KIRWAN 
 
DUKE UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 The Glenn Negley Collection 
 of Utopian Literature 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 Dui^e University Libraries 
 
 littp://www.arcliive.org/details/reciprocitysociaOOkirw 
 

 
 4 -^ ^ "^ ^. 
 
 r^F^'^K^t 
 
 \.-\^, 
 
 '^^A 
 
 
 ii>^: ^^. i < . {>Mr%. ^%K 
 
 <*'^ ^ 
 ^ * 
 
 
 
 «^ ,^\ 
 
 y^ 
 
 *^ ^-^ ^1. 
 
 4^<'\/, 
 
 '-"Vi.^^. 
 
For ThtnKing People. 
 
 RECIPROCITY 
 
 (SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC) 
 
 IN THE 
 
 THIRTIETH CENTURY 
 
 THE COMING CO-OPERATIVE AGE 
 
 A Forecast of the World's Futtjek 
 By WILLIAM WONDER. 
 
 Tze-Kung- asked, saying: "Is there one -word 
 
 which may serve as a rule of practice for all 
 
 one's life?" The Master said: "Is not becipkocitt 
 
 such a word? What you do not want done to 
 
 yourself, do not do to others." — Confucian Analects. 
 
 THE COCHRANE PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 Tbibune Building, New Yobk. 
 
 1909. 
 
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1908, 
 
 By Thomas Kibwan. 
 
 (All Rights Reserved.) 
 

 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 Preface. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 . . . i-vi 
 
 Chapter I. — By Way of Preamble — An Eventful 
 Journey and Curious Experience, .... 7 
 
 Chapter II. — Sun Invocation — Visiting the Town 
 
 Mansion — A Sun-Cooked Dinner, . . , . 31 
 
 Chapter III. — A Tilt at Windmills, and Other 
 
 Things of General Interest, 68 
 
 Chapter IV. — Woman's Work in the Commune — 
 Training Children in Schools — Marriage — 
 Varied Industries, 95 
 
 Chapter V. — Visiting Underground Ways — The 
 
 Town Farm and Town^Stores — Finance, . . 126 
 
 Chapter VI. — The Patriarch's Sunday Sermon — 
 
 How Thirtieth Century Houses are Built, . .152 
 
 Chapter VII. — Sociological Talk — Air-Ship in 
 View — Telephone Wonders — Airy Flight and 
 Great Peril — The Awakening, 187 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This is a work of fiction, but not a novel. It is a love 
 story, but on a scale beyond mere individual or sexual 
 affection — it is of love of fellow man. 
 
 It may be thought that it portrays a condition of soci- 
 ety that would constitute a Quaker world. But a world 
 of peace, good will and brotherly co-operation among 
 men would seem to be an improvement on the world of 
 competition and strife which we have at the present day. 
 
 Is it not well to picture a better world, an earthly 
 heaven, even at the risk of being deemed visionary? 
 
 To those opposed to or who fear "modernism," or free 
 thought and inquiry outide the bounds of orthodoxy, it 
 may not be acceptable. Such good people would better 
 not read it. 
 
 But to the lover of the human kind, of equal rights 
 and a " square deal," it may afford food for reflection. 
 
 It treats of what may be and should be in a coming 
 age of intellectual and moral advancement — an age of 
 co-operative social and industrial brotherhood among 
 plain and right living people — a mythless and super- 
 stitionless age. 
 
 Plain men and women are dealt with in it, "ladies" 
 and "gentlemen," as complimentary or conventional 
 titles, being out of keeping with the simple dignity of 
 the manhood and womanhood of a truly democratic and 
 common sense people. 
 
 Finally, the aim of this work is to incite people to 
 THINK! 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The inspiration of this work is derived from a long 
 life of observation of social and industrial development 
 during an era of the most remarkable progress in the 
 world's history, namely, from a time antedating the 
 middle of the 19th century to the early years of the 20th 
 century — more than seventy years of active existence. 
 
 Four things to be noted in that period are — 
 
 First, The wonderful development of industrial power 
 through the steam engine. 
 
 Second, The progress of invention, and employment 
 of machinery in the arts. 
 
 Third, The development of a system of public education. 
 
 Fourth, The self-conscious awakening of the working 
 classes in America and Europe, due to better education 
 and more enlightenment as to human rights, and their 
 participation in the activities of government. 
 
 Steam power has not only revolutionized the older 
 methods of production, but it has, with the development 
 of machinery, so greatly increased the productive ca- 
 pacity of the industrial nations of the world that it gives 
 hopeful promise of immunity from grinding drudgery to 
 the workers of the future. 
 
 Keeping pace with the development of the steam en- 
 gine has been the invention of machinery. To such an 
 extent has this development taken place that now the 
 real artificer is the automatic machine, man being only 
 the director and attendant. 
 
 Within the past quarter of a century a new form of 
 
U INTRODUCTION. 
 
 energy has been developed, which promises in the not 
 very distant future to supplant even steam power. This 
 is electricity, now extensively produced by steam power, 
 but also quite largely by water power, and to some ex- 
 tent by wind power. These forces, it will be remem- 
 bered, are all derived from the energy of our parent Sun. 
 The time is coming when the coal measures will be ex- 
 hausted, and water, wind, tide, and power derived from 
 passing vegetation, will have to be availed of. 
 
 The system of general education, which is permeating 
 and quickening the masses of Europe, America, Australia, 
 South Africa and New Zealand, is silently but surely aid- 
 ing in the moulding of a race of men of more intelligence 
 and nobler characteristics. The results of this develop- 
 ment are to be seen in every form of industry, in every 
 phase of social life. A superior class of engineers, me- 
 chanics, inventors, operatives and even laborers, is being 
 developed under the improved systems of education. 
 
 It may be true that the various systems of education 
 in vogue are still imperfect, but enough progress has 
 been made to show that the persistent quest after new 
 methods will bear better fruitage, for all methods which 
 are improvements result from tentative activities. 
 
 The trend now in educational methods is in the direc- 
 tion of industrialism — polytechnical and trade schools — 
 which will undoubtedly in time replace the present lead- 
 ing methods, retaining their best features as part of the 
 new system. 
 
 The self-conscious awakening of the working classes 
 throughout the civilized world, it may be assumed, is one 
 
INTRODUCTIOF. in 
 
 of the important results of modern education and conse- 
 quent enlightenment. The working people of this age, 
 equipped with an intelligence which guides them to con- 
 sider the most available means of bettering their con- 
 dition and securing for themselves a more equitable pro- 
 portion of the rewards of their industry than they now 
 receive under the wage system, have been manifesting this 
 dominant desire in various ways, such as by forming 
 trades unions or associations for co-operative efforts to 
 obtain better compensation for their labor. 
 
 There is another and more advanced class of laborers 
 who are not satisfied with the scope of trades' unionism, 
 but are for a federation not only of all workers politically 
 in their own country, but an international federation of 
 all working men for a common end. This class of pro- 
 gressive workers is known as Socialists. 
 
 The Socialists have had, and still have, in their ranks 
 men of the highest mentality and broadest calibre, whose 
 studies of and writings on political economy have made 
 those of the earlier writers on the subject appear more 
 confusing than enlightening. They (the Socialists) 
 have established propagandist centres in Europe, America 
 and other advanced sections of the world, and spread their 
 doctrines by means of periodical publications and works 
 on Socialism and political economy, most of which are 
 of a readable and enlightening nature. 
 
 The Socialists advocate radical changes in prevailing 
 governmental and industrial systems, but the revolution 
 thus advocated by them is not of the nature that people 
 commonly associate with that term. They do not mean 
 
TV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that it shall be accomplished through violence — brought 
 about by bullets and carnage — but by ballots in the 
 hands of the enfranchised, backed by enlightened public 
 opinion, and peaceful methods of legislation. 
 
 In other words, as I understand it, the Socialists aim 
 to obtain through legislative enactment all the vast and 
 various industries and systems of transportation, all the 
 lands, buildings and all other kinds of fixed property, for 
 the use and benefit of the whole people — to make them 
 public property, in fact. In doing this they do not pro- 
 pose to despoil or expropriate the property of any one 
 without just compensation, but (as is the present usage in 
 the operation of the law of eminent domain) that gov- 
 ernment should take them, pay for them a just valuation, 
 and occupy and operate them by the people for the use 
 and benefit of all the people. It is a most fascinating 
 scheme for altruistic endeavor. 
 
 Assuming that this theory (for it is as yet only such) 
 will ultimately become a practical reality, for it appears 
 to be based ui)on the broad ethics of justice and human- 
 ity, the following work has been predicated. 
 
 This work may, in the existing light of the world, be 
 looked upon as a dream of Utopia, and perhaps it is; but 
 if it has not a justification in the recent, present and 
 prospective developments in the political, industrial and 
 social affairs among civilized peoples and the rapid 
 spread of civilization among the backward races, then 
 the writer has anticipated and estimated most illogically. 
 
 The united will and energy of the people, when wisely 
 directed, will accomplish wonderful results. Unity of 
 
INTEODUCTION'. "V 
 
 action in electing to the law-making branches of govern- 
 ment only men pledged to make such enactments as will 
 give " a square deal " in the struggle for existence, is 
 essential to the success of all popular movements by 
 peaceful means. Economic changes, we are told, always 
 precede political revolutions. The Social revolution will 
 be both economic and political. 
 
 The path of progress for the workers of the world is 
 through legislation, not through strife and bloodshed. 
 
 The man of the future will not be warlike. In him 
 the instinct of the savage will have been eliminated by 
 ancestral generations of peace-loving brotherhood among 
 men. Co-operative will succeed competitive industry, 
 and the incentives for aggression as well as need of de- 
 fence will be non-existent. 
 
 In this work I have outlined a system of education 
 which should logically accord with the highly industrial 
 conditions of a commune like the one outlined, with va- 
 riety enough of rational amusements — entertaining and 
 also instructive — to suit all tastes, all ages, and give a 
 zest and flavor of enjoyment to life. 
 
 The treatment of the criminal and insane suggested in 
 the book as pertaining to the coming ages, while merci- 
 ful and wise, is also properly considerate of the welfare 
 of society. The most available method of eliminating 
 vicious and undesirable elements from the population is 
 confinement for chronic habits of crime and for lunacy, 
 and consequent prevention of propagation ; for the taint 
 of heredity is not alone confined to physical degeneracy 
 but to mental and moral deterioration, and is so potent 
 
TI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and persistent that even a favorable-to-reforra environ- 
 ment will fail to remedy it and fit the unfortunate sub- 
 ject for rational participation in the concerns of normal 
 world-life. 
 
 Marriage and other social customs treated are to some 
 extent, it is believed, an improvement on existing ones. 
 A word of explanation in regard to the decadence of 
 the God religions of today. The world will change in 
 this respect in the coming ten centuries as it has in the 
 past twenty or thirty. The old religions of the so-called 
 heathen world, with their men-made gods, have been re- 
 legated to the limbo of the dead past. Yet in their day 
 of dominance they controlled and swayed vast numbers 
 of mankind. They lived their time of usefulness, and in 
 the process of evolution were superseded by other forms 
 of superstition, some of which still survive. These, in 
 their turn, will inevitably go the way of all myths, and 
 mankind, emancipated from such mental bondage, will 
 rejoice in the freedom of a rational existence. 
 
 If this consummation cannot be expected in our day, it is 
 a pleasing hope that future generations will yet realize it. 
 Then let us pray that come it may, 
 
 As come it will for a' that, 
 That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, 
 
 May bear the gree, and a' that; 
 For a' that, and a' that, 
 
 It's coming yet for a' that, 
 That man to man, the world o'er, 
 
 Shall brothers be for a' that, [Rob't Burns. 
 
 Thk Author. 
 
RECIPROCITY: 
 
 THE COMING CO-OPERATIVE AGE. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 By Way of Preamble. — An Eventful Joueney and 
 
 Curious Experience. 
 
 Is there such a mental phenomenon as prescience, or 
 the anticipation of events? The Greeks and Romans 
 had their oracles, their soothsayers and sibyls, who, it 
 may be noted, are represented in this age by spiritests, 
 psychologists, and others claiming peculiar mental and 
 spiritual endowments. 
 
 The Jews had their prophets, who were imitated later, 
 even in the history of the Christian era. All these so- 
 called or pretended prophets had their believers and fol- 
 lowers, and many honest people still believe them to 
 have been endowed with some measure of inspiration, 
 even if most of their predictions as yet remain unfulfilled. 
 There is, for example, the persistent anticipation of a 
 beatific condition of things which is to prevail in the un- 
 certain future, popularly expressed in the optimism, 
 "There's a good time coming," the condition for the ad- 
 vent of which is "wait a little longer," and the "boys" 
 are still awaiting its coming. 
 
 In the early Christian times a millenium was predicted, 
 when Christ would come again to earth, reign for a thous- 
 and years, and only the saints would inhabit the earth ; 
 but he has not yet materialized, though even to this day 
 
8 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 there are many good people who look forward to the 
 " second coming of Christ " with a confidence and hope- 
 fulness which is little short of sublime. 
 
 Whatever the significance of such aspirations, it may 
 he admitted that they have a singular merit in the fact 
 that they aim at better conditions of life for the human 
 race ; at least they furnish evidence that there are minds 
 of such peculiar endowment and logical bias that they 
 can deduce from acquired knowledge or mental concepts 
 of the trend of moral, social and industrial affairs, a train 
 of sequential development. 
 
 With these premises, I would ask attention to what 
 follows — the record of what may be termed a vision of 
 the future, or perhaps a dream. Have I dreamed it, or 
 has it come to me in the guise of prophecy ? You shall 
 judge. I can not; for I have been nursing the thing so 
 long that it has assumed to my mind a more than half 
 reality — a kind of substantial unsubstantiality, if such a 
 paradoxical term can be reconciled with the critical view. 
 
 When the infant awakens to the objective conditions 
 of life he does not at first comprehend the novelty of his 
 environment, having had no antecedent experience for 
 analogy ; hence his latent faculties, slow in developing, 
 take years to mature. What would be his impression, 
 however, if he came into the world with his faculties of 
 observation and deduction fully developed — as if trans- 
 lated from one adult stage of existence to another and a 
 radically different one ? 
 
 It will, of course, be said that such an hypothesis is 
 preposterous, because it assumes an impossibility. Per- 
 
EECIPEOCITY. 9 
 
 haps, however, it may be less absurd and more to the 
 purpose to suppose that one, whom we may term a bar- 
 barian, but with an acute and observing mind, should be 
 suddenly translated from a barbaric environment into a 
 most highly civilized community and brought in contact 
 with, to him, new and striking customs, educational and 
 industrial arts, social refinements and pleasing manners. 
 
 The comparison in the present case may more proper- 
 ly apply to the barbarian hypothesis, for my vision, in 
 some respects, has translated me, not into existing new 
 and more highly developed lands and peoples, but into 
 familiar scenes, under new and greatly changed con- 
 ditions ; changes for the better, in which may be noted a 
 radical advance toward that ideal stage of human prog- 
 ress so often conceived of and described as that of a 
 " golden age " — a condition of things under which life 
 may be rationally enjoyed ; where the clouds and glamor 
 of ignorance and sui^erstition have only a curious tradi- 
 tional existence, as fairy tales are now viewed ; where all 
 who think and plan and work receive their just share of 
 the awards for thought, skill and labor; where justice to 
 all is assured by all, and where men are brothers in fact 
 as well as in name. 
 
 But to my visional theme. You may call it \'isionary ; 
 but read it, my friend, and then you will be better quali- 
 fied to judge of its merits. As to title, I have thought 
 the work should be called The Electrical Age, for in it 
 the application of electricity to all the affairs of life that 
 require power, heat, light, chemical action, etc., is all but 
 universal. But at the last moment I have thought of a 
 
10 REClPROCItr. 
 
 more comprehensive, a more ethical title — Reciprocity. 
 
 This is the story as I shall tell it : 
 
 Gliding Into Futurity. 
 
 I left Boston one pleasant morning in the summer of 
 1907, and arrived at my destination in Vermont, some 
 twelve or thirteen miles west of White I?iH^er Junction, 
 about an hour and a half later on the same day in the 
 year 2907. 'This is impossible, absurd!' you wall say; 
 but for my purpose it is a verity in a way. Let me ex- 
 plain the paradox in my fashion, if you please. 
 
 On the road, after leaving Boston's immediate suburbs, 
 I soon became conscious of a change in the usual charac- 
 teristics of railway travel. The noise of the locomotive, 
 its puffing of steam, smoke and cinders, the pounding of 
 the wheels on the rails, the jolting and jarring of the 
 cars, all seemed to have suddenly ceased, and in place of 
 the swaying and noise of the train there was an absence 
 of harsh vibration, as if the train were sailing on a 
 smooth water surface or gliding through the air. At the 
 same time there was a sense of rapid motion. 
 
 Surprised at the change, I looked from the car window 
 and was bewildered at what I saw. It seemed as if a 
 panorama of mingled landscape and open framework was 
 rushing past with a velocity that left little more than a 
 blur on the sight. At times the picture faded into dark- 
 ness, as if the train were passing through some under- 
 ground way. 
 
 At a loss to account for what I saw, I turned to a fel- 
 low passenger and asked for information. He was a 
 well dressed and noble looking man, with a frank and 
 
RECIPROCITY. 11 
 
 kindly countenance, and was willing to enlighten me. 
 
 * I j"dge by your speech and dress,' he said, 'that you 
 are not lamiliar with your surroundings. Are you not a 
 stranger in these parts?' 
 
 ' Pardon me, sir,' I said, ' but you can hardly call a 
 man a strange who has made Boston his home for over 
 sixty years, and has traveled on this line many times be- 
 fore today; but I will confess that things appear strange 
 to me now. As to my speech and dress, I wear a good 
 tailor-made suit, and feel that in speech I am not behind 
 this twentieth century — this year of our Lord 1907,' 
 
 He regarded me keenly for a moment, and then, with 
 a smile of compassion, as I judged, said : ' That is a very 
 strange statement, my brother, passing strange ; for this 
 year counts just one thousand years later in that era of 
 the world's history — it being the thirtieth century, 2907.' 
 
 < One thousand years later I ' I exclaimed, ' that is im- 
 possible ! ' and I looked sharply at him to see if he were 
 quizzing me. 
 
 'It may seem so to you, for what reason I cannot guess,' 
 he returned, with no sign of banter in his tone, ' but you 
 will pardon me for saying that to my knowledge it is a 
 fact.' 
 
 ' But how can it be ? Only this morning I read in a 
 Washington dispatch to the Herald President Roose- 
 velt had — ' 
 
 ' President Roosevelt ! Why he was one of the early 
 Presidents of the Republic, famous as peacemaker, and 
 as such his name is honored to this day. There have 
 been more than a hundred presidents since his time. 
 
12 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 How strange ! ' And be seemed to regard me with a 
 puzzled expression, as if he doubted my sanity, but was 
 too polite to give expression to the thought. 
 
 * Is there such a thing as resurrection after death, or 
 am I wandering spirit? But I have no recollection of 
 dying,' I said to myself; and then aloud: 'Why, it is not 
 fifteen minutes since we left the North Station in Boston, 
 and I have not been asleep. I am now wide awake, and 
 this is a mystery. Is it not a waking dream? I'm not a 
 hasheesh eater, and — excuse me, are you a real person- 
 age, a flesh-and-blood human being?' 
 
 He smiled at my question and said : * I am as real flesh 
 and blood as you are. Feel me, and be convinced,' and 
 he extended his hand and clasped mine with a firm yet 
 gentle pressure. It was indeed solid flesh, with the 
 blood flowing rhythmically in it. 
 
 • Well,' he said, ' be you whom you may, I have no 
 disposition to doubt your word, and as you seem uncer- 
 tain in regard to your surroundings, I will answer your 
 inquiries. You ask why there is apparently little or no 
 jolting of the train, and yet the landscape and other ob- 
 jects seem to rush past with a blur. We are now going 
 at a speed of one hundred miles an hour. The entire 
 road bed is under cover, roofed over, and the tracks are 
 as nearly straight and level as engineering skill can make 
 them. There are no short curves. To accomplish this, 
 hills and mountains have been tunneled, and the road- 
 bed over valleys raised. The windows in the sides of 
 the covering structure are lowered in the summer season, 
 but closed in winter, except for ventilating purposes. 
 
RECIPKOCITY. 18 
 
 This is to keep snow off the tracks in winter. The traffic 
 on our railways, therefore, is never obstructed. The 
 country highways, where they cross the railways, go over 
 or under them. There can be no collisions with motor 
 vehicles on the public roads. The covering structure of 
 the tracks has concrete foundations and a superstructure 
 and roof of metal. It is built to endure.' 
 
 'Wonderful,' I said. 'How are these cars propelled — 
 by what power, I mean ?' 
 
 ' By the electric current.' 
 
 ' By trolley ? — overhead wire or third rail ? ' 
 
 < Neither ; the current is produced on the cars.' 
 
 ' How is it generated? ' 
 
 ♦ The power is derived from alcohol. It is used to run 
 engines which operate generators. These, in turn, sup- 
 ply current to electric moters which propel the cars.' 
 
 'Do you depend on alcohol alone for the power to 
 generate the electric current?' I asked. 
 
 ' No, indeed, except for motor purposes. We employ 
 water and wind pressure on a large scale for electric cur- 
 rent production, also compressed air ; but alcohol is most 
 available on railways and on large freight and passenger 
 vehicles, where it is more economical to manufacture the 
 current required than to carry storage cells. But, I am 
 told, we are about to realize a vast improvement in the 
 matter of electric current generation. All forms of 
 power heretofore employed were the products of sun 
 energy, stored or manifested in different forms, but now 
 we are promised the conversion direct of the solar energy 
 into the manageable electric current. It has long been 
 
14 RKCIPROCITY. 
 
 known that electricity is but a form of the energy given 
 out by our sun, which in turn derives its potency from 
 the great universal store of cosmical energy. But you 
 will please excuse me, as I get off at this station. This 
 is West Hartford, Vermont.' 
 
 ' Why this is where I get off also,' I said. 
 
 Upon leaving the train I found myself in a spacious 
 station, which spanned the tracks, and connected with 
 the track shed and an overhead bridge. I looked at the 
 cars of the train. They were of metal and seemed light 
 but strong. I could see no wheels, but the trucks rested 
 on legs, and these extended into deeply-grooved rails, 
 shaped in cross section like the letter XJ. How could 
 these legs slide in the grooves of the rails with apparent- 
 ly so little friction ? My traveling companion explained 
 that these legs had shoes or skates on their lower parts 
 which fitted loosely into the rail grooves. At the bottom 
 of the grooves were steel balls, separated by smaller balls 
 held in dividing sleeves, a device which prevented the 
 carrier balls from interfering with one another. This 
 system provided a rolling friction which was as nearly 
 frictionless in operation as could be obtained in practice. 
 No lubricants were needed, and only enough oil was used 
 on the balls to prevent oxidation. The shoes were also 
 provided with anti-friction ball bearings on their sides, 
 so that they could not bind in the rail grooves. These 
 shoes, being liable to wear on the under side, were made 
 to be easily attached and taken off. 
 
 ' It must have cost many millions to build and equip 
 these railways in this complete fashion,' I remarked. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 15 
 
 'Yes; but conversion from the old system was gradual, 
 extending over hundreds of years, and was only accom- 
 plished after the general government had acquired these 
 roads. With the present system there is a great saving 
 in operating railways over the old one.' 
 
 'By what mechanism is the cars propelled?' I asked. 
 
 'Each car is propelled by two central wheels resting 
 on a broad central T rail. These wheels are double flan- 
 ged, with deep flanges, which embrace the rail so thor- 
 oughly that they cannot be thrown from it. The wheels 
 are operated by electric motors, as I have already stated.' 
 
 We left the station just as the train glided silently 
 away. Outside the station I was surprised at the number 
 and appearance of the business structures and dwellings, 
 the broad concreted streets and sidewalks, as well as the 
 general air of matm'ity that pervaded the town. The 
 White River still flowed in its old channel, which had 
 been deepened, the rocky ledges having been removed, 
 and its banks were no longer serrated with road-washed 
 gullies. Cemented walls lined its banks. 
 
 ' Where,' I mentally queried, ' is ]Mr. Perry, the mail 
 carrier, with his lumbering coach and plodding horses ? ' 
 
 No horses or horse carriages were in sight, but there 
 were horseless vejiicles in abundance, standing around or 
 in motion, and I now noticed that a fine concrete bridge 
 spanned the river. 
 
 ' I live in Pomfret,' said my companion of the journey. 
 Whither are you bound ? ' 
 
 I said I was bound for Obed Whipple's at North Pom- 
 fret, Mrs. Whipple being a famous cook and her house a 
 
16 EECIPROCITY. 
 
 resort for city people in the holiday season. He did not 
 know of such a family in that section of the town, though 
 there were people of that name in other parts of the 
 the town. Would I accept his hospitality until I got my 
 bearings ? I gladly closed with the offer. I had thought 
 to ask to be directed to a hotel, failing to find my friends , 
 but could I find any one in the place who would be so 
 considerate of my evident ignorance of it and its people 
 under the new order of things as this man appeared to be? 
 
 ' My name,' said my host-to-be, ' is Wellman — Aaron 
 Wellman. And yours ? ' 
 
 < William Wonder.' I would have added « of Boston,' 
 but doubted if I could establish the fact of residence in 
 that city in the year 2907, A. D. 
 
 ' Well, Mr. Wonder, put in your valise and take a seat 
 in this little runabout, which has been waiting me here 
 since morning. We will soon be at my place. In regard 
 to myself, I may tell you that I am one of the merchants 
 of Pomfret, and have been to Boston, to which city I go 
 occasionally on business. I said merchant of the town, 
 but should have said for the town, since all kinds of busi- 
 ness, all industries in fact, are carried on by or transacted 
 for the municipality, and in this respect I am simply an 
 agent of the people, the commune.' 
 
 This bit of information set me to thinking, but when 
 we were seated in the carriage and my host assumed the 
 lever, pressed the button, starting the vehicle at a lively 
 pace, my attention was diverted to the passing objects. 
 Other carriages were on the road, some large like electric 
 cars — they did not run on rails, but free, like smaller 
 
RBCIPEOCITY. 17 
 
 vehicles, their power being evidently produced on them 
 or was obtained from storage cells. On inquiry, I was 
 told that the larger vehicles were run by electricity and 
 the smaller by spirit motors. I noted that the roadway 
 was ample, being about 70 feet in width, with concreted 
 surface. Fine shade trees lined it on either side. I ex- 
 pressed satisfaction at the fine roadway, and was told 
 that, after being macadamized on a substantial founda- 
 tion of broken stone, it had been surfaced with a thick 
 coating of cement concrete. 
 
 The houses along the highway on both sides were sub- 
 stantial in appearance, with tasteful architectural features, 
 and indicated taste and homelike comfort. Mentioning 
 my impressions to my companion, he said : ' We have a 
 population of over fifty thousand people in this town ; 
 they are all well circumstanced, live in comfort and 
 enjoy life.' (When I was last in Pomfret its population 
 was only about 800.) 
 
 ' Are they all farmers ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Oh no ; they are mostly artisans, but many of our 
 people who are not farmers have a few acres of land, 
 and raise fruits and vegetables sufficient for their own 
 consumption. But all have small kitchen gardens, as well 
 as flower gardens in which flowering shrubs, annuals and 
 perennials, are cultivated, for the love of flowers is a pas- 
 sion with our people. The small farmers raise corn and 
 other cereals, root crops, hay and other food for cattle, 
 for the commune ; most of them keep cows, pigs, poultry, 
 and have butter, milk, eggs, and other farm products to 
 dispose of. 
 
18 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 I noted that, instead of perishable wooden or rough 
 stone fences, broad dykes of earth flanked the roadway, 
 on which blackberry and raspberry bushes grew in pro- 
 fusion, down the sides as well as on the top. Also, that 
 dykes formed the boundaries of farms and divided fields, 
 but with fruit trees as well as berry bushes growing on 
 them, planted at intervals, such as apple, cherry and plum 
 trees. I remarked on this, whereupon my companion 
 stated that land had become so valuable that orchards, 
 except on the larger of the small farms, were not culti- 
 vated, but that the small farmer, by utilizing the broad 
 earth-dyke fences, raised enough fruit for his own use 
 and sometimes a small surplus. On the line dyke fences 
 each farmer was entitled to half the berries and fruits. 
 
 We now drew up before a group of substantial build- 
 ings in the centre of the town. The main structure was 
 a large one, and projected some twenty feet beyond what 
 appeared to be wings on either side. It contained an 
 extensive store, with several entrances — more like a me- 
 tropolitan department store of the present day than a 
 country trading place. The structures attached to it on 
 either side appeared to be dwellings. 
 
 ' Here,' said my companion, ' is where I live. You 
 will please alight, and wait a moment while I put up the 
 carriage. Then we will go into the house.' 
 
 I thought it odd that a man in his circumstances did 
 not have a servant to do such ofiices. I looked at my 
 watch and was surprised to note that it was less than 
 two hours since I had left Boston. I at first thought my 
 watch had erred, but on stating my suspicion to my host 
 
KECIPEOCITY. 19 
 
 he assured me that it took less than that time to go to 
 or return from that city. 
 
 In his house he introduced me to his wife, a fine mo- 
 therly woman, and his only daughter, a charming girl of 
 about twenty years. There were two sons, older, I was 
 told, but they were not present. One of them was mar- 
 ried and domiciled on the other side of the store, of which 
 he was assistant manager. The other was a worker in a 
 factory. 
 
 I was cordially welcomed by the wife and daughter, 
 and shown to a room — a kind of guest chamber, I judged 
 — where I found every convenience for the toilet; but 
 noted that there was no bed visible. Having made my 
 toilet I descended to the living room, where my host, his 
 wife, daughter and younger son (who had come in in the 
 meantime) were seated, chatting pleasantly. The son 
 was about twenty-five years of age, with a frank, honest 
 face, an athletic development of body, and a self-poised, 
 modest demeanor. 
 
 I was at once charmed with this family, their mild and 
 even gentle manners, evident affection for one another, 
 spontaneous cheerfulness, and vivacity of conversation. 
 The language employed by them was choice and unaffect- 
 ed. In fact their conversation showed that they were 
 people of culture and intelligence, and I realized that I 
 was a guest in an exceedingly well bred family. Though 
 I suspected that these people looked upon me as a some- 
 what peculiar person, perhaps a lunatic, yet by no word 
 or look did they show that they regarded their guest as 
 other than an ordinary visitor. 
 
20 KECIPROCITY. 
 
 The usual greetings exchanged, I had an opportunity 
 to note my surroundings, and then observed that there 
 were neither rugs nor carpets on the floor, which latter 
 appeared to be composed of tiling of a dull earthy color 
 or shade. The dado of the walls was also apparently of 
 tiling, with deep foliage coloring, while the walls were 
 finished in a glazed plastering, representing richly tinted 
 and veined marble. The frieze was of mosaic design in 
 geometric figures. The ceiling was of white porcelain 
 finish. It could not be tiling also, I thought, for the sur- 
 face was unbroken. The windows were wide and high, 
 extending from floor to ceiling. Being open they admit- 
 ted the air and sunlight freely. The sashes were hinged 
 and in two parts, and folded inward. There were no 
 shutters on the outside, as I had noticed before entering, 
 and now I saw there were no curtains on the inside. 
 
 Further observation was interrupted by the announce- 
 ment that a meal awaited us, and I was shown into the 
 adjoining dining room where, instead of a family dining 
 table, I saw several small tables grouped together, one 
 for each participant, on which dishes, food and condi- 
 ments were placed. There was also a small vase of flow- 
 ers on each table. I was conducted to one of the tables, 
 which were so arranged that the diners could readily 
 change their positions to talk or listen to the conversa- 
 tion of the company or to any one of them at pleasure. 
 To facilitate this the table legs were provided with large 
 wheel castors. The dishes — some, at least — were new 
 to me. The food was largely vegetal and cereal, cooked 
 in new combinations, I judged, and there were potted 
 
RECIPROCITY,. 21 
 
 meats. A fine mutton chop, however, graced my plate, 
 to which I was prepared to do ample justice. There 
 were also berries and bananas. 
 
 I paused before beginning the meal, expecting that 
 Mr. Wellman would ask the usual blessing. Instead of 
 this he simply said : ' There are three things necessary 
 to the full enjoyment of food : a normal appetite, good 
 food well cooked and cheerfulness. They are all equally 
 essential to its enjoyment, the proper nourishment of the 
 body and health of the mind. Begin ! ' 
 
 During the meal the conversation, of which I was a 
 listener, referred to current events, neighborhood inter- 
 ests, ethical matters, amusements, and to discoveries and 
 developments in the arts and sciences. There was no 
 talk of scandal, crime or evil happenings. The meal 
 lasted nearly an hour. No one appeared to be in haste 
 to end it. Why should they, I thought, for I had never 
 enjoyed a meal so much before. To me it was not only 
 a dinner but a conversational entertainment as well. 
 
 When the family arose from the table, my host invited 
 me to go out on to the spacious veranda, where, with hie 
 son, we found comfortable reclining chairs, the women 
 intimating that they would join us later. The house was 
 located on the eastern slope of an eminence, and over- 
 looked a beautiful valley which was lost in the windings 
 of the distant hills. 
 
 We sat for several minutes silently contemplating the 
 scene before us. The valley, hill slopes and summits 
 were checkered with small farms, each having its group 
 of dwellings and outbuildings. In many places, around 
 
22 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 large buildings, evidently factories, were clusters of dwel- 
 lings, small villages, in fact. Seen in the light of the 
 afternoon sun, the walls and roofs of the buildings in the 
 angles of reflection seemed to have a glazed surface, be- 
 tween a red and brown stone effect. Remarking on this, 
 my host informed me that the material composing the 
 walls and roofs of all the buildings were a compound of 
 cement, sand and crushed stone, covered with a compo- 
 sition which produced a surface like polished stone. 
 This covering contained the coloring matter which gave 
 complexion to the buildings, the shades being chosen to 
 suit various tastes. As a rule, however, the sober tints 
 were commonly employed. 
 
 ' The construction is what is known as composite,' said 
 Mr. W. ' Formerly structures built of this material had 
 steel frames, but since the iron ore deposits had become 
 so nearly exhausted, iron and steel have advanced so 
 enormously in cost of production that wood had to be 
 substituted. Oxidation of the steel and iron employed 
 in the earlier buildings of great cities, due to electrolytic 
 action and other causes, compelled the municipalities to 
 tear most of them down, and rebuild with non-oxidizable 
 metal compounds or wood reinforcement, the former of 
 which is used only in the most important structures on 
 account of its great cost. The iron and steel recovered 
 from these torn-down buildings, it is said, more than 
 paid the cost of rebuilding in concrete with reinforce- 
 ment of wood.' 
 
 ' But with wooden inside frames and flooring is there 
 not more danger from fire than with metal frames?' 
 
KECIPROCITT. 23 
 
 ' We do not have fires in buildings nowadays, and have 
 not had for hundreds of years past,' he replied. 
 
 ' How do you light and heat your factories and dwel- 
 lings in the cold and winter seasons ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' We heat as well as light them by the electric current, 
 so arranged and controlled as to serve both purposes 
 without liability of igniting inflammable substances in the 
 buildings. Even if such materials should be ignited by 
 accident or spontaneous combustion, they would burn up 
 without material injury to the buildings themselves. Of 
 course this applies more directly to dwellings. In fac- 
 tories using cotton, flax and other inflammable materials 
 the danger is greater ; but even in these the precautions 
 taken, which in the first stages of manufacture include a 
 chemical treatment of the fibre rendering it fire resisting, 
 are invariably successful in guarding against spontane- 
 ous combustion or destruction by fire of dress fabrics. 
 A woman's cotton dress or apron, for example, will not 
 ignite and blaze up from a light or flame contact. In 
 this town, I may tell you, we have no record of loss by 
 fire in the past six hundred years. 
 
 At this I expressed surprise as well as gratification, re- 
 membering the millions of dollars worth of buildings, with 
 even more valuable contents, which were annually des- 
 troyed in New England alone, and the consequent neces- 
 sity of maintaining an extensive system of insurance and 
 protection in the way of fire extinguishing and operating 
 companies. Of course, I remarked, there was no call for 
 for fire insurance companies in that town. 
 
 He smiled and said that such institutions existed only 
 
24 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 in ancient history. ^We practise the lesson,' he said, 
 < which our forefathers were thousands of years in learn- 
 ing. It is, after all, so simple that it can be comprised 
 in one word — prevention. 
 
 An aged man of venerable appearance, but hale and 
 hearty, with keen, bright eyes and benevolent face, now 
 joined us. 
 
 Mr. Wellman said, ' Mr. Wonder, this is my father. 
 He has nominally retired from active pursuits, but, like 
 a boy, he cannot remain wholly idle. He is well versed 
 in all the things which you appear eager to obtain infor- 
 mation of in our town, and I know he will be pleased to 
 enlighten you on matters which may interest you.' 
 
 I thanked him for the introduction, and said I was for- 
 tunate in obtaining a wise and experienced and I hoped 
 a patient teacher, for I feared I should prove a very in- 
 quisitive pupil, perhaps a tiresome one. 
 
 ' Do not fear that,' said the venerable man, ' for I am 
 never more in my element than when imparting what 
 little knowledge I possess to interested inquirers. I was 
 not a professor in a college for more than forty years 
 without acquiring a habit or faculty of not only impart- 
 ing but of gaining information.' 
 
 The women now appeared, having, as they said, per- 
 formed the kitchen work, and prepared for the next 
 meal. The family seemed to be well enough to do to 
 afford to employ servants, and I wondered why this wife 
 and daughter were compelled to do the work of hired 
 help. Apparently guessing my thought, Mrs. Wellman 
 said to me : 
 
RECIPROCITY. 25 
 
 *You may perhaps be surprised that we should do our 
 own house work ; but this is a general rule with women 
 in this age. There are no house servants, the women of 
 the family doing the work. But if, owing to death or 
 other causes, there are not enough women in the family 
 young persons are adopted, who have all the rights of 
 natural children, and are also insured a good education. 
 My daughter and I cook, wash and do all other domestic 
 work. No woman is above such duties. Indeed it is 
 regarded as healthful and pleasurable employment, as 
 viewed from a common sense stand-point. "When we 
 began to have a family, mother and sister aided me in 
 doing the domestic work and caring for the children. 
 We lived together and were a happy family. When our 
 children grow up and marry we assist them in the same 
 way, for we are still one family. My married son lives 
 with his wife's people, and so will this son when he takes 
 a wife. When my daughter marries, she and her hus- 
 band can live with us, if they so elect, for the custom is 
 not invariable. You can see from this that raarriaore of 
 children does not always break up families, but some- 
 times enlarges them, for a time at least.' 
 
 Here, in a few words, was revealed one of the sources 
 of this family's domestic happiness, and I inferred from 
 what was then said that it might be a general usage in 
 this age of the world, and gave to the idea of home a 
 more comprehensive significance. But further inquiry 
 showed me that I was in error, for I was informed that 
 this custom was by no means a general one. Xot many 
 families adopted it, for to most people it seemed to trench 
 
26 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 upon the independence of the individual, which, to this 
 family at least, seemed an unsound proposition. But, 
 then, people had the right to arrange their domestic con- 
 cerns to suit themselves. 
 
