OF 
 
71 
 
 

An Ideal Republic 
 
 OR 
 
 WAY OUT OF THE FOG 
 
 BY 
 
 CORWIN PHELPS. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 W. L. RAYNOLDS, Publisher, 267 South Lincoln Street 
 
 1896. 
 
 LIBRARY 
 tlKTVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
Copyright 1895 
 
 BY 
 
 COBWIN PHELPS. 
 All rights reserved. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In no period of our history have the signs of the 
 times been more ominous or portentous of evil than 
 at the present. The wonderful strides made by organ 
 ized capital in the last quarter of a century, and the 
 consequent impoverishment of the masses with its evil 
 effects upon industry and society, the gradual encroach 
 ments of concentrated wealth upon the rights of man 
 to live, support his family and enjoy the fruits of his 
 toil, have been so marked as to create universal appre 
 hension and alarm. It is in consequence of this unrest 
 that the author has been induced to make an effort to 
 present a pen picture in an allegorical sketch of the 
 causes leading up to our present financial distress and 
 at the same time offer a simple common sense solution 
 of the problems that now confront the American peo 
 ple, threatening the very existence and perpetuity of 
 our civilization. 
 
 In resorting to romance to illustrate facts the v/riter 
 has only followed in the footsteps of many prominent 
 authors, and it will be remembered that even the wise 
 and religious teachings of the lowly Nazarene were 
 principally allegorical. 
 
 It has been said that "God worketh all things accord 
 ing to His own good pleasure, " and it would now seem 
 
to an observing mind that evolution is the principle 
 through which He worketh to the end that all may 
 steadily progress both intellectually and spiritually 
 toward better conditions. 
 
 In the last half century so wonderful has been the 
 progress in the invention of labor-saving machinery 
 that our whole social system has undergone an entire 
 change. One man under present industrial systems can 
 produce more of the comforts of life than could ten men 
 half a century ago. And yet we are met by the stupen 
 dous fact that those who produce these things do not 
 enjoy the fruits of their labor. 
 
 During this marvelous period of advancement in 
 manufacture and production the science of government 
 has not advanced; hence the whole human economy is 
 thrown out of balance, and until the science of govern 
 ment is so improved as to bring about an equilibrium 
 we may look for financial storms, commercial disaster 
 and great suffering. But it is to be hoped that when 
 the great corporations and money combinations go to 
 pieces by their own weight, and through unlimited 
 greed have forced starvation upon the masses, then 
 men will begin to think, the light of reason will be 
 turned upon government, its abuses exposed, new 
 methods and laws adopted, and man will step out upon 
 a higher plane of civilization. 
 
 Haying served as a common soldier in our civil war, 
 and shared the joys and sorrows of tlie great common 
 people of our great Republic since that time, the writer 
 feels that his experiences have been such as would 
 enable him to give in story a better outline of the evo 
 lution of thought on religion, politics and kindred 
 subjects; a better history of progressive events; a truer 
 and more perfect view of every-day life as it has 
 
occurred from day to day through the most wonderful 
 epoch known to the history of our race than usually 
 falls to the lot of any man; and that through long and 
 deep meditation, he has been able to pierce the great 
 mystery that enshrouds our land, has been able to give 
 the simplest and most logical way out of our present 
 distress and place ourselves upon that higher plane of 
 civilization for which mankind so fondly yearns. 
 Call it history, forecast, romance, a fiction of higher 
 life, in fact call it what you will, the author sends out 
 this book feeling doubly sure it will find a warm place 
 in every true American heart and will be cherished by 
 all who love their fellow-man and look forward with 
 hope toward our country's future greatness. Respect 
 fully dedicated to every Hying soul who loves mankind. 
 
 CORWIN PHELPS. 
 
X3DE-A.L 
 
 OB 
 
 WAY OUT OF THE FOG. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL BUNDY had obtained a world-wide 
 reputation for patriotism and bravery through 
 his valuable services in the war of 1812. He was a man 
 of broad views and much more than ordinary ability. 
 He had descended from a family of Revolutionary 
 Patriots and had taken advantage of every facility 
 which the country afforded for obtaining a knowledge 
 of the arts and sciences; he had also given attention 
 to the study of government and political economy. 
 He was a farmer by occupation, and owned one of the 
 most picturesque and fertile tracts of land in Gurney 
 county, in the state of Massachusetts. He had mar 
 ried the daughter of one of the most prominent farmers 
 of the county and, of course, named his oldest son, 
 George Washington. 
 
 As it is not the intention of the writer to give the 
 history of Gen. Bundy, further than is necessary to 
 properly introduce to the reader, his son, George, who 
 will figure to some extent in our story, I will proceed 
 to state, that in 1840, having by industry and economy 
 accumulated a little surplus cash, he determined to 
 make a visit to distant relatives in England and it was 
 arranged that George should accompany him. 
 
 While in England, a circumstance occurred which 
 will illustrate, to some extent, how deeply had been 
 implanted in this young American, our peculiar views 
 of humanity and government. 
 
 Upon the occasion mentioned, the father and son 
 had the pleasure of seeing the Queen and her retinue 
 
6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 pass along one of those grand drives of which London 
 loves to boast. 
 
 What most attracted the attention of the young 
 American, were the footmen accompanying the Queen's 
 carriage team. 
 
 "Why," said he to his father, "why have all these 
 footmen that I see dressed in livery, along with the 
 team?" 
 
 "This," said his father, "is only a custom of Roy 
 alty, handed down from the past and the object, no 
 doubt, is a display of power; it represents a condition 
 of things growing out of barbarism. " 
 
 "A government," said George, "that has to maintain 
 its authority by a display like that, is certainly a gov 
 ernment founded on something beside justice; it looks 
 as if they were trying to exalt the Queen to a place 
 which none but God should occupy, and to place the 
 others on a level with the horses in the team; it looks 
 like degrading one part of the human family, to make 
 a show of the other part." 
 
 "True," said his father, -"it looks that way to us, 
 who are taught that the right to govern is derived from 
 the consent of the governed. In this country, the 
 people are divided into three classes, first, the Royal 
 family, who hold the reins of government. Second, 
 the Nobility, who are allowed titles and own a large 
 portion of the land and other property. The people 
 once owned the land but were robbed of it by William, 
 the Conquerer, and he gave it out in such manner as 
 would best enable him to form and maintain a dynasty 
 sufficiently powerful to hold the people in subjection 
 to his will. From that time on, the property has been 
 kept in these particular families by inheritance laws. 
 These families are called the Nobility, and their prin 
 cipal occupation is collecting rent from the common 
 people. " 
 
 "Do these nobles go as footmen with the Queen's 
 carnage team?" 
 
 "No, they are next to the Royal family." 
 
 "Then I am glad some of the English people are 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 7 
 
 considered higher, better and nobler than animals, but 
 am sorry that it is on account of their owning land." 
 
 "The bulk of the people form the next class. They 
 are the workers and are brought in direct competition 
 one with another. The weaker go to the wall and are 
 often reduced to want, while the stronger, more un 
 scrupulous and dishonest become bankers, and are fast 
 building up a power that is greater and stronger than 
 the monarchy itself, and is slowly but surely, octopus 
 like, extending its tentacles to all parts of the earth, 
 and it is greatly to be feared that what Britain lost by 
 the sword in our country, will be finally recovered by 
 the money power, through a well systematized plan of 
 usury, gold speculation and legislative bribery. " 
 
 It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price 
 of liberty." Nothing is truer, and it is well worth 
 remembering. 
 
 After returning to the United States, Gen. Bundy 
 gave his son the benefit of a good common school 
 education, and on coming of age, he married Miss 
 Crabtree, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer in the 
 neighborhood. The union proved a happy one, and 
 the year 1861 found George Washington Bundy on a 
 farm of his own, six miles from the town of Bopeep, 
 
 His wife was a lady of more than ordinary intelli 
 gence, and one who had many friends. At this time 
 they had three children Frank, and two younger 
 daughters. 
 
 At the first tap of the drum which called the Ameri 
 can people "to arms," Mr. Bundy, after giving all 
 needed instructions as to the management of his farm, 
 went to town and enlisted. When the company was 
 organized, he was elected Captain, and soon received 
 his Commission. Army drilling soon commenced and 
 the Regiment to which Captain Bundy was assigned 
 was one of the first sent to the front. 
 
 Three times during the first year he received pro 
 motion for bravery, and in the fall of 1862 he lost his 
 left arm. After this he returned to the field, as Colo 
 nel, in command of one of the best Regiments which 
 Massachusetts furnished during the war. 
 
5 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 During Col. Bundy' s absence, the management of 
 the farm fell upon Mrs. Bundy. Corn and potatoes 
 had been partially cultivated, but a large hay crop was 
 on hand. So many men had gone to the front that it 
 was next to impossible to get help, and Mrs. Bundy 
 was at her wits end. "Necessity is the mother of in 
 vention," and Mrs. Bundy was not long in getting 
 things in motion. The mowing machine was brought 
 from the shed, where Mr. Bundy had so carefully 
 placed it the year before. With Frank's limited 
 knowledge and his mother's superior judgment, the 
 machine was soon ready for the field. It was an easy 
 matter to cut five or six acres a day, but this was not 
 all the grass had to be stirred, raked into winrows 
 and then put into cocks, to guard against possible 
 showers. 
 
 Jane, the eldest daughter, was now thirteen years 
 old. Her father had often allowed her to drive, so she 
 soon learned to run the mowing machine, while Frank 
 and his mother attended to the hay. After cutting for 
 a day or two, they would haul the hay in, and by the 
 time the work was finished, Frank, feeling the respon 
 sibility, had learned to assume the management, thereby 
 materially aiding his mother. 
 
 This was a time of bustle and confusion troops 
 were being mustered, drilled, armed and equiped for 
 the war. Regiments were being moved to the front, 
 brigades and armies being formed, and soon the clash 
 of arms was heard, and then came the news of the 
 killed, the dying, the wounded and the missing. Peo 
 ple gathered in little squads at the bulletin boards, 
 coming from all parts of the country to learn the fate 
 of their loved ones. Noble hearted women started for 
 the scene of action to care for the sick and wounded 
 and soothe the dying. 
 
 Prayer meetings were frequent in the town and all 
 over the country, where all would meet and seek con 
 solation in prayer. Every mail brought tidings of 
 battles lost and battles won, long lists of killed and 
 wounded; and how earnestly these lists were scanned, 
 .to see if a father, son, brother, husband or lover had 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 9 
 
 been killed. Oh, such anxiety and expectation. Hope, 
 fear and despair all came at once, to stir the depths 
 of human feelings. The aged, the sick, women and 
 children all hoped and some hoped against fate. 
 
 Thus time spiled on at Washington. The govern 
 ment was encompassed by enemies. Gold and silver 
 had disappeard into the vaults of Wall Street. At the 
 first tap of the drum bankers demanded of the gov 
 ernment exorbitant interest, and the immortal Lincoln 
 found himself confronted by a more formidable foe in 
 Wall and Lombard Streets than even in the South. 
 But in this sad dilemma, there was still a way. Aban 
 don the use of gold and silver and coin money from 
 paper only. 
 
 In its distress the Government did not stop to argue 
 questions of finance with bankers, but simplv took 
 advantage of its own right to make its own money, of 
 whatever substance was cheapest and best and most 
 convenient for use. Had our law makers shown as 
 bold a front to the bankers as they did to the Confed 
 erates, gold would have lost its power and been valu 
 able only as bullion and in trade with foreign coun 
 tries, and even then only when balance of trade was 
 against us. 
 
 But bankers, who, by sharp schemes, had succeeded 
 in getting possession of all the gold, were too sharp 
 to allow a policy like this to go into effect. To avert 
 it they came together and lobbied a bill through Con 
 gress for an issue of bonds, with interest payable in 
 coin. It appears strange that the paper money would 
 buy corn, wheat, arms, ammunition, pay troops and 
 labor, do, in fact, all the business of the country, but 
 was not good enough to pay interest on bonds that 
 had been purchased with greenbacks. 
 
 By this act of injustice the bondholders were made 
 a special class, and the only class in the United States 
 who could demand gold as money for any purpose, 
 whatever; and the act was not passed by party vote. 
 Just how it got through Congress, is not clear, but it 
 was passed under the protest of our wisest statesmen; 
 and in order to carry out its provisions, it became 
 
JO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 necessary for Government to actually repudiate its own 
 money by refusing to take it for duty on imports. 
 But notwithstanding this unfortunate, not to say dis 
 honest legislation, the greenback went forth among the 
 people, saved the country, and did its work nobly. 
 It took the place of gold and the war moved on with 
 unabated fury. Ships of war were being constructed, 
 and fortifications being built; armies were moving to 
 the front and more troops being called for. While 
 this constant drain of the working people was going 
 on, old men, women and children came nobly to the 
 rescue. Farm machines, with good horses, came into 
 play; girls ran the mowing machines, ran plows and 
 cultivators, and farming went on with very little inter 
 ruption. 
 
 During these long years of war Col. Bundy improved 
 every opportunity to write home, and his pay was 
 always placed in the keeping of his wife, and when 
 the last man had surrendered, he returned to the family 
 from whom he had been so long separated and who 
 welcomed him with fond embraces. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE writer will now introduce Mr. Goldburg, who 
 had moved to Bopeep three years previous 
 to the beginning of the late war. Mr. Goldburg, 
 though an English Jew, was very much American in 
 appearance and style, but had all the cunning and 
 greed of a Jew. He had just come from California, 
 where he had given a man a small "grub stake" of ten 
 dollars, and in that way had become interested in a 
 mine which the man discovered and worked; then sold 
 out for forty thousand dollars, making twenty thousand 
 dollars each. Having settled in Bopeep, the first thing 
 was to look around for a good investment Property 
 was low, and business dull, owing to a scarcity of 
 money. As the city was surrounded by a fertile coun 
 try, the Jew could see no loss of money and invested 
 in property at the beginning of the war, at the beg 
 garly prices existing, and it was not long in getting 
 noised abroad that Mr. Goldburg had a little money 
 he could be induced to put into land at a very low 
 figure. He would also loan money on good real estate 
 security. Mr. Goldburg soon succeeded, by foreclos 
 ure of mortgage and direct purchase in converting his 
 twenty thousand dollars into land and town property, 
 at bedrock prices. 
 
 When greenbacks went into circulation, money be 
 came plenty. Every one had money. Everything 
 brought a good price, and every one who had no land 
 wanted to buy. As a consequence, land jumped at a 
 single bound to twice its former value. He now began 
 selling his land as fast as possible, and money being 
 plentiful and every branch of industry quickened, he 
 was not long in turning his land into greenbacks at 
 twice their former value and even more. On settling 
 
12 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 up he found that in three years' double-deal, he had 
 increased his capital to fifty thousand dollars above all 
 living expenses. 
 
 Having this snug sum on hand, the Jew decided to 
 invest in government bonds and retire from business, 
 living on the interest. Acting on this plan he soon 
 had his bonds snugly laid away in his safe "Now," 
 said he to his wife, "we will have nothing to do but 
 draw the interest in gold on these bonds and live at 
 ease; the interest will amount to over three thousand 
 dollars in gold and that will buy four thousand or five 
 thousand dollars' worth of greenbacks. Gold is bound 
 to go at a premium, for people must have it to pay 
 duty on imports. This arrangement is one of the 
 greatest things for the banks that could be conceived; 
 in the first place, people will have to sell their green 
 backs to the banks at the banker's price to get gold 
 to pay their duty on imports; then the banks will take 
 the greenbacks to buy more bonds and the government 
 will pay the gold back to the bankers again as interest 
 on the bonds. So you see the banks will be giving 
 the gold out all the time for greenbacks, and getting 
 it back for interest, and at the end of the year, the 
 banks will have the identical gold that they com 
 menced with, and still will have bought greenbacks at 
 a big discount, over and over again, and as fast as the 
 greenbacks accumulate, they can put them into gov 
 ernment bonds and draw more gold interest. 
 
 "Talk about the dead-open-and-shut string game, gold- 
 brick or three-card monte that we had in the mines, 
 where there was no law; they fade into insignificance 
 in comparison with this game that has become law at 
 the nation's capital. And there is no doubt that these 
 bankers will see to it that gold brings a good price, 
 so I think we can safely count on our interest amount' 
 ing to six or seven thousand a year in greenbacks. 
 It is possible the people will send different representa 
 tives to the next Congress, and this kind of work be 
 knocked in the head, but even so, we shall get $3,000 
 a year. We can live well on $1,000 here at home and 
 can spend the remainder in luxury. In this easy way 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 1 3 
 
 of living, we will be looked up to, more than is even 
 the nobility of the old world monarchies. 
 
 "I never until of late began to comprehend the vast 
 power there is in money. It seems strange how a 
 nation of intelligent people will allow the money and 
 wealth to concentrate in { the hands of individuals 
 without limit. I would as soon think of building and 
 running, a steam boiler without a safety valve, or 
 build a reservoir without a flood gate, as to think of 
 allowing money to accumulate in the hands of indi 
 viduals without limit." 
 
 For several weeks time passed pleasantly at the 
 Goldburg home; he had hired a man to go in his 
 place to the war, and while others were facing all 
 kinds of danger, disappointment and even death, Mr. 
 Goldburg sat back in his easy chair and amused him 
 self by reading accounts of other people's troubles. 
 But this kind of an easy way of getting along was 
 plainly too much for Mr. Goldburg; he soon began to 
 feel the want of that excitement that invariably accom 
 panies money getting, or as it might be more properly 
 termed, gold gambling. 
 
 He often told his wife of this restless feeling and 
 sometimes thought of keeping his bonds and borrow 
 ing money enough to start some small business, just 
 to occupy his time and increase his income a little. 
 "But," said he, "this paying interest I don't like. 
 It is the wrong side of business. It is giving a cer 
 tainty for an uncertainty. It is the very thing that 
 makes paupers of many and millionaires of a few. In 
 short it is something for nothing, and as the pistol is 
 to the highwayman, so is interest to the banker, and 
 is the very thing that enables one class to live off of 
 another with perfect impunity. " 
 
 For some time he was revolving this proposition in 
 his mind but no action was taken until one day, in an 
 excited manner, he called his wife who had been look 
 ing after household duties; as she entered the room 
 he sprang to his feet and was clutching the morning 
 paper nervously in his hands; as she approached he 
 motioned her to a seat and gave her the paper as he 
 
14 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 pointed to an article that was headed "The Banking 
 act in full, as it passed both houses, was signed by the 
 President and has become a law." 
 
 "Read it," he said, "I am afraid I do not understand 
 it right, there must be some mistake and I want to see 
 what you make of it." But without his lady having 
 time to read, he took the paper and read the impor 
 tant things aloud. 
 
 "Now," said he, "if I understand this right, the 
 government proposes to take my bonds on deposit, 
 keep and be responsible for them, pay me my interest 
 in full and in gold every six months and in addition 
 to this, government gives me ninety dollars out of 
 every one hundred of my money back at one per cent 
 interest to go to banking on; so you see that while I 
 am drawing my interest from the government in gold 
 I can loan the same money here and they will pay me 
 a large interest again. So you see if the people are 
 the government, as they claim to be, it is certainly 
 very kind in them to pay me interest on $50,000 at 
 Washington, and then give me $45,000 of my money 
 back so I can lend it to them the second time and get 
 another interest on the same money. Now I don't 
 believe there is anything in it. I believe it is a lie 
 got up by political shysters to injure the administration 
 
 "I am surprised that the government don't suppress 
 some of these papers, but it won't do to be too fast. 
 The other legislation such as paying interest in gold 
 and then in order to meet the demands for gold thus 
 created, placing the exception clause on greenbacks, is 
 equally as bad. And it begins to look as though our 
 laws were made in Wall Street instead of Washington 
 and it may turn out that way yet. 
 
 "But if this is a true bill, I will be able to make 
 $10,000 a year right here in banking and draw my 
 interest, amounting to $3,000, in gold beside, and there 
 is no telling what that gold will be worth before the 
 war is over, that is, if this class legislation is not 
 repealed. Why, it is better than a gold mine; it will 
 beat any pension and will be showing the class more 
 favor, who get the benefit of it, than the nobility of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 15 
 
 England. I shall start for New York in the morning 
 and see if there be any truth in it." 
 
 That night Mr. Goldburg packed his valise, and in 
 the morning started for New York. On arriving, he 
 went to a hotel, and retired early, to dream of the 
 possibility of being yet mistaken, concerning the true 
 meaning of the law. He was afraid of being laughed 
 at by his bankers if it should prove to be a burlesque. 
 
 "If it is possible that this law has passed Congress 
 and my understanding of it is correct, it must cer 
 tainly have been done by a conspiracy between the 
 bankers and the party leaders in Congress, who have 
 taken advantage of the terrible straits in which the 
 government is placed to crowd the bill through when 
 the attention of the Representatives was concentrated 
 upon war measures which they considered of more 
 importance; it is too bare-faced to last long, but I can 
 take advantage of it while it lasts and while the Wall 
 Street bankers are making millions, I can make a few 
 thousands." His mind ran on in this way till nearly 
 morning when he dropped into a restless sleep. 
 
 Long after day light he awoke, raised himself to a 
 sitting posture, reached for the paper which was in 
 his coat pocket and opening it he again read the U. S. 
 Banking Act, for the ninety-ninth time. It was still 
 there not a dream, the golden god still continued to 
 smile. 
 
 After breakfast Mr. Goldburg consulted his watch; 
 it was only half past seven. "O horror," he said 
 in his impatience, "the bank will not be open for two 
 hours. These bankers are as autocratic as the Czar of 
 Russia." At last, nine o'clock arrived and Mr. Gold 
 burg dropped into the office of one of the largest bank 
 ing firms in the city. It was a house where he had 
 formerly done a good deal of business and he was 
 recognized at once. On stating that he wanted 
 to talk over business matters of importance, he 
 was ushered into a private room and informed that 
 the law had already gone into effect. It had cost a 
 good deal of money to lobby it through Congress, but 
 the bankers' association had put up all the money and 
 
l6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 would expect those taking advantage of the law, to 
 reimburse them. 
 
 Everything being satisfactory, Mr. Goldburg laid 
 before the bankers a proposition to organize a com 
 pany to conduct a banking business at Bopeep; he 
 dwelt extensively on the agricultural resources of the 
 country, its grand water power and maufacturing 
 probabilities, and being well pleased with the locality 
 the bankers expressed a willingness to take one half of 
 the stock. This being satisfactory they proposed to 
 organize by making one of the New York bankers 
 president and Mr. Goldburg cashier. A few days were 
 then spent in organizing and completing details, the 
 most important of which was to secure from the gov 
 ernment $90,000 in cash at one per cent for twenty 
 years, while government was paying them six per cent 
 in gold on the same money. Mr. Goldburg said it was 
 what Californians would call "double-shooting the turn. " 
 
 At last, everything being arranged, Mr. Goldburg 
 returned to Bopeep accompanied by Mr. Goldman, a 
 representative of ttoe New York bankers. A suitable 
 room was soon secured and a large iron safe set in 
 place, a few tables, chairs and screens were all that 
 were necessary to start and run a business that in time 
 would dominate all others and make more criminals 
 than whiskey, more beggars than beer. 
 
 Mr. Goldman was an apostate Jew Americanized; 
 his stock of general information was sadly deficient 
 but he wore good clothes and had studied finance 
 from boyhood. None knew better than he the different 
 monetary systems and the value of money, bonds and 
 stocks; he was not a capitalist and spent every dollar 
 of his salary for dress and in gambling, arid seemed to 
 have no inclination to own property. 
 
 At the same time he seemed to have every faculty 
 for making sharp turns on the money changer's tables 
 and for years he had been in the employ of the same 
 firm. Had he made his start, like some others, by 
 some accident or chance, no doubt he would have been 
 one of the most exacting and unscrupulous men on the 
 earth, but as he had no means himself, he became a 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 17 
 
 willing tool for others, to carry out their verv laudable 
 purpose of building up a money aristocracy, by the 
 use of every possible scheme or device which could be 
 invented for obtaining money from the people without 
 giving anything in return. How they succeeded in 
 getting millions of dollars from the people, for abso 
 lutely nothing, will be seen further on. 
 
 I say from the people, because as the people own 
 everything, there is positively no other source from 
 which men can obtain wealth. 
 
 I say they gave nothing in return, because they had 
 nothing to give, and as they produced nothing, every 
 dollar they obtained was obtained for nothing. 
 
 You may clothe the transaction in all the high-sound 
 ing language at your disposal; you may cover it up 
 with a multitude of figures; you may talk about 
 interest, discount and commission; but the facts 
 remain the same, that there is not a millionaire who 
 ever lived who has given the world or given the people 
 value received for what he has; consequently it is 
 legalized robbery, but in order to accommodate this 
 book to the absurd teachings of our early education, 
 I will call it speculation. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHEN Mr. Goldburg first landed in the little town 
 of Bopeep he purchased a small piece of land for 
 a nominal sum, on the outskirt of the town, and built 
 a small cottage. His family consisted of his wife, one 
 son, who was then eleven years old, and a daughter, 
 Rebecca, thirteen years of age. Mr. Goldburg had 
 married a California girl, at least her people had emi 
 grated to that state from Ohio in an early day, and 
 like a solitary plant in rich soil and genial climate, the 
 girl, unfettered by religious dogmas or political bias, 
 had grown into womanhood with a degree of self-reli 
 ance which few women of her day possessed. 
 
 Her love of money was only equal to the good that 
 could be accomplished with the same. She had read 
 about Jesus overturning the tables of the money 
 changers, telling them that they had turned the house 
 of the Lord into a den of thieves, his condemning 
 usury, and she had learned to look upon a millionaire 
 as a miser, as a brute. She disliked ostentation but 
 taught her children to be plain, but neat and good. 
 
 Among her neighbors she was a real favorite but 
 found little time to visit, as she and her children were 
 kept pretty busy in the garden and in planting and 
 cultivating shrubs to beautify their little home. 
 
 Her husband often wanted her to employ some one 
 to do the work but she objected, saying that the more 
 trouble a thing cost the more she appreciated it; 
 besides it would keep the children out of mischief and 
 furnish them good healthy employment and cultivate 
 in them a taste for such things. In addition to this, 
 she enjoyed arranging things as much as she did see 
 ing them after they were arranged. 
 
 There was a good common school in the place and 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 19 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg never allowed work to interfere with 
 her children going to school, but on the contrary, 
 looked upon the work they were called to do around 
 home as a kind of stepping-stone or preparation of 
 their young minds, under her own guidance, for a 
 higher development, through their studies in school 
 and during school terms they were kept in constant 
 attendance. 
 
 Both advanced rapidly in their studies and Rebecca 
 was the favorite of the whole school. She seemed to 
 have a magic influence that drew all toward her. 
 While she was perfectly self-reliant, she had at the 
 same time warm sympathies and ever kind words for 
 her playmates, and they all loved her, all wanted to 
 play with her, and the girl that occupied a desk with 
 her was envied by all the others. 
 
 In the early married life of Mr. Goldburg he was 
 poor and had to rustle in every conceivable way to 
 make ends meet and he often found himself in debt; 
 while this was the case his wife took a lively interest 
 in his business and often took in odd jobs of sewing 
 or mending for the miners in order to assist in supply 
 ing the family wants; but now having accumulated a 
 large sum of money, what she considered a fortune, 
 had retired from the gold mine, also from other busi 
 ness and made a safe investment of all their money in 
 government bonds that was paying them an enormous 
 interest, more in fact than was necessary to keep the 
 family in luxury, she could see no necessity for her 
 husband's going into this new venture. "But," said 
 her husband, "there is no venture about it. All I have 
 to do is to take the money that government gives me, 
 amounting on my part to $45,000, and loan it out to 
 the people here for whatever interest I choose to ask 
 and I don't think we will be apt to let any go for less 
 than eight per cent. Why, just think of it, $45,000 
 at eight per cent willgive me over $3,500 clear money; 
 besides some are bound to have bad luck and fail to 
 pay on time, then the bank will foreclose, buy in their 
 property at forced sale for a great deal less than what 
 
aO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 it is worth, and in that way make a great deal of 
 money. You see it is make, make everywhere." 
 
 "But suppose," said his wife, "the bank should lose 
 some of this $45,000, would you not lose your bonds?" 
 
 "Of course it would seem that way, but we have this 
 $45,000 for twenty years, and the gold interest on the 
 bonds converted into greenbacks and compounded 
 every six months, in twenty years will amount to over 
 $100,000, so you see that even were I to lose every 
 dollar of the $45,000, and then at the end of the twenty 
 years lose the bonds, I would still be worth $100,000 
 or over, just from the interest paid me during that time. " 
 
 "If the government lets you have $45,000 atone per 
 cent, why don't they put $5,000 more to that and pay 
 off the bonds and stop the interest and lend the money 
 to the people at one per cent instead of letting you 
 loan it at eight per cent?" 
 
 "Of course, if the legislation was all done for the 
 benefit of the people, it would be a different thing, 
 But the way it is, the people stay at home and let 
 Congress do the legislating; but the bankers have a 
 strong organization and they get a great many of their 
 members elected to the House and often to the Senate, 
 and then they send strong men to Washington with 
 plenty of money and they generally manage to get the 
 bills through for their own benefit." 
 
 "This present law," said he, "is all for the benefit 
 of the bankers and if I don't take the benefit some one 
 else will. In fact some one will have to, for as soon as 
 the war is over the bankers will get an act passed 
 withdrawing the greenbacks from circulation and then 
 the people will be compelled to go to the banks for 
 money, there will be no other way to get it, for 
 it is law. 
 
 "And so far as our losing is concerned, it is out of 
 the question; bankers never lose. If a bank breaks, 
 it is the depositors that lose and not the bankers. 
 
 "Farmers' crops may fail, cattle die and floods carry 
 off land improvements, but the land will remain to pay 
 the banker." 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2f 
 
 "Well, I do not see," said Mrs. Goldburg, "what 
 good there is in taking all this additional business 
 upon yourself. The banking business is complicated 
 and these men who are in it have been schooled in 
 finance since childhood and you will be forced to study 
 night and day to keep up." 
 
 "There is just where you are mistaken," said Mr. 
 Goldburg, "it is right the reverse; it takes a smart 
 man to run a peanut stand and make money, but any 
 fool who has enough bonds, can get money of the 
 government for nothing, loan it to the people and 
 make money, have a lawyer make out the mortgage 
 and make the man who borrows the money pay for it. 
 The most difficult problem that a banker has to solve 
 is how to keep the money on hand, beyond the reach 
 of thieves, and the mechanics are helping him out on 
 that by building iron safes and vaults that are per 
 fectly impregnable." 
 
 "Well, my dear husband, don't you think that you 
 could enjoy life better to let all this money making 
 business go and turn your attention to studying science, 
 in reading, traveling, and in fact anything to enjoy 
 life and make time pass pleasantly? You see the 
 interest on these bonds is more than enough to keep 
 us all in luxury, and you will have nothing on your 
 mind, but enjoy yourself in your own way; you can 
 travel and enjoy everything that is going on in the 
 whole country. 
 
 "It seems to me that all the money a man makes 
 more than what he can use in a natural life time and 
 give his children a good comfortable start in the world 
 is a waste of energy, i can not see what good this 
 surplus wealth can do you or anybody else. It looks 
 like foolishness to waste time in trying to get some 
 thing that we do not need and really have no use for. 
 Besides you say these laws are all made for the benefit 
 of the banks, that they were lobbied through Congress 
 when the attention of the people was absorbed in war. 
 Now when tho, war is over I am afraid there will be a 
 day of retribution." 
 
22 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg then explained that so far as retiring 
 on the interest was concerned it would be more desira 
 ble by allodds, but it was, under the present reign of 
 things, perfectly impracticable. 
 
 "The money power has full control of all our finan 
 cial legislation," said he, "and the laws are already so 
 framed that a few unscrupulous men will gather the 
 wealth of this country together so rapidly that the 
 plutocratic world will look on with silent admiration. 
 And men of small fortunes like ourselves will be 
 swallowed up by stock and bond manipulation, 
 squeezed out and forced to the wall, and in a short 
 time this will be a government of millionaires and 
 paupers, and as the choice between the two I prefer 
 to be a millionaire. It is true the financial laws are 
 all one-sided and in reality, this whole banking scheme 
 is as much a robbery as was ever perpetrated by Joa- 
 quin or Robin Hood, but still it is law and has be 
 come a part of our government; and the American 
 people are so patriotic that it will take a long time for 
 them to be forced to acknowledge the fact, even after 
 they know it is true. It is always easier to commit a 
 wrong than ?.t is to rectify one that has been committed. 
 
 "Besides, the banking law is the same in principle 
 and effect that is now existing in Great Britain and it 
 has prospered there for nearly two hundred years, and 
 notwithstanding the Bank of England is nothing more 
 or less than a private corporation, the same as our 
 present bank, it has actually become stronger than the 
 government itself and the whole people, even the 
 nobility, are paying tribute to it. 
 
 "There is therefore no good reason to doubt but that 
 the day will come when the Bank Association will 
 name a candidate for President of each of the great 
 political parties and thus having their own man atthe 
 helm, a strong navy, and an army recruited from 
 the tramp element, would be able to control this gov 
 ernment and these people. 
 
 "Joint stock companies will be organized to run the 
 large papers and their stock put upon the market. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 3 
 
 Bankers will buy it in and thus control the press, and 
 by a system of advertising, will even force books into 
 the schogls that will start the young mind off in the 
 right direction to believe that their only hope to live 
 at all in this miserable world is in the gold base and 
 national bank. 
 
 "An aristocracy will be built that will be as formid 
 able in its proportions and exacting in its demands as 
 that of Germany or Britain. 
 
 "Of course it will be hard for the American people 
 to see their liberties curtailed and their property slip 
 ping away, but the newspapers that they look to for 
 knowledge will give them a hundred different reasons 
 for the hard times and demonstrate to them by figures 
 enough to cover the whole side of a newspaper, that 
 if it had not been for the National Banks keeping the 
 people up, they would all have starved to death long 
 ago, and in this way they will be led right on down 
 and made slaves to their own ignorance. 
 
 "So I see but one safe way and that is to make all 
 we can, take advantage of everything that comes in 
 our favor, make thousands first, then millions if we 
 can, for as sure as the sun rises and sets, there is no 
 such thing as standing still in this day. If I do not 
 rob some one, then some one will rob me; forty years 
 from to-day, if we live, we will either be extremely 
 rich or extremely poor." 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg had listened with a sad heart to this 
 dreadful picture of her country's future, but having 
 been already well posted as to how Mr. Goldburg had 
 received his information, and also knowing that he 
 had actually brought back from the treasury $45,000 
 to loan out among his neighbors, while his own 
 money was every dollar of it invested in government 
 bonds bearing an enormous interest, she felt that the 
 facts were all against her and she was in no mood to 
 differ with him in regard to our government in its dis 
 tress falling a victim to the great money powers of 
 Britain and the advisability of keeping on the safe 
 side by taking advantage of every point that presented 
 
24 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 itself for increasing their financial importance and 
 strength. 
 
 But Rebecca, who had breathed from infancy the free 
 air of the Sierra Nevada, and whose constant associa 
 tion was with children whose fathers, brothers, uncles 
 and cousins were offering up their lives to protect their 
 homes and government, was as full of the patriotic 
 spirit as the full blown rose is of perfume, and this 
 dreadful picture was too much. Laying down the 
 book she was idly reading during this long talk, in' an 
 instant, like the godess of Liberty with uplifted hands, 
 she stood before her father and said, "Father, this 
 cannot be, the noble hearted, brave men and boys of 
 this country are in the army now, and thinking only 
 of the loved ones and the foe, but while they are at 
 the front, if a coil be thrown around the grand old 
 Ship of State by these men who deal only in gold, 
 they will no more stop its progress than the Indian 
 who throws his noose over the flying locomotive. 
 The one will be dragged to an ignominious death; the 
 other will ride to his doom in a palace of state. Those 
 who have tasted liberty will never die slaves. " 
 
 Thus saying she left the room and in another apart 
 ment threw herself upon a lounge and burying her face 
 in her hands gave herself up to silent grief. 
 
 The father and mother, as though by one impulse, 
 arose to follow, and Mr. Goldburg, with a touch of 
 remorse, said, "I never thought but I know now that 
 I ought not to have said so much before our daughter, 
 for her whole soul is filled with sentiments of American 
 patriotism and she knows but little of man's true 
 destiny." On reaching her side he tried hard to com 
 fort her. 
 
 It was spring now. Nature was fast putting on her 
 mantle of green; birds chirped merrily as they skipped 
 from bough to bough; every breath of air seemed laden 
 with rich perfume and all things were taking on new 
 life, and the new National Bank had begun already to 
 thrive. 
 
 Soldiers had been sending money home from the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2$ 
 
 arjny; products of all kinds brought a good price; 
 wages were good and work plenty. All this helped to 
 swell the deposits and a great deal of money had been 
 loaned on good interest. 
 
 There was a vacant lot on the same square where 
 the bank was now situated and Mr. Goldman, the 
 clerk, in his usual business-like way, discovered that 
 it belonged to a Mr. Stillwater, a well-to-do farmer, 
 and that this same Mr. Stillwater had also $10,000 on 
 deposit, so he suggested to Mr. Goldburg that if. 
 would be a good plan to induce Mr. Stillwater to build 
 a first-class brick block and fit the corner up for the 
 National Bank. 
 
 * Being pleased with the proposition, Mr. Goldburg 
 was not long in accidentally meeting Mr. Stillwater, 
 and brought the suggestion of a building around in a 
 very indifferent way by proposing to rent the corner at 
 a good round figure, it he would put up a good building. 
 
 Mr. Stillwater said he had figured on the matter and 
 found that it would cost $30,000 to put up the build 
 ing and he could not raise that much; he had been 
 offered $10,000 for the lot and he was now on a stand 
 whether to sell the lot for $10,000, or borrow $20,000 
 which added to the $10,000 he now had in the bank 
 would put up the building, He was, of course, in 
 formed that the bank would furnish what money was 
 necessary and take a mortgage on the property. Mr. 
 Stillwater said that he would think the matter over, 
 and on the following day called at the bank and made 
 arrangements for the $20,000. He then advertised for 
 contract and in ten days had the building under way, 
 the contract price being $30,000. 
 
 After Mr. Stillwater left the bank, Mr. Goldburg, 
 addressing the clerk, said, "Mr. Goldman, do you not 
 think that we have made a mistake in not buying the 
 lot and erecting a building ourselves? The rent on the 
 part of the building that we use will amount, I see, to 
 as much as the interest on the $20,000." 
 
 "True," said Mr. Goldman, "but you see that as soon 
 as this war is over the greenbacks will be withdrawn 
 
26 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 from circulation, money will become so scarce that this 
 property will not sell for enough to pay the mortgage 
 and the -bank will then foreclose and bid it in at forced 
 sale for less than one-half of its present cost. " 
 
 "But," said Mr. Goldburg," is there any certainty of 
 their being able to get the contraction act through? 
 
 "Knowing as you do," said Mr Goldman, "what has 
 been already accomplished by way of legislation, can 
 you for a moment doubt the ability of the money power 
 to carry any act through Congress that will strengthen 
 the position of the banks? " 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHEN Col. Bundy returned to the front with his 
 regiment, it was decided that in order to send 
 the children to school Mrs. Bundy should move to 
 town. They therefore made arrangements with one 
 of the neighbors to look after the farm during the 
 winter; then they bought a small building in the 
 suburbs of the town. 
 
 When snugly settled in their new home, Mrs. Bundy 
 was not long in getting her children into school. 
 Frank was given a desk on the extreme right of the 
 room and after arranging his papers, books, etc., 
 before commencing his studies, he cast his eyes about 
 the room to take in the situation. From one to another 
 of his neighbors his eyes passed with scarcely a reflec 
 tion until directly opposite him they encountered 
 another pair of eyes that held his own for an instant. 
 It was a long, interested look. In fact they seemed to 
 be looking right through his eyes down into his soul 
 and reading his secret thoughts. 
 
 Their eyes seemed to meet by accident and separate 
 as though some hidden power were controlling each in 
 union. 
 
 Frank was soon buried in thought concerning his 
 studies, but in spite of a strong effort to the contrary 
 his mind wandered back to those lovely eyes, and he 
 raised his eyes just in the right time to meet again the 
 same long, interested look. 
 
 Frank was beginning to experience something he 
 had never felt before; he knew what it meant, but 
 resolved not to give up to his feelings. He came there 
 to learn and he would let nothing divert his mind 
 from his books, and if there was to be any love affair 
 it must be after school was over, But with all these 
 
28 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 good resolutions his eyes would some/times wander 
 back to those of his fair enchantress. 
 
 When noon came Frank took his place at the foot 
 of the spelling class. Miss Rebecca Goldburg, the 
 banker's daughter, was the girl in whom he was so 
 much interested and he noticed that she was next the 
 head; it was not long before she was at the head and 
 before they were done spelling Frank was at her side. 
 She received him with a smile, but the class was not 
 so well pleased. He was a new boy, arid to go next 
 to the head of the spelling class the first time was too 
 much. Besides some of the boys thought Rebecca too 
 well pleased. 
 
 In starting for home when school was out, Rebecca 
 managed to walk with Frank's sister and when part 
 way home they waited for Frank and all went home 
 together. - As they lived near each other they were 
 soon well acquainted and fast friends. 
 
 On returning to school, Frank went to the ball 
 grounds and took part in the play until school called 
 and he was not long in discovering that he had 
 aroused the jealousy of the whole class. At recess a 
 boy about a year older than himself, who had been a 
 kind of a bully among the others, grabbed his cap and 
 began to soil it. Frank took it out of his hands and 
 told him not to bother him any more; at this the boy 
 began to abuse him and finally slapped him, but when 
 Frank got the slap, as a sporting man would say, he 
 let go his right in regular pugilistic style and landed 
 square on the rib with such force that the big boy got 
 away and said that he did not want to fight. After this 
 little episode the boys were all Frank's friends. 
 
 As school progressed it was noticed that Frank was 
 not only first in play but was also first in all his 
 studies, and although not much larger than the average 
 boy of his age it was plain to be seen that in strength 
 and durability he had few equals. 
 
 In learning he was not slow but it required constant 
 study to maintain his place at the head of his class, yet 
 he never became so busily engaged in his studies but 
 what Rebecca found a place in his thoughts and as the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2g 
 
 winter rolled by they were often together and growing 
 constantly nearer and dearer to each other. 
 
 During the winter ,they had many an entertain 
 ment for the benefit of the boys in the army and 
 Rebecca was often called upon to render patri 
 otic pieces. It was in the rendition of these that 
 she developed sudh an intense feeling for the American 
 people and flag, that, coupled with her excellent 
 delivery and pleasing manner, soon made her the 
 favorite of the whole country, and especially of those 
 whose friends were in the war. As her elocutionary 
 powers developed, she was sent for from near and far 
 and large sums of money were raised through exhibi 
 tions in which she played an important part. Through 
 a regularly organized Relief corps, this money soon 
 found its way to the Hospitals and did much to allevi 
 ate the sufferings of the sick and wounded soldiers. 
 
 At last the winter school closed and Mrs. Bundy, 
 with her little family, returned to their country home. 
 There was a feeling of sadness at parting with old 
 friends and playmates, but it was overbalanced by the 
 thought of again enjoying their old home; the horses, 
 cows and chickens seemed like old friends, besides 
 they were to mingle again with friends of other days 
 who were dear to them. When again established 
 everything seemed very natural and there was so much 
 to do they were far from being lonesome. 
 
 Here and there a rail had been knocked from the 
 fence; these had to be put in place, garden ground 
 had to be cleared of its rubbish and made ready for 
 planting; rose bushes and shrubbery had to be pruned, 
 flower beds raked over, and it did Mrs. Bundy 's heart 
 good to see the enjoyment of the children in fixing up 
 the place. 
 
 Frank had so far developed toward manhood that he 
 was now able to do all kinds of work on the farm and 
 with the superintendence of his mother, he soon had 
 everything in running condition; the machinery was 
 all put in order and soon plowing begun. No boy 
 ever commenced his summer work with higher hopes 
 and expectations than did he, The winter at school 
 
 M 
 
3O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 had been an enjoyable one and work passed lightly as 
 he thought of many incidents in which Rebecca had 
 played an important part and he looked forward to the 
 time when he should become a man. 
 
 There was a nice farm in the neighborhood, which 
 he hoped some day to own; he would change the 
 fences to make it more convenient, would plant an 
 orchard the first year and in his garden would have 
 all the small fruits because they would come on quickly, 
 he would tear down the old, dilapidated barn and 
 replace it with a new one; the house, too, he would 
 improve. He hoped to bring all these things about 
 and to place Rebecca as the crowning jewel of all his 
 hopes; as children, they had pledged eternal love and 
 as a man, he felt that the greatest happiness which 
 could fall to his lot would be to make her happy. 
 
 He thought much and often of these plans and they 
 did not seem to him extravagant or overdrawn. The 
 country was prosperous, work was plenty, there was an 
 abundance of money, notwithstanding our country was 
 carrying on war at the cost of more than a million 
 dollars a day, there were good times, financially, all 
 over the country, "Of course, " said Frank, "if the 
 country can prosper and carry on such a war, 
 when the war ends and the expense is stopped and the 
 thousands that are now in the army, both north and 
 south return to their homes and go to building up and 
 not tearing down, our productions will be doubled, our 
 exports will be immense, and once at peace we will 
 prosper beyond anything ever known. 
 
 "Our debt, they say, is a large part of it in green 
 backs and bears no interest, besides it is needed to 
 take the place of gold, as the bankers who have the 
 gold have hidden it away until danger is over; the 
 government will tell them to keep it now and we will 
 have plenty of greenback money, and if they stay in 
 circulation as long as the government lasts we will save 
 interest enough in one hundred years to buy all the 
 gold in New York." 
 
 This was the natural, common sense view of the 
 situation entertained by the boy who knew nothing pf 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 31 
 
 the intrigues of the gold gamblers. Little did he 
 think that even then there existed a conspiracy among 
 the gold speculators looking to the withdrawal of the 
 national currency as soon as the war was over, in order 
 to make room for their gold to again circulate, it being 
 now hoarded "pending the uncertainty of war. 
 
 He did not know that the gold mongers had already 
 lobbied a bill through Congress establishing National 
 Banks to operate on the same general principle or 
 plan upon which the Bank of England is organized 
 and operates, and that under that system the Bank of 
 England has from a very insignificant commencement 
 become a power that in a wonderful degree controls 
 the destiny of nations; and its oppressive hand has 
 been felt in every civilized land. 
 
 One would think from the name, "Bank of England," 
 the institution was strictly English, but it is not; it is 
 simply an ulcer having fastened itself on the body 
 politic of the English nation. And by carefnl investi 
 gation the reader will find it is strictly a Jewish 
 scheme In fact, instead of being what its name would 
 indicate, it is nothing more nor less than a private 
 corporation whose stock is owned principally by 
 Jews, who could in all probability trace their ancestry 
 back in an unbroken line to that remote period in 
 history when Christ turned their parents, the money 
 changers, out of the temple ot God. 
 
 To realize the unfair advantage conferred upon the 
 bank by the government we need only to take into 
 consideration the fact that the government has become 
 bankrupt while the bank has become the ruling power 
 of the earth. And the government debt has become so 
 large that they do not count on ever paying it, but will 
 pay the interest throughout all time. Thus the English 
 government pays tribute to a golden god of their own 
 creation, and in order to make some excuse for allow- 
 ing such a system to exist, the .English statesmen have 
 been forced to the sad extremity of proclaiming to the 
 world the very dangerous doctrine, that a government 
 debt is a government blessing. Shame, pn the 
 who could make uch an assertion/ 
 
32 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 After the Bundy family had been for some weeks 
 upon the farm, they took a day to go to town and do 
 some trading. The girls stopped at Mr. Goldburg's 
 to visit while the mother and Frank went to the store 
 to get such things as were needed in the family, and 
 when they returned, Rebecca obtained permission to go 
 with them and spend a week with Mrs. Bundy and 
 family. Frank had no objection to this arrangement, 
 in fact he was pleased with the plan. 
 
 The Bundy home was an ordinary frame building of 
 seven rooms, built more for comfort than for beauty, 
 but the arrangement of the flowers, trees and shrubs 
 was artistic to a degree that is not always found among 
 farmers. Such a variety of evergreens is seldom met 
 with in a single grove as adorned their west yard, and 
 the front and east of the yard was equally remarkable 
 for the great vanety of roses, flowers and shrubs. 
 There was hardly a family in the whole country who 
 had not contributed some small plant or flower to Mrs. 
 Bundy 's collection. 
 
 While Rebecca remained with the family, much of 
 her time was spent working among the flowers and she 
 declared it gave her great delight. After the morning 
 work she would braid roses in her hair and at ten 
 o'clock go with the other girls to take a lunch to Frank 
 who was working in the field, and she would take it 
 upon herself to open the basket and spread a nice white 
 cloth upon the grass and then arrange the good things 
 of which there was always quite, an abundance. Frank 
 was quite used to little kindnesses, but this seemed to 
 come from an angel's h^ind, and never did he seem to 
 so enjoy the company of his little friend as here in his 
 country home. 
 
 Rebecca, too, was of a light heart and felt a touch 
 of joy in the country breeze; all was love to her and 
 why should she not be happy, for love 'tis said, is 
 happiness itself. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 IT is not our purpose to give a detailed account of all 
 the loans made, debts collected and mortgages fore 
 closed by the First National Bank of Bopeep, but in 
 order to get our story fully before the reader it will be 
 necessary to draw your attention to a few of the secret 
 workings. 
 
 After the bank had been running for several months, 
 it was found that the deposits had largely exceeded the 
 disbursements, and Mr. Goldman suggested to Mr. 
 Goldburg that they make additional investments in 
 bonds. Mr. Goldburg said it was impossible, as he 
 had, in organizing the bank, put in all the capital he 
 had and he did not consider it a safe proposition to 
 invest so much of the deposits in bonds. 
 
 Mr. Goldman then explained that here was "the 
 package of National Bank bills, $90,000, that the gov 
 ernment so kindly gave us to bank on. They remain 
 untouched; our loans have all been made out of the 
 deposits so far, why not take $10,000 from our deposits 
 and put with this package and buy another hundred 
 thousand dollars' worth -of bonds?" 
 
 Mr. Goldburg said the depositors might call for their 
 money, and to take out $10,000 and invest in bonds 
 would be liable to make them short of money. 
 
 Mr. Goldman replied it would not be so, for as soon 
 as they got the bonds, they could increase the capital 
 stock by depositing the bonds and getting $90,000 
 of bank bills "that will be just as good as this package; 
 we will then have a capital in bonds of $200,000 and 
 will be out only $10,000 on the last lot of bonds, and 
 will draw a gold interest on the extra bonds amount 
 ing to several thousand a year; the nice thing about 
 this banking act is, it was made for the bankers and not 
 
34 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 for the government, or the people, and is on the prin 
 ciple of 'now you see it and now you don't see it.' 
 It is the only business in the world where a man draws 
 interest on what he owes. " 
 
 About this time a man registered at the leading 
 hotel of the place of the name of Goldsmith. He was 
 about thirty years old and the son of a rich man; he 
 had grown up in the city of New York into a kind of 
 hoodlum. By sheer compulsion he had received an 
 education, and being connected with a family of mil 
 lionaires, was kept in a position with very little to do 
 and a big salary. Having plenty of money, he became 
 a favorite with sluggers and gamblers. He had a 
 native shrewdness which enabled him to hold his own 
 among that class. His father had often tried to per 
 suade him to drop his old associates and become 
 interested in some paying business, but Mr. Goldsmith 
 insisted that unless he could make lots of money, he 
 wanted none. He came to Bopeep for the purpose 
 of making a raise, and we shall see how well he 
 succeeded. 
 
 There was lenty of water-power near Bopeep, plenty 
 of timber and other valuable resources, and all it lacked 
 was a railroad to make the country blossom as a rose. 
 All were on tip-toe to see capital come in. Mr. Gold 
 smith, learning of the situation, determined to work 
 up a scheme by which he would become a millionaire. 
 He therefore informed his host that he represented 
 unlimited capital and was looking up the railroad 
 interest, and was of the opinion that if proper induce 
 ments were held out, he would build a road to Bopeep. 
 He saw at once that he had struck a responsive chord; 
 the landlord was elated and on the following day pro 
 cured the best rig in the city and drove Mr. Gold 
 smith over the country to see its advantages, called a 
 meeting of property owners to get an expression of 
 feeling and pass such resolutions as would be appro 
 priate for such a momentous occasion. 
 
 The next day the papers were ablaze with the won 
 derful news that a capitalist was in town looking up 
 the Railroad interest. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. ?5 
 
 Mr. Goldsmith, who it was understood was a large 
 capitalist and financier of no ordinary ability, had 
 agreed to take the matter under consideration and meet 
 the people of Bopeep in a public meeting one week 
 from that day. So a meeting was called. 
 
 During the ^next week Mr. Goldsmith was escorted 
 in every direction, and no stone was left unturned to 
 impress him with the wonderful resources of the coun 
 try and the importance of such a road. Finally the 
 week rolled by and the time came. Mr. Goldsmith 
 had considered the matter well. That it was a good 
 investment for a man that had money, there remained 
 little doubt* but he had neither money nor reputation. 
 In fact the only thing with which he was well supplied 
 was, to use a quaint expression, gall. But he belonged 
 to'a wealthy family, was well posted on Wall Street 
 methods or how millionaires make their money, and 
 during the past week he had made the acquaintance of. 
 Mr. Goldburg, the banker, and learned the name of 
 every man that had money on deposit, and accompa 
 nied by Mr. Goldburg had visited these men and 
 succeeded in getting them to sign for stock to the 
 extent of $100,000. 
 
 At the meeting he gave a fine account of the benefits 
 to be derived from the road, and said if the city would 
 vote $100,000 of six per cent ten -year bonds, and the 
 county also vote $100,000 he would guarantee the 
 building of the road just as fast as money would build it. 
 
 He said there could be no good reason why the 
 county and city should not vote bonds, for the tax on 
 the Railroad and other property that it would bring 
 into the county would pay the bonds, interest and all 
 in less than twenty years. This he demonstrated by 
 actual figures, and before leaving town he called on 
 each of the editors of city papers and dropped a small 
 check by way of encouragement to puff the enterprise. 
 
 He had also made fast friends^ with Mr. Goldburg 
 and between him and that gentleman it was understood 
 that as soon as bonds were voted, Messrs. Goldburg, 
 Goldsmith and Goldman (using the latter for a cat's 
 
36 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 paw) would organize a Railroad Company and get a 
 charter from the State. 
 
 After all this was arranged he returned to New York. 
 One month from that day bonds were voted by a 
 small majority after a red hot contest in which Mr. 
 Goldburg's money played a very important part. 
 
 A charter was then procured and by the following 
 spring the bonds were ready and the Company let a 
 contract lor construction. To meet the first payment 
 of $100,000 Mr. Goldsmith's father loaned him $50,000 
 and Mr. Goldburg put up the other $50,000 out of the 
 deposits of the bank. By the time the next payment 
 fell due the $100,000 of private stock had been paid 
 in. Soon after this the bonds were sold and things 
 moved along lively for a time. Mr. Goldburg, who, 
 being in the bank and knew just who had money, had 
 been quite active and succeeded in selling among the 
 citizens another $100,000 worth of stock. 
 
 But at last it all went. The road was not yet com 
 pleted. Something had to be done. The money was 
 all gone and they owed the contractor $150,000. 
 
 The Company was bankrupt. The citizens could 
 raise no more money and the County and City would 
 not, so they all said, "Let it sell." So the road 
 was sold. 
 
 Messrs. Goldburg and Goldsmith bought it in for 
 $150,000 and costs. 
 
 Then another company was organized in which Mr. 
 Goldburg's banking partner in New York, became the 
 third party. 
 
 The next meeting was to issue first mortgage bonds 
 to the extent of $5,000,000. This it was estimated 
 would complete the road and put on rolling stock. 
 As the New York banker had millions of government 
 money on hand without interest and money was plenty 
 and loans slow, they were, of course, anxious to find 
 investment and these first mortgage bonds went off at 
 sight, and the work went on. The county, the city 
 and the citizens were relieved of further anxiety. They 
 had lost what they had invested, of course, but as there 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 37 
 
 was no help, they gave up their little wealth as cheer 
 fully as though facing a six-shooter. 
 
 There were a few of the old school of Peter Cooper 
 and J. B. Weaver, greenback men, in the neighborhood 
 who went so far as to brand the whole thing as a base 
 fraud and declare that there should be some law to 
 protect the people against such bare-faced robbery. 
 But the company papers had made a little money out 
 of the affair, so they silenced these old greenbackers by 
 calling them anarchists, calamity-howlers, and accus 
 ing them of being troubled with the, greenback craze. 
 
 But with all this newspaper bombast, it was plain to 
 the people that they had lost half a million dollars of 
 their earnings, and county bonds that would have to 
 be paid by increased taxation. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg had become a Railroad magnate, and 
 would soon be, if not already, a millionaire, all from 
 the shrewdness of a man who had been considered a 
 New York hoodlum or black-leg. In less than one 
 year the road had been put in operation and had such 
 a large and profitable business, that although it had 
 cost about $5,000,000, the company decided to capi 
 talize at $10,000,000 and arranged their fare and freight 
 so that the profit of the road would pay a dividend on 
 that amount of stock. Thus had Mr. Goldburg become 
 a millionaire at a bound. 
 
