you want without the assistance
of someone who is familiar with all the departments and who also
understands the nature of the work in which you are engaged. To
begin, we will now visit the Department of Public Printing and News
Distribution."
We now dispensed with our electric chairs, as we felt the need of
exercise. As we emerged from the Exchange building, Norrena took the
lead, and conducted us into another stupendous structure, devoted to
the Public Printing and the Distribution of News to all parts of the
world. The upper story was an immense auditorium, where public meetings
of unusual proportions could meet and have ample room, and where the
acoustic properties were so scientifically adjusted, that all could
hear the speaker in ordinary tones of voice.
Norrena conducted us first into the press room, where printed sheets
were being turned out with a rapidity I had never before witnessed.
These passed on an endless belt into the binding department and from
thence in completed form to the mailing rooms for distribution.
Everything seemed to move with the same quiet celerity that we had
noticed in the Exchange Department.
From the press rooms we ascended in an elevator to the composing
department, where we found a number of machines turning out stereotype
plates, but no operators were anywhere in sight. Norrena informed
me that the machines were operated on the same principle as the
telautograph, or writing telegraph, and with the multiplex system
of transmission, an expert could operate a number of these machines
in different parts of the world at the same time. The matter for
publication, was thus delivered in the composing room in the shape of
plates ready for the presses.
But the most interesting and important feature of this great publishing
house is the manner of collecting and distributing news. The News
Department is connected by telegraph with news offices throughout the
world and is continually receiving items of general interest, which are
classified and distributed by the same means to the people in every
home throughout the continent. The printed pages are of matter of a
more permanent character, which is regarded as worthy of preservation.
Copies of new books are sent to similar establishments in the other
grand divisions and by them reproduced and placed in their local
libraries where all have access to them. This free distribution of
intelligence to the whole people is under the direct control of the
Department of Education.
During the meetings of the Altrurian Council, this department
has another important duty to perform. The council, through this
department, is practically, at all times, in communication with the
majority of the people. When a matter of public interest has been
carefully discussed pro and con, it is formulated and transmitted to
every community where the people are interested, a vote is then taken
at once, and the result transmitted to the council. By this means,
a majority of the people can be heard from in regard to any matter
of importance in a few hours. The people are at all times familiar
with the matters which are being considered by the council, and are
prepared to respond promptly. The communities ordinarily have decided
any important question in their minds before it is submitted to them
and reply at once. I could readily see how, under an advanced state of
civilisation, direct government by the people is not only practicable,
but remarkable for its simplicity and promptness of execution.
The council acts upon all matters in which two or more districts are
interested and the matter is formulated and submitted at once to the
people of such districts for their approval or disapproval. But in
any matter of great importance the people are not compelled to wait
for the regular meeting of the council, but may by the action of the
communities place the matter before the executive committee which meets
every day, and it becomes their duty to submit the question to a vote
of the people. In this way, under this system, the people can always
secure prompt action, as it is the duty of their officials to serve,
but not to govern, as they do in the outer world.
If a public improvement is agreed upon, the districts and communities
interested, make an appropriation of necessary material and labor,
and the work is pushed forward. In all things this great council is
advisory in its character and the executive committee only takes such
action as the people have agreed upon, and when any matter has been
agreed upon the executive power acts at once without question. The will
of the people is the law which no one ever assumes to question.
We passed rapidly through a large number of magnificent structures,
filled with exhibits of all kinds. In Machinery Hall were samples of
every conceivable mechanical device. Another vast building was devoted
to textile fabrics of all kinds. Every industry had its exhibit.
All the great Grand Divisions had similar buildings. Everywhere,
accommodating attendants were ready to show us anything and give us any
information we wished. And one remarkable thing was, that while every
one seemed anxious to display the goods on exhibition, no one ever
tried to sell us anything, as would have been the case in the outer
world.