 By this time we had another addition to the family 
 circle. A stately old woman appeared on the veranda, 
 and stood smilingly regarding the stranger. I arose and 
 bowed. 
 
 ' This is my mother, Mr. Wonder,' said my host. 
 
 ' I am late,' she said, after kindly greeting me, ' as I 
 had to arrange for a meeting of the matron's guild, of 
 which I am now president. We are to meet tomorrow 
 in the town mansion.' This to the family. 
 
 'The matron's guild,' explained the elder Wellman, 'is 
 a council of old women who meet from time to time, as 
 exigencies require, to talk with young wives and maidens 
 who may ask for advice on any and all matters of a do- 
 mestic or personal nature that would call for maturer 
 judgment than they think they possess. All family dif- 
 ficulties that are brought to them are acted upon and ad- 
 justed by them, their decisions being usually accepted as 
 final. But matters which can not be adjusted in this 
 way may be appealed to a referee board composed of 
 three members of the matron's guild and three of a simi- 
 lar guild of old men — the patriarch's guild — whose 
 function is to consider in a similar way the troubles and 
 difficulties of young men, married and single. These 
 guilds rarely have much to engage their attention, though 
 their agency in settling such personal and family troubles 
 as are appealed to them is usually effective. Their 
 
EECIPROCITY. 27 
 
 counsels are always for peace and harmony, and their 
 decisions are based on justice tempered with mercy.' 
 
 'Yes,' said the matron, 'our motto is peace and har- 
 mony, and to promote these is our purpose. We know 
 that young people, in their early married experience, or 
 rather inexperience, may disagree, often about trifling 
 matters, and become very unhappy by nursing and there- 
 by increasing their grievances, when an appeal to older 
 and more experienced men and women, who have only 
 their well-being at heart, and a frank, open talk and good 
 advice, would most likely restore good feeling and har- 
 mony. We counsel moderation and kindness, and show 
 that a calm and kind answer, or discreet but not sullen 
 silence is the best form of treatment for an outburst of 
 temper. We counsel most earnestly that, if it is not con- 
 trolled, only one of the parties to a controversy give way 
 to temper at one time, for the one who does so first, if of 
 a generous nature, will surely feel regret for it after a 
 time, especially if not angrily opposed. In this way, in 
 co-operation with the patriarch's guild, nearly all cases 
 that come before us are happily adjusted. When the 
 married parties have lived together a few years they have 
 usually acquired the habit of being agreeable and loving 
 to one another. This is more likely to be the case when 
 children are born to them. 
 
 'In cases of contemplated marriage we are often ap- 
 pealed to in regard to the compatibility of the parties 
 contemplating it. As we know them and their antece- 
 dents we can fairly decide and advise. In this work 
 we are also in co-operation with the patriarch's guild. 
 
28 BECIPROCITY. 
 
 The appeals to us for guidance in these matters are all 
 voluntary, and our decisions are not binding, but they 
 are invariably accepted, being upheld by public opinion, 
 when they are made public, though publicity is rarely 
 sought by either party. They are usually acquiesced in, 
 however.' 
 
 The married son of Mr. and Mrs. Wellman, his wife 
 and a bright son of four years, now joined us, and took 
 part in the general conversation, which was now changed 
 to other themes. I now learned, incidentally, that this 
 pleasant domestic reunion was a matter of daily occur- 
 rence. I noted with pleasure the marked deference of 
 the younger to the older people, and the evident affec- 
 tion for one another which pervaded the whole family. 
 The boy, however, was attracted to the stranger, and ap- 
 proached me in a half bashful way, as if uncertain in 
 regard to the manner of his reception. I spoke kindly 
 to him, and thus encouraged he soon became more inti- 
 mate and confiding, being attracted by my gold watch 
 chain and charm, which latter is of a rare mineral. I 
 took the lad on my knee ; he asked what the chain was 
 for; I explained its use, taking out my watch and holding 
 it to his ear. Noticing this action the patriarch (his 
 great-grandfather) said : 
 
 'Like all children he is curious. But,' and he took 
 the watch in his hand and examined it, ' this is indeed a 
 curiosity — an ancient time-keeper, and is actually re- 
 cording time. (My watch, I may explain, is of a late 
 Waltham make, and to hear it called ancient amused me.) 
 We have some of these early makes of watches in our 
 
RECIPROCITY. 29 
 
 State museum. Our time recorders are quite simple in 
 comparison, and keep accurate time. They are not liable 
 to get out of order and will last a lifetime.' 
 
 He took from his vest pocket a disk about the size of 
 a lady's watch. Its case was of composite metal, a gold 
 bronze. It had an open face with white dial. It was 
 mai-ked for 24 instead of 12 hours. Within the hour 
 circle of figures were ten figures noting successive figures 
 of 10 up to 60, indicating the minutes of the hour. The 
 hour hand and figures were black, and the shorter min- 
 ute hand and figures red. So far in the dial arrangement 
 did it differ from the one I carried, but it was in the in- 
 ternal construction and operation, I was told, that the 
 radical difference was to be noted. It was operated by 
 magnetic force instead of power stored in a coiled spring. 
 The actuating parts were few in number and simple in 
 construction, the movement being based on the interac- 
 tion of minute permanent magnets — like poles repelling 
 and opposite poles attracting — so adjusted as to produce 
 in the mechanism under influence a rotary movement of 
 the hour and minute hands on the dial. 
 
 ' Our time dials in the house are operated in a some- 
 what similar way,' said the patriarch, ' except that the 
 power comes through electro-magnets, and they are con- 
 trolled by the local central time recorder. I may tell you 
 that we rarely consult these pocket time pieces when we 
 travel, as in every car, in all railway stations, in every 
 room of hotels and at every street intersection time re- 
 cording dials can be found.' 
 
 Our conversation was prolonged into the gloaming, I 
 
30 EECIPROCITY. 
 
 had so many questions to ask and they so ready to ans- 
 wer my inquiries; but not into the night, for suddenly, as 
 by a flash of sunrise, the hills and valleys were aglow 
 with thousands of electric lights. It was a splendid and 
 inspiring scene, and all the more interesting when I con- 
 sidered that it was sunlight in a secondary form which 
 had been recovered and used again by the genius of that 
 god-like animal, man. 
 
 I soon realized, however, that the practice of this fam- 
 ily was 'early to bed,' and after a few words of mutual 
 good wishes by all we separated for the night. The 
 little fellow, with whom I had established a new friend- 
 ship, said at parting that he would come to see me on 
 the morrow, when I promised to tell him more about my 
 home in the big city, my children and grandchildren. 
 
 I was shown to my chamber, the house being lighted 
 with electric glow lamps, and a couch which had been 
 concealed in an alcove on my first visit to the room 
 was now visible, drawn out on to the floor, ready for the 
 sleeper. I was instructed in regard to certain details, 
 such as turning out the light, and bidden good night by 
 my host. The room windows were open to admit the 
 air, but were so adjusted that the wind would not blow 
 on the sleeper. My brain was filled with strange and 
 bewildering thoughts, inspired no doubt by the curious 
 experiences of the day. I was also somewhat fatigued, 
 and therefore not averse to repose. I disrobed and 
 laid down. The couch was a comfortable one and fitted 
 my drowsy mood like a well-made garment, and I soon 
 lost myself in slumber. 
 
EECIPROCITY. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sun Invocation — Visiting the Town Mansion. — A 
 Sun-Cooked Dinner. 
 
 After a night of dreamless sleep, though it did not 
 seem to me to be more than an hour in length, I awak- 
 ened just as the unrisen sun was brightening the eastern 
 sky. I felt refreshed and invigorated in body and mind, 
 but still more than mystified in regard to my whereabouts 
 and even my own identity. 
 
 Making a rapid toilet, I at once descended to the sit- 
 ting room or parlor. The window leading out on to the 
 veranda was wide open, and as I neared it I found that 
 the entire family was assembled on the veranda, all with 
 faces turned toward the just risen sun. As I joined the 
 standing group, the senior or patriarch uttered an invo- 
 cation to the great luminary. Raising both hands — a 
 movement followed by all the others — he said : 
 
 ' Our parent Sun ! Source and sustainer of all life on 
 our earth ! We hail thy advent as the return of a friend 
 and benefactor ! In thy presence and under thy benign 
 influence we begin a new day with. renewed resolves and 
 aspirations ! May we have the strength and the courage 
 to live up to our purpose to do only what our best con- 
 ceptions of right and duty to our fellow men dictate ; to 
 do what we can to promote peace and harmony among 
 our fellow beings ; to do all the good we can ; to injure 
 no one by word or act; to aid those who need our assist- 
 ance ; to be honest and upright in all our dealings ; to be 
 
'S'l RECIPROCITY. 
 
 cheerful and complacent to all ; and, finally, at thy going 
 down today, may we be able to reflect that we have car- 
 ried out these purposes to the best of our ability! We 
 know that to thee this invocation is as a breath of air, 
 but to us its influence in the regulation of our lives is of 
 the greatest import ! Amen ! ' 
 
 With the others I joined in a hearty * amen ! ' to this 
 simple yet grand invocation. It was a new and an agree- 
 able experience, not likely to be forgotten, for it com- 
 prised the essence of all true religions. 
 
 Breakfast was now announced. It was a family affair, 
 evidently arranged in honor of the stranger. At this 
 meal the purpose of separate tables became more evident 
 to me, as, after partaking of the food, the family wheeled 
 their chairs into a group to indulge in social converse. 
 The viands consisted of cereal and vegetal substances 
 made into dishes new to me but very palatable. Fruits 
 of various kinds also graced the meal. The drinks were 
 cocoa and water, the cocoa being rich and delicious. The 
 patriarch and his wife took a leading part in the agree- 
 able conversation which succeeded the repast. There 
 was nothing controversial in the discussion of any topic, 
 each of the speakers giving an opinion or stating a fact 
 with courteous moderation. 
 
 The morning papers, containing the news of the world 
 of the preceding day were brought in, and leading events 
 recorded in them read and discussed. I was interested 
 in the make-up of the papers — there were two of them 
 alike in size and general features. The pages were about 
 10 by 12 inches, folded, cut and stitched in pamphlet 
 
KECIPROCITY. 33 
 
 form. I was at a loss to account for the fact that there 
 were no advertisements in them. One, entitled 'The 
 News,' was dated Boston. The other, ' Daily Events,' 
 was from New York. Both bore/ date ' Thursday, July 
 12, 2907.' They were filled with short articles and para- 
 graphs, telling of various happenings in all foreign coun- 
 tries as well as in the United States, and also of new 
 discoveries and inventions, under appropriate general 
 headings. The records of happenings were given with- 
 out comment, as statements of facts and occurrences. 
 They were models of terse journalism. 
 
 I inquired as to the number of newspapers that were 
 issued from the presses of New York and Boston, and 
 was told that only one daily was issued in each city in 
 the country. As one paper in each locality gave all the 
 news, it was considered that one daily could meet this 
 demand and more papers would be superfluous. There 
 were other publications, weekly and monthly, devoted to 
 special lines of information, such as educational, scientific, 
 mechanical and industrial affairs. 
 
 I was told that the papers of the large cities were put 
 into type, plates made of the pages, which were transfer- 
 red at an early hour of the day to railway cars equipped 
 with presses, printing paper, and so forth, the presses 
 being started printing soon after the cars left the city. 
 As these cars proceeded on their way, bundles of papers 
 (fully completed, that is, folded and wired) intended for 
 each locality on the lines and towns and places contigu- 
 ous thereto were thrown off at certain stations without 
 checking the speed of the cars. The presses were 
 
34 
 
 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 capable of completing over 300,000 copies an hour, and 
 there were two presses on every car. This arrangement 
 enabled the whole country to be supplied with the news 
 of the world every day in the year, each of the metro- 
 politan cities having certain territory of its own to cover, 
 though in many cases two cities covered in part the same 
 territory. 
 
 I examined the papers curiously, for the reason that 
 the print, at first sight, seemed unfamiliar ; but I soon 
 saw that many of the words were phonetically spelled, the 
 silent vowels and double consonants being eliminated. 
 I may confess that for a time I did not get much satis- 
 faction out of this condensed form of spelling, but after 
 a little study I could read the words without difficulty 
 It was as unfamiliar to me as my new surroundings, but 
 not as pleasing. I could not but acknowledge, how- 
 ever, that there was much merit in the system, and that 
 it was appropriate to the condensed form and style of 
 journalism of the day. 
 
 ' How is composition in printing offices performed?' I 
 asked. 
 
 ' By machines, principally,' was the reply. 
 
 *Are single alphabetical characters still employed in 
 composition?* 
 
 ' In part, yes ; but only in part, for combination char- 
 acters enter largely into composition and render it more 
 rapid and correct. Prefixes, postfixes, articles, conjunc- 
 tions, and portions of words in common use which can 
 be readily combined with single characters to make the 
 words called for, are employed in composing machines.' 
 
RECIPROCITY. 35 
 
 * But does not this system call for a large and complex 
 key-board?' I asked. 
 
 'A large keyboard, yes,' replied the patriarch, 'but not 
 a complex one, for its method is simple and easily learned. 
 With these letter combinations an operator can compose 
 two thousand words an hour with ease. Metal is not 
 now employed to make plates from but only the lines. 
 To make the plates to print from, the matrix is filled with 
 a quick-setting cement, which hardens to a degree that 
 renders it available for printing. Cylinder completing 
 presses are now in general use. They print, fold, wire 
 and deliver the papers at a marvellous rate of speed,' 
 said the patriarch. 
 
 Surprised at his knowledge of the technique of the 
 printing art, I asked if he had learned it. 
 
 'I did, when I was young,' he replied. * It was and is 
 one of the courses of study in a collegiate education. It 
 is in the course of philology. I worked at it or rather 
 studied it for nearly two years.' 
 
 Our conversation at this point was interrupted by my 
 host who informed us that a carriage was in waiting, and 
 as the patriarch was ready to accompany me on a sight- 
 seeing tour we at once responded to the summons. Be- 
 fore leaving, I sought to thank him and his good wife 
 for the entertainment I had received at their hands, as I 
 intended to seek a hotel to stay at during my sojourn in 
 in the town, but was interrupted by Mr. "Wellman, who 
 said: 
 
 'My dear sir, do not think of leaving us. We are 
 your debtors for the novelty and pleasure of your pres- 
 ence in our home. We both desire that you continue to 
 
36 BECIPROCITY. 
 
 be our guest while you remain in this town. My father 
 will take you in charge, show you all that is worth seeing 
 in our little commune, and give you such information as 
 you may desire. I would be glad to go around with you 
 myself, but my business will not permit it. My father 
 has ample leisure and will deem it a pleasure to accom- 
 pany you. If you went to a hotel you would still need a 
 guide to show you around and give you information, and 
 there are few men better able to do this than he is. Be- 
 sides, if you will remember, he has already volunteered 
 to do it.' 
 
 Patriarch Wellman heartily assented to this, employing 
 other arguments to make me change my purpose. We 
 went outside and his wife, the matron, now joining us, 
 we entered the carriage, which was a double-seated run- 
 about set low on wheels of small diameter. 
 
 ' You can understand, Mr. Wonder,' said the patriarch, 
 ' that we old people do not desire to move about at more 
 than a moderate gait; besides, small wheels climb steep 
 grades, if more slowly, with less power than large ones. 
 We will first go to the town mansion and leave mother. 
 Then we will move about, just where, circumstances will 
 probably determine, but there is much to see even there.' 
 
 The highway was well occupied with vehicles of dif- 
 ferent sizes, going in both directions and at varying rates 
 of speed. Some of them were quite large, being appar- 
 ently public vehicles. People entered and left them at 
 different points. I was at first so intent on observing 
 the vehicles on the street that I scarcely noticed anything 
 else ; but my attention was presently drawn to the people 
 
BECIPEOCITT. 37 
 
 on the sidewalks. They were all neatly dressed, pros- 
 perous-looking and apparently very sociable, chatting as 
 if on intimate friendly terms. The women were taste- 
 fully but not extravagantly attired. Their dresses varied 
 in material, make and color, showing marked individu- 
 ality of taste, and I noted with pleasure that their skirts 
 were sensibly shortened to about five inches above their 
 feet, of which they were evidently not ashamed. They 
 were large, but I did not see a fat woman among them. 
 Neither were they lean, but full-chested, muscular and 
 hearty enoiagh to enjoy life. 
 
 ' These people,' said the patriarch, who was respect- 
 fully saluted by many of them, ' are on their way to their 
 various occupations. We are all industrial as well as 
 industrious. Everybody works during the active years 
 of life, that is, up to 65 years of age. After that none 
 is expected to labor, but may, if they are so inclined ; as 
 a matter of fact, many men work into the late 70's, from 
 choice. But even after retirement, the industrial habit 
 usually keeps them active in such matters as they may 
 fancy, even into old age, as in my wife's case and my 
 own, especially in affairs that call for experience and ma- 
 ture judgment. No one who desires to further the best 
 interests of the commune need be altogether idle. There 
 is always something to interest and attract people of all 
 ages and conditions. In age, senility is often hastened 
 by idleness.' 
 
 We were now approaching the town mansion, which 
 was situated on the crest of the highest hill or ridge in 
 the town. 
 
38 KKCIPROCITT. 
 
 ' We have named this group of buildings the " Town 
 Mansion,"' said the patriarch, 'because in it, or in the 
 group composing it, are located the various town offices, 
 the post office, town treasury, meeting place of selectmen' 
 and the schools of mechanic arts, electricity, chemistry 
 and other useful educational branches of learning, where 
 graduates of grammar schools are instructed in the vari- 
 ous arts and sciences, and all the higher branches of 
 learning which have a use in our civilization. Lecture 
 and concert halls, theatres, gymnasia, etc., are also located 
 here, the location being central and easily accessible 
 from all sections of the town. We shall first stop at the 
 main building, which contains the town offices, the post 
 office, and so forth.' 
 
 The town mansion I found, on approaching it, as well 
 as on closer examination, to be a collection of attached 
 buildings. The main or central structure was a large 
 octagon building, four stories in height, crowned with a 
 covering dome, with a cupalo on top for observation pur- 
 poses as well as for architectural finish. From four of 
 the sides of this building facing the four points of the 
 compass, there extended or radiated a series of structures, 
 the first being not wider than the angle face of the main 
 building to which it was connected, and was three stories 
 in height. The next building was longer and wider, two 
 two stOTies in height, but attached to the inner one only 
 above its second floor. This left a wide passage-way 
 connecting the different wings, for the convenience of 
 carriages and pedestrians. Outside the two-story attach- 
 ment was a much longer and wider structure of only one 
 
RECIPROCITT. 3d 
 
 story in height. This wing or series of buildings, in 
 similar size, form and style was repeated on each of the 
 alternate faces of the angles of the main building, the 
 entire group being in the form of a Greek cross, the lines 
 of the arms being serrated. The roofs of the buildings 
 composing the wings were ornamented with small domes 
 and minarets. The entire group presented a bizarre and 
 yet not unsymmeti'ical combination when viewed from a 
 near standpoint, but from a distance, as I afterward noted, 
 it had a very attractive and even artistic effect. 
 
 The one-story outside structures were used — one for 
 a gymnasium for men and boys, another for women and 
 girls' gymnasium; a third for a chemical and electrical 
 laboratory, and the fourth for a school of mechanic arts. 
 These outside buildings were 100 by 200 feet in area, 
 were lighted from the roof and the sides, and those used 
 for educational purposes were equipped with machinery 
 and other apparatus employed in the various branches 
 taught in them, while the two large gymnasiums had all 
 the appliances in vogue for exercise and physical devel- 
 opment. 
 
 The two-story buiklings, with passage-way under them 
 contained ample halls arranged for seating large audiencs. 
 One was used for theatrical exhibitions, another for pub- 
 lic meetings or lectures, a third for concerts, and the 
 fourth for vaudeville shows and other amusements of a 
 like character. 
 
 The wings proper or three-story buildings had various 
 uses — one for schools of mathematics and other studies 
 which did not requii-e the employment of machinery or 
 
40 KECIPROCITY. 
 
 elaborate apparatus. Another of the wings proper was 
 devoted to the training of young women in the sciences 
 and professional work, such as chemistry, anatomy and 
 physiology, gynacology and obstetrics, for midwifery, as 
 I learned, was practised only by women. The domestic 
 arts were also taught in this section. A third wing was 
 devoted to the instruction of young men in surgery and 
 therapeutics. It also contained a law school, in which 
 nearly all young men received a measure of instruction 
 in jurisprudence, though but very few were graduated as 
 professional lawyers, litigation in courts of law being a 
 tiling of such rare occurrence that few followed the law 
 exclusively as a profession. An acquaintance with the 
 general principles of jurisprudence was, however, 
 regarded as a necessary part of a liberal education, and 
 qualified its possessor to know his well-defined rights 
 under the law, as well as how to assert and maintain 
 them. 
 
 ' P^'or,' said the patriarch afterwards, speaking of this 
 acquirement, ' in this particular as in many others such 
 knowledge makes men more self-reliant, and, knowing 
 their own rights, are all the more ready to accord to 
 others the same rights and not infringe on them. Actual 
 contests in courts of law are so rare that we seldom hear 
 of them. I believe it is an old axiom that lawyers rarely 
 go to law on their own account. In this town I have no 
 recollection of a case at law being tried, though we have 
 the means of trying such, if need be. With us every 
 man is practically a law unto himself, and needs no co- 
 ercion to make him act justly towards his fellow men. 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 41 
 
 We are not saints, but we can be good, self-respecting 
 citizens, having due regard for the rights of others as of 
 our own.' 
 
 The fourth wing was devoted to the use of students of 
 both sexes who made studies in special branches of sci- 
 ence. Inventors, experimenters in chemistry, physics — 
 any, in fact, who promised useful results in the arts and 
 sciences — were given opportunity to develop their ideas 
 and aided in so doing, the results of their labors becom- 
 ing public property, as the national patent office was now 
 used only as a court of record, its awards being largely 
 honorary. To the recipient of a patent, however, it was 
 an award of merit that carried with it great honor, if not 
 riches, though it conferred upon its possessor a handsome 
 pension during life, paid out of the national treasury. 
 
 The main or central building contained the town offices 
 and the town treasury, as well as the central post office 
 and the offices of the various industries of the commune, 
 for, as I learned, all industries, of whatever nature, were 
 carried on by or for the commune. 
 
 Our carriage stopped at one of the entrances to the 
 main building — there were four such entrances, the halls 
 meeting in a central rotunda — and we alighted and went 
 in. The old woman turned aside to the matrons' room 
 on the first floor, and we took one of the elevators for 
 the upper section of the building. There was no attend- 
 ant in the lift, but after we entered my guide pressed a 
 button, the door closed, and we mounted upward to a 
 landing at the gallery near the top of the dome. The 
 patriarch, before we lauded, showed me that there was a 
 
42 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 separate button in the car for each landing, and the oper- 
 ation of the elevator was automatic. The pressure of a 
 button on any floor outside the elevator well would call 
 it up or down to stop there, and once the passenger was 
 inside it could be directed at will. It could not, how- 
 ever, be operated from the outside when carrying passen- 
 gers up or down, but only called, and when vacated would 
 respond to the call. 
 
 A stairway from the gallery of the dome led up to the 
 cupola. From a staff on the cupola floated a fine Ameri- 
 can flag, and from the open windows of this crowning 
 structure we had a magnificent view of the surrounding 
 country, with the White Mountains forming a background 
 in the east, the Green Mountains north and west, and on 
 the south the noble valley of the Connecticut River — a 
 grand view, that was all the more inspiring to me when 
 I reflected that every arable acre of this vast territory 
 was under cultivation or in useful fruit and forest trees ; 
 that intelligent, peaceful and contented people cultivated 
 farms and operated factories, and that peace, prosperity 
 and plenty pervaded the entire country. But perhaps I 
 am anticipating — am ahead of my story, so to speak. As 
 we descended from the cupola my guide said : 
 
 ' We will now visit some of the schools. We have in 
 different sections of the town primary and graded schools, 
 where instruction is given to pupils, in advanced classes, 
 in elementary chemistry, physics, mechanical drawing, 
 and the application of these and other matters to the in- 
 dustrial arts and trades. Graduates from these classes 
 are admitted to scholarship in the finishing schools here. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 43 
 
 We also have trades and mechanic arts taught as studies 
 preparatory to the higher branches, on the well-approved 
 principle that handicraft or mechanical experience is not 
 only indispensable to the engmeer, factory superintend- 
 ent and operative, but an important aid in every form of 
 industry, whether mechanical, inventive or farm labor. 
 Chemistry and metallurgy are taught collaterally. The 
 student worker in metals is instructed in the nature and 
 chemical composition of the metals he handles, their re- 
 duction from their ores, combination with other metals, 
 as well as the nature, property and uses of alloys. 
 
 'Then there is organic chemistry and its branches, 
 such as agricultural chemistry, in which the composition 
 of the soils cultivated, the fertilizers needed to insure 
 good crops, etc., are ascertained in order to farm success- 
 fully. These and kindred studies, such as agriculture, 
 horticulture, floriculture and botany are among the 
 studies, as well as natural history. Political and domes- 
 tic economy, history and mathematics, are among the 
 higher branches taught, while ethics is one of the most 
 important of our school studies, as it has its roots in the 
 social life of our people. Electrical and mechanical en- 
 gineering are among the branches most in favor with our 
 students. Let us visit one of the school shops.' 
 
 We entered one of the electrical school laboratories. 
 It contained a variety of machinery, work benches and 
 apparatus of various kinds employed in the art. The 
 machinery was in operation, and work of a commercial 
 nature was being turned out by the students. Here, I 
 was informed, many of the small electric generators and 
 
44 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 motors used on road carriages, and for farm and house- 
 hold small powers, were constructed. Alcohol motors 
 were also made here. I noted that the metal used for 
 some of the parts of machines in process of manufacture 
 was of a different kind from what I had been familiar 
 with. On inquiry I was told that it was an alloy which 
 was less liable to oxidation and much easier to work into 
 shape than iron or steel. The young men at work in the 
 laboratory were so earnest and intent on their occupation 
 that they only glanced at the visitors, though the instruc- 
 tors saluted my guide with friendly deference. This, I 
 was told, was one of the higher grade classes of the elec- 
 trical school. 
 
 In all the rooms visited the students were industriously 
 employed in their various lines of practical study. One 
 of the rooms interested me greatly, chiefly on account of 
 the peculiarity and complex nature of one of the opera- 
 tions carried on. The apparatus treated atmospheric air 
 for the production of nitrates. The air was driven into 
 an electric furnace tlirough an intense flame, the portion 
 unconsumed coming out charged with nitrous oxide fumes, 
 which were collected, allowed further time to oxidize, 
 and then absorbed in quick lime, nitric acid and nitrate 
 of lime being the products. Nitrate of lime, I was told, 
 was found of special adaptabilitj' to many soils, and was 
 used quite largely on farms in the state. The small cost 
 of production made it a cheap fertilizer. 
 
 'The aim in this, as in all our higher schools,' said my 
 guide, 'is to turn out, if possible, commercially useful 
 products. Where anything produced, however, has not 
 
RECIPROCITY. 45 
 
 a market value it is destroyed. If of metal, it is melted 
 and used again, but this seldom has to be done. We will 
 now visit another department of electrical work, where 
 the manufacture of carpets, mattrasses, bed quilts and 
 house- warmers is carried on.' 
 
 Wondering what the relation of such household things 
 could have to electricity, I followed without comment or 
 query. In this department I was shown several looms in 
 operation weaving carpets and other coarse fabrics, the 
 warps of which were composed in part of fine metallic 
 threads, which I was told were made of a highly ductile 
 alloy of great resistance. About every 20th thread of 
 warp was of metal. The coarse filling woven in fully 
 covered and concealed the metal threads. 
 
 ' These,' said my guide, ' are what are known as elec- 
 trical fabrics. You will note that in some of the looms 
 the wires used are larger and placed further apart in the 
 warp than in others, and that the filling threads are much, 
 coarser. The fabrics in these looms are floor carpets 
 rugs, and for mattras coverings for beds, for use in the 
 cold season where a moderate heat is desired. The finer 
 fabrics are employed for bed coverings, in conjunction 
 with sheets and blankets ; also as lounge covers, and for 
 chair seat and back covers. They are in some cases em- 
 ployed as dado coverings, to promote the general warmth 
 of living rooms, though in our sleeping rooms in the 
 winter season we have a supply of fresh air warmed to 
 about 45 degrees Fahrenheit by being admitted through 
 electrically heated coils. In adapting these fabrics for 
 use, the material is cut to the required length, and the 
 
46 KECrPROCITT. 
 
 ends of the wires connected, so that the network makes 
 a continuous line of greatei- or less resistance according 
 to the size of the wire. This network of wire radiates 
 the amount of heat called for, which can be regulated 
 according to the requirements of the cold season. Of 
 course the current is never applied in quantity sufficient 
 to overheat the wire and produce combustion. To obtain 
 heat from these fabrics they have to be connected with a 
 current supply. In the summer season these fabrics are 
 stored away until again called for. In summer we do 
 not use any floor or wall coverings, as they collect dust 
 and organic matter and are consequently injurious to 
 health.' 
 
 ' You said the studies in these schools embraced juris- 
 prudence, therapeutics, surgery, etc., are these special or 
 elective studies?' 
 
 'Yes; but while they have a place in the general fea- 
 tures of our educational system only those who desire to 
 study them are required to do so, that is, with reference 
 to professional ends. Surgery is a very important branch 
 of study, and we have many young men who pursue it 
 for a profession. All special studies in our schools are 
 elective. This will account in a great measure for the 
 evident ardor shown by students in special lines of work 
 in these schools.' 
 
 ' What if an undue number choose one particular line 
 of study, such as electrical instead of foundry work or 
 other trade ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' The number of students in any one of the special 
 lines of study in the advanced classes is limited, and only 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 47 
 
 those who pass the highest examinations are accepted 
 until the classes are filled. If a class is full, eligible ap- 
 plicants who are temporarily debarred have the choice of 
 other lines, but are still eligible when there is room for 
 them, which is not infrequent, because graduation de- 
 pends upon merit and proficincy rather than upon the 
 length of time of study, the more studious and efficient 
 receiving their diplomas soonest. This has been found 
 to be a great incentive to industry on the part of the 
 pupil and spurs him to emulative effort. It at the same 
 time holds out hope to expectants, who in the meantime 
 adopt some analogous line of study, in which they may 
 become interested and continue to study in it until gra- 
 duation.' 
 
 ' Then these art and professional schools are probation- 
 ary or apprentice shops which graduate workmen or 
 masters of the trades or professions which they have 
 perfected themselves in,' I remarked. 
 
 'Yes,' he said. 'Our trades and occupations are no 
 longer handicapped by the introduction of crude and un- 
 skilled labor. The graduate from our advanced classes 
 in any trade or profession is a competent workman, en- 
 gineer, artist or professional man, as the case may be, 
 and is fitted to take the place and earn the compensation 
 of an experienced worker in any line of industry for 
 which he has fitted himself.' 
 
 ' In the mental studies, such as mathematics, theology, 
 psychology, etc., have your schools advanced classes ? ' I 
 asked. 
 
 ' As to mathematics,' said the patriarch, ' we regard it 
 
48 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 as one of the most indispensable of the mental studies, 
 A thorough course in it is taken by all pupils, especially 
 to qualify as engineers. Indeed a knowledge of it is in- 
 dispensable to all mechanics, inventors, and in fact to all 
 who have to exercise correct judgment in the affairs of 
 life. Moral philosophy is an important study, and even 
 psychology has a place in the advanced mental grades, 
 if indeed it can be classed with ordinary studies, it being 
 one of the rarer intellectual pursuits more fitted for ma- 
 ture people who study mental phenomena; but as to the- 
 ology, it is not taught or studied nowadays. It is a dead 
 study, only resurrected for occasion by the philosopher, 
 
 'Mystical studies are not encouraged, for the reason 
 that they lead to the formation of an unstable condition 
 of mind in the immature, and tend to make men imprac- 
 tical in thought and action. Our knowledge of mental 
 phenomena has been so broadened in the past eight or 
 ten centuries that we no longer regard many and even 
 most of the so-called phenomena of the old cults and re- 
 igions as of supernatural significance, or that they are of 
 higher origin than human invention. We can under- 
 stand why the devotional instinct in human nature which 
 sought to give expression to feelings of wonder and ad- 
 miration of the vast, grand forces and mysterious pro- 
 cesses of nature, and why men did not get beyond the 
 idea of personifying them. But we have long since left 
 such childish ideas behind in the road of progress; have 
 realized that there is a vast universe about us, so vast as 
 to be limitless, where formative and disintegrative pro- 
 cesses are in never-ceasing action, creating worlds and 
 
KECrPEOCITY. 49 
 
 and sustaining them in their wondrous cycles of change, 
 of growth and decay; and that our sun, great and benefi- 
 cent as he is, is but one of the millions of dispensing 
 agents of that vast universal energy, to place which in an 
 individual control is the acme of absurdity. 
 
 < We now know more definitely the immediate sources 
 of vegetal and animal life on our planet, if not their ac- 
 tual origiuo We also know that human knowledge has 
 its limitations ; but what knowledge we possess is sufli- 
 cient to satisfy us that there is no reasonable hope of 
 more than one term of existence for each individual man, 
 as well as for any other animal, and that the part of wis- 
 dom is to live the life we have as happily as we can — a 
 life which, in practice, should be productive of the best 
 and most satisfactory results to the individual and to 
 societyo' 
 
 'For these reasons, then,' I remarked, 'you do not see 
 the necessity for teaching theological doctrines.' 
 
 ' We view the idea of a personal god as a crude and 
 even childish conception of the all-power in nature. A 
 triune god is an absurdity, a comjjlex form of anthropo- 
 morphism, which is not as satisfactory to the thinking 
 man as the abstract idea of an all-creative and all-potent 
 principle in nature, but it was admirable as a befogging 
 and awe-inspiring mystery to those cradled in the super- 
 stition of the ages. We can see that all the gods of the 
 ancients originated in an imperfect conception of the 
 creative principle of the universe. In the crudity of 
 human knowledge the varied phenomena of nature were 
 personified and given powers which seemed to belong to 
 
60 RECIPEOCITY, 
 
 Buch superhuraans. The earth was then believed to be 
 the centre of the universe and the sun, moon and stars 
 simply attendants on it. IIow different the facts i Oiu- 
 earth is but one of the small children of the sun, not the 
 smallest, but insignificant compared with some of those 
 more distant from the sun. We now realize that the 
 sun is our cosmical father, as the earth is our mother, 
 and that he is, if not the creator, at least the promoter 
 and sustainer of life on it. We realize, also that while 
 we are dependant upon the sun for our being and sus- 
 tenance, there is an illimitable universe of energy and 
 matter of which he, vast though he be, is only one of the 
 smaller dispensers, there being myriads of suns or centres 
 of systems hundreds and even thousands of times larger 
 than he is. 
 
 ' In this age we have no fixed form of worship, and our 
 regard for the great central luminary of our system bears 
 but little analogy to that of the early sun worshippers 
 save that we, like them, recognize our dependence upon 
 it for life and sustenance. Our highest conception of a 
 personal god is embodied in the perfect man, such a one 
 as the Christians worshipped in the Hebrew man Jesus, 
 who represented to them the cardinal virtues," faith in 
 humanity, love of fellow men, mercy and charity to the 
 unfortunate and poverty-stricken, and hope of final bro- 
 therhood and happy conditions for all, which it is our 
 highest and noblest ambition to realize. To accomplish 
 this we cultivate respect for age, experience and achieve- 
 ment, truth, uprightness, honesty, fidelity, integrity, and 
 indeed all the characteristics which we approve of or 
 
EECIPROCITT. 51 
 
 most highly commend in others and aim to cultivate in 
 ourselves.' 
 
 I was surprised at this revelation and could hardly 
 realize that the grand fabric of supernaturalism, called 
 Christianity, had dissolved or been relegated to the pan- 
 theon of the defunct religions. I remarked, however, that 
 the old religions must have been fitted to the intellectual 
 wants and moral conditions of the ages in which they 
 prevailed, and tliat the comparative study of them had 
 proved a useful means of enlarging human knowledge. 
 
 ' That is true,' he said. 'AH mental jihenomena or pre- 
 vailing conditions of thought and belief in the history of 
 thinking man have had their uses in the line of progress. 
 Their crudity was due to lack of knowledge, but each 
 experience was provocative of thought, doubt, contro- 
 versy and investigation, consequently of progress. Men 
 stumbled for ages in the rough paths of experience, and 
 knowledge came slowly and after great sacrifice. In 
 other words, the structure of human knowledge was 
 started in the quicksand of ignorance and superstition, 
 and had to be rebuilt many times on fii-mer and more 
 rational foundations. "We have now arrived at a con- 
 dition of comparative mental maturity, when the forms 
 and ceremonies of the old religions are meaningless to 
 us, if not absurd.' 
 
 ' But,' I persisted, ' how could a god be conceived of 
 apart from a personality ? ' 
 
 'He could not, and therein resided the strength of the- 
 ology, especially when the great god allied himself to man 
 in the flesh, became a creature of his own creation, as it 
 
52 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 were. This ridiculous assumption, when accepted by 
 the ignorant masses, was made the basis of a faith for 
 which men suffered death and sanctified it. But science, 
 with undaunted persistence and judicial logic, showed its 
 utter fallacy, and slowly but surely the world became 
 undeceived. It was the lack of knowledge of the facts 
 in nature among the masses of the people which gave to 
 the inventors of gods the opportunity to invest such 
 myths with attributes and powers most esteemed and 
 respected or feared in those days. These gods were as 
 often worshipped from fear as from any other sentiment. 
 The people asked for aid and assistance, little realizing 
 that they were calling on things without ears and without 
 power to help or to injure. Yet, strange to say, many of 
 the suppliants, owing to fortuitous circumstances, realized 
 their wishes and attributed the same to the favor or 
 clemency of the gods — so credulous and trusting is hu- 
 man nature. On the other hand, when the prayers were 
 not answered, the suppliant attributed it to his own un- 
 worthiness, and it no doubt increased his estimate of that 
 god's discernment. 
 
 'The constructors of theologies did not realize that 
 wisdom and intelligence were merely human attributes, 
 derived from the varied conditions of man's existence. 
 Even the pantheistic idea that the universe is god and 
 god the universe was too broad for general comprehen- 
 sion in the god-making age. We now realize, however, 
 whence the sustaining and doubtless the creative power 
 in nature is derived. We know, also, as I have intimated, 
 that even our hicchest intellectual achievement is but a 
 
BECIPEOCITT. 53 
 
 phase of human development under favoring conditions 
 — nothing more.' 
 
 We passed through a number of other departments of 
 study and work, all containing well-tilled classes of young 
 people busily intent on work and study. 
 