 It will be seen that Messrs. Goldburg and Goldsmith 
 paid $100,000, or $50,000 each; then the New York 
 Company put in $200,000 to pay for the road at 
 sheriff's sale; of this sum the New York bankers paid 
 $100,000. They were therefore out in the whole 
 transaction $100,000 each, all of which they were very 
 careful to take from the first dividend. They sold first 
 mortgage bonds to the extent of $5,000,000. This 
 built the road, and as it had no opposition, the freights 
 and fares were so adjusted as to pay a dividend on 
 $10,000,000. The road was therefore worth that 
 amount, and as they were out nothing and owed but 
 $5,000,000, they of course made $5,000,000 at the 
 expense of the people. 
 
38 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Many farmers and merchants about Bopeep lost from 
 $1,000 to $10,000 in this transaction but it* was legal. 
 Had Mr. Goldsmith stolen $50 from these parties it 
 would have been illegal and he would have been pun 
 ished; in the former case it was legalized robbery. 
 
 At this time Mr. Goldburg received a letter from his 
 old friend, Leland Sanford, of California, as follows: 
 
 MR. GOLDBURG; My Dear Sir: I hear, through our 
 friend, Goldaker how you handled your little Railroad 
 scheme; you can hardly imagine how it pleases me. 
 When you went east I thought you were missing it, 
 but I see now, no matter where a Caltfornian goes, he 
 is bound to "get there." The late war put so much 
 money in circulation that it has brought about such 
 activity in business as no country has ever seen, and 
 by a little wire-pulling it can be gathered to the sur 
 face like cream; if we don't skim it some one else will. 
 We must have millionaires and lots of them, otherwise 
 the British bankers will own the whole thing. I sup 
 pose you have seen by the papers what a pull we made 
 on the government a' franchise lor a road, worth 
 millions, money enough to build the road or nearly so, 
 and land. You thought ycu were doing a big thing 
 when you took advantage of the Banking Act, giving 
 you the use of $^.5,000 at a nominal one per cent a 
 month for twenty years. It was pretty good, of course. 
 But think of the boost Uncle Sam gave us right here. 
 Let me tell you, friend Goldburg, if the legislation 
 continues favorable to us, there is no reason why you 
 should not be worth $50,000,000 in twenty years. 
 
 We do not intend to pay the government one cent, 
 as long as we can help it. We will stand Uncle Sam 
 off, ship in Chinamen and with cheap labor extend our 
 road just as far as we can find ground to build on. 
 As we build with cheap labor and make our own prices, 
 we will be able soon to not only control the California 
 Legislature, but be well represented in Congress and 
 the United States Senate. 
 
 The resources of this country are vast; population 
 and wealth increasing rapidly, and under the present 
 system of legislation millionaires will spring up like 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 39 
 
 mushrooms. In fact, I think it a question of but a short 
 time when the line of class will be as closely drawn in 
 this country as in England, and even more people will 
 be paying rent here than there. 
 
 Now in conclusion, let me tell you, or as the saying 
 goes, let me give^you a pointer; watch John Sherman 
 and whatever he does, go thou and do likewise, and 
 you'll not miss it. The first investment that I see for 
 you out here, I will write you about. 
 
 Respectfully yours, LELAND SANFORD. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 >fN 1865 the Confederacy went to pieces and its armies 
 1 surrendered. Col. Bundy returned with his regi 
 ment all covered with glory. They had been in many 
 of the hardest fought battles of the war, many had been 
 left in southern graves and those who returned bore 
 marks of hard service. 
 
 They were not discharged until they reached Bopeep, 
 and as they paraded the streets with battle-stained 
 banners it would be hard to draw a picture that wonld 
 do justice to the occasion. Mothers rushed forward to 
 greet their boys; wives to embrace their husbands, 
 even sweethearts could not restrain their feelings but 
 rushed into a lover's arms. The Colonel was seized 
 by admiring friends and borne along the street. The 
 town was thronged with people and all went wild with 
 joy. Long tables were set in the public square, people 
 brought sweet-meats and emptied their baskets there 
 and a more bountiful and joyous feast was probably 
 never set in any land 
 
 The Colonel and wife stayed all night in the city 
 with friends to enjoy the fireworks, and pronounced it 
 a time long to be remembered, The city was illumi 
 nated from ground to garret; rockets went up from 
 every corner, and boys played great havoc with the 
 fire crackers. There was music and dancing in every 
 hall, and services until twelve in every church with 
 singing, praise and thanksgiving. 
 
 On the following day the family returned to their 
 home in the country. The Colonel was overjoyed to 
 have his little family around him once more, and it 
 seemed that nature was joining in the general love 
 feast that welcomed the loved ones, for never did the 
 sun seem to shine so brightly or the birds sing so 
 sweetly as then. 
 
 The young people of to-day have but little idea of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 4T 
 
 the warmth of feeling, self-forgetfulness and love that 
 seemed to pervade the very atmosphere and make the 
 American hearts beat when the boys came home from 
 the army. Their hardships and sufferings had been 
 terrible but the result glorious. 
 
 The Union had^been preserved, slavery destroyed 
 and the Goddess of Liberty stood erect, with torch in 
 hand to enlighten the world. From east to west, from 
 north to south, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, 
 sweethearts, friends all joined in one fond embrace of 
 love. All selfish thoughts and motives were for the 
 moment lost. 
 
 The cheerful voice sounded only in accents of love 
 and the great American heart beat with a warmth of 
 affection that was broad as the universe .and equal to 
 all the nations of the earth. 
 
 Liberty for the time had been secured; our cause, 
 which was believed to be just, was crowned with suc 
 cess; with one accord all offered up thanksgiving, and, 
 now that slavery had been destroyed, they were ready 
 to sacrifice everything but honor to reconcile the 
 people of the South. 
 
 Such feeling of harmony, love and magnanimity but 
 seldom permeates a whole people, as was found among 
 the loyal legions of the United States, and in that we 
 have a forecast of what a higher state of civilization 
 will be when once attained. 
 
 But it appears that these feelings could not at that 
 time last. Treason and conspiracy had already made 
 their appearance in another locality. In the first place 
 it was capital invested in slaves that brought about a 
 war. Now it was the capital of Wall Street, Boston, 
 Philadelphia and England invested in gold. In John 
 Sherman they had found an able tool; how much they 
 paid this unscrupulous knave for his services is not 
 known to the public. But none who know his history 
 doubt his debauchery, and to cover his damnable acts 
 and keep himself and his confederates in power, the 
 terrible wounds of the war had to be torn open anew 
 at every election and kept constantly before the people. 
 Thus while posing as a patriot with a reputation 
 
42 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 largely upon his brother's noble record has he been 
 enabled to wreck the great Republic, and start its 
 patriotic citizens on the downward road toward a worse 
 slavery or serfdom than ever existed in the South. 
 How strange it is that a man with such brilliant 
 opportunities will preler darkness rather than light. 
 
 For several weeks the old neighbors flocked to Col. 
 Bundy's home; there was scarcely a day but some 
 family of old friends dropped in, and they were all 
 plain, honest people like the Bundys. Ladies, boys 
 and girls all helped to do the work and in this way 
 took the load from Mrs. Bundy's shoulders and also 
 added very materially to their own opportunities of 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Many hands make light work and the meals set up 
 by Mrs. Bundy with the assistance of her friends were 
 simply feasts and superior to many a royal repast. 
 Never, perhaps, did time pass more joyously than 
 during these reunions of old neighbors. 
 
 Col. Bundy had a good farm, house and lot in town, 
 and savings from his salary while in service which had 
 been carefully placed in the bank from time to time when 
 it was received by Mrs. Bundy, amounted now to over 
 $10,000. With this reserve he had no reason to worry 
 about the future and felt quite at ease. But while the 
 sheep are quietly slumbering in the shade the wolf is 
 on his search for prey. So it was with Col. Bundy. 
 While he was resting from his long Itfe of exposure, 
 danger and fatigue, the gold speculators were carefully 
 examining the books to see who had large deposits, 
 and to figure out the best method of using an influence 
 over the parties that would contribute to their own 
 net gain. Mr. Goldburg knew that Mr. Stillwater's 
 building would soon be completed; that Mr. Srillwater 
 owed the bank a large sum and in grder to get pay 
 ment promptly it would be well to assist him in renting 
 the building as soon as possible. 
 
 He also knew that if he could persuade Col. Bundy 
 to commence business there, he could make him a loan 
 of at least $10,000 at a good round interest, and that 
 all pf the Colonel's property would be pledged for its 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 43 
 
 payment, and of course a $10,000 loan to a man own 
 ing so much good property was no small object. In 
 view of all these facts Mr. Goldburg proposed to his 
 wife and daughter to visit Col. Bundy's home. 
 
 Nothing perhaps could have been more agreeable to 
 the ladies, so on the following Tuesday they were in 
 their carriage behind a span of black horses, with 
 silver-mounted harness; in fact there was no one else 
 in the place that could afford so fine a turnout. 
 
 As they drove along the quiet country road, nice 
 cosy cottages were constantly coming in view, orchards, 
 gardens, meadows, pastures, and fields of grain came 
 in by way of change; the meadow-lark, perched upon 
 the highest objects, warbled his short musical sounds, 
 which seemed to harmonize and blend beautifully with 
 the sweet notes of other singing birds. Even the hum 
 of insects seemed to add to the genial pleasure of the 
 ride, and the ladies were carried away in an ecstacy 
 of joy. 
 
 But Mr. Goldburg was too much interested in 
 another subject to pay much attention to the natural 
 beauty of the landscape by which he was surrounded. 
 Since he had become such a complete devotee and 
 worshipper of the golden calf, a greedy disposition 
 seemed to have taken possession of his whole nature 
 and flowers, birds, shady groves and happy homes were 
 all lost upon him. 
 
 On reaching the home of their friends they were met 
 at the gate and made welcome by the Colonel, his wife 
 and daughters. While the ladies returned to the 
 cottage, the Colonel and the Banker walked to the 
 barn, and after showing the coachman where to put 
 his horses, they joined the ladies. One of the girls 
 went to the fields to notify Frank, who turned his 
 horses in pasture and came to the house to welcome 
 the visitors and particularly his little schoolmate. 
 ^ The visit was an enjoyable one. After dinner Mr. 
 Goldburg proposed a drive, and Frank and the girls 
 arranged for a stroll in the fields to gather berries and 
 wild flowers. 
 
 The afternoon was pleasant and the drive delightful 
 
44 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Home-like cottages dotted the country everywhere, 
 bright children played along the road, fat cattle grazed 
 on the .rich grass, plowmen slowly followed their teams 
 across the fields turning up the fresh black soil The 
 whole landscape in fact was a picture of prosperity. 
 While the ladies talked of the general beauties of the 
 drive, Mr. Goldburg inquired of the Colonel what 
 business he thought of engaging in, remarking that the 
 loss of his arm would rather unfit him for farming, and 
 that the city would give him a better opportunity for 
 educating his children, 
 
 The Colonel had made no definite arrangements for 
 the future. Mr. Goldburg then informed him that the 
 Stillwater building was about completed and that there 
 would be a fine chance for a store in it, and in his 
 opinion, with the popularity the Colonel had, he could 
 surely drive a thriving trade. The Colonel said that 
 he would think the matter over, and as they were 
 nearing home the subject was dropped. 
 
 Before leaving Mr. Goldburg pressed upon the 
 Colonel a warm invitation to come with his family and 
 stay over night and they would talk over the store 
 proposition, and if the Colgnel needed any assistance 
 he would see to it that there should be no lack of funds. 
 Rebecca who was in the yard with the other children, 
 was now called, and after an exchange of "Come and 
 see me's" and a good bye shake with Mrs. Bundy and 
 the Colonel, allowed Frank to help her into the 
 carriage. 
 
 A few days after this the Colonel was in town and 
 called at the bank. Mr. Goldburg received him with 
 cordiality and after a short conversation in which the 
 banker brought up the store proposition and showed 
 it up in its most favorable light, they took a walk for 
 the purpose of seeing the building. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg had calculated on the amount of 
 money that would be required to fill the room and 
 accommodate the trade and estimated it $20,000. He 
 kindly offered to furnish the Colonel with what money 
 he would need at a very reasonable interest, 
 
 "What interest will vou expect? " 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 45 
 
 O, we usually get 10 per cent, but in your case of 
 course we will make it light, and, well, we will say 8 
 per cent. 
 
 "That," said the Colonel, "will be $800 a year. 
 What interest do you pay the government for this 
 money? " 
 
 "O, the government charges us no interest, it is pay 
 ing us interest in gold semi-annually on our whole 
 investment. You see if a man is lucky enough to own 
 bonds the government not only pays him his interest 
 in gold, but of the $100,000 that we paid Cor the bonds 
 it gives us $90,000 back to loan out among our 
 neighbors." 
 
 "Then," said the Colonel, "when you have the whole 
 $90,000 loaned at eight per cent you will realize on 
 interest, on money that belongs to the government, 
 some $7,200. This is clear gain, instead of the gov 
 ernment taxing the banks it is the banks taxing the 
 government on one hand and the people on the other. 
 It seems to me that the government would do well to 
 loan this money itself and save the interest; in the 
 whole United States it would amount to enough to 
 pension the soldiers both north and south." 
 
 But the banker did not care to continue this argu 
 ment, so it was finally settled that the Colonel would 
 take the matter of business under further consideration 
 for a few days and that he would drop in again in a 
 short time. 
 
 The question now came before the Bundy family, and 
 as everything seemed to favor the proposition, the 
 Colonel decided to commence at once. He took a 
 lease on the building and employed an expert book 
 keeper and manager. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg accompanied them to the city and 
 introduced the Colonel to some of the most prominent 
 business men of New York. 
 
 The goods were soon ordered, and when they were 
 on the shelves and everything nicely arranged, it was 
 decided that it was the best and showiest store in 
 the town. 
 
 The Colonel's cards were soon scattered among his 
 
46 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 old friends and they began to drop in, and in a short 
 time he was doing the best business in the city. 
 
 One year from this time, April i, 1866, the Colonel 
 took stock, balanced his books and found that his net 
 gain for the year was over $3,000. This was indeed 
 encouraging. His stock was all new, and in the best 
 condition. Money was plenty and everybody busy. 
 It is a coincidence well worth noting that never in the 
 history of the United States have the people enjoyed 
 such a wonderful degree of prosperity as at this time, 
 when the iron chains by which Shylock held the 
 people in financial bondage, had by the greed, 
 cowardice and want of patriotism on the part of the 
 bankers had been temporarily severed, and the govern 
 ment without Shylock's consent had become so bold as 
 to issue an abundance of money that bankers could not 
 entirely control. Hence the contraction act became a 
 necessity to the nobility, and all the bankers and 
 bondholders, aristocrats, money-changers and gold- 
 gamblers of the civilized world united in one common 
 brotherhood to rob the American people of the good 
 conditions and the prosperity that evolution had 
 brought about. As these fiends of hell, paupers, who 
 had lived for years from the earnings of others, had by 
 usury, trickery, bribery, class legislation and fraud 
 secured possession of all the gold on earth, they wished 
 through it to control the business of the world, as they 
 had done for ages. 
 
 While the people of the United States had plenty of 
 legal tender greenbacks that would pay debts, taxes, 
 buy goods, in fact do anything that money can do, 
 even buy gold if it was necessary, their gold would 
 remain in the vaults uncalled for, hence it would 
 become necessary to destroy the greenbacks and base 
 all values on gold. Why base on gold? Because the 
 Shylocks had all the gold stored up in their vaults and 
 it would have remained out of use without legislation 
 in its favor, and been valuable in the United States 
 only as a commodity. And how base on gold? Simply 
 by making gold a legal tender, destroying all other 
 legal tender money, and make all debts, both public 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC 47 
 
 and private, payable only in gold and ttuj job is done. 
 Easy, is it not, and simple? Any man can understand 
 that if he has to have gold to pay taxes, to pay notes, 
 and to buy the necessaries of of life and Shylock owns 
 the gold, that he has a one sided deal on hand, for gold 
 he must have^the law demands it. Shylock then says 
 that money is scarce; give me your wheat for fifty 
 cents a bushel, your cotton for five cents a pound, and 
 if you do not have money enough to pay your taxes 
 and keep your family clothed, we will lend you money 
 at a good round interest and take a mortgage on your 
 farm. If you can't afford to pay your help good wages 
 you can make them work for what they can eat, for 
 eat they must. 
 
 They would have us believe that no one but a Sher 
 man or a banker can understand these things, .but we 
 all know that when we had plenty of legal tender 
 greenbacks we did not need gold, and as the bankers 
 have the gold, why not let them keep it. We do not 
 want it. We do not need it, and the sooner we 
 demonetize gold the sooner we will destroy the money 
 power and burst the shackles from 65,000,000 of 
 financial slaves. 
 
 When there were plenty of legal tender greenbacks 
 in circulation there were good times throughout the 
 whole country; as fast as they were withdrawn, we 
 returned to gold panics, bank failures, low prices, 
 want and enforced idleness. And the wise statesman 
 tells us that it is over production. What a fertile brain 
 it must have taken to make such a discovery! 
 
 Think of it, people starving because crops are too 
 good! (What a blessed thing it would be to have a 
 famine), and people going poorly clad because there 
 has been such an over-production of clothing bosh. 
 
 While the wise men of the United States are giving 
 the people taffy in the shape of over production, the 
 wise men of Britain tell of the wonderful blessings 
 that come from paying interest on a government debt, 
 "A government debt is a government blessing." 
 
 While Col. Bundy was making up his yearly state- 
 
48 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 ment, the combined powers of darkness had their 
 representatives at Washington backed by money un 
 limited. Their object was to destroy liberty and build 
 up a class to destroy American money by redeeming it 
 with interest bearing bonds and compel the American 
 people to borrow gold from foreign syndicates to take 
 the place of the greenbacks that were to be destroyed 
 by act of Congress. April 12, 1866, marks the period 
 when the work of this black and damnable conspiracy 
 was consummated and culminated in the passage of 
 the contraction act which kindled the fire to destroy 
 the money. Just what it cost the gold power to get 
 this act through Congress will never be known to the 
 public, but the baneful effect it had upon the country 
 can be attested by thousands of well to do farmers and 
 business men who were squeezed out and forced into 
 the street. 
 
 At the time of the passage of this act money was 
 plenty; everyone found work and the outlook for the 
 future had never been brighter; but the first year after 
 the universal destruction of American money com 
 menced, the American press was called upon to make 
 record of 2,386 business failures, with an actual loss 
 of $86,000,000. 
 
 For ten vears this contraction continued, and the 
 yearly failures increased until 1876, when $85,000,000 
 of the American monev had been destroyed and the 
 annual failures reached the enormous sum oi 10,000, 
 with an aggregate loss of $300,000,000. Search the 
 annals of time if you will, but the ringer of the past 
 will point to no robbery of such magnitude being 
 carried out by civil legislation; yet while it was going 
 on politicians, urged on by the gold power, were cry 
 ing, over-production, as an excuse for national distress 
 and tearing open anew the wounds of the late war to 
 detract public attention from the real danger. 
 
 During the first year of contraction goods through 
 out the United States decreased in value continually, 
 and when Col. Bundy took stock at the end of the year 
 he found that he had the same amount of goods on 
 hand, but their value had decreased twenty per cent, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 49 
 
 which amounted to $4,000. This reduced cash value 
 to $16,000; trade, in consequence of the destruction, 
 had dropped off and his profits had barely covered 
 his expenses. 
 
 The year before he had paid the bank $3,000. The 
 debt it will be remembered was $10,000, interest $800, 
 credit $3,000; balance due the bank $7,800. This year 
 he could pay nothing, so he gave a note, as follows: 
 Debt of last year $7,800, interest $624; total settled 
 by note to bank $8,424. 
 
 The Colonel had listened to political talk about 
 over-production that John Sherman had put into the 
 mouths of his followers. He had read column after 
 column of stupefying twaddle and far-fetched argu 
 ments dished up to order by and for a subsidized 
 press, and it had not occurred to him that one of the 
 grandest swindles that ever disgraced the annals of 
 time was being daily and hourly systematically 
 carried out. 
 
 As time passed on everything continued to fall in 
 value and the country witnessed for the year, 2,608 
 business failures, representing a loss to creditors of 
 $63,774,000 and $473,000,000 of money had been 
 destroyed. 
 
 At the end of that year Col. Bundy found that his 
 stock had been increased a little, but its cash value 
 had actually gone down to $14,000, and being unable 
 tc settle his bank note he was forced to renew it, as 
 follows: Old note $8,472, interest $674, new note to 
 bank $9,089. The note was signed, and once more 
 the Colonel hoped to succeed, but this year was only 
 another of contraction, and again the books showed a 
 loss on the same goods. The failures reached in the 
 United Staets 3,551. The contraction law continued 
 to grind, and the following year produced 2,915 busi 
 ness failures, and still the following year 4,069. 
 
 The Colonel saw with a sad heart his goods con 
 stantly decreasing in value. He had been careful in 
 his management of the stock, his trade had even been 
 better than other merchants of the same city, he had 
 
5O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 done a cash business, but the trouble was, that to-day 
 it would take double the amount of goods to pay his 
 debts that it would four years ago. "No wonder. " 
 said he, "that there are over 4,000 business failures in 
 the United States this year. " 
 
 His own stock was to-day about the same in quality 
 and quantity as when he commenced four years before; 
 then it cost him cash $20,000, to-day it was worth 
 less than $13,000. "This," said he, "is contraction. 
 I will have to sell my entire stock to pay the bank, 
 and if I let it run four more years and contraction 
 continues it will take my store, farm, town property, 
 and everything else to pay the $10,000 I borrowed 
 from the bank, and still I paid $3,000 on it the first 
 year. Several other merchants of the place have been 
 forced into bankruptcy and I think it about time to 
 call a halt." 
 
 Alter making up his mind fully what course it would 
 be best for him to pursue he saw Mr. Goldburg, the 
 banker, explained his situation and stated his fears for 
 the future. 
 
 "You have," said the banker, "about $13,000 worth 
 of goods in the store at present prices. Your note 
 now amounts to something over $10,000, the goods 
 can hardly be considered good security now for that 
 amount, especially with constantly declining prices. 
 We have been considering your case and are of the 
 opinion that you will pull through all right, in fact it 
 has been our intention from the first to pull you 
 through. So far as I am concerned personally, your 
 note would be good for any amount of money, but the 
 bank has rules you see that must be observed, and 
 'when a man complies with the rules, it establishes 
 confidence and his credit will be good and so capital. 
 By giving a mortgage on your farm in addition to the 
 store it will strengthen your credit beyond all question 
 and with good credit you will be able to keep up your 
 stock, and as others go out of business and fail, your 
 business will be increased.'' 
 
 "Yes," said the Colonel, "but four year ago I was 
 doing business on an investment of $20,000, and pay- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 51 
 
 ing interest on one-half of my entire capital, while 
 now I am doing business on a $13,000 capital, a de 
 clining market, and paying interest on over three- 
 fourths of my entire capital. Had I four years ago 
 taken my $10,000 of greenbacks and locked them up 
 without interest}- they would to-day come very near 
 buying tha same goods that I paid $20,000 for at that 
 time. Had I at that time invested my $10,000 of 
 greenbacks in government bonds, drawn my interest in 
 gold every six months, converted the gold into green 
 backs and again into bonds, I would have money 
 enough to-day to buy the same amount of goods and a 
 few thousand dollars to loan to my neighbors, But 
 suppose I had done as bankers do, deposited my 
 government bonds with the government and received 
 in return ninety per cent in national bank notes; and 
 loaned the ninety per cent out as you do at eight per 
 cent, add the interest on the $9,000 to the gold 
 interest, where would I be? 
 
 "To-day my bonds and interest would amount to 
 $16,000, and during the same period with all the rush 
 and push that I possess in an active business I nave 
 been compelled to witness my own little fortune, which 
 was the hard earnings of four years' service upon the 
 battle field and in the sickly swamps o; the south, 
 dwindle away and pass into the pockets and vaults of 
 the men who deal in gold. 
 
 "What encouragement then to mortgage other 
 property, this contraction law is still in force, its 
 object has been plainly demonstrated. By destroying 
 our American money the people are forced to borrow 
 Wall Street or British gold to carry on business with 
 and the interest which goes largely into the hands of 
 foreign capitalists is eating up the profits and destroy 
 ing every industry. As money becomes scarce every 
 thing decreases in value, and day by day our business 
 men are forced out of business, over 4,000 failures in 
 the last year. In fact I see no way, no hope, except 
 to sell what I have, pay up and get out of business. 
 It is hard to lose what I have invested but it will be 
 worse to continue on in this way and lose my home. " 
 
52 AM IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "O, " said the banker, "you should not look on the 
 dark side of the subject, Colonel. We must hope for 
 better times when resumption is reached." But the 
 Colonel insisted that he could see no benefit to come 
 from the resumption of specie payment except to the 
 men who own the g6ld and silver. Mr. Goldburg knew 
 that if the store was closed out when times were so hard 
 the goods would not pay the debt and he was a little 
 doubtful about selling the Colonel's other property 
 without injuring the reputation of the bank, so he 
 offered the Colonel $1,000 and return his note. The 
 Colonel would be losing about $2,000 on present invoice 
 but still he felt that it was the best that he-tould do, 
 for no one seemed to have any money but the bankers 
 and money-changers. Mr. Goldburg wanted him to 
 continue right on in charge of the store on a salary. 
 As this proposition seemed better than bankruptcy it 
 was accepted and Col. Bundy went out of business, 
 another victim of British gold-bug legislation. 
 
 A few days after goods were transferred, suit was 
 commenced against Mr. Stillwater and the building 
 was finally ordered sold, but money was so extremely 
 scarce that no bids were made and it was transferred 
 to the bank to satisfy the mortgage. Mr. Stillwater 
 had lost on the enterprise over $20,000 and was an 
 other victim to the same law, that with John Sherman's 
 assistance had been lobbied through Congress in the 
 interest of England and Wall Street bankers. 
 
 In justification of these unfortunate individuals in 
 point of business capacity it might be here noted that 
 during the ten years that contraction was doing its 
 work of destroying American money, there were in the 
 United States 4,617 business failures similar to that of 
 Col. Bundy's and Mr. Stillwater's, and that a loss had 
 been sustained by our people of not only millions but 
 billions and even more. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AFTER Col. Bundy moved to the city, Frank, who 
 was then in his nineteenth year, commenced 
 going to school again; for three years he attended the 
 city school preparatory to taking a collegiate course 
 but on the decline of his father's financial affairs he 
 determined to learn a trade, and being of powerful 
 muscle he decided to work in iron and was not long in 
 getting a place. The shop where he commenced work 
 was at that time considered to be quite an extensive 
 one, and Frank was so quick to learn that in a few 
 months he was getting journeyman's wages. 
 
 He had during all this time continued to live at 
 home and the warm friendship that so early sprang up 
 between him aud Rebecca had ripened into love, and 
 now that he was making a little money for himself they 
 often talked of future plans and even had a place 
 picked out where he would buy a lot and build a home. 
 It was to be small, but neat, and the yard would be a 
 garden of roses. All cost was carefully figured and 
 was . to come within Frank's earnings, for each had 
 strong suspicions that Mr. Goldburg would oppose the 
 match now that the boy was poor. In fact after Frank 
 went to learn a trade Mr. Goldburg had treated him 
 with marked indifference. 
 
 This finally became so marked that Rebecca preferred 
 to meet her lover at his father's house. This con 
 tinued for some time until about one year after Frank 
 had commenced work in the shop, and soon after the 
 Colonel had turned the store over to the bank, Mr. 
 Goldburg summoned his daughter to his presence. 
 
54 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 He was in his sitting room which was furnished in the 
 height of elegance, and as Rebecca approached he 
 motioned her to a seat. 
 
 "Rebecca," said he, speaking in a stern voice, "I am 
 sorry to see this warm feeling that seems to exist 
 between you and young Mr. Bundy. You certainly 
 must know that it can never come to anything good so 
 why persist in giving way to such a feeling?" 
 
 These last words were said in rather a pleading 
 voice and touched Rebecca's feelings. She paused for 
 a moment and then said, "Father, why are you so 
 opposed to Mr. Bundy? You used to speak of him as 
 one of the brightest and most promising boys in the 
 whole country, why do you so dislike him now?" 
 
 "Mr. Bundy," said her father, "is bright enough of 
 course, but he belongs to a different class from yours. 
 There is a circle of society forming in this country 
 which is as distinct from the lower class as are the 
 noblemen of Britain. This now is a period of money 
 getting. The moneyed men and bankers of this coun 
 try are fully organized. Our society is well repre 
 sented in the legislative halls of the country. The 
 financiers of to-day are the greatest the world has ever 
 known. By a single act of Congress they throw 
 millions upon millions of dollars from the pockets of 
 the masses to the vaults of the gold dominating class 
 and make it appear quite smooth." 
 
 "What is a financier, papa?" 
 
 "A financier, daughter, is a man who gives his every 
 thought and bends every effort of his nature and soul 
 to the concentration of large capital and wealth in the 
 hands of a few individuals by the use of money. The 
 methods of doing this are various. Usury or interest 
 is our grand factor; it is like a cancer, eats slowly but 
 surely, is certain in its results and downs its victim 
 with unerring precision. But men do not always take 
 readily to borrowing money, it therefore becomes 
 necessary to use compulsion and this is done by con 
 trolling legislation. By inducing the government to 
 destroy the national money called greenbacks the 
 people are compelled to borrow gold and silver from 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 55 
 
 the banks to do business with. Then in the course of 
 time, when all the banks have succeeded in getting all 
 the gold in their vaults and the silver out among the 
 people, they will bring a pressure to bear upon Con 
 gress through a subsidized press, bribery and a promise 
 of support for office compel them to demonetize silver, 
 and by this destroy its debt paying qualities, and thus 
 compel the people to go to the banks and borrow gold. 
 
 "Of course anybody can understand these things. 
 When properly explained it is as easy as a b c, but it 
 requires a financier to explain it in such a way that 
 the moneyed men will know it to be money in their 
 pockets and the people will think it is the only thing 
 on earth that will save them from everlasting ruin. 
 
 "He wants to be capable of mixing things up in such 
 a way that no one can understand, in fact get it in 
 such a tangle that with all his millions, all his great 
 knowledge of finance he is forced to admit that the 
 critical situation is actually beyond comprehension and 
 he hardly knows what would be best for the working 
 classes, and at the same time have every man he can 
 influence in a quiet way, with money or not, crying 
 out from street corners such old familiar chestnuts as, 
 over-production, tariff, protect labor, reform, honest 
 money, a government debt is a government blessing. 
 Have every paper in the country paid for using these 
 wonderful truths as headlines to column upon column 
 of figures that would swamp an astronomer, and while 
 all this clatter is going on, make the wonderful dis 
 covery that the whole trouble is caused by want of 
 confidence, and this confidence must be restored by 
 destroying government money, called greenbacks, and 
 compel the people to borrow bank bills to do business 
 with. Next comes the cry of over-production of silver 
 and a want of confidence on the part of bankers. Of 
 course confidence must be restored again and the only 
 way to do that this time is to demonetize silver and 
 compel people to borrow gold from the banks to take 
 the place of the silver. Silver then goes down to 
 nothing. Bankers buy it up, and when it is all in the 
 hands of the money power, and the gold all loaned out, 
 
56 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 a false alarm is started about the over-production of 
 gold, and gold is demonetized, as it was in 1850 by 
 Belgium and Germany. When this occurs silver will 
 be in the hands of the bankers, the mines all dead and 
 people will have to borrow silver to pay their debts; 
 all done to restore confidence. Gold like silver when 
 it is demonetized will go down to nothing and bankers 
 will buy it up for a mere song. You see this gold 
 game beats the Louisiana lottery, for in the one case 
 a man plays or not, just as he pleases, but in the other 
 the whole country is robbed whether they will or riot. 
 
 "So you see a financier must be a man without a 
 conscience, with no scruples whatever; he must be 
 capable of exacting the last farthing from the poor 
 widow; he must be honest beyond doubt, and do 
 everything he agrees to do, but never do anything that 
 does not, in some way, redound to his own profit. He 
 must also be worth millions, no matter how he gets it 
 for it is an evidence of financial ability. But above all 
 things and in short he must be master of the art of 
 controlling the world by controlling its currency. 
 
 "It is generally admitted among bankers that John 
 Sherman is the greatest financier that ever lived. In 
 his natural organism he seems to have every requisite. 
 
 "Our mortgage system is one of the greatest methods 
 of modern times. It is complete in its operation, and 
 by it we are obtaining titles to land all over the United 
 States. In fact it looks as though one-half the farmers 
 would be paying rent by the time the greenbacks have 
 all been destroyed, and we seem to obtain titles to 
 these lands with hardly an effort. 
 
 "The joint incorporative system, too, is wonderful in 
 its workings, and is being more thoroughly systema 
 tized every day. By its use we are enabled to own 
 and operate all the business of the country and never 
 leave our homes The men who operate the railroads 
 do not own them. The men who own them, in many 
 cases, never see them; and it is so with all kinds of 
 business. 
 
 "In a few years the property will all be in the hands 
 of a few, and all the business of the country will be 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 57 
 
 done by joint stock incorporated companies. 
 
 "The poor will be given work, and will of course be 
 contented. Some who have more ambition than, others 
 will be given p.'aces of more importance and greater 
 responsibility. This 'will satisfy their ambition and 
 they will be content to have opportunity and power to 
 dominate their fellow men, and in this way we will 
 own the whole mass. We will have slaves by the 
 million without the trouble of caring for them. Our 
 great republic, we believe, is destined to solve the 
 problem as to how the few can rule the many without 
 themselves being ruled by a king. 
 
 "The time is not far off when the nobility of the 
 United States will materialize and in secret conven 
 tions assembled, take unto themselves titles, according 
 to their wealth. A secret society will be formed duly 
 protected by grips, signs, passwords, etc., and it will 
 be known as the Noble Knights of America. Its mem 
 bers will be given titles according to their social posi 
 tion. The society will be divided into three degrees 
 or chapters as follows: The first chapter will consist 
 of all persons in the United States who wish to join, 
 that are worth property to the extent of $100,000. 
 The second chapter will consist of persons who are 
 worth above $1,000,000. The third chapter to consist 
 of persons who are worth above $10,000,000. All 
 business of a political nature to be transacted in the 
 first chapter. Members of the higher degrees will be 
 also members of the first chapter. 
 
 "There will be a committee elected whose duty it 
 shall be to receive correspondence from members in all 
 parts of the country and report such as is considered 
 important, to each regular meeting and it shall be 
 through this committee that all money is to be dis 
 tributed for election purposes and buying and suppress 
 ing such small newspapers as may be considered 
 dangerous. As the owners of all the large papers will 
 be members, their interest will be with the Nobility. 
 It shall also be the duty of this committee to look to 
 it that every convention is controlled to that end, that 
 no person receives a nomination tor any legislative 
 
58 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 office that is not a member, a tool or in sympathy with 
 this society. 
 
 "Two months prior to each session of Congress there 
 will be held a general legislative conference consisting 
 of all the first chapter and representatives of the other 
 two chapters to decide on what legislation is needed, 
 appoint a committee to demand the same, and also 
 to make an appropriation of money to secure this end. 
 
 "When this organization shall have been completed 
 and fully installed we will have the strongest govern 
 ment on the face of earth. A solid republic with an 
 aristocracy standing back of it that is the wealthiest 
 that the world has ever known. The doctrine of self 
 or popular government will have then reached its 
 zenith, and the people will be contented under the 
 wise administrations thus brought about. Besides the 
 concentration of wealth in the hands of a society like 
 this, and millions of poor to fill the army, will make 
 nations tremble. 
 
 "The society will elect their own president, or control 
 the one who is elected much easier than they do now. 
 They will control the legislation, and with the army 
 and navy, in this day of electricity, a successful revo 
 lution will 'be as impossible, as it would be in China 
 or Japan, and our country will be ruled without a jar 
 or discord. The poorer the people become the more 
 submissive they will be. 
 
 "With all these prospects before us it would be sheer 
 madness for you to marry one who has already taken 
 his place among the lower classes. You have had 
 opportunities of marrying millions; why should you 
 make yourself a slave? 
 
 "That is all now, dearest, go and do what you will 
 but banish all thoughts of this fellow from your mind." 
 
 As he said this he arose to leave the room. 
 
 "Wait one moment, father," said Rebecca with a 
 voice full of emotion, "let me say one word." 
 
 "No," said her father turning half round as he 
 passed out of the door, "we cannot argue this question, 
 you must forget that man." 
 
 Rebecca saw the door shut with a heavy jar as her 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 59 
 
 father disappeared. She stood for a moment as one 
 entranced, her hands clasped, her face turned upward, 
 as if to implore the sympathy of angels, then sank 
 heavily into a chair from which she had arisen. 
 
 This, the most terrible of all blows, had not come 
 to Rebecca entirely unexpected. For days, weeks, 
 even months she had thought, dreamed and dreaded 
 this meeting, and now that it had passed she was left, 
 as it were, standing for the time between hope and 
 despair. 
 
 The love for her father was strong but had been 
 weakened by his neglect, for in cultivating greed he 
 had trampled love beneath his feet and become a 
 stranger to its domain. 
 
 On the other hand her heart-strings had been kept 
 at their greatest tension, by sweet words in accents 
 mild, gentle smiles and such looks as love only knows 
 and understands. She had walked, talked and listened 
 to dreams of eternal love and happiness. She had 
 wandered through gardens, gathered flowers, made 
 bouquets to adorn the table of the one she loved and 
 in each leaf that grew upon those stems she read their 
 future fortunes. And now that the long looked for 
 stroke had come, she was almost paralyze d. Thoughts 
 crowded thick and fast, one upon another, and she at 
 last gave away to weeping, but when these paroxysms 
 of grief had passed away she arose as calm as a May 
 morning, went to her chamber, knelt at her usual place 
 and prayed as she had never prayed before. 
 
 "O, Thou great and ever living God, who holds the 
 destiny of nations in thy hands; Thou who hath for 
 centuries stored Thy great blessings on and in the 
 earth for man's future consumption and good, gold, 
 silver, iron, copper all contribute to man's wants. 
 The earth's surface, too, at the touch of man's industry, 
 blooms and blossoms as the rose and brings forth an 
 abundance of life sustaining food. All these things 
 hast Thou given for Thy children's greatest good and 
 comfort, and wilt Thou not now look with Thy great 
 pity and mercy upon one so sore distressed. Deep 
 down in the heart hast Thou sown Thy seeds of love, 
 
60 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 and now that they have grown and blossomed, shall I 
 pluck them out? 
 
 "O, God, I pray Thee to let this, the bitterest of all 
 cups, pass; give me Thy love, give me Thy counsel 
 that I may know the right path, and strength that I 
 may remain true to my love, true to father and mother 
 and true unto myself. Bless, too, O Father of all, I 
 beseech Thee, the one who must also share with me 
 this cup of the bitterest of all dregs. Strengthen him 
 and keep him true to himself and true to Thee. " 
 
 Thus, for hours Rebecca prayed, until at last, she 
 retired, feeling that sweet consolation which is only 
 found in deep and earnest prayer. As Rebecca felt a 
 touch of Divine love, she also experienced a wonderful 
 feeling of justification, and the determination to remain 
 true to her love grew stronger and stronger. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A SHORT time after the circumstance related at 
 the close of the last chapter, while Mr. Goldburg 
 was in New York on business connected with the 
 store, Mrs. Goldburg and Rebecca spent an evening at 
 Col. Bundy's, and while Mrs. Bundy's daughter and 
 Rebecca were in the yard among the flowers, Mrs. 
 Bundy and Mrs. Goldburg had a regular old fashioned 
 visit to themselves, and Mrs. Bundy, who had 
 fallen into the common error of thinking that unlimited 
 wealth gave unlimited happiness, was not a little 
 surprised at hearing the subject discussed from a 
 different standpoint. 
 
 After Mrs. Bundy had told her how nicely they were 
 getting along, how they had invested the little money 
 they had left out of the financial wreck and how they 
 were economizing, and trying to save a little each 
 month out of the Colonel's salary and by careful 
 management had been enabled to live quite comfortably 
 on so small a sum; she continued by saying that not 
 withstanding they themselves were quite poor, she did 
 not envy the happiness of those who had been more 
 fortunate. 
 
 But Mrs. Goldburg soon assured her there was no 
 occasion for being envious. Said she: "My expe 
 rience is that it is not among the rich you need look 
 for the greatest happiness. When we were poor my 
 husband worked hard and came home nights tired, but 
 his daily toil was over and he had nothing to do but 
 to enjoy the blessings of home. I, too, by my little 
 sewing for the miners, was enabled to contribute to 
 extent tgwarxj the expenses of living an4 I felt 
 
62 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 as though I really amounted to something, but now 
 small matters are never counted. 
 
 "Mr. Goldburg comes home mentally tired trom 
 having pored over perplexing examples all day. He is 
 always in deep thought about some business that is 
 not going exactly as he would like. Some man does 
 not suit and he has not, as yet been able to find a 
 better one. There is some great scheme on hand to 
 lobby a bill through Congress to make another big 
 haul on the people and he has been assessed a large 
 sum toward the fund to bribe officials. He is afraid 
 the money will be misplaced and that he himself will 
 be the one swindled at last, but he dare not refuse. 
 All these big swindles are brought about in the same 
 way and the money god is a tyrant and perfectly 
 inexorable. 
 
 "He is always restless and nervous, often gets up 
 late in the night and walks the floor for hours at a 
 time in deep meditation. He never has time to talk; 
 besides he does not seem to be interested in anything 
 that we know anything about; in fact it seems as if his 
 whole nature has undergone a change and I do not 
 think it is age that has done it." 
 
 Pausing for a moment she continued: 
 
 "Do you know, Mrs. Bundy, I sometimes believe 
 that money, when you get above a competency, is a 
 curse. What benefit can we hope to derive from the 
 millions that Mr. Goldburg is piling up? 
 
 "For the present it is only an annoyance, and when I 
 look at the matter I fail to see where, when and how 
 property in California and Oregon can benefit us here. 
 True, we get the rent, but what of that, we do not need 
 it, nor do we use it except to buy more land and have 
 the trouble of collecting more rents Just the interest 
 alone that we get on bonds amounts to thousands and 
 is more than enough to keep us in luxury. Then why 
 run banks, railroads, factories and shops? It looks to 
 me to be all trouble for nothing and it seems as though 
 there ought to be some better way. 
 
 "The only thing that I can see in money above a 
 competency is power. If power is used to oppress 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 63 
 
 others then it certainly debases the one who uses it, 
 and whoever knew a millionaire to use his power for 
 any other purpose except to accumulate more, and that 
 means oppression to some one. 
 
 "I see by some of the late papers that the doctors are 
 beginning to treat drunkenness as a disease. I believe 
 that they are right and that gambling is also a disease 
 and that the man that gets to gambling in stocks with 
 his millions, will finally contract the disease in such a 
 malignant form as to become a burden to himself and 
 all his friends, a blank in society and a curse to the 
 human race. " 
 
 This was all a new way of looking at things from 
 what Mrs. Bundy had been accustomed to. 
 
 "it looks strange," said she, "that men should aban 
 don all the walks of pleasure and usefulness to confine 
 themselves in an office concocting all sorts of schemes 
 to extort money from the people when they already 
 have more than they can use even in luxurious living 
 in a natural lifetime. " 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Goldburg, "and since such is man's 
 disposition I think the law should step in and prevent 
 this suicidal course by saying when thou art gone thy 
 effects shall revert back through the government to the 
 place they naturally belong and from where they have 
 been extorted -by cunning tricks and usury. " 
 
 "Looking at things from this standpoint," said Mrs. 
 Bundy, "I think I ought to feel thankful for the family 
 ties of love that have ever blest our home. Mr. 
 Bundy through all our trials has been ever cheerful, 
 and he treats me with as much care and solicitude as 
 the day when we were married, and our children 
 hardly know what it is to hear an unkind word. We 
 may some time want for food but never for kindness 
 and family love." 
 
 After tea when Mrs. Goldburg was about to depart, 
 the girls insisted on Rebecca staying to spend the 
 evening, to which she consented. 
 
 When Frank returned from the shop his two sisters 
 were helping their mother in the kitchen and he found 
 Rebecca alone in the parlor. The meeting was one of 
 
64 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 that class of lovers' meetings that is easier imagined 
 than described. Rebecca laid all her father's objec 
 tions before Frank with all the simplicity of a child. 
 After a long silence Frank, in a serious and medita 
 tive voice, said: 
 
 "Rebecca, you do not know how dear you are to me, 
 but I am afraid I am doing wrong in standing between 
 you and your fortune which I can never hope to replace 
 if it is taken from you. " 
 
 "Love," said Rebecca, "is greater to me than all the 
 gold that glitters." 
 
 He pressed her more closely to his heart and both 
 stood motionless; language failed to give an expression 
 in words to the thoughts that seemed to melt and 
 mingle in every breath. At last supper was called and 
 they joined the family. Nothing could have been 
 more depressing than the circumstances under which 
 these two were placed. Both sensitive, both intent on 
 doing right, duty to parents was before them while 
 duty to love and self claimed their consideration. 
 
 After supper Frank escorted Rebecca home but both 
 felt too sad to talk and parted by simply pledging 
 eternal love. 
 
 Soon after this Mr. Goldsmith, the New York 
 gambler, who it will be remembered had worked up the 
 railroad scheme in which he and Mr. Goldburg had 
 both become millionaires, made his appearance in 
 Bopeep and put up at the Palace hotel where he fell 
 in with M. M. Taylor, an old acquaintance of his who 
 was noted for his success in horse-racing and gambling 
 on prize fights. 
 
 Mr. Goldsmith told his friend that he had a little 
 deal on hand here that was good for a round million 
 at least if he could make it work. On being pressed 
 to give an outline of the scheme he said it was nothing 
 more nor less than marrying the banker's daughter. 
 
 He said that he stood all right with the father, but 
 although the girl had always treated him courteously, 
 he was forced to confess that she was the hardest 
 creature to approach he had ever met, He had called 
 %t the mansion several times on invitation intending 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 65 
 
 to make advances and his heart had always failed him, 
 but that he would take on a drink or two this time 
 and put on a bold front, that a "faint heart never won 
 fair lady," and that he intended to tackle the girl. 
 His friend cautioned him not to be too fast, but he 
 said "no, thereis too much money at stake, I know the 
 father is in favor of the match and I don't intend to 
 put it off too long." 
 
 On the following evening he w^nt to Mr. Goldbung's 
 dressed in the height of dudish style, and on being 
 announced, was received by Rebecca and ushered into 
 the parlor where he was entertained by her and her 
 mother in their most friendly manner. For an hour 
 they chatted and Mr. Goldsmith made good his resolu 
 tion by showing such a remarkable degree of boldness 
 as to come near driving Rebecca from the room; but 
 excusing rudeness on account of his being a millionaire, 
 she managed to stand her ground. 
 
 On taking his leave he was so kind as to solicit her 
 company to the theatre some evening She declined 
 with a. coldness that would have chilled the heart of a 
 Polar bear. But Mr. Goldsmith had a determination 
 which nothing but the love of money could have sus 
 tained and he was not to be frustrated, so he took his 
 leave by informing the. ladies he would call again in a 
 day or two. 
 
 On returning home from the bank that evening Mr. 
 Goldburg called his daughter into the room again and 
 greeting her with a smile which was quite unusual, 
 informed her that --Mr. Goldsmith would spend the 
 following evening with them and this would be a good 
 time to make an impression. 
 
 As Mr. Goldsmith had made and now possessed more 
 than two millions, his ability as a financier could 
 hardly be doubted; and in addition to what he now had, 
 on the death of his father he would fall heir to over 
 ten millions. He ventured to remark to his daughter 
 "that he had heard Mr. Goldsmith speak in a very 
 complimentary manner of her several times. 
 
 "Father," said Rebecca, in a very positive manner, 
 "do you know that I hate that man?" 
 
66 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "What, what," said her father, "what did he ever do 
 to make you hate him?" 
 
 "I hate him," said Rebecca, "because he is vulgar; 
 because he has no fine feelings, because he never 
 uttered a word in my presence that sounded as if he 
 possessed a noble, manly heart. Father, I would 
 rather be buried in the bottom of the sea and have the 
 billows ebb and flow above me, than marry a man 
 like that." 
 
 Mr. Goldburg was sorely disappointed in this state 
 of affairs; he was so accustomed to have everything 
 bend to his will on account of his money that it fairly 
 staggered him to be confronted by his own daughter, a 
 mere child as she appeared to him, and one who, as a 
 rule, was willing to sacrifice everything in order that 
 he might be pleased; and now that he was trying to 
 secure her happiness it was the harder to bear, because 
 he considered this as the great plan of his life which 
 she was frustrating. But this disappointment was to 
 teach him one valuable lesson that even the power of 
 gold is circumscribed. 
 
 Rebecca, on the other hand, recognized the impor 
 tance her father attached to the affair. In fact she 
 could not refrain from remarking to her mother that 
 afternoon that it was the first time she had seen her 
 father smile since he became a millionaire, and Faid 
 she, "if my marrying that man is the only thing that 
 will bring smiles to his face I am afraid he will never 
 smile again." 
 
 On the following evening, true to his appointment 
 Mr. Goldsmith accompanied the banker home. 
 
 It was Rebecca's first impulse to retire to her own 
 room and report herself "not at home," but on second 
 thought, her love and respect for her father prevented 
 her carrying out a resolution that would have been so 
 embarrassing to him; so preparing herself for the disa 
 greeable task, she* resolved to treat her guest with as 
 much courtesy as possible, under the circumstances. 
 
 In spite of all her resolutions to the contrary, her 
 reception ot the millionaire was anything but what he 
 would have desired. Her smiles were cold and com- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 67 
 
 fortless and notwithstanding she seemed to treat him 
 with courtesy, he could not shake off the feeling pf 
 self-abasement while in her presence. She seemed to 
 look down into his very soul and read there the thoughts 
 of a man in quest for gold. 
 
 This feeling -came so strongly upon the great railroad 
 magnate that when he was out of the house he felt like 
 a bird set free and he hardly felt at ease until he had 
 separated from Mr. Goldburg at the bank and joined 
 his friend, the horse-race man, at the hotel. They 
 retired at once to a private apartment and ordering a 
 quantity of brandy arid glasses, proceeded to drink 
 freely. The millionaire then told his story and in 
 conclusion said that, undoubtedly, the scheme had 
 proved a failure, beyond all redemption. "The cause," 
 he said, "was not clear, but that her mind was fully 
 made up on the subject, would hardly admit of a 
 doubt. 
 
 "I might," said he, "through the influence of money 
 and intrigue with her father, who is as crazy after gold 
 as a spring bird is for a worm, compel her to recog 
 nize my suit, but the world, in this enlightened age, 
 could hardly produce a man who, in his right mind, 
 would be willing to claim the hand of one who is 
 possessed of such repelling force. I think it is the 
 father's plan to marry her to some one who has or will 
 have unlimited wealth; but if he don't have lots of 
 trouble accomplishing that end, I shall miss my guess." 
 
 Mr. Goldburg on reaching the bank, went at once to 
 his office and threw himself into a magnificent chair, 
 took a cigar from a box of fine Havannas that cost not 
 less than twenty-five dollars, and lighting it, in a 
 somewhat nervous manner, threw himself back in his 
 chair and gave himself up to very serious reflection. 
 
 The reception of Mr. Goldsmith by Rebecca had not 
 met his hopes and expectations, by any means. That 
 Frank Bundy yet occupied a place in her affections 
 was plainly to be seen. But why Nature should im 
 plant such strong feelings in the hearts of the young, 
 was something the banker could not understand; he 
 could not blame the girl, it was Nature that was at 
 
68 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 fault. It seemed to him that the best part of life was 
 spent in following fancies and notions before we learn 
 to appreciate wealth and then it is often too late. 
 
 The fact that Rebecca was still young led him to 
 think that if he could remove the cause, he might still 
 accomplish his end; but how was this to be done? 
 
 In olden times the Priests, Rulers and men of wealth, 
 had Trusties to put out of the way men who were 
 objectionable, and even now the same methods are 
 sometimes resorted to. He did not wish to resort to 
 such extreme measures, still he felt it his imperative 
 duty to protect his family against the disgrace of 
 having his daughter marry a laboring man. 
 
 After preparing some business papers for the next 
 mail, Mr. Goldburg locked up his private office and 
 returned home fully determined to remove at once all 
 obstacles to the marrying of his daughter to a man of 
 her own class. He talked to Mrs. Goldburg about 
 the matter, but finding that she entertained very 
 different views upon the subject he resolved to act 
 entirely upon his own judgment.* 
 
 A few days after this Mr. Goldburg made it a point 
 to meet Frank as he was returning from work. As 
 they met the banker stopped as if for a talk, which 
 also brought Mr. Bundy to a standstill. After exchang 
 ing salutations the banker commenced: 
 
 "Mr. Bundy, I am sorry to see there is so much 
 attachment existing between my daughter and yourself 
 and feel it to be my duty as a father, to notify you that 
 your meetings must be discontinued and all engage 
 ments which may exist be broken off." 
 
 "Why is this?" said Frank in an independent manner. 
 
 "You ought to know, sir," said Mr. Goldburg, "that 
 as poor as you are, you could hardly expect to marry 
 an heiress; but I will make you one condition, go to 
 some great mining camp and prove yourself a man by 
 bringing back $100,000 and she is yours." 
 
 "What," said Frank, in a sarcastic manner, "do you 
 propose selling your own daughter?" 
 
 "No, sir," said the banker indignantly, "but I do not 
 intend she shall marry a pauper." 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 69 
 
 This was too much; the boy did not stop to consider 
 but acting on the impulse, in pugilistic style, struck 
 the banker a blow in the eye which sent him sprawling 
 in the mud, and without stopping to help him to his 
 feet again, he walked on till he met a policeman, when 
 he gave himselKup. 
 
 The banker was assisted to his feet by bystanders 
 and as soon as he recovered from his surprise, he 
 hurried on and filed a complaint. 
 
 Frank gave bail, of course, and the trial was set for 
 the following day. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg received the necessary medical atten 
 tion and returned to his home. His wife and daughter 
 were, of course, greatly alarmed by his appearance, 
 but after satisfying themselves that he was not badly 
 hurt, they were anxious to know the particulars. Mr. 
 Goldburg, however, did not feel inclined to talk very 
 freely but seemed to prefer to be alone,- so they allowed 
 him to rest quietly on the sofa. 
 
 During the trial of the case the court room was 
 crowded with workingmen. It happened that the 
 justice was an old soldier who had served under Col. 
 Bundy, so Frank thought his chances for holding his 
 own were pretty good. When court came to order, 
 the statements of the banker and Frank were so nearly 
 the same that further evidence was considered unnec 
 essary and the case went to the court. Frank was 
 fined five dollars and costs, which he proceeded to pay 
 but was crowded back by the workingmen, while others 
 paid the fine. 
 
 No trial in that city ever attracted such widespread 
 attention as this, small as it was. The newspapers 
 published a full account of the affair, with lengthy 
 comments and it, like many differences passed, having 
 done its part toward increasing the feeling between 
 capital and labor, which is after all nothing more nor 
 less than another name for the two classes rich 
 and poor. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg' s sore head only made him the more 
 determined and the next thing to be done was to throw 
 Frank out of work. As he owned a large amount of 
 
^6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 stock in the business where Frank was working, beside 
 furnishing them money through the bank to tide over 
 rough places, it was no great trouble to have the 
 young man discharged, and that without letters of 
 recommendation. Frank was not surprised when he 
 went to the shop at noon to find a request to call at 
 the office. Of course, he knew what that meant, and 
 after drawing his money, he went home to' talk over 
 the matter. On his way home he called at the other 
 shops only to find his services were not needed. They 
 would gladly have given him employment, but they 
 were all, more or less, dependent on the bank for 
 money. They knew this was a personal fight of the 
 most powerful banker in the town against the boy and 
 they were liable to lose favor if they had him in their 
 employ. 
 
 Seeing plainly the situation, Frank decided at once 
 what to do, in -fact, there was but one thing to do, go 
 beyond the reach, of the banker's influence to try to get 
 work. That night he related the whole affair to his 
 father and mother, and after everything was fully 
 explained his mother reported what Mrs. Goldburg had 
 said, that there was but one use that could be made of 
 money or property, above a competency, or what would 
 keep a man and his family in luxury a long time, or 
 while they lived, and that is its use to oppress others. 
 She remembered Mr. Goldburg used to say the same 
 thing before he became a millionaire, and said she: 
 "I believe there should be some limit bylaw, to the 
 amount of money or property a man may be allowed to 
 own. Power is good, so much as will secure to us 
 self-preservation, education, comfort and amusement; 
 the next step is the power to oppress others, which 
 some will use. Money is power, hence its acquisition 
 should be limited to our needs. 
 
 "These views might appear radical to some, but all 
 should at least agree, that the government is doing a 
 great wrong when it gives the bankers millions of 
 dollars to use to oppress their neighbors with, just 
 because they happen to be rich enough to own govern 
 ment bonds. I should think if government has favors 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. ?i 
 
 to bestow, the poor should receive the benefit, for the 
 rich can take care of themselves. " 
 
 "Look out," said the Colonel, "you will be advocat 
 ing woman suffrage next." 
 
 "Well," said Mrs. Bundy, "if we had woman suf 
 frage it could not-be much worse than now." 
 
 "They would make a fine lot of Congressmen, 
 wouldn't they?" said Frank, in a jesting way. 
 
