SifSfiiiil^^S-, "V PERKINS LIBRARY Duke University ^dre Books Omms tncrimur ef fiafx ac^ucr Ma EX LIBRIS IVillUwi Jlnrry J^opkiris Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Duke University Libraries Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/citylesscountryl01oler A CITYLESS . . . AND COUNTRYLESS WORLD AN OUTLINE OF Practical Go-Operative Individualism BY HENRY OLERICH. HoLSTKiN, Iowa. Published by gilmore & OLERICH, HOLSTEIN, IOWA. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year iSgj, by Henry Olcrich, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at IWjshington. W. ■■ CONKCV 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 sci- ences. Intelligence as a whole has ever broadened and deepened. We have photographedstars too remote to be seen even with the most powerful telescopes. We have weighed the planets and have ascertained their dis- tances. 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 contin- uous 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 pal- ace of the ocean we can, in a few days, migrate from one continent to the other. We journey in comforta- ble, speedy trains. Wonderful agricultural implements till the soil. Manufacturing and mining have devel- oped to gigantic industries. The expansive force of steam and the electric current turn our ponderous 4 PREFACE. 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 fear- lessly 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, work- ing 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 capital- ist 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 PREFACE. 5 land tenure monopolizes the earth's surface. Our me- dium of exchange which is rapidly concentrating wealth offers special privileges to the rich. Our system of education is largely cruel, unnatural and otherwise in- jurious. 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 psycological 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 pros- perous. It is a well-known fact that a stupid, ignorant per- son, unlike an intelligent one, can bear most any burden without being galled by it. Hence all our present agi- tations, 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 6 PREFACE. freedom and equity, but, as we have seen, are still far from haviuL^ 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 promo- ting this progressive march. For these reasons I have concluded to contribute my infinitessimal part of this conscious work of progress by outlining, in these printed pages, a social and economic system from which, I be- lieve, our existing evils are eliminated; and to still fur- ther assist in this labor, I compare this new system with our present one, so as to make the work more perspic- uous 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 activ- PREFACE. 7 ity 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 hem- lock. Jesus, who advocated nobler and purer princi- ples than His contemporaries, was crucified by them. Washington, who believed in a republic which con- cedes a little more individual freedom than a monarchy does, was branded a traitor by his monarchical con- temporaries. Garrison, who advocated the liberation of chattel slaves, was denounced a dangerous dema- gogue. When Luther added a degree of personal lib- erty to the inflexible creed of his time, all Christendom branded him a heretic; a subverter of human well-be- ing. Haeckel, Huxley, Spencer, Darwin, Buckel, Pen- tecost, Tucker and countless others, who have vastly enriched the storehouse of human knowledge by their genius and industry, have all, in their turn, been cal- umniated and denounced by persons who have, perhaps, never read a line of what these leading men have writ- ten. 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 con- trary implies perfection, and no person who is ordi- narily well-informed will claim to be perfect or infalli- ble; but I can afford to invite criticism, for I shall be 8 PREFACE. as much interested in having my errors and shortcom- ings 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^/that vast multi- tude who are still tuifit 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 ca- pacity of the masses, A comparison of the minds and institutions of the savage with those of the more de- veloped will substantiate this great principle. Im- prove the mind by unfolding it, and the human-made institutions will improve to correspond. Let me here advise the reader not to omit any chap- ter 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 pro- duces 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 correspond- ing 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, IPREFACE. 9 food, dwellings, education, modes of travel, amuse- ments, 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 con- nected 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 incom- pleteness. With these prefatory remarks, I humbly submit the following pages to the thoughtful consideration and impartial judgment of a continuously progressing in- dividual. H'oLSTEiN, la., March, 1892. Henry Olerich. INDKX Chapter I. Chapter II. Chapter III. Chapter IV. Chapter V. Chapter VI. Chapter VII. Chapter VIII. Chapter IX. Chapter X. Chapter XI. Chapter XII. Chapter XIII. Chapter XIV. Chapter XV. Chapter XVI. Chapter XVII. Chapter XVIII, Chapter XIX. Chapter XX. Chapter XXI. Chapter XXII. Chapter XXIII. PAGE. Character, Description and Locality 13 Midith's Arrival. His opinion of our Earth 25 The Marsian Theory of Creation and Formation 40 Marsian Home and Family : . . 51 Wealth 68 Labor 74 Interior of "Big-house" 80 Interior of "Big-house" (Continued) 90 Happiness and Truth 101 Exterior of "Big-house" 114 Exterior of "Big-house" (Concluded) 126 Commercial and Mercantile Systems 151 Money, or Medium of Exchange 170 Some connections between Wealth, Labor, Commerce, Intercommunication, and a Medium of Exchange 215 Ownership of Land 230 Government 240 Sex Relations 261 Comparison of Our Sex Relations with Yours 273 Comparison of Our Sex Relations with Yours (Continued) 289 Sex Relations (Concluded) 297 Education B12 Education — The Different Branches 326 Education — How to Teach the Different Branches, and a Critical Comparison. . 342 10 INDEX. II Chapter XXIV. How the Transition from the Old to the New Order of Things was Accom- plished 388 Chapter XXV. How the Transition from the Old to the New Order of Things was Accom- plished (Continued) , 412 Chapter XXVI. Favorable News 430 DIAQRANIS. 