 ' Where do all these young people find employment 
 when they are graduated ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Wherever vacancies occur calling for their services,* 
 replied the patriarch. ' The workers in our industries 
 and other lines of effort are dropping out, that is, retiring 
 all the time, leaving vacancies to be filled, and business 
 of all kinds is increasing with the growth of population, 
 calling for more workers. Our young graduates do not 
 go forth with the idea that they can obtain situations of 
 control and responsibility in any line of industry — nearly 
 every calling with us nowadays is industrial. They know 
 that they must begin modestly and work their way up, if 
 they are aspiring, gaining promotion by merit, industry 
 and opportunity. Work of some kind is always obtain- 
 able, and remuneration is fixed in every department of 
 industry and effort, so that there no difiiculty in earning 
 a livelihood. Some follow trades, some professions and 
 others agricultural pursuits. If there is not employment 
 found in the lines most desired it may be had in other 
 pursuits. Proficiency in any one of the arts or trades 
 does not unfit the possessor for other occupations, and our 
 all-around system of industrial school training enables the 
 young graduate to be tolerably efficient in almost any line 
 of effort. 
 
 ' Of course a young man may ^choose to go elsewhere 
 
54 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 to find employment, and some do ; but there are the ties 
 of family and friendship to bind him to home which are 
 not to be lightly sundered. If, however, he does go out 
 into the world and a new field of effort, as some do, he 
 is usually well provided with means to pay his way until 
 he secures a position to his liking. On graduation the 
 town gives the student a sum of money equivalent to his 
 earnings above student remuneration for one year prior 
 to graduation, if his work had been productive of material 
 gain to the commune; and if not, as in the case of purely 
 mental or experimental studies, there is still given him a 
 money consideration, the gratuity being porportioned to 
 his accomplishment.' 
 
 ' Does the town have a proprietary interest in all prop- 
 erty and own and operate all industrial and educational 
 institutions ? ' I asked. 
 
 'The commune, that is, the people in their collective 
 capacity, own everything in the way of real estate, build- 
 ings, schools, public utilities, and own and operate all the 
 industries. Personal property only is owned by individu- 
 als. Those occupying or holding buildings, farms and 
 other public property pay rental therefor, which is cov- 
 ered into the town treasury, or rather deducted from the 
 earnings of the occupants, all of whom are employed by 
 or work for the town. The term of lease of farms and 
 dwellings is perpetual, and proportioned to the size and 
 importance of the holding ; that is, they are secured the 
 possession of their holdings as long as the rent is paid. 
 If a family should desire to leave the town they can dis- 
 pose of their lease to the town or to another family, their 
 
EECIPROCITT. 55 
 
 successors occupying it under the same conditions as to 
 the payment of rent and so forth,' said the patriarch. 
 
 ' If a tenant should fail to pay rent, what would be the 
 consequence to him ? ' I inquired. 
 
 'If such failure were the result of sickness, temporary 
 disability or circumstances over which the family had no 
 control, things of very rare occurrence indeed, the rent 
 would be remitted for a year, or two years, if need be. 
 But, as I said, such misfortunes can only be of extremely 
 rare occurrence, for even if the head of a family is dis- 
 abled the other adult members can work, and there is 
 work and remuneration for all who can and will work. 
 If, however,' continued the patriarch, 'there are only aged 
 survivors of a family, and they have passed the age of 
 retirement, which entitles them to a life pension, they 
 are allowed to retain their home rent free, if they desire 
 to do so, and do not wish to go to the town farm. If they 
 should choose the latter, however, or in the event of 
 death, their holdings revert to the town. In the case of 
 small farmers, in seasons when the crops are a partial 
 failure (there are no total failures with us) rebates of 
 rents are made proportional to estimated losses.' 
 
 'How do your farmers dispose of their products?' I 
 asked. 
 
 ♦The farmer,' he replied, 'reserves for his own use 
 enough of the products of his farm to last him until the 
 crops of the following year mature. His surplus, in 
 poultry, eggs, meat, wool, hay, milk, butter, roots, fruit, 
 corn and other cereals, he sells to the commune. We have 
 in different sections of the town spacious warehouses in 
 
56 RECIPROCITY, 
 
 which farm products of all kinds are kept for sale, either 
 to our own people or abroad, these products being sold 
 elsewhere only when there is an assured surplus over 
 estimated home needs. For root crops underground 
 cellars are reserved, where in dark, cool vaults they are 
 kept until required for consumption. When the farmer 
 turns in his surplus products, an order of payment for 
 them by the town treasurer is given him. At the trea- 
 sury his indebtedness for rent and bills at the town store 
 are deducted, and the balance coming to him paid him in 
 currency, or placed to his credit, as he desires.' 
 
 ' Do farmers realize profitable returns for their indus- 
 try ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes ; in years of good crops they realize very gener- 
 ous returns. Besides an independent living they have a 
 satisfactory surplus at the end of the year. None of them 
 grows rich, however, any more than other workers. We 
 are not mere money getters, and have no use for surplus 
 wealth,' replied the patriarch. 
 
 ' Does the commune build as well as own all the build- 
 ings ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes ; and all the houses are built on a uniform sys- 
 tem, though of different sizes and styles of architecture. 
 There are some six or seven variations of these in the 
 town,' he replied. ' The factories are built to accommo- 
 date the industries which are to be carried on in them. 
 The dwellings vary in rental according to size and the 
 amount of land that goes with each. The smallest cot- 
 tage is built as carefully and substantially as the largest, 
 and with as much care in regard to light, ventilation, 
 
RBCIPROCITT. 57 
 
 plumbing, and other hygienic details. They are all con- 
 structed to last for hundreds and perhaps thousands of 
 years,' said the patriarch. 
 
 < Is the income from these houses, farms and factories 
 sufficient to meet all the expenses of the commune ? ' I 
 inquired. 
 
 ' There is never a deficit,' he replied, < for the business 
 of the town is carefully and watchfully administered, but 
 if there should be Ave have a surplus or reserve fund to 
 fall back on. It has now grown to considerable propor- 
 tions. If this became exhausted by any unforeseen con- 
 contingency, a general advance in rentals would have to 
 be resorted to. But I find no account of such an occur- 
 rence in the history of the town during the last three 
 hundred years. On the contrary, there have been several 
 instances where the yearly surplus income has been so 
 considerable that a year of jubilee, or exemption from all 
 or a large percentage of rent payment, has been known. 
 The town, however, always maintains a large surplus, to 
 be drawn upon for highway and other public improve- 
 ments, and for contingencies.' 
 
 ' Have you a town debt ? ' I asked, forgetting how un- 
 likely it would be for a town with a large surplus in its 
 treasury to be in debt. 
 
 He smiled indulgently and replied : ' No. In this age 
 the communes (cities and towns) can not borrow on 
 credit. They must and do live on their incomes, and it 
 remains with those in charge of affairs to be prudent in 
 expenditure and watchful of the interests intrusted to 
 their management. But economy and a strictly lion est 
 
58 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 administration of business affairs have become so well-es- 
 tablislied in the public service that maladministration is 
 practically unknown. Credit for ability and honesty is 
 so highly esteemed by the people that failure in capacity 
 or honesty would mean failure in life which no amount 
 of gain could compensate for. This, though an age of 
 individual independence, is not one of individual pos- 
 session of great riches, consquently there is little incen- 
 tive to and lasting disgrace in the acquirement of dis- 
 honest gain.' 
 
 ' But,' I said, ' if a public servant should do wrong — 
 should speculate in stocks and lose money that did not 
 belong to him ? ' 
 
 ' My friend,' he replied, ' you suppose a case of impos- 
 sible occurrence. This is not an age of speculation of 
 any kind. There are no corporations and consequently 
 no stocks which are liable to fluctuation, or which can be 
 manipulated by speculators, in order to cheat the unwary. 
 The only available securities are government bonds, and 
 these are only purchased for investment. There can be 
 no fluctuation in these for their rate of interest does not 
 vary.' 
 
 In the main building we visited the offices of the heads 
 of departments. These men and their assistants had 
 charge of all the industries of the commune, and other 
 matters of administration. They contracted for the pur- 
 chase of raw material for the factories, the sale of their 
 products, the employment of operatives, and administered 
 the industries and other town affairs as if they were their 
 own individual concerns. The office doors bore such 
 
RECIPROCITY. 5d 
 
 signs as ' Light and Power,' ' Farms and Dwellings,' ' Fac- 
 tories,' < Schools,' 'Highways and Public Grounds,' 'In- 
 stitutions,' and so on. 
 
 The sign ' Light and Power ' attracted my attention. 
 What was the source of power from which the electric 
 current was produced and which operated the factories ? 
 Was it coal ? It could not be water, for water power, I 
 knew, was limited in the town. I asked my guide where 
 the town obtained its coal. He smiled and said: 
 
 ' The stored energy of the sun, in the forms of coal and 
 mineral oil, were exhausted to such an extent about three 
 hundred years ago as not to be available to us ; but we 
 obtain sufficient power for our needs from other sources. 
 Did you not notice, when we were in the cupola of this 
 building that the various hills and other eminences within 
 view were crowned with numbers of small circular struc- 
 tures, on the roofs of which and projecting from them 
 were large flattened funnels, backed by fish-tail vanes?' 
 
 ' I did notice them,' I said, ' and intended to ask you 
 later about them.' 
 
 'In these little buildings,' he continued, 'our most 
 available form of power is employed to produce elec- 
 tricity. The winds, which are now our chief source of 
 power, are utilized in these buildings to operate motors 
 to produce electricity. We have only a limited amount 
 of water for power in the town — a form of power, like 
 the wind, which is derived from sun energy — and have 
 also sun motors, but of course they are operative only 
 on cloudless days. 
 
 'One of the most important discoveries yet made in the 
 
60 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 matter of power production is that involved in the con- 
 version of the sun's energy directly into electricity. This, 
 I learn, has been accomplished by a North African sci- 
 entist after many years of experiment, and he is now, it 
 is said, engaged in the work of reclaiming the deserts of 
 that region by sinking artesian wells and drawing water 
 from them to irrigate and cultivate those waste places by 
 sun-electric motors. Engines of this character may thus 
 become instrumental in reclaiming the barren and arid 
 places of the earth, and the electric current thus produced 
 a most important factor in the future industrial life of the 
 world. I understand that there has been published an 
 illustrated technical description of this invention, that 
 is to be sent out by the Smithsonian Institution, which 
 we are awaiting with eager hopefulness. 
 
 * By the new system it is estimated that every house- 
 top can be utilized to place a converter that will produce 
 current enough in the summer season, and even in winter, 
 to be stored for heating, lighting and domestic purposes 
 the year round. Instead of having the storage plants of 
 factories and dwellings charged from the public generat- 
 ing stations the possessors of the sun dynamos or con- 
 verters can, by their aid, store enough sun energy to 
 largely and perhaps wholly serve their wants. There 
 will be cloudy days, to be sure, as well as windless ones, 
 but enough sunshine as well as wind will be assured to 
 the world, where water power is not available, to furnish 
 all the power, heat and light needed. Under prevailing 
 conditions, we have to supplement our wind and water 
 power with alcohol. But for general purposes these sun- 
 
EECIPROCITT. 61 
 
 power dynamos must have a great and beneficial influ- 
 ence upon earth conditions, especially in regions where 
 sunshine predominates. We can have but little concep- 
 tion of the vast amount of energy there is in the sun's 
 rays and what an exhaustless source of power we have 
 in it to draw from.' 
 
 I intimated that I would like to inspect the wind en- 
 gines, but at that moment the noon signal was sounded 
 by megaphone from the cupola of the town mansion, and 
 the patriarch said we must return home, as by this time 
 his wife would be waiting for him. We found the ma- 
 tron expecting us. 
 
 ' After luncheon and siesta,' said the patriarch, ' we 
 will visit the wind engines.' 
 
 On the way to the Wellman home I noticed that the 
 streets were again filled with carriages of all descriptions 
 moving hither and thither, and the walks crowded with 
 pedestrians. 
 
 ' They are going to their homes for luncheon,' said Mr. 
 W. ' That meal is followed by a siesta or resting spell, 
 and then back again to work or business or study, as the 
 case may be, for three hours more. The hours for labor 
 and study for adults are six a day, three in the forenoon 
 and three in the afternoon, or one fourth of the entire 
 day. Farmers in the busy season, of course, work longer 
 hours, but there are days and seasons when they cannot 
 work out of doors. Even with this extra work in the 
 summer season they do not average more hours per day 
 the year round than the workers in factories do. In their 
 busy season, too, they can employ, out of working hours, 
 
62 EECIPKOCITY. 
 
 those who may choose to work a couple of hours or more 
 before or after factory hours.' 
 
 ' Are the hours of labor, then,' I asked, ' generally re- 
 duced to six a day?' 
 
 ' That is the general rule everywhere. These are some 
 of the reasons for fixing the standard at six hours for a 
 day's work : In the first place, as everybody works or 
 studies, all the work and study needed to be done can be 
 accomplished in that time. In our primary schools only 
 four hours attendance is required, two in the forenoon and 
 two in the afternoon. This system of work and study 
 for adults and children gives results that are satisfactory, 
 allowing enough time for amusement, healthful recrea- 
 tion and rest for old and young. We are not ambitious 
 to accumulate an undue amount of products and riches 
 at the expense of health and comfort. Health and enjoy- 
 ment with us are paramount.' 
 
 ' Have you many very rich people, millionaires ? ' I in- 
 quired. 
 
 ' We know of very rich men only in history,' he said. 
 ' In these days of equality of opportunity and reward 
 rich men, not to mention millionaires, are an impossi- 
 bility. Men have so greatly multiplied that to make one 
 millionare in a town it would be necessary to impoverish 
 thousands — a thing impossible under present conditions. 
 The colossal fortunes acquired in the early days of the 
 Republic, when opportunity went hand in hand with the 
 early development of a new country under the old wage 
 system, melted many hundreds of years ago, and only an 
 average well-to-do class of working people succeeds to 
 
EECIPROCITT. 63 
 
 the inheritance of the earth. According to prevailing 
 custom or usage, which has the effect of law nowadays, 
 no man can bequeath at his death more than fifty thous- 
 and dollars to his heirs in bonds and money. If he dies 
 worth a hundred thousand — a very rare thing indeed — 
 one half the amount goes to the commune. There is, as 
 you can see, no incentive for even a man of miserly 
 habit to accumulate largely. All men, whether well-to-do 
 or comparatively poor, do work of some kind ; the poor- 
 est make a comfortable living, enjoy life as well as those 
 who are better off, and are content with their condition. 
 Contentment is on the highway to happiness, you know.' 
 
 'Are all compelled to do work?' I asked. 
 
 ' Not in the sense that they are driven to work, Hke 
 slaves. They are brought up to habits of industry, and 
 realize that in labor or occupation of some kind there is 
 to be found health of body and contentment of mind. 
 Occupation of some kind, therefore, becomes congenial 
 to all. Of course people with ample means can live with- 
 out labor. They can travel if they choose, but few care 
 to spend a life in ease when the world about them is 
 busy. Besides,' said the patriarch, 'public opinion, which 
 is most potent in this age, strongly condemns an aimless 
 and idle life. Of course the great mass of the people 
 have to labor from necessity — a grand stimulant, by the 
 way — but their hours of labor are not long, their work 
 not exhausting, their compensation ample, and they have 
 abundant leisure for study, amusement and recreation. 
 They and their families can attend interesting and inform- 
 ing lectures, concerts, and other places of amusement 
 
64 BECIPROCITT. 
 
 free of charge, as the commune provides these things 
 out of its own resources.' 
 
 I was surprised at the last statement, but before I could 
 ask another question we arrived at the Wellman home. 
 The patriarch's son (my traveling companion), his son 
 and grandson, and the women of the family, were grouped 
 in front of the house to receive us. The male members 
 were at leisure, as no business was done from noon to 2 
 p. m., or rather 14 o'clock, and included the siesta. The 
 greetings of the family were cordial and pleasant, and 
 the boy, after he had kissed his great-grand-parents, 
 came over to me, put his arms around my neck and 
 kissed me — bless him! We now entered the house and, 
 after ablutions, assembled in the dining room. 
 
 ' I have today, Mr. Wonder, what may be a novelty in 
 the way of cooking for you and hope you will enjoy it,' 
 said Mrs. Wellman. * It is a fowl which has been cooked 
 by the direct rays of the sun in our solar range. This 
 form of cooking is done only on clear days.' 
 
 I thanked her for the privilege of this enjojTnent; in- 
 deed it seemed as if the fine roast capon had a new and 
 more appetizing flavor in consequence of the new mode 
 of cooking. When I expressed myself to that effect, a 
 pleased smile lighted the good woman's countenance; 
 she said : 
 
 ' Do you know I have the same fancy in regard to this 
 form of cookery, and though I feel that perhaps the 
 imagination may have something to do with this idea, I 
 am yet in doubt if it be not a fact of the palate rather 
 than a fancy. Our ordinary electric heat is, we know, 
 
EECIPROCITY. 
 
 65 
 
 only another form of sun energy, yet it would seem as if 
 the more direct rays had a purer virtue in them than 
 they could have after several transformations.' 
 
 The meal was most enjoyable, due as much to the ex- 
 cellence of the viands as to the pleasant and agreeable 
 conversation, in which I took part. At the close of the 
 meal I expressed a desire to see the solar cooker, which 
 was graciously granted by my hostess, who guided me to 
 a piazza on the south side of the house and showed me a 
 portable range or cooker, of light construction, coated on 
 the outside with a covering of asbestos, and with an oven 
 door of mica plates. Above this were arranged a series 
 of convex lenses focused through pipe openings on metal 
 plates inside the oven, which could be in this way 
 heated to the desired temperature for cooking. The 
 lenses, when the range was adjusted to the desired con- 
 centration, were maintained in focus by a clockwork 
 movement, something hke that used for siderial teles- 
 copes to make them follow the movement of the sun, or 
 rather of the earth as against it. 
 
 ' We use this cooker constantly when the sun shines,' 
 said my hostess, *■ summer and winter. In stormy 
 weather we keep it under cover. It is no more trouble 
 to operate than an electric range.' 
 
 *Are these solar cookers in general use?' I asked. 
 
 'Yes, quite generally; all who desire them can have 
 them. They cost the user nothing except a small yearly 
 rental, as with electric ranges, only the latter are more 
 costly to operate as we have to pay for electric current,' 
 she said. 
 
66 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 As we returned to the sitting room she added ; ' If you 
 are curious about it, I would be pleased to show you my 
 kitchen and storerooms, when you have the time to see 
 them,' 
 
 I thanked her, said I would be delighted to see them, 
 and we rejoined the family group on the veranda, where, 
 with hammocks swung and reclining chairs arranged, all 
 was prepared for a short season of rest and quiet. All 
 reclined. My host, in the course of conversation, asked 
 if I used tobacco. I replied that I did not use the weed 
 in any form. 
 
 ' I am glad of it,' said the patriarch. ' The habit of 
 smoking is a filthy one, disagreeable to all but users, and 
 which it is nearly impossible to suppress, though users of 
 the weed are comparatively few today. No one smokes 
 in the streets or when at work, and children are now 
 carefully guarded against acquiring the pernicious habit. 
 With us now smoking can only be indulged in in the 
 open air, on private holdings. The chewing habit is 
 practically extinct.' 
 
 'Are wines and liquors sold in your town?' I asked. 
 
 * Alcoholic drinks, except a very light wine and a mild 
 malt liquor, are unknown to our people as beverages. 
 Alcohol is made in great quantities for power purposes, 
 but it is so treated in the manufacture that it is not fit to 
 drink, and nobody thinks of it in that connection because 
 it is known to be a virulent poison. Wine is sometimes 
 used in sickness, and beer with less than two per cent, of 
 alcohol is drank mostly in warm weather, other and 
 and more wholesome non-alcoholic drinks being common 
 
EECIPROCITT. 67 
 
 beverages and sold for one cent a glass. Brandy, rum 
 and whiskey are regarded as strictly medicinal prepara- 
 tions and can be obtained cnly in limited quantities on 
 physicians' prescriptions. The habit of alcohol drinking, 
 I am happy to say, has practically disappeared from the 
 world, and with it all the attendant misery and wretched- 
 ness of human life.' 
 
 For about an hour we rested and shared in the general 
 quietude. Then there was an awakening and evidences 
 of bustle and activity on every hand. Carriages and cars 
 began running on the highways, and people on foot 
 crowded the walks. Mr. Wellman and his son promptly 
 started for their stations in the store, and the women 
 went about their household duties. The matron told us 
 that she would not accompany us on our afternoon ex- 
 cursion, but said she would go with us on the morrow, as 
 she desired to show me what the women of the thirtieth 
 century were doing in the service and the well-being of 
 society. 
 
 ' While we have equal rights with the other sex,' she 
 explained, ' our work and duties vary somewhat from 
 theirs, as you shall learn. We do not aim to do all the 
 kinds of work that men do ; why should we when we 
 have work and opportunity enough to do our part in 
 lines and ways more congenial to our tastes, in our own 
 exclusive sphere, so to speak, which is comprehensive 
 enough to give the more leisurely of us full employment 
 and what is more to the point a vast amount of genuine 
 satisfaction?' 
 
68 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A Tilt at Windmills, and Other Things op General 
 Interest to the Inquirer. 
 
 When we were seated in the carriage and under way 
 I asked the patriarch what his wife meant by the term 
 ' equal rights.' 
 
 'I presume she meant what the words implied,' he res- 
 ponded. ' Women are now the equals of men as citizens 
 in all respects. They vote at elections, hold public offices, 
 control their own personal property, as men do, sit on 
 juries (not mixed ones, however, but with persons of 
 their own sex, where women are on trial,) and are also 
 eligible for election to any office in the town, county and 
 and state, and even for federal positions. They can prac- 
 tise law, medicine and surgery, and indeed can follow 
 any occupation they may choose, though after marriage 
 they seldom engage in any occupation that would inter- 
 fere with their domestic duties, for home and family are 
 paramount in woman's life.' 
 
 This was a surprise to me, but I concluded that to the 
 influence of women in public affairs was perhaps largely 
 due the abolition of liquor selling and the sentiment op- 
 posed to the use of tobacco, as women are the greatest 
 sufferers from the vices that accompany their use. I had 
 noticed the absence of horses on the highways and fields 
 and now inquired the cause. 
 
 'Horses,' he repUed, 'are rarely used nowadays. They 
 are not allowed on highways harnessed to vehicles, nor 
 
EECIPKOCITT. 69 
 
 saddled for riding purposes. If taken over the highways 
 they must be led, for they are liable to be frightened at 
 the appearance and noise of motor vehicles. They are 
 sometimes employed in the cultivation of small farms as 
 well as large ones like those carried on for the town, but 
 only in certain lines of labor, power-operated machines 
 doing nearly all kinds of farm work. It is found that 
 even on small farms horse labor costs more than mechani- 
 cal power to do farm work, and then there is the constant 
 care in feeding and looking after the animals ; but men 
 naturally like horses, inheriting this affection from horse- 
 owning and horse-loving ancestors. Neats cattle, sheep, 
 hogs, and poultry comprise our domestic animals, all of 
 which are more or less useful.' 
 
 'Alas,' I mentally said, 'has the day of sentiment also 
 been left behind in this utilitarian age when that noblest 
 and gentlest and faithfulest of man's servants, the horse, 
 is replaced by a man-created machine ! ' Then, aloud, 
 *I regret the absence of this noble animal. Why should 
 he be replaced by a mere machine ? ' 
 
 <It is his fate in the process of evolution,' returned 
 the old man. 
 
 'I notice, also,' I said, 'the absence of dogs and cats 
 in your town. I do not see them on the streets or about 
 the houses, and have not heard a dog bark since I came 
 to town. Have you no dogs or cats?' 
 
 ' We have no use for either dogs or cats. They have 
 been eliminated with most of the wild animals. Even 
 rats and mice have been exterminated, and are no longer 
 a pest to farm and household. Electrical contrivances 
 
70 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 have destroyed them as well as most insect pests, such as 
 mosquitoes, house flies, bugs, and caterpillars which prey 
 on vegetation.' 
 
 We had now reached the summit of one of the hills on 
 which were a number of wind engines. These, as I had 
 been told, I found were contained in small circular build- 
 ings. The funnels on the roofs were wide-mouthed and 
 narrowed at their junction with them. The vanes on the 
 structures were large enough to not only keep the funnel 
 mouths to the direction of the wind but to rotate the 
 entire structures when the wind changed. I found, on 
 examining one of the houses, that this was not as difficult 
 a thing to accomplish as would appear at first sight ; the 
 building, made of sheet metal, rested upon double ball 
 bearings, such as were in general use on power shafting, 
 axles, and on railways, as I had already noted. 
 
 Entering one of the buildings, I found what appeared 
 to be a large overshot water-wheel. I noticed that the 
 buckets on it were bulging or curved on the upper side, 
 so as to hold a larger filling of air, and that the tliroat of 
 the funnel lapped over the sides of the wheel like a hood, 
 so that little air could escape before acting on the buckets 
 to turn it. The buckets and rim of the wheel were made 
 of aluminum, and the shaft and radial arms and frame- 
 work of an alloy of that metal and iron. The wheel was 
 a light affair considering its size. A strong metal frame 
 supported the wheel shaft, geared to which were genera- 
 tors, arranged so as to be operated for current production 
 in proportion to the force of the moving air, and were 
 automatically switched in or out of operation according 
 
KEClPEOCITt. 71 
 
 to the force of the wind. The current thus produced 
 was transmitted to storage cells located in various parts 
 of the town, at central stations, near factories, the town 
 mansion, the small villages, etc. The chemical energy 
 stored in these batteries was maintained at normal load 
 by wind power, except in seasons of calm, when power 
 plants, operated by alcohol motors, were always ready to 
 supply the deficiency. There were several hundred of 
 these wind engines in the town, perched by dozens on all 
 the eminences. They were automatic in operation, re- 
 quiring inspection only about once a week. 
 
 'The conducting wires leading from these generators 
 are carried in underground conduits to their various con- 
 nections,' said the patriarch. 'And this reminds me that 
 I must show you one of the subways of our town, into 
 which the conduits lead. The subways are, of course, 
 employed for more purjioses than that of carrying elec- 
 tric wires, as I shall explain when we visit one. It is 
 now time to return.' 
 
 On the way back we were silent long enough for me to 
 observe the general neatness, order and good taste which 
 pervaded the surroundings of the dwellings passed. It 
 was a pleasure to contemplate the highly cultivated gar- 
 dens and fields. I noticed that the orchards contained 
 only well-trained and thrifty fruit trees, already promis- 
 ing a plentiful yield. The houses, substantially built, 
 embraced varying features of architectural design and 
 good taste. I again noted that the walls and roofs ap- 
 peared to be composed of the same material, and spoke 
 of it to the patriarch, who said; 
 
72 BECIPEOCITY. 
 
 'After we have visited the schools and some other 
 points of interest I will take you to see a new house in 
 process of construction, and explain the methods and 
 materials employed. As to styles, you can see how they 
 vary. Our architects are all the time improving plans or 
 adding new features. All plans of new buildings are 
 submitted to the searching scrutiny of sanitary engineers, 
 and must be indorsed by at least one of them before they 
 are adopted. The architects, builders, plumbers and 
 mechanics are all employed and paid by the commune.' 
 
 We had by this time arrived at the Wellman residence. 
 It was at a time when the people had finished their day's 
 labors. The schools had been dismissed earlier, and the 
 children, full of life and good nature, playful and romp- 
 ing, were on their way home after a season of recreation 
 in the school gymnasiums, after school was out. The 
 road carriages and cars were well filled with people, all 
 well dressed and apparently cheerful, laughing, chatting 
 and even singing in many instances, as if just returning 
 from a holiday picnic instead of from labor. Here, I 
 thought, was good evidence that people under this new 
 system of co-operative labor obtained a great measure of 
 enjoyment from life; that, at least, their labors did not 
 exhaust their energies or depress their spirits. 
 
 'These people,' said the patriarch, 'are going to the 
 town mansion, where the gymnasiums, concert halls, lec- 
 ture rooms, theatres and museum will entertain them for 
 an hour or so, for we do not at this season of the year 
 extend our amusement hours into the night. If you so 
 desire, my son will take you to the town mansion and 
 
RECIPROCITY. 
 
 n 
 
 let you see how our people are amused and instructed on 
 week days.' 
 
 I gladly availed myself of the offer. Mr. Wellman, 
 second, took his place by my side at the steering wheel, 
 and we soon bowled up to the town mansion, where we 
 found crowds of people of all ages and of both sexes. 
 We first looked in at the gymnasiums, which were filled 
 with young people. One was for men and the other for 
 women, and I was greatly interested in the work of both. 
 The performances were very creditable, and many of the 
 feats I witnessed would do credit to professional acrobats 
 or athletes. All feats gave evidence of great strength 
 and wonderful agility. The young people taking part in 
 the exercises were models of manly and womanly devel- 
 opment, as well as of robust health. I remarked on this 
 to Mr. Wellman, and he said : 
 
 ' Why shouldn't they be healthy and strong? From 
 infancy they are well fed, trained to athletic pastimes, 
 taught to breathe only pure air amid sanitary surround- 
 ings, brought up to industrial habits, to cultivate their 
 minds as well as their dispositions, and to live a life of 
 usefulness and temperate enjoyment, all of which are 
 conducive to the best development of body and mind.' 
 
 We next visited the concert hall. A symphony was 
 being performed. The music was superb, but no perfor- 
 mers were visible. I was puzzled at this, and asked 
 where the orchestra was located. I was informed that 
 there was no orchestra, that the music was not produced 
 from musical instruments but was formed from electrical 
 waves impinging upon diaphragms of telephone trans- 
 
74 EECIPEOCITY. 
 
 mitters, the impulses being automatically made m key- 
 board instruments. The scope of these instruments, it 
 was claimed, was very comprehensive, the electrical vib- 
 rations being so much more rapid than those mechanically 
 produced gave to the notes a fuller expression and to the 
 music a richer harmony. This electrical music, I was 
 told, could be and was transmitted to many different 
 places by wire at the same time. He called my attention 
 to a large telephone receiver and megaphone on the stage, 
 from which came the music of the symphony in delight- 
 ful harmony. 
 
 A vocal concert, which we did not wait for, succeeded. 
 We now went to the lecture hall, a spacious auditorium, 
 which was well filled with people of both sexes. The 
 lecturer was a woman of mature age, with expressive face 
 and bright eyes. Her voice was at once musical and im- 
 pressive. Her gestures were few but expressive. Her 
 theme was ethical. Here are some of her sayings as I 
 recall them: 
 
 ♦Happiness,' she began, 'is a temperament, and depends 
 very little on external influences. If one has no pain, 
 has food enough to prevent hunger, with clothes and 
 habitation to protect from the elements, he has the essen- 
 tials of happiness, so far as physical things go. His 
 happiness then depends upon his inner state. No man 
 can be happy with a guilty conscience. No man can be 
 happy who is filled with forebodings of the future. No 
 man can be happy with a fretful, morbid disposition. No 
 man can be happy who is actuated by jealousy, or envy, 
 or egotism. The only hope of happiness is to live right, 
 
RECIPROCITY. 75 
 
 morally, physically and mentally. A man may have a 
 clear conscience and yet be actuated by a great many 
 mistaken notions, and thus make himself and others very 
 unhappy. The only real religion is charity and love. 
 Charity does not find fault, but seeks to find good in 
 in everything. A person who sets out to find good will 
 find it, and with it will find a degree of happiness. A 
 person who sets out in this world to find evil will find it, 
 and with it he will find wretchednss. The secret of hap- 
 piness is to accept our lot in life and make the best of it. 
 Patience, contentment, charity for others, interest in the 
 world about us, these are the conditions of happiness. 
 Do not discuss matters unless it can be done in the best 
 of humor. Do not always assume that you are right and 
 other people wrong. If you wish to talk such matters 
 over with them, do it fairly, do it courteously. Treat 
 them as if they were your equals. Compare notes with 
 them. The chances are you will learn something for 
 your benefit. But even if it should happen that you are 
 all right and they are all wrong, you will be much more 
 likely to do them good if you assume no superiority over 
 them. Spend no time in regrets. Do not be afraid of 
 the future. Hold fast to the conviction that right will 
 finally triumph. Never lose sight of the fact that th« 
 greatest of earthly treasures is a clear conscience and a 
 contented mind.* 
 
 I noticed that young people of both sexes, in about 
 equal numbers, composed the bulk of the audience in this 
 lecture room, and it was pleasing to note their expressed 
 approval of the good precepts embodied in the discourse. 
 
/ EECIPKOCITY. 
 
 The next speaker was a venerable man. His discourse 
 also related to human conduct. Among the the things 
 he said I recall these : 
 
 ' The most damaging heresy in existence is a chronic 
 disbelief in human nature. People are naturally inclined 
 to do right if left to themselves. People are apt to do 
 wrong when they are hindered, obstructed, belittled. It 
 is just as natural for people to become domestic and 
 settle down as it is for birds to mate, or fishes to swim. 
 It seldom requires force to make people do right. It 
 never requires force to guide the masses. Now and then 
 a man breaks over the restrictions of public opinion, or 
 turns aside from the course of life that human instinct 
 natm-ally dictates. Even when such exceptional cases 
 occur it will be found that some physical derangement or 
 mental aberration is the cause of it. Most of the law- 
 making of the past was due to disbelief in human nature. 
 The average politician in the days of political dominance 
 had made himself and a few others believe that the masses 
 needed regulating ; that they must be told how to do this 
 and how to do that ; that it must be specified to them 
 what they might do and what they might not do; that if 
 people were not directed and controlled by the strong 
 arm of the law everything would fall into confusion. 
 This was long ago proved to be a fallacy. Intelligence, 
 self-respect and right living among the people have made 
 regulative and restrictive laws largely inoperative, as 
 having little or nothing to do with the life of the people.' 
 
 At this point in the discourse we left the hall, and 
 visited the theatre. The play, curiously enough, was an 
 
RECIPROCITY. 77 
 
 adaptation of the < Old Homestead,' ' a very old and popu- 
 lar drama,' as Mr. W. characterized it. The audience 
 had a large sprinkling of old and middle-aged people in 
 it. The scene we witnessed was well rendered and heart- 
 ily enjoyed. 
 
 'Old and middle-aged people,' remarked Mr. W., 
 'seem to enjoy lively plays best, such as comedies and 
 farces, while the younger people prefer melodrama and 
 and vaudeville entertainments. Tragedies are thought 
 to have a bad influence on the young and are therefore 
 not in favor.' 
 
 When the scene which was on when we entered was 
 concluded, Mr. W. suggested that we go into the hall 
 adjoining and witness feats of legerdemain and illusion. 
 In this hall we found mostly young people and some 
 older children. Here we witnessed many clever tricks, 
 and some fine biograph scenes said to have been taken 
 hundreds of years before, which were greatly enjoyed by 
 the audience. 
 
 ' These pictures of actual life-scenes of centuries past,' 
 said Mr.W., ' are to my mind among the most wonderful 
 and affecting records of those bygone days that we have. 
 They are thoroughly realistic, and it seems almost mi- 
 raculous to have in this way actual scenes in public and 
 in domestic life of a remote age thus faithfully repro- 
 duced.' 
 
 We now returned to our carriage, and arrived at the 
 Wellman residence in season for the evening meal, which 
 was, as usual, a cheerful and enjoyable affair, the viands 
 and conversation being excellent. I described to the 
 
78 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 family my impressions of the things I had seen and heard 
 during the day, and asked, among other questions, how 
 Sunday was observed. 
 
 ' Sunday,' said the patriarch, (he usually answered my 
 questions, when present, the others deferring to him,) 
 ' Sunday is a day of rest from labor and of enjoyment for 
 the people. It is to all a real Sun day — a day of glad- 
 ness, in honor of the parent luminary after which it is 
 named. But there are no set rules for its observance 
 beyond a general cessation from labor, and people choose 
 ways of observing the day that best suit their tastes and 
 inclinations. Indeed all our pastimes and recreations are 
 regulated in this manner. If a person or family elect to 
 stay at home, they do so without remark or criticism being 
 made. It is their own affair and no one else's. The gym- 
 nasium is in full operation, as are also the concert halls, 
 theatres, lecture rooms, and other places of amusement 
 and instruction. Any one can go to any or all of them, 
 admission being free to all. 
 
 ' Then Sunday amusements do not differ from those of 
 week days,' I observed. 
 
 'ISTot materially, only there are more of them,' he 
 replied. 
 
 ' But have you no special religious services appropriate 
 for the day?' I queried. 
 
 'No; why should we? We have moral lectures on 
 that day as weU as every day in the week for all who 
 who desire to attend and listen to them. Are they not 
 more truly religious than the merely theatrical forms of 
 Pagan or of Christian worship? What better religious 
 
RECIPROCITY. 79 
 
 services do we need for Sunday than the inculcation of 
 sound practical morals? And this service is maintained 
 every day in the week as well as on Sunday. These 
 lectures are not intermittent but continuous, as they 
 should be, in order to meet the requirements of the people 
 for moral and mental stimulation, to incite them to con- 
 tinue the practice of good and wise conduct.' 
 
 * Do the lecturers, actors, singers, musicians and other 
 public entertainers receive compensation for their ser- 
 vices?' I asked. 
 
 * These entertainers are our own people, and have their 
 homes with us. They devote their time and talents to 
 the work for which they have fitted themselves. They 
 are paid by the commune for their services as mechanics, 
 laborers, teachers and professors are. I do not mean 
 that all workers are given an equal rate of compensation, 
 but according to an equitable estimation of the value of 
 their services. As a matter of fact, there is very little 
 difference between the lowest and highest rates of com- 
 pensation for workers, as all are intelligent, capable and 
 faithful in the discharge of their duties. In the gymna- 
 siums, only the instructors are paid. 
 
 * I notice,' he continued, ' that the idea of the commune 
 doing all this is new and perhaps surprising to you, but 
 a little reflection will show you how feasible it is as well 
 as wise. Our industries are varied and yield us an in- 
 come greater than our outlay for raw material and labor. 
 Our income from rentals of houses and lands pays not 
 only all town expenditures for highways, lighting and 
 heating, but for administration of its affairs. At the end 
 
80 RECIPROCITT. 
 
 of the year we usually have a handsome surplus to the 
 credit of the commune. But perhaps it would be clearer 
 to your understanding if I told you that all income, from 
 whatever source, goes into the town treasury, out of 
 which all indebtedness is liquidated, and at the end of 
 the year the accounts show the year's receipts for pro 
 ducts, the outlay for wages, etc., and the profits. If it 
 is found that the surplus over expenses and providing for 
 the sinking fund, is large, rents are reduced for the ensu- 
 ing year or rates of compensation increased to an extent 
 that seems justified. If there should be a deficit rents 
 would have to be increased. But in my day there has 
 never been a deficit, though on several occasions there 
 were handsome surpluses. You can see, therefore, that 
 we are practically our own landlords, our own employers, 
 our own instructors and amusers, are thoroughly inde- 
 pendent and, I may add, interdependant. In a word, 
 we are simply co-operative.' 
 
 'What is your form of town government?' I asked, 
 
 ' As to local affairs, we govern after the manner of the 
 original New England town government or rather regu- 
 lation, for, in the original sense of that term, we are not 
 governed,' he replied. 
 
 ' You have, of course, statutory laws,' I suggested. 
 