 "Congressmen," sajd his mother warming up to the 
 subject, "if Congress had been composed of intel 
 ligent mothers how much British and Wall Street gold 
 do you suppose it would have taken to put the Excep 
 tion Clause upon the greenback or pass the United 
 States Banking Act, or the act authorizing the selling 
 of interest bearing bonds to take up a currency that 
 bore no interest and was also needed in circulation? 
 These acts are all such plain frauds that it becomes a 
 question of honesty rather than ability, and if ever a 
 woman gets into Congress by a majority vote of the 
 people, her record will be so clean that no one will 
 dare approach her with a bribe. " 
 
 "It does look as if there must be something wrong," 
 said Col. Bundy, "when a man of Mr. Goldburg's 
 ability can become a millionaire in so short a time, 
 and that, too, at a time when one-fourth of the best 
 business men of the place have had to succumb to the 
 terrible contraction of the currency and those who are 
 still in business have lost money and are largely in 
 debted to the banks. It is hard to conceive where 
 this matter will end. The democratic party is rotten 
 to the core, and the republican party seems to have 
 been captured by the money power and has become 
 the tool of great conspiracies to rob the people. Our 
 only course, therefore, seems to be to worry along, 
 make the best of it and see what evolution will bring 
 forth next. Under the existing state of affairs, Mr. 
 Goldburg, through his millions, in this place or com 
 munity can crowd almost any man out of business that 
 may in any manner stand in his way; that he can pre 
 vent Frank from getting work in any of the shops is 
 quite enough to warrant this conclusion. 
 
72 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "But it only shows the power there is in money. 
 If a half starved man were to come into the store and 
 represent that he was working for some well known 
 and responsible citizen and had a month's wages due 
 him, which he could collect on the first of next month, 
 buy a bill of goods, give an order on the man for the 
 amount, and it would afterward be found that he was 
 not working for the man, nor did he have any money 
 due him; this would be obtaining money under false 
 pretenses, which is a crime and can be punished as 
 such. But Mr. Goldburg or any other millionaire, 
 through moneyed influence, can force the people of this 
 country to pay tithes to him, in the shape of interest and 
 discount, to the extent of thousands of dollars each year; 
 can drive a tradesman out of employ and virtually force 
 him to leave the country or go to work at common labor. 
 
 "While these things are all wrong and rob the vic 
 tim as effectually as in the other case, the law sees no 
 crime and affords no relief; in fact, furnishes the 
 money upon which bankers are allowed to collect 
 interest. 
 
 "Politicians tell us the first duty of government is to 
 protect property; it seems to me it would be better to 
 make it the first duty of government to protect the 
 citizen against the oppression of property owners. 
 
 "Mr. Goldburg has raked together millions of dollars 
 here in the last four years. There is just the same 
 property in the town now, that there was four years 
 ago. Then the people owned it, now Mr. Goldburg 
 and the bank own it. Had he taken it at the point of 
 the bayonet or pistol, the result would have been the 
 same robbery pure and simple. 
 
 "That this sudden accumulation of wealth has been 
 brought about by wicked and fraudulent legislation, 
 there remains hardly room for a doubt, and an unpro- 
 ducing concern in the shape of a bank has been 
 fastened upon the country, to which the people will be 
 forced to pay tribute through all time to come, unless 
 our present financial legislation undergoes an entire 
 change. Although our form of government is quite a 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 73 
 
 step in advance of the old world, it might oe mate 
 rially changed for the better. " 
 
 The conversation now turned on Frank's departure. 
 His mother wanted him to go back to their old place, 
 but the farmers were all running behind and many who 
 had been doing well while money was plenty had since 
 the contraction of currency been forced to mortgage 
 their farms to the bank to pay their taxes, which were 
 still as high as they were before the contraction. 
 Under the existing laws farming seemed to be a failure. 
 The burning of greenbacks was still going on, and as 
 they were disappearing from circulation, everything in 
 the shape of property was falling to pieces and the 
 bankers saw their notes and mortgages increasing in 
 value. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THAT same evening, Mr. Goldburg came home with 
 a handkerchief around his face and perfumed with 
 liniment strong enough to perfume the whole house. 
 Rebecca did everything possible to comfort her father 
 and then busied herself with her own thoughts. She 
 had just finished reading the account of the affair when 
 ner father entered, and she could not blame Frank for 
 her father had no right to call him a pauper. 
 
 After Rebecca had retired, Mr. Goldburg proceeded 
 to tell his wife what had happened during the day. 
 After the trial was over he sent for the foreman of the 
 shop and ordered him to discharge Frank at once, and 
 said he was satisfied that the other shops, knowing the 
 circumstances, would be afraid to employ him. In that 
 event he would be compelled to leave the place, and as 
 many of the shops were closed or running on half time, 
 he would find it hard to secure a job and would proba 
 bly be compelled to do as he had advised him at first 
 go to a mining locality, and in that case all trouble 
 would end for a time, at least. 
 
 After a long pause, Mrs. Goldburg said, "My dear, 
 don't you think you are doing wrong in persecuting 
 Mr. Bundy in this way when he has never wronged you?" 
 
 "Never wronged me? Are not my eyes swelled 
 larger than a washpan from the effects of his big fist, 
 and has he not been trying to marry our daughter, who 
 is heir to millions and he without a cent?" 
 
 "But," said Mrs. Goldburg, "you know he is a bright 
 young man, of good habits and of a very respectably 
 
AN FDEAL REPUBLIC. 75 
 
 family; his grandfather was a General in the war of 
 1812, and his father came home from the late war 
 covered with glory. He fought four long years and 
 lost one arm in order to preserve this great nation." 
 
 "Yes," said the banker, "but that all amounts to 
 nothing now. That glory, you see, was only transi 
 tory, only a shadow. They did preserve the country, 
 it is true, but before the work was half completed the 
 money power of London, New York, Boston and Phila 
 delphia had combined and established their authority 
 so firmly in Washington that the government by the 
 people, became a government by the money power, 
 whose mission is to own and control the people, 
 the principle of self-government for which Col. 
 Bundy fought, is now among the things of the 
 past, and under the pressure of the money power the 
 patriotic spirit of olden times is fast passing away. 
 In a few more years that old stock of American 
 patriots, of which Col. Bundy is a fair sample, will 
 have disappeared, and will live only in history. 
 
 "There has not been a financial act passed in the 
 United States since 1862 that was not dictated by the 
 money power. The number of business failures 
 brought about by class legislation can be numbered by 
 the thousands and the loss to the people by shrinkage 
 in value can be counted by millions upon millions; 
 and the wealth of this country is being gathered into 
 the hands of a few more easily than you could gather 
 butter in a churn. 
 
 "The middle and lower classes are constantly being 
 crowded out. Corporations are absorbing their business 
 and driving private enterprise to the wall everywhere, 
 and millionaires are springing up like mushrooms all 
 along the line. 
 
 "Both the old political parties are subservient to the 
 money power. We will therefore control the legisla 
 tion. The sectional fight can be kept up until the 
 money power becomes so thoroughly intrenched behind 
 the financial and business interests of the country that 
 they will control the destinies of the nation with the 
 greatest ease. 
 
76 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Even the people, as they see their property slipping 
 away, will become discouraged, lose confidence in the 
 government and patriotism will disappear. They 
 already are beginning to recognize the fact that it is 
 the dollars that make the man. 
 
 "Didn't you notice that when Gen. Grant was here 
 last summer he came to my house, was escorted all 
 over the country by me and in my carriage, and that 
 he did not even call on Col. Buridy? And did not 
 Gen. Sherman do the same thing? I tell you that it is 
 the dollars that make the man now. These Generals 
 both knew that I was not in the army. They knew 
 that I was at home making every dollar I could from 
 those who did go, and now I have the dollars and they 
 have the experience. 
 
 "It was too good a time for me to make money to 
 tie myself up in the army and take the chance of being 
 killed. Of course they called us bad names sometimes 
 but you will see before the century is out we will put 
 one of our own men in the presidential chair and the 
 brigadiers both north and south will take a back seat. " 
 
 During this talk Mr. Goldburg composedly nursed 
 his swollen face and talked as one in a dream. There 
 could be no doubt that it came from his inmost soul, 
 and although Mrs. Goldburg could not believe that 
 God would ever permit this great liberty-loving people 
 to pass helplessly under the rule of monetary despot 
 ism, she still felt that her husband was more to be 
 pitied than blamed; that his love of an active business 
 life increased in him a love for gold, and that the 
 power given to gold by false legislation and supersti 
 tion had actually led him on to an idolatrous worship 
 of the golden calf. She could not oppose him but 
 pray for him she would and long, long hours did she 
 pray, but alas! the idols were uppermost in his mind 
 and his desire was for gold as an inebriate's is for drink. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Goldburg retired late that night to 
 court sleep with only trifling success. Mr. Goldburg 
 would wake frequently only to complain of his bruised 
 face, while Mrs. Goldburg was too full of feeling to 
 ileejp, he knew her daughter's heart trouble and 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 77 
 
 being in perfect sympathy they had filled her soul with 
 forebodings. She hoped and prayed and prayed and 
 hoped, and finally gave herself up to that infinite law 
 of love, entirely to spiritual guidance and found conso 
 lation in a Christian hope. 
 
 But what shalLwe say of Rebecca. Those who have 
 had disappointments in love can realize her suffering. 
 With a sick and wounded heart she sought relief in 
 solitary prayer. She had been taught that Jesus could 
 be relied upon in the saddest case of disappointment, 
 and now that all her plans seemed blasted at a single 
 blow, she put her trust in Him and finally after half a 
 night of rolling, tossing, weeping and praying, she 
 passed into that gentle slumber, which brings peace 
 and rest to the troubled soul. 
 
 The slumbers of Frank, too, it may be supposed 
 were not of an unbroken nature. The bright picture of 
 the future which Rebecca and he had drawn, and all 
 their little arrangements and promises of love were 
 now to be realized far in the future, if at all. To 
 forego, in any degree the hope of realizing these things, 
 was to him like accepting life as a solitary blank. 
 There was but one course, and that was to seek em 
 ployment and with nerve and muscle he would build 
 up a reputation and credit and some day get on his 
 feet again. As for Rebecca, he knew her feelings now, 
 but what effect his own feelings would have, he could 
 not tell, but at all events, he was powerless to act; he 
 could only go and hope, and in the hope he felt that 
 he could exert a superhuman strength. He had saved 
 about $300. He would go on this until he found work; 
 on the following morning he arose and penned the 
 following note : 
 
 HOME, BOPEEP, June 4th. 
 
 My Dear Rebecca: You know,, doubtless, what has 
 transpired within the last few days. May God help 
 you to forget me, for I see nothing but disaster in the 
 near future. 1 am determined to go into the world and 
 do the best I can. Times are hard and men are out of 
 employment all over the country, but I shall hope for 
 the best. I shall love you as long is I continue to 
 
78 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 breathe, but am, for the present, undone, and if you 
 can forget me and marry some good man, I will forgive 
 you. I go to-day. If I am successful, I will write to 
 you, but if not, no one will ever hear from me. 
 
 God bless you, Darling. Good-bye. 
 
 FRANK. 
 
 At breakfast the family were all .sad. Frank tried 
 hard to make his last meal at home an enjoyable one, 
 but a feeling of sadness that lurked behind a smiling 
 face, the anguish of heart which naturally follows so 
 great a calamity, had shaken his nervous frame and he 
 looked worn. His father and mother offe'red several 
 plans by which they hoped to induce him to remain at 
 home, "but gold is god," said Frank, "and if I remain 
 here I will bring its power down on the whole family. 
 If I go I may find something better; besides if I must 
 forever remain poor it will be less galling to be among 
 strangers than to be here among those who have known 
 me under better circumstances. Mr. Goldburg would 
 frustrate any plan I might adopt for making money 
 here, and the power that is lodged in a man backed by 
 millionaires is something to be dreaded. I have seen 
 that slightly demonstrated already. No, I must go 
 until I find a place where I can make money." So, 
 finding all entreaties useless, his mother helped him 
 to pack up, adding to his general stock of clothing, 
 needles, thread, scissors and such things as only a 
 mother could think of, and after taking an affectionate 
 leave of his mother and two sisters he succeeded in 
 reaching the depot in time to take the 10:40 train for 
 New York; not. forgetting to leave the little note he 
 had written with his eldest sister to be delivered in 
 person. 
 
 On reaching New York, after registering at a very 
 common hotel where a great many mechanics and 
 railroad men stopped, he soon fell in with other iron 
 workers who were also seeking employment, and for 
 three days he visited the different shops only to find 
 that they had some men laid off and others working on 
 half time. 
 
 Everyone said that there was a wonderful stagnation 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 79 
 
 in business, caused by a scarcity of money, and once 
 in a while he would meet some of the old style green 
 back men kicking about the government withdrawing 
 the greenbacks from circulation and issuing interest 
 bearing bonds, thus compelling the people to pay 
 interest on the" bonds, and then pay interest on bank 
 bills and gold to supply the circulation, but Frank 
 paid very little attention to this because it was poli 
 tics, and work was what he wanted. 
 
 At the hotel he met parties from Boston, Buffalo, 
 Philadelphia and many other important points who 
 said they had been laid off and had to come to New 
 York to find work. Every paper brought news of 
 more failures in different parts of the country. Some 
 said that it was caused by contraction of the currency, 
 others were not willing to give any reason, but all 
 agreed that there was a scarcity of money. 
 
 Frank paid but little attention to politics but it 
 looked like a plain case to him, that if the trouble was 
 scarcity of money, and that must be true for everybody 
 seemed to say no money, scarcity of money, and other 
 statements of the same kind at almost every breath, 
 and that the work of the contraction act was to with 
 draw the government money, greenback from circula 
 tion, then the contraction act must be the prime cause 
 of the trouble, for it was plain the withdrawing money 
 from circulation would make it scarce. But he was 
 too much interested in finding work to give^the subject 
 much more than a passing thought, and it is presumed 
 that the majority of the American people were under 
 the same influences and governed by the same motives, 
 and this accounts for their allowing themselves to be 
 financially robbed by the money power in the way 
 they were. 
 
 Seeing no possible chance for work in the city Frank 
 made up his mind to go west. During his stay at the 
 hotel he met an old schoolmate, now a conductor 
 on one of the roads running west and offered to carry 
 him over his run. Of course Frank took advantage 
 of this proposition, and before the Conductor left the 
 {rain he gave Frank letters that carried him through 
 
8O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 to Chicago. He also gave him letters to other railroad 
 men in Chicago asking them to assist him in getting 
 work. On reaching that city the same difficulty con 
 fronted him; the same complaint among businessmen, 
 hard times, men out of employment, business failures 
 everywhere, everything failing in value, no money the 
 same old cry. Factories and shops running on half 
 time and hundreds of men laid off. After looking 
 through the shops Frank saw there was no chance for 
 him, so he presented his letters and found the railroad 
 men very kind but said it would be next to an impos 
 sibility to get any kind of a job there at that time, but 
 if he wanted to go on through to California, he was 
 acquainted with many of 'the conductors on western 
 roads and would give him letters that would carry him 
 through. Frank had been thinking of California and 
 so he resolved to go and took the first train for Kansas 
 City. At that place he laid off for a day and was 
 happy to find money matters slightly improved. 
 
 Government had granted or given away large tracts 
 of government land to railroad corporations with the 
 understanding that the company was to build a road 
 through it. This was something of a departure from 
 the old system, which had been to grant a charter with 
 the understanding that the railroad company pay for 
 the right of way. Some people claimed that as the 
 right to build roads belonged to the people or to the 
 government, that railroad companies should have been 
 made to pay for their charter or franchise, and- there 
 were many who seemed to doubt the wisdom and even 
 honesty of Congress in this wholesale giving away of 
 government land to private corporations, which was so 
 out of keeping with the former custom of retaining the 
 land for actual settlement, and as the same men that 
 passed the Banking and Contraction acts had also been 
 at the bottom of this giving away of public land, it 
 certainly looked bad, and to say the least, it was very 
 good for the railroad company, but very bad for the 
 people. 
 
 In order to obtain a title to these very valuable 
 lands the railroad company could well afford to turn 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 8l. 
 
 loose a little money in the way of building a road that- 
 would pay a dividend as soon as completed and in 
 operation across a country where, for hundreds of 
 miles, the grading was of the lightest character. As 
 they advanced with their tracks, flaming circulars were 
 sent out setting forth the richness and quality of the 
 lands, and thousands of people in the east who had 
 been forced to mortgage their farms under the money 
 famine brought about by contraction, sold out for what 
 they could get, took their money and such stock as 
 they had not been forced to sell, in order to live, and 
 came to the new Eldorado to secure as soon as possible 
 a farm on the odd sections of government land that had 
 not been given away. 
 
 It was a great grain country and ready for the plow, 
 and those who had by bad legislation been robbed and 
 crowded out in the east, found themselves once more, 
 endowed by nature, with the greatest of all gifts a 
 home. 
 
 Every ox, and even the cows, were yoked and the 
 prairies were overturned; great fields of wheat, corn 
 and barley took the place of the native grass; houses 
 and barns sprang up as if by magic, on every hand and 
 all was life and business. 
 
 But even here on these great prairies, these hardy 
 pioneers were destined not to escape the well laid 
 schemes of Shylock, for when their , rich crop was 
 harvested they "found the prices so low and cost of 
 shipping so high, that it would take half of their grain 
 to buy lumber to properly store the other half for 
 their own use. 
 
 As harvest time was near, Frank concluded to go to 
 the country, for the shops, even in Kansas City, were 
 well supplied with help; so he took the cars west, and 
 went to a small town situated in the midst of great 
 fields of grain, and hired to a farmer of the name of 
 Bradshaw, who was in town looking for hands, and 
 worked for him during harvest. 
 
 It was the year for State and Congressional elections 
 and politics ran high; three out of four were Republi 
 cans and voted the straight ticket, while at the* same 
 
82 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 time, feeling that something was going wrong at 
 Washington; otherwise the country could never have 
 drifted into such a terrible condition. 
 
 There were a few old Greenbackers in the neighbor 
 hood and they were constantly twitting the Republicans 
 about the scarcity of money, hard times, and low 
 prices and asserting that government had destroyed the 
 money of the country when it was so much needed in 
 circulation. For a long time these good, old, honest 
 Republicans were at a loss for argument; it was hard 
 to explain why there should be so much distress in the 
 midst of plenty. 
 
 A great and extensive country, industrious people, 
 good crops, a surplus of everything; gold and silver 
 mines yielding millions of dollars monthly, at peace 
 with the world, and in the midst of all these great 
 blessings, small business men were being forced to the 
 wall, farmers, after working from daylight till dark to 
 mature a crop, after selling the same at beggarly 
 prices, were forced to mortgage their land to the bank 
 or money lenders, for enough money to carry them 
 through the winter; thousands of men out of employ 
 ment; farmers in Kansas burning corn for fuel, while 
 people in the cities were starving for bread. 
 
 How to account for all this misery in the midst of 
 plenty, without everlastingly condemning John Sher 
 man and other political leaders and other good 
 republicans, was a hard question to solve, but at last 
 the solution came through the fertile brain of some 
 good statesman and advocate of a gold standard, 
 probably John Sherman. 
 
 The wisdom of these gold speculators is wonderful; 
 they are like an oracle, there is nothing so absurd 
 they cannot explain it, and in a way favorable to 
 themselves. And this great statesman in his speech 
 which the gold power has had printed in all their 
 papers, proved himself master of the situation and 
 declared to the world the prime cause of the very 
 remarkable depression in business. 
 
 "It is over-production," said he, "yes, over-pro 
 duction. " 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 83 
 
 Republicans had been looking for the solution of the 
 question lor a long time and it was a wonderful relief; 
 the big papers kept it in head lines, the small papers 
 had it spread all over their patent back, stump speakers 
 spoke it, quiet people talked it; it was short, it was 
 easy, and the ^ood people who were fearful that the 
 "Rebs. " would get in power through the bad manage 
 ment of the Republicans, hailed it as a salvation cry; 
 even children sang it as they came from school and it 
 was considered a fair answer to any argument intro 
 duced or advanced by men, troubled with what at that 
 time was called by the money power, the Greenback 
 craze, and no people, perhaps, ever rode a more 
 successful hobby. 
 
 While Frank was at this place he attended a 
 farmers' meeting where the financial situation was under 
 discussion. The meeting was non-partisan and every 
 body had a right to participate in the debate. The 
 Democrats had very little to say. The Republicans 
 insisted that all the ills had come from over-produc 
 tion, but could offer no remedy; when finally, an old- 
 time greenbacker was called and said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, admitting that over-production is the 
 cause of our great financial distress, where shall we 
 look for a remedy? A few years ago we had an over 
 production of greenbacks. It hurt no one but the 
 bankers and money lenders. It was very hard on them, 
 so our law makers commenced destroying the green 
 backs, and the times became better for the bond 
 holders, bankers, and gold men. They have made 
 millions and are growing richer every day. Now we 
 have an over-production of everything but money; we 
 have worked too hard and produced too much grain, 
 too many horses, too many cattle, in fact, there is 
 nothing that will sell. 
 
 "There seems to be an over-production of men. 
 Everyone knows that there are too many men; half of 
 them cannot get work. If destroying the money 
 would make such good times for the bankers and men 
 who have gold to loan, the same remedy ought to apply 
 now. It is a parallel case. Then it was an over- 
 
84 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 production of money. To follow up the same plan in 
 our case, we would have to insist upon the passing of 
 an Act in Congress similar to that authorizing the 
 destruction of the greenbacks. 
 
 "As there is an over-production of men, have a part 
 of them destroyed; kill off all kinds of stock cattle, 
 hogs and horses until you bring about an equilibrium 
 between property and money. You see there has been 
 such an over-production of property and people, that 
 the money which would be plentiful at one time, will 
 not do now. 
 
 "So, gentlemen, it seems to me, it would be just as 
 reasonable to destroy the people and property now, as 
 it was to destroy the best money we had the green 
 backs. I would suggest that government increase the 
 circulation by issuing a new lot of greenbacks, buy up 
 the government bonds and stop the interest; then, if 
 the people complain of having too much money, I 
 would suggest that they demonetize gold. 
 
 "The reason why we always have good times after a 
 war, is not on account of the destruction, but because 
 a large amount of money has been turned loose. The 
 reason we always have good times in a rich gold min 
 ing camp, is becuse the gold is so easily converted 
 into money, that when a large quantity of gold is 
 being taken out by the miners, a great deal of money 
 goes into circulation and this, and nothing else, makes 
 good times. 
 
 "The people of the United States to-day, are study 
 ing machinery and inventions of all kinds, and how to 
 produce all the good things of life, and are leaving the 
 management of the government to Shysters; these 
 Shysters are controlled by money kings and they are 
 all having their own way; but when this period of 
 invention is past and the people turn their attention to 
 government, those who live to see it will learn that 
 hard times, unless caused by some natural calamity, 
 comes from bad legislation, and when the causes are 
 removed the unfavorable conditions will disappear. 
 
 "If any man is in doubt that the present hard times 
 are directly the result of class and dishonest money 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 85 
 
 legislation, all he need do is to lay aside his political 
 and party prejudice and investigate. The case will be 
 found so clear that he will have no difficulty in arriv 
 ing at a logical conclusion." 
 
 Mr. Bradshaw had two married sons who had taken 
 land adjoining^ him. The family, like thousands of 
 other families, had been crowded out in the east by 
 the hard times and falling prices, which commenced 
 with the destruction of the national money in the 
 interest of gold, and continued until the stringency 
 became so wide-spread and disastrous in its effects 
 that even the great hobby of over-production, failed to 
 satisfy. 
 
 Persons familiar with the history of the United 
 States will remember that this destruction was the 
 result of the Contraction Act passed by the Congress 
 of 1865, and was pushed through by the same leaders 
 who were afterward instrumental in giving away the 
 government lands to private corporations. It is a 
 notable fact, though not to be greatly wondered at, 
 that many of these men are to-day very wealthy, and 
 others are numbered among our millionaires. 
 
 Mr. Bradshaw had also two sons and two daughters 
 living at home, unmarried. Frank was pleased to find 
 the place so home-like, and when they found he was a 
 son of Col. Bundy, they made him one of the family. 
 It happened that the eldest son had known Col Bundy 
 in the army, and had been with him in some of the 
 most hotly contested battles of the late war and 
 admired his noble character. 
 
 The harvest season passed off pleasantly, the tables 
 were well supplied with good things; good beds were 
 provided, and lunch brought regularly to the field by 
 one of the girls. To make things more- agreeable, the 
 young people of the neighborhood would gather at Mr. 
 Bradshaw' s every Saturday night and dance till twelve 
 o'clock. By the time harvesting and threshing were 
 over, Frank had learned to love and appreciate the 
 people of the whole neighborhood. 
 
 Mr. Bradshaw had hurried to market a large portion 
 of his crop, in order to raise a little money to pay 
 
86 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 harvest hands, grocery bills and buy a little lumber to 
 build a granary to store what was left. As the price 
 of wheat was so low that he would be short of money, 
 he decided to take the team and one of the boys and 
 go over to where the, Santa Fe railroad was building, 
 and work on the road long enough to make what money 
 would be necessary to pay grocery bills, buy a few 
 clothes and schooibooks; also pay taxes, which were 
 no small item; in this way he could avoid putting a 
 mortgage on his farm, as he had done to his sorrow, 
 in Illinois. 
 
 "It looks rather hard," said Mr. Bradshaw, "for a 
 man who owns as good a farm as I, with a surplus of 
 corn, wheat, barley, with fat hogs and cattle, to be 
 compelled to go from home to work for some rich cor 
 poration, in order to get money to live on and school 
 my children, and in a free school at that; but such is 
 contraction." 
 
 "I'll tell you what is a fact," said his oldest son, 
 who was a well-read man, "these greenback men are 
 right about the hard times; there is no shadow of 
 doubt but what we are being robbed by the gold 
 power, either through the ignorance or dishonesty of 
 Congressmen; but the trouble is, it we leave the 
 Republican party, then the Democrats and the South 
 will get in power and we are liable to have another 
 war; so it is hard to tell where this thing will end." 
 
 In accordance with Mr. Bradshaw's earnest solicita 
 tion, Frank decided to accompany him to the railroad 
 and drive one of his teams. A couple of days took 
 them to the work, and Frank was soon driving a 
 scraper-team on a ten-foot fill. The work was hard 
 and the hours long, but his team was a good one and 
 everything worked well. A few teams on an adjoining 
 job, which were owned by the Contractor, were badly 
 worn out and he often saw the boss get among them 
 with a shovel and beat them cruelly. It fairly made 
 his blood boil to see such abuse of the dumb animals. 
 He also noticed the accommodations about the camp 
 were of the poorest kind and the bosses all seemed to 
 be possessed of a very domineering spirit. The outfit 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 7 
 
 also had two tent-saloons, supposed to belong to out 
 side parties, but really were owned by themselves. 
 
 These saloons would always get back a large part of 
 the money in a few days after the men were paid off; 
 in fact, it appeared that at least one-third of their men 
 simply worked for their board and a little whiskey. 
 
 Frank staid with the job several days, but it seemed 
 to him the men were treated more like dogs than men 
 and he could not help saying to Mr. Bradshaw, it 
 seemed as if, under the present system of financial 
 legislation, labor would become more dishonorable 
 than slavery. 
 
 Late one afternofin, after Frank had been having a 
 hard pull all day, up a steep bank, and his horses 
 were very tired, as he reached the top of the bank, 
 one of the bosses hit his near horse with a rock; 
 Frank stopped the team, dropped the lines, sprang at 
 the boss and knocked him off the bank and he fell into 
 the pit, landing across the doubletree of another team. 
 The men in the pit thought he was killed, but he soon 
 recovered and crawled out and the work went on as 
 usual. Frank expected to be discharged but was not ; 
 on the other hand, they discharged the boss and offered 
 him the place. He decided to leave such a rough 
 place and in one week was in Sacramento. 
 
 He arrived in the city on Sunday night and on Mon 
 day morning started out and, in the course of the day 
 visited every shop in the city, only to find them 
 crowded as in the east, and some of their men laying 
 off; others on half time. At the hotel, he met parties 
 from San Francisco, who reported the same condition 
 of things there. He said to himself/ "such is the 
 effect of contraction." 
 
 The newspapers, too, were full of accounts of business 
 failures all over the country from Plymouth Rock in 
 the East to the Golden Gate in the West. There 
 was not a single town or hamlet but felt the effect of 
 the iron law, and many cursed John Sherman. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 FRANK at last resolved to look for work on a farm 
 and made his arrangements at the hotel to leave 
 his things till he came or sent for them. He started on 
 foot into the country. The day was hot and he had a 
 good introduction to California dust. There were 
 houses and farms on each side of the street. Frank 
 stopped at several of them, only to be treated more as 
 an intruder than as a free-born citizen of America 
 looking for work. If they talked to him at all, it was 
 to tell him of the hard times and as this news did not 
 interest him, he kept moving on till he came to a very 
 neat cottage, with a small barn, a large, well-kept 
 orchard near by, and he determined to stop and make 
 some inquiries. In passing along the walk to the door 
 of the cottage, he was struck with the beauty of the 
 grounds. Flowers of many varieties, semi-tropical 
 plants, gave the place a charming appearance to our 
 young traveller. He knocked on the door and in 
 repsonse a light footstep approached the door and it 
 was opened, disclosing the face and form of one of 
 California's belles. As her eyes met those of the 
 stranger, she gave a dignified bow. Frank felt the 
 peculiar coldness of her manner and at once inquired 
 for the man of the house, and at the same time stated 
 his business. When he had finished, instead of invit 
 ing him in, she simply told him to wait around till her 
 father came from the field, then shut the door. Frank 
 hesitated a moment and would have gone on his way 
 if he had not just then discovered the father in the 
 orchard, so off he started to talk with him. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 89 
 
 The farmer told him he had plenty of work and 
 needed help, but money was so scarce it was almost 
 impossible to get enough together to pay a man. He 
 could market almost anything by taking trade, but 
 there seemed to be a money famine. If he would take 
 a horse he would-^give him a job, but Frank wanted no 
 horse. Finally, seeing the stranger was young and 
 stout, he concluded to give him a job for a fews days 
 and if he could raise the money he might keep him 
 longer. As they were talking they had been quietly 
 walking toward the house, and when they reached the 
 barn the farmer asked, "Where are your blankets?" 
 "Blankets," said Frank, thinking that 'the farmer must 
 mean a trunk or a valise. "I have no blankets." 
 
 The farmer, seeing Frank's discomfiture, asked him 
 how long he had been in California, and on learning 
 that he had just arrived, informed him that it was not 
 customary for employers to furnish beds in this country, 
 but that laborers carried their blankets with them. 
 
 "But suppose a man is on foot, how is he to have 
 his bed with him?" 
 
 "Pack it on his back," said the farmer. 
 
 "Do I really understand you to say, Mr. Hargrave 
 for this was the farmer's name that men who work on 
 farms in this country are forced to pack their beds 
 upon their backs from place to place and sleep in 
 barns, around haystacks and on the ground, along the 
 leeward side of the fence?" 
 
 "That is the custom of this country," said Mr. Har 
 grave, "and it is one that cannot well be altered from 
 the simple fact that a majority of the working men of 
 this country are drunkards, vulgar, dirty and not fit to 
 be taken into a family." 
 
 "I am astonished," said Frank, "and how men could 
 be otherwise, when sleeping around haystacks and so 
 completely isolated from society I cannot see. " 
 
 Feeling the justice of Frank's remarks, Mr. Har 
 grave said that he had always allowed his men to sleep 
 in the barn, but there were a great many men who 
 would not on account of fire. 
 
 Mr. Hargrave was rather pleased with the young 
 
90 AN 1J)EAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 man's independence and said that he would see the 
 women and if they could make arrangements for him 
 they would do so. So without inviting Frank into the 
 house, he passed in himself to consult with the women 
 as to the advisability of allowing a common working 
 man to occupy one of their spare beds for a few days. 
 Frank, full of indignation, started off, stopped, waited 
 .again, but the longer he waited the more indignant he 
 became, until finally he walked off and a few hours' 
 lively walk brought him to one of California's large 
 ranches. He had been told that they employed a great 
 many men and that he would be likely to get work. 
 The house was back from the road and at the gate was 
 posted in large letters the following: "No men wanted. 
 Don't stop." This was a stunner, but Frank pushed 
 on. Occasionally he met men with their blankets on 
 their backs and he began to realize that what the 
 farmer had told him was really true. He had noticed 
 that they generally traveled in twos, and sometimes in 
 threes. As there were thousands of men on the road, 
 he soon met a couple. One was an Irishman and the 
 other a Hoosier. On being hailed, they dropped their 
 bedding and used the roll for a seat. They each had 
 a fruit can which they used to make coffee in, and with 
 a little coffee and a few crackers, there was no telling 
 how far they could travel without other expense. They 
 were covered with dust and sweat which made them 
 look rough, but Frank fancied that back of all this dirt 
 he could see an intelligence in each that spoke of 
 better days. 
 
 "Where are you from?" said Pat. 
 
 "Kansas," said Frank. 
 
 "The divil take yez," said Pat, "there is so many 
 Kansas men here that there is no work for anybody." 
 
 "What part of the country are you from?" said Frank. 
 
 "From every place but this," said Pat, "but we have 
 been working around San Berdu and Los Angeles for 
 the last couple of months and niver a bit of work will 
 you get down there. The lower country is full of men 
 that would steal a coat or anything to get in jail so as 
 to get a bite to eat." 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 91 
 
 "Is there no work this side of there?" 
 
 "Not a bit of it." 
 
 "No work on the sections?" 
 
 "Sections?" said Pat, "sure and it is there that you' 11 
 find the Chinamen. There is no show for a white man 
 this side of Ari2ona. The Railroad Companies have 
 shipped in and are now working over five thousand 
 Chinamen in California, and there are thousands of 
 white men who can't get a job. Stanford, Crocker, 
 and Huntington all ought to be hung." 
 
 Frank felt as though there was more or less justice 
 in the remark. After chatting and resting awhile the 
 party separated, each going his own way. 
 
 In the course of the evening Frank met a great many 
 men, all carrying blankets, and all told the same story 
 about work. 
 
 At last he came to another big ranch where there 
 were many men at work putting up the fall crop of 
 alfalfa hay. As it was growing late he made up his 
 mind, if possible, to stay there all night, and on see 
 ing the foreman he was agreeably disappointed at 
 being kindly received, and the gentleman not only 
 allowed him to stay but loaned him a pair of blankets 
 and gave him permission to sleep in the stack. This 
 seemed rather humiliating to Frank, but, thought he, 
 "when you are in Rome you must do as Romans do." 
 
 On the following morning, seeing that Frank was 
 stout and young, the foreman decided to give him a 
 job through the balance of the haying; so he went to 
 work and found the place run very much as the Rail 
 road Company in Kansas, that is, on the same principle, 
 only they had no saloons, but as for accommodations, 
 he noticed that they put the horses in the stables and 
 the men slept outside. 
 
 It might be here observed that this custom of com 
 pelling men to pack their beds with them in order to 
 get work on farms continues in California to the present 
 day. It originated in the peculiar way in which Cali 
 fornia was invaded by adventurers and gold-hunters in 
 early days, who, by force of necessity carried their 
 beds as they went out in search of gold, and its present 
 
Q2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 degrading effect upon labor is plainly marked in this; 
 a large per cent of the laboring men are drunkards. 
 When a job is ended and they get their money, they 
 go to the nearest saloon and drink as long as the money 
 lasts, then start out "dead-broke" to hunt another job. 
 They never speak to a woman, except to ask some 
 farmer's wife for food, and the inside of a church 
 would be as strange to one of them as an electric dis 
 play to an Apache Indian. 
 
 This state of things exists to an alarming extent 
 wherever blanket-packing is common, and to that con 
 dition it is largely due. The people of California should 
 blush for shame for allowing such a degrading custom 
 to exist in what should be the Paradise of America. 
 If it cannot be stopped in any other way, the Legisla 
 ture should pass a bill making it a crime to carry 
 blankets upon the road, and employers for failing to 
 provide good, clean, healthy sleeping apartments should 
 be made amenable to the law. 
 
 Frank finished his work in this place in about a 
 month and was offered a chance to drive an eight-mule 
 team; but not considering himself competent for that, 
 he went down to Fresno and Bakersfield. He could 
 hear of no work but continually met men with their 
 blankets, all miserable and dirty from sleeping outside; 
 they all told the same old story of hard times and 
 no work. 
 
 He tramped on down to Los Angeles and found 
 reports had not been exaggerated. The sidewalks were 
 lined with men seeking employment. He was aston 
 ished to find how many intelligent minds were hidden 
 beneath frizzly hair and shaggy beards. "There is 
 something morally wrong," said he to himself, "with 
 the laws which control man's destiny; otherwise igno 
 rance beneath silk hats would not be so common, nor 
 intelligence among the outcasts." 
 
 He saw men standing on every corner, watching for 
 a chance to go to work. If a farmer drove up a half 
 dozen men would flock about him at once. Amid all 
 this scramble for work he noticed several large Bulletin- 
 boards on which were inscribed: "wanted/* and then 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 93 
 
 would follow a list like this: "Men for farm work, 
 men for apiaries and men for many different kinds of 
 work. Frank was puzzled to understand why men were 
 looking for work, when so many men were wanted; so 
 after looking about as long as he wished and not find 
 ing even the shadow of a chance to get a job, he went 
 into an employment office. He found himself in a 
 small, dirty looking room, with benches around the 
 wall; adjoining this room was another; but an aperture 
 was made in the wall to talk through. 
 
 A hungry looking crowd were sitting about on the 
 benches when Frank entered, and after making a survey 
 of the room to see that there was no immediate danger 
 of being robbed, for the very atmosphere seemed to 
 impress him that he was in a robber's roost, he pre 
 sented himself at the hole in the wall and knocked; 
 soon a man approached from the opposite side of the 
 opening, and with an idiotic stare, waited for Frank 
 to make knowa his business. The air o; superiority 
 which this man assumed, made Frank feel a? if he had 
 entered the office of a Vanderbilt or a Gould. He soon 
 rallied, however, and in as few words as possible, 
 explained that he wanted work. 
 
 "What kind of work do you want?" was asked. 
 
 "I am a boiler-maker," 
 
 "No work of that kind, but can give you a job of 
 general work about machinery, if you will go to San 
 Bernardino. " 
 
 "What are your charges?" 
 
 "Two dollars." 
 
 Frank paid the money and received a card to John 
 son & Co., for work at three dollars per day. He then 
 went to the Depot, paid $2.50 for a ticket and the 
 following morning presented himself to Johnson & Co. 
 for work. The foreman of the shop looked at the 
 paper and said in an indignant manner: "What does 
 that Los Angeles man mean? I sent him an order for 
 a man a month ago and you are the third man he has 
 sent. I will notify him this very evening to send no 
 more men. I would like to give every man employ 
 ment, if I could, but I cannot," "You see," he said, 
 
94 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 sarcastically: "There has been an over-production 
 of men." 
 
 "But how am I to get my money back," said Frank? 
 
 "Oh if you go back to the Office that sent you, they 
 will not dare refuse to refund your money and you 
 might be able to collect damages, if you are able to go 
 to law. Justice has to be bought now; the men who 
 buy a chance to go to work are not able to go into law, 
 so the matter goes right on and nine men out of ten 
 never go back to Los Angeles, simply because there is 
 always a surplus of men there, and the railroad fare 
 will amount to more than two dollars." 
 
 "It is, then," said Frank, "a kind of confidence 
 scheme, legalized or, at least, not prohibited by the 
 great State ot California and City of Los Angeles." 
 
 Taking in the situation as thousands had done be 
 fore, rather than attempt to get his money back at 
 ten times its cost, he resolved to go to Arizona. 
 
 At the hotel he fell in with a man who, in spite of 
 his rough and weather-beaten appearance, seemed to 
 be a gentleman. Frank soon learned that he belonged 
 to that peculiar and shifty class of individuals who are 
 to be found throughout the mining regions of the west, 
 known as explorers or prospectors. They generally 
 have a few burros, saddles and packing outfit and with 
 a load of "grub," they go into the mountains to hunt 
 for mines and stay until they run short of provisions; 
 then with a collection of ore, they go to the nearest 
 trading post for supplies. When they run out of 
 money, they put their burros and outfit in a sate place, 
 go to some mine that is running, and when they have 
 replenished their pocket books, go back to the moun 
 tains and sometimes discover a rich mine of gold or 
 silver, and as it takes money to work them, they are 
 soon gobbled up by gold-mongers, who never expose 
 themselves to rain and storm, but under our present 
 system, reap 'all the benefits of these vast gold and 
 silver regions. 
 
 The name of this man was Crosby. He told Frank 
 he had been working on rock not far from there; that 
 he had finished the job and was now going back to 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 95 
 
 Arizona to prospect. He had left his outfit at Yuma 
 and would start that night. 
 
 "What is the fare to Yuma," asked Frank? 
 
 "Twenty dollars, " said the man, "but I can get through 
 in a box-car for two dollars, and if I can be lucky 
 enough to strike-an empty car, I can spread down my 
 blankets and be very comfortable, and there is very 
 little difference in time." 
 
 "I believe that would be a good way for me to go," 
 said Frank. 
 
 "Why, of course, if you wish to go, stay with me 
 and I will see you through all right." 
 
 "Another swindle," thought Frank, "but our whole 
 social structure seems to be based on fraud, from Wall 
 Street to the President, and from the President down. 
 Why should a man have any scruples?" 
 
 After supper the men paid their bills, the prospector 
 took his big roll of blankets and they started for the 
 depot. It was quite dark when they reached the place. 
 The freight train was about ready to start, and one of 
 the brakemen was coming down the train, not only to 
 see that the cars were all right, but more particularly 
 to see if there was a chance to make a dollar. 
 
 "Hello, pard, " said the prospector, as they met the 
 brakeman, "what's the show for a ride?" 
 
 "Where do you want to go?" 
 
 "Yuma," was the reply. 
 
 "Got any stuff?" 
 
 "Well, to tell you the truth, pard, I've been on a 
 h 1 of a drunk and Pm all broke up and plum busted, 
 but I guess my partner has got a little money." 
 
 "Pll take you both to Yuma for a V." 
 
 "Jerusalem," said Frank, who had been thoroughly 
 posted before-hand, "we can't go on this train for 
 that's more money than I've got." 
 
 "How much you got?" said the brakeman. 
 
 "Three dollars." 
 
 "That won't do, must have four dollars." 
 
 After a short silence, the prospector said, "we'll have 
 to wait for another train," and the two rnen started 
 to walk off, 
 
96 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Hold on," said the brakeman, I'll take you through. 
 I always hate to leave a man." 
 
 So the three men went along up the train till they 
 came to an empty car. The brakeman slipped the door 
 to one side to let the two men pass in and then closed 
 it again. The prospector was not long in spreading 
 his blankets down at one end of the car and the two 
 men were comfortably fixed for a long ride. As they 
 stopped ai night to take on water, the brakeman came 
 to them, got his three dollars and told them he would 
 let them know when" they got to Yuma. On arriving 
 there, they took breakfast at a Chinese restaurant. 
 The prospector went to the outskirts of the town to see 
 a Mexican with whom he had left his prospecting outfit. 
 Finding everything all right, he bought a bill of pro 
 visions. Frank helped him to pack and they went 
 outside of town and camped. The prospector, Mr. 
 Wm. Crosby, insisted on Frank going with him on the 
 trip and there being no additional expense, as Mr. 
 Crosby had a complete outfit, he consented.. 
 
 After buying an additional bill of goods they started 
 for Errinsburg, which they reached in about five days. 
 From there they went into the Permosa range of 
 mountains where they found some good quartz, but 
 water would have to be brought from Tisen's wells, a 
 distance of ten miles, so they pushed on to the old 
 Centennial Mill. This mill was a fine piece of 
 machinery that must have cost from fifty to seventy- 
 five thousand dollars. It was now standing desolate 
 and alone on the desert. 
 
 "Why is it," said Frank, "that this fine machinery 
 stands idle in this desolate spot?" 
 
 "I'll tell you," said Crosby, "there is a class of men 
 that you will find through this whole mining region, 
 called experts. They are generally self-made and sharp 
 as a tack; they know how to test ore, have made a 
 study of Geology and Mineralogy and have all the high 
 sounding terms down pat ; they can see through the 
 earth and tell you all about it dolomite, dilite, por 
 phyry and granite and show you exactly how they 
 rnust be found in order to warrant the existence of rjcjj 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 97 
 
 deposit. In fact, take one of these experts who is well 
 posted and convince him you have money in bank, that 
 you want to invest in mines, and he will so completely 
 befog your ideas by the use of high sounding words, 
 that you will conclude there is but one way to become 
 a successful mine operator and that is by the use of his 
 peculiar knowledge. When these men hear of a new 
 discovery, they go to it, and if it makes anything of a 
 showing they take a bond on it, that is, they agree to 
 pay so much on it in one year; providing they can 
 make a sale, if not, they simply don't take it. 
 
 "They then make a map of the property, including 
 several claims they themselves located, adjoining the 
 discovery, go East to the Capitol of some State, or 
 other prominent place, armed with letters of introduc 
 tion and a pocket of gold nuggets or rich pieces of ore. 
 They stop at the best hotel in the place and soon make 
 the acquaintance of two or three enterprising bankers 
 who become impressed with their wonderful knowledge 
 of mining. The thing is to lay before the banker a 
 plan to make some money, and he begins by present 
 ing a map of the mines; 'here, you will observe, is the 
 Silver Bullion; it is a regular fissure vein, has well 
 defined walls and shows about six feet of vein matter; 
 the ore is a lead carbonate with quite an amount of 
 chloride of silver, in addition to silver product, it 
 shows more or less free gold. 
 
 " 'The grade of the ore is not high, but that it will 
 improve as we go down there can be but little doubt, 
 in fact, the prospect is, that before we reach a depth 
 of one hundred feet we will have a mine worth half a 
 million of dollars.' 
 
 Here he reads over a list of some of the richest 
 mines extant and explains that it is but a rare chance 
 where they pay at the surface; he explains their 
 present immense value, tells a few big stories and hauls 
 from his pockets a handful of nuggets and rich speci 
 mens of ore and the bankers are elated. 
 
 " 'Here, you observe,' he continues, 'the map shows 
 four other claims discovered and located by myself; a 
 
98 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 man of the name of Patterson discovered the Silver 
 Bullion; he was dead busted and I gave him a grub 
 stake to do a little work on it and it showed up fine, 
 so I agreed to give him $1,000 for the claim, to be paid 
 in one year; then I prospected the adjoining claim and 
 I discovered and located the Silver Chief, the Gold 
 Hunter, the Morning Glory and Polar Star, making a 
 group of five claims. I consider it one of the most 
 valuable properties in that country, but it will take 
 capital to develop and work it. 
 
 " 'Now what I want is to organize a Company to 
 develop this property and I shall need your assistance; 
 of course I shall make it an object for you to take hold. 
 
 " 'My plan is to give you, gentlemen, a half interest 
 with me in the property, with the understanding that 
 you lend me your assistance in organizing a Company; 
 you paying the expense of the same; then we will issue 
 $300,000 of non-assessable stock, set aside $100,000 
 for developing purposes and to pay off the $1,000 that 
 I owe upon the property; also for constructing roads, 
 building mills, buying machinery, etc. Should this, 
 when sold, not be sufficient to put the mine in paying 
 condition, more stock can be sold to the extent of 
 $200,000, the other $100,000 to be divided between us 
 three, and should there remain, a sum unsold out of 
 the $200,000, when the mine pays its first dividend, 
 the same is to fall to us and, of course, be divided 
 equally. Thus you see we shall be out but little and 
 by careful management, be able to still hold a controll 
 ing interest.' 
 
 'Suppose,' said one of the bankers, 'we take a third 
 party into the Company with the understanding that 
 he puts up $500 to cover cost of printing, and litho 
 graphing stock?' 
 
 "The expert objects a little, of course, but soon 
 consents, another man is called in and soon induced to 
 put in the $500; so all the necessary papers are pre 
 pared and stock put on the market with flaming adver 
 tisements. The stock sells, the names of these influ 
 ential individuals being sufficient recommendation, and 
 the money rolls in. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 99 
 
 "Some Dough-head who is related to some of the 
 Company and belongs to the same church with others, 
 and has been a failure all his life, is now chosen 
 Superintendent and the Expert is made General Mana 
 ger, and the two return to the town nearest the property 
 and establish a-Branch Office. They hire a few men 
 whom they send out to work on the prospect. The 
 Superintendent and General Manager board at a first- 
 class hotel and hire a rig once a month to visit the 
 mine and very often the salary and expenses of these 
 men are more than the expense of v/ork on the mine. 
 
 "The miners are anxious to have the job hold out, 
 so they make a big pile of waste-rock, then gather 
 together enough ore, if possible, to cover it up and at 
 last they strike a good pocket; the work stops on that 
 shaft and the men put to work on another claim; the 
 Company is notified that the claim is proving wonder 
 fully rich and a mill must be put up in order to handle 
 the ore and get the work on a paying basis. 
 
 "A meeting of the Company is called at once; all 
 hands are excited and count their wealth by millions; 
 the stockholders, many of them, get on the cars and 
 visit the property and of course see great piles of ore, 
 enjoy their trip and see everything through amagnifying 
 glass and they are not only fooled themselves, but they 
 go home and deceive all their friends. They have seen 
 the vein, with its great walls, the great piles of rich 
 ore which, being full of pyrites, look brilliant to a man 
 who comes prepared to see a rich mine and has no 
 knowledge, whatever, of ore. 
 
 "How often have Generals, Statesmen and Journalists, 
 been shown through the worthless mines and their silly 
 questions laughed at by the miners, for months and 
 even years afterward. 
 
 "WJien the bankers and stockholders find themselves 
 at home again, everybody wants to see them and hear 
 the truth about the matter and the stock finds ready 
 sale. The expert goes back to attend to the purchase 
 and shipment of the mill and takes good care while 
 East to be pushed for money and compelled to sell a 
 good share of his stock for cash; besides this, he has 
 
ioo AN IDEAL kEPUBLic. 
 
 a good fat salary all this time and nothing to do; and 
 mow in building the mill he will make another haul 
 and throw a good purse into the Superintendent's 
 pocket just to keep him still. 
 
 "At last the mill is complete and in one way and 
 another the money has been gotten away with and the 
 mill that cost all the way from $25,000 to $100,000, 
 starts up, runs ten or twenty days, then shuts down 
 and never runs again; and today, scattered through the 
 mountains all the way from British Columbia on the 
 north, to Mexico on the south, you will find valuable 
 machinery, often in the most inaccessible places, and 
 the moving it in and setting up has alone cost fortunes 
 upon fortunes, A great many have never run ten days 
 and now lie rusting and only awaiting the ravages of a 
 mountain fire." 
 
 After listening to the story Frank said, "Well, it is 
 all new to me, but it seems quite in keeping with the 
 general method into which we are fast drifting. In 
 every department of business you find dishonesty, all 
 men in public service from the street car driver to the 
 Cabinet officers and even the President are all on the 
 beat or make or knock down. The example seems to 
 be set at Washington and is spreading like a contagion 
 throughout the country. It will no doubt run its 
 course and then be stopped suddenly, but in what way 
 and by what force the monster will be grappled it 
 would be hard to conjecture. Concentration cf wealth 
 in the hands of a few seems to be the result and the 
 overthrow of the money power and destruction or 
 reduction of all large estates." 
 
 There was a good well not far from the Centennial 
 mill and a little adobe trading post v/hefe the men 
 camped. On the following day a rain set in that 
 lasted for three days. The whole country was deserted 
 with the exception of a few mossbacks, who always 
 stay around old mining camps and from year to year 
 relocate old, abandoned prospects waiting for some one 
 to come along and buy them. 
 
 They are a very peculiar class of men and by keeping 
 up notices on everything that shows any signs of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 10! 
 
 mineral they generally succeed in keeping prospectors 
 out of the country, greatly retarding the growth of the 
 camp. They generally live and die like coyotes, but 
 occasionally one gets in another man's way and then 
 sells for a snug sum. 
 
 After the storm had abated, Crosby determined to 
 follow along the south side of the Harquihala range in 
 a north-easterly direction, and as there was plenty of 
 water in holes, or what Crosby called tanks, they were 
 not likely to suffer from want of water as was often the 
 case. Their first day's trip took them to an old mine 
 called Yuma. It was a fine looking vein and several 
 thousand dollars' worth of work had been done on it, 
 but for some cause it had been abandoned and was 
 entirely deserted. A notice showed that it had fallen 
 into the hands of a mossback. 
 
 "This," said Crosby, "will show you how faulty are 
 our mining laws. There has been a great deal of 
 work done all through this country and a great many 
 ledges that explorers would like to work on; but here 
 you see the work of the mossback. He holds every 
 prospect in the country, never does any work but, dog 
 in the manger like, holds the country by relocation. 
 There are monuments everywhere and if a prospector 
 finds anything worth working for, he is liable to have 
 some old location floated onto him. 
 
 "In Colorado the state law controls the matter and 
 to a great extent does away with the mossback. Hence 
 its mines are more prosperous than those of Arizona." 
 
 "From this," said Frank, "it would appear that it 
 takes good laws to make a prosperous people." 
 
 Passing the old mine they camped at a small wet- 
 weather spring about one mile from it, and on the 
 following day came to water in the afternoon, and in 
 what Mr. Crosby said was a fine place to prospect, so 
 Frank took his first lesson in prospecting. He had 
 already learned to camp in the desert without water, 
 sleep on the ground and listen to the music of some 
 stray rattle snake that had been disturbed by their 
 presence, and to shake tarantulas from his blankets on 
 
IO2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 getting up in the morning, but now he was to learn to 
 hunt for gold. 
 
 "This is a very important trade," said Frank to Mr. 
 Crosby, "for we must have gold; we might get along 
 without bread; but whiskey and gold are two articles 
 quite indispensable. We must have whiskey you see 
 to control elections. It would be pretty hard for 
 Americans to hold an election without it, and if we had 
 no gold we could have no money; if we had no money 
 we could have no bankers, we could have no aristoc 
 racy to look up to, so I can readily comprehend that 
 the prosperity of the human family is entirely depend 
 ent on the success of the gold hunter." 
 
 Mr. Crosby appreciated this sarcasm and said, "Yes, 
 gold is the thing that controls the world and a lack of 
 it at one time might have been destruction, but thanks 
 to the inventive genius of our wise men, they have 
 discovered a method by which they can supply the 
 world with honest money with very little gold. This 
 they do by putting the little gold there is in the vaults 
 and issuing promises to pay; of course millions of 
 promises to pay can be issued and based on an 
 infinitely small sum of gold, then all it wants is con 
 fidence to make it just as good as the gold itself. " 
 
 The}' made their camp under some trees near the 
 water and near at hand were several old dry trees that 
 gave them plenty of wood. There was also plenty of 
 grass near and they staked one burro and hobbled the 
 other. After the camp was all arranged, Frank built 
 a fire and they had what he called a boss meal. 
 
 "How long have you led this kind of a life," Frank 
 asked his companion. 
 
 "O, I guess about fifteen years." 
 
 "For God's sake," said Frank, in surprise, "I have 
 just been thinking that we ought to be able to find a 
 mine in about a week." 
 
 "During the fifteen years," said Mr. Crosby, "I have 
 made several finds but the most money I have ever 
 made was selling a prospect not worth ten cents. 
 I sold it on the strength of its being near another claim 
 that was rich. " 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 1O3 
 
 On the following morning they started up the moun 
 tain 'and every now and then, Crosby would pick up 
 what he would call float; finally, he picked up a piece 
 of copper ore, and after examining it carefully, said 
 that it was a good piece of ore, and they must find 
 the lead. Looking up the mountain, he said, "do you 
 see that red streak yonder? That is possibly where 
 this came from; we will go up that way." As they 
 continued to ascend, they found other pieces of float 
 of a similar character; finally when they reached the 
 place, sure enough, the virgin copper was cropping out. 
 After cleaning the ledge and examining if closely, Mr. 
 Crosby said, "this mine would be worth a fortune to 
 us both, if we had it in a good location; but here in 
 this wild and remote region, it is liable to be useless 
 for many years. Nothing but silver or gold will pay 
 for working here, so we will look further. " 
 
 That night when the men returned to camp they 
 were completely worn out. They continued their 
 prospecting about two weeks. They had found several 
 leads and taken specimens of ore, and now that their 
 supplies were getting rather low, and they wanted to 
 test some of their ore, they decided to go on to Phoe 
 nix, Arizona, which they reached in four days; there 
 they had, their ore tested and found it was not good 
 enough to be worked at present, so Crosby wanted 
 Frank to accompany him on a trip into a range of 
 mountains across the river from Phoenix; as the 
 winter rains came on they would push on toward the 
 Mexican line. But Frank kept thinking of the fifteen 
 years that Mr. Crosby had been prospecting and he 
 decided it- was too much of an undertaking, so he 
 walked to Maricopa and took the cars for Kansas City, 
 thinking to try his hand once more at looking for work; 
 on reaching that place he put up at a hotel where he 
 would be lixely to find shop-men. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PROPERLY presented to our readers, it becomes 
 necessary at this time to introduce new scenes and 
 new characters. In going back to the beginning of the 
 great Rebellion, we find a young man of the name of 
 Goulding. He was at that time about twenty-one years 
 of age, was the son of a farmer and naturally possessed 
 great financial ability, or in words better understood 
 by common people, he was a natural-born scoundrel. 
 At first glance he regarded the commencement of war 
 as his opportunity; while others of his age were enlist 
 ing by thousands, this cool-headed financier quietly 
 hired out as teamster. After Fort Donaldson had 
 succumbed to the hard fighting and superior numbers 
 of Gen. Grant's force, John Goulding was left with a 
 few wagons to haul supplies to a garrison on the 
 Mississippi river; hauling wood and hay was the 
 principal work and Mr. Goulding was not long in 
 discovering that a contract might be made between the 
 Quarter-master and himself that would be mutually 
 profitable. Meeting the Quarter-master in town one 
 day, he nudged him into a fine saloon, and after drain 
 ing a couple of glasses of their contents the best 
 whiskey to be had they passed into a little side room 
 which was furnished with a table and chairs and 
 arranged to suit the special convenience of gamblers 
 and cut-throats, and it might be here added that no 
 saloon in that day or even in this can be considered 
 strictly first-class without a few just such rooms, where 
 drunkards can be genteelly robbed and scoundrels or 
 financiers sip their Tom and Jerry and concoct schemes 
 of rascality that they would not dare even whisper in 
 any other locality. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. IO5 
 
 Taking seats at the table Mr. Goulding ordered 
 more glasses and cigars, and after a few casual remarks 
 the glasses were at hand and their contents quickly 
 disappeared, then, after lighting their cigars, Mr. 
 Goulding drew his chair a little nearer to his com 
 panion and in a, v low voice and a quiet, confidential 
 way, he leisurely knocked the ashes from his cigar 
 with his little finger, and said to the Lieutenant that 
 he had a little scheme on hand through which he 
 expected to make a few thousand dollars in a month or 
 two. That in addition to what he had on hand he 
 would require about two thousand dollars, if the Lieu 
 tenant could accommodate him to that much he could 
 afford to pay a good round interest, besides would feel 
 himself under great obligations for the favor. 
 