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 GO 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 12 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; Ro- land, 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 i8o 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 conversa- tionalist, 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 13 14 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. never loses control of her temper. Revenge and jeal- ousy have no place in her heart. She is cheerful, even under adversity. She teaches her children to be in- dependent, 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 conversa- tionalist, an accomplished player, and a sweet singer. The social and industrial problem has been boldly and fearlessly investigated by her, particularly in the direc- tion 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 tlicological 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 charm- ing 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 dis- appear before her presence. She is always ready and willing to do her share of the domestic labor. She is PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 1 5 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 some- what favorable social atmosphere. They all seem to have inherited the noble traits of their parents physic- ally 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 philoso- phizing 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 kind- ness and courtesy. Such is the bliss of its inmates, of both man and beast. While I was collecting materia for a biographical publication, it was my good fortune to make the l6 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. acquaintance of Mr. Uvvins and his happy family, with whom I received the permission to make my home while I was collecting, in that vicinity, the biogra- phical material for which I was in search. The Uwins family were not in the habit of keeping strangers, but the cordial treatment, the modest, pleas- ing, scholarly answers which Mr. Uwins gave to my biographical questions, and the easy conduct and familiarity of Mrs. Uwins and all theirchildren, 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 knowl- edge 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 uninter- ruptedly until the next morning, a stranger of extra- ordinary 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 - PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM, I7 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 stenogra- pher, and is collecting material for a new kind of bio- graphical 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 appar- ent 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, beauti- ful bright eyes, a well-proportioned nose, a massive forehead, a gentle, easy, prepossessing manner. His % l8 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. complexion is dark, lii^hted up with an obliging, com- placent countenance, always wearing a smile which seems to have been stamped deeply into his very con- stitution 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 qonflict, the law of fashion should be disre- garded. 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 con- fess that I have never before met an individual in whom there appears to be so many good and noble character- istics united in one person than there appear to be in Mr. Midith. I think he is as nearly a model of human PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. IQ 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 spell- bound for thetime being. Her rosy cheeks were redder than usual; but she soon recovered her usual affable- ness 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 excel- lent. 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 strength- ened 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 par- lor, Mr. Midith remarked that his present surround- ings appeared more homelike to him than any other home he had ever before enjoyed on tliis earth. 20 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "On this earth," repeated Viola. "Have you ever been on any (7//!rr 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 noth- ing 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 thor- oughly acquainted myself with your social and indus- trial institutions, and as this is by far the most favor- able 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 develop- ment, when I tell you that I was not born and reared on tl lis 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 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 21 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 7ve 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 approxima- tions do mankind arrive at correct conclusions.' "I fear that I shall be taxing your credulity se- verely 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 inconceiva- bility. 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 be- lieve 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. 22 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "Born on the planet IMars!" I exclaimed with aston- ishment. "You have, indeed, a strange history, then." "From astronomical studies," continued Mr. Midith, " you have learned that a Marsian day is about 38 min- utes longer than your day here on earth. The Marsi- an year is 687 of your days instead of 365)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, be- cause Mars is about 34 million miles farther from the sun than the earth; and because heat and light de- crease in intensity as the square of the distance in- creases. "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 out- side 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. PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 27, 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 continu- ally 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 Mar- sian 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 inter- planetary 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, some- where 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 dis- tance, which I traversed between the earth and Mars, calls in nothing new in hjid, but only in degree. So you see that in order to be able to make this inter- planetary journey, you need only to hnprove on what 24 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. you already have; and time has given the inhabitants of Mars, on this point, the advantage over the inhab- itants of the earth. CHAPTER II. MIDITH's arrival — HIS IDEAS OF OUR EARTH. "You said, Mr. Midith, that you were born on Mars about fifty years ago. Do you mean fifty Marsian years, or fifty of our years?" asked Viola. "I mean fifty of your years," replied Mr. Midith. "How long have you lived on earth then, Mr. Midith?" asked Rev. Dudley. "I have been an inhabitant of the earth a little over ten years. I was twenty Marsian years old when I arrived on earth, and the ten years I have lived here makes my age the same as thirty mundane years. You see a Marsian year to a Marsite is no longer than your year is to you. Everything on Mars corresponds with its length of year." "Did the increased intensity of heat and light affect you much when you first landed on earth?" asked Mr. Uwins. "Yes at first I experienced quite a discomfort; but my system and senses soon adjusted themselves to the new conditions somewhat, the same as an eye adjusts itself when going from a dark to a brilliantly lighted apartment. The temperature gave me more and longer discomfort than the light did." "How old does a person on Mars get to be, Mr. Midith?" asked Roland, as he was edging still nearer to Mr. Midith. 