 <Yes; we have laws on the statute books, but most of 
 them are practically inoperative. Laws were made to 
 keep men in order, to make them act justly toward one 
 another. If they do thus and are orderly, there will be 
 no violation. No one apprehends any trouble from pen- 
 alties he does not incur. Bonds and written contracts 
 
EKCIPEOCITY. 81 
 
 between individuals are unknown, the word or promise 
 of persons taking an obligation being binding in matters 
 of contract. Of course it is different in dealing with the 
 commune. Leases are given with lands and dwellings 
 receipts for rents paid the town and for labor rendered it 
 are given. All laws passed by the state affecting our 
 local affairs are subject to our acceptance by vote in town 
 meeting. They are usually passed, however, in response 
 to our call for such enactments, but, even when passed, if 
 they do not suit us, or rather a majority of the voters, 
 they do not become operative. This is our right, but as 
 a matter of fact, we do not now call, and have not for 
 many years called, for any laws. We can make our own 
 local regulations, as we have the right to do, and enforce 
 them. We do not interfere with the regulations of other 
 communes, and theirs do not conflict with ours. No con- 
 fusion or contention, you see, can result from so simple a 
 system. The individual is the political, industrial and 
 social unit of the town as the town is of the state. We 
 are intensely democratic in family, town and state affairs, 
 and while thoroughly co-operative and communistic, do 
 not surrender our individuality.' 
 
 ' How are your town ofiicers chosen, and how long is 
 their tenure of office?' I asked. 
 
 ' Two qualifications for holding any public office are 
 required — fitness and merit. This is our system : Every 
 ten years a town council is chosen by ballot in town 
 meetings held in the different precincts. This body is 
 composed of six men and six women, who jointly choose 
 a chairman or moderator. This council has the power 
 
82 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 to appoint all town officers and heads of departments^ 
 which includes superintendents of industries, masters of 
 advanced and primary schools, teachers, male and female 
 physicians and surgeons, storekeepers, superintendents of 
 power and lighting, patrolmen for regulation of high- 
 way traffic, who are located in the different precincts, 
 two in each, one for day and one for night service, and 
 a superintendent of the town farm, as well as town trea- 
 surer. The patrolmen are provided with light runabout 
 wagons. 
 
 ' The heads of departments,' continued Mr. W., ' are 
 rarely changed, unless they have reached the age of re- 
 tirement, 65 years. These heads appoint their clerks and 
 assistants, who are retained during efficiency. The 
 town treasurer is usually re-elected from year to year. 
 He is the only town officer under bond, but this is more 
 a matter of form than of security nowadays. His duties 
 are to receive all monej^s due the town, and pay al^ 
 claims for services and other matters of expenditure. His 
 accounts are audited every week by three auditors, also 
 appointed by the council, the money and other assets 
 on hand counted, and a report of the same returned to 
 the council.' 
 
 'I suppose your sinking fund is invested,' I said. 
 
 *It is. Government bonds bearing one and a half per 
 cent, interest per annum are readily procui-able through 
 the post office department, and are redeemable at the 
 post office banks at any time,' he said. 
 
 ' How do people borrow money, and what rate of in- 
 |«rest is usually paid?' I asked. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 83 
 
 'As business is now carried on, no one is compelled to 
 borrow, unless through some extraordinary need. Earn 
 and pay as you go is the general rule. The prudent, 
 therefore, are never in need, and generally have some- 
 thing ahead. Indeed nearly every one has more or less 
 money laid up, for thrift and saving are the rule. There 
 is no need of borrowing while people have their health 
 and are willing to work. If they become sick, meet with 
 misfortune and run out of means the commune will remit 
 their rent, and if in want it will relieve them without 
 charge. A superintendent of relief of the needy is ap- 
 pointed, whose duty it is to look into all such cases and 
 provide medical and other forms of relief. In our expe- 
 rience those usually needing relief are the victims of 
 accident. Beyond such cases his duties rarely call him, 
 replied Mr. W. 
 
 ' I suppose you have courts of law for the punishment 
 of crime and the enforcement of contracts,' I said. 
 
 ' In regard to the enforcement of contracts,' he said, 
 ' the courts are very rarely appealed to. Should a case 
 come up, the judge or magistrate has the contestants 
 cited before him. He listens to their stories and the 
 evidence of witnesses, and in a brotherly spirit indicates 
 a way of and advises a settlement. Criminal cases must 
 be tried.' 
 
 'By jury?' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes, in cases of homicide, aggravated assault, felony, 
 and other statutory crimes ; but such violations are very 
 rare. Indeed we seldom hear of them,' he said. 
 
 * Are such trials reported in the newspapers?' I asked. 
 
84 BECIPROCITY. 
 
 * Not in detail,' he replied. ' This is especially true in 
 cases involving brutality. We are careful not to corrupt 
 the minds of our youth by publishing details of crimes 
 that must be horrible and disgusting to all pure-minded 
 persons.' 
 
 'How are capital crimes punished?' I asked. 
 
 'By life imprisonment, at hard labor. There is no such 
 procedure as the taking of human life under our laws. 
 Confinement, isolation from the world, is the lot of con- 
 firmed criminals. We place them where tlicir labor, if 
 they are in good health, will at least support them, and 
 where they will have no opportunity to do further mis- 
 chief. But cases of this nature are now exceedingly rare, 
 and are becoming more so as the years pass. We take 
 the most careful precautions against such crimes by teach- 
 ing children that love, mercy, truth, honesty, honor and 
 charity are among the best virtues which make for hu- 
 man happiness, as industry does for independence and 
 comfort in life. 
 
 'We begin with them when they are young,' said 
 Mr.W., 'and instil into their minds the sentiments which 
 tend to the formation of right habits of thought and 
 action, which we promote by example as well as by pre- 
 cept, and when they grow up these habits will have been 
 so woven into their characters that they will not depart 
 from them in practice. 
 
 ♦ It has been shown by ample observation and experi- 
 ence,' pursued Mr. W., ' that traits of moral uprightness 
 and evenness of temper and disposition in parents become 
 hereditary in children. It is likewise a demonstrated 
 
RECIPROCITY. 85 
 
 fact that we transmit, with certain modifications, our 
 mental and moral as well as our physical characteristics 
 or peculiarities to our descendants. Indeed, in the line 
 of descent, or evolution, we are the inheritors of many of 
 the dominant traits of our forefathers and foremothers, 
 from the days of human savagery to the present day, and 
 though many of their bad or brutal qualities may be latent 
 in our natures they are not likely-to be developed except 
 under favoring influences, such as contact with criminal or 
 abandoned characters, while right teaching and good in- 
 fluences will practically coimteract them to such a degree 
 that in time they cease to be impelling tendencies. We 
 therefore make due allowance for the influence of heredity 
 on individual character, and when we find children of 
 erring parents in our schools we give them more care 
 and watchful consideration than we do those whose pa- 
 rents are of better nature.' 
 
 Here was suggestive reasoning, and the more I consid- 
 ered it the stronger was I impressed with the wisdom of 
 this method to secure morality in the individual by be- 
 ginning in infancy to mould the man. It was Soloman's 
 method. 
 
 The conversation now took another turn ; the happen- 
 ings of the day and matters of general interest to the 
 family were discussed. In these, however, I could take 
 no active part, as my position was that of a stranger, who 
 could only ask for information. 
 
 "When the hour for retiring came, I was saluted by the 
 entire family with pleasant words and kindly wishes for 
 a sound and healthful sleep, which I have no doubt had 
 
86 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 a grateful and soothing influence on me, for when I laid 
 down a calm slumber at once fell on me, and I lost con- 
 sciousness of the flight of time until I awakened into the 
 brightness of a clear summer morning. Hastily dressing, 
 I descended in season to find the family gathered on the 
 veranda and taking part in the simple devotion of the 
 day, the patriarch leading. 
 
 The family now assembled for breakfast. I casually 
 remarked to my hostess that she and her daughter must 
 be very early risers to have the meal prepared at such an 
 hour. She smiled and said : 
 
 ' We prepare our breakfast viands ready for cooking 
 over night and place them in the electric oven. When 
 the proper time comes, that is, the time for its action, 
 the heating or rather cooking current is turned on auto- 
 matically. Notice of this is given by the ringing of a 
 bell in our chamber, and by the time we have made our 
 toilet and taken part in the morning service the viands 
 are cooked and the chocolate made. All that we then 
 have to do is to place the food on the tables, the work of 
 only a few minutes, and the meal is ready.' 
 
 I now noticed that the table ware, while having a fine 
 china finish and artistic decoration, was neither china nor 
 crockery ware, and remarked about this peculiarity. 
 
 ' These dishes are of metal, covered with enamel. They 
 are unbreakable, and have entirely superseded china and 
 crockery ware,' said the patriarch. ' We will visit the 
 factory where these dishes are made when I take you to 
 see our industries.' 
 
 Breakfast over, we went to the sitting room, where the 
 
RECIPROCITY. 87 
 
 morning papers awaited us, I now observed, for the 
 first time, that there were some local publications there. 
 I took up one of these which, at first glance, seemed to 
 be statistical in character, but on examination I soon be- 
 came interested in its contents. This publication con- 
 tained a list of the schools of the town, the names of the 
 principals, teachers and pupils in each, the daily attend- 
 ance, and a list of absentees of the past week. Then 
 came a list of the factories, names of superintendents and 
 workers ; their attendance, and a record of the absence of 
 some of the workers and the reasons therefor. The same 
 enumeration of all other educational, industrial and civic 
 organizations in the town was also recorded in the paper, 
 which likewise contained lists of births, marriages, deaths 
 and reports of local happenings during the previous week. 
 On the last page was a tabulation of the contents of the 
 paper, where at a glance the educational, industrial and, 
 to a certain extent, the social condition of the town could 
 be connoted. I learned, on inquiry, that these weekly 
 bulletins were supplemented at the end of each year by 
 a compilation of the educational and industrial statistics 
 contained in them, furnishing a complete record of the 
 affairs of the town for the year. 
 
 I asked if the same system of record prevailed in all 
 the towns of the country, and was informed that it did, 
 and that at the end of each year all these yearly records 
 were gathered by the fstate librarian, and while being 
 given a place in the state archives were also condensed 
 into a single large volume, which was sent to the state 
 libraries of all the states and the national library at 
 
88 RECIPROCITY, 
 
 Washington. The statistics, I may add, also gave the 
 values of the products of the industries, so that the vol- 
 ume of the business of the towns and states was comprised 
 in these yearly compends. 
 
 Noticing that the deaths recorded for the past week 
 were very few in proportion to the population of the town, 
 and they were altogether of aged people, varying from 
 90 to over 100 years, I expressed astonishment at the 
 fact. 'Is there no infant mortality?' I asked, and was 
 told that there was rarely a death among children and 
 young people, except trom accident. Children's diseases 
 as in my day were unknown. There were now no such 
 diseases as measles, scarlet fever, whooping cough, and 
 such like ailments to contend with. There was no small- 
 pox, no typhoid fever. Women sometimes died during 
 childbirth, but this was of rare occurrence. 
 
 This was all new to me, and while on the subject of 
 necrology I inquired about funerals, modes of sepulture, 
 mourning customs, etc., and was told that practically 
 there were no funerals such as were customary in the 
 early days of the Republic, and that while there was 
 mourning among relatives and friends, it was not mani- 
 fested by outward show. 
 
 'We have no places of burial,' said the patriarch. 
 ' When death is assured the body is incinerated, the ashes 
 being disposed of as the relatives desire, though as a rule 
 they are consigned to earth. There are two crematories 
 in the town, one operated by the direct heat of the sun 
 and the other by the electric current — so that the same 
 energy which fed and fostered the body through its life, 
 
RECIPROCITY. 
 
 89 
 
 when no longer animated takes it back to its embrace, 
 and thus the cycle of human existence is completed. 
 There are no funeral rites beyond the gathering of mourn- 
 ing relatives and friends, and a brief address by the head 
 of the family, after which the body is taken to the crema- 
 tory and disposed of.' 
 
 My hostess, Mrs. Wellman, now came into the room 
 and said to me : ' I planned to show you my kitchen 
 yesterday, but you were so busily engaged up to the 
 evening that I did not have an opportunity of doing so. 
 Now, sir, if you will come with me I shall be pleased to 
 give you a view of it.' 
 
 I responded with alacrity, for I was curious from what 
 I had already heard of it and tasted of its output to learn 
 more of the details of this department. On our passage 
 through the dining room I missed the small dining tables. 
 She saw me looking about for them, and said : 
 
 ' I see you miss the dining tables,' and opening a slid- 
 ing door she ushered me into a large and well-lighted 
 apartment — the kitchen. Here were the missing tables, 
 ranged in a row, and I at once comprehended a new 
 utility for them. They could be wheeled into the kitchen 
 after each meal, and when a meal was to be served the 
 prepared dishes were placed on them and they were again 
 wheeled into place in the dining room. No empty dishes 
 or dishes with food to carry back and forth, and thus so 
 much of drudgery averted. 
 
 In a large sink was a covered metal can or tub of 
 generous dimensions. ' This,' she said, ' is a dish washer 
 and drier, and you can now see it in operation.' 
 
90 KECIPROCITY. 
 
 She pressed an electric button, and steaming liot water 
 flowed freely through a large sprayer on the inside, the 
 wire rack on which the dishes were placed revolving in 
 the meantime. After about a minute of this manipula- 
 tion the water was shut off, the cover raised, a few puffs 
 of dry warm air sent through the washer from a heated 
 electric fan, and the dishes stood revealed clean and 
 shining. 
 
 ' We never have to wipe our dishes,' she said. ' The 
 heat from the washing water and the warm air from the 
 electric fan wash and dry them thoroughly, and when 
 cool they are easily replaced on tlie tables and arranged 
 for service.' 
 
 Further along were set tubs used for washing. She 
 explained how soiled clothes were submitted in these to 
 mechanical manipulation in chemically prepared Avarm 
 water, rinsed and wrung out by mechanical means ready 
 to dry in fine weather, though in wet weather or in winter 
 there was a drying room in the house where they were 
 dried by heated air. The process of washing took but a 
 few minutes, and no drudgery attended it. 
 
 I was next shown the oven or cooking apparatus. A 
 hood was suspended above it, which could be raised or 
 lowered at will. This carried off to a ventilating shaft 
 the fumes given out in cooking. On the top of.the oven, 
 which was not unlike a coal or wood-burning range minus 
 the fire-pot, were pots or boilers with hinged covers. 
 Inside of these, covered with enamel, were resistance 
 coils, to heat water, make stews, soups, or boil meats and 
 vegetables. Below there were two ovens, for roasting 
 
EECIPROCITY. 91 
 
 meats, baking bread, etc., which were heated in the 
 same manner. Ileat-recording thermometers were used 
 to record the temperatures in the pots and ovens, in which 
 the heat could be regulated at will. 
 
 Mrs. Wellman next opened a door near the stove, in- 
 side of which was another door with glass panels, permit- 
 ting an inspection of the interior of the place, which was 
 lighted by a glow lamp from outside. 
 
 'Here,' she explained, 'is our cold storage closet where 
 perishable provisions as well as canned foods are stored. 
 The cooling of this room is done by the same electric cur- 
 rent that cooks our food and heats our houses in winter, 
 which the good sun sends through the winds. A curious 
 transformation of energy, is it not? We keep our dried 
 fruit here, also, and our flour of milk, for the air is very 
 dry as well as cool.' 
 
 The mention of < flour of milk ' excited my curiosity, 
 and I asked what it was. She described it to me as an 
 invention of some antiquity by which the caseine and fat 
 and sugar of the milk were combined in granular form, 
 and soluble in water again, the water in the original fluid 
 having been evaporated in the process. This substance* 
 she said, could be readily converted into milk again, or 
 be used like granulated sugar in tea or chocolate. 
 
 ' But,' she added, ' while we use it in cooking and in 
 bread-making, I always use fresh milk and cream in my 
 chocolate and tea.' Of the canned foods she said: 'All 
 our canned food is put up in porcelain glazed cans, which 
 have screw caps and rubber washers, are easily opened, 
 and in cold storage will keep for years.* 
 
92 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 She opened another door and showed me her cereal 
 closet, where metal barrels, with covers of the same ma- 
 terial, were ranged in order, in which were stored wheat 
 flour, cornmeal, rice, pearled barley, buckwheat flour and 
 oatmeal. ' We have still another variety of food stuff,' 
 she said. ' It is made from the wood of a rapid-growing 
 tree, of the poplar species, I'm told. It is called " cellu- 
 lose," and can be made into puddings, used for thicken- 
 ing soups, and for making a variety of dishes. It costs 
 less than wheat flour and is said to be very nutritous, but 
 I can't say I like it. It is said to be coming into general 
 use. In certain sections of the southwestern country 
 large tracts of poor land are cultivated to the growth of 
 the trees which produce it. Our bread is made of whole 
 wheat flour, which is rich in phosphates. People who 
 eat it through life and who use their teeth generously 
 retain them into old age. We have several bakeries in 
 town, operated for the commune, in which whole wheat 
 flour bread only is made, but many families prefer to 
 make their own bread, as we do. Starchy white flour is 
 not used in bread-making. The other cereals are used 
 as nearly natural as practicable. For example, rice is 
 simply hulled, the gluten and phosphates on the ouside 
 of the grain being retained, as has always been the usage 
 among rice-eating peoples. Our fresh meats are kept in 
 the cold storage closet. Do you know,' she said, with a 
 sigh, 'it seems cruel and even inhuman to slaughter living 
 creatures in order to sate our appetites with their flesh. 
 In doing this we display a savagery akin to that of fierce 
 beasts of prey, whom we instinctively abhor. Why should 
 
RECIPROCITY. 93 
 
 not these simple creatures that we kill for their flesh live 
 to enjoy their brief existence as well as human beings ? 
 But I suppose we are not yet suliiciently refined in our 
 nature to be freed from the flesh-eating desires of our 
 carnivorous ancestors, who always lived quite largely on 
 their less cunning and more peaceful fellow creatures of 
 the animal kingdom. I will welcome the day, should it 
 occur in my lifetime, when all animal foods which in- 
 volved the taking of life to procure will be banished from 
 our dietary. Of course butter, milk and eggs would not 
 be included in the prohibited list. These things do not 
 involve the taking of developed life, at least, and are as 
 yet essential in our cuisine, that is, speaking from the 
 standpoint of a cook.' 
 
 While I fully agreed with her views on the subject 
 of animal slaughter for food, I could not help reflecting 
 that vegetarianism could not have progressed in the past 
 ten centuries much beyond sentiment, that is, it was 
 probably just about where I had left it. But I made no 
 remark beyond giving a smiling assent to the good wo- 
 man's words 
 
 Mr. Wellman, the husband, who had followed us into 
 the kitchen and had remained silent up to this point, 
 now remarked : 
 
 'Your sentiments, my dear, do credit to your heart. 
 But humanity is as indifferent to the suffering of animals 
 slaughtered for food as carnivorous animals would be. 
 Is it not, after all, a law of organic nature that destruc- 
 tive processes are necessary to constructive ones? The 
 life cell or vital unit of all organisms is the same in the 
 
94 EECIPROCITT. 
 
 humblest weed or blade of grass as it is in the highly 
 developed grain or fruit; it is also the same in the lowest 
 animal form as it is in proud man. These cells are build- 
 ers as well as storers up of energy. They build on estab- 
 lished lines of organism — a snail as well as a fleet-footed 
 hound, a toad or a man. Give them the pattern to work 
 by and they will follow it faithfully. They are sentient, 
 if not intelligent, as we understand it ; yet they build 
 hooks on the burdock burrs as well as smooth skin on 
 the apple. They sacrifice themselves for every move- 
 ment of muscle and of brain, and pass out as waste, inert 
 matter, having faithfully performed their part. 
 
 * Vegetable organisms feed on decayed organic matter 
 in the soil and water and produce substances which ani- 
 mals feed on. Carnivorous animals feed on the vegeta- 
 rians, each finally surrendering to nature's crucible, the 
 soil, the constituents abstracted directly or indirectly 
 from it. So that, after all, there appears to be no other 
 method of physical sustenance or renewal of body waste 
 than that involving the destruction of other organisms, 
 developed or in embryo. It is, in fact a law of nature, 
 in which sentiment has no part. Man is now practically 
 the sole survivor of the flesh-eating animals, the other 
 land carnivora being mostly extinct. Fish will doubtless 
 always live on fish as well as on sea vegetation. Curi- 
 ously enough, man shares with the domestic hog, which 
 he devours, the distinction of being omnivorous. Being so 
 he is not restricted to flesh diet, and, in a humanitarian 
 sense, he could refrain from the slaughter of animals for 
 food. But I doubt if he ever will.' 
 
RECIPBOCITT. 95 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Woman's Work in the Commune — Training Children 
 IN Schools — Marriage — Varled Industries. 
 
 We now returned to the sitting room, where Matron 
 Wellman and her husband, the patriarch, had already- 
 arrived, prepared to take me on a tour of observation. 
 ' My wife,' said the latter, ' will be your guide and in- 
 structor today. I will act as charioteer.' 
 
 We were soon seated in the carriage on the way to a 
 distant part of the town. 
 
 ' I am going to show you today, IVIr, Wonder,' said the 
 matron, ' something of woman's work in this age ; one of 
 the important duties, at least, which she discharges in the 
 social life of the commune. The bearing of children, as 
 you know, is her most sacred and important function. 
 The next is the care of them in infancy and in childhood. 
 In the home, at the mother's knee, the child receives the 
 first lessons in its life education. If these lessons are of 
 the right nature, well and good; if not, there must be 
 found a way to correct or neutralize them, for on the 
 natm-e of these earliest impressions depends, in no small 
 degree, the right develoj^ment of character in the later 
 stages of the child's life. If there be implanted in his 
 nature, by heredity, certain tendencies to goodness, such 
 as candor, amiability and evenness of temper, he is easily 
 influenced in the right direction, if he is brought up in a 
 way favoring the development of such inherited traits ; 
 but if his environment is not favorable to such develop- 
 
96 RBCIPEOCITT. 
 
 ment, his character may become so out of harmony with 
 what it shoukl have been that he might become a danger 
 instead of an ornament to society. On the other hand, 
 if a child should inherit vicious propensities, how readily 
 would he adapt himself to evil influences if not exposed 
 to good ones. 
 
 ' Now here is the basis of our work : We begin with 
 the home, and make ourselves familiar with its charac- 
 teristics, as well as those of the parents. We have vis- 
 itors, whose business it is to go into homes in a friendly 
 way, learn how they are conducted, how the family lives, 
 whether in unity or discord. Of course most of our mar- 
 ried people of the town have always lived here, and their 
 moral character is well known, but under new relations 
 new characteristics may develop, and if they are unfavor- 
 able to the proper rearing of children, when children 
 have come, we want to know of their existence. Our 
 visitors render reports of their observations from time to 
 time to a central committee of matrons in charge of the 
 work. These reports cover the domestic history for the 
 time being of all the young families visited, for it is only 
 families with young children who are called on, and then 
 only during the extreme youth of the children. The 
 work of obtaining a record of such families in the way 
 indicated is not such a difficult matter as you may think 
 and it is not a work of mere espionage in the ordinary 
 sense of that word, for it is well understood and readily 
 acquiesced in by those who are subject to its operation, 
 and is approved of by the parents of all young married 
 people, because it makes the latter more careful in the 
 
RECIPROCITY. 97 
 
 treatment of their offspring. Above all, the young people 
 are fully aware of the fact that the system has not only 
 an important influence for good on their immediate fam- 
 ily but ultimately upon society. The visitors are all 
 mature women — mothers, of well known capacity and 
 experience, who in their early married life were subjected 
 to the same experience — and are capable of giving, and 
 do give, when needed, motherly advice and sympathetic 
 suggestion, things which are of inestimable value to 
 those in need of such friendly offices. 
 
 ' By this system the domestic condition of eveiy house- 
 hold in the commune is on record up to date, and if an 
 individual or a family leaves the town to settle elsewhere 
 his or their record follows if it does not go with them. 
 If persons from other towns settle here, and have not 
 brought their record with them, we send for and obtain 
 it and continue it here. So you see we have these things 
 in easy grasp. Knowing, for example, therefore, the 
 character of the parents and the conduct of the home, we 
 take the child in charge in our schools, from the kinder- 
 garten up, and bring such care and right influences to 
 bear upon it as are most likely to counteract home influ- 
 ences if they are not just what they should be. A child 
 who, by reason of heredity and unhappy home influence, 
 is in danger of going wrong or being warped in its nature, 
 has more attention paid it, more loving care bestowed on 
 it than is accorded a child of good parents, surrounded 
 by better home influences, because the latter does not 
 need such consideration, being happily placed in a better 
 and more healthy home atmosphere. 
 
98 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 ' We know that, from its earliest infancy, the child is 
 observing and imitative, and is apt to imitate the speech 
 and manners of older persons, especially of those of its 
 parents, with whom it is in most intimate contact ; so we 
 teach at first, in the kindergarten age, by example and 
 orally, quite largely. The imagination of the child is 
 appealed to on the blackboard, where simple moral stories 
 are pictured by sketches illustrative of scenes described, 
 and of birds, animals, sylvan or pastoral scenes in them. 
 This system of graphic illustration is carried into all lines 
 of school work in the elementary grades of our schools. 
 
 ' When the lessons of the kindergarten are succeeded 
 by the more complex though still simple ones of the pri- 
 mary grades, and the boy or girl has developed to our 
 satisfaction, we begin to hope that whatever unfavorable 
 influences which may have existed in the home life or 
 the dispositionhave been successfully counteracted. But 
 even at this stage we do not relax our watchfulness and 
 our efforts to make the good work bear its legitimate 
 fruits in forming the character of the coming man or 
 woman. 
 
 ' But there is much of careful and anxious work even 
 after that. It has become a settled custom with us that 
 every candidate for matrimony must undergo examina- 
 tion by physicians as to their physical, moral and mental 
 qualifications for the duties and responsibilities of the 
 married state — the women by physicians of their own 
 sex and men by male physicians. The age for marriage 
 with men is not under 25 years; with women, not under 
 23. By the time these ages have been reached, in most 
 
EECIPROCITY. 99 
 
 cases the character is formed, and maturity of conduct 
 may be reasonably looked for. Knowing the antecedents 
 of the young people proposing to marry, if the physical 
 and moral examination has been satisfactory, as it usually 
 is, and they are of congenial natures and love one another, 
 they are pronounced eligible and congratulated on their 
 life-venture. The marriage form is simple. The con- 
 tracting parties, in presence of two or more witnesses, 
 make declaration of their purpose to live together as man 
 and wile, faithfully discharge all duties pertaining to the 
 new partnership, and to be faithful and loving to one 
 another for life. This declaration is also made in writing, 
 signed by the contracting parties, two witnesses, and filed 
 in the bureau of vital statistics in the town mansion. I 
 may tell you that such marriages usually turn out to be 
 happy ones. 
 
 'If, however, the parties are judged to be incompatible 
 in character or disposition, or physically unfitted for the 
 union, persuasion and the good offices of relatives and 
 friends are employed to prevent its consummation. These 
 interferences are usually successful, but in case they are 
 not and the parties persist in their intention, as they 
 have the right to, their offspring, if they have any, is 
 watched with interest and carefully looked after.' 
 
 ' If ill-mated couples do not live in harmony, what then ?' 
 I asked. 
 
 'If they have offspring they are expected to live to- 
 gether even if they do not agree. If a man should leave 
 his wife or a wife her husband, and there are children, 
 the deserter must contribute to their support while they 
 
100 KECIPROCITY. 
 
 are young. The parents cannot go elsewhere, and settle 
 and marry again because of their record, and they cannot 
 settle anywhere until their record is known. They be- 
 come social outcasts. If they have no offspring, after 
 two years of wedded unhappiness they may be divorced 
 by act of mutual renunciation of the marriage tie, before 
 a justice and two witnesses, the same to be recorded in 
 the bureau of vital statistics. Then, by order of the jus- 
 tice, they are freed from their obligation and can marry 
 again. Happily such marital troubles are of very rare 
 occurrence, and especially so when childi-en have come 
 to the parties, it being considered a disgrace for either 
 parents to desert their offspring. But here we are at our 
 destination.' 
 
 We had come to a substantial but not imposing group 
 of buildings. The main or central structure was of two 
 stories, with a dome roof, and wings on either side of one 
 story. The whole was in the form of a letter H, the 
 main building 75 by 150 feet, connecting with the two 
 wings, which were each about 150 feet long by 30 feet 
 in width. The number and size of the windows in the 
 building attracted my attention. They were all open, so 
 that the children in the rooms were practically studying 
 in the open air. The windows, I noted, were double, the 
 sashes sliding into the wall on opposite sides, and could be 
 closed when necessary, the double sashes evidently being 
 for winter use. 
 
 As we approached the first room in one of the wings, 
 a hum like that from a hive of working bees, only much 
 louder, saluted our ears. This, as we drew nearer, grew 
 
RECIPROCITY. 101 
 
 in volume into a chorus of merry voices, mingled with 
 gleeful childish laughter, as we entered the room, and 
 here a picture of delighted innocence was seen such as I 
 never expected to have the pleasure of witnessing. The 
 teachers — girls in their 'teens mostly, though there were 
 older ones here and there — were engaged in relating 
 simple stories or repeating nursery rhymes to groups of 
 children gathered round them, and illustrating the most 
 striking parts of their stories or rhymes with blackboard 
 sketches. Then the children were asked to repeat what 
 they had heard, and their attempts to do this were often 
 so ludicrous as to provoke laughter, in which they good- 
 naturedly joined. We stood just inside the door for a 
 time contemplating and enjoying the scene, and then the 
 matron advanced to the centre of the room, we following, 
 where the principal in charge was seated at a desk. She 
 had been so busy and interested in the scenes before her 
 that she had not noticed our presence until accosted by 
 the matron. 
 
 She at once arose and respectfully saluted the visitors. 
 Mrs. Wellman presented me as a stranger on a visit to 
 the school. After expressing her pleasure at our visit, 
 she made a sign to the teachers, who, with very little 
 effort apparently, secured the silent attention of their 
 classes. When silence reigned, the jDrincipal — a woman 
 of mature years and of a motherly demeanor — said she 
 hoped we would be pleased with the appearance of the 
 school and the behavior of the children. These were all 
 neatly dressed, had clean hands and faces, were of healthy 
 and even robust physique, and appeared to be well fed 
 
102 RECIPBOCITY. 
 
 and bright. I remarked on these evidences of good home 
 care to Mrs W., who said: 
 
 ' You judge correctly, sir. Among the principal things 
 which we insist on in the general treatment of children 
 are, that they shall have a reasonable amount of good, 
 nourishing food, and a healthy, cleanly, well ventilated 
 home — and, above all, an abundance of pure air in the 
 living and sleeping rooms ; for, deprived of these in suf- 
 ficient amount, physical and mental development would 
 be badly retarded. Our practice is based on this theory : 
 Build up the body with a sufficient supply of wholesome 
 food, keep the child well supplied with pure air, and it 
 will not be liable to infantile ailments. It is only the 
 poorly nourished child, housed in ill-ventilated rooms 
 that is liable to be frail of body and consequently weak 
 brain. Physical health and strength are necessary to the 
 proper development of mentality. Knowing this we are 
 fully alive to the imjiortanca of proper feeding, ablution, 
 and aeration of the body. Physical health and strength 
 should mean mental health and strength, and the cultiva- 
 tion of the moral nature on these bases is not a difficult 
 proposition to understand. The calls of our visitors to 
 the children's homes are, among other things, to see how 
 they are fed; that their sleeping and play rooms are 
 properly ventilated, their bedding cleanly and aired daily, 
 and that they are bathed or washed every morning.' 
 
 ' This is certainly an arduous work which the good 
 women have undertaken,' I remarked. 
 
 ' It is exacting, but not more arduous than the perfor- 
 mance of any other duty. The chief aim — and duty, I 
 
RECIPROCITY. 103 
 
 may add — of humanity is to bring up the young to be 
 worthy successors of honest and virtuous parents. In 
 this matter, our committee of visitors is large, and con- 
 sists, as I have already stated, of women who have 
 brought up families, and their work is one of love and 
 duty. Their visits are made weekly, not on set days, and 
 such visits are in all instances of a friendly and neigh- 
 borly character, for we know that women who love their 
 children, and are of cleanly and correct habits, are sure 
 to welcome such visits. It is only a few among mothers 
 — I am proud to say they are very few in number — who 
 need careful looking after, and even they become thank- 
 ful for the interest taken in their children. They always 
 do better by reason of our influence. Children of all 
 grades, who live at a distance from the schools, are given 
 warm luncheons at noon. Cold food for children is not 
 tolerated.' 
 
 At a signal from the principal the children were now 
 formed in ranks, two deep, and marched around the 
 school room, ofiicered by their teachers. They were all 
 smiling and good natured, and seemed to enjoy this form 
 of discipline as much as playing with blocks, dolls and 
 other toys. The universal law of change appealed to 
 them as it did to all others in the lines of evolution. 
 
 ' The fact is,' said the principal, ' children crave change 
 even in amusement, study or occupation all the time. 
 They will return to their lessons and playthings after 
 this simple exercise with renewed pleasure. This habit 
 of marching in ranks, in step, is taught as one of the 
 primary lessons in school discipline. In a short time 
 
104 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 they will be let out to play in the school yard, the teach- 
 ers accompanying them and sharing in their gambols. 
 This not only serves to maintain a proper restraint upon 
 the children, but it enables the teachers to prevent dis- 
 order and the commission of youthful indiscretions. The 
 same S3''stera prevails in all primary grades in the other 
 schools of the town.' 
 
 Our next visit was to one of the primary school rooms. 
 Here the sexes, as in the kindergarten, were mixed, with 
 children from five to eight years ; but in the more ad- 
 vanced grades, with children from eiglit to twelve years, 
 the sexes were separated. In the middle grades of this 
 school, manual training of boys was an important feature, 
 1 was told, it being preparatory for admission to the 
 higher or advanced trade and technical schools where 
 the mechanic arts, chemistry and engineering wei-e taught. 
 The teachers, except in the manual training classes in 
 this school, were women. The principal was a man, 
 though in some of the other schools, I learned, women 
 occupied this position. 
 
 The pupils in the different rooms visited, whether 
 studying their lessons, reciting, solving blackboard prob- 
 lems, or listening to the instructions of the teacher, all 
 appeared to be intent on their studies. They were or- 
 derly, respectful, cheerful, not too curious regarding the 
 visitors, and very attentive and mannerly. It was a 
 model school in all its details, and I was greatly impressed 
 with the system of thorough discipline pervading it, and 
 the absence of anything unpleasant in the conduct of the 
 pupils. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 105 
 
 The main building was large, and contained a number 
 of class rooms for the more advanced pupils. In these 
 rooms were taught anatomy and physiology, mathematics, 
 theoretical engineering, the liberal arts and trades in ele- 
 mentary forms. The purpose of these advanced schools 
 was to provide an industrial as well as theoretical train- 
 ing to the pupils, in order to fit them for study and 
 practice in the highest schools of the town. One of the 
 departments was devoted to the study of agriculture and 
 allied branches, such as botany, horticulture and arbori- 
 culture. These latter branches were taught in the sum- 
 mer season by practical lessons in grounds attached to the 
 school, where fine experimental gardens were maintained 
 under good cultivation. Here pupils were taught the art 
 of making nature beautiful by inducing it to conform to 
 the human conception of what is most attractive in flower 
 and foliage ornamentation. Lessons in arboriculture 
 were taught by demonstration in the groves of forest 
 trees near at hand. Gymnasiums were also attached to 
 the school, as well as extensive playgrounds. For girls, 
 there were departments in which needlework, cooking, 
 bookkeeping, typewriting and other occupations suitable 
 for the sex were taught. The class in cooking, I learned, 
 received practical instruction in preparing the luncheon 
 meals for the pupilg. 
 
 Here I began to realize that the educational system 
 of the town, of which I have given but an imperfect out- 
 line, was most comprehensive in scope, and while mould- 
 ing the young in way to correct wayward tendencies and 
 make good men and women of them, was thoroughly 
 
106 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 practical and industrial in results. I expressed to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wellman the satisfaction which I felt at the 
 general system of training the young, and surprise at the 
 great expenditure of time and money in the work of edu- 
 cation. 
 
 'After all,' said the patriarch, 'it is simply only the 
 reduction to a general system, fostered and supported by 
 the commune, of a duty which we owe to humanity ; a 
 work that, in the early days of the Republic, was left to 
 individual discretion or, in the line of progress, to an in- 
 complete system of public instruction. Under the older 
 methods — miscalled education, for it was only partial 
 instruction at the best — the individual was charged with 
 the duty of rearing and educating his children. In the 
 great majority ot cases he was unable to properly feed, 
 clothe, give them a right measure of education, and sur- 
 round them with healthful influences ; for it was the rule 
 that the poor had the largest families, while the rich had 
 but few children. Of course the early public school sys- 
 tem afforded a partial education, or rather instruction, 
 for the children of the poor, and aided their growth in 
 intelligence and consequent general improvement of their 
 condition, but the rich were unduly favored. Thus while 
 the smaller class grew richer and their children more 
 favored, the children of the poor multiplied, with but 
 few opportunities to satisfy their ambition, and by com- 
 petition as wage workers in the fields of industry their 
 prospects were always limited and discouraging. The 
 poor man and woman, after a life of toil and sacrifice — 
 their children scattered broadcast throughout the world 
 
BKCIPROCITY. 107 
 
 and living the same hopeless lives they had lived — were 
 rarely enabled to save enough to support them in their 
 old age, and were too frequently sent to the poor-house 
 to live out a joyless existence. 
 
 ' When we think of it we cannot help reflecting how 
 aimlessly, how blindly men lived in those days, when 
 selfishness ruled and the many toiled for the undue gain 
 of the few. How short-sighted, how unfraternal such a 
 condition of society ! It has taken many, many years to 
 bring about a sensible, simple reform, where it is found 
 that not only the truest economy but the most satisfac- 
 tory conditions of life are promoted and secured to all 
 by a system of co-operative effort and mutual help, such 
 as you see in operation in our little commune. Here you 
 see evidences of thrift, comfort, contentment and progress 
 on every hand, where the highest and best virtues of hu- 
 manity are exemplified in the love and care of our fellow 
 beings — that affection which binds us together as mem- 
 bers of one family. 
 
 ' Under our system — which has been one of very slow 
 growth, I will concede — no one need suffer for lack of 
 the necessaries and comforts of life, for all who work are 
 given employment at a living rate of compensation, and 
 if any are unable to work or have passed the active stage 
 of life, they are supported by those of the commune who 
 have the health and strength to labor and produce. There 
 is no mere alms-giving charity in this, for they who have 
 the ability to produce today owe it to those who in their 
 time of strength had been the producers and had sup- 
 ported and educated them. 
 
108 EECIPEOCITT. 
 
 ' Thus wc have no poor or charity houses in the origi- 
 nal sense of the term, for the aged and infirm who are 
 pensioned by the commune are in no sense regarded as 
 dependants. They still have all the political and man- 
 hood rights of citizens. It is only those who through the 
 misfortune of crime or insanity — for at best as well as 
 at worst crime or insanity is a misfortune, which is often 
 the curse of inheritance — - that we deprive of these rights 
 and their liberty. You will understand that our system 
 is one wherein the individual is trained to be not only 
 intelligent and moral, but at the same time industrious 
 and self -dependant. Much of the complexity of the old 
 civilization has been untangled, and we are now enjoying 
 the rewards of a sensible and just system of co-operation 
 which, as you can judge, binds the whole human brother- 
 hood together as one family.' 
 