 The young Lieutenant, who had probably never in 
 all his life seen so much money before coming into the 
 service, was at first inclined to take the matter as a 
 joke, but the quiet countenance of the teamster soon 
 reassured him and he said, "Why, my man, I never in 
 all my life had one-fourth part of that amount of money 
 of my own." 
 
 "Is that so," said the teamster, in a slow, medita 
 tive way, and continuing, "if I were situated as you 
 are I would look after my own interests and try and 
 pick up a few honest dollars now and then." 
 
 "I have known men to get themselves into very 
 serious trouble in making extra dollars," said the 
 Quarter-master. 
 
 "Oyes," said Mr. Goulding, "but it was their own 
 fault, you want to do business on the square, that is, 
 keep inside the law." 
 
 "Well," said the Lieutenant, beginning to get his 
 eyes open a little, "if you can point out a way in which 
 I can make a little money and do it honorably, I would 
 be very glad to hear your plan." 
 
 This was exactly what Goulding wanted, it was his 
 opportunity and he said: 
 
 "Now as to honorable methods. You must lay aside 
 your baby notions and take into consideration the fact 
 that some of our Congressmen and Senators get tg k 
 
106 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 millionaires from their salaries and they are honorable 
 men, and the more money they get the more honorable 
 they are." 
 
 (Mr. Goulding had been hauling green wood into 
 camp for two weeks just in order to work up this 
 scheme.) "You are aware," said he, "that there has 
 been a good deal of growling in camp about green 
 wood, now I will see to it that the officers make a 
 general protest, then you can advertise for a contract 
 and of course mine will be the only bid and we will 
 put it at a price so it will pay us both. Do you see?" 
 
 This plan was perfectly plain and practicable, so it 
 was agreed to consider it farther. 
 
 The next thing to do for Goulding was to see the 
 officers of the camp and tell them that if they insisted 
 on having dry wood that he would take a contract and 
 he would have it if he had to go to the Rocky Moun 
 tains for it. It would cost more than green wood but 
 would be worth more. They of course all wanted dry 
 wood and made out requisitions at once. So the 
 Quarter-master went through the form of advertising 
 and then gave Mr. Goulding the contract of furnishing 
 wood at six dollars a cord. 
 
 Mr. Goulding paid one dollar for having it cut, 
 hauled it with government team, gave the Quarter 
 master two dollars per cord and had three dollars left 
 for himself, and as the camp used several cords of 
 wood a day, it was no bad job; besides he soon worked 
 up a hay contract that paid him equally as well. So 
 he was not long in getting money enough together to 
 begin to make himself useful, and the next thing to do 
 was to form an intrigue against the Sutler who was a 
 kind of honest old farmer and not much of a financier. 
 Consequently he was an easy victim and Mr. Goulding 
 soon succeeded in having him dishonestly dismissed, 
 and as to move the goods out would cost about all they 
 were worth, the ex-Sutler was practically forced to sell 
 for what he could get. As Goulding was the only 
 buyer he naturally got the goods at his own price and 
 made at least a thousand dollars on the turn. Six 
 months before he was teaming at thirty dollars per 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. IO7 
 
 month and now, by rascality and sharp practice, he had 
 not only paved the way to future fortune but had also 
 established his reputation as a first-class financier. 
 
 When once settled down in the sutler business he 
 was in a position to make himself felt. He put in a 
 large stock orj credit, borrowed money from every 
 officer and man where he could get it, and, by paying 
 promptly and borrowing every chance he got he soon 
 established a credit and reputation for honesty which 
 enabled him to do a thriving business. 
 
 We soon find him running branch stores and taking 
 large contracts for furnishing grain and all kinds of 
 supplies. Wherever it was possible to stand in with 
 an officer and rob the government he always took 
 advantage of it, and when the war was over went to 
 St. Louis with ill gotten gains amounting to over 
 $100,000. 
 
 The next big swindle we find him mixed up in was in 
 in Missouri. After making a trip through the State 
 and visiting a great many counties, and having talked 
 Railroad enough to know that the people were ripe for 
 a big fraud, he returned to St. Louis, and getting a 
 couple of other great financiers, he formed a Railroad 
 company and got a franchise from the State, employed 
 engineers and ran a preliminary line. The next thing 
 to do was to get counties along the line to vote bonds, 
 which was no difficult matter, and when they were all 
 voted, work was commenced at one end of .the road 
 and kept up long enough to get the bonds and the 
 work was discontinued; the bonds sold for what they 
 would bring and the money invested in building lots in 
 Kansas City. 
 
 The work that had been done was sold to another 
 Company, and Goulding had once more proved his 
 ability as a first-class financier. When the bonds fell 
 due, they were protested and judgment rendered against 
 the county; the County Commissioner refused to levy 
 a tax to pay the bonds or interest and for ten years 
 they baffled the United States Marshal by holding their 
 meetings in secret. 
 
 There were some instances, however, when arrests 
 
108 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 were made for contempt of court, and among these was 
 the case of Col. Summerville, an old-time Missourian, 
 who had emigrated to Kentucky in a very early day; 
 his wife was a descendant of Daniel Boone; they 'had 
 one son and one daughter and the whole family had a 
 spotless reputation . 
 
 Col. Summerville had enlisted in the Confederate 
 army in 1861 and had been promoted from time to time 
 for bravery; he had fought till the last gun was fired, 
 then surrendered and returned to the loving embrace 
 of-his family. He was one of that kind of men whom 
 everybody loves. When any neighborhood difficulties 
 arose, he was the first man called in to arbitrate; if any 
 one was sick, Col. Summerville or his wife were always 
 sent for and it was true of their house that "the latch- 
 string was always out." No one in his neighborhood 
 ever suffered for food. He never asked for office but 
 always held one. 
 
 After the close of the war, his peaceful life was un 
 broken, until, while he was County Commissioner, he 
 refused to levy a tax to pay the bonds that had been 
 issued as subsidy for a road that was never built; he 
 was arrested by a Marshal of the U. S. court for con 
 tempt, taken to Kansas City and incarcerated. 
 
 His wife, being quite old and feeble, soon died from 
 the effect of the shock, his daughter was driven to 
 insanity and died in an insane asylum. 
 
 His son Robert, now a boy of 18, was at this time in 
 Texas, and as it was nearing spring, he decided to 
 return home with a herd of cattle. 
 
 We will now look after the movements of Mr. 
 Goulding who, having invested a large part of his 
 money in town property which was almost certain to 
 yield him large returns as the country developed, was 
 quietly looking around for another opportunity to dis 
 play his genius as a financier. At this time it will be 
 remembered, Texas was a vast region of grass land, 
 covered with immense herds of cattle. In those days, 
 cattle were rounded up in bunches by the stockmen, 
 pnc pr twice a year and the calves branded; the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. IOQ 
 
 remainder of the year they were allowed to run at large 
 on the broad plains undisturbed. 
 
 As the Railroad had now reached Kansas, a very 
 profitable trade was springing up, that of driving 
 cattle from Texas across the Indian Territory into 
 Kansas and then .shipping to the East. Mr. Goulding, 
 with his usual financial foresight, took in the situation 
 at a glance. He went to Texas and his first step was 
 to hire a man who "knew all the ropes." He then 
 bought two thousand head of cattle, divided them into 
 five herds, put an outfit of men with each herd, and 
 started across the State of Texas, and the Indian Ter 
 ritory, into Kansas. For two or three weeks the route 
 took them through a cattle country and every day, 
 small bunches of cattle would join their herds. 
 
 Robert Summerville was hired to drive one of the 
 Goulding herds and while in camp the second night, 
 Mr. Goulding called at each camp; he told the boys, 
 if any one came to the herd to look for cattle, to 
 "round up" and let them cut out whatever belonged to 
 them; he also told them to let no cattle get into the 
 herds, under any circumstances and wound up by saying, 
 "I suppose a few will get in, in spite of us, and what 
 ever stray cattle I have when I get to Kansas, I will 
 cut out, take their brands, pay you boys two dollars 
 per head for estray work, charge two dollars more for 
 driving and selling and pay the money left over to the 
 owner when I come back next spring. 
 
 The boys took little stock in his paying the owner 
 for the cattle, but cattle were plentiful in Texas and if 
 they were paid for their work, it mattered little to 
 them what became of the rest of the money. 
 
 It was noticeable that the different droves were 
 rapidly increasing in numbers. 
 
 As the reader may not be acquainted with the man 
 ner of handling these large herds, it might be 
 well to explain that it takes from ten to sixteen men 
 to drive two thousand head of cattle. They start up 
 by working on the sides of the herd, thus pushing out 
 the leaders, until the herd is forced into a string along 
 the trail, nearly half a mile in length. The men who 
 
IIO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 have good horses, ride along on each side to prevent 
 the cattle from "bunching up;" two men work near the 
 front to guide and three or four in the rear to "whoop 
 up" the scallawags. The men are always well mounted 
 and each carries a lariat and revolver, and an expert 
 cattle man is expected to be able to catch a wild steer 
 and tie him down in one minute. 
 
 When they commenced driving, Robert was placed 
 on the side, but it was soon noticed that he turned all 
 stray cattle away from the herd, so the Boss who was 
 a typical "bad man" from Texas put him behind the 
 herd, and another man took his place at the side. 
 This created quite a little talk among the boys and 
 from this time, Robert was made the butt of every jest. 
 
 The Boss was taking everything in and intended, 
 when the boy was completely cowed, to make "grand 
 bluff" and run him out of camp without pay; thereby 
 gaining the applause of the other men and the hearty 
 approval of the financier. 
 
 So things went on from bad to worse, until they had 
 driven four days in the Indian Territory, which was at 
 that time an unbroken wilderness, in that locality. 
 When they halted for the night, four men remained 
 with the cattle to keep them together, on good grass; 
 the remainder, including Robert, went to the camp 
 wagon, located under some cottonwood trees near by 
 and on the bank of a small creek; the horses were all 
 staked near camp. 
 
 The other droves belonging to Mr. Goulding, which 
 had now increased to about two thousand head, making 
 in all ten thousand, were some of them in sight, having 
 camped at different points along the creek. That day 
 the Boss had told the boys he intended to run the 
 Missouri lad out of camp that night. All hands were 
 rather pleased at this, as Robert had not been at all 
 backward in saying that he thought Goulding was a 
 regular cattle thief. The men were all expecting to 
 get a two-dollar dividend, which was a big item, and 
 they looked upon Robert as a kind of spy; they were 
 all expecting some fun, for they were now on shooting 
 ground and some of them had an idea the boy would fight. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, III 
 
 Others said no, "he is a regular cur;" but the test was 
 bound to come, and all hands had their ears open for 
 whatever might turn up. 
 
 They staked their horses, spread out their blankets 
 and all gathered at the wagon. . Robert had a clean 
 towel of his own which he used in preference to the 
 camp towel. The Boss, who was waiting for a chance 
 to begin a row, noticed this and said: 
 
 "You are too nice to wipe with common people. " 
 
 "Not that," said Robert, "I only prefer a clean towel 
 to a dirty one." 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you," said the Boss, accompanying 
 his words with oaths, "you're entirely too nice for this 
 crowd; too honest, too; you ought to be back in Mis 
 souri with your mother, and I want to tell you that 
 you've got to leave this carnp and leave it before 
 supper, too; you're too nice to eat with this crowd." 
 
 The allusion to Robert's mother had aroused the Ho i 
 in him and he quickly responded: 
 
 "I will do no such thing." 
 
 The Boss had made his threat that he would run the 
 boy out of camp and his reputation was at stake; to 
 falter now, before this stripling of a Missourian, was 
 to lose his prestige as "the bad man from Texas," so, 
 little guessing the tornado he had set in motion, he 
 went for his pistol; but the boy was too quick for him, 
 he whipped out his - pistol and fired. There was a 
 flash, a puff of smoke, the sharp explosion, and the 
 man's right arm was broken. He seized his pistol 
 with the other hand but this took time and the boy's 
 next shot buried a ball in a heavy-cased, silver watch, 
 carried by the Boss: this gave him a little time and 
 the two exchanged shots, fair and square, at the same 
 time, and the Boss fell backward against a wagon- 
 wheel and then to the ground. 
 
 The boy turned his pistol upon the crowd tor a mo 
 ment but seeing no demonstration, he returned it to 
 his belt. At this moment he saw Goulding approach 
 ing and went to meet him before he should get up to 
 the crowd. 
 
 Goulding met him with an assumed grin; ths boy 
 
112 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 told him what he had done and demanded his money. 
 
 "What?" said Goulding, with assumed surprise, 
 "you are not going to quit?" 
 
 "Of course I am," said the boy. 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Goulding, "of course you are your 
 own master, but I would much rather you would stay 
 and take care of the herd. I'll tell you what I will do, 
 you go ahead and take care of that drove, take them 
 through and I will furnish you all the extra riding- 
 stock you need, giving you $125 a month, and I may 
 have work for you by the year. 
 
 "No," said Robert, emphatically, "I don't like your 
 style of doing business, I don't like this crowd and I 
 want my money." 
 
 Seeing the boy was determined, Goulding gave him 
 his money and before night he had found another herd, 
 several miles ahead and secured employment at sixty 
 dollars a month for the remaining part of the trip. 
 
 After a long snmmer drive across the plains, Mr. 
 Goulding' s cattle, about 10,000 in all, reached Abilene 
 and after securing a camping place for all, about fifteen 
 miles from town, Goulding left a few men with each 
 herd and took the rest into the City. The next day a 
 new outfit of men came and relieved the men with the 
 cattle, and they were also ordered to town and the 
 next day the cattle were started to Montana. Mr. 
 Goulding was in Abilene four days before he could get 
 money to pay his men; but he paid their expenses at a 
 hotel, and on the fifth day he paid them and took their 
 receipts; he promised to pay them an extra $16,000 
 on the cattle they had gobbled up on the road, but 
 this he could not do for another week. When the 
 week had expired, he put them off for another week, 
 and so he continued to pacify them with promises. 
 Suddenly the rumor was started that he had gone to 
 St. Louis after money and would return in five days, 
 but again the men were disappointed and, finally some 
 of the men took a trip to the old camp, only to find 
 the cattle had been gone more than two weeks and no 
 one knew where. It was a debt they could not collect 
 by law and that ended it. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 11$ 
 
 Mr. Goulding proceeded to Montana, selected a 
 splendid cattle ranch and in ten years, with what 
 property he still owned in St. Louis and Kansas City, 
 he had become a millionaire. 
 
 Reader, did it ever occur to you that every man who 
 has become a-. millionaire, by the accumulations of a 
 natural life-time, has made it by similar methods and 
 is a scoundrel of dangerous power, and ought to be 
 made the subject of special legislation? 
 
 If good, honest men ever became millionaires, they 
 might be expected to accomplish great good. That 
 class of men never make money so rapidly; therefore, 
 it would seem, that in order to protect themselves 
 against these monstrosities, or parasites in human form, 
 it would be advisable for people to adopt a" graduated 
 income tax to limit incomes to an amount commensu 
 rate with human happiness. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ARRIVING at Abilene, Robert sold his horse and 
 outfit and took the cars for Kansas City; there 
 he secured a place to learn the trade of machinist. In 
 a year he was transferred to a small city in Iowa and 
 continued there until the following episode occurred; 
 a long, dreary winter had passed, which was remarkable 
 for its deep snow and hard weather in the mountains; 
 it was followed by a long period of sunshine that 
 swelled the streams to overflowing. During these 
 high waters, one Sunday afternoon, after returning 
 from church, Robert strolled down to the river bank to 
 look at the high water as it rolled majestically by; as 
 he cast his eyes up stream he noticed a small pleasure 
 boat put off from shore; it was apparently half a mile 
 away, but as the boat reached the center of the stream 
 the strong current, in spite of the efforts of the oars 
 men, carried it swiftly down the river and as it came 
 nearer, Robert could see that there were four couples 
 in, the boat; from the swiftness of the current, they 
 had evidently become alarmed for they were moving 
 from side to side; at last, when a short distance from 
 the railroad bridge, the boat capsized. The sight was 
 appalling and soon a large crowd had gathered; at the 
 first splash, all went out of sight, but soon reappeared. 
 One brave fellow who had been separated from his 
 girl, seemed to fairly throw himself through the water 
 in his herculean attempt to reach his companion and 
 when he finally succeeded, the two sank in each other's 
 arms and were never seen again; another, who seemed 
 to be a powerful swimmer, was swimming slowly toward 
 the shore; he had placed his lady's hand upon his 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 115 
 
 shoulder and thas she was enabled to keep her head 
 above water, while he pulled for life; another, in trying 
 to save the life of one of the ladies, became strangled 
 and the two went down together; the fourth abandoned 
 his charge and struck boldly out for shore. 
 
 When Robert saw this, he rushed to the rescue and 
 was soon midway of the railroad bridge. The lady was 
 struggling in the strong current beneath and quick as 
 thought he let himself down from the bridge; then, as 
 straight as an arrow, shot into the water; for some 
 seconds he was out of sight, then, coming to the surface, 
 he shook the water from his face and beheld the 
 frightened lady, not five feet away; a few strokes and 
 he was at her side; as he approached he said in a 
 quiet and assuring way: "Don't be frightened, but put 
 your hand on my shonlder and I will take you out all 
 right." The lady did as she was bid and displayed a 
 confidence truly wonderful. Her escort who had 
 deserted her so cruelly was now making good headway 
 toward the shore and finally landed amid the jeers of 
 the spectators. 
 
 As the swimmers floated down the stream, the crowd 
 also kept moving. It was plain they were making 
 some headway, but so slowly that it was doubtful if 
 strength held out; minutes seemed like hours to those 
 on shore, but theft was no chance to render assistance; 
 every boat in that part of town had been swept away 
 by the high water and before another bo,at could be 
 procured, it would be too late. At last a delivery 
 wagon drove into the crowd; a young man sprang out 
 and seizing a coil of rope that had been thrown out 
 and looping one end about his head and shoulders, he 
 sprang into the water and soon had it where the 
 swimmers could get hold, and they were all rescued. 
 
 The scene which followed would be hard to describe; 
 all were overjoyed and each gave vent to his feelings 
 in his own peculiar way. The swimmers were assisted 
 into the wagon and were driven to their homes. 
 
 The lady whose life Robert had so nobly saved, 
 proved to be the daughter of a millionaire Miss 
 Sheppard and the young man who had so cruelly left 
 
Xl6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC 
 
 her to drown, was her lover, and he was the son of a 
 millionaire. 
 
 When the wagon reached the mansion of Mr. Shep- 
 pard, Robert assisted the young lady to her door and on 
 taking his leave, she gave him her hand and exacted a 
 promise from him that he would call that very evening 
 and let her know that he was well, and she added, 
 "talk over the adventure." 
 
 After leaving the mansion they drove to the hotel 
 where an account of the affair had preceded them and 
 Robert received an ovation from the guests and many 
 others, that had gathered to learn of the affair. 
 
 Late in the evening Robert, having fixed himself in 
 proper shape, proceeded to fulfill his promise, but he 
 had many misgivings. His self respect had been 
 largely developed and he was both kind and courteous 
 to a fault, but he had always had a kind of contempt 
 for anything in the shape of aristocracy, snobocracy 
 or plutocracy, and notwithstanding Minnie's smiles 
 seemed to have a kind of gentle intoxication in them 
 that was encouraging in the extreme, he could not help 
 but feel a dread of the place where he might hope 
 to receive them once more. 
 
 On reaching the mansion a ring at the bell brought 
 a servant to the door who recognized him at once and 
 ushered him into Minnie's apartments. 
 
 It would be a difficult matter to describe this young 
 man's feelings on being admitted to her private parlor. 
 The golden splendor of the richly decorated room was 
 so far beyond and superior to the most extravagant 
 picture of his imagination that the effect was truly 
 dazaling; for a moment he was lost in bewilderment, 
 but when their eyes met the magnetic glance lent 
 inspiration to his soul, and he stepped gently across 
 the room, over a soft carpet, rich and fine enough for 
 even angels to tread upon, but neither the softness of 
 the carpet nor the dazzling splendor of the room ha' 4 
 any place in Robert's thoughts. 
 
 The form that reclined upon a lounge before him had 
 filled his soul with, shall I call it admiration? not so, it 
 is too tame a word. 'Twas love that filled the soul of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 117 
 
 the young man, and Minnie, too, pure as the falling 
 snow, unutterable, unexpressible, indescribable, an 
 inter-coming of two souls as one. 
 
 For one short moment our young friend stood by her 
 side in silence, while eyes met and two fond hearts 
 drank up each-other' s thoughts. Then gently pressing 
 the hand of the maiden that had been so confidently 
 placed in his, he quietly sank into a chair. Now that 
 those peculiar feelings, which we might call the blend 
 ing of all the nobler impulses of man's nature, such as 
 none but true lovers can ever know or understand, 
 were over, a quick conversation commenced. 
 
 In response to his inquiry, the girl said in her 
 sweetest tones that she did not feel so much exhausted 
 until she reached home and then her strength seemed 
 all at once to give way; she felt very weak and had 
 been resting ever since, save while at supper. That she 
 tried to get up and sit in the rocking-chair just before 
 he came but was too weak; she felt better now, and as 
 she made an effort to arise he took her hand and 
 assisted her to a chair where she again expressed her 
 self as being quite comfortable. 
 
 Then they talked over their adventure and Minnie 
 said that as soon as she was with him all fear left her 
 and she felt quite safe aud only thought of paddling 
 toward shore. She said she did not feel as though 
 God would desert a man who had been so generous as 
 to risk his own life to save another's. 
 
 Robert said he did not consider that he had done 
 anything more than his duty or what any man ought to 
 do under the same circumstances. That he had no 
 thought whatever of drowning; he saw she would sink 
 soon and only thought of bringing her safely to land. 
 In this way they continued to chat and became more 
 confidential until the conversation turned on love. 
 They then talked of their own peculiar relations and 
 Robert called her attention to the golden gulf that so 
 completely separated them, and how necessary it would 
 be for each to make no vows which the power there is 
 in gold might compel them to break. 
 
 All this had but little effect on Minnie who felt that 
 
Il8 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 her life had been saved and her highest aspirations 
 would be to crown his future happiness. 
 
 "I know," said she, that my father is an aristocrat; 
 he has made great headway since the banking system 
 was established, in accumulating wealth. He has 
 constantly become more selfish as his wealth increased 
 and it has been his highest hope that I would marry 
 that young man that you saw desert me in the river 
 to-day." After a pause she continued: "That is all 
 past now and I will never let money have anything to 
 do with making my choice. My feelings toward you 
 are of so delicate a nature that I cannot express them 
 fully, but I will say this much, that no money or want 
 of money shall ever be a bar to our future happiness. " 
 
 The evening soon passed. When Robert Summerville 
 took his departure, Minnie accompanied him to the 
 door and in spite of his resolution to the contrary, in 
 bidding her good night with a promise to come again, 
 he pressed her to his heart, and to a looker-on, the 
 touch of lips could hardly have been considered 
 accidental. 
 
 In leaving the house, Robert's soul was ablaze with 
 the fire of love; but he knew too well the power there 
 was in gold, and while he could face a desperado, 
 whose murderous soul was full of hate, he knew that 
 gold had always slunk away into its ever-ready hiding 
 place and launched its poisoned missiles through a 
 secret emissary; knowing all this and having so much 
 at stake, he dared to be afraid. 
 
 On the following morning Robert went to work, as 
 usual, and during the week, nothing of importance 
 occurred except the finding of two bodies which had 
 been washed ashore and lodged on a sand-bar several 
 miles below. Robert's employer, knowing all the 
 circumstances, refused to let him off so he could attend 
 the funeral, giving as a reason that they could get no 
 one to take his place. Robert knew this was a flimsy 
 excuse, and as the millionaire, Sheppard, owned a 
 large share of the stock in business, he fancied he 
 could see in it the effect of special orders and that he 
 had been spotted for discharge. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 The following Sunday, according to agreement, he 
 called the second time on Minnie and was not surprised 
 to find her in tears, for he had heard a good deal and 
 was prepared for almost anything. Minnie met him at 
 the door and ushered him into the quiet parlor, where 
 with great feeling she told him all that had happened 
 and among other-things that this must be his last visit 
 to the mansion. The visit was short, necessarily, and 
 they arranged to meet in one of the parks on the 
 following Sunday. Time soon rolled away and they 
 met again for an hour's talk, in which they promised 
 to let time settle it and remain true till death. 
 
 On the following morning Robert was notified that 
 his services would be dispensed with. He received his 
 pay in full and after settling up his affairs, the remain 
 der of the day was spent in visiting other shops; he 
 hardly expected a job for it was well known that there 
 was not a shop in the place that was not under obliga 
 tions to Mr. Sheppard's National Bank. His little love 
 affair had been so thoroughly ventilated by the press, 
 that he knew that the influence would militate against 
 him; beside, under the contraction of the currency, 
 such a stringency in money matters had been produced, 
 that nearly all the shops were running on half time. 
 
 On Tuesday he went to Kansas City where he fell in 
 with a young man from Arizona, whom the reader will 
 recognize as Frank Bundy. They were both looking 
 for work in a shop, so they took in all the different 
 places together, but they were not long in finding the 
 chances were very poor and what was very discourag 
 ing was the constant report of business failures all 
 over the country. 
 
 After satisfying themselves that there was no use of 
 remaining in Kansas City, Frank proposed to go to 
 New York, taking in all the intermediate points. 
 Robert saw nothing better, and it was decided to go. 
 Before starting they went to the jail to see Col. Sum- 
 merville, Robert's father, who was still incarcerated by 
 the United States court for refusing to issue a tax levy, 
 while Judge of the County court, for the payment of 
 bonds issued for the building of a Railroad that was 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 never built. The parting between Robert and his 
 father was affecting in the extreme. Mr. Summerville 
 had been upright and honest all his life and was now 
 in jail for so long a period that death would probably 
 rob the cell of its victim. 
 
 The old gentleman had no complaints to make but 
 deplored the condition into which our country had 
 drifted. He said that greed ran rampant and National 
 banks, lotteries, faro and other percentage games, were 
 ruining the morals of the people and concentrating the 
 wealth oi the country building up a moneyed class, 
 that was, through the power of gold, controlling legis 
 lation and the protection of these classes, with their 
 money-making games, schemes and systems, in their 
 assumed property rights, had become the first duty of 
 Government. The rights of honest citizens to live and 
 enjoy the fruit of their toil was left entirely to chance; 
 and legalized robbery was making more distress in the 
 State of Missouri, to-day, than a thousand men like 
 Jesse James. When it would end, he said, he could 
 hardly guess; but nothing short of a thoroughly 
 successful social and political revolution would efface 
 the damnable effects of class legislation in the United 
 States. 
 
 After bidding the father good-bye, they went to the 
 depot and were soon on their way. They stopped off 
 at Chicago, Fort Wayne, Toledo, Buffalo and other 
 pointsj but in all these places it was the same old cry 
 of hard times and at the same time, crops had never 
 been better. The old greenback men said it was a 
 money famine brought on by destroying the national 
 money; but the wise statesmen said the people had 
 produced too much or in other words, over-production. 
 It was suggested that when these honorable, wise men 
 met again, that they pass a law to prevent people from 
 producing such immense crops; because, said they, 
 there are thousands of families to-day hungry and half 
 clad and if this enormous production continues for a 
 few years more, half of the people will have to freeze 
 for want of clothes or starve for want of proper food. 
 A banker who had recently returned from a pleasure 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 121 
 
 trip to Europe, which had cost him several thousand 
 dollars, and was getting ready for a trip across the 
 continent in a palace car, was asked his opinion as to 
 what made such hard times. He said it was over 
 production and extravagance on the part of producers. 
 Bankers, said he; get rich by being economical. This 
 was quite clear, but the boys -were too anxious, where 
 any one had too much, to lose time in argument. 
 
 One morning when they were thoroughly discouraged, 
 a man met them on North River wharf and asked if 
 they would ship? 
 
 "What kind o men do you want?" said Frank. 
 
 "Firemen," was the reply, and you can ship to South 
 Africa or Liverpool, as you please." 
 
 The boys were ready for anything and on the spur 
 of the moment shipped for South Africa where they 
 would try their luck in the mines. 
 
 No girl, perhaps, ever felt more deeply the departure 
 of her lover than did Minnie Sheppard. She had a 
 pure heart and a kind, loving disposition. Her love 
 affair had been brief but purely mutual and without 
 affectation. She felt that she was loved by one of 
 God's noblest creatures, for the sake of herself and 
 not her fortune. She knew too that Robert had been 
 thrown out of his place on account of that love. 
 Where he would go and what he would do was all a 
 blank. Times were hard for those who had no capital 
 and getting more so all the time. 
 
 She had read a great deal and heard her father talk 
 about his banking schemes; while it seemed to her 
 that this great country had been prepared by God 
 himself for the express purpose of furnishing an 
 asylum for the oppressed of the Old world to escape 
 from the tyrannizing despotism of plutocracy, she at the 
 same time knew, that the poor were growing poorer 
 and the rich richer, and she also knew that such a 
 state of affairs could only be brought about by the very 
 wickedest class of legislation, and she feared that 
 strong as her loved one was, the current of adverse 
 circumstances might be even more difficult for him to 
 contend with than that of the great river. 
 
122 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 In early days her father had inherited a large amount 
 of land and while times were flourishing, right after the 
 war, he sold it at a good round price and bought 
 government bonds bearing interest; after that, as Mr. 
 Goldburg had done, he placed the bonds in the safe 
 keeping of the government where he could draw his 
 interest regularly. He then received from the govern 
 ment, under the banking act, 90 per cent of the money 
 he had paid for the bonds, and through the bank he 
 loaned that out to the farmers at an exorbitant interest, 
 and as the circulation of money was contracted, by act 
 of Congress soon after, prices of everything went down; 
 the farmers were unable to pay and the bank got the 
 land at half its real value. Exorbitant rents then 
 followed and Mr. Sheppard had become a millionaire 
 by a creation of law or in other words legalized robbery. 
 
 This sure way of getting money had made Mr. Shep 
 pard selfish and arbitrary. Mr. Goldfinch, the young man 
 who had left Minnie in the river to drown, was heir to 
 a million and a half at least, and in order to unite that 
 sum to what he proposed to give his daughter he had 
 long looked forward to their marriage as an event 
 greatly to be desired, and although Minnie had never 
 shown any fondness for the young man, the decree had 
 nevertheless gone forth and all that the contract lacked 
 was her sanction. 
 
 Now that he had deserted her in such a cruel man 
 ner, she was outspoken in her determination never to 
 marry him and her father was equally determined that 
 she should. So the millionaire's ill gotten gains 
 thwarted love and stood between Minnie and her 
 highest hope of happiness. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 TIME flies. After a long, tiresome voyage, the 
 boys, Frank and Robert, found themselves in a 
 neat cottage with an American family of the name of 
 Brown, having landed the day before on the coast of 
 Africa. Mr. Brown was a fine specimen of an Ameri 
 can, and while he possessed in a high degree that 
 energy, thrift and in fact all the nobler elements of 
 man's nature so peculiar to the American people, he 
 was at the same time free from that pusillanimity so 
 common to the American in foreign lands, and which 
 is constantly being interpreted as meaning "I am 
 greater than thou. " 
 
 Mr. Brown's family consisted of wife and three small 
 children. For several years he had been selling goods, 
 making a specialty of miners' supplies and outfits. 
 His house was situated on the outskirts of town, hid 
 away among many trees of the most attractive variety 
 and his immediate surroundings were so tastily orna 
 mented with semi-tropical shrubs as to make the place 
 a modern Eden. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of his home was a large 
 open grove where American missionaries pitched their 
 tents, and his house had not only become the head 
 quarters for Americans but it had also become a kind 
 of home for foreigners in general. His tables were 
 kept well supplied with newspapers in every tongue 
 and the use of them was free. 
 
 After looking about the place for a day or two the 
 boys concluded to buy an outfit and go to the mines. 
 When the question of an outfit came up, Robert asked 
 what they would want. Frank said that from his 
 experience in prospecting in Arizona, he would say, 
 a dozen canteens to keep from dying of thirst, and a 
 
124 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 hair rope to keep rattlesnakes out of their beds; but 
 Mr. Brown assured them that neither would be neces 
 sary and a trade was soon arranged for five burros, 
 three pack-saddles, with rope and accouterments, two 
 riding saddles, a camp outfit and food enough for a 
 month's trip. They each bought a good Winchester 
 rifle, six-shooters, ammunition and prospecting tools. 
 
 On the following day they saddled and packed and 
 were soon off. The animals worked admirably and 
 showed good breeding by proving themselves quite 
 gentle. After four days' travel they reached the foot 
 hills and then passed many abandoned mines and 
 occasionally saw placer miners at work; but they pushed 
 on until they reached some extensive quartz mines 
 where a great many miners were employed. 
 
 They were kindly received at this place and the 
 Superintendent showed them through the mine and 
 after studying the formation for a few days, they con 
 cluded to take the course of the veins and look for 
 other mines in the distant mountains. 
 
 They were informed that the country where they 
 were going had not been looked over to any great 
 extent, for several reasons; there were very few pros 
 pectors in the country and in that section the country 
 was so infested with wild and dangerous animals that 
 it was almost impossible to protect their burros; that 
 several parties had attempted to explore, but had 
 invariably lost their animals or narrowly escaped doing 
 so; but our young friends being thoroughly armed, 
 determined to try their luck, so they took leave of the 
 camp where they had been so generously treated and 
 pulled out for the mountains. 
 
 During the first day out they crossed a deep gorge or 
 canon, then ascended to the summit of a ridge that 
 seemed to run in the same direction they wished to 
 travel. After following the ridge for several miles, 
 through a dense forest, and passing an occasional 
 jungle they came to a small valley of grass land where 
 they found a growth of a kind of pea-vine which the 
 animals seemed to like. This valley was but a few 
 feet below the general surface of the country and on 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 125 
 
 the north side was a large quantity of dead timber 
 which had been broken down by the storms. It was 
 well on in the evening, and the boys considered the 
 matter of stopping for the night, and as they found a 
 small stream near the timber, it was decided to camp 
 there. In a few moments they had relieved the animals 
 of their burdens and picketed them in the pea-vines. 
 They then proceeded to throw some logs together, in 
 such a manner as to furnish very good protection for 
 themselves; and as a means of further protection they 
 built a tew fires. 
 
 In following up the little stream, they found it came 
 from the solid rock, beneath the spreading branches of 
 friendly trees; ivy, too had crept among the branches 
 and opened its blossoms to add its mite to the dense 
 foliage that darkened every recess. Warbling birds 
 were merry-making in the tree tops and their thrilling 
 music blended with the rich perfumes of a million 
 blossoms, made it a place of enchantment. 
 
 For a long time these two Americans drank deeply 
 ot Nature's fountain and their souls went out in silent 
 meditation on earthly things and from Nature up to 
 Nature's God; their minds wandered to the days of old 
 when others shared their joys and sorrows; at last 
 Frank broke the silence by saying, "Rob, there is but 
 one thing lacking to make this spot a Paradise and to 
 make me the happiest man on earth." 
 
 "And what is that?" 
 
 "The presence of one whose name I do not care 
 to speak." 
 
 "That's the way the world goes," said Rob, "I was 
 on that train of thought myself; but it won't do to talk 
 about it, it's too serious. A fellow can't well express 
 himself, unless he plays the baby act, and I've made 
 up my mind to let by-gones be by-gones, and busy 
 myself on this dark continent, for it seems to me that 
 "what can't be cured, must be endured." 
 
 Here the conversation ended and the two were soon 
 engaged in preparing supper. Nothing transpired to 
 disturb their slumbers but the occasional cry of a 
 panther or the hooting of an inoffensive owl. 
 
126 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 After breakfast, next morning, it was agreed that 
 Robert should remain in camp to protect the burros 
 and Frank, taking arms and a pick-axe for breaking 
 rock, started for the hill. 
 
 An hour's walk took him to the crest of the moun 
 tain; he found on the slope what he took to be good 
 country for mines, so he soon began picking up pieces 
 of float and toward noon, stumbled onto a well defined 
 vein of quartz and finding gold, he looked more closely; 
 breaking up a quantity, he secured several pieces that 
 looked well. He scratched around the lead for a couple 
 of hours and being able to trace it for half a mile, was 
 satisfied that it possessed considerable merit. 
 
 After eating his lunch, he spent the afternoon walk 
 ing and hunting. He found a great deal of quartz but 
 nothing more that he considered good. He returned 
 to camp late in the evening, tired and hungry, but with 
 several specimens of rock. Robert pounded it up and 
 it proved to be rich, so they decided to remain there 
 several days, locate the whole ledge, do some work on 
 it, then extend their operations to take in the whole 
 neighborhood; after this return to camp and try to 
 make a sale. 
 
 Three weeks were spent in this way. No discoveries 
 of importance were made, so they returned to the 
 mining-camp, and in a few days the Superintendent 
 went out to look at the claim and offered them $3,000, 
 and they decided to sell. 
 
 They continued to prospect in that part of the 
 country for several months but finding nothing, they 
 returned to the coast and pitched their tent near Mr. 
 Brown, who was glad to see them and hear of their 
 success. Their only plan, as yet, was to rest for a 
 short time. They were not satisfied to go home with 
 no more than $1,500 each, so they must look further. 
 
 While they were encamped at Mr. Brown's, there 
 arrived in the town a band of over one hundred natives 
 bringing in ivory which they sold to Mr. Brown, 
 spending several days picking out goods they wished 
 to take back. They camped near, and the King soon 
 became acquainted with the prospectors and, through 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 127 
 
 an interpreter, told them they lived a long way off; 
 they had been over a month on the road. The Arabs, 
 they said, were invading their country, and robbing 
 indiscriminately ^and carrying many away into slavery. 
 
 "Why don't you fight them?" said Frank. 
 
 "O they all have guns and we have nothing but 
 spears, so they kill our people." 
 
 "Why don't you buy guns?" 
 
 We have nothing to buy guns with, besides we 
 don't know how to use them. If you will go with us, 
 give us guns and teach us to use them, we will make 
 you King of the whole country and give you all the 
 wives you want." 
 
 That evening Frank and Robert talked the matter 
 over and the more they talked, the more interested 
 they became. It seemed that a whole continent lay 
 bleeding before them, calling for help. It seemed 
 plausible that what assistance they could render might 
 turn the tide and enable the natives to defend them 
 selves successfully and also establish such lasting 
 friendship between them and the whites as to give 
 civilization an impetus in Africa that would be without 
 a parallel in historj'. It was decided to arm and 
 equip the one hundred men, drill them in the use of 
 firearms, and they believed with that force, backed by 
 many spears, they could meet and destroy any band of 
 Arabs they would be likely to encounter. This method 
 too would give them an opportunity to make explora 
 tions that could be reached in no other way. 
 
 Having each pledged his life to the enterprise and 
 the cause of humanity, the boys sought another inter 
 view with the King; two of his men had been raised at 
 the coast, spoke English fluently and were constantly 
 with the King. 
 
 Through their interpreter, another meeting was 
 arranged; the King and his aids met the young Ameri 
 cans at their tent and informed them that there were 
 five tribes and each tribe had several villages. There 
 were many other Kings and they would make Frank 
 King over all it they would furnish arms, teach their 
 young men how to use them and then command them 
 
128 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 so that they should destroy the Arab bands of robbers 
 
 Having made this the basis of their agreement, the 
 men were brought up in line and made to promise 
 allegiance to Frank as well as to Robert. That evening 
 they purchased arms and on the following morning 
 issued twenty guns, and taking ten men apiece, 
 drilling commenced; both were highly pleased with 
 their progress, and so great was the anxiety of the 
 natives to learn, that as soon as they were dismissed 
 they would turn around and drill each other. 
 
 After drilling three days they issued blank cartridges 
 and firing commenced; in one month they had the 
 whole company under complete control and when 
 everything was in readiness they took up their line of 
 march. 
 
 Never, perhaps, were mortals treated with more 
 respect and kindness than were Frank and Robert. 
 
 Their route for many days, lay through an almost 
 impenetrable forest; but the trail was well beaten. 
 
 The people seemed to have a profound respect for the 
 King; but when they saw their own brave men handling 
 fire-arms and maneuvering in perfect regularity, it was 
 too much and they went fairly wild. 
 
 The men were, for the most part, very muscular and 
 in perfect condition, physically. Their behavior 
 toward the Americans was like that of a child toward 
 a father in whom it had perfect confidence and for 
 whom it cherished perfect love. 
 
 On reaching camp, they first put up their tent, then 
 looked after their bedding, clothing, etc. Then their 
 cooking received prompt attention, and everything was 
 done which could add to their comfort. 
 
 Before starting, the boys had, with the assistance of 
 Mr. Brow/i, provided themselves with supplies for a 
 year's campaign, and rather than burden the natives, 
 who had their own loads to carry, bought thirty addi 
 tional burros. After traveling for six week, they 
 reached the river Toboga, where an immense crowd 
 had assembled to welcome them and assist them in 
 crossing to the town of Koheka, which introduced them 
 to the King's dominions, and there they camped. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. I2Q 
 
 The Prince of this province was a fair type of African 
 nobility, and though he resembled neither Queen 
 Victoria, King Leopold nor King William of Germany, 
 in either language or color, yet the boys were of the 
 opinion that he was a Royal Prince and made of the 
 same flesh and blood as other Kings. 
 
 When King Kongo, for such was the name of the 
 King under whom the boys had enlisted, had crossed 
 the river, he was treated with marked respect by the 
 nobility, but the people were too much interested in 
 the new guns and the white men to care to participate 
 in kingly feasts, and the adventurers were of the 
 opinion that kingly pedigrees were, for the time being, 
 forgotten. 
 
 The first night was devoted by the natives to all 
 kinds of hilarity, a war dance being the principal 
 feature, but the boys, being very weary, retired early 
 In a few days they started for the King's own home, 
 Kiyongo, which they reached after having passed five 
 large settlements and three important villages. The 
 people whom they met seemed to have a mortal fear of 
 the Arabs and were ready to abandon their villages at 
 a moment's notice. The sight of guns in the hands of 
 their own people, however, inspired them with courage 
 and they were ready to go where they were needed. 
 On arriving at Kiyongo, the King set men to work at 
 once to construct a house for the two white men and in 
 a very short time it was completed. 
 
 This village was beautifully situated on the banks of 
 a lake three miles wide and more than one hundred 
 miles long. The dominion of King Congo lay on the 
 east side of this lake, while another powerful Chief 
 occupied the opposite sidejbut the two tribes had been 
 at peace for many years. 
 
 In a short time drilling was resumed and it was not 
 long before the King from the opposite side of the 
 lake sent an urgent appeal for help, stating that a 
 band of Arabs, consisting of one hundred men, had 
 taken and burned a village about fifty miles away; it 
 was soon arranged that the white men should go with 
 their 'little army. As they were to be among friends 
 
I3O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 all the way, there was no necessity for extensive 
 preparations and they were soon embarked in canoes 
 carrying ten men each. 
 
 It was two days before they reached the village where 
 they were to land, and when they arrived they were told 
 that the town which had been taken, was ten miles 
 further on, also that the Arabs had killed a great many 
 and taken about thirty prisoners, fastened them to a 
 slave chain and had moved that day to a spring five 
 miles away where they were now camped and it was, 
 no doubt, their intention to burn that town the next day. 
 
 As they had met with no resistance, they were camped 
 carelessly at the edge of some tall grass near the 
 spring. Being then the middle of the afternoon, the 
 boys decided to make an attack upon the camp that 
 night; the natives were scattered through the country 
 and watching every movement of the Arabs, so the 
 boys were kept thoroughly informed. At early night 
 fall, in a bright moonlight, they took up their line of 
 march and reached the place about ten o'clock. On 
 reconnoitering they found the whole camp was unpro 
 tected; a line was then formed and moved cautiously 
 forward, and so carelessly was the camp guarded that 
 they approached within sixty yards before an alarm was 
 given. When the Arabs sprang to arms it was Justin 
 time to receive a death dealing volley; this was followed 
 by a charge and the Arabs fled in consternation. The 
 Chiefs of the band, with many others, had been killed 
 and those who escaped generally left their arms in the 
 excitement and were run down the next day by the 
 natives. The affair could hardly be called a fight for 
 the surprise had been so complete that the Arabs made 
 no show of resistance and as soon as the little army 
 had gained full possession of the camp, friends and 
 relatives rushed in to sever the bonds and burst the 
 slave chains. 
 
 This was a good commencement. One hundred 
 stand of arms had been captured, with a large quantity 
 of ammunition, over thirty prisoners had been released 
 and one of the most desperate and cruel bands of robbers 
 that infested the country had been destroyed. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WE will now return to Bopeep and see what has been 
 transpiring there. One evening in May, about 
 two years after Frank had taken his departure, Mrs. 
 Goldburg and her daughter were in their sitting room, 
 and as Mr. Goldburg had gone to New York, the place 
 seemed rather lonely. Rebecca had been very thoughtful 
 all day, and though always good natured and assuming 
 a cheerful manner, there was visible upon her face a look 
 of sadness which elicited her mother's warmest sympa 
 thy. She had just finished a plaintive melody on the 
 piano, and crossing the room to where her mother sat, 
 she began: "Mother, why does father bring such 
 senseless fellows to the house, for my company? Just 
 think of that Mr. Foghorn." 
 
 "Why, your father told me he is the son of a million 
 aire and one of the most powerful ones in the United 
 States." 
 
 "Well, I don't care whose son he is, I am sure he's 
 not very intelligent; and there is Mr. Pinchback; I 
 think the two would make fine companions their whole 
 conversation is on money, balls, clubs and actresses; 
 speak to them of religion, poetry, history or science 
 and you might as well talk to a monkey or a parrot. 
 Mr. Foghorn told me his father paid more money 
 toward getting the contraction act passed than any one 
 man and that his profits therefrom could only be counted 
 by millions. When I inquired if his father actually 
 produced these vast sums by the workings of that law, 
 he said, no, but it was transferred from the pockets 
 of others into his, through the workings of that law, 
 by very legitimate methods of business. He talked 
 
I$2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 about it as if it had never occurred to him that it was 
 pure, unvarnished robbery and the way he has been 
 brought up, I think he docs not realize what a crime 
 it is to rob in this way. 
 
 "I cannot understand millionaires, mother; they 
 belong to churches, pray to God, help the poor; then 
 go out and rob them; this must be true, for what is it 
 but robberry to take what you don't earn?" 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg explained that these people had 
 become so accustomed to handling large sums of money, 
 that they do not realize that it is a crime to keep it 
 from the people; never having suffered themselves, 
 they do not appreciate the sufferings of others." 
 
 "Let me tell you what I think," said Rebecca, "I have 
 often heard you say, you believed when men handled 
 an amount of money above a competency, it is gambling; 
 men become blind to a sense of honor, when they use 
 money only to gratify a love for gain. I believe it 
 becomes an incurable disease, for it is the spiritual 
 man which is affected and the cause which makes its 
 existence possible should be removed. A law which 
 makes one man's condition better without injuring 
 another, must be a good law, so I believe the best law 
 that could be invented would be to prevent any one 
 man from owning more money or property than would 
 place him and his family above want. This would 
 save the millionaire the trouble of handling so much 
 money and would give others a chance to accumulate 
 enough to make themselves and their families com 
 fortable." 
 
 "When our capital amounted to $100,000, " said Mrs. 
 Goldburg, we could live in perfect splendor, have 
 everything the heart craved, and your father had a 
 little time to devote to comfort and enjoyment. I be 
 lieve it was better." 
 
 "I agree with an article I read not long ago, that 
 every man is debased who makes or handles liquor in 
 any way; it seems the same to me about surplus wealth 
 when men have all the money they can use for comfort 
 or pleasure, they should turn their attention to bene 
 fiting mankind; all gain above that is simply usurpa- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 133 
 
 tion of power that should only belong to the government; 
 it is all stolen goods and, like the liquor traffic, 
 debases every man who indulges in it or engages in it. 
 The tendency of a man, after he has accumulated 
 wealth is to becofne hard-hearted and arbitrary. 
 
 "It may all be my imagination, but it seems to me 
 that since father has become a millionaire, he has be 
 come cold toward his neighbors and has also changed 
 his feelings toward us, so that love, if it exists at all, 
 is in the background. This is not only so in our 
 family, but in every family of my acquaintance; where 
 ladies delight in show to the exclusion of all noble 
 sentiments, they enjoy a measure of happiness, but it 
 is small compared to the joy which comes from doing 
 good. How any one can reconcile want, wealth and 
 Christianity, is more than I can see. 
 
 "If you were to tell any of the Bankers of this town 
 that the Bible is false, that Christ was an impostor, 
 they would denounce you as they do Ingersoll and 
 Tom Paine, and yet their actions are exactly the 
 reverse of Christianity. To me it seems hypocrisy to 
 profess Christianity and at the same time hoard up 
 wealth, while children are going hungry and half-clad. 
 
 "They try to deceive God and man and their whole 
 life is a fraud. In my father's case this love of gold 
 has already become a disease, and I can trace its 
 beginnings until now it has reached its climax. When 
 he was in only moderate circumstances, my every wish 
 was gratified, but now in order to establish something 
 like a Family Dynasty, which will continue to wield a 
 power to collect rents, take interest and oppress the 
 poor for all time to come after he is gone, he would 
 sacrifice all my feelings, all my affections and marry 
 me to a man whose only recommendation is, he is the 
 son of a millionaire. 
 
 "Mother, it makes me sad when I think of all these 
 things, and when I see how cold father has become 
 toward us, how he walks the floor at the dead hour of 
 night, because some tenant of his in Oregon had failed 
 to pay his rent, his excuse being, a flood had destroyed 
 his crop. He walks the floor and worries; says he did 
 
134 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 not agree to keep down the river; because they lost 
 their crop they want to beat him out of his rent. I 
 believe he would even take their team but that by law, 
 is exempt. I remember a time when he not only gave 
 money himself to poor fellows who had been hurt in 
 the mines, but went about and asked help of others. 
 In those days he took more time to rest when he came 
 from the store and his meals tasted better; now he 
 casts a hurried look over the table, filled with good 
 things, eats a cracker or two, then goes hurriedly to 
 his office and spends the day poring over those horrid 
 books. Such a condition is all wrong and no man 
 could change so except by disease; that disease, too, is 
 brought on by concentrating wealth, and if a govern 
 ment cannot be framed so as to prevent it then human 
 government is a failure." 
 
 "O yes," said her mother, "it does seem as though 
 there are a great many inconsistencies mixed up with 
 money and religion, at least it looks so to me and 
 when I talk with the most intelligent people that we 
 have, upon this subject, they dodge the truth or 
 acknowledge themselves as much in the fog as I am; 
 but I have an abiding faith in Jesus and believe that as 
 man continues to progress, the evils of which you 
 complain will continue to grow worse, until they 
 become such formidable enemies to human progress 
 that the attention of the thinking world will be con 
 centrated upon it, and then, and not until then will 
 there be found a remedy. It will be a remedy, too, 
 that will be as radical as the disease requires; but for 
 the present we can only be patient and put our trust 
 in Jesus." 
 
 At this juncture the conversation subsided for a while, 
 then Rebecca said, "Mother, what do you suppose has 
 become of Frank? I get to thinking about him some 
 times and I fancy that he has become a drunkard and 
 I sometimes imagine that someone has murdered him. 
 I have always hoped that he would write to his mother, 
 but he said he would never write or come back until 
 he could command wealth enough to be independent of 
 the millionaires." 
 
4N IDEAL REPUBLIC. 135 
 
 "I feel sorry for his mother," said Mrs. Goldburg, 
 "I called there a little while yesterday and she told me 
 that she had been to see a lady medium or fortune 
 teller (something of that kind) and the lady pretended 
 to go into a trance and told her that Frank was in 
 Africa and that she would see him sometime." 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg little thought what an effect this 
 strange message would have on Rebecca, for she her 
 self had hardly given it a second thought, but to 
 Rebecca it was like a love message from the lips of an 
 angel. She knew not why she felt so; she had never 
 believed in such things, but it seemed so strange and 
 as the drowning man will grasp at a straw, so she 
 hailed this as an omen of good luck and she often found 
 herself thinking about Africa and scanning the news 
 columns to see if some new light would not be thrown 
 upon the subject. 
 
 That very evening, as soon as Mr. Goldburg left the 
 room, Rebecca took a walk and called upon Mrs. 
 Bundy who received her with more than ordinary 
 cordiality and told her all about the queer message. 
 Never had Mrs. Bundy shown so much feeling toward 
 Rebecca as on this particular occasion. After they had 
 talked confidentiallv for a while over the strange affair, 
 Rebecca asked why she did not go again. 
 
 Mrs. Bundy said she had intended to do so but the 
 minister told her it was the work of the devil and she 
 had better not go, so she gave it up, but Rebecca was 
 too much interested and had too much American spirit 
 to be frightened by a devil or two, especially when the 
 devil seemed only to have an existence in the fertile 
 brain of a man who preached the Golden Rule on 
 Sundays and spent the greater portion of his time 
 through the week in collecting money and hoarding it 
 up, while many little children were in want, and 
 she insisted on going again the next day. 
 
 Mrs. Bundy being a woman of liberal views, but 
 little persuasion was necessary and it was arranged to 
 go again on the next Saturday, and when the time 
 came they went, but the lady medium had left the city 
 and so they had lost the opportunity of seeing her, but 
 
136 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 this did not hinder Rebecca from thinking about 
 the story. 
 
 A few months after this Mrs. Goldburg and her 
 daughter visited Saratoga for recreation and while 
 there they made the acquaintance of a Mrs. Sheppard 
 and her daughter Minnie. As the two families were 
 similarly situated in life a warm friendship soon sprang 
 up which was intensified between the two girls by the dis 
 covery, through conversation, that their love experience 
 had been similar and that hope, fear and even despair 
 often filled the heart of each, as they wandered through 
 the pleasure grounds and enjoyed the refreshing scenes 
 that met them on every hand; they plucked flowers 
 and while enjoying their wonderful beauty and rich 
 fragrance would pour into each other's ears the secrets 
 of their love affairs. 
 
 In this way time passed on, days grew into weeks, 
 weeks into months, but sweethearts never tire of talking 
 about love and the loved ones. As day by day they 
 wandered through groves, Nature bade them welcome 
 through gentle zephyrs and the sweet songs of many 
 birds, and while drinking deep of Nature's inspiring 
 draughts, their loves and trials blended, friendship 
 deepened and when the two families separated, each to 
 return home, it was agreed between Minnie and 
 Rebecca to continue their warm friendship through a 
 correspondence, and from that time on the girls 
 exchanged letters regularly and each hoped on the 
 receipt of every letter that it would contain news that 
 the writer had heard from the loved one, but years 
 elapsed and nothing had been heard. 
 
 Often during this protracted correspondence the 
 girls had occasion to sympathize with each other. Mr. 
 Sheppard, like Mr. Goldburg, was anxious to see his 
 daughter married to a millionaire and the girls were 
 fully determined to wait for their first love's return. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WE will now return to the wilds of Africa to look 
 after our adventurers. 
 
 Crowned with victory, the natives were anxious for 
 more war with the Arabs and to destroy every band of 
 slave-dealers. As other bands were known to exist, it 
 was decided by our adventurers to lose no time in 
 arming and drilling more men, and as the natives were 
 bringing in an abundant supply of provisions, it was 
 decided to remain where they were and drill until 
 further developments. They were not destined to be 
 kept long in waiting, for scarcely had they placed their 
 troops under good control, before word came from the 
 Eastern Coast, that a band of 200 Arabs was moving 
 toward a town at the foot of the lake. It was agreed 
 to embark from that place and on reaching their des 
 tination, the people were wild with joy. Provisions 
 were furnished in the greatest abundance and every 
 thing was done to make them comfortable. 
 
 News of the approach of the Arabs was coming in 
 every day and as there was a large town about forty 
 miles away, the native King thought it would be 
 destroyed. They decided to meet the robber band at 
 that place. They therefore pushed forward and reached 
 town in two days. There they learned that the Arabs 
 were camped within ten miles and would come on the 
 next day. They met men on the road and learned that 
 the Arabs had 300 men, but the boys felt confident 
 that the surprise in meeting fire-arms, backed by a 
 country full of lancers, would make victory certain. 
 The following morning they moved three miles to some 
 
138 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 fallen timber that skirted a prairie; the trail passed 
 directly through this timber and could not be evaded 
 by the Arabs on account of the jungle. After taking a 
 position behind this timber, they awaited the coming 
 of the Arabs. 
 