25 26 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "A person, with the same care of himself, lives as many Marsian years on Mars as you live earthly years. But as society, on account of the greater age of Mars, has advanced much further than it has on earth, people, as they continually learn by experience, live more in harmony with the laws of life and health, and conse- quently they get much older. Many Marsites live now to be over 150 years and are still in vigorous health," replied Mr. Midith. "Did the difference in the atmospheric pressure and the difference in the intensity of gravitation cause you much inconvenience, Mr. Midith?" I asked. "Not very much," replied Mr. Midith. "We are going to crowd you with questions," said Viola with a smile. "I was going to ask you where you landed when you reached the earth." "Miss Viola, to tell you the truth I did not land on a very pleasant spot. I landed in the Pacific ocean, about a mile from the western shore of the United States. When I entered the dense atmosphere, very near the earth, my interplanetary projectile became un- manageable and out of repair. This landed me in the Pacific. But the Marsites are all good swimmers, as I shall explain to you hereafter, and so I swam to the nearest shore." "Cpuld you speak the English language when you landed on earth?" asked Rev. Dudley. "No; I could not. I could understand no language that I heard spoken here. There are a few words in the English language that sound similarly to our words, but they signify entirely different ideas and things. I had to learn every word of your language that I now know." PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 2/ "Do I understand you, then, Mr. Midith, that you have but one language on Mars?" asked Mrs. Uwins. "Yes; we have but one language now. Ages ago we had many, just like you have; but as the families, the tribes and the nations coalesced more and more, and as intercommunication improved, languages became fewer and fewer until there was but one left. The sur- vival of the fittest antiquated all but one. A person can now go all over Mars and speak the same lan- guage." "How, Mr. Midith, did you acquire and develop the knowledge which enabled you to visit the earth?" I asked. "You recollect that the moons of Mars are very near her surface; the nearest one is less than 4,000 miles distant. You also recollect that the specific grav- ity and the force of gravity are less on Mars than they are on earth. Under these conditions, a body can be projected with less force from the surface of Mars than it can be projected from the surface of the earth. So we first practiced to project bodies to Mars' moons, then we increased the power of our projectile and directed it to the earth, which is our nearest older planet." "How many of our days did you say, Mr. Midith, the Marsian year contains?" asked Viola. "About 687 days," replied Mr. Midith. "That is a long year," said Mr. Uwins. "A person requires a great deal of food and clothing during such a long year; but he can also do a correspondingly great amount of work. Can the land, under those conditions, support as dense a population on Mars as we can here?" 28 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "As far as I can ascertain," replied Mr. Midith, "a square mile of land on Mars, under the same degree of civilization, can suj^port just as many persons as a square mile on earth can support. The amount of nutriment, the productiveness of the soil, the durability of things, the longevity, and the labor expended in producing them, are related in exactly the same pro- portion as we find them here on earth. The year is longer, the food more nutritious, the clothing and other things more lasting, the soil more fertile, and more time for growth and cultivation during the long Marsian year; so that an acre of land can support as much and no more life during the same geologic age than the earth can. These facts we always want to bear in mind when we speak hereafter of the social and industrial problems of Mars." "Is it not a grand, imposing sight for a Marsite to behold the swiftly moving little moons revolve around Mars so rapidly that the inner one, called by our astronomers, Phobus, completes its orbital revolution in seven hours and thirty-eight minutes, and appears to rise in the West instead of the EastT exclaimed Mr. Uwins. "Yes, it is indeed a grand sight to see the one some- times rise in the East and the other in the West, and yet both revolve around Mars in the same direction as your moon revolves around the earth." "Where is your 'planetary projectile' on which you came here to our earth, Mr. Midith?" asked Roland with an air of apparent inquiry. "It lies buried somewhere in the great Pacific, Ro- land," replied Mr. Midith, with a suppressed sigh. "It was swallowed up by the vast expanse of the deep, when I PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 2g landed on earth about ten years ago, and I had to swim for life. It frightens me still when I think of that dreadful event." "Mrs. Uwins, you told me, time and again, that you do not believe in miracles," said Rev. Dudley to his sister. "What, then, do you call Mr. Midith's visit on earth? Do you call that miraculous? Have I not often told you, dear sister, that God in His infinite power is as capable of working a miracle now as He was in ancient times?" "I do not call that a miracle at all, James. I am sure that if we understood the dynamics by virtue of which Mr. Midith was enabled to make his visit, we would no more call it a miracle than we call the flying of a kite, or the running of a locomotive, a miracle. Is not that so, Mr. Midith?" "Yes, Mrs. Uwins, you are right; there is no miracie whatever about my mundane visit. It was all accom- plished by the aid of immutable laws which undoubtedly hold good alike on the nearest and the-remotest stars of the universe. We want to keep in mind that the miraculous always disappears just in proportion as we discover the natural laws that operate the phenomena of nature." "But, Mr. Midith, is not the interplanetary space be- yond the planets' atmospheres a vacuum?" asked Viola. "How could you live and breathe in a vacuum? We are taught by our philosophers that all interstellar space is filled with an imponderable ( without sensible weight), highly attenuated (made thin) medium called ether. But we are not aware that it will support life. How is that, Mr. Midith?" "As I have said before, Viola, I should prefer to 30 I'KACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. give you this difficult explanation after you get better acquainted with our enterprises. After you have learned more about our mechanical genius, our social and industrial problems. It will be much more easily understood by you then, than it would be now." "All right, Mr. Midith, just as you think best," said Viola with a pleasant countenance. "If we ask you questions out of the