 *Have you no idlers, loafers, tramps in the commune?* 
 I asked. 
 
 ' We have not. They passed away with the old indus- 
 trial system, of which they were the unfortunate fruits,' 
 he replied. 
 
 ' Pardon me,' I said, 'for expressing an opinion regard- 
 ing co-ojDeration. I have always entertained the view 
 that so-called co-operation, in which the individuality or 
 the personality of the man was merged into the mass, 
 was inimical to progress. In other words, it has seemed 
 to me that one of the mainsprings of progress is individ- 
 ual enterprise ; that the genius of men of commanding 
 ability is essential to industrial and to national develop- 
 ment ; that, in short, however desirable it may be under 
 
KECIPROCITY. 109 
 
 right direction, co-operation means in effect the subver- 
 sion of individuality, and, to put it in the form of an old 
 proverb, what is everybody's concern is apt to be no 
 one's business.' 
 
 ' That might have been true to some extent,' he said, 
 ' under such conditions as prevailed in the early days of 
 our Republic, but today it is not. In the evolution of 
 human society, progress is made by the most available 
 methods usually, though not always, for men in the ag- 
 gregate were never as sensible as the few progressive 
 ones who usually blazed the way to a better condition of 
 things. Under such a state of affairs, individuality of 
 the aggressive and commanding type was perhaps called 
 for, though impelled by supreme selfishness — the lust of 
 conquest or the pride of glory. In the days of notable 
 achievements of the past, when kings and great captains 
 led vast hordes to conquest, those armies were simply co 
 operating masses of men who strove for a single purpose 
 — the defeat of opposing bodies and the conquest of the 
 peoples whose countries they invaded. Without such 
 co-operation of the fighting units and the co-operating 
 support of the people they represented no victories could 
 have been achieved. 
 
 ' In all industrial triumphs the same principle prevailed. 
 Men were organized under a recognized head or manage- 
 ment to co-operate in peaceful pursuits, and, when rightly 
 directed, were usually successful in obtaining desired 
 results. Co-operation in all ages was, as it is today, the 
 basis of success in every department of human effort. 
 But let me say that co-operation at this stage of human 
 
110 BHCIPROCITY. 
 
 development is not dependant upon any leading or domi- 
 nant individuality. We have arrived at a better solution 
 of the social and industrial, the life-problem, so to speak, 
 where co-operating individuality gives to mankind, the 
 world over, the best industrial results and the greatest 
 social enjoyment. The masses are their own leaders in 
 our co-operative commonwealths of today. They are in- 
 telligent enough to understand that agreement to and 
 united effort in carrying out the details of such a system 
 is the best way to insure its success, hence there is no 
 clashing of interest or opinion ; each one is satisfied to do 
 his allotted or chosen part and thus harmony prevails in 
 all lines of effort.' 
 
 'What I have already witnessed and heard in your 
 town,' I said, ' strongly confirm your words, but still the 
 whole matter is so new and strange to me that I can 
 hardly realize it.' 
 
 ' I do not doubt it,' he said, ' and perhaps it is too 
 much to expect from you a full comprehension of the 
 exact condition of affairs as they are with us today. But 
 I will more fully enlarge on the subject, which I may say 
 is most vital to our modern civilization : There is, then, 
 to begin with, more true individuality among men now 
 than there was in the days of what may be termed the 
 " one-man power," but it is of a different character. In 
 those days individuality was actuated by purely selfish 
 motives, and in the scramble for wealth and fame the 
 individual who was successful simply triumphed over his 
 competitors by superior ability, cunning, or tenacity of 
 purpose. Now a nobler ambition actuates men. They 
 
RECIPROCITY." Ill 
 
 regard mere triumph over others as worthless compared 
 with that which contributes most to the benefit of hu- 
 manity; for what, after all, is the vain triumph over an 
 enemy or a competitor? It should beget in the generous 
 mind only pity for the defeated rival, while in the mind 
 of the ungenerous it would no doubt foster a brutal de- 
 sire for further conquest.' 
 
 ' True individuality, as we have proven, is best exem- 
 plified in a condition of society where every man and 
 woman will willingly and gladly bear their share of 
 the general burden of life, and will even strive to do more 
 than that, if need be. We have not, however, arrived 
 at a condition of social evolution where complete indi- 
 viduality as we understand it can be claimed, but we are 
 coming to it surely, if slowly. When we do, every man 
 and woman will be so thoroughly individualistic that they 
 will be a law unto themselves. Then all law-making and 
 law-enforcing will become unnecessary, and if any rem- 
 nant of rivalry survive, it will be manifested in endeavor 
 to best promote the common welfare.' 
 
 'But will not such a condition of society as you have 
 indicated tend to promote mediocrity instead of enter- 
 prise and excellence in the individual?' I queried, not 
 fully satisfied with the new idea. 
 
 ' On the contrary,' he replied, ' it would promote gen- 
 eral excellence, for each individual will feel that he is in 
 a life endeavor where the true merits of acquirement and 
 performance will be gauged by comparison with the works 
 of others. This spirit of emulation can be depended upon 
 to keep humanity above the dead level of mediocrity and 
 
112 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 in the line of true progress. It ^^-ill no doubt be true in 
 the future, as it is today, that all men do not inherit 
 equal capacities in all the concerns of life work, or that 
 all men are not equally endowed with nature's aptitudes. 
 Men are, however, variously endowed — some with me- 
 chanical ability, some with the faculty of invention, some 
 with the capacity for thought and abstract speculation, 
 some with a genius for investigation and philosophy, 
 others for music, agriculture, business, and so forth. In 
 the various pursuits the aim of all is to excel, not in 
 competition with others, but as a matter of individual 
 ambition. Surely such emulation must be productive of 
 an^^thing but general mediocrity ; [as a matter of fact, it 
 has resulted in a general elevation of the standard of hu- 
 manity not only industrially, but intellectually, morally 
 and socially. 
 
 ' It may seem strange to you that men can co-operate 
 in all concerns of life and yet retain their individuality, 
 but, to those who are born and brought up to it, it fits as 
 easily and naturally as a habit. Men as well as children 
 are naturally imitative, and readily acquire the habits as 
 well as the customs of the society in which their lot is 
 cast. They also take the more readily to such usages 
 because they are disposed to them by an inherited incli- 
 nation, which is fostered and confirmed by training and 
 education. Thus society moulds the individual today.' 
 
 On our return from the school, I noticed and remarked 
 on the fine groves of forest trees ©n the hill sides, which 
 seemed to have been cultivated as carefully and with as 
 much skill as fruit orchards. 
 
EECIPROCITT. 113 
 
 * These,' said the patriarch, 'represent an important 
 branch of our industries. We have in the town extensive 
 orchards of sugar maples which produce many tons of 
 sweets every year, our state alone producing thousands 
 of tons annually. You can notice the absence of useless 
 shrubbery or underbrush among the trees. These are 
 systematically weeded out, leaving the full strength of 
 the humus-nourished soil for the useful trees to feed on. 
 We also have timber groves in which the trees are quite 
 as carefully selected and cultivated as in these. We 
 know the value of forests in determining rainfall and 
 preserving fertility in the soil. There is not an acre of 
 ground in the town which is not cultivated or otherwise 
 occupied for some useful purpose. We have also, where 
 practicable, many trout ponds in which these fine fish are 
 bred. Our water courses are utilized for power and irri- 
 gation purposes, and our storage reservoirs for household 
 uses. The reservoirs are ample to supply our wants for 
 hundreds of years to come.' 
 
 Arrived at the Wellman home, we found an appetizing 
 meal awaiting us — this time the animal food portion of 
 it consisting of baked mackerel, as fine and fresh as could 
 usually be found in the Boston market — a fact which I 
 stated, and it was explained that the fish had left Boston 
 only about three hours before, and being transported in 
 a refrigerator car was to all intents and purposes as fresh 
 and as good as if only just landed from the fishing 
 grounds. 
 
 After luncheon the usual siesta was indulged in by the 
 family, and, as I learned, it was a custom observed in 
 
114 BECIPROCITY. 
 
 every household. The public conveyances had ceased 
 running, for no one was stirring abroad, except that a 
 stray pedestrian or a small private vehicle went by a 
 little late, but even these at length ceased, and I remarked 
 how quickly the bustle and activity of the town had 
 changed to restful quietude. 
 
 ' This suspension of activity,' said the patriarch, ' is a 
 well-considered form of rest. It conduces not only to 
 health and longevity, but it shows that by our system of 
 co-operative industry we can afford to take our ease after 
 a period of work, and are not subject to the anxious, 
 strenuous life which prevailed in the days when strictly 
 competitive effort and personal ambition impelled men 
 to sacrifice health, comfort and enjoyment for mere sus- 
 tenance on the one hand or for wealth on the other. In 
 the days when labor was so competitive and comparative- 
 ly unorganized that capitalists could and did control it 
 for their own aggrandisement, and amassed enormous 
 wealth — the major part of which should have been dis- 
 tributed among those whose labor created it — the men 
 who toiled, as well as those who employed them, were 
 continually on the rack — the many to secure a bare sus- 
 tenance, and the few to gratify an insatiate desire for 
 still greater riches.' 
 
 ' You state the case to me in a new light,' I said. 
 
 ' I speak only the truth of history,' he remarked, and 
 continued : ' This condition of things at length aroused 
 the industrial masses to form trades' unions — co-opera- 
 tive organizations — to wring a measure of justice from 
 the employing capitalists. But this was found to be only 
 
EECIPROCITT. 115 
 
 a partial remedy while the laws and lawmakers were con- 
 trolled by the monopolist class, until the workers organ- 
 ized politically and elected men to frame and execute 
 laws which gave to them an equitable proportion of the 
 products of their labor. When this was accomplished 
 the opportunities for accumulating huge or even large 
 fortunes ceased, and, the opportunity being taken away, 
 even the most avaricious forgot their sordid ambitions, 
 and society gradually settled down to more just and 
 equitable methods of industry and compensation of labor, 
 which culminated finally in the equitable system of co- 
 operation. 
 
 ' It took many, many years of strife and turmoil to 
 bring about the present condition of affairs; but it came, 
 in the natural course of social evolution, and will continue 
 to prevail with whatever improvements experience and a 
 desire for further betterment may suggest; and we are 
 now enjoying some of the fruits of the new dispensation. 
 One of these you have remarked on. We work faithfully 
 when we do work, and when the time for relaxation and 
 rest comes we take our ease, undisturbed by any fear or 
 apprehension that others are taking advantage of our 
 inaction to get ahead of us in worldly gain. AVith this 
 feeling of security, our ease of mind and absence of worry 
 are promotive of satisfactory and healthful rest. So we 
 work in season, rest in season, and court enjoyment in 
 season.' 
 
 <But,' I asked, 'do not these easy conditions of life 
 promote a habit of idleness ? Do they not stifle ambition 
 in the averajre man?' 
 
116 EECIPKOCITT. 
 
 ' They do not. Men, trained as they are today, are 
 moved according to an intelligent estimate of their posi- 
 tion in society and the duty they owe it. If men are 
 trained to consider it nobler to do their duty toward their 
 fellow men than to evade doing it, they will be scrupu- 
 lous to perform it willingly and faithfully. There is a 
 triumph of achievement in the performance of every kind 
 of work that will benefit the commune, either materially 
 or in the line of intelligence, that appeals to the pride 
 and honor of the individual, and impels him to faithful 
 action. Besides, you will remember, every man who 
 works is practically working for himself, and has that ad- 
 ditional incentive to diligence and faithfulness in pursuit 
 of his occupation. It is better to promote the industrial 
 habit under right conditions than to depend upon the co- 
 ercion of necessity to make men do their duty to society 
 and to themselves. This is what we have proven in our 
 practical life, and which, I may say, has been productive 
 of as much enjoyment as moderate activity, practical 
 competence, the regard of our fellow-workers and the 
 the approval of our own conscience, can reasonably be 
 expected to produce.' 
 
 After our rest, and when the town had resumed its ac- 
 tivity, the patriarch took me to visit some of the manu- 
 facturing establishments of the town. Our first visit was 
 to one where aluminum and its alloys with copper and 
 other metals were spun on lathes or stamped by compres- 
 sion into all manner of vessels and things used in the 
 household or elsewhere, such as table ware, wash bowls, 
 pitchers, plaques, pails, foot bath tubs, preserve cans, etc. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 117 
 
 After being moulded into desired forms the articles were 
 covered with a coating of enamel, then, when it was de- 
 sired, decorated in an artistic manner, and finally run 
 through a kiln of high temperature, where the enamel 
 was set and glazed. In this baking process, it was said, 
 the enamel combined with the metal, producing unbreak- 
 able articles. This ware, I was told, had replaced crock- 
 ery and china ware altogether. Here enameled tubing 
 of all sizes was also made. This tubing found a wide use 
 for water pipes, pneumatic service and other purposes. 
 The output of this establishment, which employed a large 
 number of men and women in its various departments 
 (women being chiefly employed in the work of decora- 
 tion) found a market throughout the country, though 
 there were several factories of the same character in other 
 places. The decorations of table ware were mostly of 
 rural scenes and landscape views and I noted the fidelity 
 to nature, coloring and detail in them. One large plaque 
 attracted my attention. It contained a view of the town 
 mansion and surrounding scenery and was a fine work of 
 art. I inquired who the artist was, and was told that it 
 was the sun. In other words, that all the decorations on 
 ware were produced by photography, in which natural 
 colors were reproduced as faithfully as the forms and 
 details of the subjects. 
 
 * Photography,' said the patriarch, <has been brought 
 to such perfection that it has almost altogether supersed- 
 ed the work of the artist in reproducing natural scenery 
 and portraiture. It is a great advance on portrait paint- 
 ing for its exactness and natural coloring.' 
 
118 EECIPEOCITT. 
 
 Our next visit was to a furniture factory, and here I 
 had a still greater surprise. I expected to find great 
 piles of lumber, and saws, lathes, moulders and planers 
 at work moulding it into various shapes ; but no lumber 
 was anywhere in sight. Instead, I saw, on the basement 
 floor of the large building, a series of vats, as in a tan- 
 nery, which contained masses of pulpy material that 
 were being stirred by mechanical agitators. 
 
 ' Here,' said the patriarch, ' you will witness processes 
 which exemplify the high water mark of modern indus- 
 trial efficiency and economy. What formerly were waste 
 products or materials that were burnt or otherwise des- 
 troyed are here utilized to make not only articles of 
 furniture and other house equipment, but bodies of car- 
 riages, trunks, and many other things which were made 
 of wood formerly. All waste paper and other fibrous 
 material for which there is little or no use — straw, the 
 stalks of flax not used to make thread and cloth, stalks of 
 the cotton plant, coarse grasses, waste excelsior and even 
 sawdust — are here reduced to a pulp and chemically 
 treated. This mixture is then pressed into moulds of all 
 the forms and shapes desired. They are the component 
 parts of various articles of furniture, etc., and are made 
 to fit together with exactness like the several parts of a 
 machine. For example, the different sections of a chair 
 are moulded into the required shape and size, and then 
 put together in a way which, when finished, makes the 
 article practically one piece, a cement being used which 
 consolidates the parts. These chairs are much stronger 
 than wooden ones and will last a lifetime. The same is 
 
EECIPROCITY. 119 
 
 true of the other articles made of this material. Other 
 articles, such as tables, bureaus, etc., are moulded in sec- 
 tions and put together with cement. In addition to the 
 strength of the material, it is almost incombustible. You 
 may think, perhaps, that this indestructibility of character 
 would operate against the permanency of the industry, 
 but the population of the country and the world is in- 
 creasing all the time, and new wants are constantly de- 
 veloping in this as in other matters of domestic taste and 
 convenience. The foreign demand for this class of goods 
 is growing rapidly. We ship the parts to save freight 
 cost. They are assembled at places of destination.' 
 
 We visited other departments of the factory, where 
 the various parts moulded were put together, and noted 
 the work of assembling, polishing, decorating and 
 boxing of parts for shipment, in boxes made of the same 
 material. Another department turned out barrels, boxes, 
 trunks, suit cases, and many other articles of use and con- 
 venience. 
 
 At another factory a short distance away we found 
 another flourishing industry of the town. In it, what I 
 would call electrical fabrics were manufactured on a large 
 scale — such as I had seen made in the electrical labora- 
 tory at the town mansion. In addition to carpets, rugs, 
 etc., some of the departments of this mill were devoted 
 to the manufacture of different electrical fabrics of finer 
 texture, among others for garments to be worn on the 
 body, legs and feet. I learned that garments made of 
 these fabrics were prescribed by physicians for persons 
 of impaired vitality and aged people generally. Attached 
 
120 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 to the mill was another and larger one, where all kinds 
 of electrical machinery and appliances, ranging from the 
 largest generators and motors to the most delicate elec- 
 trical instruments, were made. We did not enter it, for 
 the same reason that we did not go into the carpet mill, 
 having seen the same kind of work at the electrical 
 laboratory in the town mansion. 
 
 We next visited a factory where another sm-prise was 
 in store for me. The machinery was smaller and more 
 compact than that of the woolen mills which I had been 
 familiar with, yet it was evidently a woolen factory, as 
 the staple was being converted into thread in some of 
 the machines in operation. 
 
 ' This,' explained the patriarch, ' is our clothing factory, 
 where men's, women's and children's garments are made 
 directly from the staple, which has been dyed, spun and 
 prepared for the process of weaving into shape. The 
 methods employed may appear complex, but they are 
 quite effective. For example, if you desired a suit made 
 to measure, an exact outline of your body and limbs is 
 taken and transferred to shapers in the looms, around or 
 on which the sections of the garments are woven. The 
 coat body, with arm holes, is woven in one piece, the 
 opening in front being connected by single threads, to be 
 cut in the finishing process and the binding attached by 
 a separate machine. The collar is made in another loom. 
 The sleeves are woven to size and attached to the body 
 by other machines. Then the lining of the garment, in- 
 cluding pockets, is woven and attached. In the improved 
 process, now being worked out by our inventor, the lining 
 
EECIPKOCITY. 121 
 
 will be woven with the garment, which will be a great 
 saving in time and cost of manufacture. Trousers and 
 vests are made in the same general way by other looms 
 and processes. The work of producing a suit is quickly 
 done. If they should now take your measure for a suit 
 of clothes, you would have them delivered in three hours 
 or less, as the different processes are carried on simulta- 
 neously, the parts quickly assembled, and the suit finished 
 before you realized it.' 
 
 I noted that the looms were operated somewhat like 
 knitting machines, but was assured that the fabric would 
 not ravel if torn or cut, as knit work is liable to. Ready- 
 made clothing, however, was the main product of the 
 mill. Garments of all sizes were made. Women's skirts, 
 waists, coats and other articles of clothing were also made 
 in this factory, of fine wools to finest silk, satin and velvet- 
 A large number of both sexes found employment the 
 year round in this establishment. The patriarch told me, 
 with pride, that this whole system of clothing manufac- 
 ture, including the machines employed, was the invention 
 of a young man, a native of the town ; and so popular 
 had this make of wearing apparel become that factories 
 for its production were springing up all over the country. 
 
 ' I suppose,' I remarked, ' the inventor has realized or 
 will realize in time a handsome competence from this 
 great invention.' 
 
 'No,' was the reply. 'We have no patent or other 
 monopolies in this age. The granting of a patent now is 
 only an honorary affair — a modern patent of nobility or 
 achievement, as it were — which simply recognizes the 
 
1 2'2 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 merit of the inventor and marks him as a special bene- 
 factor of his race. The inventor is now only simply the 
 superintendent of this original mill which operates his 
 inventions. His fame, however, is becoming world-wide.' 
 
 'We will now,' continued the patriarch, 'visit one of 
 our shoe factories,' and we were soon at the place. 
 
 It was like the other factories in outward appearance ; 
 walls and roof of concrete, with numerous windows on 
 each floor (usually only three floors), but I missed the 
 tall chimneys of the factories 1 had known, mentioning 
 which to my guide, he said : 
 
 ' We have no use for chimneys, as coal is not now 
 available, and we do not burn wood for power purposes. 
 Our extravagant ancestors made such inroads on the coal 
 deposits of the earth that what is left in remote places is 
 practically inaccessible to us, and even in those places 
 the supply is nearing exhaustion. But we still have the 
 winds, the tides, the waters of our streams and rivers; we 
 produce alcohol (another form, like electricity, of trans- 
 muted sun energy) in vast quantities, and from these 
 sources we derive sufficient power to use directly or to 
 produce all the electric current that we need. Steam is 
 a power of the past, a mighty one in its agency to pro- 
 mote the progress and development of the world. It has 
 left only grateful momories after it. But it has departed 
 from the earth with the wars it aided in its day, with the 
 religious persecutions and myths of the melancholy ex'as 
 when superstition agitated and oppressed mankind, which 
 -unlike it, have left no grateful memories after them.' 
 
 The shoe factory was as unique in its methods and its 
 
RECIPROCITY. 123 
 
 products as the clothing factory. While it produced all 
 kinds of footwear it made them, or most of them of ma- 
 terial and by methods unfamiliar to me. The uppers 
 were woven or knitted, like the feet of stockings, the 
 insteps of the low-cut and ankle shoes being made with 
 open-work stitches in which elastic threads were used to 
 hold the shoe firmly yet gently to the foot, thus dispens- 
 ing with laces and other forms of fastening. The fabric 
 of the upper was waterproofed without being rendered 
 non-porous, I was told. A sole made of a compound of 
 fibrous material, india rubber, gutta percha, cork, sand 
 and other ingredients, formed in the shape and contour 
 of the sole of the human foot, was cemented and other- 
 wise attached to the upper so strongly that when once 
 fastened it could not be removed. This sole, moulded 
 under great pressure and heat, was very elastic and fitted 
 easily. There were no heels. The uppers of the shoes, 
 woven on metal castings of different sized feet, moulded 
 from nature, and the soles to fit them, were easily com- 
 bined. The boots and shoes made by this process were 
 quickly and cheaply constructed and were sold at much 
 lower prices than those made of leather. Other factories 
 in the town, I was informed, made boots and shoes of 
 leather, except that in most cases the soles were of the 
 compound and in the form as used in the knit footwear. 
 These soles, it was claimed, would outwear leather ones, 
 besides being easier to the feet. 
 
 We next visited the silk and linen mills. There I 
 learned that the material used in making silk fabrics was 
 not the product of the silk worm, but was produced by 
 
1^4 RECIPROCITT. 
 
 chemical process, and said to be superior in strength and 
 elasticity to the animal product, and that linen cloths 
 were not made solely of flax fibre, but of a mixture of 
 flax, cotton stalk fibre and certain southern grasses which 
 had been acclimated and were grown in large quantities 
 in the northern states. These and the cotton stalks were 
 decorticated by a new process, and largely used also as 
 warps in textile manufactures. Pure linen cloths and 
 laces were made. Mixtures of silk, flax and other strong 
 fibres in bewildering variety were also produced here. 
 
 There were also, I learned, some cotton mills in the 
 town, and two or three mills where wood work in con- 
 nection with house building, etc., was done ; but as it was 
 Bearing the hour of business suspension we decided to 
 omit them for the time. 
 
 In all the factories visited, with their thousands of 
 operatives, I was impressed with the uniform diligence 
 and strict attention of the workers, who seemed wholly 
 intent on their occupations. I further noticed that where 
 men and women worked together there was no chafling 
 or bantering talk between them. This led me to remark 
 to the patriarch that there must be strict rules in the 
 mills in regard to behavior in working hours. 
 
 ' Nothing of the kind,' he said. ' The workers are so 
 deeply interested and earnest in their occupations that 
 they give no time or thought to anything else ; and, be- 
 sides, their native dignity would keep them from trifling 
 talk and actions at such a time. When there is a viola- 
 tion of unwritten rules of behavior, which is of extremely 
 rare occurrence, it is silently but nevertheless effectually 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 125 
 
 rebuked. You must not infer from this that we are 
 deficient in the sense of humor or are not appreciative of 
 wit and lively conversation ; but there is a time for these, 
 and it is not the work time. Our motto in this respect 
 is : When you work do it earnestly, and when you play 
 play heartily,' 
 
 Our evening meal on this day had for its principal 
 dish brook trout — small, done to a rich crisp on the out- 
 side, without being partly burnt as on a griddle or frying 
 pan. They had been cooked in the electric oven and 
 were juicy and toothsome. 
 
 The family members were vivacious, as usual, and their 
 talk entertaining. I recounted my experiences of the 
 day, how wonderful many of the things seen seemed to 
 me and what great advances in education and industry 
 they indicated. A general discussion now followed, and 
 the inception, growth and development of the industrial 
 and educational systems were outlined, to my great satis- 
 faction and enlightenment. It was all very pleasant 
 and I may say very gratifying, and was accorded with an 
 intelligence and evident desire to give information that 
 fully satisfied my curiosity. 
 
 The day had been a strenuous one, and when the hour 
 for early retirement came I was glad once more to woo 
 the restful couch and seek new energy and recuperation 
 in "tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep." After a 
 pleasant good night from all the family I retired. Though 
 I had much to think of and ponder on after my experi- 
 ences of the day, I no sooner laid down than I fell into 
 a dreamless slumber. 
 
1-6 EECIPEOCITY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ViSITIN-G UUDEEGROUND WaTS ThE ToWN FaKM 
 
 AND Town Stores — Finance. 
 
 The good night's rest refreshed me, and after a hearty 
 morning meal, the patriarch said he would take me to 
 one of the underground ways of the town — conduits, in 
 which water mains and pipes and electric wires were 
 carried throughout the territory down the course of the 
 valley. 
 
 We entered the subway system at a point not far from 
 the Wellman residence, and I found it an arched tunnel 
 about nine feet wide by ten feet high. The walls and 
 roof were of concrete. The subway was lighted at in- 
 tervals by glow lamps, which gave a dim but sufficient 
 light to distinguish objects in it plainly enough for our 
 jjurpose. On one side, rising from the floor was a ridge 
 or bench of concrete. My guide said it covered a large 
 water main, made of aluminum alloy, coated with enamel. 
 The tubes composing the main had been made in the 
 factory we had already visited. It was explained that 
 with such covering there was no danger of it bursting 
 from the pressure of water in it, and being composed of 
 pipe lengths screwed together in sleeves there were no 
 leaky joints. At points where house connections had 
 been made, or might hereafter be made, a much stronger 
 and heavier pipe, not covered, was used. These exposed 
 sections were prepared for new connections in addition 
 to existing ones. 
 
KECIPROCITT. 127 
 
 Above this water main bench a network of covered 
 electric wires for power, light and heating purposes were 
 strung on arm supports. There was also a series of wires 
 which had formerly been used for telegraph and tele- 
 phone purposes, but they had long since been superseded 
 by the aerial or etheric systems. 
 
 There was, on the other side of the subway, on the 
 floor, a large pipe or main uncovered. This, I was told, 
 was employed for the purpose of carrying cold air to 
 dwellings, factories, public offices and places of amuse, 
 ment in hot weather. The cool air was drawn from an 
 upper stratum of atmosphere through a tall tower placed 
 on an eminence. Compressing fan blowers, operated by 
 windmills on the top of the tower, was the force which 
 sent the air through the pipe to cool in summer, and in 
 winter to heat, resistance coils being energized through 
 which the air was passed to be heated. The coils, when 
 the current was turned on, were capable of heating the 
 passing air up to 70 deg. Fahrenheit. In moderate wea- 
 ther the action of the compressor could be reversed and 
 made to exhaust air in buildings for ventilating purposes, 
 the whole system being regulated electrically. There 
 were several of these fresh air systems as well as under- 
 ground ways in the town. 
 
 Under the floor of the subway a channel or sewer ran, 
 through which waste water from the dwellings and fac- 
 tories was conducted to reservoirs further down the 
 valley, where the water was used for irrigation purposes. 
 This subway, like others in the town, had many lateral 
 branches or feeders. 
 
128 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 ' But the sewage from the water closets, where does 
 it go?' I asked. 
 
 ' We have no water closets,' he replied. ' Earth closets 
 are in general use. These are cleaned out twice a week 
 in warm weather, and once in two weeks in the fall and 
 winter seasons. In the earth used, which is thoroughly 
 pulverized and dried, there is combined a chemical deo- 
 dorizer, which at the same time has fertilizing properties 
 The cleanings from the closets are composted, desiccated 
 and made into an excellent fertilizer, which is in great 
 favor with our farmers. We waste very little in this age 
 of economy. Even the swill from our kitchens is made 
 into a fertilizer.' 
 
 'Don't you feed swill to your hogs?' I queried. 
 
 < Where hogs and fowls are kept by small farmers they 
 feed them with waste from the table, and are allowed to 
 collect swill from the villages, but this must be done in 
 the evening and only enough taken for immediate use, 
 to avoid fermentation, but this consumes only a small 
 amount of the kitchen waste of the town.' he replied. 
 ' On the town farm, however, where hogs and poultry 
 are raised by the thousands, they are carefully fed on 
 food cooked specially for them. We find it pays to feed 
 animals well and house them in clean, well-ventilated 
 quarters.' 
 
 'You have mentioned the town farm before,' I said. 
 * My curiosity is aroused, and 1 would like to see it.' 
 
 ' You shall see it. We will go there now, as tomorrow 
 is Sunday, and a general holiday,' replied tlae patriarch, 
 and we left the subway and took seats in the runabout. 
 
EECIPROCITY 129 
 
 Our way led to a section at the south side of the town, 
 one of the finest and most attractive in that splendid coun- 
 try. Along the way — the streets were lined with elegant 
 shade trees — I had a fresh opportunity to note the gen- 
 eral air of thrift, comfort and taste which pervaded every 
 homestead. On the small farms comfortable homelike 
 cottages could be seen, and the farmers were busily at 
 work in the fields. The small fruit orchards — the trees 
 loaded with young fruit — on some of the more hilly 
 places, and the well-kept groves of sugar maples which 
 eclipsed them in size, added to the general effect. The 
 dyke-fences dividing the farms, as I had already noted, 
 appeared covered with raspberry and blackberry bushes, 
 their branches bending under the ripening berries, while 
 the fruit trees planted on them at intervals vied with the 
 smaller growths in the promise of abundant yield. There 
 were flower as well as kitchen gardens at every dwelling, 
 indicating woman's taste and refinement. At every house 
 there was an open shed, under which the younger chil- 
 dren could play, with swings, hobby horses, and other 
 means of amusement and exercise. Grouped near to the 
 farm houses were barns for hay and grain, stables for 
 cattle, sheds for sheep, poultry yards and houses, and 
 houses and pens for swine. After a pleasant ride of ob- 
 servation, we entered upon a territory where farming 
 operations were evidently prosecuted on a large scale. 
 
 < We are now entering upon the territory of our town 
 farm,' said the patriarch. ' It covers an area of about 
 six thousand acres.' 
 
 We soon came to a small village or collection of houses, 
 
130 BECIPROCITT. 
 
 with extensive outbuildings — barns, stables, dairies, and 
 other structures for domestic animals. All tlie buildings 
 for stock and other farm uses were on a large scale. We 
 wheeled up to one of the cottages — they were all about 
 the size of ordinary farm cottages, containing, I judged, 
 about eight or ten rooms each — and alighted. A wo- 
 man answered our summons, and said her husband, the 
 superintendent, was in a field near by engaged in farm 
 work. The woman was accompanied by two chubby 
 children, with the roses of health in full bloom on their 
 cheeks, who clung to her skirts and eyed us curiously. 
 We walked into the field, where I caught sight of the 
 first horses I had seen since I came to the town. They 
 were drawing cultivators in a potato field of apparently 
 illimitable extent, probably of several hundred acres. A 
 number of horses were at work, each harnessed to a light 
 cultivator, I was pleased to see the noble animals, whose 
 general absence had made me feel lonely since I came to 
 the town. 
 
 The superintendent, I found, was an all-around man, 
 being a well-trained and educated agriculturist. He first 
 took us to a group of houses for swine, located some dis- 
 tance from the dwellings. The breeding pens were 
 larger than the fattening ones, and houses and pens were 
 very clean and well ventilated. The animals, I 'earned, 
 were fed at regular hours three times a day, had plenty 
 of running water to drink and to wallow in, and looked 
 clean and healthy. Care was taken, we were told, not to 
 interbreed too closely, as it was found to dwarf the stock 
 and even produce an inferior quality of meat. 
 
EECIPROCITT. 131 
 
 Tlie stables where the cattle were housed were also 
 located at some distance from the dwellings. More than 
 twenty-five hundred milch cows, besides the young stock, 
 were kept on the farm. The cattle were not all kept in 
 one place, but were distributed among the four groups of 
 villages on it, one of which we were then at — the cen- 
 tral one. The stables at this place were models of clean 
 and well kept animal shelters. When the cattle were 
 housed deodorizing chemicals were used daily. At that 
 season, however, only the working horses were stabled 
 at night, the other animals being kept in the pastures. 
 
 I learned that heating of stables, swine and poultry 
 houses in cold weather was practised. By this system 
 the comfort of the animals was promoted, and it was 
 found to be economical because much less food was 
 needed. I thought this method of treatment of farm 
 stock was a great improvement on the old ones. Why 
 not promote the comfort as well as the health of useful 
 animals during their brief existence ? They are our less 
 selfish fellow creatures. 
 
 All the animals on the farm were carefully bred, those 
 of vicious propensities being restrained from propagating 
 ■ — were fattened and killed when young. Good breeds 
 and judicious crosses had established a general excellence 
 in all lines of domestic animals on the farm. In fact, as 
 I learned, this was the general usage everywhere. Xeats 
 cattle were raised of two strains — ■ for milk and butter 
 production, and for beef purposes. Very young calves 
 were not slaughtered for veal. The same rule regarding 
 sheep and swine prevailed, and a careful inspection of all 
 
132 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 animals to be slaughtered was made by veterinary sur- 
 geons, to see that they were fit for food. 
 
 This farm sent out daily large quantities of milk to 
 supply families who did not keep cows. The surplus 
 milk was used for butter and cheese-making. The bulk 
 of the milk supply, however, was derived from the small 
 farmers. 
 
 On a hillside, which sloped to the southeast, back of 
 the farm village, was a large area — probably fifty acres 
 — under glass. The greenhouses were idle at the time 
 of our visit, but in the fall cultivation of vegetables for 
 winter use was begun. These greenhouse supplied fresh 
 vegetables for winter consumption, as well as plants for 
 early out-door spring planting, vegetation in them being 
 quickened and promoted by a judicious employment of 
 the electric current both in the soil and in the form of 
 light at night. 
 
 In addition to the ordinary cereals, the farm produced 
 large quantities of roots, including beets for distilling 
 purposes. It was found that corn stalks, formerly raised 
 for fodder only, were rich in saccharine matter, and they 
 had been added to the alcohol-producing roots and grains 
 of the farm. 
 
 The land was in a high state of cultivation. The farm 
 was run on scientific principles, the superintendent being 
 a chemist as well as an experienced agriculturist. I was 
 told that a knowledge of agricultural chemistry was gen- 
 eral among the farmers, and that to the early granges 
 was largely due such a thorough knowledge of the science 
 and practice of farming ; also that those organizations had 
 
EECIPROCITT. 133 
 
 an important agency in bringing about the general sys- 
 tem of co-operation in the farming and all other industries, 
 which naturally led to the existing system of communal 
 proprietorship of lands and dwellings, and the ownership 
 and operation of all manufactm-ing industries, as well as 
 of all public utilities, 
 
 ' We will now, if you desire,' said the superintendent, 
 ' visit the homes of the aged and infirm members of our 
 commune. They are mostly those who have no surviv- 
 ing relatives or whose children and other kin have gone 
 abroad and settled elsewhere. Being citizens of the 
 town, they are entitled to either pension or support from 
 it, and choose this place as a residence instead of living 
 alone or in private families.' 
 
 I did not marvel at their choice when I saw how com- 
 fortably these old people were placed and observed their 
 cheerful and sanitary habitations as well as the flower 
 gardens surroiinding them. The dwellings were in a 
 group of attached buildings, constructed in the form of 
 a letter Y, the large or main building forming the stem, 
 the wings spreading out from its rear section. In the 
 main building, which was one of large dimensions, and 
 three stories in height, were located the infirmary, the 
 hospital wards and doctor's and nurses' quarters. The 
 vsdngs were of one story and subdivided into two and 
 three-room tenements, the first for single persons or for 
 married people — a living and a bedroom; the second for 
 an old couple needing constant attendance, perhaps a 
 relative who chose to act as an attendant, or a nurse 
 of the hospital. The lines of Pope's 'Man of Ross' 
 
134 BECIPROCITT. 
 
 occurred to rae when I beheld these happy and contented 
 old people, most of them nonogenarians and a few over 
 the century mark, I was told, and I mentally repeated 
 the lines : 
 
 ' He feeds yon almshouse, neat, but void of state. 
 Where age and want sit smiling at the gate.' 
 This Avas no almshouse, however. It was a chosen home, 
 and there was no want. But the sentiment of the ' Man 
 of Ross' was in evidence: the great heart of a just and 
 fraternal community — a people who practised the reli- 
 gion of humanity, I was glad to note, presided over and 
 sustained this bounty. I learned that where weak eyes 
 or dimness of vision prevented any of the inmates from 
 reading newspapers or books from the library, attendants 
 read to them, and they were cheered three times a week 
 by concerts and other entertainments in a hall in the 
 main building. A general dining hall was provided, but 
 those who could not come to it had food served in their 
 apartments. 
 
 ' All this,' said the patriarch, ' is done for these people 
 not as a matter of charity, but as payment for what they 
 have done during an active life of faithful service to the 
 commune. They are now simply living on their earnings 
 saved in the general fund.' 
 
 What a wonderful change, I thought, must have been 
 wrought in the conduct of men towards one another from 
 the time when the pathetic ballad, ' Over the Hill to the 
 Poor-house' had its significance and this new time and 
 new dispensation ! 
 
 Satisfied with the information gained in regard to the 
 
BECIPROCITT. 
 
 135 
 
 conditions prevailing at the town farm, I thanked the 
 courteous superintendent for his attention, and with my 
 guide remounted the carriage which was started on our 
 return, but by another road. My brain was filled with 
 wonder and admiration at the many evidences which I 
 had already had of the new civilization in which humani- 
 tarian metliods were so successfully reduced to practice. 
 I now made some further inquiry in regard to the regu- 
 lations prevailing in the town. The old man said in 
 reply : 
 
 'We have a code of regulations, which have been 
 adopted by vote of the entire people; from time to time, 
 as called for by the exigencies of changing conditions. 
 These are published twice a year, January 1 and July 1. 
 Every family receives a copy of them, so that no one can 
 plead ignorance of their provisions. As a result, any 
 violation of them is extremely rare. None is onerous, 
 however, and all are reasonable. This may account for 
 it, in part, at least.' 
 
 ' But if these regulations should be violated, what are 
 the penalties ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Rarely more than a slight fine, generally an acknowl- 
 edgment or explanation by the transgressor, and promise 
 not to repeat the offence, are all that is exacted,' replied 
 the patriarch. ' We believe in restitution and repentance 
 rather than in punishment. It leaves no sting or feeling 
 of injustice suffered.' 
 
