Transcriber’s Notes:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end.
* * * * *
A CITYLESS AND COUNTRYLESS WORLD
AN OUTLINE OF
Practical Co-Operative Individualism
BY
HENRY OLERICH.
HOLSTEIN, IOWA.
PUBLISHED BY GILMORE & OLERICH,
HOLSTEIN, IOWA.
* * * * *
_Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1893, by Henry
Olerich, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington._
W. B. CONKEY CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, CHICAGO.
PREFACE
One who is not totally blind and insensible to our present conditions
and to the passing events, can see at a glance that mankind in nearly
all its activities is still harassed by detestable friction. It is true
that we have made wonderful achievements in our so-called sciences.
Intelligence as a whole has ever broadened and deepened. We have
photographed stars too remote to be seen even with the most powerful
telescopes. We have weighed the planets and have ascertained their
distances. We have ascended into the clouds beyond the reach of the
naked eye. We have explored the bottom of the sea and have examined the
deep strata of the earth’s crust. Our cities are illuminated with a
continuous flash of lightning. Architectural skill has erected colossal
structures which it has splendidly finished and gorgeously decorated
with the hand of art. By the telegraph and telephone we have almost
annihilated time and space. In the phonograph we have impressed a voice
on the mineral kingdom. On the floating palace of the ocean we can,
in a few days, migrate from one continent to the other. We journey in
comfortable, speedy trains. Wonderful agricultural implements till the
soil. Manufacturing and mining have developed to gigantic industries.
The expansive force of steam and the electric current turn our
ponderous wheels of toil. Everywhere progress is visible. The food,
clothing, shelter and luxuries of the masses are, no doubt, better now
than they were ever before in the history of the human race. Mental
activity is bolder, broader and freer. Fights, quarrels, paternalism
and monopoly are gradually diminishing.
But notwithstanding all this, there is still room for vast improvement;
and one who has the real interest of himself and companions at heart
will not close his eyes against existing evils. He will boldly and
fearlessly face them, and endeavor to diminish them by a diffusion of a
higher and wider intelligence.
A thoughtful observer can not wend his way in any direction but what he
is still confronted by abominable evils which are still preying on the
purity, well-being and happiness of mankind.
In our cities we meet countless men, women and children with pale
faces, who are starving for want of sunshine, pure air and out-door
exercise. Thousands of industrious persons are forced idlers. Thousands
are living in hovels and garrets unfit for a human abode. Thousands
are paupers and tramps. A countless army of men, women and children
are mere machines, working a long, toilsome day in a mill, factory,
or workshop. A large class of women, in order to make a livelihood,
are selling themselves into marriage, or for other vile purposes. Our
farmers are largely spending their lives in country solitudes, toiling
principally for the capitalist and landlord.
A vast multitude, in fact nearly all of our so-called laborers, are
toiling so hard and so long daily, for their mere material subsistence
that little, if any, energy is left for personal cleanliness and
mental culture. Our land tenure monopolizes the earth’s surface.
Our medium of exchange which is rapidly concentrating wealth offers
special privileges to the rich. Our system of education is largely
cruel, unnatural and otherwise injurious. Husband and wife, parent and
child, often quarrel and fight and sometimes kill each other and commit
suicide.
Our government is largely invasive and despotic, and principally run by
politicians, who are grossly ignorant of the psychological principles
of human nature. Children, on the one hand, are neglected and starving,
both physically and mentally; and, on the other hand, they are tyrants
and little more than grown-up babies. Care and sorrow are stamped upon
nearly every brow one meets. Mothers, as a rule, are maternal slaves,
feeble and care-worn. Strife, revenge and jealousy are absorbing a
large share of our best energies. Much of our labor is unproductive
and destructive, and most of our machinery, tools and means of
transportation are manipulated in the interest of the rich. Paternalism
stunts individuality, and monopoly prevents the masses from becoming
prosperous.
It is a well-known fact that a stupid, ignorant person, unlike an
intelligent one, can bear most any burden without being galled by it.
Hence all our present agitations, dissatisfactions and utterances of
discontent are only so many tongues that are beginning to speak by the
force of a rising intelligence and an increasing sensibility, which
causes the victims slowly to become conscious of their unjust burdens.