natural order just let us know." "Did our earth seem homelike to you, Mr. Midith, when you first looked around and as you gradually became better acquainted?" I asked. "Let me tell you right here, ladies and gentlemen, in answering this question truthfully, I may say things that may not be very agreeable to some of you. But I believe that nearly all of you are searching for truth regardless of consequences; and whenever one has ar- rived at such a stage of intellectual development, he is at least willing to give truth a fair hearing, whether it is for the time being pleasant or unpleasant." "You see L have not been educated under any of your habits, customs, practices and prejudices. It is therefore very likely that I see things and acts which appear cruel, wrong, superstitious, and even barbarous to me, which seem all right, kind and humane to you, because you have been educated and raised to them, and have, therefore, perhaps never given them a fair impartial thought, a thorough analysis." "When I first looked around, and as I gradually ac- quired more and more information about terrestrial af- fairs, some things seemed perfectly familiar. The land and the water, the hills and the valleys, light and dark- ness, heat and cold, growth and decay, hunger and thirst, pleasure and pain, all seemed to be familiar to PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 3 1 me. Water sought its level. The green grass covered the earth and was kissed by the dewdrop and the rain; the lofty trees were dressed in verdant foliage and spread their boughs toward heaven; the gentle breeze raised the little ripples on the bosom of the lake, and sported with the green foliage and the sere leaf the same here as on Mars. "The flight of the bird, the walking of the beast, eating, drinking, breathing, moving, and the reproduc- tion of organisms were nothing new to me. They were, under similar conditions, exactly identical with ours on Mars. "The rain and the snow, the thunder and lightning, the changes of the seasons, the germination and growth of plants, the laws that govern animal and vegetable life are the same here as they are in my native world, and we have no reason to believe that they are differ- ent on a single one of the countless heavenly bodies of the universe. "Mars produces coal, iron, natural gas, and the other minerals and metals in the same abundance and pro- portion as the earth does. The chemical compounds are composed of the same elements and in the same proportion. The water, under the same condition, turns the wheel of toil and drowns the innocent babe there, as here. "In fact, I find no difference in things, and in the relations of things here, and in those of Mars, except in the scientific, social and industrial worlds. In these fields, however, I find vast differences; differences so great and so grand that I fear I shall be able to give you but a faint idea of them. I notice in your current literature and political economy that not a few of your 32 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. foremost and well-meaning economists and sociolo- gists have endeavored to dream out, instead of work- ing out, a suitable and higher order of things for the people on earth. But I believe that I can safely say that the reality of the social and industrial systems of Mars far surpass all imaginary Utopias dreamed of by mundane beings. The truth of our world in these directions exceeds the wildest romance that was ever penned by your most extravagant novelists. "I have not merely dreamed of this grand, this noble, this happy state of human affairs, but I have actually enjoyed them for twenty long INIarsian years. I have seen and experienced them in their practical workings. With countless others, I have even been a tiny link in the endless chain of development and progress, which has brought us to that high state of civilization which the Marsites now enjoy. " As I have said before, everything I met on earth appeared perfectly natural and familiar to me except the scientific, social and industrial spheres. It seemed so strange to me when I first arrived on earth that about half of your population desire to live in compar- atively filthy, crowded, smoky, unhealthy cities and towns, while the other half want to live a lonely, toil- some, country life, deprived of nearly all the blessings and enjoyments of a healthy society; and it seemed still more strange to me that you believed that you could not get along without the cities and without the country. The evils and Heedlessness of both cities and country appeared so plain to me, and yet you are, at the present age, unable to see the bad effects of them. "It appeared so strange to me that each small fam- ily desired to live in a small home, located so disorderly PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 33 that they were almost completely cut off from any con- venient intercommunication. How the agriculturist, or farmer, fenced his little patch of land, which he worked single-handed so cruelly and toilsomely with a draught animal — ox, horse, etc., which require almost as much food and care as they can earn. How poorly the majority of the little homes were furnished. What domestic slaves wives and children are when the human hand must do the work of machinery. "It seemed strange to me why only so few can dis- tinguish h&iwQ&n productive, unproductive 3iU.d destructive labor. Why millions upon millions of men, women and children are toiling early and late and are produc- ing nothing. Why the poor laborer could not see that the rich parasite appropriates a large portion of the products of his labor. Why thousands upon thousands of frugal, industrious carpenters have been building houses all their lives and have no house of their own to live in. Why a large number of shoemakers have been making shoes and have no decent shoe to put on. Why a multitude of farmers have toiled year after year and are now even farther from owning the land they work than they were when they began their toil years ago. "I could not see how people could believe that/^«^ is wealth, and that capital should be entitled to part of the products. Why people were satisfied with such poor walks, muddy, dusty streets and roads, slow, irregular trains, clumsy vehicles drawn by weary animals, such barren gardens, so few flowers, and yet so many forced idlers. Why you had so many places of business, where goods are spoiling, and so few customers who have the means to buy what they should have. Why 3 34 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. there are, in certain localities, so many commodities decaying, and so much food wasted by some^ while so jnany others are almost starving. Why people should be willing to ^iiy profit. "The longer I live on earth and the more I get around, the more strange and perverted your social and industrial system appears to me. It seems so queer to me to see every one go to the postoffice, instead of having the postoffice brought to everyone; to have every one run to the