 In less than an hour a small squad of Arabs came up, 
 and seeing that the natives were making a stand, they 
 fell back a little. The main body formed a line and 
 moved upon the natives with a bold step, but it was 
 evident they were not expecting to meet fire-ams. Had 
 they known that 200 well trained and well armed men 
 lay behind the logs, that the country was full of lancers 
 ready to follow them in case of defeat and to assist in 
 case of a hard fight, that twenty men with fire-arms and 
 200 lancers had been sent out the night before by a 
 circuitous route, to occupy their old camp ancl cut off 
 all possibility of escape in case of defeat, they might 
 have been more cautious. 
 
 When within a few feet of the logs, the natives rose 
 and poured a deadly volley into their ranks, then 
 charged upon them with a yell and the whole line gave 
 way and were soon completely routed. 
 
 In their haste to get away, the Arabs, many of them, 
 had dropped their arms and fled; the large band who 
 had been sent to cut off their retreat, instead of cap 
 turing them according to order, destroyed the whole 
 outfit. Thus ended one of the most barbarous and 
 blood-thirsty bands of slave-hunters and ivory-thieves 
 that ever carried destruction to the heart of Africa. 
 The news of the extinction of so formidable a body of 
 cut-throats, by an inferior force of their own people 
 (for of course the little army under the white men 
 received the credit) was heralded to all parts of the 
 country and was soon known for a thousand miles away. 
 
 Tribal Kings came from all directions to mike offer 
 ings of friendship and establish a dynasty with the two 
 white men at their head. 
 
 Meanwhile the boys had not been idle; all the arms 
 had been brought from the battle-field and they found 
 they had captured over 300 stands of arms and a large 
 quantity of ammunition. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 139 
 
 Three hundred more men were at once enlisted and 
 drilled for future emergency, and in about a month the 
 little army ot 500 men returned to Kiyongo. 
 
 Abundant supplies were being brought in and when 
 they were ready to start out, canoes for the transporta 
 tion were freely given by the King. 
 
 When the fleet of canoes reached Kiyongo, they were 
 met by an immense throng of people who had gathered 
 from all parts of the country to receive them. 
 
 Thirty different tribal Kings had taken up quarters 
 there to await their coming and make them Kings over 
 the whole country. 
 
 On landing, they were received with barbarous eclat 
 and feasted for three days with African ceremonies; 
 then a council was held and their purpose made known, 
 when the young men agreed upon the following 
 stipulations: 
 
 We come not to destroy but to build up; we want 
 to see, your burned towns rebuilt; you have a great, 
 rich and glorious country and with peace, you will 
 have happiness. 
 
 It is our purpose to have peace and so far as we can, 
 we will destroy every band of robbers that comes within 
 our reach; but as to your governments, we would not 
 interfere with them. 
 
 We only ask that you should bring us food and such 
 other things as we need and we will protect you; we 
 will also have our friends come and live among you and 
 teach you many things that will be of great benefit to 
 you and we will live in peace together. 
 
 When this document was interpreted to the assembly, 
 there was a general expression of satisfaction and the 
 camp was in a tumult of joy. At this time there were 
 no more bands operating through the country, though 
 many more were liable to appear at any time; so they 
 deemed it advisable to continue their military organi 
 zations and drilling. The destruction of these two 
 bands had spread consternation among the others, so 
 after a few months, Frank, being tired of this monotony 
 and restless for adventure, formed a plan to go to the 
 great range which lay west of them. It was therefore 
 
14* AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 arranged that Robert would remain in command of 
 their littls army, while Frank took an outfit of ten men 
 and twenty burros and started on a tour of exploration. 
 For two months they traveled through a country which 
 equaled in fertility and natural advantages, Illinois or 
 Iowa, and reached the foot-hills of the range; a few 
 more days took them well up into the mountains. The 
 foot-hills of the range were covered with grass with 
 here and there a live-oak tree, but further on the 
 country became more abrupt and was covered with a 
 dense, pine forest; there were many ravines and each 
 had a stream of clear, cold water, the formation, so 
 tar as he could judge, being slate, limestone porphyry 
 and granite. 
 
 The soil was of clay, very red, and he constantly 
 came across pieces of quartz, then a ledge showed up 
 here and there and every indication for gold was favor 
 able. At last he camped in a ravine which seemed 
 good for placer gold. 
 
 The following morning he set some men to work 
 digging a hole on a bar near camp; after reaching a 
 depth of four feet they struck gravel and in eighteen 
 inches more they came to bed-rock and on trying the 
 dirt found it went from 25 to 50 to the pan in gold. 
 
 This was a discovery worth making and he deter 
 mined to make the best of the find. On leaving 
 Kiyongo, anticipating the finding of gold, he had pro 
 vided picks, shovels, pans, axes, whip-saws in fact 
 everything he was likely to need and being thoroughly 
 prepared he started the burro train back for supplies, 
 to a settlement he had passed, and with the remaining 
 men lie commenced work on a ditch to bring water to 
 the bar; he also set two men at work with the whip- 
 saw to cut out lumber for sluices. 
 
 In one month after the ditch had been completed, a 
 tail race had been cut, sluices set and ground sluicing 
 commenced; mines were also opened in two other 
 places along the bar and when the loose dirt had been 
 washed down to the gravel, the sluice boxes were 
 raised, riffles put in and the gravel shoveled into the 
 sluices. After a week's run a clean up was made that 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 14! 
 
 a net yield of over twenty dollars per day to 
 th,e hand or ..'$1,100 for the week. 
 
 It seemed odd to the natives to do so much work for 
 such a little bit of gold, but they saw that Frank set 
 great store by it, so they worked cheerfully on; when 
 asked by the .interpreter what gold was good for, he 
 was at a loss to know what to say. He knew that 
 paper had been often used for money and when backed 
 by the law of , the country, was superior to gold as 
 money*, .The uses of gold were so few that if it were 
 not used for money it would be almost worthless. So 
 in order to, come as near the, truth as possible, he was 
 forced to acknowledge that it derived its value entirly 
 from legislation and that such legislation was only 
 tolerated through the superstition of civilized races; 
 that as, long as that superstition continued to hold the 
 races in thralldom,; gold would be considered valuable 
 and the gold they were now digging could be traded 
 for many valuable articles. 
 
 After they had been at work in the mines for about 
 three months,' messengers came into camp with a letter 
 from Robert It read as follows: 
 
 KIYONGO, October 4, . 
 
 MY DEAR, FRIENP: From natives, living at the foot 
 of the Blue Range of mountains, I learned that you 
 passed their village on your way to the mountains and 
 was all right. ?I since learned that some of your men 
 had been down , to th"e village after food, had found gold 
 and were at work, so I do not know when to look for 
 you, back a,nd have concluded to make an effort to get a 
 letter ,to you. Now I will start three as brave chaps 
 as you ever saw to carry this to you. 
 
 About a month or six weeks ago I learned .that a large 
 body of men were burning the homes and butchering 
 the inhabitants one after another ; in King Hooloo's 
 county ^you will remember him as being the one so 
 inclined to be polite; had such a mild manner of speech. 
 
 The word that came to me was that they were about 
 one hundred miles above the King's home village, 
 coming this way and destroying everything. My first 
 thought was to send for you, but there was no time for 
 
142 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 that, so shouldering the responsibility, in less than ten 
 hours after the messengers had arrived we were em 
 barked on the lake. Our route took us fifty miles on 
 the lake, then up a river for one hundred miles. 
 
 The men took turns in rowing and I think we made 
 twenty-five or thirty miles a day; we were six days in 
 going as far as we could by water, then we took to the 
 land. I never saw a more willing lot of men. The fact 
 that the whole country was looking to them for protec 
 tion, seemed to develop in them a thought of their own 
 importance and inspire them with both will and energy. 
 
 I think we made twenty miles a day on the trail and 
 we were five days in reaching the King's village; he 
 had been sending out men every day to meet us and let 
 us know how things were and when we arrived at his 
 village, the Arabs had destroyed a town within twenty- 
 five miles, and were moving on the capitol or King's 
 village. The inhabitants who could get away were 
 coming in ahead of the Arabs and the road for twenty 
 miles was lined with people; many had been killed, 
 many captured and others taken to the bush. 
 
 Their object was ivory, slaves and subjugation, and 
 they were about 1,000 strong and well armed. 
 
 Inferior as were our numbers, I determined to meet 
 them on the road and trust to luck for position. The 
 next day at day-break we were on the march and by 10 
 o'clock we passed into a canon that I saw, at a glance 
 would give us every advantage; it was 300 feet wide 
 with a wall twenty feet high and loose rock enough at 
 the top to throw together for protection. My first 
 move was to fell trees across the canon to serve as 
 breast- works; I then placed 300 men on the bluffs and 
 200 behind the logs, which reached across the canon. 
 In less than an hour everything was ready and every 
 man in place. The Arabs marched in close order and 
 made no halt until they discovered us. Then they 
 formed a line across the canon with about 400 men, 
 the rest were held in reserve, but the whole command 
 was under the deadly range of the 300 men on the bluff. 
 
 It was a trying moment; they with 1,000 men as 
 blood-thirsty as ever trod African soil, accustomed to 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 143 
 
 blood-shed and bent on robbery and spoliation; we 
 with a little force of 500 men unused to war, but they 
 were defending their homes. Would the God of battle 
 give them strength and courage or would they fail in 
 this battle for life? These were vital questions, soon 
 to find solution in actual combat. 
 
 The jungle was now full of natives armed with spears, 
 battle-axes, clubs, etc., but they dared not face the 
 deadly fire of the Arabs who began the battle by mov 
 ing upon our log breast-works. 
 
 They advanced with bold and confident tread but 
 when at close range, our men raised and poured a 
 deadly volley into them; they halted and another volley 
 sent them reeling back. The men on the bluff were at 
 the same time pouring a shower of lead into the 
 reserve and in ten minutes they were all on the retreat 
 and closely pursued by our men; they soon became 
 panic-stricken and fled like wild men. They were so 
 scattered that they fell an easy prey to the native 
 archers and spear-men and the small force that suc 
 ceeded in getting back to their camp, were attacked 
 that night by bushmen and entirely destroyed. 
 
 On the following day, I ordered all arms brought 
 into camp and when all had been collected and counted, 
 we had captured 900 stand of arms and a large quantity 
 of ammunition, which I brought back to this village 
 and have them safely stored for future emergencies. 
 
 Before we started back, twenty different Kings 
 arrived in camp to offer thanks and proposed to make 
 me King; but I answered them by simply having the 
 statement read which we agreed upon at Kiyongo. 
 
 The country through which I have traveled is bne 
 immense farming region; it is a pity to have it laying 
 idle while thousands of civilized people need it for 
 homes. It is the opinion among the natives that this 
 last victory will effectually stop the slave and ivory 
 raids in this part, and it is thought that native Kings 
 3,000 miles away will be falling back on us for 
 protection. 
 
 Hoping this will find you O. K., I am respectfully, 
 
 ROBERT SUMMERVILLE. 
 
144 ,, AN LD.BAIv REPUBLIC. 
 
 Until,; Frank .received, this letter he had been so 
 absorbed in mining that he had given but little thought 
 as to how Robert might be getting along, arid > now 
 when he learned what a time he had been having he 
 became anxious to see him. 
 
 During his stay in the mountains he had not only 
 pushed work rapidly on the mine, but he had pros 
 pected several other ravines and found the whole 
 country to be very rich in gold. He had not only 
 found ravine and gulch digging equal in richness and 
 extent to Gblden California, but i he had also found 
 what afterwards proved to be the richest gold quartz 
 mines in the world. Now, being well satisfied with 
 his explorations, he determined to start for Kiyongo 
 at once, and after weighing his gold in small lots he 
 found that he had over $7,000, which was less than 
 twenty dollars a day to the man for the work done. 
 
 The natives did not seem to expect anything, or at 
 least no part of ,the gold; it seemed to have no charm 
 for them, but had they been slaves they could not have 
 been more subservient to the will of Frank, and he 
 only explained to them that he could buy many nice 
 things for the people with his gold. 
 
 After putting all their sluice boxes and tools away 
 where they would be safe from fire and flood they set 
 out for home, and being lighty loaded reached Kiyongo 
 in less than sixty days. 
 
 When the adventurers met they were overjoyed and 
 the first night after Frank's arrival they talked until 
 morning and it was acknowledged that neither had 
 ever known a similar circumstance. 
 
 In the morning they went to see Robert's little farm 
 and it was noted that he had more truck than the 
 whole native village* The King had built them a nice 
 residence and so far as land far cultivation was con 
 cerned it was co-extensive with the continent* 
 
 For two weeks- they talked over everything and 
 finally decided that Frank should go to Mr. Brown's 
 trading post and get an outfit for a big expedition- to 
 the mines. On informing the King -they; were, gireatly 
 pleased that he heartily approved of the plan and an 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 145 
 
 immeVise oratfit of pack-animals was gathered and with 
 a large 1 body of men Frank went to 'the coast, and ;as 
 he Went, 1 improved the trail where it was necessary. 
 
 The $7;bOo in%bld*was deposited With Mr. Brown to 
 be' placed on account in addition to what was left of ; 
 the $3,000. 
 
 An outfit : of tools was then purchased and also several 
 horse teams and plows. Arrangements were made for 
 the pack trains to continue constantly bn the road in 
 chatge of a man who had :beeri recommended by 
 Mr. Brown. 
 
 On reaching Kiyongo, the boys proceeded to dis 
 tribute their beads, looking glasses, copper wire, cloth 
 and many other notions among the people. The 
 wives of all the soldiers were then called and received 
 alike fine presents. 
 
 The troops were called in line and told of the intention 
 to go to the mountains and dig for gold and that all 
 whb went could take their families and all who wished 
 to remain at home could step out of the ranks. To the 
 surprise j of Frank and Robert not a man stirred, but to 
 the contrary, all 11 seamed anxious to go. 
 
 Iiv a^few days' the outfit was ready and moved out. 
 It cbnsistsd of five hundred men, all armed> and j being 
 accustomed to btirdenS they tarried their oWn plunder, - 
 twO ; 'hundred burros loaded with tools and goods, such 
 as<Svould ; be most attractive to the natives. This time 
 Ffank^ ; went ahead ' with men and tools and as the 
 natives turned out from each village to assist, they 
 subce^ded in making a ^ Very good r'oad from village to 
 village,^ keeping' ahead of the main body. 
 
 On reaching the mines, men and families were 
 selected for the different prospects along a gulch for 
 about two -miles and each put ut> a small house of 
 poles, then & store 'Was btiilt which was^ tb be head 
 quarters.^ 
 
 Several whip-sa ! ws Were started to keep the camp in 
 lumbe^ : and when the men were comfortably Situated, 
 thos^'who haH r beeri 'with Frank on his first trip were- 
 detailed to teach the others to work. 
 
 At this time there was no place in this whole country 
 
146 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 where there was anything going on except at this 
 camp. The natives for years had been in constant 
 dread of annihilation by a people who were superior 
 to themselves only in the use of fire-arms, and in these 
 two white men they had found a savior. Whenever a 
 dispute arose their word was law, and as they were 
 actuated by principles of justice, without a thought of 
 self-aggrandizement or other selfish motive, they were 
 unconsciously becoming the true missionaries of the 
 gospel of Christ and taught the Golden Rule by precept 
 in every day life. Their motto was, lots of practice 
 and little prayer. 
 
 They believed that labor was the commencement of 
 progress, and that a progressive state could be reached 
 through no other channel, and in order to get the 
 people into a progressive condition they arranged to 
 have work for all, and that the people might be con 
 tented and happy they established a system of traffic 
 with the villagers by which their comforts and wants 
 were fully satisfied. 
 
 As there is a spirit in man's nature that is ever ready 
 to progress when an opportunity is offered, so in this 
 case, the better element in these tribes came to the 
 standard of the unassuming chiefs. Some of course 
 tired of work and went back to their villages, but the 
 many became so accustomed to shifting the whole care 
 of providing from their own shoulders by a little work 
 that they greatly preferred the labor with plenty, to 
 idleness with want. 
 
 Several large burro trains had been put upon the road 
 by native chiefs or kings to keep the store supplied, 
 great herds of goats, too, were constantly being 
 brought up to the villages and driven to the mines and 
 there exchanged for goods in the store, and every one 
 was busy and all had plenty and were happy. The 
 gold was constantly taken to the store and shipped to 
 Kiyongo where the old King put it away in an old 
 house, but by all it was regarded as the property of the 
 white men, and at best, considered of but little 
 consequence. 
 
 The growth of the camp was wonderful and in less 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 147 
 
 than one year other camps had been established; the 
 mines were very rich and the country called New 
 California. 
 
 At the end of the first year over 4,000 men were at 
 work in the mines, and the gold that found its way 
 into the store amounted at that time to the enormous 
 sum of $6,000,000. 
 
 The second year an increase of population was 
 noted, and also in the gold output, and notwith 
 standing that one million dollars had been shipped 
 away for goods in the two years, there was still 
 $12,000,000 in gold bars at Kiyongo. 
 
 At first glance this would seem to be an enormous 
 sum but when we take into consideration the fact that 
 the gold production of the United States of America 
 has been given for the years 1849 and 1850 at $40,000,000 
 and $50,000,000, making in all $90,000,000 for the 
 two years, and that nearly all this vast sum came from 
 the gold mines of California, it will be seen that 
 $12,000,000 pales into insignificance. 
 
 Up to this time Frank and Robert had worked with 
 an eye singly to the good of the peculiar people among 
 whom their sympathies had been enlisted, and now 
 when they were contemplating their wonderful success, 
 Frank said that he thought the time had come when 
 they should get a few more white people into the 
 country and form a government, then throw the country 
 open to the world. "But," said he to Robert, "from 
 what you have told me I think you should take what 
 gold you want, and claim the hand of that Iowa girl. " 
 
 "Yes," said Robert, "I have been thinking about that; 
 but it occurs to me, you would do well to take some of 
 that advice to yourself." 
 
 "Just so," said Frank, "but you see I have promised 
 myself so often that I would do my level best to bring 
 light into Africa, that I seem to be perfectly wedded 
 to the cause that I believe will bring such good to 
 mankind; beside it is dollars to cents that my girl has 
 long ago been sacrificed to some millionaire; I would 
 not have her know that I am alive for fear it would 
 make her unhappy; so I have not written to her." 
 
140 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Exactly right, "said Robert, "and you will hot be 
 surprised to learn that I have dismissed the 'subject 
 from my mind in the same manner and have deter 
 mined to stay with our African propositions to the 
 bitter end. If I fall, it will be while fighting for the"' 
 good of mankind, and I am as anxious to carry out our 
 plan of a civilized government in this country as I 
 ever was. " 
 
 "Right," said Frank, "we will shake on that," and 
 
 0.1 '*.'' 1 II 1 
 
 the two young men clasped hands. 
 
 "Now," said Robert, "as we have agreed to stay With 
 it, don't you think it will be well enough to formulate 
 some plan for future operation?" 
 
 "Certainly," said Frank. After a while, Robert con 
 tinued; "I have always let you have your way, not 
 because I thought you were right, but because I 
 admired your unassuming bravery and reckless, dare 
 devil style of driving ahead; but I want te> tell you 
 now, you are as full of inconsistency as a Texas steer 
 is of the devil. " 
 
 "How so," said Frank. "Well! I will tell you," 
 Robert continued: "in the first place, you 'have always 
 claimed that gold has very little intrinsic value and 
 should never have been used as a substance to make 
 money of, simply because the amount of gold in the ' 
 world is limited to its production and money should 
 only be used to the necessities arising for its use. I 
 have even heard you go so far as to say that the use d! 
 gold as money had produced more misery than any 
 other cause, and still, as fast as possible, ; you at cbA- 
 verting these people who know nothing about gold, 
 into miners instead of teaching them 'to cultivate the 
 earth to better advantage; you see that over in Kiyongo 
 I raised more truck with three or fbur nien than the 
 whole village; now after talking as you always have, 
 to turn around and make miners of all these people; is 
 like a man preaching the religion of Christ, which is 
 all based upon Justice and Charity, and at the same 
 time hoarding up wealth, While Others are suffering, or 
 like standing in a million-dollar church and preaching 
 humility. I am almost perstiarfed to propose abandon- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 149 
 
 iiig this minipg Business, ship the: gpld out of the 
 country and exchange it for something that would 
 benefit the country and in future turn our attention to 
 educating the people. " 
 
 This little speech 'set 'Frank to solid thinking;" he 
 knew it to bd half in jest/ but 1 he r^m^mbered that 
 When a difference of bpiruqii came up between them 
 Robert had nine times out of ten given way to him; he 
 therefore felt it his duty to make a spirt of apology, so 
 he said: "Robert, we are placed , under very peculiar 
 circumstances, and while I have tried to be entirely 
 unselfish arid governed by reason, I must admit that 
 when I look back it seems as if I had t>qen governed 
 by what Orthodox Christians call intuition and Spir 
 itualists would call Spirit control, I know not what it 
 is; ; so long as the results are g6bd^ I care not. 
 
 "In the United States, millions of dollars have been 
 collected, much of it among the poor, and missions 
 established on the islands of 'the sea. The first thing 
 to be dorie in JtheSe missions is generally tp establish a 
 trading-post and monopolize the tfadej and although 
 the trade is ..always for the people, it is quite often the 
 cases that these missions, like Congressmen, soon become 
 rich/ After trade is' established, the next grand object 
 to be attained is to persuade the natives to lay aside 
 one ' yuperstit^m and take up a'nbthe^r for any belief 
 without evidence" is superstition and until the savage 
 is rais'ed to that standatd,in|ellectuany, where he can 
 comprehend the .laws of divinity, ana understand trie 
 develo^nieht Of natural law that proves the Divine 
 teaching to be true tp him they are pnjy superstitions. 
 
 "In corisfequerice of this, missions, the world over, 
 have : beeri failures as civilizers" and only a partial 
 siiqce^s J as a monetary scheme. 
 
 "Now uriless we can adopit some new plan to civilize 
 the people, oiir pl^h is a failure from the commence 
 ment. I have beeri reasoning over -/the matter in this 
 way: Labor is thp' corner stone to all ciyiiization ; 
 without labor there 9ould be nasiich thing as civiiiza- 
 tibh. Tp be busy is to be happy; to be idle 5 is to be 
 miserable arid disconterited. These are facts in man's 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 nature ; therefore the man who fosters labor, builds up 
 civilization; and the man who controls labor through 
 selfish motives, is an enemy to society, to Christianity 
 and to God. 
 
 "These things being true, we must first teach these 
 people to work and make themselves comfortable; we 
 cannot educate them in art, science or religion in their 
 present condition; it would be like resting a building 
 upon its apex. We must not use force, force is wrong; 
 love is law; therefore we must first show, these people 
 the blessings to be derived from labor; then provide 
 them with labor that is new to them and see to it that 
 the result of that labor is improved condition; then 
 the novelty of labor and its benefit combined, will 
 attract these creatures and enlist their energy and when 
 the first day's work is done and its fruit enjoyed, even 
 though it be but a string of beads, if it satisfied the 
 worker, a step in progress has been taken. 
 
 "Admitting these things to be correct, our line of 
 procedure becomes plain. We must create a want 
 our stores all through the mines have done this by 
 putting a variety of goods in sight that are both useful 
 and attractive. Our next duty is to show these people 
 a way by which they can obtain these goods. Our 
 mines are peculiarly adapted to that end and although 
 gold is a substance which receives its value entirely 
 from legislation of other countries, it still answers our 
 purpose in many ways; the work is easily learned and 
 suited to the condition and the gold, too, is ready sale 
 in foreign countries and can be exchanged for such 
 goods as we want. 
 
 "Beside this, it furnishes work for pack trains which 
 come here from all parts of the country. When more 
 white men come into the country and we organize a 
 government, their superstition in favor of using gold 
 as money will be so strong that they will probably 
 insist on using the twelve millions of gold on hand to 
 make coin of, and when a shortage of gold occurs they 
 will want to issue interest-bearing bonds and trade 
 them for gold in London; should they succeed in 
 carrying out this plan, the history of the United States 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 151 
 
 of America would be repeated and in a few years Lon 
 don would have all our gold and silver, even our 
 railroads, our bonds, and a large share of our business; 
 our land, too, would eventually pass into their hands, 
 but what we must try to do, is to make our own money 
 of paper, based upon the wealth of the country and 
 stability of the government and its ability to enforce 
 its own laws. Then we can have this gold to ship as 
 a commodity for the purchase of railroad iron and 
 machinery, and when we add to it our yearly product, 
 we will soon have Steamships and Railroads of our 
 own and no bonds, no interest no foreign capital. 
 
 "The gold that we have has cost nothing, for you see 
 the people set no value on gold, but are well satisfied 
 with their improved condition. The gold we have is 
 not ours but a means that God or nature has entrusted 
 to our keeping, for the benefit of mankind. If we 
 hoard it up or use it to enslave or to control labor, to 
 satisfy a greedy disposition in ourselves, then we are 
 recreant to the trust; but as long as we can furnish and 
 control labor in the interest of the people and civiliza 
 tion we are the true followers of Christ." 
 
 Robert had been listening to all this with an appre 
 ciative interest; they were his own sentiments photo 
 graphed, but he had never heard them so plainly 
 expressed before, and being in a good natured mood, he 
 said, "Frank, you certainly are an enigma. " 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 "Simply because whenever you think you have estab 
 lished a good principle, you base it upon Christianity; 
 and yet you are so entirely different from the people I 
 know who call themselves Christians, that you are 
 about the last piece of material I would have selected 
 had I wanted to make a Christian. I have known you 
 for a long time and have never discovered any Bible, 
 Hymn or Prayer book lying around loose, nor have I 
 ever caught you praying and singing psalms or trying 
 to persuade anyone else to." 
 
 "Psalms and loud prayers, " said Frank, "are for those 
 who need them, but my experience has been so serious 
 and trying in its nature that what little devil there was 
 
1^2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 in my nature has all been driven out by the refining 
 influences of combined love and persecution and my 
 soul goes out to good intuitively, naturally; every 
 breath is an inspiration, every action in business is a 
 prayer for the cause I have espoused that of liberating 
 mankind from the thralldom of ignorance and super 
 stition. The birds in the trees sing psalms to me and 
 my Bible is the love of all mortals; is short and easily 
 understood; my Christianity is not One of creeds, 
 forms and ceremonies but it is the Christianity of love, 
 truth, justice this is what Christ taught, hence is 
 Christianity. " 
 
 "Well," said Robert," if this is Christianity just 
 count me in. I have always considered myself an 
 infidel after the. Ingersoll type and am indebted to you 
 for a knowledge of the name I should rightly assume, 
 and in fact I am rather glad to know that after all I 
 am a Christian." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 T THIS time there were several stores in the mines 
 in charge of men who had been sent out by Mr. 
 Brown at different times. The trail from the coast to 
 the mines had been shortened somewhat and missed 
 Kiyongo by about twenty-five miles and in consequence 
 that place was quite dead, but in case they succeeded 
 in making :a government they had decided to make it 
 the capitol, and now it was thought advisable to make 
 a move in that direction. It was also thought best to 
 consult the wishes of the people. So they were called 
 together and asked if they would prefer going back to 
 their homes and abandoning the mines, but all were 
 unanimous in wishing to stay. They had good, com 
 fortable homes, little gardens, and by their work could 
 get many things at the store which they would never 
 see in the country. 
 
 It was therefore arranged that Robert should remain 
 in, charge of the camps and keep the mines running 
 in full blast. The camp from the first had been care 
 fully managed in every way to improve the condition 
 of the working men. They were constantly encouraged 
 to bring their families, to raise gardens and keep goats, 
 both for milk and mutton. The boys were highly 
 gratified at the result of their labor in the way of civ 
 ilizing the negro and while Robert was to continue the 
 good work, Frank was to go to Kiyongo, assemble the 
 Kings, talk up the advisability of bringing more white 
 men into the country and organizing a strong govern 
 ment that would not only protect the people but also 
 civilize them and teach them many things. 
 
 The camp .was now notified of their intention, and 
 when Frank assembled his little band of soldiers to 
 start for Kiyongo, they came in from all the mines to 
 
154 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 see him off, and their peculiar ways of expressing 
 regrets at parting was not only impressive, but their 
 simplicity and honesty even moved these strong young 
 men to tears. 
 
 The trip to Kiyongo was long and tiresome, but 
 Frank was young and in the height of his glory; he 
 was married to the cause of progress and no millionaire 
 stood in his way. Thus he soliloquized and pushed on. 
 
 When he arrived at Kiyongo, after resting, he held 
 a long consultation with the King, who entered into 
 his plan with childish interest. The wonderful change 
 for the better that had been brought about by these 
 young men in checking the terrible onslaught of the 
 murderous Arabs had completely won his esteem, con 
 fidence and affection. He readily consented to call a 
 meeting of all the Kings who could be reached, and 
 during the interval which would elapse, Frank would 
 explore a route through to the great river that was said 
 to lay east of them, and also find a better way of getting 
 goods. 
 
 Now as everything had been arranged with the King, 
 he was soon embarked on the lake with a small escort 
 in two canoes, and after a few days' rowing on one of 
 the most enchanting lakes imaginable he reached a 
 town at the foot of the lake where he had formerly 
 landed with his army. When it had become known 
 that he had arrived, the natives gathered from every 
 direction to give him a welcome and the King of the 
 place offered his own service as guide. 
 
 As soon as it was possible they were off; including 
 the King's pafty their company was now large and as 
 they had plenty of tools Frank made it a point to 
 improve the road as they went. The distance to the 
 river proved to be about one hundred miles. At the 
 place where they camped two great rivers formed a 
 junction. The country around was smooth but undu 
 lating and apparently the farming land was vast in 
 extent with strips of timber and grass land, ready for 
 the plow. 
 
 A^large island stood in the center of the stream which 
 at this point seemed to widen to a lake several 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 155 
 
 miles in length; and on being sounded for several 
 miles proved to be navigable for the largest ocean 
 steamers, and at the mouth of the river was a beautiful 
 harbor. Frank conceived the idea that at no distant 
 day there would be a grand city at the place of their 
 encampment and named the place Summerville, in 
 honor of his companion. 
 
 Everywhere along the great river they found ruins of 
 large villages which were said to have been destroyed 
 by Arabs; he was told that thoie who escaped death 
 had moved to other settlements. They found many 
 canoes along the bank, and natives from the interior 
 villages were camped there, fishing. These canoes 
 were used in sounding the river, and after seeing all 
 that he thought was necessary of this region, they took 
 a different route to return, by ascending the river 
 several miles then crossing ihe country to the foot of 
 the lake. 
 
 On Frank's return to Kiyongo, he expressed himself 
 to the King as being highly gratified with his trip and 
 stated that the time was not far distant when they 
 would have a railroad from Kiyongo to the coast, 
 The King's knowledge of railroads was, of course, very 
 limited; this was perhaps fortunate, for had he known 
 how the railroad companies in the United States had 
 first robbed the government, then the people, oppressed 
 their employes, and created general distress by their 
 exorbitant rates, levied to produce interest or dividends 
 on watered stock, their unwarrantable discrimination 
 for or against cities, towns, villages and territories, 
 he would certainly have held up his hands in holy 
 horror and said keep out the railroads, for the slavish 
 conditions that they bring about is even worse than 
 being murdered and destroyed by heartless Arabs. 
 
 The time for the convention was now near at hand 
 and Frank improved the time in making preparations 
 for a trip to Mr. Brown's. 
 
 At the appointed time the Kings, to a man, came in 
 obedience to the summons and their greatest curiosity 
 was to know what he would do with so much gold; to 
 them it was like lead and they supposed it would be 
 
r r 1 56 , AN JPEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 used for .bullets to shopt squirrels, but Frank .explained 
 that when a government was formed they would .trade 
 the gold for railroad iron, machinery steam ships and 
 many other things that would be needed by civilized 
 people. He explained to them that a government Was 
 nothing more nor less than an organized society of 
 civilized people formed for the purpose of protecting 
 every individual in his ability to live and enjoy perfect 
 liberty of action so long as ne does nothing to interfere 
 with the rights of others. That inhuman nature there 
 has always cropped out a disposition on the part of a 
 few dishonest, greedy and unscrupulous men to rob and 
 deceive the others and take to themselves all the 
 property and all the good things of earth and .prevent 
 the others from enjoying them; in civilized govern 
 ments crafty and dishonest men have preyed upon 
 the credulity of honest men by inventing all kinds 
 of gambling percentage games to rob the people; ,these 
 games are generally called lotteries or banks. The Faro 
 Bank is quite common, but the most stupendous 
 swindle known to modern times is the National Bank. 
 
 He explained to them that gold had no value of any 
 consequence except as it was used by foreign nations 
 for money, and as its use was only made possible by 
 these swindling monopolies appealing to the supersti 
 tions of the people, it was liable to lose its value any 
 time through the natural progressive spread of light 
 and education, therefore it should be their policy to 
 ship all our gold and exchange it for more valuable 
 commodities as fast as possible. 
 
 He told them that the whole people would constitute 
 the government, and as the gold was one of the natural 
 products of the country, it would be used to put a good 
 and strong government into operation, that is if it was 
 agreeable to their wishes, and as they did not know the 
 damnable effects that a civilized government had pro 
 duced with the natives or Indians of the United States, 
 they readily consented to his plans and authorized 
 him to go ahead, and it was agreed that the seat .of 
 government should be on the lake near Kiyongo, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 157 
 
 It was also agreed that in forming a government each 
 King should continue to rule his own tribe as now, 
 and each should be represented in the national council. 
 That Frank should go to the coast and bring back good 
 white men to take part in organizing the government, 
 and when he returned they were to be once more called 
 together for the "purpose of framing a constitution by 
 which they would all be governed. 
 
 To all of this the great Kings agreed and the pow 
 wow wound up with a great feast. 
 
 As arrangements had already been made for a large 
 pack outfit and one hundred men, Frank started for the 
 coast. Six weeks from that time they camped on Mr. 
 Brown's old camp ground and he noticed that there 
 were a great many others camping there and was 
 pleased to learn that they were Americans. 
 
 On reaching the place the camp was hardly arranged 
 before Mr. and Mrs. Brown were on the spot to extend 
 to Frank the warm hand of friendship and take him to 
 their home, and while Mr. Brown and Frank enjoyed 
 a glass of wine, Mrs. Brown prepared such a lunch as 
 Frank had not tasted for many a day. 
 
 All had plenty to talk about. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
 wanted to know all about Frank and his many experi 
 ences and Frank was anxious to hear the news from 
 the civilized world. It was late the next day before 
 they could even begin to talk about business. . Mr. 
 Brown told him that the gold he had sent was reported 
 as having come from one of the camps near the coast. 
 This he had no doubt done for the purpose of controll 
 ing the trade, out of which he had already made a 
 comfortable fortune, but it suited Frank's purpose very 
 well, so' it was agreed for the present to keep everything 
 quiet about the gold, and this matter over, it was 
 decided that Frank should retire to his room which 
 had been kindly furnished him by Mr. Brown and 
 decorated with flowers for his special use. 
 
 On retiring to his room, Frank was soon busily 
 engaged in poring over the late papers and was not at 
 all disappointed to find that the great journals still 
 found plenty of business in recording strikes, lockouts, 
 
158 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 railroad accidents, new trusts forming, great business 
 outlooks, money to loan in all the banks on good real 
 estate security, the greenback party dead, John L. 
 Sullivan traveling the country as champion of the world, 
 the pugilistic business having a regular boom, wonder 
 ful evidence of prosperity; such as mortgages, bonds 
 and immense sale of whiskey. All the breweries bought 
 by an English syndicate, all rag money destroyed and 
 an honest gold dollar in circulation which would buy 
 more wheat or cotton than any other dollar that was 
 ever made. 
 
 While Frank was contemplating all these wonderful 
 evidences of unparalleled prosperity, a gentleman was 
 ushered into the room by Mrs. Brown and introduced 
 as Mr. Gibbs, an American missionary, who, after a 
 few complimentary remarks had been passed, proceeded 
 to explain that he had come to Africa for the purpose 
 of preaching and teaching Christianity and learning 
 from Mr. Brown that Frank was operating in the 
 interior, sought an interview for the purpose of gain 
 ing some knowledge of the country and people which 
 might guide him in establishing a mission. 
 
 Frank treated Mr. Gibbs with kindness and gave him 
 all the information at his command, and followed his 
 remarks by saying that if they were prepared and desired 
 to instruct the people in the rudiments of knowledge 
 that he and all others of the same class would be very 
 welcome visitors or residents. 
 
 Mr. Gibbs then stated that there were twelve gentle 
 men and seven ladies camped in the grove, all 
 missionaries from different denominations, but one in 
 Christ, and if he would appoint a time when he would 
 address them, they would all be glad to be in attend 
 ance, so they were immediately summoned, and as 
 their method of teaching was satisfactory, Frank 
 closed his remarks by explaining that it was a long and 
 tiresome trip and perhaps too much of an undertaking 
 for ladies, but that the field was open and such as felt 
 themselves equal to the task would receive perfect 
 protection and every facility for travel that was at his 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 159 
 
 The ladies with one voice informed Mr. Bundy that 
 they felt themselves equal to any emergency and all 
 that they asked was protection and they would not be 
 found wanting; everything being satisfactory, it was 
 arranged that^ll should accompany the expedition. 
 As they had their complete outfits they would accept 
 nothing from Frank but a few riding animals for the 
 ladies and they were to be prepared to start in one 
 week. 
 
 That same evening as Frank was sitting quietly in 
 his room musing over the situation, Mrs. Brown 
 announced two gentlemen as desirous of an interview; 
 they were admitted at once. The gentleman in advance, 
 a tall, lean man, introduced himself as Hesikia Lincoln 
 from Kansas, U. S. A.; his companion as Thomas 
 Jefferson of the U. S. These gentlemen afterwards 
 expressed their surprise at finding so young a man and 
 described Frank as being a man of fine form, light 
 complexion, terribly tanned, round smooth face, brown 
 hair, slightly inclined to curl, large blue eyes with a 
 dreamy expression. Honesty of purpose and motive 
 backed by a strong will power seemed to be his leading 
 points. 
 
 As the two men entered the room, he met and gave 
 them a hearty shake, then all were seated and Mr. 
 Lincoln proceeded to inform him that Mr. Jefferson 
 and himself had first met at that place. They had 
 come to Africa for the purpose of bettering their condi 
 tion, but had found things, so far, quite dull and they 
 had sought an interview with him to find out if he 
 could point them to anything in the way of business 
 or employment. 
 
 Frank at once recognized the fact that these were 
 men of brains and he felt his own insignificance, but 
 the quiet, unassuming manner of Mr. Lincoln reassured 
 him as he proceeded to relate that he, Mr. Lincoln, 
 had been a farmer in Kansas, but after the withdrawal 
 of greenbacks was commenced, money became so scarce 
 that he was compelled to borrow from the bank, and 
 when the mortgage became bigger than the farm, 
 sold {or what he QQuI<J get and sought new 
 
l6o AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 The experience of Mr. Jefferson had been similar, 
 only he had been engaged in a different branch of 
 business, and what he most desired at present was more 
 money or some means by which he could obtain that 
 very necessary article. 
 
 Frank explained the condition of things in the interior 
 briefly, then informed them of the desire of the people 
 to form a strong central government. When he came 
 to this part of his narration he saw the face of Mr. 
 Lincoln brighten up and Mr. Jefferson draw his chair 
 a little nearer, and after a few moments pause, Mr. 
 Lincoln asked what kind of government have you 
 thought of forming. The gentlemen had misgivings 
 upon this point, no doubt, for the selfishness and 
 ambition of most men would naturally lead them to 
 form a kingdom and place himself at the head. 
 
 Frank hesitated for a moment, then said: "I think 
 I know the kind of a government we want, and yet I 
 do not know; we certainly want one that will give 
 equal justice to all; we want every man to have equal 
 rights well denned and we want a government strong 
 enough to protect every individual in those rights, but 
 just what kind or government will accomplish these 
 things in the best manner, is what I do not know. " 
 
 Should we accompany you to the interior, Mr. 
 Bundy, could you give us any assurance of being able 
 to provide the necessaries of life while this new gov 
 ernment is in embryo?" 
 
 "Certainly," said Frank, "you will be provided with 
 the best the country affords, and I will furnish you 
 with all the pack and saddle animals you need and give 
 you protection and care to the extent of my ability." 
 So it was arranged that both with their families should 
 accompany the expedition. 
 
 On the following day three young men called on Mr. 
 Bundy and he observed that they were all about his 
 own age. The first introduced himself as William 
 Saunders, an Englishman, the others as Thomas Coy 
 and Charles Baxter, both Americans. They were all 
 good looking, smart and intelligent, and their language 
 
Aft IDEAL REPUBLIC. l6t 
 
 and manners bespoke men of education. They were 
 all adventurers and wished to learn something of the 
 interior. 
 
 Frank gave them a pretty fair description of the 
 country but did not encourage them in going; in fact 
 he was not favorably impressed with them. After a 
 long talk they retired but came again the next day and 
 asked his permission to accompany the expedition at 
 their own expense. 
 
 It was too much for Frank to refuse when the parties 
 were entire strangers and he could not tell why it was 
 that he disliked them, so it was also arranged for them 
 to accompany the expedition. 
 
 On the road it was noticed that they had a good 
 many boxes of ammunition, and as Mr. Lincoln was 
 noticing the boxes, Baxter remarked that he was afraid 
 they had more ammunition than they would need, "but 
 these boxes," said he, "contain surveying tools for I 
 am an engineer." 
 
 The matter passed without farther thought on the 
 part of Mr. Lincoln, but could he have seen the con 
 tents of the boxes he surely would have thought some 
 thing more concerning it. 
 
 The facts were that Mr. Saunders had been a confi 
 dential employe in a bank in England and had managed 
 to get away with $120.000 in gold; he had reached 
 South Africa, where he expected to remain until a 
 compromise could be effected by his friends; Mr. Coy 
 was a bank defaulter from Chicago who was in Africa 
 under almost the same circumstances, with a swag of 
 $100,000; Baxter was a personal friend of Coy's who 
 had been his accomplice, and as he had not been 
 known as such it was intended that some day he would 
 return and fix up a compromise for Coy, by returning 
 a large part of the money. But now that a new gov 
 ernment was to be established, the spirit of speculation 
 with them ran high. 
 
 In a few days goods had been purchased, animals 
 packed the expedition organized and on the move. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 WE again go back to Bopeep. Mr. Goldburg had 
 united his vast wealth with that of Mr. Goldaker, 
 a millionaire of Boston, and with their combined capital 
 they had associated themselves with an English syndi 
 cate or banking firm. When greenbacks were with 
 drawn from circulation money became very scarce and 
 farmers and business men were forced to borrow gold 
 to do business with and take the place of the greenbacks, 
 and while contraction was going on, this English syn 
 dicate, through agents, had loaned out millions of 
 dollars on mortgages which were invariably made 
 payable after harvest, and it was now arranged that the 
 English bankers were to demand immediate payment 
 on their mortgages and stop all farther loans; this 
 would make such a stringency in money matters as to 
 force wheat to its lowest possible price. Then Mr. 
 Goldburg would step in, buy up the surplus crop at 
 half its real value. After this, extensive loans would 
 again be made and wheat go up; in this way they were 
 successfully fleecing the farmers on one hand and con 
 sumers on the other. 
 
 The old Greenbackers, followers of Cooper and 
 Weaver, were constantly exposing the scheme, but 
 they were denounced as cranks by a subsidized press, 
 and the game went merrily on, the people continuing 
 to grow poor and lose their land, while these gold 
 gamblers piled up their millions. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg's associate in Boston, Mr. Goldaker, 
 had a son about twenty-five years of age, and Mr. 
 Goldburg conceived the plan of a marriage between 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 163 
 
 this young man and Rebecca, thereby consolidating the 
 two estates which would add materially to their power 
 as a monetary dynasty. 
 
 Mr. Goldburg had been baffled so often in his plans 
 of marrying his daughter to some man where it would 
 add to his own -power, by enabling him to control more 
 millions, that he now determined to go at things in a 
 business like way; so after making all the necessary 
 arrangements with and having his plan approved by 
 the father and son, he proceeded to bring about a 
 meeting by taking the young man home with him, 
 where he met for the first time Rebecca and her 
 mother. 
 
 After a visit of several days, Mr. Goldaker returned 
 to his home in Boston, highly elated over his visit. 
 Miss Rebecca had treated him with great respect; true, 
 he could not help feeling that she considered him her 
 father's guest, but he was confident that when the ice 
 was broken by her father and the great advantage that 
 would follow the consolidation of the two estates fully 
 explained, all would be well and the conquest would 
 be an easy one. 
 
 On Saturday evening, after the departure of Mr, 
 Goldaker, instead of going into his home office as he 
 usually did and poring over his books until bed-time, 
 Mr. Goldburg waited in the drawing room until his 
 wife appeared. 
 
 The millionaire, in managing so large a business, 
 had cultivated a habit of using just as few words as 
 possible and be understood; he had not probably 
 spoken half a dozen words to his wife or daughter in 
 six months that was not strictly business. He had in 
 fact become just the kind of a man that it takes to 
 pile up millions cold, selfish, and always busy if not 
 working, always thinking, not about science, nor 
 religion, but about gold; after a vast estate has been 
 accumulated, and invested in stocks, bonds, and 
 securities, it will run itself and a man with very little 
 brains or energy can draw the interest; but the first 
 building up of these great dynasties make two things 
 indispensable favorable legislation and a man of very 
 
164 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 peculiar character. Mr. Goldburg it seems turned out 
 to be that kind of a man. As his wife entered the 
 room, he motioned her to a chair and in a very busi 
 ness like way said: "I thought I would speak to you 
 about an arrangement I have made with Mr. Goldaker, 
 the father of the young man you have had as a guest. 
 
 "It is the same banker with whom I have been 
 associated and he is called one of the richest millionaires 
 in the United States; he is getting quite old and if a 
 marriage can be effected between young Mr. Goldaker 
 and Rebecca, he will put his whole estate under my 
 management. 
 
 "The good that will be derived from such an arrange 
 ment can hardly be conceived by a person not conversant 
 with the methods of handling aggregated capital. As 
 an illustration, with these two estates consolidated, I 
 can buy up legislators, control the legislatures, conven 
 tions and elections; can lobby bills through Congress to 
 advance my personal gain, without asking the odds of 
 other capitalists and when the consolidated bankers 
 carry a bill through Congress to scoop the people, I 
 will be prepared to take advantage of it and increase 
 my holdings all over the United States. 
 
 "I am sorry to see that Rebecca has so stubbornly 
 rejected all propositions ot marriage heretofore and I 
 hope you will give her an outline of my plan. I shall 
 depend upon you to assist in bringing the very strongest 
 influences to bear to insure a consummation of this 
 plan. I think it will be best for you to explain first 
 and I will try to see her myself in the course of a few 
 days and shall hope not to be compelled to use coer 
 cion. " Thus saying, without giving his wife a chance 
 to reply, he left the room. 
 
 It so happened that the Goldburg family had some 
 years before taken a small black boy to raise, who was 
 now about ten years old; he was extremely bright but 
 very rougish and had learned to love Rebecca with that 
 love that is only begotten by kindness. This boy was 
 in the room during the whole conversation and little 
 did Mr. Goldburg think how interested he had been. 
 As soon as the millionaire left the room, Fred, for that 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 165 
 
 Was his name, slipped unnoticed from the room and a 
 moment later a rap was heard on Rebecca's door. 
 Rebecca recognizing the tap as being that of her pet 
 black boy, opened the door at once and the little fellow 
 rushed in, his face shining black with excitement. 
 
 "O Missus Becca!" he said, "does you like that ar 
 dude from Boston?" 
 
 "Who are you calling dude?" said Rebecca. "O dat ar 
 man dat talks about theatres, clubs and prize fights. " 
 
 "O you naughty boy, you must not talk that way 
 about Mr. Goldaker. " 
 
 "I say Missus Becca, do you like Mr. Goldaker?" 
 
 "Of course I do, child, but why do you ask?" 
 
 "Cuz your pa said you must marry him and he would 
 get a big lot of money solidated." "Who did he tell?" 
 
 "He told your ma, deed he did, Missus." 
 
 "Where is mama? Come, I must see her." 
 
 The boy led the way to Mrs. Goldburg, and when 
 they entered the room her mother guessed what had 
 transpired and proceeded to relate the whole talk. 
 
 Rebecca was not surprised for she had expected 
 something of this kind sooner or later, but now that it 
 had come she was all unnerved and she said in a 
 pitiful, childish manner, "Mama, it seems awful to 
 think that papa would be willing to sacrifice all my 
 hope of happiness for gold when he already has more 
 of the precious metal than he can ever use; it seems 
 as though all that Satan offered Jesus would not be 
 enough for him." 
 
 "I know what the matter of him is," said Fred, 
 "he'es got goldoramus. " 
 
 "What do you mean, you little scamp?" said Rebecca. 
 "I will shut you up in the kitchen if you say another 
 word. " 
 
 At this the boy went back to his hiding place, behind 
 a large chair, and the thought of a pan of doughnuts 
 that he saw the cook put away that day, flashed across 
 his mind as he contemplated Rebecca's awful sentence 
 and a broad grin spread over his face. 
 
 Turning to her mother, Rebecca said, "Who would 
 think that Fred would remember my talk of the plu- 
 
1 66 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 tocrats having goldoramus. I never would have thought 
 of it again. There is no accounting for the memory 
 of children." 
 
 "He will probably remember that when other things 
 of much more importance have long been forgotten," 
 said her mother. 
 
 "It did not sound so badly," said Rebecca, "when I 
 said it, but to hear it repeated makes me feel so small. " 
 
 "You have spoiled the boy," said Mrs. Goldburg, 
 "you treat him more as a pet than as a servant." 
 
 Rebecca made no reply to this but after a moment's 
 pause said to her mother, "What do you think of this 
 whole affair; don't you consider Mr. Goldaker rather 
 presuming to want to marry a girl who has no thought 
 of him whatever?" 
 
 "Of course," said her mother, "it looks strange, but 
 with millionaires it seems that there is but one consid 
 eration in life and that is gain; gain beyond compe 
 tency means power to control and oppress others. It 
 is the religion of the devil and its devotees are just as 
 much in earnest as are the followers of Christ's noblest 
 teachings. " 
 
 "Well, I won't like the man and I will never encour 
 age him." 
 
 Then the little black boy jumped out from behind 
 the chair where he had been quietly sitting and coming 
 up to Rebecca, said, "I don't ,like him eithe*r," and 
 Rebecca having forgotten her little fit of anger at the 
 boy, said, "why, Fred, why don't you like Mr. Gold 
 aker?" "Cuz," said Fred, "cuz he's got goldoramus." 
 Seeing the look that came upon Rebecca's face, he 
 quickly returned to his hiding place. 
 
 To say that Rebecca was provoked, would be to put 
 it too mildly, but it was not in her heart to punish the 
 boy, and as both ladies were too sad to talk they 
 retired to their separate apartments. 
 
 There had, perhaps, been no time in Rebecca's life 
 when she had been more sorely tried than now and she 
 sought consolation in prayer. Oh! how she longed for 
 Frank's strong arm to lean upon; she would rather go 
 with him into a sh "*" -\nd live upon the earnings of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC; 167 
 
 a poor wage-worker than be made a slave to her 
 father's lust for gold; in her anguish she prayed that 
 the gold might be sunk in the bottom of the sea. 
 Why, oh, why, did not Frank come back? She prayed 
 that God might send an angel to tell her when he would 
 come back. At last she cried herself to sleep and in 
 her dreams she seemed to see Frank in an office in a 
 beautiful city, in a wild country and among a strange 
 people; when he saw her he clasped her to his bosom 
 and said, "O, how glad you have made me, I felt sure 
 you had been sacrificed to some millionaire long 
 before this." 
 
 The dream was so real that on awaking she could 
 hardly realize it was but a dream, and when she awoke 
 in the morning she was happy in spite of her trouble. 
 After making her preparations for breakfast she con 
 sulted her watch and finding she had some time to 
 spare, went into the garden. The sun had just risen, 
 to shed its golden light on nature's broad expanse; 
 the birds in drooping branches were warbling sweet 
 notes of welcome ; the morning glory and sunflower 
 had already turned their faces eastward to welcome the 
 coming day; the dew sparkled on every leaf and flower; 
 the roses drooped in rich magnificence and.pansies 
 seemed to vie with them for beauty's palm; the pink 
 verbena and even hollyhock seemed to look their very 
 best, and Rebecca stood for a long time entranced by 
 this wonderful display of God's great goodness; finally 
 her heart overflowed and she sank to the earth and 
 thanked God for his wonderful goodness. 
 
 After breakfast Mr. Goldburg went as usual to his 
 office. There was no rest for him; Sunday was often 
 his busiest day. 
 
 Rebecca and her mother went to church and the 
 subject was, "Suffering in this world that we may 
 inherit glory hereafter." The ideas presented by their 
 new pastor interested them very much, for he was a 
 man far in advance of his creed. 
 
 On reaching home the place seemed to be enshrouded 
 in gloom. A family storm was imminent. Mrs. Gold- 
 burg had watched the effect of wealth on her husband's 
 
1 68 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 disposition too closely not to recognize in his words 
 the day before a determination to enforce complete 
 submission to his will. Rebecca had disregarded his 
 wishes in rejecting proposals of marriage from several 
 prominent millionaires and it was now evident he 
 would use extreme measures. She knew Rebecca would 
 resist these measures to the bitter end and would never 
 submit to be forced into marriage with one she did not 
 love. As a kind mother, she felt it her duty to shield 
 her daughter from her father's arbitrary power, even 
 though it brought about a separation, which she felt 
 it was sure to do. From threatening remarks of her 
 husband she had long feared something of this kind 
 and she felt that opposition now would lead him to 
 carry out his threat. 
 
 They were not long in the house before a servant 
 handed Mrs. Goldburg a note from her husband, stating 
 he had been called to Boston by telegraph and might 
 be gone a month. 
 
 On Monday, Mrs. Goldburg's attention was called to 
 a case of destitution on the outskirts of the city, a 
 widow and her only daughter. Rebecca, taking with 
 her the colored boy, visited them and found the girl 
 suffering from a slight attack of biliousness; she gave 
 them money and promised to send them medicine. On 
 returning home, she found a letter awaiting her, post 
 marked Boston. She had great misgivings in opening 
 it and as she suspected, it was from her would-be 
 suitor. It was loving in the extreme. Feeling pro 
 voked at the situation, she went to her desk and replied, 
 stating that she had regarded him simply as her father's 
 guest and as such, he would be always welcome, but 
 anything further, he must banish from his mind forever 
 
 Having finished* the letter, she placed it in an en 
 velope, directed it and laid it aside. 
 
 Taking another sheet of paper she wrote to the sick 
 girl as follows: 
 
 MY DEAR; Take five pills at bedtime; after that one 
 each day until you are all right, then come and see me. 
 
 REBECCA. 
 
 This she put in an envelope, also, laid it on the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. l6g 
 
 desk and set a box of pills beside it to be sent by the 
 black boy to the sick girl on the following day; this 
 done, she set a copy for the boy, as was her custom, 
 called him in and set him to writing. She had already 
 taught him to write quite well, but she kept him 
 practicing, as she said, to keep him out of mischief; 
 as soon as he was at work, she went to the drawing 
 room to receive some callers. 
 
 No sooner had Rebecca gone, than the black boy 
 dropped his pen, took the two letters out of the 
 envelopes and after reading both, the thought struck 
 him to play a gook joke on the Dude, as he called Mr. 
 Goldaker, by changing the letters in the envelopes; to 
 make it of more force, he added to Rebecca's letter to 
 the girl copying the hand as near as possible "you 
 have goldoramus; this will cure it. " Then putting this 
 in the envelope addressed to the Dude. This done he 
 put the two letters back in the exact place he had 
 found them. 
 
 When the company were gone Rebecca ran into the 
 room, picked up the letters, examined the addresses 
 to see that everything was correct, then sealing them, 
 gave Mr. Goldaker's letter to the boy and sent him to 
 post it at once. 
 
 When the letter had been laid on Mr. Goldaker's 
 table, he was delighted at itsearly coming and hailed 
 it as a good omen; he opened it with perfect confi 
 dence of having his love returned; but what must have 
 been his surprise when he read: 
 
 MY DEAR; Take five pills at bedtime; after that one 
 each day until you are all right, then come and see me; 
 you have goldoramus, this will cure it. REBECCA. 
 
 As he had boasted about the letter that he would 
 receive from Bopeep, from the heiress there, his two 
 companions in the office, were watching him and ex 
 pected he would read to them extracts, at least, of its 
 expressions of love; but on the contrary, he hastily put 
 it out of sight, and not a word or thought did he divulge. 
 
 That night, when alone in his room, he re-read the 
 letter, studying it carefully; then resolved to do a little 
 nice detective work. The first thing to be ascertained 
 
170 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 was the meaning of goldoramus; he could not find the 
 word and concluded she must have a vocabulary of her 
 own. As luck would have it there was a woman at this 
 time cooking in the Goldburg household that had worked 
 in his father's family for many years, so he wrote to 
 her as follows: 
 
 MY DEAR MRS. STRAW: Please burn this letter and 
 keep it all a secret. What I want you to do is to find 
 out what is the meaning of the word goldoramus and 
 let me know. See what dictionary the folks use and 
 then find the word. 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Straw read the word it occurred to 
 her that she had heard the black boy use it often, so 
 she called him and asked what he meant by goldoramus? 
 