It is, no doubt, true that, as a whole, we have been and are still
gradually marching toward individual freedom and equity, but, as we
have seen, are still far from having attained them. Some of us have at
last learned that happiness of self includes the happiness of others,
and that our conscious efforts, guided by the highest intelligence,
may be made to count in promoting this progressive march. For these
reasons I have concluded to contribute my infinitesimal part of this
conscious work of progress by outlining, in these printed pages,
a social and economic system from which, I believe, our existing
evils are eliminated; and to still further assist in this labor, I
compare this new system with our present one, so as to make the work
more perspicuous for those who are not much accustomed to think for
themselves. I also name and describe some of the successive steps of
progress which slowly succeeded one another.
In this work I shall further endeavor to show that social and
economic prosperity and harmony can be attained only in a system
which recognizes extensive voluntary co-operation as its fundamental
principle of production and distribution, and which concedes to every
individual the right to do as he wills, provided he does not infringe
the equal right of any other person; for in the harmonious and
intelligent union of these two factors consists the solution of the
social and economic problem.
I am well aware that my work will meet with strong opposition from my
timid contemporaries. I am aware that they will endeavor to spread the
alarm that this book is dangerous, but such a course is nothing new and
nothing strange. Persons whose hearts are cold and full of iniquity
have never been able to see and feel beyond the very limited sphere of
their own activity. They measure all other people by their own crude
and wicked intentions. Cruelty and blind zeal have always led such
persons on unwise paths. Countless examples may be cited in support of
this proposition.
Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth, and was, therefore,
condemned to drink the poisonous hemlock. Jesus, who advocated nobler
and purer principles than His contemporaries, was crucified by them.
Washington, who believed in a republic which concedes a little more
individual freedom than a monarchy does, was branded a traitor by his
monarchical contemporaries. Garrison, who advocated the liberation of
chattel slaves, was denounced a dangerous demagogue. When Luther added
a degree of personal liberty to the inflexible creed of his time, all
Christendom branded him a heretic; a subverter of human well-being.
Haeckel, Huxley, Spencer, Darwin, Buckel, Pentecost, Tucker and
countless others, who have vastly enriched the storehouse of human
knowledge by their genius and industry, have all, in their turn, been
calumniated and denounced by persons who have, perhaps, never read a
line of what these leading men have written.
I do not make these remarks concerning criticism on the ground that
I fear that my work will not bear analysis and examination; but, on
the contrary, I kindly invite the keenest critics to subject the
contents of it to the closest scrutiny. I am keenly conscious that this
book, like all others that have ever been written, contains errors
and shortcomings. To assert the contrary implies perfection, and no
person who is ordinarily well-informed will claim to be perfect or
infallible; but I can afford to invite criticism, for I shall be as
much interested in having my errors and shortcomings pointed out as
my critics are, for I have no creed, no party and no organization to
defend, but am merely searching for truth, and truth needs no other
defense than that of discovering it.
Now let me state right here that I do not wish to be understood that
the masses, who are now living, are suited, as they are at present
constituted, to enjoy and become members of a social and economic
system as pure, high and noble as the one rudely outlined in this work;
but the aim of this work is to _fit_ that vast multitude who are still
_unfit_ for it by having them mentally assimilate some of the facts
expressed and suggested in it, for let us not forget that man-made
institutions are, as a whole, always nearly suited to the mental
capacity of the masses. A comparison of the minds and institutions of
the savage with those of the more developed will substantiate this
great principle. Improve the mind by unfolding it, and the human-made
institutions will improve to correspond.
Let me here advise the reader not to omit any chapter or read them
in any other order than the one given in the book. It is not a fact,
as many believe, that a single topic can be successfully learned
or discussed without having it closely connected with others. For
examples, a change in a locomotive implies or produces a change in the
roadbed, in commerce, in speed, in mercantile business. A change in
the land tenure and in the medium of exchange produces corresponding
changes in all other human institutions and conduct; if not, one land
tenure and medium of exchange would be as good as another. A change in
sex-relations is accompanied with a corresponding change in dress,
food, dwellings, education, modes of travel, amusements, individual
freedom, in the manner of rearing offspring, and in countless other
ways. A system, in order to be natural and harmonious, must be a
connected whole. Hence we can see at once that the very act of
endeavoring to learn or discuss a single topic unconnected with others
is a sign of mental incompleteness.
With these prefatory remarks, I humbly submit the following pages to
the thoughtful consideration and impartial judgment of a continuously
progressing individual.
HOLSTEIN, Ia., March, 1892.
HENRY OLERICH.