Here, as MacNair said, was indeed a miniature picture of a world. I
could write a volume on each one of these great buildings without
exhausting the subject. But for the present I had seen enough and
requested Norrena to conduct us next to the Library of Universal
Knowledge which was the most highly finished and imposing of all
these palatial structures. It was built of the usual semi-transparent
material which shut out the direct rays of the sun while it admitted a
mellow radiance rendering artificial light as a rule unnecessary.
We took an elevator to the top where we began our survey of the
contents. Elevators at frequent intervals connected every story. A
description of one story would in a general way apply to all the
others. Each floor is divided longitudinally into three halls or suites
of rooms. The central division is ordinarily a single hall fifty feet
in width by six hundred in length, and in these central halls are
stored all the books, papers and relics of the past. Also specimens of
ores, metals, alloys and compounds of everything that goes to make a
complete museum of natural history, and scientific methods in chemistry
and the mechanic arts. Different stories are given to Archeology,
Ethnology, Geology, Chemistry, Electricity, etc., and constitute a most
instructive feature of this Library of Universal Knowledge.
The divisions on either side are given up to reading rooms, lecture
halls and schools for culture in technical branches that can be studied
to better advantage here in this vast library than elsewhere. In the
reading rooms, which are always open to the public, full catalogues are
always kept for visitors, and courteous attendants are ever ready to
give any information and procure any book that may be needed. Books are
all numbered and catalogued, so the visitor has but to press the number
on an electric keyboard, and it is delivered at once by a pneumatic
tube. The attendants return the books to their proper places in the
same rapid and quiet manner. No noise, bluster, or confusion anywhere.
Everything is reduced to system, and moves along like clock work.
Instruction is free in any of the technical schools, to all who apply
and submit to the rules. These schools embrace every specific branch of
study, and are usually patronised by graduates from the public schools
who desire to perfect their knowledge of some specific branch in order
to be better qualified for a special calling. Here, can be studied
under the most favorable conditions, the progressive development of a
world, illustrated at every step by the relics indicative of its status
which are carefully preserved in the museums, thus tracing in the most
instructive and satisfactory manner, the progress of the people from
their primitive condition of barbarians to their present high state of
culture.
I saw at a glance that this was the place where my contemplated work of
investigation, into the practical methods which had enabled the people
of this country to develop such ideals, could be prosecuted under
the most favorable conditions. I determined to make good use of these
facilities for gathering the ripened sheaves of human thought in every
age and condition of life, for the benefit of the people of my own
native land.
In the lower story, we passed into the department where new
publications are received and catalogued. The first thing that
attracted my attention was the translations from the library of the
Ice King, which seemed to have the right of way over everything else.
Among these translations, I noticed the American Cyclopedia, Ridpath's
History of the World, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
histories of the United States and the leading countries of the world,
together with a selection of works on polar exploration, and a number
of scientific works. I was astonished at the progress that had been
made, but Norrena informed me that, under their system, a work could be
translated almost as fast as it could be read, and that the work had
been divided between the scholars of all the grand divisions.
I asked Norrena if there was much demand for these translations of
outer world literature, and he replied:
"Yes, the orders from each grand division, amount to millions, and they
can be translated in all parts of the concave as rapidly as the presses
can turn them out. This is especially true of everything pertaining to
America, whose history up to date is so similar to the early stages of
our own."
"But," I said, "with the usual large attendance at the reading rooms,
one volume will do for a number of persons, and I should think that
would greatly decrease the demand."
"That is true," said Norrena, "but all have an equal right to be
served, and this addition to our knowledge of the outer world is in
such great demand, that all want to be supplied at the same time."
"Of course that is impossible," I said, "and so I suppose that with all
your improved methods many will be compelled to wait."
"Not so very many," said Norrena. "All may not be able to get books,
but all who desire to do so can hear them read."
"How," I asked, "can that be, when millions are asking to hear them
read all at once?"
"Not so very difficult," he replied, "when we use the multiplex
phonograph. One reader can be heard all over the concave. A vast number
would rather listen to a good reader, than to read themselves, and
as the voice of this reader can be connected with a large number of
phonograph reading rooms at the same time, in each such room, as many
can listen as can be seated."