 "Don't you know what dat means?" said the boy. 
 
 'No," said the woman, "do you?" 
 
 "To be cors* I doz. Missus Becca says when a man 
 wants all de gole das in de world, and den wants to 
 lend it to de people to use for money and den wants a 
 mortgage on all de property dar is on de earth, den 
 wants people to pay him ten per cent intrust and den 
 in ten years heel have all his gold back and close all 
 de mortgages and take all de property, den wants de 
 people to borrow de gole again to pay rent wid and so 
 on, and so on, and so on, den Missus Becca says dat 
 man hab got a disease and it am called goldoramus 
 cause its caused by gold and is bery hard to cure. ' 
 
 This was lucky and Mrs. Straw took down the state 
 ment, word for word, and sent it to the millionaire. 
 
 Mr. Goldaker had hoped that it might be that some 
 one had sent the letter to him for a trick, but on receipt 
 of this he gave that theory up. He was not yet willing 
 however to give up the hope of getting hold of so large 
 an estate, so he resolved to await developments. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE expedition from Mr. Brown's attracted great 
 attention in the villages they passed through, and 
 being with Frank, whose name had been handed from 
 tongue to tongue throughout the whole country, they 
 were made to feel welcome everywhere, and on reaching 
 Kiyongo the natives turned out enmasse to give them 
 welcome. 
 
 The King offered them quarters in the village, but 
 as they were well provided with tents it was decided to 
 continue on to the old military post and there establish 
 a permanent camp. 
 
 On arriving at the place they were soon comfortably 
 fixed and Mr. Baxter's skill soon came in play in lay 
 ing off the grounds. The greatest activity prevailed 
 but Baxter, Coy and Saunders were not so busy but 
 what they found time to lay plans for future operations. 
 
 Mr. Coy who had been thoroughly schooled in the 
 way the bankers and money sharks had robbed the 
 American people and gobbled up the property of a vast 
 continent in a very few years, said to his two com 
 panions, Baxter and Saunders, "the first thing to do 
 is to run a few base lines, map the country and try and 
 get a grant; now is the time to get it, before these 
 people learn its value." 
 
 It might be well to mention here that Frank had 
 never confided in any one concerning his plans except 
 Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Jefferson, and as he had by this 
 time learned to talk the native language there was no 
 interpreter with the expedition except those under his 
 immediate control and they were not allowed to give 
 any information in regard to the mines or to the gold. 
 He had daily conference with the King, also with 
 Lincoln and Jefferson, in whom he had learned to 
 
172 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 implicit confidence, and it was finally decided to call a 
 convention of the Kings to be assembled two months 
 from that time, and that during the interval they were 
 to secure the services of Mr. Baxter to look out a route 
 for a railroad to the great river. Mr. Lincoln was to go 
 in charge of the expedition, and Frank and Mr. Jeffer 
 son were to remain behind and put up a building. It 
 was decided also that the missionaries should remain 
 in camp until the Kings assembled, when it was 
 believed that arrangements could be made for all. 
 
 When Mr. Baxter's services were solicited as engineer 
 to look out and make a preliminary survey of a route 
 for a railroad to the great river, he entered into the 
 work with the greatest enthusiasm and said that all the 
 pay he would ask was to be comfortably furnished 
 with suitable escorts and assistance and he would make 
 one map for Mr. Bundy and one for himself and that 
 a copy of all notes made should be turned over for 
 future reference; so the expedition embarked at once, 
 consisting of Mr. Lincoln, Baxter, Saunders and Coy, 
 and also two of the missionaries who had volunteered 
 their services. They were furnished with an escort of 
 ten men, and as they shipped in canoes to the foot of 
 the lake, an order on the King of that time was given 
 them for provisions and pack animals; they were also 
 furnished with an interpreter. 
 
 After this expedition had started messengers were 
 dispatched in every direction to summon the Kings to 
 a council to be held two months from that time. 
 
 Now that this business had been attended to, Frank 
 was left to a consideration of home affairs. Some of 
 the Missionaries had already called his attention to the 
 great beauties of the place where their camp was 
 situated and said they had been talking up the possi- 
 bilities of establishing a large mission there and making 
 it the headquarters of the whole Missionary work. It 
 being situated on the lake would make easy communi 
 cation with the different tribal kingdoms. 
 
 Frank encouraged their plans and as one of the Mis 
 sionaries was a civil engineer and had an instrument 
 along, it was arranged to lay off a town, and when the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 173 
 
 survey was completed Frank made it known that he 
 intended to take a party of natives with whip saws, 
 crosscuts and axes and go up the river to the pineries 
 and get out lumber for a building and raft it down. 
 This idea seemed to strike a sympathetic chord among 
 the missionaries- and they at once decided to accompany 
 him and, as there were plenty of canoes and men to 
 man them, the expedition was soon on its way. 
 
 The Missionaries were not drones but the reverse of 
 this; they were generally men of nerve, men of muscle 
 and men of brains, and now that they were out from 
 the thralldom of church discipline their minds were 
 beginning to expand, and as they were often found 
 reading the teachings of Christ, Frank had strong 
 hopes that they would eventually accept those teach 
 ings in their simplicity, in their purity, unobscured by 
 church creed and musty dogmas. They had enlisted 
 to carry Christianity to the heart of Africa, at a sacri 
 fice of even life, if it became necessary, and if they 
 could be induced to lay aside their dogmas and creeds 
 and teach truth and justice he felt they would be a 
 power. 
 
 The ladies were mild, lovable, but courageous in the 
 work they had undertaken and ready to do anything in 
 their power to further the interests of their mission, 
 and a trip to the great forests for the purpose of 
 securing the much needed lumber, to them seemed 
 eminently proper. When once encamped among the 
 great pines they would breathe nature's pure, inspiring 
 atmosphere laden with the rich perfumes, common to 
 those woodlands, hold their meetings of worship at 
 night and assist during the day in making the camp 
 comfortable for those who were so busily engaged in 
 getting lumber to put up two buildings, one for the 
 new government and one for the mission school. 
 
 As soon as they returned with the lumber it was 
 stacked up for drying. A large tent was stretched and 
 put in readiness for the coming convention. A part of 
 the lumber came in good play for tables, benches, etc., 
 and while the men were attending to the preliminaries 
 the ladies had no'v been idle; beneath the boughs of a 
 
174 AN IDE AL REPUBLIC. 
 
 great live oak they had set a table and formed a class 
 of boys and girls, among whom were the two inter 
 preters, and teaching of the rudiments of the English 
 language was commenced. In this school the natives 
 made such rapid progress in mastering English that in 
 less than one month fifty native families had moved to 
 the town to give their children a chance to attend the 
 school. The natives had never seen as yet anything 
 of the whites but kindness, justice and protection and 
 they had learned to look on them as a species of 
 good spirit. 
 
 A few days before the appointed time for the con 
 vention the Kings began to drop in; some came in 
 canoes, others with burros, and the surveyors' expedi 
 tion also returned on time, having gathered informa 
 tion from which a very accurate map of that part of 
 the country could be made, and it was found that the 
 most practicable route for a railroad from the river to 
 the lake would be about one hundred miles. 
 
 When the time arrived for the convention there were 
 thirty of the Kings on the ground and it was agreed 
 that they, with all the whites were to have equal voice 
 in the convention; the assistance of the ladies was 
 solicited but they all declined. 
 
 On the day appointed, the convention came to order 
 by calling Mr. Bundy to the chair and Mr. Lincoln as 
 secretary. The object of the meeting was then stated 
 and after prayer by Mr. Taylor, one of the missionaries, 
 the convention was declared read^ for business. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Jefferson, a committee of three 
 was appointed by the chair, as follows: Mr. Jefferson, 
 Kemp and Coy to draft articles which might be debated 
 and afterward used as a guide to frame a constitution. 
 
 An hour was then spent in hearing remarks from 
 different members, after which the convention adjourned 
 until nine o'clock the next day. 
 
 On the following day the convention was called to 
 order promptly at nine o'clock, Mr. Bundy in the 
 chair; after roll call the report of the committee was 
 called for and Mr. Jefferson responded, stating that the 
 committee had failed to agree, but that he had formu- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 175 
 
 lated a few thoughts as they suggested themselves 
 which he would bring before the convention and such 
 points as appeared objectionable could be stricken out; 
 he then proceeded to read as follows: 
 
 RIGHTS OF MAN. 
 
 That all mankind are created free and equal, endowed 
 with certain inherent rights; that of worshiping God 
 according to the dictates of his or her own conscience, 
 of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that by 
 nature all are equally entitled to the products of nature, 
 which are the gifts of God. 
 
 That governments are formed for the purpose of 
 protecting each member in all these things, and while 
 a solitary citizen, man, woman or child, is living 
 hungry or half clad, government is a failure. 
 
 That poverty, ignorance and want are more formida 
 ble enemies than invading armies, and that the greatest 
 object to be attained by forming government is to 
 prevent poverty and want and to overcome ignorance, 
 by wholesome education and protect life commensurate 
 with human happiness. 
 
 That the right to make laws belongs to the people 
 and should never be delegated to any man or set of 
 men, and no act should become law until passed by 
 two houses and voted upon by the people. 
 
 That air, land and water are the lawful inheritance 
 of all and should in no case be monopolized by any 
 man or set of men, individual or incorporation to the 
 exclusion of others except so far as may be necessary 
 for their own individual use, and that whenever the 
 use of land is discontinued for two years it shall revert 
 to government and become public domain. 
 
 That the right of property must ever remain sacred, 
 and be protected by such inheritance laws as will for 
 ever prevent an aggregation of property or wealth in 
 the hands of a few, and the strong arm of the Republic 
 should be thrown around the family and its home. 
 
 That to secure the right of property among the people 
 it is hereby declared to be one of the fundamental 
 principles of this government that no man, woman, 
 child or association shall in any way inherit more than 
 
176 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 $100,000 of money or property, and if any man, woman 
 or child sell or transfer property to one of his lawful 
 heirs, at the death of the giver, the same airmunt shall 
 be considered an inheritance and all above '$100,000 
 shall revert to the government. 
 
 That the experience of nations has demonstrated 
 beyond doubt that wealth is power, and when concen 
 trated in the hands of a few becomes dangerous to the 
 existence of good government, and it is therefore 
 declared to be the policy of our people to levy an 
 income tax that will prevent any man's income from 
 exceeding $10,000 per year. 
 
 That all property or money belonging to any man, 
 woman or association above $100,000 shall be consid 
 ered a surplus and his or their right to hold the same 
 shall only exist during the life of the holder, and then 
 in default of heirs revert to the government. 
 
 That history teaches from time immemorial, clans 
 and sects have been a prominent factor in the way of 
 human progress; that political parties being in a direct 
 line of descent from these clans are looked upon as 
 being dangerous to the honest exercise of good gov 
 ernment, and it is the policy of this government that 
 they be prohibited by law. 
 
 That the competition in the civilized world and par 
 ticularly in the United States between joint stock com 
 panies and private enterprise has proved beyond all 
 question or doubt that incorporated joint stock compa 
 nies thoroughly and systematically organized are the 
 strongest and most economic method of doing business, 
 yet developed. It is therefore declared to be the policy 
 of this government that all business where a working 
 capital of over $100,000 is required may be done by 
 *n incorporated company, organized after the form 
 herein prescribed. 
 
 That it is the sense of this convention that the con 
 stitution of the United States of America contains the 
 best formulated rules and principles for the guidance 
 of good government yet invented and that it should be 
 consulted extensively in framing our constitution. 
 
 That money is not property but a means of trans- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 ferring property, that its value consists in the ability 
 of the holder to exchange it for property; it is a note 
 of credit with the government at its back; it represents 
 the confidence of the people in the ability of the gov 
 ernment to perform its functions, and as the people are 
 the government it represents the confidence we have in 
 ourselves. 
 
 That silver may be used for coins ranging from ten 
 cents to one dollar, their weight regulated for con 
 venience without regard to cost of material. 
 
 That to make money of gold or any other substance, 
 where the value of the substance is liable to fluctuate 
 and where the amount in existence is limited to the 
 chance of finding, is an error of the past simply 
 because money should only be limited to the necessities 
 arising for its use. It is therefore declared to be the 
 policy of this government in order to foster and 
 encourage mining, that all surplus gold, silver, copper 
 and lead be bought up, run into bars convenient for 
 handling and kept for future use or foreign trade. 
 
 That in order to supply the people with money and 
 a safe place of deposit, government should provide 
 sub-treasuries where the business of the place will 
 warrant it. 
 
 That in organizing our government: it should have a 
 department for the purpose of organizing and con 
 trolling joint stock companies. This department should 
 be sub-divided as follows: Railroad and transportation 
 department; Telegraph and news gathering department; 
 Ship building department; Steamboat and navigation 
 department; Commercial department; Manufacturing 
 department; Mining department, and so on throughout 
 every branch of business. 
 
 METHOD OF ORGANIZING COMPANIES. 
 
 In any town or village where a wholesale store 
 becomes necessary, requiring a capital of $100,000 or 
 over, a mass meeting may be called and resolutions 
 adopted setting forth the necessities of such an institu 
 tion; the report of this meeting should be published in 
 all local papers for at least one month prior to election 
 and then be voted on. 
 
17 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 The officers necessary to run a wholesale store of 
 this kind should consist of president, secretary and 
 general manager; suitable persons to fill these places 
 should be elected and anybody become a candidate by 
 publishing a card to that effect. The persons elected 
 as officers should lay a report of all the proceedings 
 before the chief of department, who would lay the 
 same before Congress, and when approved by that 
 body, it would be returned to the chief of department, 
 who would grant commissions to the officers and cause 
 stock on the company to be struck in ten dollar shares, 
 to the amount of the capital required; the same amount 
 in full legal tender money of the government, together 
 with the stock, be sent to the sub-treasury nearest the 
 place of business, the money to be subject to the order 
 of the president of the company and the stock kept on 
 sale. All joint stock companies should be organized 
 in the same or similar manner. 
 
 Railroads, steamboat lines, telegraphs, manufactories, 
 in fact, every enterprise where $100,000 or over is 
 required, should be organized and operated on the 
 same general principle; the government furnishes the 
 money and the people do the work; keeping it in mind, 
 that money is only a means to facilitate business 
 transactions. 
 
 That money is not capital labor is capital; and 
 money is a measure that enables capital to operate. 
 We have a whole continent of fertile land; it is not 
 capital. We have great mountains, no doubt contain 
 ing rich mines; that is not capital. A London banker 
 would not give ten cents for this whole continent 
 without labor; therefore we. conclude that labor is 
 capital and money a means nothing more and for a 
 government to fail to provide a sufficient amount of 
 money to keep every man at work, is a crime against 
 man and a crime against God. 
 
 All large business being run on the same general 
 principle, it naturally follows that the sub-treasury will 
 be constantly well supplied with stock of all kinds and 
 all the savings of the country will pass back into the 
 treasury in exchange for stock. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 179 
 
 The officers of a company are elected by the people 
 but receive their commissions from the chief of the 
 department, who may at any time remove them for 
 cause, and appoint others, subject to the approval of 
 the Senate. 
 
 Railroads beiQg built on the same general plan for 
 increase of road an increase of stock should also be 
 issued and kept on sale. 
 
 All joint stock business should be so regulated that 
 it will pay seven per cent on stock; five per cent of 
 this to be paid to the stockholder and the remainder 
 retained by the government to create a fund, from 
 which a full dividend and arrearages will be paid on 
 all stock of companies that have run behind; the balance 
 to be turned into the treasury. 
 
 Should there be found a fund in the treasury increas 
 ing from this and. other sources that threatens to so far 
 contract the currency as to depress business, then fares 
 and freights may be reduced and public work com 
 menced that will keep the money in circulation. 
 
 Newspapers, publishing houses, and colleges may be 
 run on the same general, joint stock plan. 
 
 That it shall be the business of every sub-treasury 
 to keep stock constantly on hand and exchange the 
 same for money or buy stock at its face value at any 
 and all times. 
 
 That it shall be the duty of Congress to fix the rate 
 of all wages for all joint-stock companies and it should 
 be fixed, as nearly as possible, after the following 
 plan: Take the price of good board and lodging for 
 one day and multiply by four; that should constitute a 
 days' s wages. 
 
 Should it occur at any time that there are more men 
 in the country than can get work, government should 
 commence public work at once that will furnish 
 employment for every man and passes should be given 
 over all the roads to the work. 
 
 That government should have a detective system, 
 with representatives in every city, town and hamlet 
 and all branches of business be so thoroughly and 
 systematically guarded as to remove all possibility of a 
 
l8o AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 practice of the famous knock-down system so common 
 in the United States of America. 
 
 When Mr. Jefferson finished, a profound silence 
 reigned; the natives occupied seats on one side of the 
 hall, the whites on the other; it was evident from the 
 commencement of reading that the articles would find 
 but little favor among the white members outside of 
 Lincoln, Jefferson and Bundy; but these men felt that 
 a force was about to be put in motion that no hand 
 could stay or control; and its effect, good or bad, upon 
 the progress of mankind, would depend largely upon 
 what kind of force it was. 
 
 "The human family," said Mr. Jefferson, "are con 
 stantly looking for a guiding star. Our government 
 must be that star; its brilliancy will depend upon its 
 power for the good of all. As we approach a higher 
 plane of civilization, man's brilliancy must depend 
 upon intellect and honesty of purpose and not, as now, 
 upon wealth, chicanery and show. Classes must fade 
 and pass away; creeds and dogmas be forever destroyed; 
 religion simplified to the Commandments and Golden 
 Rule. These are now covered up in the fog of creeds, 
 'dogmas and superstitions. Churches must be shorn of 
 their money making practices by destroying the power 
 of gold, and God's blessing be meted out to all and 
 His holy light shine upon mankind in all its brilliancy 
 and splendor." 
 
 The reader will remember that Coy and Saunders 
 were bank defaulters and had their gold buried, as 
 gold always is when most needed, only waiting for 
 legislation to give it value. They had been schooled 
 in the methods by which great countries had been and 
 were being controlled by bankers through the use of 
 gold. Mr. Baxter was to them a willing tool and 
 would share largely in their profits, if favorable legisla 
 tion could be secured; at present the only value their 
 gold had was in the superstitious idea of the white 
 men that its use as money was among the fixed princi 
 ples of government which could not be altered. 
 
 They had talked the matter over the night before 
 and formulated a plan to start a National Bank, and as 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. l8l 
 
 they had all the money in the country, they would 
 keep it in reserve and loan the new government 
 $600,000 of good, sound, paper money, based on their 
 $200,000 in gold. 
 
 For this $600,000 loan to the new government they 
 would take bonds with interest payable semi-annually; 
 then they would deposit these bonds and be allowed by 
 law, to issue ninety per cent of the amount in good, 
 honest paper money, secured by the bonds, and loan it 
 to the people; when that money was all gone, they 
 could get a law passed, allowing them to deposit their 
 notes and securities and issue another ninety per cent 
 on them, and so keep on, and not only supply the 
 government with all the money needed, but keep the 
 people well supplied and at a very reasonable interest. 
 "This plan," said Saunders, "is based upon true prin 
 ciples of banking, and any one familiar with banks 
 and banking, will know it is not unreasonable. We 
 have the gold to base our money on and of course it 
 will be sound currency; should any man doubt our 
 ability to furnish all the money required for the whole 
 country, let him look at the Bank of England; it 
 started less than two centuries ago, with a handful of 
 gold and a few government securities and upon this 
 same plan, it has loaned money to the government 
 until the government debt became so great, that the 
 thought of ever paying it, has long since been aban 
 doned and the people have settled down to the idea 
 that they must pay interest as long as the government 
 lasts. So-called wise statesmen are proclaiming the 
 doctrine that a government debt is a government 
 blessing." 
 
 Mr. Coy said, "the United States had established 
 the same system of banking and under its bracing 
 influence, the country is prospering immensety; million 
 aires are springing up all over the country and the 
 wealthy classes would soon be as permanently recog 
 nized as in England." 
 
 The course pursued by these men will not cause 
 surprise when the reader remembers the fact that the 
 bankers of other countries fought the plan ot govern- 
 
1 82 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 ment issuing and controlling the money in the interest 
 of the people. Having this grand money making 
 scheme already planned, they were prepared to bring it 
 before the great convention. 
 
 The Missionaries, as has been stated, were men of 
 brains but their reasoning faculties had been dulled by 
 swallowing dogmas; now that they had mastered the 
 art of believing the most absurd theories, without 
 evidence, they were satisfied to simply teach and 
 preach and left others to do the work. They looked 
 upon bankers as a peculiar kind of being whom God 
 had, for some mysterious reason, designed to be 
 millionaires and then forgot to mention it in His book; 
 that they were endowed with the special faculty of 
 understanding finances; so much so, that even Con 
 gressmen allowed them to dictate laws, and Presidents 
 made them their first counselors. To form a govern 
 ment and run it without bankers, was something 
 unprecedented, and when they learned that Coy and 
 Saunders were not only bankers, schooled in the art, 
 but that they actually had the gold in hand to base 
 their business upon, they felt sure God had sent them 
 there for the express purpose of furnishing the new 
 government with money; they looked upon Mr. Jeffer 
 son as a kind of political heretic and were likely to 
 oppose his extreme measures. 
 
 President Bundy had watched the course of things 
 and being fully impressed with the importance of 
 discussions in such matters, stated that the document 
 was before the house and must be disposed of. 
 
 A motion was then made by Mr. Coy to lay it on the 
 table and that a copy of the Constitution of the United 
 States be taken up by sections, and adopted or rejected 
 by vote. Mr. Coy spoke in favor of the motion and 
 branded the articles as a mass of absurdities and its 
 author as a political fanatic or an escaped Kansas- 
 calamity-howler; when he had finished, Mr. Jefferson 
 explained at some length that concentrated wealth had 
 been the oppressor ot mankind from time immemorial; 
 rivers of blood had been poured out to satisfy man's 
 greed; it was not confined to any particular country or 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 183 
 
 people, but in all countries and in every age, the con 
 centration of wealth had often become a power stronger 
 than government itself. In the United States, said he, 
 unbridled greed has concentrated property so rapidly, 
 that the most intelligent, the most industrious people 
 the world has ever produced, are being reduced to a 
 state of penury, if not into absolute slavery. 
 
 "No good," said he, "ever came to the masses from 
 the concentration of wealth. Wherever millionaires 
 exist, paupers must also be found. Suppose the 
 average wealth per capita is $500; it will take two 
 thousand paupers to make one millionaire: or in other 
 words, a man will have to rob two thousand men to 
 become a millionaire, for it is a demonstrated fact that 
 no man can begin with $500 and by legitimate business 
 become a millionaire in a natural lifetime; therefore 
 every man who accumulates $1,000,000 in his lifetime 
 is as much a robber as a Younger or a James. 
 
 "But suppose a man accumulates $100,000,000, how 
 many men has he robbed, and how many families have 
 lost their homes? Two thousand paupers for each 
 million would reach the immense sum of 200.000 men 
 made poor and their families turned into the street or 
 forced to pay rent, with no home to beautify, no place 
 to call their own, and what have we gained by this 
 wholesale devastation? Simply this, the right of one 
 man to domineer over others and make a display of 
 his ill gotten gains. Is this right? The American 
 who thinks so should kiss his half-starved wife and 
 babies on election morning, give them a picture of the 
 millionaire in his castle, with his liveried servants, 
 his palace car, his yacht, his coach and four, and gold 
 galore; yes, give her this beautiful picture cut from a 
 goldbug paper, and tell her how rich and prosperous 
 our country is; then go to the polls and vote for these 
 good old parties and politicians who have by their 
 legislation brought about this state of things. 
 
 "A tew short years ago, nature's God presented the 
 American people with a whole continent of virgin soil 
 and mountains containing mines of every description. 
 The people who were living under the oppressive laws 
 
184 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 of monetary despotism in the old world, escaped from 
 their thralldom and went to the United "States for 
 homes. After the close of the war, so large a quantity 
 of money had been turned loose that the people fairly 
 jumped for joy. Vast forests were cleared; prairies 
 were broken up, new homes made and old ones 
 beautified. Laborers came and went, singing, "Uncle 
 Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm." The great 
 continent belonged to the people and all they asked 
 was a market for their surplus production such as 
 corn, wheat, barley, bacon, rice, cotton, tobacco; we 
 had immense forests of valuable timber, and twelve 
 states and territories producing fabulous amounts of 
 gold, silver and copper. 
 
 "The people owned all this vast wealth at this time 
 and every man and woman found profitable employment 
 according to their strength and ability. All were happy 
 and life was a pleasure. 
 
 "Take a present look at that vast country who 
 owns it and what gave they for its wealth? 
 
 "Have the farmers produced a surplus? Yes. 
 
 It can only be estimated by billions. What was done 
 with it? Sold to foreign countries. The farmers must 
 be getting rich! No, they are getting poorer all the 
 time. Where have all these billions of surplus products 
 gone? The great statesmen say it was over-production 
 that made this disastrous condition of affairs. Was the 
 surplus destroyed? No, it was sold. Where is the 
 money? Don't know. Millionaires have sprung up 
 on every hand, but their transactions are all legal, then 
 they must be getting the benefit of the farmer's toil 
 legally. That makes the farmer a slave. 
 
 "But how about the gold and silver miners? They 
 must have millions piled up. No, there is not enough 
 gold in the country to pay the interest on the entire 
 indebtedness to foreign countries for ten years. What 
 has become of the vast product of gold, silver and 
 copper? Gone to England, I presume. Then England 
 must owe the United States a large sum. No, the 
 United States owes England. What has England 
 given the United States for this vast quantity of gold 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 185 
 
 and silver and other productions? The only thing I 
 can think of is interest and confidence. Their interest 
 is always due and when they want an act of Congress 
 passed in their behalf, they lose confidence, and in 
 order to gain that confidence, the exception was put on 
 the greenback^, as time rolled on they lost confidence 
 again, and to regain it the strengthening act had to be 
 passed, by which the national debt was doubled at one 
 foul stroke. But even this did not fully restore confi 
 dence, and in order to complete the job the national 
 money had to be withdrawn and burned to increase 
 the interest bearing debt and compel the people to 
 borrow British gold to do business with. 
 
 "All this was done for confidence. If some of our 
 great mathematicians would figure this out and show 
 just how much it has cost the American people to buy 
 British confidence, it would form an interesting chapter 
 in political economy. 
 
 "Now in all candor I would ask where is this vein 
 of unbridled accumulation to end? Millionaires have 
 already become so powerful that they control the law- 
 making power, and as greed has no limit, they will 
 continue their legal robbery until the many will be 
 even worse off than slaves and the few will be wasting 
 property in vain display. Is this government by the 
 people, of the people, and for the people? If so, then 
 we might well say, God pity the people. 
 
 "Here we have a vast continent similar to that of 
 the United States; when it is known that there is 
 protection here and homes for all, the most intelligent 
 and industrious people of that country will rush from 
 there by the millions to secure those homes. Will 
 bankers come? Not one. They would not give you 
 ten cents for all these rich farming lands until people 
 come here and want them. Then they will send their 
 money here and buy up extensive tracts of land and let 
 them lie idle, fenced by statute law. Is it right for a 
 man to control the good things of earth and neither 
 use them himself nor let others use them? No one 
 will assert that an act of this kind is for the good of 
 the masses. 
 
l86 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "It has been shown that to make one millionaire, 
 you must take the whole property of two thousand 
 people. The man who makes the million gives nothing 
 in return but poverty; if he did, he would not have 
 made that amount but simply traded for it. It there 
 fore follows that for every million dollars which Gould, 
 the Astors, Vanderbilts or any other man has made 
 in the United States since the war, two thousand men 
 have been robbed of all they had. Will any one tell 
 me that laws that make this possible are for the good 
 of the people? 
 
 "We are now about to organize a government that 
 will control the destinies of millions; shall it be a 
 monarchy or republic? Laying aside all rules, I want 
 every man favoring a republic to hold up his hand." 
 
 All looked at Mr. Bundy and as they thought of the 
 power he wielded among the natives, all held up their 
 hands simultaneously. 
 
 "A Republic it shall be, and the question arises, 
 what kind of Republic? Do we want a repetition of 
 what has occurred in the United States in the matter 
 of concentrating wealth in the hands of a few?" 
 
 The missionaries all said, no. 
 
 "Shall our legislation be for the many or the few?" 
 
 All said, for the many. 
 
 "Then what I want is for some man to suggest a law 
 that will hold land beyond the reach of bankers, gold- 
 gamblers and speculators. I have given you the best 
 thought I had on that subject. As soon as our govern 
 ment is formed it will own all the land except such as 
 is reserved for the different tribes. Whenever the 
 government commences selling land, the door will be 
 open to money-sharks, land speculators, and mortgage- 
 fiends. I know of but one way to prevent land from 
 passing into the hands of speculators and that is, for 
 government to make no sale of it at all. 
 
 "The land should ever remain the property of the 
 government and its use should be given to the people 
 by a law similar to the pre-emption law of the United 
 States, allowing a man the privilege of going on to any 
 piece of vacant land and by filing on the same, hold it 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 as long as he keeps it in use, with the privilege ot 
 selling his possessory title or, at his death, leave it to 
 such of his heirs as choose to occupy it ; but when 
 abandoned for two years, to revert to government. 
 
 "Our money should be made by the government, a 
 full legal tencfer, its value regulated without regard to 
 cost of material of which it is made, and as land is the 
 most valuable and substantial of all property it alone 
 should form the base for our circulating medium. Gold 
 should never be used for money; because when it wears 
 out the people who issued it through their government 
 will lose the full per cent of the wear; it costs too 
 much; it is limited in quantity and the government 
 could not regulate the volume of currency with a 
 limited amcunt of material. Silver should be used as 
 money, coined in sums of from ten cents to one dollar; 
 its weight, also size, regulated for convenience without 
 regard to cost of material; if it is worth as much for 
 bullion as for money, it is liable to be used by indi 
 viduals, thus taking it from circulation, to the injury 
 o; trade. 
 
 "It may be said that a man could not raise money on 
 his land by mortgaging it on a possessory title, but 
 that is jUt;t what we want to prevent. The mortgage 
 system has been one of the prime factors in building 
 up in the United States a powerful land monopoly, and 
 the law embraced in these propositions is intended to 
 dispense with the cause which makes borrowing neces 
 sary, by having enough money in circulation to permit 
 the doing of business on a spot cash system and abol 
 ish all, laws for the collection of debt, except for labor 
 performed. That there are wel, defined causes for 
 men running in debt is apparent; principal among 
 these is scarcity of money and scarcity of work. Under 
 the system proposed, these two wants are overcome; 
 by limiting money not to the chance of production of 
 gold, but to the amount necessary to supply every 
 demand. As the stock representing the business of the 
 country will soon be absorbed by the savings of the 
 people, it can be turned into money whenever a strin 
 gency occurs; and as government will be compelled to 
 
1 88 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 give every idle man employment, in order to keep the 
 money in circulation and prevent it from accumulating 
 in the treasury from the income tax and the twenty per 
 cent returned on all business stock, as it now does in 
 the great money centers of Britain and the United 
 States, it necessarily follows that any man can get 
 work; hence there will be no occasion for borrowing. 
 
 "There never has been nor ever will be a time when 
 there is no public work that can be done to improve 
 and beautify a country, and now that machinery has 
 displaced so many men, they should be given work at 
 building roads, reservoirs, and canals, reclaiming 
 deserts, draining swamps, terracing mountains and 
 making room for coming population. No one will 
 question that the system proposed in these articles will 
 so flood the money into the treasury as not only to 
 remove all necessity for collecting taxes, but that the 
 government will be actually compelled to carry on 
 extensive wdrks in order to keep its money in circula 
 tion. Even this is not the only benefit to be derived; 
 our financial and banking system will be so simplified 
 that a school boy can understand it. There will be 
 but one kind of money and the business of the sub- 
 treasury will be to pay out money for stock, and 
 exchange stock for money, but in no case make loans. 
 
 "When the stock shall have been all absorbed, then 
 deposits may be received, the money to lay in the 
 treasury until called for. In a short time the average 
 amount of money laying in the vaults from this source, 
 will be known and will be taken into consideration in 
 making appropriations for public works. 
 
 "To make gold the base of all money, is an absurdity; 
 because its value must fluctuate according to chance of 
 production. To make money of two different substances, 
 gold and silver, to be made and kept at the same 
 intrinsic value, is simply impossible; because the value 
 of each is constantly changing, by the wear of the coin, 
 and by the amount of production; therefore when a 
 public man advocates giving money an intrinsic value, 
 his motive should be closely scrutinized. 
 
 "With no law for the collection of debt, and abstrari 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 1 89 
 
 titles being done away with, the business in these 
 departments of law will be largely reduced. 
 
 "I will now say one word about inheritance and 
 accumulation of wealth. If we would protect ourselves 
 and leave a heritage for posterity, we should throw 
 such safeguards around our government as will prevent 
 all danger of its being in the future obstructed in its 
 work by a power greater than itself. 
 
 The right of governments to regulate inheritance has 
 never been disputed and has been exercised in all 
 civilized countries; it therefore only becomes a ques 
 tion of the good of the whole people. Let us honestly 
 and candidly try to see what will be best for the whole 
 people. 
 
 "A good way to prevent theft, we believe, would be 
 to prevent the man who would steal, from keeping, 
 selling or controlling the goods after they were stolen; 
 if this could be done, theft would become a thing of 
 the past. If we can prevent individuals from keeping 
 and controlling goods above a competency, then the 
 sharp practice by which unscrupulous men obtain 
 possession of these goods would not come in play and 
 honest men would avoid the danger of being robbed by 
 some money making, scheme to which they are entire 
 strangers. That there should be a limit to man's con 
 trol of property is plain. Fire in a wooden house 
 without a stove or other safeguard would be no more 
 destructive to the goods of the house than is unlimited 
 control of wealth by a single individual to the good 
 results of a government. That the possession of money 
 or property above your need is power, no one will 
 deny, and in bad hands becomes an enemy to society. 
 
 "As government puts all its surplus into public 
 improvements for the benefit of all, its accumulations 
 are limited. Therefore if a man by chicanery and 
 sharp practice that evades the law, succeeds in getting 
 possession of a large amount of wealth, that no more 
 belongs to him than if stolen, it will roll on from son 
 to son, constantly increasing and drawing unto itself, 
 until it absorbs every interest, turns families from their 
 homes and finally becomes stronger than government, 
 
IQO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 controls legislation in its own behalf, making good 
 government impossible. 
 
 "Would it not be well while we limit our own accu 
 mulation as a whole in government, that we give that 
 government a fair chance for its life by limiting the 
 holdings of individuals to their need also? When 
 property is fairly distributed the people will take care 
 of themselves, but when property is concentrated in 
 the hands of heartless syndicates and corporations it 
 becomes an enemy to man and requires armies to 
 defend it. As it is universally conceded that all gov 
 ernments have a right to regulate inheritance it becomes 
 only a question of policy on the part of the govern 
 ment and justice to every citizen of that government. 
 Then who would suffer by it? Very few, if any; there 
 are very few men we must remember, who inherit over 
 $100,000. Did any of you gentlemen ever inherit that 
 amount? Did any of your friends ever? If so they 
 ceased to be your friend, no doubt, soon after. The 
 men who inherit over $100,000 are very few, I take it, 
 in comparison to the masses. But few as they are, 
 would even they suffer? $100,000 at five per cent 
 interest gives a man the net sum of $5,000 per year. 
 Suppose a man could hardly make a living; would that 
 small sum help him out any? But suppose he was a 
 man of average intelligence, wc*uld not he make 
 $300,000 of that in the course of a life time? Figure 
 on it and see if you don't think you could support a 
 family and give all your children a good start in the 
 world. If a man were of any account and his children 
 a fair average could they not live in luxury? 
 
 "True they would not have ten, fifteen or twenty 
 thousand dollars to bet on every prize-fight or horse 
 race, nor could they form syndicates and control legis 
 lation, but they would be the prosperous people of the 
 land and in point of intellect, religion and good morals 
 they would be far superior to our present aristocracy 
 and far more numerous. Then how can you make it 
 appear that these men suffer? You take not one thing 
 from them, you only deprive them ol the power of 
 getting what they never earned and does not belong to 
 
N IDEAL REPUBLIC. igi 
 
 them. If a man at death has more than $100,000 for 
 each of his heirs you can depend upon it he did not 
 get it by any fair means; it has been drawn from the 
 people in some underhanded way and should be 
 returned to them through the government and so pre 
 vent danger of further accumulation. Now who suffers 
 and who is wronged by this law? 
 
 "We see that a family is a government on a small 
 scale. The Astor family have adopted this same sys 
 tem by leaving a competency to the majority and the 
 bulk of the property to one. The Vanderbilts have 
 followed up the same plan and so did J. Gould; they 
 ha've given the world an example in inheritance worthy 
 of consideration. England gives all to the oldest son. 
 
 "Did these men commit a wrong toward their own 
 children by putting the majority off with a competency? 
 If not then why does not the government step in and 
 say these heirs shall share equally and the residue be 
 inherited by the government which has protected their 
 property and made it possible to accumulate so large a 
 sum, and thus say to the magnate, the remainder of 
 your vast property shall go back among the people 
 from whom it has been drawn by extortion and sharp 
 practice. Would such a law as this be good for the 
 whole people? If so it is what our government by the 
 people and for the people, implies. 
 
 "These truths seem to me to be self evident, that 
 when a people organize themselves into a government 
 and limit the power to accumulate wealth, and at the 
 same time allow individuals and corporations to 
 increase their holdings without check or limit, the 
 result must surely follow that individual and corporate 
 power will eventually predominate and the people and 
 government be reduced to poverty and want. 
 
 "No long hours and hard work can fill their larder 
 when one-third of the people are employed by syndi 
 cates and bankers in collecting rents and interest, the 
 other one-third in protecting their vast estates and the 
 government poverty-stricken, in debt and become a 
 willing tool of oppression; we have history in the 
 United States proving these mnrlnsions not only to b 
 
192 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 logical, but true principles of philosophy, as unerring 
 as the needle to the Mariner. 
 
 "Our system of doing all the heavy business of the 
 country by stock companies has been so thoroughly 
 tried in the United States and other countries, that 
 there remains no doubt of its efficacy; but the control 
 of the companies by government, when the stock is in 
 the hands of banks and syndicates, has been an abso 
 lute failure; they over-run all law. 
 
 "By the proposed method the company is entirely 
 under control of the government and the stock will be 
 among the people; every working girl can invest her 
 small earnings in stock and it will form a sort of float 
 ing paper, representing every large interest in the 
 whole country and its good effects in absorbing the 
 savings of the country can hardly be estimated; while 
 the mild working of the inheritance law will prevent 
 its being centralized, 
 
 "The next thing in out propositions is an article 
 prohibiting the formation of political parties; of course 
 it will be left to the law to define what political parties 
 are. What we wish to prevent is a consolidated 
 organization, with its representatives in every town, 
 county and precinct, who work for the party for pay 
 and promise of spoils, with newspapers to slander, 
 falsify and misrepresent, in order to keep up animosity 
 among neighbors and control the party vote. The 
 principal agitators in these elections are generally well 
 paid and backed up by concentrated party wealth which 
 is being constantly augmented by bribe money and tax 
 levied upon those in office. 
 
 "How often have we seen men, and even whole com 
 munities, worked into fever heat of passion, ready to 
 cut each other's throat, and all over a political sham 
 battle between parties. One day after the election all 
 would be as quiet as a May morning. I find no 
 language to express my contempt for this abominable 
 system. It ought to be abolished. 
 
 "Under this order of things a method of selecting 
 proper persons for office would certainly be necessary; 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 1 93 
 
 but It seems to me that the good sense of the people, 
 if not deceived by party falsehood, or controlled by 
 party discipline, would be equal to the emergency; and 
 it would also appear that under our new business 
 system, money ^"and property would be so well dis 
 tributed, newspapers become so numerous, and circu 
 lation of news so very cheap, with government control 
 and unlimited capital, that a knowledge of our leading 
 men would be as common as that of our next door 
 neighbor. We believe that any man should have the 
 privilege of bringing his name or that of a friend 
 before the people, for any office, by simply publishing 
 a card, and if conventions are held for nominating 
 candidates they should be called from the people, no 
 permanent organization maintained. 
 
 "When a man seeks an office on the strength of 
 party service or of having belonged to some party for 
 forty years, it too often happens that he has no other 
 merit. While I regard this plan as something of an 
 experiment, I believe that permanent parties can and 
 should be abolished. 
 
 "We come now to the sub-treasury taking the place 
 ot the national bank. We have many very good reasons 
 for making this change. In looking over the financial 
 history of England and the United States, we find that 
 the gold gamblers have many different methods of 
 plying their gold game and this national banking sys 
 tem is the hub of the great wheel that rolls on to the 
 tune of the 'gamblers win and the gentlemen lose,' and 
 as we are to do away with the game, we will not need 
 the wheel. We find that for honest business purposes 
 the treasury answers every purpose; beside, it will give 
 employment to a few men and thus help to keep the 
 money, which will be so constantly flowing into the 
 treasury from the income tax and two per cent on 
 government business stock, in circulation. It is 
 invested with every power that a bank could have, 
 except to break* and rob the depositors; of course it 
 will be a failure on that point, but we should be willing 
 to forego some of these blessings in order to expel 
 
194 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 from the land these two great political or financial 
 ghosts known in the United States as want of confi 
 dence and over-production. 
 
 "For some years these monsters have run rampant 
 in the United States, carried every election, impover 
 ished the people, robbed families of their homes and 
 made countless millions mourn. 
 
 "While we find great warehouses bursting with grain, 
 others with manufactured goods, the people cry out for 
 bread and clothes, but the cruel specter, over-produc 
 tion, says no. Then the people cry for money or for 
 work and the other ghost looms up and says, your 
 money is all buried; 'tis want of confidence. <O con 
 sistency thou art a jewel.' 
 
 "One other thing I will call your attention to, then I 
 am done; that is the detective sysfem; it too has been 
 tried in the United States where it has been demon 
 strated to be a wonderful power for good but it, like 
 the corporations has also demonstrated that such power 
 should be in the hands of government, not individuals. 
 
 "I shall now leave the matter with you, believing the 
 good sense of those interested will vote down the 
 proposition to table these articles." 
 
 As no one seemed inclined to discuss the matter 
 further, it came to a vote and strange to say, with the 
 exception of Lincoln and Jefferson, the whites were 
 unanimously in favor of tabling the propositions and 
 adopting the constitution of the United States, pure 
 and simple, but the natives voted solid the other way, 
 which defeated the motion. 
 
 A motion was made and carried to adjourn till next 
 day; this motion was made by Coy in order that the 
 gold men might work up some new scheme to defeat 
 the propositions. 
 
 After the adjournment, Saunders, Coy and Baxter 
 retired to their tent which they had isolated from the 
 others as men who seek to control and enslave others 
 by the use of gold, generally do. Saunders was first to 
 break the silence. "Gentlemen," said he, "is that not 
 enough to break a man all up? If I believed in a God 
 I would think He was at work among these black 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. IQ5 
 
 devils; only think of it, they understood not one word 
 still they voted solid." 
 
 "I wish I had the powers of hell for a little while," 
 said Coy, "I would teach the black devils some sense; 
 but 'tis no use, we have to work according to our 
 strength. It looks pretty hard to risk life and liberty 
 for a little gold and then when you get into a safe 
 place, beyond all danger and reach of law, with the 
 finest chance in the world to become a millionaire, to 
 have your plans all thwarted by an old Kansas calam 
 ity-howler, especially when he has all the white men 
 on his own side. I am not going to stand it without 
 a fight; I would like to have a shot at that old crank 
 with my Winchester; I think the talk about paper 
 money would soon be settled." 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you," said Saunders, "I don't care 
 how much paper money they have; in fact I rather 
 like the plan, but we must have it based on gold. " 
 
 "If they would only do with us," said Coy, "as the 
 United States government did with Stanford, Hunting- 
 ton & Co., give us, for instance, half of the land on a 
 strip of eighty miles wide clear across the continent, 
 then guarantee bonds enough to build the road; as soon 
 as this government is formed and a great continent 
 like this thrown open to the world, we coukl get money 
 on the bonds. This would work fine. I know just 
 how Stanford and Huntington worked it and they 
 came out millionaires, and Uncle Sam got left." 
 
 "Yes," said Saunders, "that would be pretty good, 
 but what we want is a National Bank. You see if we 
 get the bank we will have money to work the govern 
 ment with, and we can soon secure legislation and get 
 hold of all kinds of securities, sell them in London, 
 and if we don't beat the record of such men as ^Stan- 
 ford, Huntington, Gould, and in fact all the million 
 aires of the United States with our $200,000, then we 
 are no good. I think we are perfectly safe in loaning 
 the government our paper to the extent of $600,000 
 and more, if they want it, all at a good round interest; 
 after that it won't take long to get a Banking act 
 passed and deposit our bonds and loan another lot of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 paper money; then we can lend our paper money to 
 the government, loan the government money to the 
 people, and after a while we will lose confidence and 
 have them pass a Strengthening act paying the bonds 
 all in gold. But then it is no use to speculate until 
 the bloody plan this man has drawn up has been 
 knocked out. If it goes we will have to sell our gold 
 or have it shipped back to the states for goods, when 
 it would probably furnish some fly detective a very 
 nice clue no, we must silence this fanatic." 
 
 Then they discussed the plan of assassination but it 
 was objected to on the ground of danger from the 
 vengeance of the president, and to assassinate the two 
 would raise the natives and they would all be killed. 
 It had been reported that Gen. Summerville was on his 
 way back and would arrive next day; he was an entire 
 stranger to the whole party, but they resolved to see 
 him before he met Bundy, Lincoln and Jefferson and 
 get him interested in a National banking scheme and 
 thereby secure his influence in opposition to what they 
 denounced as fanaticism. 
 
 After supper they all went up town and there learned 
 that Gen. Summerville was encamped within seven 
 miles of town and would come on the next morning. 
 They decided to meet him in camp and accordingly 
 ordered their animals saddled and rode out, reaching 
 the camp before night. Gen. Summervlile received 
 them with great warmth; it had been along time since 
 he had seen a white man and he felt sincerely glad to 
 see them, and felt complimented at receiving so much 
 courtesy. 
 
 After a general round of conversation, Mr. Saunders 
 informed the General of what had been done in the 
 convention and great as was the opportunity of accom 
 plishing so much, it seemed about to be lost by the 
 obstinacy of a political crank. He further informed 
 the General that he and his companions represented 
 great wealth; that they were bankers and had brought 
 with them an immense sum of gold coin for the express 
 purpose of supplying the new. government with the 
 sinews of war. "Unless the Republic is organized on 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 true and tried principles, " said he, "our assistance will 
 be lost; unless we have confidence, we can not let 
 money loose. We are ready to assist the enterprise by 
 furnishing all the money that will be needed, but we 
 must have confidence, and the only way the movers in 
 this enterprise" can gain our confidence is to plant 
 their government on true principles of law the bank 
 ing law of the United States or that of Britain, has 
 been tried and proved. If that system is adopted we 
 can furnish all the money necessary but all notes, 
 bonds and obligations must be made payable in gold 
 and whenever a constitution like that of the United 
 States is adopted, banking laws passed and a warranted 
 title to land property, then we stand ready to furnish 
 this government with our bank notes, redeemable on 
 sight, to the extent of $600,000 at 7 per cent, and we 
 will keep $200,000 in gold constantly on hand for the 
 redemption of these notes; there will be no trouble 
 about money if we only have confidence. 
 
 "Another thing, if we give good titles to land and 
 have an approved banking system it will induce 
 emigration and create such confidence among the money 
 kings of England, that they will have a money-loan 
 office in every town and village; of course we will have 
 good times, but we must have confidence. In addition 
 to all this, as soon as we are organized and an act 
 passed granting us lands and guaranteeing bonds we 
 build a railroad from the great river to the lake and 
 create a regular boom; we can give a mortgage on the 
 land for money in England and exchange the bonds in 
 the same way; thus build the road and let the sale of 
 the land pay the debt. This is no idle dream; it is a 
 style of doing business invented in the United States 
 and you know how it worked. Look at the Goulds, 
 the Variderbilts, Astors, Stanford, Crocker and a host 
 of other millionaires made by these and other similar 
 methods, and the people there know all about it, still 
 they seem to stand it all right and of course it will 
 work here in the same way, under the same law." 
 
 The general received their communication in a 
 friendly manner and said he had not given the matter 
 
ig8 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 much thought, not knowing the circumstances, but he 
 would certainty do everything in his power to have the 
 government planted on true principles of justice, as he 
 understood them. 
 
 Mr. Saunders then stated that they had been to a 
 good deal of expense, risk and trouble, to bring money 
 there for the benefit of humanity, and in order to 
 prevent anything like failure, they had all agreed, in 
 order to secure his services in getting a constitution 
 and laws passed, similar to those of the United States, 
 they would give him $20,000 in gold, either English 
 or American coin, the same to be paid over as soon as 
 the proper legislation was secured. 
 
 To this the General only replied, "well, the fee looks 
 to me rather large for a man who has no profession." 
 
 "True," said Coy, "but it has been claimed that a 
 man received $500,000 for the demonetization of silver 
 in the United States, and that he did the whole thing 
 by a trick. " 
 
 The conversation then turned on other topics and 
 the gold men took their leave. 
 
 It was long after night when the men reached their 
 tent and they were not feeling over-sanguine of success; 
 the General had received all their propositions kindly 
 but had in no way committed himself; they admitted 
 his coolness and felt confident his influence would 
 settle it either way, but they were not sure as to what 
 course he would pursue; all felt shaky, but Saunders 
 said that $20,000 would buy men of wealth in the 
 American legislative halls and he saw no good reason 
 why a poor devil like this, out here in the wilds of 
 Africa, should refuse such a tempting bait and he didn't 
 believe he would. 
 
 The following morning, the General rode into town 
 just in time to meet Mr. Bundy, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
 Jefferson on their way to the hall, and alighting, the 
 greeting was cordial all round. 
 
 The General informed Mr. Bundy that a pack-train 
 was on the way with over $3,000,000 in gold, the out 
 put of the mines for the last three months. 
 
 "The native workers in the mines," said he, "are 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 1 99 
 
 steadily increasing in numbers and the output as well. 
 A large proportion of those who come have families 
 and are making themselves comfortable homes, the 
 mines are equaling those of California in '49. The 
 coast trail to Mr.- .Brown's is alive with pack-trains, 
 arrangements for a better means of transportation will 
 soon be necessary and I have come down to look after 
 this matter." 
 
 Pres. Bundy and his companions were highly elated 
 at all this good news and also congratulated themselves 
 that the General had arrived just in time to vote upon 
 the adoption of the proposed plan of organization. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson handed him the document and asked 
 him to go with him to his room where they would not 
 be disturbed; they would postpone voting on it until 
 he could be present, as they regarded his advice and 
 co-operation of the utmost importance. The General 
 took the document and promised to be on hand but 
 disclaimed being entitled to any such compliment. 
 
 In consequence of the arrival they postponed coming 
 to order for two hours. Mr. Jefferson, before this, 
 felt quite certain of the adoption of his proposition, 
 but what stand the General would take was as much of 
 a sealed book to him and his colleagues as it was to 
 the other side of the house. The proposition embraced 
 new ideas that had not been thought of, much less dis 
 cussed, and feeling that each and all was of the utmost 
 importance, they were all filled with anxiety; each felt, 
 too, that it would be dishonorable to try to influence 
 the General outside of the convention before the other 
 side was heard. 
 
 In this may be seen one of the grand causes of 
 reform coming so slowly to the front. Reforms, it may 
 be remembered, work always for the good of all, and 
 when man becomes an earnest worker in reform he 
 rises so high above the selfish plane that he would 
 disdain to use methods to carry a point which a selfish 
 gold-pirate would embrace and consider it a mark of 
 statesmanship or splendid financiering. 
 
 Soon after the convention came to order, the General 
 put in an appearance. After this the ball was opened 
 
20O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 by Mr. Jefferson with a motion that the proposition be 
 adopted; this was seconded by a native king, anxious 
 to show his legislative ability. 
 
 It was declared to be before the house as follows: 
 Gentlemen of the convention, you have heard the 
 propositions; to say they are of the highest importance 
 would, in my estimation, be too tame. I would say to 
 you, my fellow members, that in voting upon them you 
 are called upon to settle one of the most important 
 questions that have ever been decided by a body of men. 
 
 It is not only a question that will decide the fate of 
 millions who will flee from the tyrannizing, plutocratic 
 rule of corruption and injustice in the United States 
 and other countries, and seek homes in this great 
 continent; but 'tis the adoption of a system of govern 
 ment that will in due time spread throughout the civil 
 ized world, crush the power of gold and bring joy and 
 comfort to all mankind. 
 
 We have seen that the United States, like this coun 
 try, belonged at one time to the people; the labor of 
 those people made it vastly more valuable to man. 
 But to-day they do not own it; you all know who does, 
 but you don't know exactly how they got it; it is evi 
 dent, however, that they gave nothing in return, for 
 many of them had nothing to give. We all know that 
 gold, the National Bank and speculation in land have 
 been the prime factors in robbing the people of the 
 United States, building up a class of aristocrats and 
 wrecking the great Republic. 
 
 The same people, with their families, will rush into 
 this country in solid phalanx in search of homes; with 
 their presence and labor they will make it a vast 
 empire of wealth. Shall they in one hundred years 
 find the lands which they have improved belonging to 
 unscrupulous bankers or money-sharks? Or shall the 
 property of the country forever remain in the hands of 
 the people who created it? These are the questions 
 you are called upon to decide; they are now before you. 
 
 As the President took his seat, Mr. Saunders took 
 the floor and stated that the matter had been pretty 
 thoroughly discussed but lie would like very much to 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2OI 
 
 hear from Gen. Summerville upon the subject. This 
 proposition was received with general applause, and 
 when the General came forward his reception was 
 something grand. 
 
 Before commerlTcing, the General cast an interested 
 look about the hall. As he stood there, a picture of 
 robust health, perhaps his fine figure never showed to 
 better advantage. As the importance of his decision 
 was plainly marked on every face, so his form and 
 features showed that he felt himself fully equal for the 
 occasion, and he spoke as follows: 
 
 "Mr. President and gentlemen ot the convention 
 Oft times while camping in the forests of this vast, 
 wild region, far away from the comforts oi civilized 
 life, living on wild meat and such vegetable food as 
 could be gathered, sleeping on the ground, facing every 
 storm and battling with the deadly Arabs to protect the 
 lives of these good people; yes, often amid these trials 
 have I felt that my fate was hard, but it pales into 
 insignificance in comparison with what I now enjoy, in 
 having an opportunity of voting for the adoption of a 
 system of government that is to hold all the millions 
 of miles of rich farming land throughout this vast con 
 tinent in reserve for the sole use of man and beyond 
 the reach of cruel land-sharks. A government that 
 will fence by its laws against the encroachments of the 
 money-power. A government that will build our rail 
 roads, run them and leave the money among the 
 people. Gentlemen, vote as you will, it will be the 
 proudest moment of my life when I cast my vote for 
 this proposition." 
 
 This was too much for Mr. Jefferson, Lincoln and 
 Bundy; they left their seats and in turn clasped the 
 hand of the speaker. The Missionaries followed, and 
 for a time the house was in a tumult of joy; the 
 enthusiasm was so great that even the gold-gamblers 
 were forced to come forward and acknowledge their 
 deteat. After the feeling had partially subsided, the 
 house once more came to order and a vote was taken 
 in which all voted for adoption, except the three gold 
 men, and tb^ 7 ^f^amed from voting. 
 
2O2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 The proposition being disposed of, the General 
 offered the following, which he reduced to writing: 
 
 That Secretary Lincoln be sent to New York and 
 instructed to buy one first-class battle-ship to be used 
 on the great river. The same to be furnished with a 
 full crew for the year's service. 
 
 That he also order the building of one battle-ship 
 and four cruisers, also buy six large size ocean steam 
 ers, man them and load with material and machinery 
 for the construction of railroads, and offer such induce 
 ments for immigration as would load all the steamers 
 with as many as they could easily and comfortably 
 carry, in addition to freight. 
 
 That he also establish an emigrant aid society in 
 Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City for the purpose of 
 assisting poor but respectable families to reach New 
 York in time to meet our steamers as they are kept 
 regularly running; the fare to be $100 each, but to 
 bring them at reduced rates when they are too poor to 
 pay that amount. 
 
 That he bring four river steamers to be used on the 
 great river, the fleet to land as soon as possible, at 
 some point on the shore of the great river near the ter 
 minus of the proposed railroad. 
 
 The motion being seconded, Mr. Saunders took the 
 floor and said that the motion sounded like a burlesque. 
 It would be impossible to buy these things without 
 money and he knew of but one way for government to 
 get money and that Was to issue bonds and sell them 
 to the people who had money; when it became known 
 the kind of government to be formed, the bond would 
 not sell for enough to pay for the printing. 
 
 This brought things to a stand still. 
 
 The General walked over to the President, talked in 
 a low tone for a moment; then IV .r. Lincoln wis called 
 and consulted, after which the General again took the 
 floor and said: 
 
 "It now becomes necessary that I explain that the 
 want of money will be no obstacle in the way of carry 
 ing out the provisions of this proposition. If this 
 country was full of money, it would not be good in a 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 20$ 
 
 foreign country; even if our money were made of gold, 
 it would have to be sold by weight as a commodity; 
 our stamp would add nothing to its value. It simply 
 becomes a question as to whether we have anything to 
 ship that is ready sale; fortunately we li.ive about 
 $15,000,000 of gold. It is of no earthly value to us 
 and the sooner we exchange it for something that is, 
 the better it will be." 
 