INDEX.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I. Character, Description and Locality 13
CHAPTER II. Midith’s Arrival. His opinion of our
Earth 25
CHAPTER III. The Marsian Theory of Creation and
Formation 40
CHAPTER IV. Marsian Home and Family 51
CHAPTER V. Wealth 68
CHAPTER VI. Labor 74
CHAPTER VII. Interior of “Big-house” 80
CHAPTER VIII. Interior of “Big-house” (Continued) 90
CHAPTER IX. Happiness and Truth 101
CHAPTER X. Exterior of “Big-house” 114
CHAPTER XI. Exterior of “Big-house” (Concluded) 126
CHAPTER XII. Commercial and Mercantile Systems 151
CHAPTER XIII. Money, or Medium of Exchange 170
CHAPTER XIV. Some Connections between Wealth, Labor,
Commerce, Intercommunication, and
a Medium of Exchange 215
CHAPTER XV. Ownership of Land 230
CHAPTER XVI. Government 240
CHAPTER XVII. Sex Relations 261
CHAPTER XVIII. Comparison of Our Sex Relations with
Yours 273
CHAPTER XIX. Comparison of Our Sex Relations with
Yours (Continued) 289
CHAPTER XX. Sex Relations (Concluded) 297
CHAPTER XXI. Education 312
CHAPTER XXII. Education--The Different Branches 326
CHAPTER XXIII. Education--How to Teach the Different
Branches, and a Critical Comparison 342
CHAPTER XXIV. How the Transition from the Old to the
New Order of Things was Accomplished 388
CHAPTER XXV. How the Transition from the Old to the
New Order of Things was Accomplished
(Continued) 412
CHAPTER XXVI. Favorable News 430
DIAGRAMS.
PAGE.
Ground Plan of a “Big-house” 52
Wing of a “Big-house,” showing Private Apartments 55
Diagram, showing Communities, Motor-Lines, Railroads, etc. 57
Diagram, showing Sectional View of Parks, Boulevards,
Walks, Garden, Orchard, etc. 60
Diagram, showing Location of “Big-houses,” Warehouse,
Factories, etc. 58
Diagram, showing Enlarged Sectional View of Community,
with Four “Big-houses,” etc. 115
Diagram of Electric Carriage 132
Diagram of a Marsian Money-bill 175
CHAPTER I. CHARACTER, DESCRIPTION AND LOCALITIES.
It is in the pleasant little village of Dozen where Mr. Uwins and
family live. Mr. Uwins is a philosopher by nature, and an author, over
an assumed name, by profession. The family at present consists of Mr.
and Mrs. Uwins; Miss Viola, a daughter of eighteen; Roland, a son of
fourteen; Celestine, a daughter of six; and Rev. Dudley, a brother of
Mrs. Uwins, who is spending the summer with them.
Mr. Uwins is a handsome, well-proportioned man of middle age. He is
about six feet tall, weighing about 180 pounds. His clothes are not
expensive, but always scrupulously clean and tidy. His appearance is
decidedly prepossessing and lasting toward man, woman and child. He
nearly always wears a pleasing countenance, is modest, kind, just and
highly sociable. He is an untimid, original thinker, searching for
truth in all direction. His clear, sincere, lucid and forcible style of
expression makes him a charming conversationalist, admired by all who
know him.
Mrs. Uwins is a little above the medium size, erect and
well-proportioned. She is a few years younger than her husband, and
is almost as handsome and tasty now as she was at sixteen. She walks
with a quick, elastic step; is orderly, skilled and ready in her
domestic and other walks of life. Always kind, and never loses control
of her temper. Revenge and jealousy have no place in her heart. She
is cheerful, even under adversity. She teaches her children to be
independent, kind, just and industrious, and never governs by force.
The faculty of teaching her children to do their respective parts,
their share of the work without a command, is highly developed in her.
She is an acute thinker, a good writer, a pleasing conversationalist,
an accomplished player, and a sweet singer. The social and industrial
problem has been boldly and fearlessly investigated by her,
particularly in the direction of her own sex. Take her in all, she is a
model woman of our present age.
Rev. Dudley is an orthodox minister, spending the present summer, on
account of his health, with his sister, Mrs. Uwins. Rev. Dudley is a
man of ordinary intellectual ability, and he is not enjoying the most
robust health. The brother and sister are very unlike in thought and
belief. The brother was educated in a theological seminary; the sister,
by an extensive course of miscellaneous reading and by an indefatigable
study of Nature by which the Architect of the universe is yet building
worlds, suns and solar systems.