 ' Of course you have laws and a judiciary to interpret 
 and enforce them,' I said. 
 
 'We have statutory laws, state and national, and a 
 
136 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 well organized judiciary system. Our laws against flag- 
 rant misdemeanors, such as murder, felonious crimes and 
 violations of that nature, are severe and strictly enforced, 
 but it is now extremely rare that such crimes occur any- 
 where. The fact is, by our system of repression, we have 
 weeded society quite thoroughly of its abnormal elements. 
 The active agency of our judiciary, therefore, is so little 
 called for that judges and lawyers find more congenial 
 occupation in other pursuits, though still nominally in 
 the profession. For example, my son is a judge of the 
 superior court, and there are several lawyers in town, but 
 their services as such are rarely called for, so they make 
 themselves useful to the commune by superintending or 
 working in factories, teaching, farming, and other useful 
 occupations,' he explained. 
 
 ' Then your son's profession does not interfere with his 
 mercantile occupation,' I observed. 
 
 ' No ; he is simply an agent of the commune. There 
 are five stores in the town — one in each precinct — and 
 all the people supply their wants from them. My son 
 will inform you about the details of the business,' he 
 said. 
 
 ' You have already informed me in regard to the selec- 
 tion of town oflicials and their terms of oflSce, their duties, 
 and so forth. On a broader scale, let me ask how state 
 and national representatives and officials are chosen ? ' I 
 said. 
 
 ' Committees are chosen by ballot from the different 
 precincts of the town whose duty it is to arrange with 
 similar committees of other towns, in convention, as to 
 
EECIPKOCITT. 137 
 
 the nomination of representatives. Delegates for nomi- 
 nation of national representatives are chosen by these 
 district conventions. All representatives are elected by 
 dii-ect vote of the people. The same is true with respect 
 to the election of President and Yice-President. These 
 latter are elected for a term of ten years, and are not 
 eligible for re-election to the same offices. In fact, the 
 terms of incumbency of all public offices is the decade. 
 The same general system of choice of public officers and 
 term of office prevails in the sister Republic of Canada, 
 with which country, as with all others, we have had ab- 
 solute free trade for hiindreds of years past. It is the 
 duty of all citizens, men and women, to vote at elections, 
 and, I will add, they faithfully discharge it,' said the old 
 man, in a tone of satisfaction. 
 
 'Are changes in public offices frequent?' I queried. 
 
 ' No,' he said. ' Public office is rarely sought for, and 
 those who are chosen, with the exceptions named, can 
 retain the same during active life, but they must be re- 
 nominated and re-elected at the end of each term. Wo- 
 men as well as men are eligible for all offices in town, 
 state and nation.' 
 
 < How many political parties have you ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' There are no political parties nowadays,' he replied. 
 * Men and women are selected and chosen for their fitness 
 and ability, and re-elected for faithfulness of service ; but 
 the high offices of President and Vice-President are given 
 successively to men (though women are not debarred) 
 representing different sections of the country, which is di 
 vided into ten districts for that purpose, so that all the 
 
138 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 sections are represented once in each century. Two are 
 nominated for each of the high offices, as well as for seats 
 in Congress and the State Legislatures, and the people 
 choose between them, the best esteemed for ability, char- 
 acter and public service being usually chosen. These 
 men and their character and ability are made known to 
 the people through the public press. There are no ora- 
 tions or stump sjaeeches made or called for. Before the 
 day of election, however, one of the candidates for the 
 highest offices usually withdraws. People generally do 
 not seek public office, but when elected accept it as a 
 duty every citizen owes to his commune, state or coun- 
 try. Men in the humblest occupations are often chosen 
 to the highest offices. There is little to be gained by 
 public service save the applause of fellow citizens for the 
 faithful performance of duty and the ajjproval of one's 
 own conscience. There is no opportunity for personal 
 eni'ichment, and indeed such aggrandisement is now of 
 little significance to any man of merit and character.' 
 
 ' If Canada is a rejDublic, why has it not become a part 
 of our federation ? ' I asked. 
 
 'Canada,' he replied, 'is a nation with a connected ter- 
 ritory larger than the United States, with a population of 
 more than a hundred and fifty millions, while the popu- 
 lation of the United States is three hundred and fifty 
 millions, and were it not for the growing simplicity of 
 our institutions, in which the units bear the burden of 
 the details of self-government, this vast aggregation of 
 people would form a mass which, under the old system* 
 would be too unwieldy for management by centralized 
 
RECIPROCITY. 
 
 139 
 
 authority alone. To explain further, as our civilization 
 is being developed it is found that where effective self- 
 government can be secured in the communes or towns — 
 those important units of a state — the government of a 
 state composed of such units and a nation composed of 
 such states — its polity, I mean — should not be one of 
 great complexity or difficulty, as you can see. On the 
 contrary, the direction of such co-operative units in the 
 matters of general concern should be quite natural and 
 easy of accomplishment. There are no special rewards 
 for public service, as I have already said, beyond the ap- 
 preciation and approbation of fellow citizens and the 
 approval of one's own conscience. It is a more grateful 
 and satisfactory reward for conscientious performance of 
 duty than any other form of gain. We are here to be as 
 happy as we can be under existing conditions and to make 
 others happy, and endeavor to practise as well as teach 
 "the luxury of doing good." ' 
 
 By this time we had reached the Wellman home, where 
 a good dinner was waiting on a good appetite. At the 
 close of the meal, Mr. "Wellman — I should perhaps call 
 him Judge — in response to the request from his father 
 — agreed to explain financial and mercantile matters to 
 me after siesta. 
 
 When this season of grateful repose ended, my host 
 took me into his store, which was a very extensive one, 
 reminding me of the department stores of New York, 
 Chicago and Boston, and showed me through its various 
 departments. There were in these a number of clerks, 
 male and female, according to the character of the goods 
 
140 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 in them — dry goods, dress goods, millinery and lingere 
 having women clerks, and the other departments men 
 clerks. 
 
 It being Saturday afternoon, the store began to fill 
 with customers, and the clerks were kept busy attending 
 them. I noticed that when a bill of goods was rendered, 
 instead of paying for it in money the customer simply 
 indorsed the bill. I remarked about this, and was told 
 that by indorsing it the customer acknowledged receipt 
 of goods charged. This indorsement not only served as 
 a voucher on the part of the storekeeper that he had de- 
 livered the goods charged in the bill, but when it was 
 handed into the town treasury the amount was charged 
 against the salary or income of the buyer. 
 
 ' I see that you do not require the direct use of money 
 in your business,' I observed. 
 
 * We do not,' said Mr. "VV., ' as a rule, though we also 
 sell for ready currency when the customer prefers to pay 
 in that way. By this method, however, we find that 
 mistakes in bookkeping are least liable to occur. After 
 recording them on the books, we hand the indorsed bills 
 over to the town treasury on the Monday of each week, 
 where the amounts are credited to us and debited to the 
 purchasers. Thus, as the purchaser has a credit account 
 at the town treasury for his weekly salary or income, 
 the total amount of his purchases during the week is de- 
 ducted from it, and the balance paid him or placed to his 
 credit if he so desires.' 
 
 'What is he paid in — coin or currency?' I inquired. 
 
 ' Either, or both, as he chooses,' was the reply. 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 141 
 
 I now asked what coins and currency were in circula- 
 tion. He opened a money drawer and showed me a 
 number of coins of aluminum and aluminum bronze. 
 They were all tokens, he explained, not otherwise valu- 
 able. The smallest one was of our one cent size, with a 
 ' 1 ' on both sides surrounded by a wreath. A somewhat 
 larger coin had the figure ' 5 ' on one side and ' v ' on the 
 other — both of copper. Other and larger coins with 
 figures indicating their denominations, and different de- 
 vices, the sizes varying, for 10, 20, 50 and 100 cents, the 
 latter having, in addition to the figures the word 'dollar' 
 on the obverse side, were shown ; all these were of alu- 
 minum. Coin of higher denominations, representing ^'2, 
 82.50, $5, 110 and 820, more elaborately and artistically 
 designed and of five different sizes, were shown in bronze 
 alloy of copper and aluminum, of the color of gold ; but 
 the light weight of these coins as well as differences in 
 design easily distinguished them from gold coins. A\\ 
 these tokens, I was informed, were exchangeable for gold 
 coin or bullion or silver bullion, or for paper currency 
 or government bonds bearing interest. Gold coins were 
 rarely called for, except by people going abroad. Silver 
 was not coined. It was sold in the market, like copper 
 and other metals. Currency could be procured through 
 the post oflice, though it was seldom called for or used 
 by the people. No bills of a lower denomination than 
 $20 were issued. The other denominations were 825, 
 $50, 8100, 8500 and 81000. The bills of the varions 
 denominations were of different sizes. The lower ones 
 were printed in single colors, except the figures, which 
 
142 EECIPROCITT. 
 
 were in contrasting colors, while the higher were printed 
 in from three to five colors or shades in different combi- 
 nations, some of the colors running along the face of the 
 bills, others directly across, and others diagonally across 
 from opposite angles. The only backing was the figures 
 showing the denomination, which covered the entire back 
 of the bill. 
 
 ' Of course,' I said, ' the general government issues all 
 coins and current paper money, but how and where do 
 the banks procure them ? ' 
 
 ' There are no banks outside the commune treasuries,' 
 he replied, ' and they procure tokens, currency, gold coin 
 and bullion through the post olKce department from the 
 national treasury. Government bonds are procured in 
 the same way.' 
 
 ' What are the tokens and currency procurable with ? ' 
 I asked. 
 
 ' They are procurable with government bonds. To be 
 more definite,' explained Mr. W., 'all bonds and every 
 form of currency, except gold, are based upon govern- 
 ment property; that is, upon the general land and water 
 transportation systems of the country, which are owned 
 and operated for the people by the United States Gov- 
 ernment. On acquiring these utilities from the private 
 owners, the government issued bonds, based on them, 
 bearing a low rate of interest — one and a half per cent. 
 per annum. The bonds can be purchased with any of 
 the currency or token coins in circulation, or with gold, 
 and are redeemable in the same. They are obtained 
 through the post office, and are in demand for investment.' 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 113 
 
 *But,' I said, * if the general government gave bonds 
 in payment for the transportation systems, how can it 
 now own the bonds?' 
 
 ' The original bonds of purchase were long since re- 
 deemed out of the surplus earnings of those lines, and 
 retired. They paid for themselves in less than fifty years. 
 The bonds now issued are based on this form of national 
 property, and the operation of the transportation systems 
 secures to government enough revenue above operating 
 expenses to pay interest on outstanding bonds and cost 
 of running all the departments of the national govern- 
 ment. The general government, therefore, is not only 
 self-supporting but it has in its treasury a vast hoard of 
 gold. In consequence of this flourishing condition of 
 our national affairs we have no federal taxes to pay in 
 the form of internal revenue or as duties on importations 
 from abroad, while our state and county taxes are merely 
 nominal. You can thus see that the ownership of these 
 vast transportation systems is a very safe and permanent 
 asset for government to base its fiscal system upon, and 
 is really in the nature of capital, just, as in our commune, 
 lands, buildings and industrial concerns are." 
 
 ' How did the communes first acquire the lands and 
 the industries ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' About nine hundred years ago, after the general gov- 
 ernment had acquired full ownership of all transportation 
 lines, and operated them to the great advantage of the 
 public, the more progressive states of the Union changed 
 their constitutions so that the various communes were 
 empowered to acquire by purchase all the realties and 
 
144 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 industries in their territory. This transfer of property 
 was to be made only by a two-thirds vote of the people. 
 At first only a few towns ventured on the new system of 
 co-operation, but their success soon induced others to 
 adopt it ; and thus town after town and state after state 
 wheeled into the line of co-operative progress. 
 
 ' The holdings thus taken were paid for by debentures 
 bearing a small rate of interest. Fifty years was the 
 time in which these bonds matured, but, as a matter of 
 fact, most of them were redeemed inside of twenty years, 
 the people making sacrifices and vying with each other 
 in efforts to extinguish these debts. When they were 
 paid, the communes at once became independent and 
 prosperous. Of course it took many years of effort and 
 experiment to fully adjust industrial conditions to the 
 new order of things, but this came at length, and we are 
 now enjoying the good results.' 
 
 ' Returning to our present inquiry,' I said, ' how are 
 you compensated for administering the business done in 
 this store ? ' 
 
 < After the business of the year has been computed, 
 and a settlement with the town treasurer made, which 
 includes salaries of clerks and assistants — a [small rate 
 of profit having been added to the cost of the goods sold 
 — I am allowed a percentage on the sales. This can 
 never exceed $2000 a year, no matter how large a busi- 
 ness is done. The salaries of the clerks, including my 
 son, are paid by the town and charged to the business. 
 I should say the expenses of the business are equal to 
 about 5 per cent, on the first cost of the goods. If any 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 145 
 
 surplus over expenses remains at the end of the year, it 
 goes into the town treasury. There is usually a small 
 profit in the business, so that the fund derived from this 
 source in time amounts to a snug sum. When this fund 
 reaches a certain sum, it enables the commune to reduce 
 the percentage of profit on goods sold. This and all the 
 other utilities are made to contribute to the general bene- 
 fit of the people.' 
 
 ' How do people invest their savings, thrifty people, I 
 mean?' I asked. 
 
 ' All our people are thrifty,' he said. ' Their savings 
 are deposited in the postal savings banks, where they 
 are readily reached for withdrawal. Some investors pur- 
 chase government bonds. The same rate of interest — 
 one and a half per cent. — is paid in both cases. De- 
 positors can draw on their books at any post office in 
 any part of the couniry, or get their bonds cashed and 
 draw interest on the same.' 
 
 ' How is the depositor identified in other places than 
 his own commune?' I asked. 
 
 ' By his or her number — not the number of the book 
 only, but the number of the individual, which is also re- 
 corded on the book,' he replied. 
 
 ' I do not understand you,' I said. 
 
 *I suppose not,' he commented, 'but I will explain the 
 matter to you. Every person born in this town and in 
 every other town in the Union is numbered according to 
 name and locality, which number is printed indelibly on 
 the under side of both arms, half way between the wrist 
 and elbow, by the X-rays. This marking is made when 
 
146 
 
 BECIPKOCITY. 
 
 the person is ten years of age, and the marks remain for 
 life. This number is stamped or written on the bank 
 book instead of the name.' 
 
 He bared his arm and showed me, plainly printed on 
 it, these figures: 5: 147: 23: 1. 
 
 ' That,' he said is my number. The first figure gives 
 the state number, the second the number of this town, 
 the third the number of the alphabetical letter beginning 
 the surname, and the fourth the first letter of the given 
 name. Thus, 5 means Vermont, 147 Pomfret, 23 the 
 letter "W, and 1 the letter A. In the town directory, as 
 you see, the name is given: "Aron Welman, (5: 147: 
 23: 1)." Occupation, residence, etc., follow. When a 
 depositor desires to draw on his book account he must 
 show his number and sign his name for the amount with- 
 drawn. If money is called for by another than the de ■ 
 positor, he must produce a written order, giving his own 
 number, and being identified in the usual way. This 
 may appear to you a complex method of identification, 
 but it is a really simple one, and prevents mistakes. Be- 
 sides, if you travel in other countries, your passport will 
 contain your number, and you can thus easily establish 
 your identity. Few of our people, however, go abroad — • 
 that is, to the countries of Europe, Africa and Asia — 
 but many travel to different parts of the American conti- 
 nent, where passports are not required.' 
 
 ' Are the countries south of us conf edrated ? ' I asked. 
 
 'Yes; Mexico and the Central American States are in 
 one confederation, and the South American States form 
 a fourth continental confederation.' 
 
RKCIPROCITT. 147 
 
 * What of world federation ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' The countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia 
 have federal unions. All are conjoined with the Ameri- 
 can unions in a world federation, which has been in exis- 
 ence about two hundred years, and the World's Congress, 
 which meets in January of each year in the City of Rome, 
 the World's Capital, is comjjosed of representatives of 
 all the federations. It acts on and decides all matters of 
 conflict of interest between the nations and peoples. It 
 is, in fact, a highest court of arbitration, and secures the 
 peace of the world,' he replied. 
 
 * Are its decisions accepted in all cases ? ' 
 ' Yes, invariably,' he replied. 
 
 ' Do your town's people travel much ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' In the summer season nearly every one makes visits 
 to New York, Boston and the sea beaches of the Atlantic 
 coast. Railway fares are very reasonable,' he said. 
 
 'What is the fare to Boston and New York now?' I 
 asked. 
 
 ' To Boston, one dollar ; a round trip ticket, $1.75. The 
 rate to New York is the same,' he replied. 
 
 ' Of course it pays,' I remarked. 
 
 * Yes — a fair profit to the government. The volume 
 of travel and traffic on the railroads is very great at all 
 seasons of the year, but of course travel is largest in the 
 summer season, the sun's warmth promoting this as well 
 as all the other activities of life and motion. In winter, 
 when farm work is slack, the farmers travel a good deal, 
 though they can get work in some of the factories if they 
 want it. But many of them go to the big cities, and take 
 
148 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 their wives and young children with them for a visit to 
 friends or to see the sights. The cars are nearly always 
 comfortably filled with passengers.' 
 
 ' Pardon me, Mr. Wellman, for being so inquisitive,' I 
 said, ' but how did you first obtain the position of town 
 storekeeper, and how long a term are you appointed 
 for?' 
 
 ' The position is an appointive one by the town council, 
 the term of appointment being ten years. To those once 
 appointed the ofiice is practically a life one, for it is rea- 
 lized that an incumbent who is faithful and efficient is the 
 best qualified to retain the position, and he is reappointed 
 from decade to decade until he reaches the age of retire- 
 ment, and even then he can hold it for another term if 
 he desires. That is the usage. My own time for retiring 
 will come in six months from now, but I have decided to 
 take another term. When I do retire my assistant, who 
 is my eldest son, will probably succeed me, for the reason 
 that he is thoroughly familiar with the business ; but he 
 will have to be appointed by the town council. There is 
 no seeking for ofiice by untried men nowadays, as they 
 are certain to meet with disappointment. If my son, in 
 next ten years, should obtain another position, then one 
 of the more experienced clerks would be chosen to fill 
 the place. But while faithful servants are not discarded 
 for new men, the commune is not bound to continue any 
 one in ofliee after his tei'm expires.' 
 
 After my interview with Mr. Wellman I left the store, 
 and took a stroll around the village in the neighborhood 
 (there were several such villages in the town), in order 
 
EECIPEOCITY. 149 
 
 to study the place and the people without a mentor. 
 The residents were moving about actively, going hither 
 and thither, on business or on pleasure bent. They all 
 seemed cheerful, as if in the enjoyment of life. The 
 young were sportive and gleeful, and made the air vocal 
 with their clear, rich voices raised in song, laughter and 
 sprightly conversation. But at the same time they were 
 not boisterous or disagreeably noisy. There was not in 
 all these manifestations of street life a jarring note of 
 disputation or contention. It was indeed an ideal scene 
 of outdoor peaceful and rational neighborly commingling, 
 in which all appeared to act spontaneously. Along the 
 streets were large American elms whose wide spreading 
 branches embowered the roadway. 
 
 After a pleasant ramble of about half an hour, I came 
 back to the Wellman home, where I found the patriarch 
 and his wife, my hostess, Mrs. Wellman, her daughter and 
 daughter-in-law, and the loveable young son of the latter, 
 who at once came to where I was seated, climbed onto 
 my knee and asked a number of bewildering questions, 
 one of which, especialty, puzzled me greatly to answer ; 
 it was as to my age. If I counted the years I had lived 
 as I realized them I would be 78, but if I added a thousand 
 years to that it would seem ridiculous to the older ones 
 present, who appeared to understand my embarrassment, 
 so, amid their good-natured laughter, I compromised by 
 telling him that I was perhaps about the age of his great- 
 grandfather. 
 
 The patriarch now remarked that as the morrow would 
 be Sunday he would take me in the forenoon, along with 
 
150 KECIPROCITT. 
 
 his wife, to the lecture hall of the town mansion, where 
 he was to deliver a discourse. I asked if I had not taxed 
 him to fatigue during the past three days in taking me 
 around. He smiled at this, and said : 
 
 * Though an old man (I am in my 99th year) I am 
 still hale and hearty. My life has been spent in active 
 educational work principally — of late years in teaching 
 history, ethics and natural philosophy. It is therfore no 
 great task for me now to talk for half an hour or so — 
 a time long enough to speak or be listened to — for my 
 memory is good and words to garb my thoughts in still 
 come at my desire.' 
 
 I was surprised to learn that he was so advanced in 
 years, for I had thought him to be not over 75, and said 
 so, though I should have remembered that his son had 
 just told me that he, the son, was of retiring age, which 
 was 65 years, but the circumstance then had escaped my 
 memory, and I asked if people generally were active and 
 retained their faculties to advanced age. He said in 
 reply : 
 
 ' Do you not recall the old people of the town farm ? 
 They are conspicuous, to be sure, but only so because 
 they are conspicuously located. There are several hun- 
 dred in the town as old or older than I am, but who live 
 with their families or friends. There are people in this 
 and other towns of our state who are alive and active at 
 the ages of 120 to 125 years. The main reason for this 
 general longevity is, a healthy, long-lived stock or an- 
 cestry — a good, sound constitution being the best heri- 
 tage. With this advantage to start life with, the things 
 
EECIPROCITT. 151 
 
 needed to promote longevity are : nourishing food, active 
 occupation in congenial employment, absence of worry 
 and struggle for a living, temperate and virtuous habits, 
 fortitude in trouble, and a cheerful inclination to look on 
 the bright side of life. Under such favorable conditions 
 it is not to be wondered at that people live to 100 years 
 of age, but rather that they do not live to 150 years. Let 
 me add that I am convinced that, under improved con- 
 ditions — mainly that long-lived ancestry be the basis — 
 an average age of 200 years may yet be the privilege of 
 the human race.' 
 
 We soon parted for the night, each seeking his couch 
 in a search for rest and forffetfulness. As for me this 
 repose did not come at once. The events of the day, the 
 new phases of practical philanthropy in the philosophy of 
 life which I had Avitnessed, the glow of humanity which 
 lighted up an existence that had not the poetry of the 
 hope of an immortality to make it an abiding faith in a 
 life of disappointed ambitions, the strong convictions o^ 
 intelligent men of sane minds and logical habits of 
 thought and action, their philosophic resignation to the 
 fate they deemed to be inevitable — these and other and 
 perhaps more puzzling thoughts kept sleep at bay for an 
 hour or more. The fiscal system, as explained to me by 
 the younger "Wellman, but which I did not clearly com- 
 prehend, further excited my brain ; and it was only after 
 a determined effort to shake off these distractions that I 
 succeeded in going to sleep, but not into a dreamless one? 
 for my fancies in shape of grotesque figures and curious 
 happenings chased after me in a tantalizing way. 
 
152 RKCIPEOCITT. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The PATRiARcn's Sunday Sermon — How Thirtieth 
 Century Houses are Built. 
 
 The morning of my first Sunday in this wonderful 
 town of the future was indeed worthy of its name. The 
 air was balmy, the blue sky unflecked by cloudlets and 
 undimmed by haze, for there was no smoke of combustion 
 anywhere to dull the air. I arose before the sun was 
 visible, made my toilet quickly and joined the family in 
 time to take part by my presence in the usual morning 
 invocation to the Sun-deity. 
 
 The breakfast was, if anything, more enjoyable than 
 any previous one, largely, I fancied, from the circum- 
 stance that I had begun to feel more in accord with my 
 new environment. The conversation at the table was 
 cheerful, as usual, and the anecdotes crisp and amusing. 
 Wit without a sting and humor without malice were fully 
 and most charmingly illustrated in this family breakfast 
 table talk. 
 
 After the meal an hour or two was passed in looking 
 over the Sunday papers, which, in addition to the news of 
 happenings in all parts of the world, contained many 
 articles on subjects of general interest. They had been 
 delivered at the house shortly before we left the table. 
 These papers were really magazines in form and makeup, 
 being in small, two-column pages, folded and stitched, 
 with covers printed in colors. They were finely illus- 
 trated. A feature which I liked in them was that they 
 
RECIPROCITY. 163 
 
 contained no long or continued stories, no blood-curdling 
 accounts of murders, burglaries, assaults or suicides ; no 
 sensational reports of scandalous divorce cases. Noting 
 these and other omissions of the Sunday and daily papers 
 of the twentieth century, I began to wonder if there were 
 any breaches of the law calling for action of the courts 
 in this new era, and asked Judge Wellman about it. He 
 said : 
 
 * In the large cities there are still occurrences of crime, 
 I regret to say, but nothing like what prevailed even a 
 hundred years back. The efforts of the reform elements 
 of society in the past 800 or 900 years have been aimed 
 at elimination of crime by prevention of propagation of 
 criminals. This has been largely accomplished through 
 life imprisonment of confirmed criminals and separation 
 of the sexes. The rule in this respect is so strict that in 
 prisons for women no men are employed or allowed to 
 visit, not even men doctors. Insane people, degenerates, 
 those with homicidal and other dangerous manias, thieves 
 and others similarly afflicted, are confined for life. If any 
 of these unfortunates should have had offspring before 
 commitment, these children are cared for by the pubHc, 
 and carefully watched and trained. Should they develop 
 the hereditary traits, measures are taken to prevent 
 them from perpetuating the affliction. 
 
 ' In this way, what may be called undesirable strains 
 or breeds of men have been largely eliminated from our 
 population, and with their disappearance has come a most 
 remarkable decrease of crime, insanity and idiocy, so that 
 these afflictions have now become comparatively rare. 
 
154 RBCIPROCITT. 
 
 AVe long age recognized the wisdom of such precaution- 
 ary measures to rid society of undesirable and dangerous 
 elements, and our raidvvives and surgeons are careful to 
 see that no malformed or idiotic infants survive, to be a 
 shame and sorrow to parents and a burden to the com- 
 mune.' 
 
 ' What do you do with consumptives and persons who 
 are afflicted with chronic, incurable or contagious dis- 
 eases?' I asked. 
 
 ' If we should have contagious cases we would isolate 
 them until recovery or death, and if we cannot cure them 
 we make their lives as bearable and as comfortable as 
 possible. The children of consumptives, if they have 
 any, are carefully looked after. But, as a matter of fact, 
 we have no consumptives or others afflicted with diseases 
 of a contagious nature in this town, and have not had for 
 over a hundred years. Very few suffer from chronic ail- 
 ments, and they are mostly treated at the general hospital 
 on the town farm. Our system of building up healthy 
 bodies, promoting correct habits of life and good morals 
 has proved its wisdom by the good results achieved by 
 it everywhere,' he replied. 
 
 ' One more question,' I said, ' and this in regard to 
 another of the peculiarities of your newspapers — can 
 you tell me why there are no advertisements of stores 
 and the goods they have on sale, or about new products 
 and manufactures?' 
 
 ' I think 1 can explain it to you,' he said. ' As stores 
 are owned by the people, they are supposed to and do 
 keep all kind of goods called for or in use, as well as new 
 
EECIPROCITT. 155 
 
 household, personal and other supplies on the market, 
 and to sell them at uniform prices, so there can be no 
 competition or underselling between them. As fortunes 
 can not be made by storekeepers, who are only agents of 
 the commune and must sell at fixed rates of profit over 
 cost, there is no reason for them to advertise their wares 
 and induce people to buy beyond their wants. Indeed 
 competition in business is antagonistic to the spirit and 
 practice of the co-operative system, which is the leading 
 principle of our modern industrial civilization. In the 
 days when competition ruled even the people who patron- 
 ized the bargain stores had to pay the cost of advertising 
 as well as the profit of the dealer. When anything in 
 the way of dress goods, household conveniences, novelties, 
 mechanical and other new inventions are received at the 
 stores — we are always on the look-out for new things — 
 they are announced in all the local papers as matters of 
 news, and once every three months we publish a list of 
 all the leading articles on sale in them. There is no loss 
 to the publishers by this method, as they are employed 
 by the commune as we are.' 
 
 ' Do you have to pay for the metropolitan papers that 
 come to you daily?' I inquired, 
 
 ' The papers of New York and Boston,' he said, ' are 
 supplied at a nominal price of about one dollar a year, 
 and each town subscribes for one copy for every family 
 in the commune. Each family is held to reimburse the 
 commune for its share of the cost. If any one wants to 
 take a Montreal or other Canadian or American paper 
 he must subscribe and pay for it. For example, I take a 
 
156 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 Montreal paper and pay for it in advance. It costs in 
 this way two dollars a year. Our local publications cost 
 us nothing directly.' 
 
 We talked of other things until the patriarch and his 
 wife came in, greeted us, and staid a few minutes to 
 chat. Then we, the patriarch, his wife and I, took seats 
 in a carriage, the other members of the family following 
 in a much larger vehicle. The day was growing quite 
 warm. I remarked that it might probably be hot in the 
 lecture hall, but the patriarch said, with a touch of hu- 
 mor, that we should have an abundant supply of cool air 
 ♦from above,' via the underground air conduit. We 
 went on leisurely, in company with scores of other vehi- 
 hicles bound in the same direction — the town mansion 
 and its varied attractions. 
 
 When we reached the lecture hall we found quite a 
 large audience assembled, the spacious auditorium being 
 comfortably filled with people, young and middle-aged, 
 men and women in about equal numbers. Seating me 
 with his wife near the platform, the venerable man step- 
 ped up on to it with the nimbleness of an active man of 
 middle age. His address, while not long, was delivered 
 in a strong yet gentle voice and impressive manner. He 
 said, in substance: 
 
 ' Neighbors and Friends — This is Sunday, the day of 
 the Sun — that glorious luminary, parent of our earth, 
 our creator and sustainer, that showers down his blessings 
 upon all things animate and inanimate ; that is as tender 
 and loving in his benignity as he is terrible in liis mani- 
 festations of power ; that is majestic iu all things ! 
 
RECIPROCITY. 157 
 
 <Tt is fitting tbat we observe this first day of the week, 
 which has been dedicated to the parent parent luminary, 
 as a day of rest from labor and of rejoicing in the great 
 boon of conscious existence ; a time for thought and re- 
 flection, and of opportunity to contemplate our relations 
 to one another and to the universe. 
 
 'There are two fundamental facts in nature, as opera- 
 tive in our own life as in that of our earth, our sun, and 
 the millions of suns and worlds that circle in the bound- 
 less etherial space of the universe. One of these, a pro- 
 duct of the ether, is matter ; the other, and perhaps a 
 co-ordinate product, is energy. At least they are always 
 coexistent, conjoined. Matter, from our ephemeral point 
 of view, tends to stability, energy to change. To the 
 action of energy upon or rather in matter, and to the 
 interaction of both, all natural phenomena are due. The 
 long physical history of our earth has been one of con- 
 tinuous change, even before it was detached from the 
 parent nebula, the sun, to whose bosom it will, in all 
 probability return, when in the process of re-creation the 
 parent body will draw in its scattered family, resolve it- 
 self into nebula, and again begin the work of producing 
 worlds pregnant with organic life. The changes in the 
 individual history of our earth have been progressive, 
 from what may be termed inorganic or chemical reactions 
 to organic products; that is, to things having definite 
 forms and growth and the reproductive faculty— -of 
 brief existence and quick renewal — processes in which 
 the phenomenon we call life was evolved. These organic 
 products, at first simple in structure, became in time 
 
158 
 
 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 more complex, gradually evolving newer and higher 
 forms of life — processes of re-creation most wonderful 
 and astonishing in themselves — until these advanced 
 efforts of change and differentiation culminated in the 
 thinking and reasoning animal, man : a wonder to himself, 
 and in his nascent intellectual state a creator of gods or 
 deities after his own image, which he naturally endowed 
 with his own attributes to an exaggerated degree. 
 
 ' We do not know how long a period of time in the 
 world's organic history elapsed before the development 
 of the faculty of speech in our rude ancestors — a faculty 
 which must have been preceded by that of reason in a 
 crude form. We can only guess at the length of that 
 time, but it must have been many ages after evolution 
 from primitive ancestors that man developed speech. 
 From the time of this achievement, however, man has 
 been a progressive creature, advancing in cunning and 
 knowledge, until his mastery over all other animals gave 
 him the dominion of the earth. 
 
 * This intelligence, this cunning, which enabled man to 
 subdue the lower animals, also, when it was possessed in 
 a superior degree, enabled some individual man to obtain 
 the mastery over those of his own kind who were of less 
 vigor and of lower intelligence and cunning. Hence the 
 one who possessed the faculty of controlling others or of 
 combining with others of a like capacity, and of domi- 
 nating even these, in time became powerful, and increased 
 his power until it embraced great numbers. These he 
 organized into militant groups, and with them conquered 
 other peoples. In this way nations were formed, the 
 
EECIPKOCITT. 159 
 
 conquered peoples being absorbed by their conquerors. 
 Thus the ancient nations, from the nature of their forma- 
 tion, inherited the one-man power, as exemplified later 
 in the rule of kings and emperors. 
 
 * The people toiled while their rulers schemed ; they 
 fought and destroyed one another to settle the quarrels 
 or further the ambitions of their rulers. But all this 
 strife and domination was not an unmixed evil. The 
 mechanic arts were cultivated, architecture, painting, 
 sculpture and education were encouraged, and even hus- 
 bandry was favored under the rule of tyrants, while 
 freedom of thought developed intelligence in defiance of 
 edict and persecution. 
 
 *In some instances, led by more intelligent men, the 
 people revolted against their oppressors and formed co- 
 operative governments or commonwealths, in which the 
 rulers were elected by the people. But these soon fell 
 under the control of patrician classes, the common people 
 having but little real influence in government. The 
 power simply shifted from one man to a number of men ; 
 from one great king to several smaller ones. These spas- 
 modic efforts of the people, while they usually failed to 
 realize what was desired, were not without influence in 
 preparing men's minds for more liberal institutions, in 
 which the sovereignty of the peoj^le became more clearly 
 defined and recognized. But the experiment of popular 
 sovereignty, as you all know, was only successful finally 
 in its best sense on this American continent, where the 
 common people were not fettered by traditional customs 
 and patrician classes, though for many years the country 
 
160 EECIPROCITT. 
 
 afterward struggled industrially under the rule of a class 
 who accumulated great wealth by exploiting the natural 
 resources of the earth, its mineral deposits and its great 
 forests, as their own exclusive property, and therewith 
 controlled and even moulded legislation in the direction 
 of their own individual interests as against those of the 
 masses of the people. 
 
 * One of the most potent influences in human affairs 
 was the phenomenon known as religion, its priests and 
 ministers being important personages in all the early 
 ages of world history — vastly more so than their deserv- 
 ing, for, no matter how earnest and honest they may 
 have been in believing themselves to be direct agents of 
 higher powers or intelligences, practically they claimed 
 and acted under false pretences. All the older religions 
 had their origin in the worship of nature, and grew out 
 of a natural awe at the sight of the mighty forces evi- 
 dently at work and yet inexplicable. Not comprehending 
 these phenomena, they naturally concluded that the pro- 
 cesses involved were either under the control of a mighty 
 power or were self-moved or guided by their own hidden 
 intelligence. Seeing evidences of life in all the powers 
 and objects of nature they proceeded to invest them with 
 the personalities and attributes of beings of great potency 
 and influence. They saw their own passions and con- 
 ditions reflected in the events of nature. They credited 
 the beings dwelling in the skies, the stars or even in the 
 storms, with feelings, emotions and quarrels like their 
 own. "When the destructive powers of nature were at 
 rest they imagined that these beings were at peace among 
 
KECIPROCITT. 161 
 
 themselves. But when storms prevailed, these beings 
 were angry and at war. Meanwhile their awe at the 
 manifestations of more than human power, and the great 
 mystery of it all led them to give to these supposed 
 beings the place of gods. To propitiate and please these 
 gods, and avert their anger, burnt offerings and supplica- 
 cations were made. Thus was worship of the elemental 
 gods established. Later these gods were represented by 
 idols innumerable in the more enlightened early nations, 
 while fetish worship, the lowest form of idolatry, pre- 
 vailed among the most barbarous peoples, the fetich or 
 rude image being worshipped as a god. 
 
 ' Second only to the rulers of the people, whom they 
 invested with a " divine right " to rule and oppress, the 
 priests of the early religions were a most powerful cult, 
 and indeed later became, in some instances, temporal as 
 well as spiritual rulers. Their sway, often both cruel 
 and oppressive, was always inimical to progress, for they 
 were satisfied with things as they were and dreaded the 
 idea of change that might unseat them from the chair of 
 power. But the gods of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Jews, 
 Greeks, Romans, Christians and Mohammedans are no 
 longer worshipped in the old, confiding and abiding faith. 
 With their hierarchs, their popes, their priests, and their 
 pompous, gorgeous ceremonies and symbolisms, they have 
 passed away in the processes of change or world develop- 
 ment. Today not one of the old god-religions survives. 
 The principal one of the ancient religions which has an 
 influence on modern ethical thought is Buddhism, though 
 the ethical bases of most religions are intimately related. 
 
162 
 
 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 Divested of most of the parasitic absurdities that became 
 attached to it in the course of time, the predominent ten- 
 dency of Buddhism towards intellectuality has reconciled 
 it to modern scientific thought. It does not believe in a 
 personal god, but in a great and all-pervading power 
 beyond the idea of a mere personality. The ethics of 
 this religion are simple and easily practised. It has 
 nothing mysterious or superstitious in its makeup. Its 
 golden rule is : Stop doing what is wrong, which is against 
 the reason of things ; do whatever is good, which advances 
 the course of reason in this life, and, finally, help those 
 who are still behind and weary of life to realize enlight- 
 ment. This is in the fullest accord with the religion of 
 intelligence and humanity which we endeavor to practise 
 today. 
 
 ' One of the most powerful and influential of the world 
 religions was Christianity, which had its origin in Asia 
 Minor in a socialistic movement of the lower classes of 
 the Jewish people, who chafed under Roman rule, and 
 hailed the man Jesus as their messiah or deliverer. The 
 socialistic teachings of this man, as interpreted by his 
 disciples, struck a responsive chord in the hearts of the 
 downtrodden people of the whole Roman empire, and it 
 soon spread to Greece and the Mediteranean countries of 
 Europe, and beyond. In the beginning, in the Roman 
 empire especially, Christianity had an elevating influence 
 upon the lower elements of the people. It gave them a 
 comforting hope of a life beyond their present wretched 
 existence, where their wrongs would be righted, and their 
 virtues and sacrifices recognized and rewarded. It was 
 
BECIPROCITT. 163 
 
 a poor man's religion at first, and hence spread widely 
 and rapidly. It pictured to the common people a com- 
 passionate heavenly father, who, if he permitted injustice 
 to be done them would, in his own good time, avenge 
 their wrongs by punishing their persecutors. It seemed 
 never to have occurred to them that a god who had the 
 power to punish injustice ought to have the power to 
 prevent it. But illogical as the religion was in this and 
 other respects, it gave them a higher idea of their own 
 manhood, which was most welcome to them in their 
 lowly condition. This doctrine, while it encouraged for- 
 titude, led logically to a wrong estimation of the real 
 purpose and importance of human life, by making it 
 merely a probationary stage to an after existence. In 
 the enthusiasm of conviction, it allured to the belief that, 
 to gain the full rewards of that life, men and women 
 were justified in practising self-torture and self-abnega- 
 tion and leading a miserable existence, which, rightly 
 directed would no doubt have been one of enjoyment, at 
 the least. It makes me sad to reflect what misery, what 
 suffering and wretchedness poor humanity has been 
 made to endure by following the teachings of the priests 
 of superstition; while wars incited by them and persecu- 
 tions to death of myriads of honest men who refused to 
 subscribe to their illogical doctrines or inventions fill me 
 with such loathing and horror that at times I regret ever 
 having read the blood-stained pages of ecclesiastical his- 
 tory, the more so when I further reflect that the men 
 who incited those wars and lighted the brands of perse- 
 tion believed that they were serving a merciful god. 
 