 This was a stunner, but the motion soon passed and 
 the meeting adjourned till the following day. 
 
 After adjournment it was evident that the presence 
 of so much gold had thrown the white men into a per 
 fect frenzy of excitement; the President, Secretary, 
 General and Mr. Jefferson had retired to their quarters. 
 The remainder of the white population gathered around 
 their usual loafing places and the whole talk was about 
 that gold. 
 
 The world probably never had a better illustration of 
 the force of early education. 
 
 The child who is raised to believe in Mohammed 
 will have no other religion; if raised a Jew, he will 
 forever be a Jew; if Catholicism is taught him, the 
 man or woman will confess their sins to a priest and 
 rest upon his power to save; and since all civilized 
 nations have kept gold stored in vaults for ages, stood 
 outside themselves and implored its possessor for bread, 
 for work arid for money. Nations have crumbled and 
 gone to decay; we have also observed the property of 
 a great country like the United States, with its repub 
 lican form of government, vast mining resources, and 
 great agricultural and manufacturing industries in the 
 hands of the masses, drift into the hands of a few 
 in the short space of twenty years, all done through the 
 power of gold. Is it to be wondered that people fall 
 down and worship the power no man can stay? 
 
 I say a power that no man can stay, for it is true. If 
 Baron Rothschild would to-morrow order his holdings 
 all collected into money and returned to those he has 
 robbed, through that deadly law called interest, they 
 would have him either killed or in a mad-house inside 
 
2O4 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 of forty-eight hours, and the laws of usury would roll 
 right along, crushing millions. 
 
 The power of gold is mysterious. You might as well 
 try to comprehend the mystical power ol the Veiled 
 Prophet, or the Chinese Joss, as to try to fathom the 
 depths of the power of gold. 
 
 Both are kept hidden from mortal sight; the former 
 behind the veil, but gold in vaults or behind screens 
 and thus it becomes an imaginary God at whose shrine 
 whole nations fall down and worship. He who gets it 
 within his vaults or can make people believe he has, 
 is clothed with a power that ancient devils would have 
 been proud of. Such are clothed with purple robes 
 and fine linen and stand like a wall of fire between 
 nature and nature's God. Thus the miser puts fetters 
 upon intellect, tramples reason beneath his feet and 
 will clog the wheels of progress until evolution destroys 
 the idol; then man will step out upon a higher plane 
 of civilization and reason be our guide. 
 
 Saunders approached the boy interpreter and asked 
 if he knew anything about the gold. 
 
 "Yes sah," said the boy, "it is all piled up in, an old 
 house up at the village." 
 
 "What!" said Saunders, "piled up in an old house? 
 People must be very honest around here. " 
 
 "Why?" said the boy. 
 
 "Because gold is rather valuable to be laying around. " 
 
 "What is it good for?" said the boy. 
 
 "Good for!" said Saunders, why 'tis good for money. " 
 
 "But," said the boy, "suppose you don't use it 
 for money, then what is it good for?" 
 
 This was a hard question and Saunders changed the 
 subject by asking if they could see it. 
 
 "Ob course," said the boy, "you can all see it for 
 what I know." So it was not long till every man had 
 his pony saddled and -were off for the village, the boy 
 in the lead. When they reached their destination, the 
 King met them in front of his house and on learning 
 the object of their visit, with a good deal of surprise, 
 led them out back of his residence where stood an old 
 hnneo w ith one room and a few poles leaned across the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC 2O5 
 
 door- way to keep the goats out; removing these they 
 stepped inside and found the place piled full of* boxes 
 that had been especially designed for packing on 
 burros. The King took down one of the top boxes 
 and with a screwdriver soon succeeded in taking off 
 the cover sure enough! there lay the glittering metal, 
 two bars, seventy-five pounds each. 
 
 The whites gazed upon them in amazement. They 
 asked if there was gold in all the boxes; on being 
 answerd in the affirmative, they lifted several to satisfy 
 themselves that they were not dreaming and the King 
 was finally forced to open several boxes before they 
 could believe, and when they went away all agreed they 
 had never before seen gold piled up like sacks of wheat. 
 There seemed to be a prevailing opinion that there 
 should be a vault dug in the solid earth to store it in, 
 and a company of soldiers kept constantly on guard. 
 
 To see their idol brought down to a level with tur 
 nips, cabbage and potatoes, was too much. It looked 
 to them like sacrilege and no doubt if they could, they 
 would have tried the men who caused it, for heresy. 
 
 That night Saunders, Coy and Baxter had a little 
 caucus of their own, and after discussing the situation 
 thoroughly, they came to the conclusion that the mines 
 must be immensely rich and the way to manage would 
 be to stand right in with the fanatics. 
 
 Said Saunders, "they are nothing but fanatics, unless 
 they are playing a nice game to get the gold out of the 
 country, but I don't believe that, for the natives do 
 not know the value of gold, and they could have had 
 it all out of the country long before this, and been 
 independent, but no; they are regular fanatics and they 
 think they will do something wonderful. 
 
 "They want to fix it so there will be no poor, but if 
 they read history they will find there has never been a 
 time when there were not both rich and poor, and of 
 course there never will be. You might divide the 
 property and gold equally to-day and one week from 
 to-day it would be in the hands of a few. There are 
 many people who only care for a good living and 
 
2O6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 leisure for enjoyment, and of course the more enter- 
 prising will make the money. 
 
 "Look at the United States. There nature placed in 
 the hands of the people a vast continent; they held it 
 about ninety years and then the bankers got in their 
 work on the greenback and have been concentrating 
 the wealth of the country ever since, until to-day one- 
 half of the people are little better than paupers, and 
 millionaires come into existence like mushrooms. The 
 people have done millions of dollars' worth of work 
 only to find that while they were working others had 
 been legislating, and the job had been so well done 
 that the men who opened farms and built houses did 
 not own them, 'but they now belong to the men in 
 Wall and Lombard streets, who sit at their desks and 
 make gold do their work. This shows the power there 
 is in gold, and if these men think they can break this 
 power they are wrong. Christ tried that and failed, 
 for to-day most Christians worship gold six days and 
 God only one. 
 
 "When immigration comes into the country the very 
 men they are trying to help and protect will go right 
 to work and organize parties with such names as they 
 have been used to; sharpers will get in control of those 
 parties and government; repeal all the laws they are 
 making, make new ones and run things in the good 
 old way. 
 
 "They will have millionaires, even if they have to 
 make them, the same as in the United States, by giving 
 land, then money to build a railroad and let them keep 
 the whole thing." 
 
 "I believe you are right," said Coy. "It would seem 
 the proper thing to stand in and await our time. After 
 the steamers arrive with passengers and railroad mate 
 rial we will see how things move. They will of course 
 sell all the gold as a commodity. I think it a 
 shame to let all that gold go out of the country; we 
 could just as well have issued interest-bearing bonds, 
 sold them and kept that gold in this country; but they 
 will issue paper money and build the road. 
 
 "People will take it because government will retain 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2O7 
 
 all these valuable farming lands as a pledge tor the 
 honesty of the money. The same people who use the 
 lands will not object to using the money; besides, the 
 way they have it arranged, they can turn right around 
 and invest all their savings in railroad stock; then cash 
 the railroad stock again whenever they need money or 
 if they want to leave the country, go to the treasury 
 and buy gold. Rest assured, people will not object to 
 that kind of money and gold will be a commodity and 
 nothing else. It will knock banking and railroad 
 schemes higher than a kite. 
 
 "When the railroad is built and a goodly amount of 
 money in circulation, we can take maps of the country 
 and descriptions, showing vast mineral deposits, go to 
 England and lay the matter before the bankers there. 
 If this gold is shipped, and such shipments continue 
 for any length of time, it will knock the bottom out of 
 gold; the banks of England holding the bulk of that 
 metal will suffer heavy loss by this extraordinary pro 
 duction. This being the case they will probably stand 
 in with any proposition that is likely to crush this new 
 plan, put the gold in circulation here and save their 
 country, also the United States, from being flooded 
 with our gold. 
 
 "To effect this I have two plan&inview: the first is, 
 to take with me a list of all the men here, also a 
 sample of all money issued; have fine counterfeits 
 struck, put two or three thousand dollars in an 
 envelope and send to each man, and the country 
 will be so flooded with paper money that they will all 
 cry out for gold. The paper money will then be con 
 sidered a failure. This is the plan by which the Eng 
 lish destroyed our Continental money during the 
 Revolutionary war; it worked then, it will work now. 
 Should this fail, my next plan would be to await our 
 time, get up a conspiracy and overthrow the govern 
 ment, or at least the present system. This would 
 probably be no difficult matter after the country begins 
 to fill up." 
 
 On the following day the convention again assembled 
 and Mr. Jefferson explained that there could be but 
 
2O8 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 little mor* work done until immigrants and material 
 arrived. Me then proceeded to outline a course of 
 procedure that would redound to the good of all. 
 
 If was after this arranged that a party be organized 
 to complete a railroad survey from the great river to 
 the foot of the lake. This would enable them to furnish 
 work for all as soon as landed. 
 
 Next in the line of business, Mr. Summerville was 
 granted a commission as General-in-Chief of the army 
 now at the mines. Mr. Bundy and Lincoln were 
 installed as President and Secretary for a term of one 
 year, when another Congress would be convened to 
 perfect their government. 
 
 Mr. Broinly was appointed to make the survey. Mr. 
 Jefferson received instruction and was to be sent to 
 London and the United States to dispose of the gold 
 and purchase steamers, railroad material, farming 
 machinery and such other things as were thought 
 necessary. To let contracts for the building of war 
 vessels and deposit balance of gold in the Bank of 
 England. It was also arranged that pack trains suffi 
 cient to carry all the gold to the coast be employed 
 and loaded on their return trip with goods for the 
 mines. 
 
 The business of the convention being over President 
 Bundy and Gen. Summerville turned their attention to 
 locating the different missionaries among the Kings. 
 When each had been assigned, every preparation pos 
 sible was made to assist them in their laudable purpose. 
 
 While these gentlemen were looking after the 
 missionary work, Mr. Baxter had organized his expedi 
 tion and was now only waiting to see the gold train 
 off before taking his own leave. 
 
 An escort of one hundred men had been organized, 
 the train too was now in readiness. On loading the 
 gold Mr. Baxter was very much interested and declared 
 he did not suppose there was so much gold in existence 
 and he could not have imagined that $15,000,000 
 would make such a load. 
 
 The night before Mr. Jefferson was to start for the 
 coast, he and the other three, Bundy, Lincoln and 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Summerville were together in the President's office. 
 In discussing the question of money, it was agreed to 
 have the very best plates and paper that could be made 
 and to use every precaution against counterfeits. 
 
 The General- .related the circumstance of Saunders, 
 Coy and Baxter having met him on the road and their 
 generous offer of $20,000 for his influence in making 
 gold the base of all values. The President and Mr. 
 Lincoln then called to mind the extraordinary amount 
 of ammunition boxes, and they remembered that the 
 boxes had long ago disappeared. 
 
 It was suggested that they were probably bank 
 defaulters and it would be well to keep them in mind. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln referred to the methods used by the 
 English to destroy our Continental money and said 
 they would be likely to try the same plan, but he 
 thought any attempt of that kind could be easily 
 forestalled. 
 
 It is possible too that after the immigrants arrive 
 they will try to work upon their superstitions in favor 
 of using money made of gold and incite them to revo 
 lution, and in order to prevent this it was decided to 
 have the passengers coming on government steamers, 
 well posted on our financial system and also have 
 them take the oath of allegience before receiving 
 passage. 
 
 On the following day, Mr. Jefferson took leave of his 
 associates and joined the pack train which was already 
 under way. After a long, hard trip of six weeks they 
 reached Mr. Brown's place just in time to take a 
 steamer for Liverpool. Having transferred the boxes 
 from the train to the steamer, Mr. Jefferson ordered 
 the train loaded with goods for the mines and then 
 went on board. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THAT the reader may have a clear insight into the 
 character of our millionaire, Mr. Goldburg, the 
 writer feels it a duty to mention briefly his actions 
 toward his son. Henry Goldburg had an exceptionally 
 good character; his mother and sister, Rebecca, were 
 proud of the boy, but owing to his constant attendance 
 at school and college, they had but very little of his 
 society. At the age of 21, having completed his 
 course, he returned home and was given a place in the 
 bank at $150 a month. Mr. Goldburg made a great 
 effort to interest his son in some of his great railroad 
 schemes and banking speculations; but Henry being of 
 a literary turn of mind seemed to have but little taste 
 for such things. One verse from Shakespeare, Bacon, 
 Byron, Burns or Scott furnished him more food for 
 reflection than all the railroad schemes his father ever 
 heard of. He had already written several fine articles 
 and his reputation was such that as a writer he bid 
 fair to stand high. Mr. Goldburg seeing that the boy 
 took no interest in his schemes, failed to see in him 
 any other talent; in fact was himself blinded to any 
 other merit and began to look upon the boy as a 
 kind of "lunk-head. " 
 
 In consequence of this, his only hope of perpetuating 
 the great monetary dynasty he had so firmly established 
 in the great American Republic, was to marry his 
 daughter to some millionaire who had already com 
 menced his record as a financier. This was one of his 
 strongest reasons for favoring the suit of Mr. Goldaker. 
 
 At the age of 21 Henry married a Miss Bradley, 
 daughter of a millionaire of Lowell. Miss Bradley was 
 in every way a kind, sweet and pretty girl; while in her 
 childish simplicity she was lovable, 'she was in no way 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 211 
 
 calculated to be any great assistance to the young man 
 in deciding his future course. They commenced mar 
 ried life at a first-class hotel and soon discovered that 
 in this way of living his modest salary would be barely 
 sufficient. The Bradleys had fitted the girl out with 
 several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry and finery, 
 and expected Mr. Goldburg would give his son a start, 
 as became a millionaire; therefore gave the matter no 
 further attention. 
 
 Henry soon realized that something must be done, 
 and feeling it would be wrong to bring care to his 
 young wife by discussing business matters so early in 
 their honey-moon, worried over the matter for a time 
 and then resolved, as any sensible young man would 
 have done, to consult his mother. Before this thought 
 was carried out, however, the young man met with 
 assistance from a very different source from what he 
 had expected. 
 
 Mr. Goldman, the bank clerk, who had been in the 
 bank ever since it was founded, and who had furnished 
 the brains for carrying out nearly every big financial 
 steal that Mr. Goldburg had been in since their present 
 relation commenced, was not slow to take in the situation. 
 
 Having great friendship and respect for Henry, he 
 approached the matter with a warmth of feeling which 
 was to him quite uncommon. Henry was pleased to 
 see that his father's old trusty was taking so much 
 interest in his welfare and was glad to take advantage 
 of any counsel this experienced friend might offer. 
 
 "I know your feelings," said Mr. Goldman, "you 
 want to make a start but you do not like to ask for 
 money, and your chances for getting it are none too 
 good. I would like to know what business you prefer. " 
 
 "I have no particular choice," said Henry, "but I 
 know I can do nothing without money." 
 
 "That is true," said Mr. Goldman, "in all ordinary 
 business. In the banking business, however, it is very 
 different. The House and Senate of the United States 
 under the direction of English and American syndicates 
 are remarkable for one thing at least, ; they have 
 created a god and that god is coin. To commence 
 
212 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 business with limited capital is to invite failure. The 
 laws are so completely on the side of the banker that 
 it is only an accident when a man finds an opportunity 
 of commencing business on a small capital with the 
 slightest hope of success; the manipulation of Congress 
 by the money power, has established in the United 
 States a financial system which is destined to concen 
 trate the property of the country in a very short time, 
 in the hands of a few individuals, and men of small 
 capital, under the system must encounter many obstacles. 
 In fact it seems there is but one chance in a thousand 
 for anything beyond a living; and that is secured only 
 by one party swallowing up the other in regular fish 
 style, by some sharp and fraudulent deal. As you are 
 inclined to be liberal, you would soon go to the wall, 
 just as thousands ot others are constantly doing. 
 Therefore the thought of any small deal should be 
 abandoned. You could no doubt borrow money to 
 commence on, but what is the use?" 
 
 After some little thought the financier quietly knocked 
 the ashes from his cigar and in a sympathetic, confi 
 dential manner asked Henry how he would like the 
 banking business. 
 
 "I have made a mistake, I fear, in not studying 
 finance, which leaves me entirely unfit to take charge 
 of a bank and in consequence of this my father would 
 hardly let me have any money, besides banking neces 
 sarily takes a large capital." 
 
 "What your father would do, I cannot say, but in 
 everything else you are wrong," said the expert, "for 
 the truth is, while bankers mix things up in such a way 
 as to befog the people outside, when you get behind 
 the screens there is no business so simple. You have 
 in reality been doing the most difficult work in your 
 father's bank. There is really nothing in banking, 
 under our present system, but drawing interest on 
 government bonds, loaning money on real estate and 
 collecting the interest. When it comes down to a 
 nicety, that is all there is to it. All this talk you hear 
 about ten thousand different causes that bring panics 
 and financial distress is mere sophistry. It is thrown 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 21$ 
 
 out to confuse the mind and hide the real cause, which 
 is invariably some gigantic fraud practiced on the 
 people. There is plenty of business in the western 
 part of the city and if you will let stock gambling alone 
 it will be less complicated than running a candy shop. 
 Of course in making loans, you will have to be careful 
 to have good security; keep the whip always in your 
 own hands and don't be timid about using it. 
 
 "Now while your father would not be willing to lend 
 you the necessary money, he would probably be willing 
 to sign a check for the amount in 60 days. " 
 
 "But," said Henry, "how am I to pay the money 
 back in 60 days and continue business?" 
 
 "O," said the clerk, "after you are once started you 
 can do business on the strength of your bonds and 
 make loans from your deposits. " 
 
 "But," said Henry, "suppose the depositors should 
 close on me?" 
 
 "This they are not likely to do. The name, Gold- 
 burg, is worth a good deal; but if they do you can 
 borrow money to tide you over or you can close your 
 doors and the depositors are the ones who will lose." 
 
 "Henry hesitated a moment, then said, "If I have to 
 borrow money the interest will eat me up, as it 
 does others." 
 
 "Not so, said the clerk, "you only have to borrow 
 for a day or two, in case of a scare; when you have 
 paid your depositors off confidence will have been 
 restored and in less than a week the money will all 
 come back. Bankers generally accommodate each 
 other in that way, so you see it is a very easy matter 
 to use the same money in three or four different banks 
 except in case of a general panic; but a man who has 
 no more personal ambition for getting rich than you, 
 can always keep enough of his deposits on hand to 
 avert all danger and still make all the money he cares 
 for. Banking, you see, is not strictly a business; but 
 rather a game, and a very one sided game at that. It 
 is what gamblers would call a dead open and shut 
 percentage game. The principal percentage is in 
 drawing interest on bonds thev do not own, and also 
 
214 AN IDAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 drawing interest on money they owe to their depositors 
 by loaning it to another party. 
 
 "Now Henry," continued Mr. Goldman, "if you will 
 do as I say I think you can make a start in banking 
 on a letter of credit from your father and return his 
 letter or check inside of 60 days and still have your 
 business established as solid as a rock backed by a big 
 income from interest on government bonds. " 
 
 Henry was astonished, but he knew the ability of 
 Mr. Goldman was unquestioned; he knew also how 
 his father had piled up millions, while all his neighbors 
 were losing money. He did not believe that loss on 
 one side and gain on the other could be the result ot 
 honest methods; he had not yet discovered that the 
 whole banking system was governed by laws carefully 
 prepared by millionaires for the express purpose of 
 legally robbing the people. 
 
 Having a young wife, he was anxious to take advan 
 tage of any advice his friend might give, in order to 
 make a respectable start in life. As bankers seemed to 
 be the only men in the country who were making 
 money, he resolved to trust the whole matter to the 
 superior judgment of his friend. 
 
 At this time Mr. Goldburg was in Chicago looking 
 after some of his western interests, and Mr. Goldman 
 informed Henry that it would be two months before 
 his return, but as his instructions gave him full and 
 unlimited power, it would not be necessary to await 
 Mr. Goldburg's return. He further said that he would 
 prepare the papers that evening for organizing a bank 
 ing company and would let him use his name as one of 
 the company. On the following day they went to the 
 west part of the city, secured a room, ordered it fitted 
 up, then called upon and secured the names of some of 
 the most prominent men of that part of the city to be 
 used in organizing a company. This done, they went 
 to New York, where Mr. Goldman introduced Henry 
 as the son of his employer, the millionaire of Bopeep, 
 having already given him a check for $100,000 on 60 
 days' time with his father's name affixed by Cashier 
 Goldman. In accordance with Goldman's instructions, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 215 
 
 Henry stated to the banker that he desired a loan of 
 $ i oo, ooo for a few days. As Mr. Goldman was well 
 known to the bankers the money was forthcoming at 
 once, and a charge of only $200 was made for the 
 favor. Taking his $100,000 in greenbacks, Henry and 
 his friend proceeded to invest it in Government bonds 
 drawing 5 per cent interest, which would give Henry 
 an annual income of $5,000. The next step was to 
 apply for and secure a charter, according to law; with 
 the charter Henry received $90,000 of his money back 
 from the Government not in greenbacks, but in 
 National Bank notes, which was money to all intents 
 and purposes. Mr. Goldman then gave Henry a check 
 of $10,000 on 60 days' time; this was also signed by 
 Mr. Goldman, Cashier for the millionaire. They then 
 dropped into another bank where Goldman was well 
 known, and had it cashed; the bank where they had 
 borrowed the $100,000 was the next place visited and 
 Henry returned to them their $100,000; this took the 
 $90,000 received from Government and the $10,000 
 received on Goldburg's check on 60 days, signed by 
 the Cashier of the bank at Bopeep. Henry then paid 
 the $200 out of his pocket money and the two returned 
 to Bopeep where Henry, with a clerk whom Goldburg 
 recommended, opened a new National Bank. 
 
 The boy had pocket money enough to fit up a room 
 and as he was the son of a millionaire and had secured 
 the names of some of the most prominent men in New 
 York to form his company, he at once had the confi 
 dence of the entire community and deposits soon filled 
 his vaults. Acting on Mr. Goldman's advice, in a few 
 weeks he paid the check of $10,000 out of his deposits 
 and had established a business that would probably 
 pay him $10,000 a year, beside the interest on $100,000 
 bonds which he never owned. 
 
 Everything was running so smoothly that Henry 
 could hardly comprehend what had transpired, the 
 change was so sudden; he felt as if he had been hypnotized 
 and robbed some one; when he had a little leisure, he 
 dropped in on his friend Goldman who seemed more 
 than usually sociable. After seating themselves com- 
 
2l6 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 posedly and lighting their cigars, Henry reported the 
 condition of the new Bank and added, that he could 
 hardly realize the change for, said he, "I really started 
 with nothing and am already growing into wealth, in 
 spite of my ignorance of finance, and that too, at a 
 time when business failures throughout the country 
 are more numerous than ever before. " 
 
 "Your ignorance of finance," said Mr. Goldman, "is 
 the very thing which makes it look so strange; but 
 when you take the fact into consideration that all our 
 banking laws are made in London or Wall Street by 
 men who are schooled in the use of money to control 
 men, and have used their intellect to make the laws for 
 the express purpose of building up their own interests, 
 to the loss of all others, it is not so wonderful after all. " 
 
 After a rambling conversation, Mr. Goldman said, 
 "you now have a business established (if banking can 
 be called a business), which by -careful management, 
 will pay you from $10,000 to $20,000 annually; it 
 looks to me as if the proper thing for you to do, would 
 be to make a sinking fund of the interest on those 
 bonds; all they have really cost you is $10,000; that 
 you will, of course, have to pay from your deposits 
 and will eventually have to be paid back to the deposi 
 tors. As they have cost you so little you can afford to 
 set that money one side, keep it on interest constantly, 
 and give it to your oldest boy." 
 
 Henry flushed a little at this and in order to pass it 
 over lightly, at the same time display his rapidity at 
 figures, picked up a pencil and calculated the compound 
 interest of the bonds. After a few minutes' lively work 
 he exclaimed, "my God, at the expiration of the bonds 
 in twenty years, beside having furnished me a basis to 
 do business on, they will have netted me in interest 
 over $250,000." Pausing in deep thought for a few 
 moments, still examining the paper, he continued, 
 "but then it will be difficult to keep it on interest con 
 stantly." "Not at all," said Mr. Goldman, "the bankers 
 have long since pushed a law through Congress to 
 withdraw the greenback from circulation. The people 
 mn^t ha^e mon^v tn Ho Hncin^co with and will thus be 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 217 
 
 compelled to go to the bank and borrow; there is no 
 other way for them to get it. By making a special 
 deal on this interest at 5 per cent you can have it com 
 pounded every six months; you were figuring on com 
 pounding every year, so you will have even more than 
 your figures call for. " 
 
 "Well, for the Lord's sake," said Henry, "is it pos 
 sible that all the National Banks in the country are 
 drawing money out of the Government treasury in 
 this way?" "Possible," said Goldman, "not only 
 possible, but an actual fact." 
 
 "No wonder then," said Henry, "some men make 
 millions while the people in general are losing money 
 and fast becoming bankrupt; it could not be otherwise, 
 and I now wonder what will be the outcome of all this 
 and whither is our country drifting. In a little while, 
 refinement, knowledge and virtue will all count for 
 nothing and worth will be counted by dollars and cents; 
 the masses will become so poor that, they will barter 
 their souls for cash." 
 
 "That," said Mr. Goldman, "will undoubtedly be 
 the result and then classes will rule as in Europe, while 
 the people are growing poorer, patriotism and courage 
 will disappear." 
 
 "Why don't the newspapers blow up Congress for 
 passing such laws?" said Henry. 
 
 "Many of the large papers are owned, or partially so, 
 by bankers; the small ones, like the people, are gener 
 ally hard up and have to borrow money from the banks, 
 therefore the press is as completely throttled in this 
 country as in Russia." 
 
 "Why don't the people make a general remonstrance 
 against such laws?" 
 
 "Because they read the papers and are led astray; 
 if I were to stamp the State and tell the whole truth, 
 the papers would denounce and the people would not 
 believe me, but would call me a crank. You have been 
 reading our great dailies for several years, you have 
 leisure and education, have established yourself in 
 business at the expense of the Government and you 
 hardly believe it." 
 
2l8 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "That is a fact," said Henry, "I will have to give 
 it up. But since I come to think, it is not so strange 
 after all; we are told that many deductive facts are the 
 reverse of what they seem. The world seems to be flat 
 but it is round. The American press would seem to 
 be the guardian of justice but the rule holds good in 
 regard to it and by carefully examining the matter we 
 would find it to be exactly the reverse. If this is so, 
 the same people who learned that the world is round, 
 will find out in time that the press is only a deception. " 
 
 Thanking his friend, Henry took his departure. 
 
 On returning from Chicago, the millionaire found his 
 boy firmly planted in business, backed by the deposit 
 of bonds in the sum of $100,000 and the question at 
 once came to his mind as to how the young man pro 
 cured the money. His first suspicions fell upon Mr. 
 Goldman and he ordered a general overhauling of the 
 books; finding the books balanced, he interviewed the 
 New York bankers and found that his name had been 
 used on checks which had all been paid. A detective 
 was then employed and it was learned that Mr. Gold 
 man had worked the whole thing. The boy had been 
 started in business with an annual interest coming 
 from bonds, amounting to $5,000 per year and a busi 
 ness that would make him a millionaire in course of 
 a lifetime. This too had all been done and no crime 
 could be attached to it, nor had one dollar of Mr. 
 Goldburg's money been touched. 
 
 When Mr. Goldburg became fully acquainted with the 
 transaction it gave him renewed confidence in his son 
 and he notified Mr. Goldman to give him unlimited 
 favor. Henry, however, was too honest and large 
 hearted to ever become a millionaire; he contented 
 himself with the ordinary resources of the bank and 
 bonds; became rich but not a millionaire. 
 
 The writer would feel himself recreant to an important 
 duty were be to close this chapter without calling the 
 attention of the reader to the fact that there is no 
 method by which a man engaged in any other branch 
 of business could start in a similar way and continue 
 in business six months. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AFTER a very agreeable voyage, Mi, Jefferson 
 reached Liverpool. In the great cities oi Eng 
 land he felt like a caged bird the red tape and form 
 alities were so common as to be almost beyond endurance 
 There were officers everywhere and the people con 
 stantly on the move. Life in all its different phases, 
 from the oldest to the youngest, from the richest to the 
 poorest were all striving, striving, striving; some for 
 bread, some for wealth and a very few sought knowl 
 edge; but all strove according to their own peculiar 
 desires and tastes. 
 
 "Why all this?" said Mr. Jefferson. "Why do men 
 seek happiness in superfluous wealth and vain display 
 while others are in want? If man has an immortal 
 soul, then this wrong will surely react upon his future 
 self. If we have no immortal part, why strive for more 
 than we can use? It would be infinitely better to call 
 a halt and enjoy wha we already have." 
 
 After turning about $5,000,000 of gold over to the 
 officials of the mint, Mr. Jefferson took in the city for 
 a few days and did not lack attention; being of a 
 retiring nature he managed to pass much of his time 
 alone which better enabled him to consider and profit 
 by the many instructive lessons which a great city affords. 
 
 His first step in business was to purchase: 
 
 4 Ocean Steamers $2,000,000 
 
 4 River Steamers at $200,000 800,000 
 
 Railroad Iron for 100 miles 400,000 
 
 4 Locomotives 34, ooo 
 
 Flat, Freight and Passr. Cars 200, ooo 
 
 Tools and hardware 466, ooo 
 
 Supplies, voyage and colony 400,000 
 
 Total amount $4, 300,000 
 
220 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Having manned and loaded the four River Steamers 
 and one large Steamer, also having taken on 2,000 
 immigrants, he dispatched them for Africa. 
 
 With the other three steamers partially loaded with 
 railroad iron, he went to New York and proceeded to 
 buy as follows: 
 
 Printing office fixtures, including press 
 and all necessary machinery for running 
 a first-class office, together with lytho- 
 graphing outfit for use of the treasury 
 department in making money, and sun 
 dries, amounting in all to $1,000,000 
 
 100 head cows, 100 work cattle, 100 horses 17,000 
 
 General supplies groceries, dry goods. 500,000 
 
 10 saw mills hardware and tools. 400,000 
 
 Total $1,917,000 
 
 Amount paid out in London 4,300,000 
 
 Total paid out including i war ship 1,000,000 
 Grand total ,.. $7,217,000 
 
 The gold in all had minted $15,500,000, so it will 
 therefore be seen that there was remaining in the bank 
 to the credit of the Republic $8,283,000. 
 
 There had been collected from passengers in all 
 $250,000; this Mr. Jefferson retained as an incidental 
 fund. Before leaving New York he had made every 
 possible effort to secure the service of the very best 
 lithographers and engravers to accompany him and had 
 been quite successful. 
 
 On the arrival of the first fleet on the great river, 
 they were met by President Bundy who had already 
 selected a landing; a town had also been surveyed and 
 as a large part of the immigrants were composed of 
 families and had tents, they selected lots and fixed up 
 comfortable homes. 
 
 Some of them moved upon farming lands near the 
 city, which had been surveyed in forty acre lots. A 
 reservation of four miles square had been kept for the 
 use of the city; then the next two miles from that had 
 been run off into forty acre tracts; then twenty-two 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 221 
 
 miles more in eighty acre lots, after that in 160 acre 
 lots, all subject to squatter rights. 
 
 The cattle driven in by the natives were bought, 
 tamed, put to work, and in two weeks from that time 
 planting had commenced. 
 
 When Mr. Jefferson arrived he found railroad material 
 and stores all landed; the families all nicely located in 
 tents; store tents had been put up and filled with 
 goods; a market place established where natives brought 
 meat, eggs, fowls, fruits and vegetables to sell. It was 
 wonderful how quickly they learned the use ot money 
 and it pleased the whites to see what friendly people 
 they had found. 
 
 The small boats had been up the river with exploring 
 parties and found an extensive forest of pine over 200 
 miles above; they had also passed through an immense 
 hardwood country, and now that the machinery was on 
 hand, it was decided to send two of the mills up at 
 once. In a few days one was sent to the pinery to cut 
 lumber for the buildings, the other to the hardwoods 
 to cut lumber for wagon and ship timber. This mill 
 was provided with machinery to make spokes, felloes 
 and staves. 
 
 The Ocean steamers were sent to Liverpool for railroad 
 iron; to proceed to the United States for work-horses 
 and cattle, hogs and poultry; also passengers and goods. 
 
 Two weeks after the vessels took their departure, an 
 enterprising individual from Texas, sailed into the 
 harbor with a ship load of cattle and horses; he came 
 on the strength of what he had learned in New York; 
 the animals found ready sale with the immigrants and 
 soon were employed in building railroad or putting 
 in crops. 
 
 A eub-treasury had been established, money and 
 stock had been printed and five companies had been 
 organized a steamship and navigation company, with 
 a capital stock of $10,000,000; railroad transportation 
 company, with a capital stock of $10,000,000; lumber 
 and milling company, with a capital stock of $6,000,000; 
 building company, with a capital stock or $4,000,000; 
 commercial company, with a caniM stock of $6,000,000; 
 
222 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 mining company, with a capital stock of $2,000,000. 
 
 All the personal interest of the government in prop 
 erty was turned over to these companies, except the 
 war vessel. 
 
 Now that the treasury could be drawn on for money, 
 as work progressed, a remarkable activity commenced. 
 
 Scraper outfits were sent to the grade on the railroad, 
 rock men were put to work, mines were being opened, 
 mills were running and vast quantities of lumber were 
 being landed at Summerville, the city which had 
 sprung into existence at the landing on the great river. 
 
 Buildings were everywhere going up, bricks being 
 moulded and stone quarries opened; coal was also being 
 mined and would soon find its way to the coast for 
 the use of steamers. 
 
 All this was being done without one word of com 
 plaint about money. Why should they complain? 
 The money they had would buy anything that was to 
 be had; it was good at the stores and gold coin was 
 at a discount of 50 per cent, caused by a law of the 
 country. Even California in her palmiest days, when 
 gold was being made into money by the millions, never 
 experienced more thrift than did this new Republic. 
 
 It will be remembered that when the United States 
 issued so much greenback money to carry on the great 
 war of the Rebellion, business of all kinds was quick 
 ened and notwithstanding the dreadful ravages of war, 
 such a degree of prosperity has been seldom, if ever 
 seen, outside of countries where new discoveries of 
 great mineral wealth has accidentally placed a large 
 amount of money in circulation. 
 
 From this it would seem that in all cases where 
 money is plenty among the people, business is brisk; 
 and as soon as the money comes under the control of a 
 few individuals, it is to the injury of the whole. Just 
 in the proportion that it is controlled, in the same 
 proportion is business paralyzed. 
 
 In six months from the commencement of the work 
 the railroad had been completed to the lake. Previous 
 to this a colony of ship builders had been located on a 
 beautiful town site that had been surveyed by govern- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 22$ 
 
 * 
 
 ment at the foot of the lake. These families had 
 managed to get in lumber enough on wagons to con 
 struct comfortable houses, and now that the ship 
 building material could be had over the railroad, a 
 boat building ^company was formed, work on dock 
 commenced at once, and soon the construction of lake 
 boats was under way. 
 
 After the work on the railroad had been completed, 
 the men and teams had been moved to the capital, 
 Kiyongo, and work begun on a road to the mine. 
 
 One hundred miles from Kiyongo, in a low range of 
 hills along the route of the new railroad, had been 
 found a deposit of iron equal to those worked in the 
 United States. Coal, lead and zinc had also been 
 found. With the exception of some fifty miles of 
 country where these mines were located, the entire 
 route was through a farming region equal in fertility 
 and general advantages to that of Illinois. 
 
 Several parties had been for months running section 
 lines on a strip of ten miles wide on each side of the 
 road and immigration was now coming in so rapidly 
 that the settlement of this strip kept pace with the 
 advance of the road, while other extensive tracts were 
 also being surveyed and taken up. 
 
 A large part of the farmers who came were from the 
 United States; a majority were men who had owned 
 valuble lands and farms there, and during the war 
 when money was plenty, had become involved, gen 
 erally from improving their property or buying new 
 machinery to facilitate labor; but in consequence of 
 sickness, fire, flood, storm or other unforeseen circum 
 stances were unable to meet the full obligation when 
 due, and before another opportunity was offered the 
 circulating medium was withdrawn through the enforce 
 ment of the contraction act and their productions went 
 down in price to such an extent as to make the pay 
 ment of debt and interest impossible. They were 
 therefore forced by circumstances wbich they could not 
 control to sell their homes for what they could get, 
 and their losses went into the coffers to swell the fund 
 that produced the present cmr nf millionaires. 
 
224 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 
 
 A great many ot these people on reaching Africa had 
 money enough left to buy such teams and machinery 
 as would be needed in opening a new farm. 
 
 Many of them when their crops had been planted, 
 sent their teams to the grading camps to earn a little 
 money and in this way the farming communities were 
 kept alive without the sad alternatjve of going to the 
 bank; others, who had no teams, went upon land and 
 worked for their neighbors until they had money to buy 
 teams with; others took land, worked for their neigh 
 bors who in turn came on with their teams and a crop 
 was soon under way. There were still others who 
 located their families upon land, and went themselves 
 to the public works and there soon made money to 
 procure the necessary team and implements to go on 
 with their farming. 
 
 Aged persons, who in youth took part in the settle 
 ment of Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Wisconsin and 
 other states will recognize in this a repetition of the 
 history of that period, and they will remember how 
 greed, selfishness and crime have increased among the 
 people during the concentration of wealth under the 
 unerring work of our financial legislation since that 
 time. That the day will come when the mask will be 
 torn aside, by means of which this wicked legislation 
 has been so successfully hid for many years, there can 
 be but little doubt, and then the American people will 
 recognize the fact that the whole fabric is based upon 
 gold and the national bank is only a machine for the 
 successful playing of a confidence game. Its object, 
 which already marks the period of its existence, is 
 simply nothing more nor less than to rob the public in 
 favor of a class, and thus concentrate wealth. 
 
 When the large immigration reached Kiyongo, soon 
 after the railroad had been completed to the lake, they 
 found the government in a most prosperous condition. 
 
 A man of the name of Pomroy Brick Pomroy was 
 Secretary of the Treasury. He was an American, 
 whether he was any relation to the great greenback 
 leader has not been revealed to the author, but^sure it 
 is that he possessed some sterling qualities, otherwise 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 225 
 
 President Bundy would not have felt called upon in 
 his appointment to express a belief that he was about 
 the only man in the community who had so far over 
 come his superstitious worship of gold, that he could 
 without a shudder, ship all the precious metal out of 
 the country and have no fear of the idol's ghost or be 
 overcome by pangs of remorse. 
 
 During the past year there had been money enough 
 paid out for work by the different companies to supply 
 plenty of the circulating medium. There had been 
 enough gold coin brought into the country to cover the 
 cattle, horses, hogs, poultry and farm implements 
 imported. Merchants in sending for goods had always 
 changed money at the treasury for check on New York 
 or London and thus gold became unnecessary. 
 
 During the year $12,000,000 of gold bars had been 
 received from the mines and now lay in the treasury 
 awaiting shipment. It was the surplus of gold output 
 for the year, the balance having been sent to Mr. 
 Brown from time to time to be used in supplying the 
 mines with dry goods and notions. 
 
 It might be here noted that as yet there had been 
 but little change in the mines. Gen. Summerville was 
 still there and the stores were all under his control. 
 In them he had many white men employed but the 
 mining was nearly all done by the natives. 
 
 After the government issued paper money, $12,000,- 
 ooo was sent to the mines and had been paid out for 
 gold; this made money plentiful there, of course, just 
 the same as money was plentiful in California in 1849 
 and 1850; the only difference was that in the one place 
 it was gold dollars, the other it was paper. 
 
 A great deal of this money found its way back to 
 Kiyongo, and when the railroad brought retail mer 
 chants in from Summerville on the great river, they 
 had a lively trade with the natives and many became 
 wealthy. 
 
 During the year a government had been perfected at 
 Kiyongo in strict accordance with Mr. Jefferson's ideas 
 as embraced in the rights of man. 
 
 Mr. Bundy was now President, Mr. Lincoln Sscre- 
 
226 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 tary of State, and Mr. Jefferson had long since been 
 sent on a foreign mission to look after the interests of 
 the Republic, secure desirable immigration, provide 
 for the sale of gold, and purchase and ship to the 
 Republic such articles as were found necessary. 
 
 A few months prior to the organization of Govern 
 ment a very intelligent individual located in Kiyongo 
 who, it was said, had a hobby; that hobby was called 
 squatter sovereignty and the man's name was Stephen 
 A. Douglas. It seems that President Bundy recog 
 nized in this man not a hobby but true business tact 
 and the very grandest of patriotic sentiments. He also 
 believed that he saw in him a peculiar fitness for 
 handling the Land Department in such a manner as to 
 secure every man in his right of possession of a home, 
 and at the same time prevent all possibility of lands 
 being monopolized or kept out of use for speculation; 
 he therefore appointed him Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 The most peculiar feature of the convention which 
 gave form to the new Government was the fact that 
 several ladies took part in its deliberations, and to their 
 zeal and wisdom was largely due the complete over 
 throw of such selfish dogmas and superstitions as 
 intrinsic value of money, honest dollar, national banks, 
 interest, discount, strengthening acts and confidence 
 games of all kinds as played by the gold power; tariff, 
 over-production, and a thousand and one other hobbies, 
 made to frighten the unwary and control their votes. 
 
 The Commercial company that had been organized 
 at Summerville now had a large wholesale house at 
 that place; one at Mango, that being the name of the 
 town at the foot of the lake, and another at Kiyongo. 
 They had a buyer in New York, who, acting under the 
 instructions of Mr. Jefferson, made all their purchases. 
 Being an extensive buyer, and having unlimited capi 
 tal, he was enabled to get bottom prices; and as the 
 Company was limited to 7 per cent profit on original 
 investment, they were able to furnish the retail mer 
 chants with goods cheaper than they would have been 
 furnished by any other system, and the retail business 
 being open to competition, goods were quite reasonable. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 227 
 
 Along the shores of the great river were hundreds of 
 miles of fine farming land, almost equal to the great 
 Mississippi Valley, and into this immense belt the 
 immigrants were pouring in from the United States by 
 thousands. These people were of all classes. Some 
 had been merchants of large capital but on account of 
 the contraction of the currency in favor of the money 
 lenders, their goods had so lost in value as to place 
 them entirely at the mercy of their creditors; they were 
 therefore forced to die a slow but sure business death 
 from being eaten up by that great financial cancer, 
 called interest 
 
 Others had been working for men who had been 
 forced to suspend business from the same cause. 
 
 Then there were others who had been working where 
 machinery in the hands of great corporations had come 
 in competition with, and forced their employers out of 
 business. 
 
 President Bundy, in visiting and looking to the 
 welfare of these people, was surprised to find how few 
 chere were who knew the real cause of hard times in 
 the United States. There had been no failure of crops, 
 the mines were producing great quantities of gold and 
 siJver, yet many of them said it was hard to get work 
 enough to buy food and clothes. When asked the 
 cause of this, nine out of ten would say, over-production. 
 
 Sometimes they would get into discussions about it, 
 and use the same old political gags, hobbies or absurdi 
 ties as rag baby, honest dollar, sound money, supply 
 and demand, tariff, protect labor, free trade but never 
 a word about the exception clause on the greenback, 
 the strengthening act, control of money by national 
 banks, demonetization of silver in favor of money 
 lenders and creditor class, the contraction or any of 
 the giant swindles that had been pulled through Con 
 gress to rob the American people of not only millions 
 but billions of dollars. 
 
 "These people," said the President, "do not seem to 
 .comprehend the fact that when there is plenty of 
 money in a country there can be oo such thing as 
 over-production. " 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SOON after the railroad had been completed to the 
 iron mines, 100 miles from Kiyongo, a gentleman 
 made his appearance at that place and after looking 
 about for a few days, visited the mine where a com 
 pany of men were prospecting and taking out the ore. 
 After spending several days making surveys, diagrams 
 and plans, he returned to Kiyongo and called at the 
 office of the Mining Department which was under the 
 control, care and keeping of a lady who had distin 
 guished herself in the convention by taking a lively 
 part in formulating a constitution and laws for the 
 new government. On approaching this lady, he found 
 her perfectly at ease under the stress of business 
 imposed upon that high office during this progressive 
 period. The gentleman mentioned was an English 
 man of rank and culture; as an engineer and manu 
 facturer of steel, he had few superiors. For years he 
 had been in charge of a large manufacturing concern 
 in England, where the workman received $2.00 per day 
 and he received $5,000 per year for carrying a cane, 
 but at last one of those gold panics, so common to 
 metal-money countries, came along and the work shut 
 down. He was now looking for a chance to make a 
 few millions, just as thousands of men have done in 
 the United States by working the gold, national bank 
 confidence-game. 
 
 After introducing himself in due form he presented 
 his report on the mines and explained: "There is no 
 question in regard to the vast extent of the deposit; 
 the ore is of good quality; coal is near at hand; water 
 is plenty and convenient; in short, it is equal to the 
 great mines of Pennsylvania or Missouri and all that is 
 needed is capital; without capital these properties are 
 valueless. This valuable mineral has lain for ages 
 buried up in the earth. Miners can find mines but it 
 takes capital to work them. Your country here is 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 22Q 
 
 poor, of course, because it is new. You have every 
 thing but capital and everything you have is worthless 
 until you have capital to take hold. 
 
 "Our country is old and although it is but an island, 
 it is the richest country in the world; in fact, all the 
 gold which has been taken out of the mines in the 
 United States is to-day safely stored in the vaults of 
 the Bank of England and if moneyed men had as much 
 confidence in this Republic as they have in the United 
 States, you would see the gold pour into this country 
 by the millions. 
 
 "If I can get a good title to a few hundred acres of 
 these iron and coal lands, I can organize a company, 
 issue stock and with my indorsement, I can sell that 
 stock in England at a very small discount and can put 
 a force of men at work inside of a year. Your land is 
 perfectly valueless now and by giving me a deed it 
 will bring millions of dollars of wealth into your 
 country and will do more to secure the confidence of 
 these great moneyed men, than anything you will have 
 an opportunity of doing for ten years to come. Just 
 think of having your steel rails made at home." 
 
 The lady saw at once that he had not posted himself 
 on the laws of the Republic and said: "Sir, are you 
 not aware that English money would not be good in 
 this country?" 
 
 "Good," said the Englishman, setting himself back 
 on his dignity, "gold is good in any country; its 
 intrinsic value makes it good the world over." 
 
 "If England and the United States were to demone 
 tize gold to-morrow, what would it then be worth?" 
 was asked. 
 
 "O," said the gentleman, "that is hardly a supposa- 
 ble case; the world has always used gold for money 
 and always will; it is believed God gave us gold for 
 money, as he gave us coal to burn." 
 
 "I am aware," said the lady, "that the people in 
 by-gone ages have believed this; they have had many 
 other superstitions; tor instance, they believed that 
 God appointed their rulers. This myth, like many 
 others, is about dead, and the days of the gold myth 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 are already numbered. It is true that as far as we can 
 see in the dark and bloody past, man has been a slave 
 to his own superstitions; but the day of intellectual 
 enlightenment has now come, and the people themselves 
 have assumed the right to think. 
 
 "One of the fundamental principles of this Republic 
 is to make and use our own money; we sell our own 
 gold and ivory because we have no present use for 
 either. If I ever encourage any people to borrow, it 
 will not be money, but a bite to eat; and so far as 
 English confidence is concerned the people of the 
 United States can take it all, we don't want it." 
 
 She then handed him a primer, saying, "here, sir, 
 is one of our law books; you can easily understand it 
 and you will not need a lawyer. It contains all the 
 laws governing the organization of joint stock com 
 panies. " She then explained that if he wished to 
 organize a company he would need to become a citizen 
 and then the Government would issue all the money 
 that would be required. 
 
 "But," said he, "I am told that you have been issu 
 ing money to all these big companies that are operating 
 so extensively, and you may rest assured the day of 
 inflation will come some day, and then your money 
 will not be worth the paper it is printed on." 
 
 This was too much for the patriotic little woman; 
 she arose slowlyfto her feet and the color came to her 
 face as she quietly, but firmly said: "Sir, you are 
 ignorant of our laws; I will therefore explain to you 
 that the stock which you propose to sell in London 
 will be kept in the treasury here, and when people get 
 more money than they need in business, they will 
 invest it in this stock. If you examine our laws, you 
 will find that for every dollar of money that has been 
 issued, a dollar of stock is kept in the treasury in ten 
 dollar shares, so until that stock has all been sold an 
 inflated money market will find relief in the purchase 
 of this stock and when the stock has all been sold, the 
 money will all be back in the treasury. 
 
 "Thus you see it will require vast expenditures on 
 the part of the Government to prevent the money from 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2$! 
 
 continually finding its way back to the treasury; a 
 stringency therefore is the thing to be feared, not 
 inflation, and a stringency under our system can alway 
 be avoided by liberal appropriation. When you exam 
 ine our monetary system, which is very simple, you 
 will find that while the Government exists the value of 
 our money can never be impaired. The land, you will 
 learn, is always public domain; not one foot of it will 
 ever be sold to any man. Government, you will observe, 
 lets the people use this land free from rent or taxes. 
 The money is also public money; it belongs to the 
 Government and is furnished to the people without 
 interest. Its value is based upon the land which is 
 already in the hands of the people. Do you suppose 
 that people will discredit money when they hold the 
 security in their own hands? Never. When I say to 
 you that Government furnishes money to the people 
 without interest, do not misconstrue my meaning. 
 
 "The Government of the United States withdrew 
 their greenback money from circulation and issued 
 interest-bearing bonds, for the people must have money; 
 there was but one way to get it, and that was to bor 
 row it and pay interest. The people of the United 
 States, by legislation, are compelled to pay interest to 
 the gold power and the bank for their circulating 
 medium and it is under the working of that system 
 that its Government has become one of the debtor 
 countries of the globe. Please do not understand that 
 we scatter our money broadcast for men to get an arm 
 full, but the reverse of this; we confine all transactions 
 to strictly business principles and are as careful to 
 guard the interests of the country in handling our 
 money, as the bankers in the United States and Eng 
 land are to guard the interests of the combined money 
 power. Never a dollar of money goes out of our treasury 
 until it is earned by the one who is to receive it, and 
 then it bears no interest; never a dollar lays idle in our 
 vaults while men are wanting work. We will terrace 
 the hills and make homes for men upon the rugged 
 mountain sides, ere one man who wants work shall be 
 out of employment. " 
 
232 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "In case I were to organize a company for the 
 manufacture of steel with a cash capital of $3,000,000, 
 what salary would I receive for management?" asked 
 Mr. Davis, for that was the gentleman's name. 
 
 "General managers of companies," said the lady, 
 "get $1,500.00 a year; men who work over fire and hot 
 metal get $5.00 a day; the next grade of workmen get 
 $4.00 and common hands $3.50." 
 
 "Then you put a gentleman on the same roll with 
 working men?" 
 
 "Certainly," said the lady, "we employ none but 
 gentlemen and our prices are fixed by law. For hand 
 ling this Department of the Government I receive 
 $1,500.00 a year. If I were to resign there would be 
 many equally good, if not better qualified, who would 
 apply for the situation." 
 
 The gentleman seemed restless and rising to his feet 
 as he adjusted his glove, said: "I would consider 
 myself disgracing a long line of noble ancestors were I 
 to engage on such terms. If I could get a title to the 
 property and handle it to my own profit I would engage, 
 otherwise it may lay there till Gabriel blows his 
 trumpet. " Thus saying he left the room with a lofty air. 
 
 That afternoon 300 iron workers and a lot of car 
 penters and masons arrived from the United States. 
 It was evident from their appearance that they all 
 belonged to the working class; many had families and 
 were a very intelligent company. Every man had a 
 primer in his pocket and had evidently studied the laws 
 of the country thoroughly; , they showed by every 
 action, however, that they were filled with anxiety. 
 They had spent their money to get to the country; 
 they were workers of iron and not a smelter was running 
 in the country. Mr. Jefferson had promised plenty of 
 money. So far everything had looked all right, but the 
 important question now was, would the Government 
 make good these promises? Everything was at stake; 
 they had come thousands of miles into a strange land 
 at an expense of a million dollars, and what money 
 they had left would hardly build comfortable homes, to 
 say nothing of smelting works. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 233 
 
 Some were impatient and went so far as to say they 
 believed the whole thing was a scheme to get their 
 passage money. They had not long to wait, however, 
 for a deputation of three men was chosen to visit the 
 office at once and learn the facts. 
 
 The three men chosen were representative Amiercan 
 mechanics. On entering the office they presented 
 credentials from Mr. Jefferson, whereupon they were 
 greeted as old friends. After a little friendly inter 
 course the lady gave them passes over the road for as 
 many as wished and desired them to visit the mines 
 and report as to what would be needed.. "Then," said 
 she, "an organization can be formed at once." She 
 further informed them that in anticipation of this, Mr. 
 Jefferson had shipped some months ago, a complete 
 outfit of machinery, which had been received in good 
 order and would be in readiness when required. 
 
 The result of this interview brought happiness to the 
 little band of toilers. 
 
 That evening the lady chief of the Manufacturing 
 Department visited the ladies of the party and wel 
 comed all with cheerful greeting. 
 
 The anxiety of these people had been put to such a 
 strain that the committee determined to take the cars 
 that night; in the morning they found themselves at 
 the camp. Two or three hours were all that were 
 necessary to examine .the location, so in the evening 
 they returned to Kiyongo, and on the following day an 
 organization was effected with a capital stock of 
 $1,000,000; sub-treasury established at the mines, the 
 money and stock forwarded to the same; the money 
 to be used by the company as needed, the stock kept on 
 sale. After this work went on lively. The Lumber com 
 pany had already put a large quantity of lumber on the 
 ground which was received by the new company, giving 
 a check for the same, and in turn sold it to the work 
 men to build houses. The town site had been elegantly 
 laid off and the buildings were constructed very taste 
 fully. As soon as this was done grading commenced, 
 then a building went up, the machinery was put in 
 place and furnar* arranged. 
 
234 AN IDE AL REPUBLIC. 
 
 By this time merchants had erected buildings and 
 brought in an abundance of supplies. Two more com 
 panies had been organized to do business in the same 
 town; one to manufacture steel rails, the other to 
 manafacture tools and hardware of all kinds. In less 
 than six months more than two thousand of the toiling 
 masses of the United States had reached the place and 
 found work. All working men were receiving good 
 wages and a city was springing into existence like 
 magic; in fact the place was enjoying what might be 
 called a veritable boom. 
 
 Brick yards were running, houses going up on every 
 hand, streets were being graded and pipes laid. Every 
 man found something to do and prosperity reigned, 
 but no gold or national bank. 
 
 A sub-treasury had been established and it was found 
 that many of the toilers invested their savings in stock; 
 in this way a large part of the money paid out by the 
 companies found its way back into the treasury. It has 
 since been learned that in less than ten years the 
 entire stock of that company had been absorbed by the 
 savings of the people of the town and county; in addi 
 tion to this, they all had comfortable homes. 
 
 By way of contrast it may be well to mention here 
 that in the United States the stock would have been 
 taken to some great money center, sold at a discount, 
 beyond the reach of the people, then a savings bank 
 established, run until its coffers were full, then burst, 
 but finally pay off a little gold and a good deal of 
 confidence; then make a big blow in the newspapers, 
 start up again and play the same old game; then, in 
 order to make the thing more interesting, reduce the 
 wages and have a strike and lock-out; import pauper 
 labor, take mortgage on homes while the men are idle, 
 and thus scoop the town. 
 
 This is no calamity-howl; it is only what every 
 American has seen over and over again and knows it 
 to be a fact. It is what some call legalized robbery; 
 others call it legitimate business and shrewd financier 
 ing. Call it what you will the result is just the same. 
 The banker gets rich and toilers go hungry. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 WE must now drop this historical sketch to look 
 after the gold men, or bank defaulters, Coy and 
 Saunders. They had built themselves a cabin, buried 
 their gold under the floor, and loafed about town while 
 a city grew up around them. Not half a dozen blocks 
 from their door three great manufacturing concerns had 
 been started and were running full blast. One of these 
 made wagons, another plows and the third manu 
 factured fire-arms for the Government, to be stored 
 for use in case of emergency. These companies were 
 all run on the joint stock plan and employed 2,000 
 men. All this without gold and not a millionaire in 
 the place. 
 
 Every lot about them had been built upon and they 
 were now in the heart of a city. They could have sold 
 their gold, invested the money in stock and their yearly 
 dividend would have been over $5,000 each. But this 
 was so far short of their expectations that they treated 
 it with contempt, and were content to sell a few thou 
 sand dollars' worth of gold, erect a stone building, 
 with secret rooms and vaults that would have been 
 suitable for either a burglar or a banker. They then 
 decided to wait for inflation or some other imaginary 
 ghost to come along and give them a chance, as Coy 
 said, to get in their work. 
 
 It will be remembered that Mr. Baxter undertook the 
 survey of the railroad, and being by nature a nerv 
 ous and industrious sort of man, he soon became 
 interested in the work, which he pushed without 
 interruption. 
 
 When immigrants arrived and the work of construe- 
 
236 AM IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 tion commenced at Summerville, other engineers took 
 the field; Mr. Baxter then moved on to Kiyongo and 
 continued in the work until the railroad reached the 
 mines. 
 