Mr. and Mrs. Uwins’ children all enjoy excellent health; are handsome,
kind, industrious, affectionate, well educated, and highly cultivated.
Viola is a charming young woman with unusual mental powers and personal
charms. She possesses all her mother’s good characteristics. The laws
of health and freedom seem to be her guide. She teaches music with
great success. Her pupils all love her. Sorrow and melancholy disappear
before her presence. She is always ready and willing to do her share of
the domestic labor. She is the belle of the village and has the choice
of all its suitors.
Roland is an obliging youth, full of life and a keen observer of
nature. Celestine is overflowing with activity. It seems as if nature
is endeavoring to see how much she can do with a child, living in a
somewhat favorable social atmosphere. They all seem to have inherited
the noble traits of their parents physically and mentally. The parental
natures seem to be deeply grafted in their very constitutions; we find
no social discord, no commander and no obeyer. All seem to know their
part and act from motives of their own conviction of right and wrong.
The beautiful little village of Dozen, in which Mr. Uwins resides,
is located in the most healthful portion of the fertile Mississippi
valley. The climate is mild and delightful during nearly the whole
year. In this village Mr. Uwins has erected his neat, comfortable,
two-story residence, in which he pursues his philosophizing and
literary work. In this residence Mr. Uwins and family seem to enjoy
more happiness and harmony than any other family I have ever before
seen. All rule and none obey. All is cleanliness, order, affection
and happiness. The courtesies, smiles and continuous sunshine of the
whole family make this home more nearly a heaven than any other place I
have ever experienced on earth. The cat and the dog, the fowl and the
rabbit, the bird and the babe, the stranger and the beau are treated
with equal kindness and courtesy. Such is the bliss of its inmates, of
both man and beast.
While I was collecting material for a biographical publication, it was
my good fortune to make the acquaintance of Mr. Uwins and his happy
family, with whom I received the permission to make my home while I was
collecting, in that vicinity, the biographical material for which I was
in search.
The Uwins family were not in the habit of keeping strangers, but the
cordial treatment, the modest, pleasing, scholarly answers which Mr.
Uwins gave to my biographical questions, and the easy conduct and
familiarity of Mrs. Uwins and all their children, made me persist in
becoming a member of the family during my stay at Dozen. I can say
without exaggeration that the lesson I have learned in Mr. Uwins’ home
can not be learned at the present day in any college or institution
of learning in the world. The lesson how to make ourselves and others
happy underlies all other knowledge and learning; and all the members
of the Uwins family taught--by their words and acts--this great lesson
more conspicuously and more uninterruptedly than I had ever heard or
seen it taught before.
When Mr. Uwins’ family and myself were enjoying the blessings of a
well-supplied, cheerful home, about five o’clock one June evening,
immediately before the beginning of a heavy rain, which continued
uninterruptedly until the next morning, a stranger of extraordinary
physique knocked at the open door. Mr. Uwins rose and asked him in. The
stranger introduced himself as Midith. “I am engaged in canvassing Mr.
Herbert Spencer’s ‘Synthetic Philosophy,’” he said as he sat down on
the chair offered him by Mr. Uwins.
“We have Mr. Spencer’s works in our library, and have studied them
diligently for years,” said Mr. Uwins, “but we are, nevertheless,
pleased to meet you, and extend our hospitality toward one who
endeavors to disseminate useful knowledge.”
Just at the time when Mr. Midith entered the parlor, I was taking
some notes at the further end of the apartment. Mr. Uwins introduced
Mr. Midith to all the members of his family, and then, turning to me,
introduced me as Thomas Fulton.
“Mr. Fulton,” continued Mr. Uwins, “is a stenographer, and is
collecting material for a new kind of biographical publication. If you
have a strange history to relate,” said Mr. Uwins, with a smile, “then
Mr. Fulton is your man.”
“I am sure Mr. Fulton has chosen a very instructive occupation,”
rejoined Mr. Midith.
“It is already beginning to rain, and you might just as well make up
your mind to remain with us for the night,” said Mr. Uwins to Mr.
Midith.
“I shall, indeed, be ever so much pleased to accept your kind
invitation, if I shall not be too much trouble to you and the ladies,”
said Mr. Midith, with an apparent air of satisfaction.
“You are entirely welcome, Mr. Midith,” said Mrs. Uwins, pleasantly;
“try to make yourself at home. We have little formality to offer. We
believe more in freedom and the spontaneous activity of nature than we
do in constrained fashion.”