depot, instead of having a depot in every house. "It seemed so strange why people could not see that the money you use — gold, silver, etc. — cost so much comparatively unproductive labor to get the material out of which you make the money; that in your mone- tary system there exists no proportionate relations between the amount of negotiable wealth on hand and the amount of money in circulation; there may be an abundance of money and a scarcity of commodities, or there may be an abundance of commodities and a scarcity of money; that the persons who really make and earn the commodities receive very little of the money, while the schemer who actually makes and earns very little ot the commodities receives, as a rule, an abundance of the money. "It seemed so very, very strange, so passing strange to me, why people could not see the evil effects of owning vacant land by deed, or paper title ; why people are willing to pay re7tt or buy land; why individuals that are unable to govern themselves should attempt to govern others; why, after such a complete failure, you still believe in a government by physical force ; why the vast majority believe that a home or family cannot PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 35 exist successfully without a boss; why people believe in compulsory taxation; why a queen or president, as such, should be more honored than a miner or a wash- erwoman. "It seems remarkably strange to me why the im- aginary being called the State should in any way interfere with love affairs; why a man or a woman is willing to give himself or herself away for life to some one else; why each does not desire to own herself or himself only; why a woman should be dependent on a man financially; why women should not enjoy equal privileges with man in all respects; why you have so many unwelcome children and unwilling mothers; why the work of rearing offspring is almost exclusively thrust off onto mothers; why mothers are not com- pensated for nursing offspring the same as they should be for other productive labor. "It seems so strange to me why parents are forcing their children to school when they do not desire to go; why a child, which is full of life and energy, should be compelled to sit silently and quietly for six hours a day in a school-room when activity is the only thing that develops body and mind; why a child should be bur- dened by all school work, and an adult by all physical work; why a child should not receive compensation immediately for all the productive labor it performs; why you cannot educate in a pleasant school of activity and play; why you do not have suitable play-grounds and parks near every home; why you value fashion so highly and life and health so little; why you wear such uncomfortable and injurious costumes; why it does not seem so repugnant to feast on a carcass than on a corpse; why you always hold up to view what you be;- 36 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. lieve to be good and say nothing about pointing out and discouraging the bad; why you honor and respect the laborer who produces the wealth of the world so little, and the idle, wasteful aristocrat so much; why you can not voluntarily co-operate under individualism; how you can belie\'e that your 'God' wants you to build and erect magnificent churches, and steeples towering toward heaven, when, not unfrequently in the very shadow of them, poverty and want wreck the con- stitution of his highest creatures. Such are a few of the many things here that seemed and still seem very strange and very cruel to me." "Mr. Midith," I asked, "why did you not make your history known on earth before this time?" "I will tell you, Mr. Fulton; at first I was afraid to say anything about it. Every one I met on earth ap- peared to be so cruel and so harsh, that, very likely, I was as much frightened among you as you would be if you were accidentally dropped among your American Indians or among the cannibals. I saw the idle boy sportiv^ely fling stones, with apparent delight, at the joy- ful birds that were singing their sweet songs. I saw the teamster strike his beasts of burden so cruelly, even when they were almost completely exhausted. I saw the hunter, with apparent delight, project the burning shot into the sensitive nerve of his game. I saw him beat his dog unmercifully for what the dog did not know. I saw the butcher not only slaughter, but tort- ure and flay with satisfaction, creatures which are en- titled to life as much as he. I saw the fisher jerk the hook out of the fishes' throat, as if fish have no feeling, and then starve them in an atmosphere of air. I saw the parent scold, kick and cuff his child with an air pf PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 37 delight and duty. I saw the politician deceive and defraud his constituents. I heard the minister threaten his devotees with everlasting hell-fire. I saw the judge take a bribe. I heard the witness perjure himself, and the lawyer misrepresent his case. I saw the stockman keep his stock in small, filthy, cold stables and pens. I saw the rich trample the poor into the mire of pov- erty. I saw the editor praise, for the money that was in it for him, things that he knew were worse than worthless. I saw the landlord evict his tenant for the only crime of being unable to pay his rent. I saw train- robbers wreck trains regardless of the human lives they contained. I saw incendiarism practiced with the sole object of material pelf. I saw countless women live a life of sin and shame in order to make a livelihood. I saw the toilers, men, women and children, on every hand bent and deformed under their burden of toil and care. I heard the minister preach that the only good and truthful man your world ever had — your Redeemer — was crucified by a ruling mob for expressing His honest opinion. I saw the policeman club his victim; the hangman strangle the fallen. I saw the 'State' im- prison men and women for telling the truth and for investigating the so-called laws of nature. I saw the teacher flog his pupil often only for telling the truth and for following his inquiring nature. I saw the sol- dier shoot his fellowman in countless numbers. I saw the husband subjugate and otherwise misuse his wife. I saw the 'State' compel married husbands and wives to live together after they did not love one another any more. I saw people starve, freeze, go ragged and filthy, and have no home to go to. • I heard quarrels, oaths, curses, moans and sighs. I saw tears of sorrow, frowns; 38 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. sullen, pouty faces, furrowed brows, anxious, care-worn countenances, decrepit, emaciated, diseased human frames; slow, clumsy gaits and countless premature deaths. And I saw time and again good men and women ostracized, imprisoned and hanged for express- ing their honest thoughts and for giving to the world the fruits of their honest toil of observation and inves- tigation. "I think these and countless other cruelties and outrages are enough to frighten