164 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 ' The dominance of priestcraft continued for ages, 
 modified, however, in its latest stages by the growing 
 intelligence of the people, which impelled it to relax its 
 hold upon humanity. Then science, the handmaid of 
 truth, came like an angel of mercy to the rescue, illumi- 
 nated men's minds by showing the absurdity of all myth- 
 ology, from nature worship, through paganism, down to 
 Christism. Science, in the nineteenth and twentieth 
 centuries of the present era, showed by well proven facts 
 and by clear and irrefutable reasoning, that all phenomena 
 manifested in the earth and in the universe were of na- 
 tural origin and sequence ; that those of the earth were 
 derived from our sun, and by the worlds existing outside 
 our system from other great dispensers of energy in the 
 cosmos. The revolt of the great universities against the 
 dissemination of theological instruction gave the final 
 blow to priestcraft. 
 
 * The old beliefs or superstitions — notably the Jewish, 
 which was a race religion — were, however, so rooted in 
 in the minds of believers and so warped and controlled 
 their social life and habits, that it required hundreds of 
 years of enlightenment to neutralize them. Men first 
 ceased to believe, but the promise of an existence beyond 
 this life, which common sense and reason showed the 
 utter absurdity of, still gave the loving heart of the 
 Christian woman the fond hope of again seeing the babes 
 and other dear ones taken from her by death — this hope 
 still held women in the faith and delayed the final ex- 
 tinction of the superstition; and it was only after the 
 rationalist elements of society obtained control of the 
 
BKCIPROCITT. 165 
 
 training and education of the young that satisfactory 
 progress was made towards the emancipation of humanity 
 from the thraldom of this extravagance of religion. 
 
 *This came slowly and through the gradual enlighten- 
 ment of the people, and it was not until three hundred 
 years ago that the change was finally wrought in these 
 American states and Canada, and men and women be- 
 came rational beings. Then they took charge of their 
 own spiritual or rather mental affairs, and instead of 
 abandoning the enjoyment of the life in their possession 
 for one beyond their reach, a mythical heaven, they at 
 once established a practical heaven here on earth, where 
 they can enjoy life according to their capacity for such 
 enjoyment, where love and justice rule, where all men 
 and women are equal, where universal brotherhood is not 
 merely a figure of speech but an actual truth, and where 
 people are happiest in doing good and in making others 
 happier. The Christians worshipped in Jesus the ideal 
 man. We aim to make the actual man as near to the 
 ideal one as conduct and character can produce. 
 
 ' Let me say, in conclusion, that the industrial develop- 
 ment of the world was retarded for ages because the same 
 spirit which dominated in spiritual affairs governed the 
 enterprises which employed the people — selfishness. It 
 gave riches and fame to the few, while the masses toiled 
 and sweated under the burden of unfairly requited labor. 
 In the twentieth century, however, due in a large degree 
 to scientific progress and the growing intelligence of the 
 people, the industrial classes of Europe and North Am- 
 erica combined and co-operated until, by persistent action, 
 
166 EECIPKOCITY. 
 
 they practically emancipated themselves from bondage 
 to the capitalist classes. They accom})lished this through 
 political aa well as industrial combination, and then, hav- 
 ing obtained legislative su})remacy, at first placed the 
 minor public utilities under public control and then the 
 major ones. These included all the industries. Then, 
 in the course of progress, the form of public control was 
 changed to public ownership, the interstate and interna- 
 tional systems of transportation being acquired by the 
 general government, while local utilities, industries and 
 and realties were acquired by the states and municipali- 
 ties for the people, to be owned and operated in their 
 interest and behalf. In this way there was secured to 
 all the people employment in the various occupations at 
 remunerative rates, which enabled, still enables and will 
 continue to enable the people to pursue and enjoy happi- 
 ness along: lines and in a wav that their forefathers of 
 eight or nine hundred years back may have struggled 
 and hoped for but never fully realized.' 
 
 Having concluded his discourse, the patriarch bowed 
 acknowledgment of the applause of the audience, and 
 with his wife and I left the hall. When outside he asked 
 if I would like to visit the concert hall, theatre, or any 
 of the other places of amusement. I said I would prefer 
 to take a ride around the town, as I contemplated going 
 back to the city on the morrow. His good wife agreed 
 to accompany us. By this time the cool wind from the 
 White Mountains had tempered the heat of the day and 
 made riding on the excellent roads, amid enchanting sce- 
 nery, a great enjoyment for the stranger. We chatted 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 167 
 
 about various matters suggested by the lecture, and the 
 patriarch said: 
 
 'The subject was a broad one, and my discourse was, 
 as you no doubt noted, simply a running commentary on 
 all the matters treated.' 
 
 ' You will pardon me,' I said, ' for thinking that in the 
 treatment of the subject of religion you were rather se- 
 vere and even unjust in your comments on the agency of 
 priests and ministers. I have known many good, consci- 
 entious and even liberal-minded men in the profession, 
 whose labors for the good of society were most marked 
 and beneficial among peoples needing moral stimulus. It 
 is true that they may have been conservative, as was 
 perhaps natural with men who aimed to do good in the 
 way they were trained to do, and their devotion to what 
 they believed to be a most sacred calling, in which they 
 inculcated charity, truth, righteousness, justice, temper- 
 ance and virtue, had a most important influence in making 
 people better and thus improving society.' 
 
 'What you say is no doubt true in regard to ministers 
 of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,' said the old 
 man, 'but my retrospect embraced periods in ecclesiasti- 
 cal history when arrogance and intolerance characterized 
 the Christian church and its ministers; when the priests 
 who preached forgiveness were implacable against all 
 doubters ; serving a god of love they dealt out hate to 
 their kind; a god of mercy, and they showed no mercy 
 to those under the ban of the church's displeasure. Do 
 you think I was unjust or too severe with people who 
 tortured to death and massacred fellow beings simply for 
 
168 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 difference of opinion? I know it may appear unjust to 
 even seem to condemn a class of good and tolerant men 
 for acts of intolerance of their predecessors. Doubtless 
 they reflected the spirit of the civilization of their age 
 rather than that of "peace on earth and good will to 
 men," which seems have been realized after the demise 
 of ecclesiasticism. I can not therefore modify the views 
 expressed though they may seem unjust to the good men 
 you have known, and who no doubt by their liberal views 
 and teachings contributed in no small measure to the 
 eventual realization of civilization's grandest triumph, 
 the brotherhood of man.' 
 
 ' You spoke of Buddhism as the only one of the more 
 ancient forms of religion that survives at this time,' I 
 remarked. 
 
 ' I did not mean or say that it survived as a religion, 
 in its early Indian form, with its doctrine of Nirvana, 
 which, however, if it means that when life is ended we 
 cease to exist, it is not in conflict with our own concep- 
 tion of the end of human life. Buddhism as we know 
 it is a form of moral philosophy rather than of worship 
 — essentially an ethical cult, if such it can be called. 
 The Buddhist conception of the deity is vastly broader 
 than was the most advanced idea of the Christian god, 
 which was the Jehovah of the Jews ; a despotic person- 
 age, of militant disposition and easily moved to anger. 
 To the Buddhist the deity is above and beyond the idea 
 of personality — is an all-j^ervading power, has no sex, 
 and compasses and comprehends all that has been, is, and 
 will be. The Buddhists believe that all things in nature 
 
RECIPEOCITY. 169 
 
 come from the same ultimate source, which is all-power- 
 ful, embraces all knowledge and all beneficence. They 
 do not believe in original sin, but acknowledge the exist- 
 ence of ignorance, and insist upon its total removal as 
 the surest means to the regeneration of the human race. 
 In these and other common-sense matters we are in full 
 accord with them.' 
 
 ' Are there Buddhist churches in this country ?' I asked. 
 
 ' No,' he replied. ' We have no churches for worship. 
 Our schools have supplanted them as teachers of ethics. 
 The principles of that philosophy permeate our daily life 
 and all our institutions. With the superstitious forms 
 and ceremonies which may have crept into Buddhism in 
 its life history we have nothing to do.' 
 
 'Are there not sects among Buddhists as there were 
 among Christians?' I queried. 
 
 'In one sense, yes,' he replied. 'In many non-essen- 
 tials men do not all agree, and in that sense there may 
 be sects. There is no rivalry or jealousy among them. 
 They agree to disagree.' 
 
 ' Have the descendants of Jews and Christians retained 
 any of their old religious rites and ceremonies?' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes,' he said. ' Some of them practise some of the 
 simplest of the rites in their homes, I believe, showing 
 the truth of the adage that superstition dies hard. These 
 ceremonies are regarded with curiosity rather than with 
 the old time fervor. They prevail mostly among Jewish 
 descendants.' 
 
 ' The Jews are a tenacious people. They have been 
 subject to persecution everywhere,' I remarked. 
 
170 KECIPROCTTT. 
 
 ' Except in the United States, you might have added, 
 and with perhaps more reason than humanitarians would 
 desire to admit. In the first place they were the most 
 conceited race on earth, believing themselves to be the 
 chosen people of God. This preposterous conceit made 
 them exclusive, deeming themselves superior to all other 
 races. They were further confirmed in their conceit by 
 the fact that the sect of Christians, which originated 
 among them, adopted their Bible and their God. The 
 Jews persecuted the early Christians and incited their 
 Roman masters against them. For this and for their 
 racial conceit and exclusiveness, the Christians, when 
 broader and more humanitarian philosophy gave them the 
 world power, so to speak, in turn perscuted that ultra- 
 conceited people whom they also hated with a most un- 
 christian hatred. But in the last two centuries, when the 
 bonds of racial and religious exclusiveness have been cast 
 off and the descendants of Abraham have mingled their 
 blood with that of the Gentile, there has been a wonder- 
 ful change, and there is now little or no Jewish racial 
 conceit and exclusiveness,' said the patriarch. 
 
 ' Has legislation had anything to do in the decadence 
 of the old religions ? ' I inquired. 
 
 ' Nothing whatever,' he said. ' The intelligence of the 
 people, which had made them thoughtful, and the moral 
 courage which came vsdth conviction, mainly contributed 
 to the result. It was simply a matter of evolution, as 
 inevitable as it was logical, and is no doubt a prelude to 
 other changes-' 
 
 'In your lecture, Mr. Wellman, you said that it was 
 
EKCIPROCITT. 171 
 
 only after rationalists had assximed control of the educa- 
 tion of the young that the world was emancipated from 
 Christian superstition, and that this change came slowly 
 through the gradual enlightenment of the people. Were 
 the people not enlightened before that?' 
 
 *They were, in a great measure, but not to the extent 
 of taking upon themselves the responsibility of condemn- 
 ing the creeds which they had ceased to believe and were 
 no longer matters of faith. This sequentially led to the 
 changes which followed. The Bible story of the creation, 
 the birth of Eve, the fall of Adam and the consquences 
 thereof to the human race, one of the most dreaded being 
 death — as if death were not as necessary to progress 
 as birth, and quite as natural — were regarded as fables 
 hundreds of years before the final decadence of Christian 
 theology ; but the churches clung to them, and with their 
 scheme of salvation (saving from what ?) made the sacri- 
 fice of one human life the key to the redemption of the 
 human race — not from superstition, certainly, which they 
 did so much to perpetuate.' 
 
 ' But if Christianity was based on fable,' I persisted, 
 ' is it not strange that many thousands of the brightest 
 minds of the ages honestly believed in and advocated it, 
 and even sacrificed their lives for it?' 
 
 'No. Other religions, no more illogical and absurd 
 than Christianity, which existed longer than it did, had 
 their intelligent believers, advocates and even martjTS, 
 for honest and sincere men of all opinions in every age 
 have been willing to and actually have suffered death for 
 their convictions. That proves nothing more than the 
 
172 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 sincerity and heroism of the sufferers — not, at least, the 
 truth of the conflicting beliefs for which they were sacri- 
 ficed. All the old religions had their uses in the evolu- 
 tion of human society, or at least they exerted a potential 
 influence on the affairs of nations, whether for good or 
 evil is a matter of opinion.' 
 
 ' But,' I said, ' surely a religion that existed as long as 
 Christianity did must have had more than fable to sup- 
 port it.' 
 
 ' The moral basis of it,' he replied, ' is as old as human 
 civilization, even older, for it must have existed during 
 barbarism in some degree. The fabulous feature was, 
 however, the most fascinating to the imaginative mind 
 of the ignorant masses, who would be more inclined to 
 accept the marvellous than the tamer truth. Take the 
 doctrine of " original sin," for example. According to 
 the Mosaic account, the woman Eve was created in a 
 most impossible manner, to be a companion to her father 
 Adam, his wife, in fact. Indeed he was both her father 
 and her mother. As male and female they were like 
 other animals, endowed with organs of generation, and 
 yet, because they exercised this function, which we know 
 was the leading one in procreative nature, this pair of 
 "immortals" were condemned to death and their poster- 
 ity after them. The flimsy reason given for this sentence 
 was that, tempted b}'' a serpent, the woman ate and per- 
 suaded the man to eat the fruit of " the tree of know- 
 ledge," whatever that allegorical edible may have been. 
 Who but people who accepted such an illogical doctrine 
 and were deterred from questioning it by threat of the 
 
RKCIPROCITY. 173 
 
 dire fate of all unbelievers, would accpt such a story ? 
 
 ' The first human pair, we are told, were created im- 
 mortals, the very idea of which would be absurd to the 
 merest tyro in scientific inquiry, for the most pervasive 
 principle in nature is what we call the law of change, and 
 the inventor of Genesis must therefore have been ignor- 
 ant of this fact. It seems incredible that fables like this 
 were taught as doctrines, or that such utter absurdities 
 could find believers and even advocates. 
 
 'Coupled with this was the doctrine of Immortality of 
 the soul or spirit of man — a doctrine which originated 
 in the dreams of our rude progenitors, in which memory 
 recalled dead friends, whose forms appeared as if still 
 in the enjoymet of life. Looked at from a rational point 
 of view, the human race is as immortal, if immortality 
 is continuance for an indefinite time, as the earth itself, 
 of which man is an offspring. But immortality of the 
 race and immortality of the individual are two very dif- 
 ferent propositions. The life that is transmitted through 
 parents is not difficult to comprehend. But the idea of 
 an individual spirit or soul existing after the organism 
 which gave it birth, sustained and developed it had ceased 
 to exist, is simply an illogical, absurd proposition. 
 
 *Can you conceive of a soul or spirit — the mind, in 
 fact — which is the endowment of a human organism, 
 the expression of that organism indeed, taking flight at 
 the dissolution of the body and still exercising certain 
 functions of that body in some place as shadowy as itself, 
 a heaven or a hell, with all the accessories of either place 
 to make it happy or to torture it, "for all eternity?" 
 
174 KBCIPROCITT. 
 
 » There never was a human intelligence which was not 
 based upon a physical organism built up and maintained 
 by the destruction and absorption of other organisms 
 employed as food. You never heard a human voice that 
 did not come directly or indirectly from the action of the 
 lungs, vocal chords, mouth and tongue of a living human 
 being. How can a soul or spirit hear or see without ears 
 and eyes? feel without a nervous system? walk without 
 legs and feet ? think or remember without a brain ? In 
 fact, in this world of organic growth and change, can a 
 spirit or soul exist without a physical organism and sub- 
 ject to all the requirements and needs of such a human 
 organism? 
 
 ' The Christian plan or scheme of salvation, also, would 
 seem to have been unnecessary as well as illogical. The 
 consequence of the " sin " of Adam was said to be death, 
 but death is a natural process in the renewal of life, in 
 the immortality of succession. There needed no resur- 
 rection of the dead body to insure this. Therefore the 
 doctrine of "the atonement" through the vicarious death 
 of a Savior was unnecessary, and seems to have been 
 invented to fit the Mosaic story of the creation and "the 
 fall of man " from a high estate to that of common mor- 
 tality. The latter hypothesis was amply disproven by 
 eminent scientists of the nineteenth century — notably 
 by the investigations of Charles Darwin, the great Eng- 
 lish naturalist, as shown in his " Origin of Species " and 
 " Descent of Man " — who showed that man, instead of 
 being descended from a godlike Adam and Eve, came 
 down through a series of lower organic forms, and 
 
BBCLPKOCITT. 175 
 
 developed finally from a strain of anthropoids. Thus, by 
 scientific inquiry and common sense, were the founda- 
 tions of Christian dogmas undermined ; but when this 
 became evident it was also realized that these dogmas 
 were not essential to the true religion of humanity, which 
 had already pervaded the practical life of the churches, 
 and which made the final transition to the humanitarian 
 religion of our time an easy and natural one.' 
 
 ' In regard to the changes from private to public own- 
 ership of the lands, industries and utilities,' I said, ' were 
 those changes attended with much friction, rioting or 
 bloodshed?' 
 
 ' No,' he replied, ' but there was agitation and strenu- 
 ous political effort. The successive changes were brought 
 about by peaceful legislation from time to time. A people 
 who would, under a liberal form of popular government, 
 resort to revolution and bloodshed to accomplish their 
 ends would not be well conditioned to settle down to 
 a life of peaceful co-operation such as we now enjoy. 
 No ; though there were demagogues who sought to fo- 
 ment class hatred, the good common sense of the people 
 rejected their counsels and the reforms desired were 
 accomplished in a peaceful, equitable way.' 
 
 'Are there any wars .between nations or peoples now? 
 I asked. 
 
 ' No ; for the good reason that there is nothing to 
 quarrel about or fight for which cannot be settled by the 
 world congress of the nations. Every nation owns its 
 territory, or rather the people in their corporate or co- 
 operative capacity own it as well as all the industries and 
 
176 EBCIPEOCITY. 
 
 other utilities pertaining to it. They are satisfied with 
 what they have and do not covet the lands and indus- 
 trial assets of their neighbors. This applies to nations 
 as well as to communes, and being the case there is not 
 anything in this direction to quarrel about. In inter- 
 course between peoples and nations there sometimes may 
 occur misunderstandings or clashing of interests in mat- 
 ters of trade, but where both parties are desirous only of 
 justice being done such troubles can be and usually are 
 easily settled,' he said. 
 
 ' Has the world's congress the physical power to make 
 its decrees operative?' I asked. 
 
 'It has what is much better and more effective, because 
 it is not physical. That is, the moral power, backed by 
 the best opinion and best conscience of mankind. Be- 
 sides, in this age of general individuality, when every 
 man owns himself, there are no leaders, and there is 
 none who would attempt to or could persuade men to 
 resort to violence when common sense and a desire for 
 simple justice could and should settle any controversy. 
 No, no! ' said the patriarch, emphatically, 'man has out- 
 grown his militant moods, and finds more satisfaction in 
 doing right than in upholding wrong, thus avoiding the 
 causes of contentions and strife. It is very simple and 
 very pleasant to do right, and when all men adopt this 
 rule and live up to it they have acquired the best philo- 
 sophy of life.' 
 
 I could but agree with him as to the wisdom of such 
 practices, but it seemed almost too ideal for human na- 
 ture as I had known it. Yet when I considered the 
 
T?ECIPKOCITT. 177 
 
 centuries of commonsense treatment of the young, the 
 careful training and practical moral teaching which I 
 had seen so pleasantly exemplified in the schools, I had 
 to admit to myself that such results were not improbable. 
 Given a normal brain in a healthy body, under favoring 
 conditions of life, I thought, the possibility of producing 
 the approximately perfect man seemed quite reasonable. 
 But I could not quite grasp the thought that men had 
 abandoned all belligerent habits, and asked : 
 
 'Have the nations no navies, armies or militia?' 
 
 *No. They have no use for them. Men now cannot 
 be persuaded or coerced into forming combinations the 
 ultimate purpose of which is the murder and subversion 
 of their fellow creatures. This most revolting system of 
 our early civilization, often the result of commercial 
 competition between nations, has vanished with the ad- 
 vent of the co-operative system. Competition in trade, 
 the mother of corruption and dishonesty the world over, 
 is dead beyond resurrection, and the world rejoices in a 
 new industrial and social birth.' 
 
 I was satisfied with the answer, and pursued my inqui- 
 ries no further. We were in a thinly settled section of 
 the town, that is, a section of small farms, when the patri- 
 arch said: 
 
 'By the way, Mr. Wonder, I promised to let you see 
 something of our methods of house-building by showing 
 you a house in course of construction, but did not have 
 an opportunity of doing so when we last went around. 
 We are now coming to one partly built, where you can 
 see our method of construction sufficiently illustrated for 
 
178 RBCIPROCITY. 
 
 a clear comprehension of it. It is, as you see, a composite 
 structure, being of wood and concrete. I may tell you 
 that hollow concrete blocks are sometimes employed in 
 more expensive buildings, but concrete embracing a 
 wooden frame is now and for many years has been most 
 in vogue. Iron and steel reinforced structures were at 
 one time all the fashion ; they are things of the past, and 
 would be impossible now on account of the scarcity of 
 iron ; but steel would not be chosen today because, even 
 at lower cost, it is not desirable. In the older structures 
 where it was used to strengthen stone and brick work, 
 the electrolytic action of electric ground currents, under 
 the old trolley system, in time impaired and even des- 
 troyed their value as masonry supports. On the other 
 hand, the concrete houses with wooden frames have 
 stood for over eight hundred years, and show no signs 
 of decay or weakness, the concrete preserving the wood 
 in a perfect way.' 
 
 ' But how is the concrete combined with the wood so 
 that when mutual shrinkage occurs after drying, spaces 
 are not left between them ? ' I queried. 
 
 * Such spaces,' he said, ' are almost entirely avoided by 
 preparation of the wood before use in the house frame. 
 In the framing factory or mill — which I did not have 
 the time to show you — the timbers of house-frames are 
 prepared to exact measure and adjustment. They are 
 then seasoned by a process of sun-drying under glass, 
 after which they are put into a bath of silicate of soda or 
 potash, which completely fills the pores of the wood. 
 The lumber is then ready for the builder's use.' 
 
RECIPEOCITY. 179 
 
 "We now alighted at a partly constructed building. It 
 was being erected on a side hill, around which the road 
 was terraced, and the cellar had been blasted in the 
 outcrop of a ledge. The rock taken out, a talcose slate, 
 was used in large pieces with cement to make the cellar 
 wall, which was about two feet in thickness. The scant- 
 ling in the wall was first used to contain the plates of the 
 inside wall box, which were nailed on to them, the outer 
 plates being held inside of uprights, plank after plank 
 being added as the wall progressed upwards. The frame 
 pieces rested on their ends on the levelled cellar wall, 
 no sills being used or needed. The remaining stone from 
 the the cellar excavation was used in the walls, having 
 been crushed and combined with cement and sand in the 
 huge rotary mixer, the resulting mass being turned into 
 the wall boxes and tamped solidly in. Door and window 
 frames to fit the walls and properly braced were placed 
 in position in the wall boxes. The floor and roof timbers 
 were assembled with the other parts of the frame, and 
 as their ends were embraced in the concrete they became 
 attached to it. The outside walls were 15 inches in 
 thickness. The upright timbers being 2 by 5 inches, 
 left a solid concrete wall of 10 inches on the outside. 
 
 "When the walls were run up to the required height 
 and the concrete given time to ' set,' the walls were strip- 
 ped of the mould boards, furring was nailed on on the 
 inside, metal lathing fastened to this, plastering laid on, 
 and finish of any kind desired applied. The floors had 
 strong 3 by 12 timbers, which supported a concrete floor- 
 ing of about 3 inches in thickness laid on woven metal 
 
180 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 wire. The roof was flat and was also composed of wired 
 concrete, like the floors. It had a pitch of about 12 inches 
 to one of the rear corners. On asking the reason of this 
 I was told that as the rainwater would flow in that direc- 
 tion, it being prevented from flowing off at other parts 
 by a slight ridge, it could be discharged down into an 
 underground cistern. The interior partition walls were 
 of concrete laid on to wire, and at or near the centre was 
 a group of concrete tubes, for ventilating the different 
 rooms. These were carried up through the roof in a 
 sort of chimney stack, I was told, an ingeniously con- 
 trived exhaust fan, operated by the air, surmounting the 
 whole. This was combined with a small structure con- 
 taining a roof outlet reached by a stairway. 
 
 When the concrete walls were built, the work of fin- 
 ishing the outside was done. All irregularities of surface 
 were troweled out and a smooth surface secured. Then, 
 after the wall had sufficiently hardened, the surface finish 
 was applied. It was composed of silicates in solution 
 colored to the shade desired. It was put on with a brush, 
 like paint, and when it dried the wall resembled polished 
 stone. It rendered the walls impervious to moisture. 
 The roof was finished with a like compound, and had to 
 be repainted about once in twenty years. 
 
 After leaving the new building we circled around to 
 other sections of the town, and I enjoyed the splendid 
 scenery every moment of the time. The schools were 
 not, of course, in session, but in the village settlements 
 the children were in the open air enjoying themselves, 
 the girls exercising with skipping ropes or swings, and 
 
KECIPEOCITT. 181 
 
 the boys at their little games, or in the groves sporting 
 under the shady trees — delightful sylvan pictures they 
 presented to our view. 
 
 ' How happy they all seem,' said the matron, smiling. 
 * They remind me of my youth and the joyous freshness 
 of existence when I was young. It is the happiest sea- 
 son of life, and its scenes and pleasures are among our 
 most precious memories. I do not, however, regret that 
 I am now old, for I have enjoyed every year of my life, 
 but, if the wish were not absurd, I should like once more 
 to taste the rapture of early existence, with its exuberant 
 spirits and almost boundless capacity for enjoyment.' 
 
 < It is worth having lived for, that at our age we can 
 appreciate the enjoyments of these children,' said the 
 patriarch, 'and share again, in fancy, their sports, plays 
 and other rapturous frolics. It is a privilege we can all 
 enjoy if we can attune our minds to it.' 
 
 * But I do not hear any church bells,' I said, as if re- 
 calling a memory. 
 
 ' No,' said the patriarch, ' we have got rid of that relic 
 as well as many others of the old churchgoing days, in- 
 cluding steam whistles on railways. They were of the 
 ages of strife and unhappiness, when their noise was in 
 keeping with the discordant life of the people. "We do 
 not need or use them in this age, and are, indeed, better 
 without them.' 
 
 I spoke of my return to Boston on the morrow. 
 
 'You will be surprised,' said the patriarch, 'at the 
 changes which have been wrought in that city in the last 
 ten centuries. That you will know it again I doubt. 
 
182 RECIPROCTTT. 
 
 The only places unchanged to any extent in old Boston 
 are the parks, common and public garden. After cross- 
 ing the New Hampshire line you are in the suburbs of 
 that city, which has now a population of ten millions and 
 covers a territory within a radius of thirty miles from 
 the State House. New York City has about thirty mil- 
 lions of people. Boston has subways under most of its 
 streets, its surface ways are used only for light traffic and 
 pleasure travel in road carriages, the subways being for 
 rapid transit along, across and around the city, and for 
 through transportation of heavy freight and express mat- 
 ter. There are no surface trolley roads, the passenger 
 service on the surface — which is carried on only in the 
 outlying sections — being in trackless cars operated by 
 compressed air. Since the earthquake, some six hundred 
 years ago, the tall structures then partly destroyed have 
 been replaced largely by buildings of lower altitude, com- 
 posed of metal frames and opaque wire glass panels. 
 The metal is steel, mixed with a percentage of aluminum, 
 which enables it to resist oxidation without materially 
 reducing its strength. In this way the ten story succes- 
 sors of the old twenty and thirty story buildings give to 
 the original section of the city a better uniformity. 
 
 ' The spreading out of the city has given more room 
 for the people and better sanitary conditions. Instead 
 of being crowded into small tenements, the working 
 people have separate cottages to live in, rear up their 
 their families, and with enough land attached to each to 
 cultivate flowers, vegetables and fruits; where, in fact, 
 they have homes for life in healthy surroundings. The 
 
KECIPROCITY. 183 
 
 larger buildings, the upper stories of which are not used 
 for stores and offices, or for storage of bulky merchandise, 
 are occupied by the families of business men who prefer 
 to live near their places of business. Their homes are 
 very comfortable and healthy, as they occupy only the 
 upper stories, where there is good air and plenty of sun- 
 shine. They also cultivate small flower gardens on the 
 roofs. City life is now far different and more tolerable 
 than it was six hundred years ago.' 
 
 •Are the people of Boston and other large cities ten- 
 ants, as they are here ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes,' he replied. ' The same system of public own- 
 ership prevails there as here. People have a life tenure 
 of their homes and their children after them, if they so 
 desire. I have already explained our system which is 
 the same as theirs.' 
 
 ' How are the affairs of the city administered ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' The city is divided into fifty sections or communes, 
 each of which is self-governing, as we are, and have con- 
 trol of the lands and industries in their sections. Each 
 section, in addition to its local board of officers, elects a 
 commissioner once in ten years. The fifty commissioners 
 constitute a board of government, having charge of the 
 highways, subways, docks, wharves and other matters of 
 general concern. The same methods of operation of the 
 industries prevail in the city communes as with us. The 
 public school system is likewise on the same general plan 
 as ours, only more elaborate and comprehensive, as it 
 includes the universities and other great institutions of 
 learning.' 
 
184 RECIPEOCITT. 
 
 ' I suppose that the employment of electric power is 
 also general there as here,' I said. 
 
 ' Yes ; and they have a source of power there that we 
 can never have. In addition to our sources of power 
 they have the rise and fall of the tides, the amount of 
 power from which is limited only by the extent of the 
 appliances employed to obtain it, for this form of energy 
 is practically unlimited on the sea coasts throughout the 
 the world. Large bodies of tide water are allowed to 
 run into basins at the heads of estuaries through sluice- 
 ways in which turbine wheels are placed to produce 
 power from rise and fall during the greater portion of 
 the twenty-four hours. Then there are vast floats built 
 in basins, inclosed on three sides, along the water front, 
 into which the tide water comes, lifting the floats, and 
 when it recedes they go down again. This tide power, 
 proportioned to the area of the float, is obtained through 
 geared machinery on the inclosing sides, and is something 
 surprising in the aggregate. The upward and downward 
 motion of the floats is slow, to be sure, but the multiply- 
 ing gearing makes it available for all manner of power 
 utility.' 
 
 ' How is this tide power stored ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' In secondary cells when stored chemically from the 
 electric current. But here we are at our journey's end, 
 and I suppose our midday meal is awaiting us, for it is 
 after the noon hour. During siesta we will fm-ther dis- 
 cuss this matter.' 
 
 We left the carriage and entered the house, where an 
 enticing repast was spread for our enjoyment, to which, 
 
EECIPROCITT. 186 
 
 after ablutions, and receiving a hearty welcome from host 
 and hostess, we did ample justice. 
 
 During the siesta the patriarch resumed the subject of 
 the storage of tide power. He said : 
 
 < I was answering your question in regard to the stor- 
 age of energy in Boston and other seaboard places. The 
 tide power which is converted into electric energy is 
 distributed to various sections in storage plants for power 
 and household purposes, as well as for lighting. One of 
 the most extensive uses of this power is for operation of 
 factories, and Boston may be said to comprise in its many 
 districts a great number of these establishments. But 
 not alone are the factories of the city operated by elec- 
 tric power derived from the tides, this power is carried 
 inland for more than a hundred miles, and is often em- 
 ployed as auxiliary to local water powers as well as wind 
 power. 
 
 ' Another form of tide power storage is in compressed 
 air. In this form vast amounts of power are stored along 
 the sea coasts in this and other countries. In places on 
 the Bay of Fundy, where the rise and fall of the tide is 
 from 30 to 70 feet, enough power is derived from this 
 source to light, heat and give all the power needed for 
 manufacturing and agricultural purposes. In Main«, 
 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia this great source of 
 energy, which is constant, supplies nearly all the power 
 needed, though wind and water powers are used at far 
 inland points where most available. In the British isles, 
 France and Spain, where the coal measures were exhaust- 
 ed centuries ago, the rise and fall of the tides along the 
 
186 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 coasts, in rivers and estuaries, furnish power for most 
 purposes, though wind and sun power are also utilized. 
 The same is true of the other countries of continental 
 Europe, and indeed of those of Africa, Asia and other 
 sections of the globe. 
 
 ' We have, as you can judge, mastered the problem of 
 utilizing the energy of the sun in its various manifesta- 
 tions on the earth, its waters and its atmosphere, and we 
 find that more satisfactory results can be obtained from 
 a right use of these natural powers and the products of 
 the earth than could be derived from coal or mineral oil. 
 It was predicted many centuries ago that when those 
 coal and mineral oil measures were exhausted, the con- 
 sequences to mankind would be dire indeed ; that our 
 colder climes would become uninhabitable in the winter 
 season ; would revert to wilderness and become hunting 
 grounds for savages, and that people would be driven to 
 equatorial countries, which would become so overcrowd- 
 ed that the struggle for existence, war and disease, would 
 so decimate them that only a savage remnant would sur- 
 vive. But now, as you see, the sun still gives us in 
 various ways all the power we need for our many uses, 
 all the food we require, and will no doubt continue these 
 beneficences for millions of years to come. Necessity, 
 that fertile mother of invention, has enlightened us in 
 this as in other things ; that is to say, it has spurred us 
 on to adopt methods of utilizing the great and generous 
 store of available sun-energy in the various ways that 
 science and experience have shown to be most effective 
 and economical.' 
 
fjeCIPROClTy 
 
 w«* w 111 i . i ? k^mi 
 
 V 'U Ik?' 
 
EECIPEOCITY. 187 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Sociological Talk — Air-Ship in View — Telephone 
 
 Wonders — Airy Flight and Great Peril 
 
 — The Awakening. 
 
 Our conversation now drifted to various subjects of 
 inquiry on my part. Among other things I desired some 
 information as to the increase of population. 
 
 'The world,' said the patriarch, 'is now threatened 
 with the danger of over-population, and the aim of soci- 
 ologists is to so educate the people that they shall realize 
 that it is the best and truest economy not to encourage 
 the propagation of large families. A family of four 
 children is considered the limit, though some parents 
 have five or six, which is the exception. Many have 
 only two, many others only one. The average increase 
 in this state is about ten per cent, in a decade. The in- 
 crease, however, would be hardly appreciable were it not 
 that infant mortality is very small, nearly all the normal, 
 healthy children born growing to maturity and even old 
 age. The percentage of mortality, mostly from natural 
 causes, is also small. This is due to the fact that nowa- 
 days people live temperate and virtuous lives. 
 
 'Then, too, we realize that there is a limit to the pro- 
 ductiveness of the earth, and that there is great danger 
 in over-peopling it. Even as it is, though plenty still 
 abounds, we fully realize the necessity of economy in all 
 things, and that it is better to have a limited population 
 of well fed, well cared for and intelligent people than an 
 
188 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 overcrowding that would certainly beget competition and 
 strife, and create a condition of things where the strongest 
 rather tlian the fittest and best would survive. As with 
 animals, the most fierce and ferocious peoples would be- 
 come masters of the world. And what then? I do not 
 want to think of what might eventuate from such a con- 
 dition of affairs.' 
 
 ' How do sociologists aim to regulate increase of popu- 
 lation?' I asked. 
 
 'By the wise counsels of competent teachers, and a 
 thorough knowledge of physiology. By these agencies 
 not only is progeny limited but even sex is determined, 
 so that a preponderance in numbers of one sex over the 
 other is avoided. Every man can now obtain a wife and 
 every woman a husband.' 
 
 ' Are consanguinous marriages of frequent occurrence?' 
 I asked. 
 
 ' No ; so much of race deterioration has been traced to 
 such unions that young people are taught to carefully 
 avoid them,' he replied. 
 
 < Is there much illegitimacy of intercourse between 
 the sexes?' I queried. 
 
 ' It is very rare indeed. The young are taught to curb 
 their passions. As they live regular, temperate lives, and 
 and their minds are occupied with pure and rational con- 
 cerns, they are not liable to the temptation to transgress 
 the proprieties of social life, especially when they realize 
 the consequences of evil conduct to themselves and to 
 their families. The violation of the golden rule in this 
 respect is regarded as particularly flagrant, and, as I have 
 
RECIPROCITY. 189 
 
 said before, public opinion in this age of the world is all- 
 potent. Marriage is the only remedy practicable,' said 
 the patriarch. 
 
 Just at this moment my little friend, the great-grand- 
 son of the patriarch, rushed in, crying out: 'Oh granpa! 
 granpa! the air-ship is coming!' 
 
 ' We will go out and look at it,' said the patriarch. 'It 
 may have a call to stop in town, and if it has we can go 
 to the town mansion and have a view of it.' 
 
 We went out and, directing our vision to that section 
 of the sky at which people were gazing, I had my first 
 view of an air-ship ; but to our disappointment it did not 
 come down to earth. It passed over at an altitude of 
 about three thousand feet. It appeared to be quite large, 
 how large I could only guess. It seemed to have a glid- 
 ing motion, like a buzzard on even wing — soaring, and 
 then descending on a quick decline, then soaring again, 
 alternately. I could discern these manoeuvres quite 
 plainly, as the ship passed about a mile or two from 
 where we were. 
 
 ' Are these air-ships common ? ' I asked. < This is the 
 first one of the kind I have seen.' 
 
 'They are not uncommon,' he said, 'and are often 
 employed for purposes of scenic observation or for excit- 
 ing adventure by young people who court thrilling sen- 
 sations. They are also used by business men for rapid 
 transit. This method of travel is becoming more popu- 
 lar and is commonly safe, but in some cases voyagers in 
 them have met with mishaps.' 
 
 I expressed a strong desire to examine one of these 
 
190 ItECIPROCITY. 
 
 aerial ships, and was told that I could see one and even 
 ride in it, as it was quite manageable. I inquired how 
 this could be brought about. 
 
 ' Simply enough,' he replied. ' We can send a message 
 to the station at Montpelier and have one call for you in 
 the morning. Indeed you may go back to Boston in one 
 of the regular liners that plies daily between Montreal 
 and that city, stopping at a few regular stations or where 
 it is called for, on the way. Their carrying capacity 
 is limited to a few persons, with light baggage, but the 
 fare is high — five dollars to Boston.' 
 
 <I would willingly pay that price,' I said, 'for the 
 novelty of the trip.' 
 
 ' Very good,' he said. ' I will have an air-ship tele- 
 phoned for to call for you in the morning. It passes 
 south about ten o'clock.' 
 
 ' I wonder why I did not notice the air-ship before,' I 
 said. 
 