"You astonish me," I said. "Will you please explain how this is done?"
"I will do more than that," he said. "I will show you how it is done.
Come with me."
I followed him into a large room, where I found, I should think, from
two to three hundred people, composedly sitting in chairs, or reclining
on sofas and divans, with phonographic attachments in their ears.
"These," said Norrena, "are all listening to readers at Lake Byblis who
are assisting in the translation of these works. They are using these
attachments in the ears because they are not all listening to the same
matter. This is a fair sample of what is going on in every room of
this character, throughout the concave. A large number of professional
readers are employed who are connected by telephone and phonograph
with every home and reading room in all parts of the country. By such
means you see that we can disseminate knowledge almost simultaneously,
to all who are most anxious for it. The demand for printed books is
mainly from libraries and reading rooms, public and private. The masses
of the people at this time are spending much of their ample leisure,
in listening to the reading of this new addition to our literature. It
will not be long, before the most industrious, intellectually, have
absorbed, to a considerable extent this most valuable addition to our
knowledge, and then a very large number will apply themselves to the
study of the English language, so that they may be able to judge for
themselves as to the accuracy of the translations."
"I see from your admirable system of distributing knowledge that there
must be an extraordinary demand to be supplied."
"Nothing extraordinary for us," said Norrena. "The demand is steady
with a tendency to increase. Our people are all workers who have enough
physical exercise to keep their bodies in good condition, and this
stimulates the mind to demand food, which it is our duty to provide."
"Do you not often find this difficult?" I asked.
"Not at all," he replied. "In this, as in the supply of food for the
body, the quantity is always ample where the operations of natural law
are not antagonized in the administration of public business. We have
ample facilities for gathering news, and everyone who has a thought to
express finds an opportunity to do so. There is a steady supply which
we distribute alike to all. This demand for mental food is even more
pressing than the demand for physical nourishment. The real man and
the real woman are not their physical bodies, but the living souls
which occupy these bodies, and it is the duty of this department of the
public service to provide these souls with the staff of life, which is
knowledge."
Before leaving the library, Norrena requested us to record our names on
the visitor's book. We complied, and then continued our rambles until
I, for one, was utterly exhausted, and asked to be excused from further
exercise.
"Then," said Norrena, "we will retire to the Department of Public
Comfort, where I have my private rooms, and while you are resting, we
can talk over plans for the future, or other matters that may demand
attention. I am much interested in this move to improve the airships
with a view to opening up a line of communication with the outer world."
"And," I remarked, "I am, if possible, more interested in the
completion of my book in time for it to go to the United States by
the first airship, for publication. And I want it to contain every
lesson of importance to our people that can be gleaned from the present
condition and the past history of the people of this country."
As we were speaking, Norrena hailed a passing electric carriage, and in
a few minutes we were landed at the grandest hotel I had ever entered
in my life. I could see at a glance why it was called the Department of
Public Comfort. Every facility for the comfort and enjoyment of guests
was provided. But the dimensions assigned to this volume will not
permit a description. I need only say that all its appointments were
complete, for the accommodation of thousands of guests.
While each of the department buildings had its own arrangements for
accommodating its own force of employes and its own guests, this
Department of Public Comfort was designed more especially for guests
from other Grand Divisions. Here, the heads of departments of all the
Grand Divisions held their conferences; and here the continental heads
of departments very appropriately had their headquarters.
After supper, Norrena informed me that on the morrow, he would
devote an hour to oral lessons at the institute of district school
superintendents and that his subject would be the History of the
Transition Period.
"This," he explained, "covers that period in the history of Altruria
which marks the decline and fall of the old system of competition and
the introduction of co-operative methods. It may be just what you want
in the way of lessons from history. If you think that you do not yet
understand our language well enough to fully comprehend all the points,
I will provide you with a translation into English."
I thanked him for his interest in my work and assured him that while I
wanted to hear him in his own tongue, if he could provide me with the
same matter in English, it would help me to a better understanding of
the language of the country, and that certainly I did not want to miss
any point of real value in the subject matter.