Mr. Midith apparently enjoys the highest state of health. He is about
six feet tall, weighing about 185 pounds, erect, a model of symmetry, a
handsome face and a graceful form, a full beard and mustache, beautiful
bright eyes, a well-proportioned nose, a massive forehead, a gentle,
easy, prepossessing manner. His complexion is dark, lighted up with an
obliging, complacent countenance, always wearing a smile which seems
to have been stamped deeply into his very constitution by the kindness
of himself and his ancestors. His presence seems to be always highly
agreeable. He knows of no frown. Time has cut no furrows of care and
anxiety in his brow. His general appearance and his soft, pleasing,
affable conversational powers seem to transform sorrow into joy.
Arrogance, revenge and jealousy have apparently been banished from his
heart by the operation of his powerful intellect. His whole structure
and bearing seem to have been modeled by truth and harmony. Discord,
arrogance and rudeness seem to have long been crowded out by higher and
nobler traits.
The style of his costume was such that comfort is considered the first
requisite, and adornment next. His clothes are scrupulously neat, clean
and tidy. Health to him seems to be far more precious than fashion and
conventionality. Experience seems to have taught him that, where a law
of health and a law of fashion conflict, the law of fashion should be
disregarded. He apparently has acted all through life, and perhaps his
ancestors before him, that physical structure and mental attainments
are far more precious than adornments of silks, gold and diamonds.
My profession has naturally thrown me in contact with a large number of
individuals of the human race in various parts of the civilized world,
but I must confess that I have never before met an individual in whom
there appears to be so many good and noble characteristics united in
one person than there appear to be in Mr. Midith. I think he is as
nearly a model of human perfection as the world will probably ever be
capable of producing.
I noticed that the whole family were completely captivated by Mr.
Midith’s charming, prepossessing appearance. Viola, in particular,
seemed to be spellbound for the time being. Her rosy cheeks were
redder than usual; but she soon recovered her usual affableness toward
Mr. Midith, as well as toward all the rest of the company. Celestine
was already leaning against his knee, with his hand resting on her
shoulder; while Roland was continually edging nearer to him.
The rain had been pouring down for nearly an hour since Mr. Midith
entered the house and became a member of this happy family. It is
six o’clock, and Mrs. Uwins announces tea. The table, as always, is
neatly set and tastily arranged. The cooking is excellent. While we
were at the table, as well as after the meal, the conversation grew
more and more interesting. The confidence of one another seemed to
be strengthened by every additional word. The scientific, social,
industrial and domestic problems were ably handled. Mr. Midith
displayed, in an unassuming manner, such a vast amount of information
that he almost held all of us spellbound. His perspicuous, sincere
utterances brought a deep conviction to his hearers. It seemed, at
times, that he was endowed with superhuman power of expression; but
his attention to others was just as perfect and pleasing as his
conversational abilities.
When, after tea, we were all seated in the cosy parlor, Mr. Midith
remarked that his present surroundings appeared more homelike to him
than any other home he had ever before enjoyed on _this_ earth.
“On _this_ earth,” repeated Viola. “Have you ever been on any _other_
earth than _this_ one, Mr. Midith?”
“You were, before supper, talking about strange histories,” said Mr.
Midith. “I am quite sure that my history would seem very strange to
you. Yes, in fact, it would no doubt at first seem incredible to you.
But the strangeness and incredibility do not alter the facts in the
case. My history is a romance in which every event is a reality,” said
Mr. Midith.
“I am sure, Mr. Midith,” said Mrs. Uwins, “that we would be highly
interested in your history, and nothing would please us better just now
than to listen to you.”
“Allow me to tell you, ladies and gentlemen,” said Mr. Midith
unassumingly, “that I have never before given my history to any
one. But as I have always intended to make it known to the mundane
(belonging to the world, earthly) inhabitants when a favorable
opportunity would present itself, after having thoroughly acquainted
myself with your social and industrial institutions, and as this is by
far the most favorable one I have so far had, I shall be pleased to
comply with your request.”