 ' You would not have seen it today,' he said, ' but for 
 the child calling our attention to it. While these fliers 
 pass north and south every day, they do not, however, 
 always pass over this town, as the one did today. We 
 rarely have occasion to use them, preferring surface 
 travel, which is attended with fewer or no accidents. 
 
 ' You do not seem to favor aerial transit,' I remarked. 
 
 ' Birds,' he said, ' float in the air and fishes swim in 
 the seas and waters. I should perhaps more correctly 
 say that birds soar and glide ; it is their special function 
 to do these things. But man is held to earth by a force 
 he cannot easily overcome. On its surface he is master, 
 
BECIPEOCITT. 191 
 
 but when he attempts to leave its surface and goes into 
 competition with birds in traversing the air he enters 
 a contest in which the chances are ten to one against 
 him. The idea of moving through the air above the 
 earth is a very old one — perhaps a natural corollary 
 of man's soaring ambition — so old indeed that it is em- 
 balmed in fable. It had a spectacular illustration in 
 balloons inflated with hydrogen and other gases. The 
 gas-filled bag rose through the heavier air as a bubble of 
 sulphuretted hydrogen gas rises from the bottom of a lake 
 to the surface ; but the gas balloon, when it did rise, was 
 carried by the air currents in the direction of their move- 
 ments. After many years of experiment and disaster so- 
 called dirigible air-ships replaced balloons, but even these, 
 the best of them, could not make successful headway 
 against strong adverse air-currents, especially when they 
 were of considerable bulk. The aeroplane idea was the 
 most successful development of the experimenters, but 
 even this had its drawbacks, until the system now in use 
 of a lifting and depressing auxiliary to propelling power 
 and gas-sustaining influence, was adopted, and this com- 
 bination has made the airship of today about as practical 
 as such unstable craft are likely ever to be. But, after 
 all, it can hardly be rated a commercial success, as its 
 limitations are such as to curtail its general usefulness.' 
 
 ' How is this air-ship raised and maintained in the air? ' 
 I queried. 
 
 ' The air-ship,' he replied, ' has a central body, some- 
 what like that of a bird on the upper side, but under 
 this are an open framework and platform, on which latter 
 
1 92 KECIPROCITT. 
 
 are the motors, operating machinery, and spaces for the 
 operator, passengers, baggage, water, and material for 
 the production of gas. The upper part of the body is 
 composed of a double shell of metal, and has a capacity 
 for holding a large amount of gas. Attached to the body 
 on either side are huge wings or aeroplanes, which are 
 also hollow, like the body of the machine, and made to 
 contain a considerable amount of gas. These wings are 
 convex on the upper and concave on the under side. All 
 the framework is composed of metal tubing, which is 
 also filled with gas. As the metal used in all parts of 
 the machine is aluminum, you can see that lightness and 
 strength are secured by the material used. In the body 
 and wings of the machine enough gas can be held to 
 sustain it in the air, with its machinery, supplies, a pilot 
 or engineer, and several passengers. The lifting power 
 for addditional weight is in the wings or aeroplanes. 
 Large fans are let into the wings, which by suction, as it 
 were, draw the air down through them, and thus tend to 
 lift up and sustain the machine. By reversing the fans, 
 an opposite effect is produced, and the ship can in this 
 way be brought down to earth without waste of gas. 
 There are large propelling fans in front and rear, which 
 are also used for steering. While the wing motors will 
 aid the ship to ascend, the propelling fans will send it 
 forward at a moderate speed against even a lively wind, 
 while with a wind the speed can be greatly increased by 
 their use. Another method of operation is by a gliding 
 motion, which is often adopted in the face of strong 
 opposing air currents. In this movement the operation 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 193 
 
 of the wing fans is suspended, and only the propellers 
 are used. From a high altitude a short, quick descent 
 is made, and then a long upward glide is taken, just as 
 we see a large bird manoeuvre without apparent move- 
 ment of the wings, though in the air-ship the wings are 
 essential to such movements. It requires skill and a 
 steady nerve to manoeuvre the craft in gliding flight, 
 which calls for prompt changes of the wings at the right 
 times. This part of the mechanism, I should say, is quite 
 complex, but a skillful pilot can operate it successfully. 
 If the mechanical operation of the various parts of the 
 machinery employed in these gliding manoeuvres could 
 only be made to work automatically or at the will of the 
 pilot by the simple pressure of a button, I have heard 
 skilled mechanics say, it would be a great advantage in 
 operating the air-ship. No doubt some inventor will 
 accomplish it by and by,' he said. 
 
 We returned to the veranda and resumed our reclin- 
 ing chairs. I said to the patriarch : 
 
 ' You spoke of sending a telephone message for the 
 air-ship. Did you mean a wireless message ? ' 
 
 'Yes,' he replied, 'wireless telephony. Aerial tele- 
 graphy and wire telephony have long been superseded 
 by it.' 
 
 ' I have not noticed any wireless apparatus in town,' I 
 said. ' No high masts and other equipments of wireless 
 stations.' 
 
 ' Of course not,' he said, ' for the reason that they are 
 not required in the present system, A discovery made 
 about nine hundred years ago, perfected to its present 
 
194 EECIPROCITT. 
 
 form since that time, dispenses entirely with masts and 
 other accessories of the original systems. We now tele- 
 phone from a closed room to anywhere we desire to have 
 communication with.' 
 
 ' You interest me,* I said, ' how is it done ?' 
 
 < By control of ether waves, to which the solid walls of 
 houses and other apparent obstructions offer no more im- 
 pediment than the air itself.' 
 
 ' Is the speech which is thus transmitted audible and 
 distinct?' I asked. 
 
 ' It is,' he said ; * and the instrument not only sends 
 and receives but records the message received in a pho- 
 nograph connected to it, so that if you are not present 
 when the message is received, it can be obtained from 
 the record.' 
 
 ' Can you talk with any one you may desire to ? ' I 
 asked. 
 
 ' Yes, if he is in your number district,' he said. 
 
 'What is that?' I queried. 
 
 ' I will explain,' he said. * "Svery instrument is so con- 
 structed that, besides its own normal receiving tone, its 
 transmitter can be attuned to the normal receiving tone 
 of any other instrument in the district. All instruments 
 are numbered. Mine is No. 75, and suppose I desire to 
 communicate with No. 150. On a small switchboard on 
 the machine I turn the index finger to 150, and signal. 
 If the call is responded to I make my communication. If 
 not, I speak my message, knowing that it will be recorded 
 and delivered when 150 returns. That a message had 
 been received the instrument would make evident by the 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 195 
 
 display of a signal on the receiver. By this method mes- 
 sages cannot conflict, and only the instrument intended 
 for communication with is affected.' 
 
 * I presume,' I said, ' suchjan instrument would register 
 microphonic sounds.' 
 
 ' Yes ; they have been made so delicate that they have 
 recorded the beating of the heart when all was silent in 
 the room,' he replied. 
 
 'Has it ever been used in investigating mental phe- 
 nomena?' I asked. 
 
 'It has been,' he replied. 'At one time some people, 
 who were enthusiastic over psychical research and occult 
 matters, thought they had discovered in this instrument 
 the means of communicating with the spirits of the dead 
 and other supposed entities. Did they get any results ? 
 Oh yes; but they were of a nature so puzzling and con- 
 tradictory that nothing could be decided from the experi- 
 ments save that they were the records of the unconscious 
 cerebration of the brains of the experimenters them- 
 selves, in the same sense that ghost seeing and other like 
 phenomena of disordered minds are purely subjective. 
 In this connection, I may say that the instrument has 
 established the fact that mental diseases are contagious 
 as well as moral and physical ones, and that they are 
 spread by social and personal contact, mental sympathy 
 and imitation. Hence we now regard people of abnor- 
 mal minds and tendencies with distrust, and they are 
 usually shunned by the young and susceptible for fear of 
 contagion. Their idiosyncrasies are not encouraged in 
 any way.* 
 
196 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 As the patriarch paused, the little fellow who called 
 us to see the air-ship came up holding in his hand a 
 child's story book. I desired to inquire further in regard 
 to the subject last touched upon, but I suspected it was 
 one not altogether agreeable to my interlocutor, and the 
 child's book suggested a train of inquiry to which he 
 would more readily respond, so I changed my questions 
 to matters pertaining to books and literature in general, 
 libraries, etc. 
 
 'Literature,' he said, 'was never in a more healthy 
 condition than it is today, judging from the character 
 rather than the number of new works issued by the com- 
 munes. It is true that we have not nearly as many men 
 and women writers in proportion to our population as 
 there were eight or ten centuries ago, and there are not 
 as many ephemeral publications as then, romances and 
 other products of morbid minds, as the scientific trend of 
 our modern mind is against such productions. The 
 literature of science and philosophy, however, is rich and 
 broad in scope. The writers are many and their labors 
 altogether enlightening. In some of the seemingly 
 trivial walks of scientific investigation the writers often 
 make their observations far more interesting than old- 
 time fairy tales, for they are based upon the facts of real 
 existence. 
 
 'I will mention, as an example, works pertaining to 
 the micro-organic world, such as on lichens, moulds and 
 other minute fungi, and the apparently simple micro- 
 organisms which exist in countless numbers everywhere. 
 These have all been very fully studied, and their habits, 
 
BECEPEOCITT. 
 
 197 
 
 reproductive and otherwise, carefully noted and des- 
 cribed. With the aid of powerful enlarging and recording 
 microscopic photographing apparatus the tiny growths 
 and organisms have been illustrated and enlarged to a 
 degree that give them comparatively huge proportions, 
 developing the most surprising details. A section of 
 lichen growth, for example, is magnified into the propor- 
 tion of a patch of noble forest, with stately trees, of their 
 kind, and a wonderful detail of undergrowth, avenues, 
 vistas and foliage groupings which are truly marvellous. 
 
 ' The study of the living organisms inhabiting these 
 miniature forests, the waters and the soil, the bacteria of 
 the ferments, and the varied phenomena of micro-organic 
 life, have been graphically portrayed, showing the many 
 and varied wonders of fecund life. We have learned 
 from the patient labors and researches of our scientists 
 the relations of most of these minute organisms to the 
 larger animal and vegetal ones, and their agency, if any, 
 in the health or disease processes of their life. It is to 
 such studies and the knowledge thus gained that we owe 
 our general immunity from diseases which formerly were 
 so fatal to animal and vegetal life.* 
 
 ' Are the scientific investigators and writers held in 
 high estimation by the people ? ' I asked. 
 
 'In the highest, as they deserve to be,' he said. ' Sci- 
 entific investigators, inventors, engineers and mathema- 
 ticians rank, with philosophers and ethical teachers, 
 among the most honored callings, their productions being 
 reo'arded as evidences of the highest mental achieve- 
 ments.' 
 
198 EKCIPROCITY. 
 
 'Have you many writers of fiction, romances?' I now 
 inquired. 
 
 ' We have a few ; but their works tend more to the 
 intellectual satisfaction of the reader than to mere emo- 
 tional ideas or thrilling situations, the existence and 
 defeat of treachery, the work of jealousy or revenge, the 
 cruel and criminal acts of people of unstable character — 
 most of which is the result of a diseased view of social 
 life rather than a reproduction of it. There are no wild 
 beasts or savage Indians nowadays, as there were in the 
 pioneer age of our country, no wars for heroic acts and 
 hair-breadth escapes, and little opportunity for thrilling 
 episodes and situations. We have no murderously in- 
 clined, lazy vagabonds ready to rob and kill rich men 
 for their money, and we have none of the latter to op- 
 erate on. In fact the conditions of the present age would 
 render the production of the old time romances impos- 
 sible, except to minds diseased by reading them, and if 
 written they would not be published. But this does not 
 exclude the reading of works of fiction of some of the 
 best early writers.' 
 
 ' The commune, I presume, prints all works that are 
 issued,' I said. 
 
 ' Yes,' he replied, < and all works intended for publica- 
 tion must be submitted to a board of competent censors 
 before acceptance for publication, and are carefully read 
 and digested. If not up to standard they are rejected, 
 the reasons therefor being given. The rejection, however, 
 is not always final, if authors revise their works to meet 
 objections.' 
 
aBCIPROCITTf. 199 
 
 ' Have you public libraries ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' We have a main library at the town mansion and 
 branches in the different districts of the town,' he said. 
 'A public library is one of our oldest institutions. Our 
 people are very fond of reading. In the fall and winter 
 seasons the demands on the library for books are very 
 great.' 
 
 ' Does it embrace a wide range of reading ? ' I asked. 
 ' Is it rich in classical works, and works of the early poets 
 and prose writers of the world?' 
 
 'It is a library that is very rich in ancient as well as 
 in modern English literature, including translations of 
 great thinkers and writers in the other lanuages. We 
 have some very old books there, works over a thousand 
 years old; but they are not now generall}' read. The old 
 spelling is not famihar to our modern readers, but most 
 of the best classics have been reprinted.' 
 
 ' Reprinted,' I repeated. I had forgotten the change 
 in orthography. 
 
 * Yes, reprinted,' he said. ' Though there are many of 
 the old prints of these works in existence (I have quite 
 a number of them in my library — family heirlooms), they 
 are not read nowadays except in our phonetic text. I 
 can read them in the original text, though the words 
 have an unfamiliar look to me. With our recognition 
 of words it is much like that of men. We do not have 
 to spell a word to know what it signtfies because it is 
 familiar to our vision. It is the same in the recognition 
 of men. We recognize both because of our familiarity 
 with their peculiarities. I have no doubt the phonetic 
 
200 KECIPEOCITY. 
 
 system, when first introduced, met with opposition for 
 the reason that it changed the familiar appearances of 
 words to unfamiliar ones. Men, naturally, are conserva- 
 tive beings and take slowly to reforms.' 
 
 * Is there a universal language ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' No ; not in the sense that only one language is spoken 
 by peoples of all nations. English, however, from its 
 phonetic spelling and easy pronunciation, as well as for 
 commercial reasons, is taught and spoken to a limited 
 extent, in addition to native language, in all countries 
 outside the English speaking ones. There have been 
 many attempts at constructing a universal language, but 
 without success,' he replied. 
 
 'What class of works of old writers are most in quest 
 at the library?' I asked. 
 
 ' Philosophical, like Spencer's ; scientific, like those of 
 Darwin and the German scientists, the leading historians, 
 the poets and dramatists, and historical novelists. Some 
 of the best works of German, French and Italian writers 
 have been translated and printed in series form, like the 
 works of classical English and American authors. We 
 do not always print these works entire, but the portions 
 of them of best merit and interest in this age. They 
 form a splendid collection of the rarest and best thoughts 
 of men of genius in the early and middle ages of human 
 civilization,' he replied. 
 
 ' What of works of fiction, novels, travels, domestic 
 dramas, etc.?' I asked. 
 
 'Preference is given to historical works and novels, 
 but we reprint a few novels illustrating society in the 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 201 
 
 ages when life was strenuous and competitive. We hold 
 that such works may have a good influence by showing 
 the contrast between the social and industrial conditions 
 and vicissitudes of life in those days and these of our own 
 times, as they would show how much better and happier 
 we now are than the people were ten or twenty centuries 
 ago,' he said. 
 
 ' Then you do not think the portrayal of evil deeds 
 and of corrupt practices, as found in old works of fiction, 
 are demoralizing to your youth,' I said. 
 
 ' There is a certain class of old fiction that we do not 
 allow the young to read, but permit the mature to see. 
 But even such reading is carefully selected. Rightly 
 understood, these novels give us pictures of society which, 
 to the philosophic mind, are of great interest as indicat- 
 ing the changes imperceptibly wrought in the manners 
 and customs of peoples in the process of social evolution. 
 Men in the old days were dominated by many influences 
 beyond their control, which made them selfish and often 
 dishonest, and embittered not only their own lives but 
 those of others. Their habits were often intemperate, 
 and as these and other deplorable traits were trans- 
 mitted to their descendants, by heredity and example, 
 the work of regeneration was almost hopeless while pov- 
 erty and insane strife for wealth prevailed, and while in 
 the under stratum of society employment was uncertain 
 and labor poorly paid. 
 
 ' But when industrial independence became assured ; 
 when the generations had time and opportunity to gain 
 knowledge, think for themselves, and acquired the habits 
 
202 RECrPBOCITT. 
 
 of contented industry, then a change for the better set 
 in, and pride and self-respect took the place of reckless 
 conduct and aimless living. In time the absence of 
 struggle for an uncertain livelihood produced a more 
 agreeable temperament and increased kindliness of man- 
 ners. In other words, with the removal of individual com- 
 petition and the absence of struggle for existence by the 
 equitable adjustment of the rewards of labor, there was 
 no longer any incentive to strife. People became better 
 natured. From hating and envying one another they 
 began to regard one another with favor, and this change 
 of sentiment being found beneficial to all concerned, led 
 first to general friendship, and finally, by a natural pro- 
 cess, to universal brotherhood. The generous nature of 
 strong manhood asserted itself, and men became brothers 
 in fact as well as in name. These changes in the char- 
 acters and conditions of the human family can be clearly 
 and even vividly traced in the fictional tales of the ages 
 as well as in the works of writers of history,' he said. 
 
 ' What kind of tales, plays, and light literature of the 
 early days are now read ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Chiefly those abounding in wit and humor. The tales 
 of Charles Dickens, stories of Irish, French, German and 
 American life are among the older works of fiction most 
 in demand. Comedies and lively dramas are quite popu- 
 lar with our people. I confess a partiality to lively tales, 
 and can lose myself in the study of characters portrayed 
 by such writers as Dickens, Lever, Dumas, Hugo, and 
 other writers of fiction as well as the German novelists. 
 There is to my mind, however,' pursued the patriarch, 'a 
 
RECIPEOCITY. 203 
 
 strange pathos in much of the wit and humor of the story 
 writers of the past. These scintillations are like gleams 
 of sunshine breaking through the clouds of misery and 
 gloom surrounding poor humanity, which, while indicat- 
 ing undying cheerfulness, yet reveal an almost hopeless 
 condition of things. Man's travail has been a long and 
 painful one, and I am glad to say that he has neared the 
 end of his trials and tribulations. Much has yet to be 
 achieved, but it is gratifying to know that it will be ac- 
 complished under more favorable conditions.' 
 
 I said I would like to see one of the reproductions of 
 the early authors. He went to his library and soon came 
 back with a copy of Shelley's poems. 
 
 'This, in English poetry, is one of my favorites,' he 
 said. ' You will observe that some of his longer poems 
 — Queen Mab, Revolt of Islam, Prometheus Unbound, 
 and a few minor ones, as the Sensitive Plant, the Cloud, 
 and the Skylark — are contained in this reprint. Allow 
 me to present it to you to keep as a souvenir of your 
 visit and the pleasure it has afforded us to entertain you.' 
 
 Thanking him for the gift, I placed the book, which 
 was one of small size, in my pocket. 
 
 We talked of many other matters until the evening 
 meal was announced. This passed off, as usual, amid 
 pleasant and sprightly conversation. 
 
 Up to bed time the talk was mostly on my contem- 
 plated departure on the morrow, and the peculiarity of 
 the means I had selected for returning to Boston. They 
 all considered it a singular notion on my part, and the 
 women especially regarded it with some apprehension. 
 
204 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 The patriarch, however, was of opinion that it might 
 afford me an experience which would be a fitting climax 
 to that which I had already had. 
 
 'You will,' he said, 'have an opportunity to see how 
 closely, compactly and regularly the many towns of Ver- 
 mont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts are laid out 
 and occupied. It will seem like a chess board with all 
 the squares utilized, and it should be a matter of gratifi- 
 cation to reflect that on these hills, in these valleys, on 
 the farms and in cities and villages, contentment, thrift, 
 prosperity and happiness prevail ; that equality and bro- 
 therhood go hand in hand, and that life is made pleasant 
 by neighborly interest and affection. Above all, the 
 consciousness that strife, in all its unhappy forms, has 
 no existence among men, will make the contemplation 
 all the more gratifying to you.' 
 
 I thanked the patriarch for his good opinion of me, 
 and also took occasion to thank my host and hostess for 
 their entertainment and enlightening information^ What 
 I had witnessed and heard, I told them, had given me a 
 gratifying revelation of what good people could accom- 
 plish by an intelligent system of co-operation under favor- 
 ing conditions. It also illustrated to me, I said, how 
 contentment and even happiness could be secured to all 
 by a strict adherence to the fundamental principle of the 
 golden rule. I also said that they had convinced me, by 
 what they had shown and otherwise demonstrated, that 
 their social and industrial systems were much superior 
 to any I had known or read of, and that henceforward I 
 should feel assured that these constituted the wisest and 
 
BECIPKOCITT. 205 
 
 best solution of the many problems of human civilization. 
 
 In response they assured me that they considered the 
 pleasure (they didn't say novelty, but the word occurred 
 to me as more appropriate) of my visit more than com- 
 pensated them for their hospitality, and as to the infor- 
 mation they had imparted, it was indeed a pleasure for 
 them to give it. They all appeared to regret my forth- 
 coming departure, and I must admit that I felt loath to 
 leave such an ideal family circle. 
 
 But the evening meal now summoned us to the dining 
 room, following which some desultory conversation took 
 up the time until the hour for retiring came, and I then 
 sought my couch and slept so soundly that I did not 
 realize the flight of time until I awakened to find it was 
 daylight. Making a hasty toilet I at once descended to 
 the sitting room and found the entire family assembled, 
 as usual, on the veranda, the patriarch in their midst, 
 about to pronounce the usual morning invocation. I, of 
 course, joined the group. "When this was ended, we 
 entered the dining room and I partook of a well-cooked 
 and appetizing breakfast. 
 
 In the course of conversation that followed the meal 
 I asked the patriarch if he made the morning invocation 
 in the open air at all seasons. He said he did not when 
 it rained or was stormy in the summer or during snow 
 storms or cold weather in the winter, but held the service 
 indoors at such times, the clock being regulated that the 
 time of sunrise was indicated by a graphophone attached 
 to it and, muzzein-like, called, not to prayer exactly, but 
 to a service akin to it. 
 
206 KBCIPROCITT. 
 
 'Is this form of worship of the sun a general custom?* 
 I asked, 
 
 ' I think I stated to you before,' said the patriarch, 
 ' that it is in no proper sense a form of worship, but an 
 invocation simply. If it resembles a prayer, it has a very 
 tangible being for its objective, not an imaginary one. 
 As to its form, that is a matter of choice rather than con- 
 vention with all who observe it. It is indeed only a 
 matter of recognition on our part. Many are lax in 
 getting out of bed before sunrise, especially in the long, 
 summer days. The usual form of recognition is : " Giver 
 of all benefits, I salute thee ! " Many add to this : " Aid 
 us by thy benign influence to do right and to love our 
 fellow men!" Many others simply say: "Father sun, 
 we salute thee ! " There are still others, mostly young 
 people, who make no observance of the custom, though 
 later in life they invariably adopt it.' 
 
 We were now apprized of the receipt of a telephone 
 message notifying us that, in response to our request, an 
 air-ship would call at the town mansion station in Pom- 
 fret at 10 o'clock Monday. I looked at my watch, which 
 I had been careful to wind every morning since my arri- 
 v>4 in town, and found it was half past 9. 
 
 'We have just half an hour to get ready and be on the 
 ground,' said the patriarch. 
 
 I went up to my room, packed my grip, and came down 
 ready for departure. The entire family had assembled 
 in front of the house, where a road carriage was waiting 
 to carry me to the place where I was to embark on my 
 aerial voyage — not the entire family, by the way, for 
 
KECIPROCITT. 207 
 
 my little favorite was absent, at school. After bidding 
 them all a grateful farewell I spoke of the child, regret- 
 ting that he was not present. He had often admired the 
 charm on my watch chain. This I detached and gave 
 to his mother for him, who seemed greatly pleased at my 
 remembrance of the boy. 
 
 Amid adieus and the waving of hands and handker- 
 chiefs we started away and were soon at the rendezvous 
 on the green fronting one of the wings of the town man- 
 sion. We had not been on the g.round more than five 
 minutes when the patriarch, who had been scanning the 
 northern horizon with a field glass, exclaimed: 
 
 ' Here comes the air-ship ! ' 
 
 He then handed the glass to me. When I located the 
 coming craft it seemed not much larger than an eagle, 
 which at that distance it resembled somewhat, except in 
 color, with its prey in its talons ; but it grew rapidly in 
 size and nondescript character, until I found more satis- 
 faction in viewing it with the naked eye. I handed the 
 field glass back to the patriarch, with thanks, when he 
 said: 
 
 < Take it with you, Mr. Wonder. It will enable you 
 the better to examine the details of the landscape as you 
 pass over it.' 
 
 I thanked him for this further proof of his kindness, 
 and, on the impulse, took out my watch, disengaged the 
 chain, and handed watch and chain to him as a memento 
 of my visit, no doubt a rare souvenir to him. He seemed 
 greatly surprised and pleased, but accepted it without pro- 
 test, like a true man. 
 
208 KECIPEOCITT, 
 
 The air-ship was now nearing us rapidly, and seemed 
 to be coming to earth at a decline of about 25 degrees. 
 
 Though it had resembled a bird at a distance, a closer 
 view gave it a nondescript appearance. But aside from 
 the details of its platform equipment, it presented the 
 outlines of a bird in body and wings, lacking neck and 
 head. As it neared us its movement seemed more de- 
 liberate. Finally coming close, it seemed to hover for a 
 moment, then it settled down in the space between four 
 posts sunk in the ground at the corners of an oblong 
 square. It came to earth slowly and very deliberately, 
 as if depressed against an upward tendency. Four men 
 at the posts at once seized the chains which were dangl- 
 ing from the corners of the platform or deck of the air- 
 ship, fastened them to rings on the posts, and the aerial 
 craft was anchored. 
 
 Seen at close range the machine appeared large. The 
 body was oval, shaped something like an egg cut in half 
 longitudinally ; that is, like half of an egg, only a true 
 oval very much elongated. It was about 50 feet long by 
 20 feet in width at its widest part, tapering to the ends, 
 which narrowed to about 6 feet at the rounding. The 
 wings or aeroplanes, each about 30 feet in length by 15 
 in width, were oval on the outer lines and nearly straight 
 next to the body. Like the body, the upper side was 
 rounding, but unlike it (the body was flat on the under 
 side) the wings were concaved below, but not deeply so, 
 there being ample space in the shell to hold a large sup- 
 ply of gas. In the centre of each wing was a circular 
 opening, about 6 feet in diameter, in which was a fan, with 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 209 
 
 deep acutely set blades. These fans were held in strong 
 journals below and above, and their shafts below were 
 connected with flexible shafts extending from the operat- 
 ing machinery and connected by universal joints or 
 other coupling. 
 
 The wings were supported by a shaft which passed 
 under and across the centre of the body, to which it was 
 attached, the shaft in a flattened form passing around 
 the fan hole, uniting beyond it, and continuing to the 
 outer edge. The wings were also connected by ellip- 
 tical racks with a shaft running across and below the 
 centre of the platform with which it engaged by seg- 
 ment gears to spur gears. These racks extended from 
 one end of each wing to the other, and served not only as 
 a bracing to the wings, but also the purpose of changing 
 the plane of the wings with reference to that of the body, 
 raising or depressing the ends according as it was desired 
 to soar or to glide. The lower shaft was operated by a 
 hand lever through a suitable gearing connected with 
 gears on the shaft. The upper or wing shaft was held 
 in journals attached centrally to the under part of the 
 body of the air-ship, so that the wings could be moved 
 at pleasure through a limited arc, the movement being 
 •limited by chains at either end from the wings to the 
 platform. 
 
 The platform itself — an oblong square 25 feet long 
 by 15 feet wide, with rounded ends — was suspended 
 from the body of the air-ship by stout tubing rods about 
 eight feet below it, and was so braced as to be quite rigid 
 in the connection. A rail guard with wire lattice work 
 
210 RECIPKOCITT. 
 
 surrounded the platform, which contained the power 
 motors and the machinery that operated the wing and 
 propelling and steering fans. The steering of the craft 
 was effected by an ingenious arrangement of the central 
 shaft or rather shafts, for it was divided in the centre 
 but connected by a flexible joint, the deflection in the 
 centre of the shaft in either direction serving to steer as 
 well as propel the craft to either the right or the left, as 
 desired. A reverse motion of the propelling shaft would 
 send the ship in the opposite direction, so that in reality 
 it was a double-ender, would go in one direction as well 
 as the other. The motors, which were run by alcohol, 
 were small, compact and powerful, being about 30 horse- 
 power each. (I learned these details from the pilot after 
 we had started.) Before going I noticed that a placard 
 or sign in large black lettering read, 'A, No. 624,' the 
 letter indicating the class or line to which the craft be- 
 longed, and number for the ship. 
 
 There was little delay. A ladder was lowered for me, 
 and after bidding the patriarch a fervent good-bye, I 
 climbed up to the platform, grip in hand. I found three 
 other passengers there, two seated in front of and near 
 to the pilot and one at his rear. I was directed to take 
 a seat with the latter for the present. I noted that the* 
 passengers as well as the pilot had on heavy overcoats 
 and fur caps, which seemed superfluous as the day was 
 warm, but was reminded that I was going up into a cold 
 region of atmosphere where I would need heavy clothing. 
 The pilot, however, had provided for such a contingency, 
 and gave me a fur coat and cap to put on. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 211 
 
 The anchoring chains being cast off and the wing fans 
 set in motion, the ship rose rapidly for a few minutes, 
 when the pilot started the propelling fans, at the same 
 time turning the lever and raising the front ends of the 
 wings, and the ship forged quickly forward on an up- 
 ward incline. I moved to the rear of the platform to 
 obtain a view of the town I was leaving. The town 
 mansion which we had left was now most conspicuous, 
 and from the altitude that I viewed it — about 2000 feet 
 — presented the true outlines of a Greek cross. I later 
 noted the same form of central grouped buildings in a 
 number of the towns which we passed over. According 
 to the barometer we had soon ascended to something 
 over 6000 feet above sea level, the wings were brought 
 to a horizontal position, and we were, to use a nautical 
 phrase, sailing on an even keel. 
 
 The pilot now signified to me that I could go to the 
 forward end of the platform, if I desired, as I had told 
 him I would like to take a look at the country over 
 which we were passing. I noticed when speaking with 
 the pilot that he had a compass before him, and to my 
 question why he had it said that at times the air-ship was 
 enveloped in clouds which made it necessary to steer by 
 the magnetic needle. 
 
 The air was now very cold, and I wondered why we 
 had risen to such an altitude, but was told that two of 
 the passengers were Canadian scientists who were on the 
 way to attend a convention of meteorologists, which was 
 to be held on the summit of Mount Washington, to which 
 place the ship was now being directed. In conversation 
 
212 KECIPEOCITT. 
 
 with the third passenger I discovered that he was an 
 electrical engineer and was bound for Boston, so that we 
 would be companions to the end of the voyage. 
 
 But my attention was now drawn to the panorama 
 spread out below me. What first surprised me was the 
 apparent flatness of the landscape, the hills being hardly 
 distinguishable from the valleys, but the lakes shone like 
 mirrors, and the Connecticut and Merrimac rivers were 
 traceable winding their way seaward, their affluents 
 seeming like threads of silver in a pied fabric of coloring, 
 in which villages, towns and cities contrasted with the 
 light and dark green ohades of field and forest foliage. 
 It was disappointing in not giving the bold, picturesque 
 views that such a country afforded to surface observers. 
 But I thought of the patriarch's similie of a chessboard 
 and how aptly it described the scene. I was reminded 
 in that connection that I had the field glass he had given 
 me, which I at once made good use of, my companion, 
 the electrical engineer, being provided with a similar 
 aid to vision. 
 
 As we neared Mount Washington that person called 
 my attention to the large number of air-ships which were 
 going in our direction. They came from the east, south, 
 west and north, and as we neared our stopping place on 
 the mountain several came quite close to us, so near that 
 we could read their numbers with the naked eye. It was 
 so cold that my fingers were benumbed, and I was glad 
 to put the glass away and keep my hands in my pockets. 
 
 In due time we made a landing on the mountain. 
 Some of the air-ships had been before us, as we met them 
 
EECIPEOCITT. 213 
 
 on their return, after landing their passengers bound for 
 that place and taking on others leaving it. I was told 
 that people came regularly from the cities in the hot 
 weather season to the mountains in air-ships to cool off 
 and have a night or two of sleep under warm bedclothes 
 in the tonic mountain air. The trip usually was made 
 in about forty-five minutes from Boston and an hour and 
 a half from New York. I noticed that all the air-ships 
 we saw were of the same make as the one I was on. 
 
 It did not take us long to land our two scientists, and 
 there were five more passengers waiting to be taken on, 
 bound for Boston. I asked the pilot if he were not tak- 
 ing on a heavy load in these five passengers. He said 
 he was, but as the altitude was considerable and he had 
 just reinforced his gas-making tank with an additional 
 supply of calcium carbide he thought there was no danger 
 from overweight on the down grade. 
 
 Looking around on the mountain summits I saw a great 
 number of wind engines. I remarked to my companion 
 that I wondered what purpose they served in this romote 
 region. He said in reply : 
 
 'One of the uses of the electric current produced here 
 is to heat and light the hotels and public buildings. An- 
 other is to supply current to many inland industries. 
 The wind on these high summits is always active and at 
 times very fierce, giving great power for the production 
 of electric current. The summits of all the mountains 
 and hills are utilized in the same manner for electric 
 power production. 
 
 We were now ready to start for Boston. I looked to 
 
214 RBCIPROCITT. 
 
 the northeast and south along the coast line, which was 
 visible from Eastport to Cape Cod. Innumerable craft 
 were on the sea, moving in all directions. With the aid 
 of the glass I could see many of them quite plainly. 
 Some of them appeared high above water and were of 
 large size, and all appeared to have their decks partly 
 taken up with structures not unlike turrets of battleships. 
 I asked my companion what these were. 
 
 ' Wind engines,' he replied. ' They are after the style 
 of land wind engines, only they are run horizontally, and 
 are employed to operate the propellers in conjunction 
 with electric power derived from alcohol. Their power 
 is also converted into electricity and stored. From these 
 sources an abundance of energy to carry vessels to their 
 destinations is derived.' 
 
 ' But in the event of strong head winds, what then ?' I 
 asked. 
 
 'Vessels will not leave a haven,' he replied, 'if wind 
 is ahead and blowing very hard, but at sea a strong head 
 wind is met by tacking at angles in which the wind will 
 aid more than retard. The harder it blows the more cur- 
 rent is produced. A side wind or a wind on the aft 
 quarter, or from abaft, if it be strong, will give sufficient 
 electrical energy to propel the ship without the aid of its 
 alcohol engines.' 
 
 ' Are there no sailing ships, that is, ressels propelled 
 by sails, I mean ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Yes,' he replied. ' Ships that make long voyages 
 carry sails, but they are also equipped with wind engines 
 for auxiliary power. All are provided with propelling 
 
EECIPEOCITY. 215 
 
 machinery to be operated by electricity, but on long 
 voyages sails are always carried, as when the wind is 
 fair they are the cheapest motive power. Coastwise craft 
 have little use for sails.' 
 
 I marveled at this as well as other departures from 
 the old established order of things, but now directed my 
 glass toward the city of our destination. As we neared 
 it, I was puzzled to locate the old city. I could trace 
 the Merrimac river through a wilderness of buildings, 
 many of them of very large dimensions — factories, no 
 doubt. Beyond it, to the southward the buildings and 
 the thread-like streets, which intersected one another 
 like strands of a spider's web, seemed continuous and 
 interminable. Finally I located the shaft of Bunker Hill 
 monument. 
 
 As I caught sight of the historic shaft, a thought came 
 to me — and the mystery of it is that it had not occurred 
 to me or awakened my consciousness before, but it came 
 like a shock and nearly paralyzed me — what was Boston 
 to me a thousand years after I was or ought to have been 
 dead? Where were my friends, my family, my descend- 
 ants? Was I not going to a place where I would be as 
 unknown as if I had come from the plains of Tartary or 
 had dropped from the moon ? 
 
 In this peculiar condition of mind I was oblivious of 
 what was going on about me. Collecting my scattered 
 senses, however, I was about to ask a question of my fel- 
 low voyager, when 1 noticed that he suddenly looked 
 towards the centre of the platform and his face blanched 
 as if in terror. 
 
216 RECIPROCITY. 
 
 * What is the matter ? ' I asked, sharing in his alarm 
 without knowing its cause. 
 
 ' There is something wrong with the machinery,' he 
 said, and started back to learn what the trouble was and 
 offer expert aid, if needed. I followed him. We found 
 the pilot in great trouble. The propelling shaft had be- 
 come inoperative through the breaking of a sprocket 
 chain. The pilot had a spare one, had taken up a hatch 
 in the platform over the sprocket, and was endeavoring 
 to get the shaft in working order again, but apparently 
 without Buccess. 
 
 'Why not land now?' said one of the passengers, 
 
 * Before doing that,' said the pilot, ' I will make one 
 more attempt to get the shaft in gear,' and he again des- 
 cended and renewed his efforts, but without success. 
 
 The passengers now became clamorous to be landed, 
 and one of them threatened to to take the pilot's place 
 and bring the ship to earth. His companions supported 
 him, and a lively scene followed. My companion and I 
 strenuously opposed interference with the pilot, but we 
 urged him to land without delay, and he promised to do 
 so at once. 
 
 Looking out and around, I saw that during the wrangle 
 the ship had drifted toward the coast, and looking sea- 
 ward was alarmed to see a huge bank of fog drifting onto 
 the land. It was, in fact, almost under us and was mov- 
 ing in rapidly. We were drifting to sea and the dense 
 fog creeping in under us like a stealthy foe. But there 
 was still a chance for safety left. By gliding down back- 
 ward we might still land ahead of the fog. 
 
RECIPROCITY. 217 
 
 The pilot, who seemed to be completely unnerved, now 
 took hold of the lever that controlled the wings, and to 
 our dismay turned them in the wrong direction, and at 
 the same time reversed the movement of the wing fans. 
 We now began to descend rapidly, -but in the wrong 
 direction, and were soon enveloped in the fog. 
 
 We could see nothing, but could hear the sound of 
 breakers on a rocky shore. We all realized that death 
 by drowning was now inevitable. It was an awful mo- 
 ment ! The noise of the breakers grew louder, and then 
 there was a sudden arrest of motion as the air-ship struck 
 the water, and I received a shock which I felt was to be 
 my last sensation of life. * * # # * 
 
 A heavy hand was on my shoulder, and a voice in my 
 ear shouted in stentorian accents: 
 
 * Wake up, sir ! Your ticket was for West Hartford, 
 and here you are. Be lively, as we are only waiting for 
 you to land to start the train.' Considerate conductor ! 
 
 Dazed and speechless, I mechanically seized my grip 
 and got out onto the platform of West Hartford station. 
 Same old platform, same old station, and same old man 
 Perry with the same old coach and horses were there to 
 greet me and carry me over the river through the same 
 old covered bridge to my destination. It was a rude 
 awakening, but as I thought it over I was not sorry that 
 I was back to actual existence and the present, which, 
 even amid the wreck of ideal idols, is good enough for me. 
 But I shall still cherish the fond hope that the human 
 race will yet enjoy industrial prosperity and that peace 
 will prevail to the end.