any one into silence who came from such a just, kind and rich world as I had left only a short time before. "You may say that it was foolish for me to be frightened under the protecting hand of your civiliza- tion; but you must bear in mind that the trouble was, and is still more so now, that I can not see your civili- zation. The savage would doubtless call you a coward and a fool for being frightened in his state of society; but you would undoubtedly not feel at ease with him, while he would enjoy it. So one coming from a more advanced state of civilization would no more feel at ease in your world than you would among the savages. "For these and other reasons, I have never before mentioned my coming to this earth to any one until I became a member of your kind, intelligent family, which seems so homelike that I can say what I desire and what I believe to be true of your world, and what I kiiow to be true of our world. Of course, my history and my visit from Mars to your earth is not intended to be a secret by any means. As I have told you, at first, I was frightened into silence, and further on, I concluded that I would not say anything about it until I was quite familiar with all your institutions, PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 39 and until I had learned your language so that I could give you a clear, intelligent account of our world and compare it, in an unbiased manner, with your world, so that the earthly inhabitants may derive all the benefit possible from our older and fuller scientific, social and industrial experience." "Have you always been engaged here selling Mr. Spencer's works?" asked Viola. "Oh, no! You see at my arrival I was at a great disadvantage. I could not speak your language, and I knew nothing of your customs, habits, science and literature. Much pertaining to your science, society and industry was new to me. I was therefore forced into the field of the hardest manual labor. But as I learned to read and write your languages, I found that Mr. Spencer's philosophical works were well adapted to give the necessary information essential for a higher social and industrial life. Partly for this reason, partly for making a livelihood, and partly for being thrown in contact with eminent mechanics whose assistance I am seeking, I have accepted my present vocation of disseminating useful knowledge by selling good works; for I am convinced that thought is the only power that can move the psychical world in the right direction," CHAPTER III. THE MARSIAN THEORY OF CREATION AND FORMATION. We had been conversing more than an hour, during which time the rain had not ceased falling, when Mr. Uwins asked Mr. Midith about the Marsian theory of creatio?i2Lnd formation. We were all intensely eager to hear Mr. Midith's explanation; even little Celestine's curiosity was so aroused by the unassuming, clear, forcible style and manner of Mr. Midith that her coun- tenance wore a more than usual bright and pleasing aspect. "I will tell you, ladies and gentlemen," said Mr. Midith. "As far as I have been able to learn during the ten years I have lived on earth, the fundamental laws of nature, as I have said before, are the same on earth as they are on Mars. The only difference is, that Mars is further advanced astronomically and geologically. Mars is older and has had longer time for development. Dynamics, life, thought, society, and industry are much better understood by the masses on Mars than they are understood by the multitude here. Science is further advanced. With these preliminary remarks I shall give you as nearly as I can, the desired informa- tion; and I hope that you will not feel back- ward in asking any questions that may suggest them- selves to your minds while I am endeavoring to give you an explanation of the foundation upon which all 40 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE IlSlDIVIDUALISM. 4 1 knowledge must be built. You can see from the nature of the question which you ask me that it requires quite an elaborate elucidation. All growth and change that has ever taken place in the universe is based on this question — the question of growth and development. "Respecting the origin of man and the formation of the universe, two theories or doctrines were long cur- rent with the Marsites. One, the scientific doctrine of evolution, which is founded on the principle of growth and change, governed by fixed laws. The other, the theological doctrine of 'special creation' which is founded on revelation. The doctrine of evolution assumes' that the universe has slowly, through the lapse of millions of ages, been evolved from previously exist- ing matter by continuous integration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion, and that man grad- ually and slowly evolved from lower organisms, and has attained his present form and mental endowments by the influence of his environment, personal and ancestral. It teaches that man, as a whole, has been, and is still continually rising in the scale of existence. It is, there- fore, also an encouraging and cheerful belief. "The long antiquated doctrine of 'special creation' assumed that the universe was created out of '?wthifig' by an external agency; that man was created /r^T^*:/ out of clay, somewhat after the fashion that a potter makes an earthern vessel, and that he fell from his state of perfection to what we now find him. This was a discouraging, a gloomy belief, which, if continued, must eventually end in total degradation." "What evidence suggested the theory of evolution to the Marsites?" asked Mrs. Uwins. 42 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "Let us briefly consider a few of them," continued Mr. Midith. "A good farmer always reserves the best of his crops for seed. This is artificial selection; that is, the best and fittest is artificially reserved by man for seed, which is to produce the next year's crop. A stock- breeder reserves the largest, strongest, fleetest and most symmetrical individuals to propagate the race. "The horticulturist selects seed from the choicest flowers and fruit. You see all this is selection, but not natural selection; it is artificial, as you call it, be- cause it is done by man. Man aids naturae, so to speak; but nature unaided makes just such selection during the lapse of long ages. In the plant and animal kingdoms, especially in the lower orders millions must perish in order to give room and opportunity for a few to live. As long as muscle, and not reason, is the most advantageous weapon in the struggle for exist- ence,'the strongest, toughest, fleetest and fiercest ones survive and reproduce the race, and in this manner the superior qualities of the parents are continually trans- mitted and added to, in the offspring. "Organs develop by healthful use and become rudimentary by disuse. The blacksmith's arm be- comes strong by constant healthful use. The eyes of moles became rudimentary by disuse. The crabs and fishes in the Mammoth Cave have lost their eyes entirely by disuse, but the sockets