We unanimously requested Mr. Midith to proceed with his narrative,
which he did as follows:
“It will doubtless seem incredible, perhaps almost miraculous, to you
at this stage of mundane development, when I tell you that I was not
born and reared on _this planet_. But let not this deter you. Events
that seem incredible, incomprehensible and impossible in one age, often
become credible, comprehensible and possible in a succeeding age. To
a savage it seems impossible to project a 2,000-pound cannon ball as
far as you actually do project it. To the contemporaries of Columbus,
our modern steamer, which crosses the Atlantic in about five days,
seemed no doubt incredible. Telegraphy seemed impossible to Washington
and his contemporaries; so did a sixty-mile-an-hour train. But _we_
all find them perfectly natural and practicable in this age. We have
divested them of all mystery, and have put them under the dominion of
an inexorable law, whose operation our ancestors did not understand.
It would be highly presumptuous on our part to assume that we know all
what can be known: that all what seems to be impossible to us now must
forever remain impossible to our posterity.
“You, no doubt, are all familiar with Mr. Spencer’s maxim, ‘Not
directly, but by successive approximations do mankind arrive at correct
conclusions.’
“I fear that I shall be taxing your credulity severely by giving you
my truthful history, but, with the foregoing facts in our minds, it
may be worth while to listen to the claims of any person who does not
enter wholly into the field of inconceivability. History proves that
the persons who have been willing to listen fairly to the claims of
others, even if they appeared impossible at the time, keeping what they
believed to be good and rejecting what they believe to be wrong, have
by far been the noblest and the most useful to mankind; to them is due
the progress of the world.”
“All that you have said is true,” said Mr. Uwins, “and I am sure we can
not fail to give you the most interesting hearing.”
“I was born on the planet Mars, about fifty years ago,” continued Mr.
Midith.
“Born on the planet Mars!” I exclaimed with astonishment. “You have,
indeed, a strange history, then.”
“From astronomical studies,” continued Mr. Midith, “you have learned
that a Marsian day is about 38 minutes longer than your day here on
earth. The Marsian year is 687 of your days instead of 365-1/4 days.
The diameter of Mars is about 5,000 miles, while that of the earth
is nearly 8,000 miles. The heat and light of Mars is, of course, not
so intense as that of the earth, because Mars is about 34 million
miles farther from the sun than the earth; and because heat and light
decrease in intensity as the square of the distance increases.
“The earth has one moon, and Mars has two. The smallest one is about
six miles in diameter. It is the smallest heavenly body with which we
are acquainted. The nearest of Mars’ moons is less than 4,000 miles
from the surface of Mars. The nearness of this moon to Mars I would
like to have you keep in mind, for my presence on earth is indirectly
connected with this phenomenon, which I will soon tell you.
“We must bear in mind that one year on Mars is nearly two years on
earth. A person living eighty years on Mars lives about double the
number of hours that a person who lives eighty years on earth does.
“According to your ‘nebular hypothesis,’ which is true according to our
astronomical knowledge Mars was detached from the sun ages before the
earth was born; for Mars is farther from the sun--is located outside
of the earth’s orbit. Mars is also much smaller and less dense than
the earth, in consequence of which it cooled much longer and much more
rapidly. Mars, then, is much older astronomically and geologically.
The crust of Mars, in proportion to its diameter, is much thicker than
the crust of the earth. The water area, in proportion to the land
area, is much smaller on Mars than it is on earth, because the water
is continually being absorbed by the thickening solid crust. We can
readily see, then, that according to these data, other things being
equal, Mars must have an older and more advanced vegetable and animal
life. The Marsian social and industrial organizations must be much more
perfect than yours.
“On account of the difficult dynamical (pertaining to strength or
power) principles involved in my interplanetary navigation, I shall
for the present defer an explanation of my journey. It will, however,
I think, not be out of place here to suggest that the force of
gravitation between two bodies is in proportion to their mass and
inversely as the square of their distance. The earth and Mars, when
nearest together, are about 34,000,000 miles apart. There is a point,
then, somewhere between them, where a body would be equally attracted
by both, would neither fall to the earth nor to Mars. But, if moved
a little toward either one, from the point of equilibrium, it would
fall the whole distance toward that body with continuously increasing
velocity. If the earth and Mars, when in conjunction, were only a
mile apart, a body could easily, even with your present knowledge of
dynamics, be projected out of the reach of gravitation of one of these
planets into that of the other. The actual interplanetary distance,
which I traversed between the earth and Mars, calls in nothing new in
_kind_, but only in _degree_. So you see that in order to be able to
make this interplanetary journey, you need only to _improve_ on what
you already have; and time has given the inhabitants of Mars, on this
point, the advantage over the inhabitants of the earth.”