remain as rudimen- tary remnants. If we should keep the right arm con- stantly out of use, and do all our work with the left, that is, beginning at childhood, there would be a per- ceptible difference in the size and function of the two arms in one generation; and, if this practice were con- PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 43 tinned for thousands of generations, use, disuse and heredity would no doubt aid in bringing about a vast inequality between the active and inactive arms. "There are vast transformations taking place before our own eyes, on earth the same as on Mars, which are wonderful proofs of evolution. For instance, the frog begins life as a fish and tnen lungs displace gills. But- terflies, bees and beetles of all kinds start out as grubs and undergo wonderful transformations. "Embryonic (pertaining to the rudiments of an undeveloped plant or animal) growth furnishes one of the strongest, as well as the most startling proofs of evolution. Each individual passes through all the suc- cessive stages which have preceded in the line of its tribal history, "In morphological structure, convincing proofs of evolution are found. We find fossil remains of animals that have gradually developed in size from a fox to your modern horse. "Geologists have partially examined the Marsian crust to a certain depth, the same as you have exam- ined the earth's crust, but more minutely and more thoroughly. Fossils (animal and vegetable remains imbedded in the rock formation of the earth's crust) of various kinds are found in this rock formation com- posing the crust. Remains of the most lowly organ- ized plants and animals are found in the lowest strata, and as we ascend the fossils become more and more complex. And the present generation of organic beings living on the surface of Mars, or on the surface of the earth, are more complex and more highly developed than any fossil remains that have ever been buried on the respective planets. . 44 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. "The preceding consideration shows that the fossils testify to the fact that there has been a slow, but gradual development during the almost immeasurable eons of time that were required for the formation of these sedimentary strata that contain the precious 'Revolution written by the finger of Time on the Rock of Ages, and by the ink of Death.'" "What a long, long time must have been required to produce such changes as you speak of. Have you any idea, Mr. Midith, how long the Marsian crust was in forming?" asked Viola. " It is not finished yet," said Mr. Midith. "It is still forming the same as ever. The crust is growing thicker every moment by internal cooling and by external accretion of meteoric dust, etc., and fossils of the present time are now being buried the same as they were during all preceding geologic ages. "Let us, in a few thoughts, endeavor to travel back from the present to that primitive time, when nature imbedded tlie first organic remains in the then forming strata. The proportion of water area to the land was much greater then than it is at present. There were no high mountains, because the solid crust was thin, and the doubling or folding up of a thin crust can not pro- duce a high fold, or mountain, and, therefore, the Marsian crust, or surface, was at this primitive begin- ning not so much diversified by mountains and depres- sions as it is at present. It was more nearly spherical, and hence all, or nearly all, covered v/ith water; and what applies to Mars' crust undoubtedly applies, under similar conditions, equally to the surface of all other planets. "Igneous rocks, as you know, are produced by the PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 45 gradual cooling of the heated matter of a planet, moon, or sun. They are formed next to the internal fire, and can, therefore, contain no iossils. Before fossils could be imbedded, igneous rocks had to be slowly disinte- grated by the action of heat and cold, wind and wave, rain and drought, and other atmospheric phenomena. Clay, soil, sand, etc., is nothing but a pulverized igneous rock. "After the solid igneous rock gradually became pul- verized, the wind, rain, tide, flood and current had to carry this pulverized igneous rock, or sand, into the lowest ocean and river beds, where the process of forming sedimentary (deposited by water), fossiliferous, stratified rock began. "Here we can clearly see, then, how the remains of perished plants and animals have been imbedded from time to time in this slowly forming sedimentary rock. The fossils of the lower strata are the simplest; those nearest the surface, or the most recently formed, the most complex. The modern wrecked steamer will be a fossil of the future, the same as the entombed skeleton of antiquity, or the imbedded canoe of primitive man, are fossils of the present. The fossils, then, are one of the strongest proofs of evolution. They indicate a slow but gradual development of plant and animal life; and as time passes, both here and on Mars, more and more new links, which bind all things into a grand whole, imperceptible gradations of development, are being discovered. "Such, then, are some of the most conspicuous signs which undoubtedly suggested and strengthened, at every step of advance, the evolution theory; and alsQ 46 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. correspondingly weakened and discredited the 'special creation' theory." "I have never before taken any stock in evolution," said Rev. Dudley, "but I must acknowledge that the testimonies cited by you are very strong; we see them daily transpiring before our eyes right here on earth. But allow me to ask you, Mr. Midith, w^hat is your theory of the fathomless abyss of the starry heavens? I think that part of the question is not so easily handled as that which treats of the formation of a planet's crust." "I have so far considered evolution only as affect- ing the Marsian and earth's crusts, and the organic beings living upon them. I endeavored to make the elucidation as clear as possible by beginning at the nearest, simplest and most conspicuous evidences. But let us bear in mind that our earth and Mars are only little nooks, insignificant motes as compared with the visible universe. We are convinced now that evolu- tion holds good in the formation and dissolution of heavenly bodies as well as in the formation of planets' crusts, and in the development of organic beings. The planets with their attendant moons are little solar systems, so to speak, w^th their moons revolving around them, which were detached from the planets millions of ages ago. Saturn has eight moons and an unbroken ring. The sun has planets revolving around him, the same as the moons revolve around the planets, and our whole solar system revolves around a center with incredible velocity. From moon to planet, from planet to sun, from sun to Galaxy we may travel in our imagination and rest on the ultimate axiom — the 'persistence of force.' PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 47 "We have no reason to believe that there is a gap or break anywhere in the operation of the so-called nature. No one can tell precisely where the human leaves off and the animal begins; where the animal leaves off and the vegetable begins; where the organic leaves off and the inorganic begins. There is a gradual development from the simple to the complex, from the lower to the higher, from the inferior to the superior, from the ignorant to the intelligent, from the cruel to the gentle; a gradual merging or gradation from one into the other; the transition at any one point is so slight that it is imperceptible to the human eye. Al- low me to say that there never was a _^r.f/ human being, no more than there was a first threshing machine. The mouth of the animal was a very primitive threshing machine; then the mouth and paws together; then the hand; then the flail, then the hand-thresher; then the horse-power, and now the steam-thresher; thus we see that there never was a first thresher, nor was it ever made, but gradually developed and improved to its present structure and capacity; so, too, with man. The lower organism out of which man, through the lapse of countless ages, evolved, gradually grew more and more luouaii like from the effects of intercourse with his environment; and this process is still going on. Man is not finished yet. The same forces that have brought him from his primitively low plane to his present relatively high one are elevating him still higher. So we see that man ivas not created, but w still being created, evolved; and so with all else. "According to what you call the 'nebular hypothesis,' the earth once filled the entire orbit of the moon. The matter composing the earth was then in a rare, highly- 48 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. heated state, revolving around the sun, from which it was detached and rotated on its axis, which caused the detachment of the matter out of which the moon was formed. "The number of atoms composing the earth, as well as the number of atoms composing the entire solar sys- tem, was //^^^/zV^//^ the same then as it is now. Heat, which is the repellent force, kept the atoms and mole- cules so far apart that the matter composing the earth formed a sphere of nebulous matter, filling the entire orbit of the moon. In like manner did the sun once fill the entire orbit of the earth, and at a preceding time the entire orbit of Neptune. "But some time before this, the earth was even larger than the orbit of the moon. The nebulous mat- ter now composing the earth and the moon, which are now two separate bodies, was once all in the same sphere. By the gradual radiation of heat, the volume, but not the mass, diminished, and the axial rotation increased until a broad concentric ring detached itself. The impulse of the moon's revolutionary motion was given by the earth's rotation on its axis. "All plastic bodies, like a planet, etc., assume a spherical form, because all particles equally distant from the center are equally attracted toward the center; and a sphere is the only 'solid' in which these condi- tions can be fulfilled. A sphere formed from the breaking up and concentrating of a broad concentric ring, like the rings out of which planets and moons are formed, must necessarily rotate on its axis, because the particles which compose the concentric ring had an uneq^ual revolutionary velocity. Those particles of the PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. 49 ring nearest the center had a less angular velocity than those particles farthest away from the center. "Just as these few bodies constituting our solar system of which I have spoken were and are affected, so, we believfe, have been or will all heavenly bodies — moons, planets, suns and stars — in all parts of the uni- verse be affected during the lapse of untold ages. "From this brief explanation, you will readily see that the Marsites' conception of creation ■A.xi^your evo- lution theory are almost exactly identical. Observa- tion and experience have led the Marsites and the mundane inhabitants to similar beliefs on these points of creation and formation. "It is getting late, and I fear that I shall be intrud- ing on our time which should be assigned for rest and sleep," said Mr. Midith. "I believe, as we have learned in our native home, that we ought to cultivate regular habits and try to live up to them." "Mr. Midith, I think you are just an excellent teach- er!" exclaimed little Celestine. " You ;«?«/ surely stop with us while you are in our town. I am going to ask you ever so many more questions about your books, animals, towns, playmates and a thousand other things." "Yes, Mr. Midith," said Rev. Dudley; "if you con- sider all those things wrong and cruel that you men- tioned to us some time ago, I shall be much pleased to know how you get along without them, and how you got rid of them if you once had them like you now find them here." " To do without them is much more simple than to have them, as you shall see further on," replied Mr. Midith. "Of course, we passed through all the stages of physical and intellectual evolution that you have 1 50 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. passed through and are now in, and we have also gone much farther than you have thus far. At one time our social and industrial system was afflicted with all your present evils and cruelty. We were in succession can- nibals, savages, semi-civilized and are now what we call civilized. What we will be next we can not tell." CHAPTER IV. HOME AND FAMILY. In the evening when we retired, it was still raining, but the next morning greeted us with a bright, pleasant sunshine. All nature seemed to be clothed in her best garment. The faces at Uwins' appeared to be as pleasing to the sight after a refreshing night's rest as the verdant foliage, refreshed by the warm rain and delightful sunshine. After dinner, when we were all seated in the parlor, Mr. Uwins asked Mr. Midith about the family-home as it existed on Mars. "We have no home and no family as you know a home and a family," replied Mr. Midith. "We have no home and no family in which one man and one woman live together with their children as you do here. Our ancient history tells us that long, long ago, we had homes and families just like you have them here now. "It may, at first sight and in your mundane age, seem strange to you to have no family-home like yours; but it is nevertheless a fact. You see society on Mars, as I have told you elsewhere, has had longer time to evolve than it has had on earth. We must expect to find a more advanced state of society and industry there, or we are no believers in evolution, in progress." "If you have no home and no family like ours on Mars, in what manner do you live there then?" asked Mrs. Uwins, full of interest. 5i 52 PRACTICAL CO-OPERATIVE INDIVIDUALISM. Diagram 1... II L J C Main building 150x600 feet ■-'ft.'-' -]25r" Hft.'-i 3 L -J r •n c. ;> 1 S ^ !» D T-:' lit? !0 ^ P B 3 1 ?? O)