 About this time Coy and Saunders concluded to go 
 to the mines, and Baxter accompanied them. They 
 were not long in finding gold, and were soon located 
 on a small mountain creek; a cabin was the first thing 
 constructed, then a ditch was dug to bring water on the 
 bar; a mine was then opened which proved to be a 
 good one. They tried to hire natives, but they were 
 superstitious, and because the men had opposed their 
 chief, in the convention a few years before, they had 
 the idea that they represented the evil spirit, and even 
 the men who assisted Baxter in the survey, would not 
 work for them now; they thought some of going after 
 white men, but if they did, it might be the means of 
 bringing a crowd into the gulch and they would lose a 
 part of their ground. Stimulated by a greed for gold 
 and the hope of some day striking an inexhaustable 
 pile, they commenced operations. 
 
 Not one in the crowd had ever worked before, but 
 the hope of finding a million dollars in a pile, stimu 
 lated them ; after working hard for two years, under 
 most extraordinary circumstances, they weighed their 
 gold and found they had $100,000, a little more than 
 $30,000 each, and they began to consider. 
 
 "Well, " said Coy, "you can all do as, you please, but 
 for my part, I am done with the work. Look at the 
 situation; we found an enormously rich gold mine, 
 worked it in the best possible manner, have done all 
 our own work, put in long hours and what have we 
 made? Thirty- three thousand apiece! Only yesterday 
 I saw an account of J. Gould and Jim Fisk having 
 gone from nothing up into the millions in about the 
 same time, and they didn't work as we have, either, 
 what is the use to work? We have been wearing our 
 selves out like a lot of chumps; and while we have 
 been here millions of dollars have been handled by 
 this Government and everybody is getting a whack at 
 it but us; we are a regular set oi chumps. " 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 237 
 
 "That is a fact," said Saunders, "I have been think 
 ing the matter all over and have made up my mind to 
 make you, gentlemen, a proposition." 
 
 "Hold on," said Baxter, "I object to the term gen 
 tlemen, on general principles. I don't think any man 
 can be a gentleman and work as we have; until we do 
 something, that we may be distinguished from this 
 ignorant herd, I object to the name." 
 
 "I believe you are about right on that point," said 
 Saunders, "but the proposition that I was about to 
 make is, that we sell this claim for what we can get, 
 return to Kiyongo, get such books as seem necessary, 
 and open an office of some kind. Of course there is 
 no chance to make any money at present; the Govern 
 ment is so thoroughly organized that everything is 
 limited, and if it is allowed to run for ten years more, 
 these principles of inheritance limit will become so 
 thoroughly fixed in the minds of the people that all the 
 gold in Christendom would not move them; beside, 
 gold surely has lost its power." 
 
 "Yes," said Baxter, "I have learned one thing about 
 gold; I used to think gold was King on account of its 
 intrinsic value, but I find it all depends upon the laws. 
 If the laws of the United States were to demonetize 
 gold to-morrow it would be several thousand dollars 
 out of our pockets; and if England should demonetize 
 the next day we would not have enough to get home on. " 
 
 "Yes," said Saunders, "but there is no danger of 
 that; nothing short of revolutions would demonetize 
 gold in the United States. The banks there are too 
 strong. If John Sherman had been at the convention 
 here in place of Jefferson, and some of his friends in 
 place of Bundy and Lincoln, we would have had banks 
 all over this country now; as it is we seem to have no 
 chance; a worse lot of fanatics, I never saw. 
 
 "The conditions here now are of the worst possible 
 character; there never was a country where there was 
 so much money in general circulation as here. But 
 when you try to get a corner on it, you find yourself 
 hampered in every conceivable way. 
 
 "If you were to succeed in getting a corner on money 
 
238 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 and cut the price of everything down, and start the cry 
 of over-production, what is there to hinder Congress 
 from coming together, issuing more money to take the 
 place of that which you have in your vaults, and start 
 men to grading wagon roads all over the country? You 
 see people would go to work and earn money and their 
 surplus production could lay in the warehouse and hurt 
 no one; then people would learn that over-production 
 is only a ghost; unless money is based on some sub 
 stance like gold, you can have no over-production, you 
 can have no interest, you can have no mortgage, you 
 can have no banks, you can have no millionaires, you 
 can have no slaves. 
 
 "When you strike down gold you destroy all inherent 
 right and the possibility of perpetuating our great 
 monetary dynasties will cease to exist. In such a state 
 of things there will be but two ways of gaining honor, 
 power and distinction. The first would be intellectual 
 superiority; this would require a life time of hard study 
 and you would have no time to display your power as 
 a prince of wealth. The next, and only means that I 
 can see, would be to excel in helping others, though 
 often you would meet with unthankfulness, yet your 
 name would go down to history all right. 
 
 "These are both hard roads to travel. If we wish 
 to succeed we must protect the wealthy class, as their 
 power lies in controlling the money in the world, 
 through the limited amount in existence, and as there 
 is but one way of limiting money, and that is to insist 
 on its being made of a limited product, like gold, we 
 must stay with the gold power. If we can establish a 
 gold standard here, the money power of the world will 
 assist us; as we dare not go to any other country with 
 our gold, we must destroy this Government and estab 
 lish one based on gold; we may even yet have our 
 chains of national banks and make these fanatical 
 people bow to our dictum. " 
 
 "I only see one drawback to that," said Baxter, "and 
 that is the mines; they will turn off gold so fast that 
 it will be hard to control the currency even then." 
 
 "Not at all," said Coy, "look at the United States. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 23$ 
 
 They have the richest gold mines in the world; where 
 is the gold to-day? Ail in the vaults, and the people 
 are not only paying interest to the money power on all 
 the money they use, but are paying an annual interest 
 on five times that amount of other debts and selling 
 wheat at fifty cents a bushel to pay it. No, no I have 
 no apprehension of danger from these mines; all I ask 
 is for this Government to establish a gold standard 
 and all the rest will be easy enough. Of course we 
 can't make it all; we will have to stand in with Eag- 
 land's money lords, as a few men stood in with them 
 and became millionaires through their money schemes 
 in the United States. " 
 
 "I agree with you perfectly," said Saunders, "we 
 must have these English syndicates at our backs; no 
 doubt but they will get away with the lion's share, yet 
 they cannot get along without us any more than we 
 can without them. When the power is once established, 
 we shall be independent. The harder they press us 
 the harder we shall press the people. But I must 
 return to my proposition; the two great forces through 
 which the wealth of the United States has been so 
 thoroughly concentrated in a few years, are the two 
 great political parties. What we want here is two 
 great parties; so far the law has discouraged such 
 organizations, but there is really no statute law against 
 it; all it wants is a few good organizers and I believe 
 it can soon be effected. 
 
 "The two parties should be called Democratic and 
 Republican. Thus we would get the benefit of their 
 old prejudices. We can do nothing without having 
 the people organized and we must also have them 
 divided; we must get up strife of some kind. The 
 tariff dodge has been used quite successfully in the 
 United States and it might work here; a rag-baby song 
 too would help out. " 
 
 <r Yes. " said Baxter, "there is no doubting the im 
 portance of organization, but our people are mostly 
 American and have been humbuged so much by political 
 parties and shysters that I am not astonished at the 
 unpopularity of such organizations. They will hardly 
 
240 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 talk of such a thing. When they get here, from under 
 the influence of party and a subsidized press, they look 
 back, see how that country has been robbed, and it 
 makes them sick. 
 
 "We might possibly organize a secret society and 
 afterward drift it into politics; but even that I am 
 afraid would be difficult. They are all doing so much 
 better than they ever did before that even this might 
 fail. Things, too, are growing constantly worse. I see 
 by the late papers that over half of the railroad stock 
 has passed into the hands of the people already, and 
 there are probably very few persons who own over 
 $10,000 worth; when you see them all buying railroad 
 stock, even to the hired girls, it is a poor time to get 
 any marked changes in the Government." 
 
 "O, I don't know about that, "said Coy, "John Sher 
 man got the contraction act through Congress when 
 there was no possible excuse for it and the people were 
 in the very height of prosperity. " 
 
 "That is so," said Saunders, "but you must remem 
 ber they had no initiative then; the Sherman act 
 worked all right in the United States, but it won't 
 do here. " 
 
 "Let me offer a suggestion," said Baxter. "Suppose 
 we go to the coast, to Summerville or some other good 
 location, buy property and go into business; trade there 
 is brisk. New manufacturing plants are constantly 
 being started all over the country and business every 
 where is booming, I see there is now a ship building 
 company at Summerville that works more men than 
 any other yard in the world. The navigation company 
 that was organized when we were there, now has thirty- 
 six ocean and ten river steamers; the stock of that 
 company, like the railroad stock, is now largely in the 
 hands of the people. 
 
 "Money was never more plentiful in any country than 
 it is here and that accounts for so few people coming 
 to these mines. Of course it is all rag money, but we 
 can sell our gold, and if other people can get along 
 with it, I don't see why we can't, and then mercantile 
 business is always considered respectable." 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 24! 
 
 "That is all right," said Coy, "but what is a mer 
 chant? I have seen too many merchants beg favors of 
 bankers to think of that, and I am happy to say that 
 my ambition carries my thoughts a little higher than 
 waiting on the public. I would prefer having it just 
 the other way; have them wait on me. The money 
 power controls the world. A banker makes all men 
 bow to his mandate. Gold is the foundation of the 
 whole system and to secure enough of the precious 
 metal to give me a start, I sacrificed ever} thing love, 
 honor, family, friends, everything for gold and am I 
 now, after outwitting the Nabobs of earth, to be baffled 
 by a lot of Kansas fanatics? I never, never will sub 
 mit. I know that to overthrow this Government all 
 the gold power of the earth will be at my back, and I 
 will murder every man, woman and child in the Capi 
 tol but that I will place myself in a position to exer 
 cise the power that belongs to this batch of gold. 
 
 "They have destroyed the whole system of banking 
 by their fanatic legislation; I will fight it and stay with 
 the contest until I have laws in my favor; destroy the 
 Government or it destroys me. I hope I may never 
 be forced into bloodshed, but the fundamental princi 
 ples of this government must be changed; we should 
 have gone at it long ago for I see it has grown stronger 
 and stronger, day by day. I thought inflation would 
 destroy the system long before this, but I see the money 
 comes back into the treasury through the sale of stock 
 faster than it goes out and in order to keep the money 
 in circulation, Government has been compelled to raise 
 the wages all over the country. I learn they tried first 
 to start public work but found the men were all em 
 ployed, so the last Congress was forced to raise wages 
 and that raised the price of everything. The natural 
 result of this constant employment of every man in the 
 country is, that our exports exceed our imports and all 
 the gold that comes from the mines and is brought into 
 the country by immigration, goes into the treasury and 
 then it does no one any good. 
 
 "I see by the last paper they are about passing a 
 bill to come before the people at the coming election, 
 
242 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 to ship the gold all to the United States and exchange 
 it for bonds, railroad stock or other good security. 
 The excuse for this law being the possibility of other 
 Governments demonetizing gold; and in that case it 
 would become almost worthless. I apprehend no dan 
 ger of this; nothing short of a revolution could do it, 
 for the gold power is too strong. They control every 
 government on earth to-day, but this. If we go at it 
 right we can eventually have them controlling this, 
 and then our gold will have some value. I hate a 
 country that is doing business with rags." 
 
 Saunders then said, "I believe that a party can be 
 started on the whiskey question. I have noticed that 
 whiskey has been a prominent factor in American 
 politics." 
 
 "Yes," said Baxter, "but there they have us hedged 
 iri again. In the United States they have a genteel 
 saloon-keeper on every corner, with barrels of whiskey, 
 boxes of cigars, bottles of rum and a well filled purse 
 to control votes. Here liquor is sold all over the 
 country by the same firm; their business houses are in 
 the most public place that can be found, with no 
 back door, and is only kept open six hours in a day, 
 and they sell only by the quart or gallon. They have 
 here halls of pleasure which take the place of saloons; 
 everybody visits them and they are a grand institution; 
 with these great halls, and women voting there is no 
 use to talk about making a fight on whiskey. " 
 
 "That is all true," said Coy, "but we can look into 
 the matter a little and if there is no show, then I am 
 in for a revolution. Get together a few good men, 
 burn the capitol, destroy all the papers, seize the arse 
 nal and prevent the people from getting arms, organize 
 a new government, compel every man belonging to the 
 old to adopt and swear allegiance to the new; hang 
 every man that refuses, and give an enormous salary 
 to every man who submits. 
 
 "Make but few radical changes at first; throttle the 
 press by buying up the editor, tell the people that you 
 know what you are doing is wrong, but you are doing 
 it to prevent something worse. (That is what John 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 24$ 
 
 Sherman told the people about the Sherman law.) 
 
 "Among the most important things to be eliminated 
 from the constitution and laws, is woman suffrage; 
 we can never control their votes with whiskey. We 
 must have saloons to control votes and we can never 
 have them established here until we drive woman from 
 the polls. After this is done we must do away with 
 paper money; denounce it as a rag-baby failure and 
 buy or borrow all the gold, then have it made legal 
 tender, and the measure of all values. Abolish the 
 present whiskey laws and establish fashionable saloons; 
 then give us national banks, English land and inheri 
 tance laws, and if we don't have half the people pay 
 ing us rent and interest inside of ten years, then 
 history is not worth reading. Look at what has been 
 done in the United States in the last fifteen years. " 
 
 "This would all look fine on paper," said Baxter, 
 "but it would take one thousand well armed men in 
 the capitol to carry out this program and I don't think 
 we could get fifty." 
 
 Mr. Saunders now said: "No matter what we do in 
 the way of enthroning gold, we would have to depend 
 upon outside force; the vast amount of machinery 
 coming into use in the United States and Britain, 
 together with scarcity of money, has thrown millions 
 of men out of work. Many of them are to-day starv 
 ing; so according to English- American logic there is 
 clearly an over-production of men. If we get the gold 
 power at our backs, they can bring a body of men here 
 as immigrants and when enough have arrived to do the 
 work, we will arm and turn them loose. I believe the 
 plan can be carried out, but we must get the banks 
 and gold power at our backs." 
 
 This kind of talk was too much for Baxter and he 
 replied: "Now I want to tell you, gentlemen, that I 
 have watched the work of the gold power for years; I 
 know its history well and I want to say to you that 
 when it comes to fight you need not count on the 
 bankers; they never will risk a dollar on a fight, unless 
 they know before hand just how it is going to end. 
 If they could get the British Government or any other 
 
244 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC 
 
 into it they would. You can bet everything you have, 
 they will always be playing on a dead sure thing. 
 Gold has always been a power, but it has always stood 
 behind the throne. As a dog is to his master, so the 
 Government is to this great power. The dog makes 
 all the noise and does all the fighting; the master looks 
 on and makes all he can out of it; if his dog gets 
 licked he stands in with the other dog. Bankers as a 
 rule are not men, they are monstrosities, a kind of 
 half breed, as it were, between the devil and a hog. 
 Now, so far as I am concerned, honesty has never hurt 
 me and I believe that I have some of the devil's and a 
 good share of the hog's qualities about me; enough to 
 make a very good banker. 
 
 "We have gold here to commence with and if we 
 could get the same legislation that the gold mer have 
 in the United States, I see no reason why we should 
 not gather the property of the country together just as 
 easy as they did there; in fact, if we could have gold 
 made the only legal tender, we would have a com 
 mencement and it would not take long to get up some 
 scheme to have bonds issued. I think we can all agree 
 upon this, that to make gold the only legal tender and 
 measure of all values is the most important for a start, 
 the opening wedge as you may say, and when you get 
 this the other things will naturally follow. Now to 
 effect this we must in some way destroy the paper 
 money, or at least destroy its usefulness and I think 
 that 1 have hit upon a plan." 
 
 "Good," said the other two, clapping their hands. 
 
 Mr. Baxter then continued: "My proposition would 
 be to use strategy rather than force; it is always safest 
 and more in keeping with the general working of the 
 gold power. Our first object will be to destroy the 
 usefulness of government money to make room for our 
 gold to circulate. 
 
 "Under our present constitution and government 
 policy, together with the satisfactory working of the 
 same, it would be impossible to have this done by 
 legislation as it was in the case of greenbacks in the 
 United States. I would therefore suggest that we 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 245 
 
 adopt the same method used by the gold men of 
 Britain to destroy the continental money of the colo 
 nies during the Revolutionary war. 
 
 "My plan would be this, take a copy of the great 
 register of each county, also a sample of the different 
 issues of money, go to London, obtain an interview 
 with some of the leading bankers, make a careful and 
 correct statement of the condition of things here; I 
 think perhaps it would be a good plan to go immedi 
 ately after the shipment of gold by the Government, 
 that is if the shipment is made soon which it probably 
 will be. That they have these bills counterfeited in 
 the best possible manner, then send through the mails 
 from $100 to $500 of these counterfeit bills to each 
 voter. I tell you it will knock this money higher than 
 a kite. We must have a few of the leading journals 
 bought up no matter what it costs to raise the cry 
 of rag-baby, fiat money failure, honest dollar, sound 
 money and such gags as we may be able to invent 
 that will answer for a hobby. This plan to me looks 
 feasible and as a similar scheme proved a success in 
 the past so I have all confidence in it now." 
 
 It seemed to be the best plan yet offered and it was 
 therefore agreed that they should sell, then return to 
 Kiyongo. Then they talked the matter over as to how 
 they would manage with their gold; they had brought 
 it all with them to the mines, so they now had $300,000 
 in all, and since the immigration had come in they 
 hardly knew what to do with it. They were afraid to 
 sell it to the Government because they despised it, 
 besides would have to take the money they were trying 
 to destroy; $200,000 of their gold was in coin and if 
 sold was liable to betray them; so they had no end of 
 trouble. It was finally decided to box it up and remove 
 it to their building in Kiyongo and place it in the 
 vaults they had so carefully constructed some years 
 before. 
 
 In a few weeks after this they sold out the mines and 
 returned to their old home in Kiyongo. At the next 
 election the people decided by their vote that all gold 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 in the treasury be shipped to the United States and 
 then converted into bonds or other securities. 
 
 This was considered a favorable time to carry out 
 Mr. Baxter's proposition, so all things being arranged, 
 he took passage for Liverpool, on board of one of the 
 finest steamers that had been built at Summerville by 
 the ship building company of that place, and now 
 owned by the steam navigation company of the young 
 Republic. 
 
 Although Mr. Baxter had been very quiet about his 
 movements as will be seen, he had not been entirely 
 unnoticed. Secretary Lincoln and President Bundy 
 had long since filed with the Government detective 
 organization, which had an agent in every town and 
 county throughout the country, a written statement of 
 .all that was known about these men. The Department 
 had therefore kept them under constant surveillance 
 since the formation of the Government, and not one 
 month had passed without a report of their movements. 
 It was therefore not at all strange that three detectives 
 took passage on the same steamer. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 WE will now for a short time draw the attention of 
 the reader to the progress and prosperity of the 
 country during the next few years after the completion 
 of the road to the mines. Americans will remember 
 the wonderful degree of prosperity existing in the 
 United States after the late war, while greenbacks were 
 in circulation. How new railroads were built, new 
 counties settled; towns and settlements taking the 
 place of the Indian and buffalo. 
 
 Political tricksters and gold gambling statesmen 
 would, no doubt, attribute this to some peculiar effect 
 the war had upon the country; but we notice that in 
 all cases where money is turned loose among the peo 
 ple it makes lively times; for instance, the new dis 
 covery of rich placer mines or some great Government 
 swindle where immense tracts of land have been given 
 to private corporations, and to sugar-coat the dose and 
 make the transaction look plausible, large sums of 
 money have been turned loose through the building of 
 a railroad or other public works. 
 
 Those who recognize the fact that money is not a 
 commodity of value, like a book account, but is in 
 itself valueless; that it is only a means, a method, a 
 tool as it were, that has no value except where it can 
 be used in actual transactions of business or to accom 
 plish the purpose for which it was designed; that as 
 you take the tool from the workman it makes him 
 helpless, so when you withdraw money from its usual 
 channels of circulation the people are paralyzed, small 
 enterprises are wrecked, panic ensues and millionaires 
 take to themselves the shattered fragments. Yes, those* 
 who realize all these facts, and already know that thia 
 Republic recognized money, not as a thing of 
 
248 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 intrinsic value but on the contrary only as a means, a 
 method, a tool and supplied it to the people through 
 a regular business system, that not only sent it out 
 among the people, but also brought it back into the 
 treasury, and as the heart circulates the blood through 
 the human system, so the treasury through its carefully 
 arranged business methods, forced the circulating 
 medium into every extremity, into every nook and 
 corner, there to do its work and in due time return 
 only to be sent out again. The great trouble with the 
 United States government is that its heart has been 
 dragged into Wall Street and sometimes fails to throb. 
 Again I repeat that those who recognize all these 
 things will not be surprised to learn of the improved 
 conditions among these people. 
 
 It will be remembered that, like the United States 
 our new Republic had a vast continent of farming land 
 as rich in quality as it was vast in extent. Thousands 
 of miles of mineral lands containing gold, silver, cop 
 per, lead, zinc, nickel, coal, iron and many other valu 
 able minerals. 
 
 To go forth and subdue this great continent was the 
 mission of these people. The wealth of a great conti 
 nent was spread out before them; cities, railroads, 
 bridges, wagon roads and homes were to be built and 
 these people would have it to do. "This country now, " 
 said one, "belongs to us all; shall it remain ours, shall 
 the improvements that are made belong to those who 
 make them, or shall they belong to an aristocracy of 
 idlers, that grow and fatten upon the body politic, 
 as vermin grow and fatten upon the unclean human 
 form?" These are illustrative facts that have been 
 proved for ages, while the human family groaned and 
 suffered under evils not by nature given, but by their 
 own ignorance. We are now brought face to face with 
 the great question and it must find a solution in our 
 new government. Immigration had been coming into 
 the country in one continual stream; the country 
 seemed to differ from the United States in but one 
 thing, its laws and business or financial management. 
 
 It had the same great rivers, the same great cotton 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 249 
 
 and fruit country, also its hog and corn country; the 
 same great ranges, rich gold, silver and other mines; 
 great forests, in fact it had all the resources necessary 
 to maintain a great and powerful nation, without run 
 ning in debt or selling their lands to foreign syndicates. 
 All it lacked was men and money; these two obstacles 
 were overcome by immigration and rational government. 
 
 During the time required to construct a road to the 
 mines, immigration had been pouring in by ship loads; 
 as was the case in the United States up to the time 
 that great syndicates were formed and obtained control 
 of the national finances, the immigration was of the 
 most intelligent, honest and industrious classes. 
 
 When these people were once safely located beyond 
 the reach of monetary oppression, they turned the 
 searchlight of reason upon the science of government 
 and soon discovered many a fact that our wise states 
 men had labored hard to cover up. 
 
 After great corporations had been formed in the 
 United States they, in order to degrade labor, increase 
 their own profits and establish an aristocracy, imported 
 and encouraged the importation of Chinese and other 
 laborers of the very lowest classes. What followed 
 this wholesale importation of pauper labor, by these 
 corporations is too well known to need comment. We 
 are happy to record that the evils were of a character 
 not known in our new Republic. 
 
 The immigrants to this new country were generally 
 poor, so far as worldly goods were concerned, but they 
 had a whole continent spread before them; they were 
 rich in brains, muscles and determination, and came 
 of their own accord; all they wanted was a favorable 
 opportunity and it was to give them this that the 
 Government was formed. 
 
 As money and men were the only things necessary 
 in a country like this, to build cities, railroads, canals, 
 bridges, wagon roads, in fact manufacture and raise 
 everything that is necessary for man's comfort and 
 happiness, it was decided to encourage immigration. 
 
 It is conceded by all that Government alone has the 
 right to make money and the people, in forming this 
 
25O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 new Government, having retained the right of legisla 
 tion to themselves, it became a question to them as to 
 what substance should be used to make money of; they 
 had gold, silver, copper, iron, wood, leather and paper; 
 all of these had been used for money at different 
 periods and by different nations. All agreed that 
 paper, for all purposes, would be best, but some said 
 it should be based on something of value; others said 
 no; it was decided in the affirmative; some said let us 
 base it upon gold, others said gold was a commodity 
 which is liable to fluctuate in value. Its production 
 is liable to increase or fall off; its use in the arts may 
 diminish; the sinking of a ship between Liverpool and 
 New York might materially change its value; it was 
 therefore declared illogical to base upon gold. 
 
 Bundy said the bulk of gold was in the vaults of 
 the Bank ot England and he would prefer having a 
 base for money nearer home. One said, as Govern 
 ment owned the land, and it was provided in the con 
 stitution that the title should ever remain with the 
 Government, the proper and sensible thing would be 
 to base our legal tender on land and general wealth of 
 the nation; let the amount in circulation be the measure 
 of value, that amount being regulated at so much per 
 capita and make it the business of the Government to 
 look constantly after the circulation* and regulate the 
 value of money by increasing or diminishing the 
 amount in use outside of the treasury. 
 
 The money would be good, because by common 
 consent a law had been passed which made it good; 
 because it was backed by the Government and based 
 upon real estate of twice its own value; because there 
 was no other money. By this plan the people went to 
 their own Government for money instead of going to 
 some foreign syndicate and inviting them to furnish 
 money to carry on their own great enterprises; thereby 
 obtaining title to every valuable franchise, every rich 
 mine and, in the end, an absolute control of the whole 
 industrial system. 
 
 It was agreed that no foreign capital was wanted; 
 that they did not recognize money as capital, but that 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 25! 
 
 labor was capital and money only a means or method. 
 
 An abundance of money was furnished, as has been 
 explained; it was turned over to corporations and they 
 put it into circulation. 
 
 As all money was turned over to corporations in lieu 
 of stock, so as the stock was sold the money came 
 back into the treasury. This being the system, it 
 follows, that whenever there was a railroad to build 
 the money was always ready; if there were people in 
 the country to make a railroad pay, there would always 
 be spare labor enough to build it. The only thing 
 necessary to set labor at work is money and it was 
 therefore furnished in abundance. 
 
 Bundy said "there would be just as much sense In 
 limiting the amount of tools to work with as there 
 would be in limiting the amount of money to be used, 
 which would certainly have the same effect, as money 
 and labor were the requisites; Government furnished 
 the money the people did the work and received the 
 money." When it at last, passed into the hands of 
 progressive persons it went back into the treasury, in 
 exchange for stock in the road; thus foreign capital 
 was not needed. 
 
 So it was with every branch of industry, from the 
 building of a city to the opening of a mine. Wher 
 ever a project was to be carried out for the good of the 
 people, which required a capital of over $100,000 it 
 could be done on the joint-stock plan, hence no 
 occasion for borrowing money. 
 
 The amount of capital required cut no figure, $100,- 
 ooo or $100,000,000, it was all the same. If there were 
 people enough to do the work there would be people 
 enough to buy the stock. If there were not citizens 
 enough to do the work the work was then not needed. 
 
 "Work," said President Bundy, "that has to be done 
 with imported labor had better go undone. " 
 
 Under a system like this it is not at all surprising 
 that this young Republic prospered; it could hardly do 
 otherwise. There was no advertising for capital to 
 come and take possession, scot free, of all the most 
 valuable franchises in the country; no organizing com- 
 
252 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 panies and going to England to sell stock; all this was 
 dispensed with. 
 
 In the territory of Arizona, U. S., there are some 
 of the finest valleys the sun ever shone upon; no country 
 was ever blest with a finer climate, but they had to 
 have water to irrigate the land before it could be 
 farmed successfully; to get water they had to construct 
 ditches; there were plenty of men to do the work, but 
 they had no money and instead of going to the govern 
 ment for it, as they did in this new Republic, and 
 afterwards buying the stock as the country progressed, 
 they were compelled to work under different methods. 
 The people owned the lands and to make good homes 
 and productive farms, they must have water; there was 
 plenty of water in the river that belonged to the public 
 but great canals had to be constructed to convey it to 
 the land. 
 
 Under the system adopted in the New Republic, the 
 people would have called a mass meeting, organized a 
 company and applied to the chief of that department 
 at Washington for a charter; when the charter had 
 been granted the full amount of stock in $10 shares 
 was also printed and together .with money to the same 
 amount would be sent to the sub-treasury, in Arizona; 
 the money to be drawn upon from time to time as the 
 work progressed; the stock to be kept for sale at its 
 par value. The charter for a company, together with 
 commission to officers would also be forwarded; these 
 officers would receive a reasonable salary and hold their 
 places until removed for cause; by this method the 
 stock of these ditch companies would, in a few years, 
 pass into the hands of the farmers and people, gener 
 ally through their savings and the money back into the 
 treasury. 
 
 Under American methods, some shrewd man, seeing 
 the situation, calls a few friends to his assistance, 
 organizes a company under the laws of the territory, 
 secures a franchise and right to the water; these very 
 valuable acquisitions cost the company nothing and 
 have, by these transactions, been transferred from the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC* 253 
 
 people to the lawful possession of a soulless concern 
 that often becomes so powerful as to defy all law. 
 
 Having been duly organized, they receive their fran 
 chise and water right, issue stock or bonds, sell a part 
 of the same to some great syndicate for money to build 
 the ditch with; the money thus received is used to set 
 the people to work and they build a canal. For doing 
 this work the good people receive wages enough to 
 keep them alive until the canal is completed; when 
 water is upon the land, they learn that a man owning 
 1 60 acres could not buy water, even for cash, until he 
 had first bought a water right that would cost him 
 from $500 to $2,000; this right simply guaranteed to 
 him the privilege of buying water for his land by pay 
 ing for it in advance; if he refused to buy the right, 
 they would turn the water back into the river and 
 starve him out. If he had no money to pay for a right, 
 a bank was there that had plenty of government money 
 they would lend him at a good round interest and take 
 a mortgage on his land. So between interest, taxes, 
 and a big price for water, the farmer soon goes to the 
 wall, and in a very short time the moneyed men own 
 the whole thing, while the farmer becomes a tenant on 
 his own land. 
 
 The reader will of course suppose that this water 
 right that cost the Arizona farmer from $500 to $2,000 
 gives him some kind of stock or share in the ditch, but 
 in this he would find himself mistaken, as it only gives 
 him the privilege of buying water when the company 
 has it to sell. Nothing more, nothing less, and you 
 can't buy water unless you own that right This is 
 rather a hard story, but if any man doubts let him 
 investigate. I call it plutocratic law, pure and simple. 
 
 It has been before explained that a steam naviga 
 tion company had been organized at Summerville. 
 This company had unlimited capital. Congress by 
 special act had fixed fares and freights at such a figure 
 as to make the business extremely profitable and 
 arranged that its profit above 5 per cent be invested in 
 other ships to that end that it would alone be able to 
 do all the cargoing and passenger business of the 
 
254 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 Country. One object in this act was to increase fares 
 raid keep out unwelcome immigration. Its capital 
 6tock could also be increased at any time that more 
 vessels were found necessary. For a while this com 
 pany bought many ships abroad, but this was not 
 destined to last long in a country where -there was 
 plenty of material of all kinds, plenty of skilled labor, 
 plenty of money and a business system that gave every 
 man an opportunity of becoming part owner in the 
 company for which he toiled. 
 
 The ship building company that had been organized 
 at Summerville, like all joint stock companies in the 
 Republic, had unlimited capital, that is, it could 
 increase its capital stock whenever the business required 
 an increase, arid receive money from the Government 
 to balance the stock. Being fully alive to the growing 
 necessities of commerce, this company was using every 
 available means to get to the front rank as builders 
 and were now constantly putting new vessels afloat, all 
 of which were sold to the navigation company, except 
 such as were disposed of to private individuals and 
 firms for coast trade. There was another ship building 
 company at Summerville but its entire force was used 
 in constructing war vessels. The Government also had 
 a school of experts in connection with this company, 
 who were studying new plans and inventions thought 
 Co be useful in operating against and destroying iron 
 vessels. This school received plans and inventions 
 from all parts of the country, and it was believed that 
 they had a vessel that would not only be proof against 
 shot and shell but would be able to sink the heaviest 
 armed battle ship by colotion. These boats, it was 
 claimed, had greater speed than any war vessel afloat 
 and was designed for coast and harbor defense. 
 
 The settlements were spreading in every direction; 
 the cotton country was fast being converted into pro 
 ductive plantations and thrifty villages were springing 
 up everywhere; the wheat and corn country was also 
 rapidly being taken up, not by speculators, but by 
 people who wanted homes. Railroads were being built 
 everywhere, factories started and the great ship-loads 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 255 
 
 of immigrants that were constantly arriving, would 
 melt away into the busy throng without attracting the 
 least attention, for all found something to do. They 
 were from what is called the middle class, but com 
 posed of honest ^and intelligent people, who had lost 
 their savings and their homes during the wealth-con 
 centrating period that followed the passage of the 
 contraction act in the United States. The simple fact 
 that during the fifteen years following that event, there 
 was not one financial act but was directly in the interest 
 of bankers, gold-gamblers and their conspirators, 
 enabling them the more successfully to fleece the 
 people; and that business failures became the rule and 
 not the exception, is quite enough to account for these 
 men hunting new homes. As the United States had 
 furnished homes for the homeless of Europe in by-gone 
 days, so now the new Republic was called upon to 
 furnish homes for those who had been made homeless 
 in so short a time in America. 
 
 These people, like a large part of the immigrants 
 who came to the United States, had more or less gold 
 and silver, beside other goods of value; there was an 
 import duty on gold because it was an article not 
 needed in the Republic and this law, to some extent, 
 helped to discourage its importation. 
 
 Those who brought gold or silver, after the duty was 
 paid experienced no further inconvenience, as they 
 could sell it tp the treasury deparement at a small 
 discount for National money which was a full legal- 
 tender in all parts of the Republic, and with it their 
 outfits could be purchased at the lowest figure. This 
 constant stream of gold which was being dumped into 
 the treasury by immigrants, in addition to the vast 
 product of the mines, soon put the statesmen to their 
 wits' end. 
 
 As every man in the country was, by their own 
 peculiar government kept constantly employed, with an 
 abundance of labor-saving machinery, there could be 
 but one result, an over-production of everything, but 
 no man, woman or child starved or went half clad in 
 consequence of this over-production, but to the con* 
 
256 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 trary. The surplus was bought up by a huge join' 
 stock company, that had its agents in all parts of the 
 world, and had complete control of all export and im 
 port trade. Owing to the peculiar methods by which 
 all joint-stock companies were formed and controlled, 
 this company worked in harmony with the steam 
 navigation company, and the result was, the citizens 
 of the Republic owning the stock in both companies, 
 received the benefit of all profit arising from their own 
 carrying trade or transportation. 
 
 All goods were kept constantly marketed by this 
 company, in such portions of the world as they were 
 most needed. With average production and an honest 
 deal, there could be no other result than an excess of 
 exports, and as the balance of trade in favor of the 
 Republic was paid in gold, which soon found its way 
 into the treasury in exchange for money, the gold 
 problem became more difficult of solution day by day. 
 To discontinue the purchase of gold would destroy the 
 mining industry; as gold was not needed in commerce, 
 no man wanted it; to let it accumulate in the treasury as 
 a useless surplus, with an imaginary value, was called 
 bad statesmanship. 
 
 At this critical moment, a wag suggested that they 
 follow the example of the United States and invest it 
 in the Bank-of-England confidence. "I would use the 
 gold, " said he, "for money, withdraw the national 
 money by a contraction act and burn it up for fear the 
 people might call for it again, then coin the gold into 
 honest money; sell all the mines and railroad stock to 
 English syndicates for more gold to make more honest 
 money; then issue a lot of gold bonds, bearing a big, 
 gold interest, then a national banking system to control 
 the money. Do as I tell you and as sure as history 
 repeats itself, it will soon take all the surplus of the 
 mines, farm and factory to pay for confidence, and 
 interest on confidence to our syndicate millionaires." 
 
 Among the farmers who came there were some of 
 course who had little or no means; some of these 
 worked for others until they earned money for a start; 
 others took land near some of their friends or worked 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 257 
 
 among their neighbors who would return the compli 
 ment with their teams, and the crop was soon planted, 
 and when harvested, seldom failed to sell for enough to 
 buy teams and tools for the coming year. In this way 
 the great farming lands were being settled up by an 
 intelligent and industrious class of people. 
 
 With plenty of rich soil, every man owning his own 
 farm, an abundance of the most approved farm-ma 
 chinery, no rent, no interest, mortgages, or taxes, it 
 was found that every energetic farmer had a regular 
 surplus to invest in railroad or other commercial stock. 
 
 While the farmers were prospering, it must not be 
 supposed that, like the bankers of Christendom, they 
 were robbing every other industry; on the contrary, we 
 see manufactures springing up everywhere and thou 
 sands of men constantly employed in making such 
 articles as found ready sale among these farmers. 
 
 In every city, town and county we see mechanics, 
 tradesmen and manufacturers organizing companies, 
 starting up business of all kinds, and the stock of all 
 these companies going out through the sub-treasury as 
 commercial stock, and being constantly absorbed by 
 the savings of the country. 
 
 To those in the United States who have seen bankers, 
 money-sharks and gold gamblers prosper and all others 
 go to the wall or exist as auxiliaries, or at the pleasure 
 of the great millionaire and syndicate, it will seem 
 strange, of course, that one class of people can prosper 
 withoat doing so at the expense of some other class; 
 but such proves to be the case in our new Rebublic. 
 In fact, so exactly to the reverse of this did things 
 appear, that each industry was the life and support of 
 every other class, and each being dependent upon all 
 the others for a market, all worked in harmony. 
 
 The price of labor being regulated by the depart 
 ment of industry, in accordance with the price of 
 commodities or of living, that question became obsolete 
 and was unknown among the citizens of the new 
 Republic. A workman would no more think of an 
 increase of wages than would an American soldier, 
 except it came through their own savings and invest- 
 
258 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 ment in commercial stock, which made them recipients 
 of the 50 per cent dividend on the same. As no 
 decrease in wages could occur until preceded by a 
 corresponding decrease in living commodities, no 
 hardship was ever felt from this source and men found 
 questions of greater interest to discuss than the vexed 
 question of capital and labor as it exists in the 
 United States. 
 
 When the system of- government was formulated 
 there was a great difference of opinion as to how the 
 financial system would work. Some claimed that the 
 gold should be run into money and sent out instead of 
 paper money; others thought it should be kept in the 
 treasury as a base for paper money; others again said 
 that would be wrong, as it would limit the circulation 
 of money and also tie up the gold so it could not be 
 used as a commodity in exchange with foreign countries 
 without decreasing the home circulation; some objected 
 to the whole system, saying that the government in 
 issuing such vast sums of money to build and run 
 manufactures of all kinds, wholesale stores, erect large 
 buildings in cities, put up buildings for schools, colleges 
 and the use of science; build and run railroads, tele 
 graphs, telephones and every other enterprise where 
 large capital was required, would so inflate the currency 
 as to make the money worthless; but it was found the 
 savings of the country were as fast as possible con 
 verted into stock, and in this way an equilibrium was 
 preserved between money and commodities. 
 
 As time rolled on all stock passed into the hands of 
 the people through their savings, and the money of 
 course was then all back in the treasury. Had .not the 
 Government sent this money out again stringency must 
 have occurred; but to avoid this, Government was not 
 only compelled to carry on great public work but also 
 made large appropriation to each state to be used in 
 building public roads through the farming region. 
 
 In the United States this money would have been 
 turned over to a banking aristocracy, and they in turn 
 would have loaned it to the people at a heavy interest, 
 taking a mortgage on their homes. But these people 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 259 
 
 had seen how the system worked, and as a burned 
 child dreads the fire, they resolved to steer clear 
 of banks. 
 
 In consequence of this plan of getting money into 
 circulation by spending it in improvements, the roads 
 throughout the country were nicely graded, bordered 
 with grass and shade trees and soon became the pride 
 of the nation. 
 
 After the business stock had passed into the hands 
 of the people through their over-production or surplus 
 of savings it was found that the two per cent on com 
 mercial stock, together with the revenue derived from 
 the graduated tax on incomes, was so enormous that 
 the money passed back into the treasury in one con 
 stant stream, similar to the manner in which it floods 
 Wall Street in the United States, but after the money 
 had lodged in these great money centers the method of 
 getting it out and in circulation again was very different. 
 Money once lodged in Wall Street remains there until 
 business men are compelled to have it to carry on 
 business or meet obligation. Then by force of necessity 
 they are compelled to borrow it at enormous rates of 
 interest; so the business man eventually does business 
 at the mercy of the money lender. 
 
 In the Republic things are quite different. 
 
 When a surplus of money found its way into the 
 treasury and in consequence less than $50 per capita 
 was in circulation, it became the duty of the Treasurer, 
 unless other provision by law had been made to meet 
 the emergency, to portion the money among the differ 
 ent states, the same to be used in general improvement 
 of the country at once, and in this way the money soon 
 found its way back into the proper channel. Interest, 
 discount, mortgages, honest dollars, parity, sound 
 currency, gold standard, starvation wages, child labor, 
 paupers, tramps and millionaires were terms never 
 heard in the new Republic, though common in the 
 United States. 
 
 The expense of running state and county government 
 was not nearly so large as under the system in vogue 
 in the United States. There was to commence with 
 
26O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 no bonded debt, hence no interest to be paid to foreign 
 money lenders. 
 
 Then again, lawful possession and constant use was 
 the only title known to land, consequently the expense 
 of running that branch of the government was largely 
 reduced. As there was plenty of money and work for 
 all, with no saloons, crime disappeared to a remarkable 
 extent. Taxes were promptly paid and business was 
 never cramped as it often is where money is controlled 
 by a few individuals and stringency occurs. 
 
 Americans who are accustomed to the good old way 
 of striking two blows for the money changers or land 
 speculators and one for themselves, will no doubt won 
 der how a state or county government could put up 
 public buildings without issuing boncis to get the 
 money; and in order that they may understand how 
 this was done, I will explain: 
 
 When the organization of Government was perfected, 
 thirteen states had been partially settled and had a 
 population of from 50,000 to 100,000 each, making an 
 entire population of 1,000,000; at $50 per capita, this 
 would require a total circulation of $50,000,000. The 
 Government had been issuing money for every busi 
 ness in the country on the joint-stock plan, and although 
 there had been issued over $300,000,000, there was 
 now less than $50,000,000 in circulation, the balance 
 having come back into the treasury in exchange 
 for stock. 
 
 As there had been no over-plentiful amount of money 
 in circulation during the past, and as there were 
 instances in history where nations had carried a circula 
 tion of $70 or $80 per capita successfully, it was decided 
 that the amount of money in circulation be increased 
 to $60 per capita, and that the extra $10 be given to 
 each state tor building purposes. 
 
 According to the arrangement a state having a popu 
 lation of over 100,000 would be entitled to one million 
 dollars. This money was to be held in trust by the 
 government subject to the order of each state when 
 needed for the erection of public buildings, and as popu- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 261. 
 
 lation increased this fund was also to be increased at 
 the same rate of $10 apiece. 
 
 This money was to be like all national money a full 
 legal tender and forever remain in circulation. Accord 
 ing to the American system this money would have 
 been given to the banks and they would have loaned it 
 to the states for bonds bearing large interest; thus 
 interest and confidence would cost the people, in the 
 course of events, more than their buildings (all for the 
 benefit of the bank.) 
 
 In order to meet ruiuiing expenses each state issued 
 scrip in exchange, the same to be receivable for taxes 
 and redeemable in National money when there was 
 money in the treasury. In order to bring this scrip in 
 on taxes, a 5 per cent premium was given for it when 
 offered for that purpose. 
 
 As all buildings had to be paid for out 0f the Build 
 ing fund there was no difficulty in raising, by direct 
 tax, the amount of money necessary to redeem the scrip 
 once a year. Thus the running expense of state and 
 county government was always paid in scrip, nicely 
 printed in from one to twenty dollar bills duly pro 
 tected against counterfeit. Having a 5 per cent premium 
 when used in the payment of taxes, it was always 
 desirable and constantly in demand at par. 
 
 It will be remembered that a building company was 
 organized at Summerville for the purpose of construct 
 ing and renting such buildings as were needed and 
 would cost over $100,000. As building companies, 
 were organized under special laws and operated undef 
 a somewhat different plan from other joint companies, 
 it will be necessary to explain: Wherever a town or 
 city was being built a joint company could be formed 
 by the people electing men to manage the business of 
 same and making an application to government in 
 regular form for a charter. The government in estab 
 lishing the company, as in all other cases, would for 
 ward to the sub-treasury of the place money to the full 
 amount of capital stock. The stock in ten dollar shares 
 was also forwarded; the money to be held subject to 
 order of the company as it was needed in actual busi- 
 
262 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 ness transactions and stock to be kept on sale, but to 
 bear no dividend until the building it represented had 
 been completed, after which its holder would be entitled 
 to a 5 per cent annual dividend from the chief office of 
 building d apartment paid through the sub-treasury. 
 
 The profits of these companies being like all others 
 limited to 7 per cent, the rents of buildings were so 
 adjusted as to as nearly as possible bring that result. 
 The government always received the full amount of 
 profit and paid to the stockholders 5 per cent dividend 
 per year. 
 
 As land was never sold its value was never taken into 
 consideration in adjusting rents; in fact it had no 
 monetary value any more than so much air or water, 
 and was never taxed. The entire outlay of the com 
 pany on a piece of land formed the base for assessing 
 rents, but buildings in favorable locations were always 
 assessed higher rents than those in unfavorable quar 
 ters, and in finding the company's profits the entire 
 business transactions of the year were taken into 
 account. 
 
 When it so happened in a city that a lot or square 
 remained in the hands of parties with inferior buildings, 
 an ordinance by some citizen was laid before the city 
 council requiring that a certain kind of building be 
 erected on said lot or square to correspond to other 
 buildings on the same street. The ordinance would be 
 voted on at the first election and if carried, became a 
 law and the occupants were notified to commence work 
 at a certain time; failing to do so, his building would 
 be appraised; the building company were then notified 
 to pay for the improvements, take possession of the 
 property, remove the old building and erect a new one 
 in compliance with the ordinances. 
 
 This would at first seem to be rather of an arbitrary 
 plan and liable to work injustice to some, but as the 
 land belonged to the government and the man had 
 already received the use of it for several years without 
 rent, it was generally conceded that he had but little 
 right to complain, being paid for his old building. In 
 fact most merchants preferred having their surplus 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 263 
 
 cash invested in stock at 5 per cent per annum to hav 
 ing it tied up in real estate, and it was noticed that 
 .he men owning the buildings were generally first to 
 suggest the plan for a new building that could be rented 
 so reasonably. 
 
 Their building called for insurance and in case of a 
 pinch was hard to convert into cash, while the stock 
 required no insurance and could be converted into cash 
 on presentation. 
 
 Some men of course who had been raised under the 
 old English land law, millionaire rule of the United 
 States, made a good deal of fuss and said that the 
 legislation was all against individuals who had been 
 frugal and accumulated wealth. They would sometimes 
 use the same old gag of dividing up all the property, 
 a thing that none but themselves ever thought of, but 
 all this was considered a kind of disease, the result of 
 having been raised under bad conditions among mil 
 lionaires, and they were reminded that the land 
 belonged to the Government or people, and its increase 
 in value belonged to the people; that for any one man 
 to claim either the land or increase in value of the land, 
 further than its increased usefulness to himself as a 
 home, was to say the least, extremely selfish if not 
 dishonest. 
 
 This class of people was also reminded that the Gov 
 ernment was of the people and for the people; the 
 greatest good to the greatest number. That in no case 
 should laws be made for the benefit of an individual. 
 The individuals should conform to the law but in no 
 case should the law be made to conform to the wishes 
 or interests of an individual, as that would certainly 
 be class legislation, and directly opposed to that already 
 well established rule, the greatest good to the greatest 
 number. 
 
 Mr. Bundy said that while it was important to the 
 people as a nation that every man should own his own 
 home, there was no good reason why a business man 
 should own the house he does business in. The home 
 was for the accommodations of the family and should 
 be owned by the family; the business house was for the 
 
264 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 accommodation of the public and should be owned by 
 the public. 
 
 As the rent of buildings was placed on their real 
 cost and limited to 7 per cent, it was found that busi 
 ness men could generally make more on their money 
 by using it in their business than they could to have 
 it invested in buildings; while stock furnished a nice 
 investment for such surplus as might arise. 
 
 These building companies were organized in all parts 
 of the country; as a rule they constructed all state, 
 national and county buildings. Having extensive and 
 complete outfits and skilled workmen, they could, when 
 a building was needed, carry on the work without 
 hinderance or delay. Such work was all done by con 
 tract, and as work progressed they drew upon the state 
 or county, $10 per capita, building fund, which was 
 generally found to be more than sufficient, but when 
 it ran short the Government issued the amount to meet 
 the emergency and it went into circulation, to be kept 
 out of such building fund as might accrue to the state 
 in the future from the general Government as popula 
 tion increased, but in no case did snch fund or short 
 ages bear interest. 
 
 In the building department there were two classes 
 of companies formed; those just described were for the 
 construction of public or business houses; the other 
 companies constructed dwellings and were different 
 from the first mentioned only in their peculiar method 
 of renting their buildings. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 '"T^HESE home construction companies, as they were 
 I called, were organized in every town and city in 
 the country. They were joint stock companies and 
 organized on the; same plan as all other companies; a 
 house that cost $1,000 would bear a rent under the 7 
 per cent law or rule of $70 a year; to cover wear, 10 
 per cent or $10 was added, making in all lawful rent 
 to the amount of $80 per year; in addition to this, 
 they charged a purchase rental of $74 per year, making 
 in all $12 per month. Taking the price of other things 
 into consideration, this was thought to be a reasonable 
 rent. At the end of the first year, as $74 had been 
 paid. 8 per cent on that amount was added to the $74 
 making his credit the second year $79.92. From this 
 it will be seen that in the two years the renter would 
 have placed to his credit $153.92, and in this way the 
 credit would increase from year to year until the house 
 was paid for. Then the renter would receive from the 
 company a quit-claim deed to the property. 
 
 This system was adopted by the Government for the 
 purpose of encouraging citizens to own their own homes. 
 After a man had paid rent on a building until his credit 
 amounted to $100 or, over, he could transfer, for or 
 without consideration, his right of possession, together 
 with his credit on the company's book, to a third 
 party; but that third party in order to derive any 
 benefit from the credit, must use the house for his 
 home and continue to pay rents. Any failure to do 
 this forfeited both possession and credit. 
 
 There is no wonder that Mr. Goldburg was surprised 
 when he learned from the newspapers that he could 
 
266 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 buy Government bonds bearing interest, a good, round 
 sum, with his greenback, and while drawing on the 
 bond have 90 per cent of his money given back to him 
 to lend out among the people to take the place in cir 
 culation of greenbacks he had just paid to Government 
 for bonds. 
 
 When he saw that by this very strange act of Con 
 gress, he was enabled to receive one interest on his 
 money from the government, and another interest on 
 the same money from the people, he knew for a cer 
 tainty that the money power was framing the laws and 
 that the idea of the government being of and for the 
 people was an exploded theory, hence his surprise; but 
 it was no greater than the surprise of these honest 
 toilers to find that they were living under a Govern 
 ment which did actually recognize the rights of man 
 to live and receive justice. While it was explained to 
 them that the Government was losing nothing in the 
 transaction, but on the contrary, both the Government 
 and the company made a reasonable profit, they were 
 highly elated and declared that if the system continued 
 for fifteen years, every family would have a home to 
 beautify, and this might truly be called a Government 
 of and for the people not the millionaires. It was 
 also remarked that in the United States the wise 
 statesmen who were memorized subjects under control 
 of millionaires had talked so much about the sacred 
 rights of property, that it seemed strange to see the 
 rights of man recognized. 
 
 Mr. Bundy said: "This system is the outgrowth of 
 advanced thought; so long as we, through our Govern 
 ment control money, also control the accumulation of 
 property in the hands of individuals, by limiting inheri 
 tance and graduated income tax, just so long will we 
 have a Government of and for the people. But when 
 ever we limit ourselves as a Government in our accu 
 mulation to the actual expense of the Government and 
 allow individual property to roll on from year to year, 
 and age to age without check or limit, there can be 
 but one result, the power of wealth in^the hands of a 
 few will become stronger than the Government, control 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 267 
 
 legislation, monopolize machinery; labor will go unem 
 ployed, and crime increase, while chaos and confusion 
 will reign." 
 
 Large newspapers were all run on the joint stock 
 plan under the Control of that department of Govern 
 ment; as with all other companies, the Government 
 furnished the money and sold the stock. The 7 per 
 cent rule, also, applied to them as to all other compa 
 nies. From this it will be seen that the press was 
 beyond the reach of subsidy and became the great 
 guiding star of the Republic. As every man had a 
 home, every man took a paper. As eight hours was 
 the universal day's work, all had time to read and all 
 did read men, women and children. 
 
 As the forms of the Government were all simple, all 
 understood them. They had no parity between the 
 metals, gold and silver, to puzzle statesmen; these 
 metals had been reduced to commodities and a boy ten 
 years old could give you their exact value. Everybody 
 knew that money was worth just what it would buy, 
 and the figures on the bill told as plainly what that 
 was as though it were stamped in gold. Everybody 
 knew the money was good, because it was the pledge 
 of the Government, and the Government owned all the 
 land and controlled all the business of the country. 
 The people who had the use of the money free of 
 interest, also had the land free of rent. 
 
 Under such circumstances is it any wonder that the 
 citizens of the new Republic prospered and needed no 
 protective tariff? 
 
 Mr. Bundy said: "With the finest machinery in use, 
 no rent, no interest, light taxes, every man ownin,;ias 
 own home, they could compete with the slave or pauper 
 labor of any or all other countries; beside, if all the 
 other countries under thesun were blotted from exist 
 ence, it would not seriously affect their industries; 
 they would still have enough to eat, plenty to wear, 
 plenty to do and plenty of money. These things are 
 absolutely necessary to bring about prosperity." 
 
 In farming regions, people with old fashioned ideas 
 were very much worked up by not being able to get a 
 
268 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 deed to their land. One man hearing that a Catholic 
 explorer had landed on the coast of Africa some 16,000 
 years before the flood and had claimed the country, he 
 believing this to be the oldest title that could be pro 
 cured, wrote to the Pope, at Rome, and in considera 
 tion of his faith, piety and a few gold dollars, received 
 a warrantee deed; that man thereafter, was the envy of 
 the whole neighborhood, and was recognized as the 
 only man in the country having a warrantee deed. As 
 time rolled on, some lawless parties drove him from 
 the land arid themselves took possession; he applied to 
 the authorities, who arrested the parties and reinstated 
 the man. It then dawned upon the people, that land 
 could only be held peacefully, under the protection of 
 the Government; it also occurred to them that a Gov 
 ernment could as easily protect a man's po'ssessive 
 right, as though he had an abstract title running back 
 to the day of Constantine. They began to comprehend 
 that absolute ownership of land had been one of the 
 prime factors in enslaving mankind since time began. 
 
 The mines had been worked for years by private 
 individuals; but as they grew deeper and surface mines 
 were exhausted, they required more capital; to secure 
 this they organized companies and took advantage of 
 the joint-stock system. 
 
 It should be here explained that although mining 
 companies were organized on the same general princi 
 ples that other companies were, the stock was managed 
 very differently; when sold it was never received back 
 again into the treasury in exchange for money or 
 otherwise, except on deposit. The dividends, instead 
 of being limited to 5 per cent were paid upon the net 
 productions. On being applied to for a charter on 
 certain property, the Department sent experts, who 
 were of high standing and- employed by the year, to 
 examine the mine, not only to report on its merit, but 
 also to make an estimate of the cost of such work as 
 would be necessary to put the property in a paying 
 condition; attend also to the building of roads, buying 
 machinery, putting it in place with all necessary build 
 ings, tools, fixtures, in fact, everything necessary to 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 269 
 
 successful operation. When this report was made fully 
 satisfactory a joint-stock company was formed by 
 appointing officers to run the concern ; a charter was 
 then forwarded to the sub-treasury nearest the mine, 
 together with stock to the full amount of the cost of 
 the work as reported by the expert, and money was 
 sent to balance the stock, to be used as needed on the 
 work; one-fourth of the stock to be given to the owner 
 of the mines, the balance to be placed on sale at a 
 premium of 25 per cent. 
 
 Applications for stock were received for thirty days 
 before sale of stock commenced and then the orders 
 were filled by commencing with the smallest order, 
 then the next smallest and so on up to the greatest. 
 This was law. After a thirty days' run had been made 
 the product was turned over to the Government, as 
 was the universal rule; its entire value was ascertained; 
 from this, 10 per cent was taken as royalty, then 10 
 per cent for a sinking fund, to be added to such money 
 as remained after the work of putting the mines in 
 order was completed; this 10 per cent sinking fund 
 was taken out and retained as long as the mine run, 
 unless the rule was suspended by the mining depart 
 ment. It was held in trust by the Government to cover 
 contingencies and at last, when the mine was abandoned 
 if any remained unused to be paid out as a dividend 
 on stock. After these sums had been subtracted from 
 the total product the balance was paid out as a divi 
 dend on stock. When the first run had been made, if 
 any stock remained in the treasury, its price was fixed 
 in accordance with the production, but was not allowed 
 to be sold below 25 per cent premium; so that the 
 Government not only received 10 per cent royalty, but 
 they received such increase in value as might accrue 
 after thirty days' run; but it was found that under this 
 system, the stock was generally sold before the mine 
 started. 
 
 As a general rule, when a company was formed, every 
 man and woman, boy and girl in the neighborhood 
 who had ten dollars to spare, registered at the sub- 
 treasury for stock, and in a majority of cases there was 
 
^70 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 not stock enough to supply the demand. Of course 
 many large fortunes were made in these mines, but 
 foreign capital received no favor, because it was not 
 needed and was prohibited by law. 
 
 Notwithstanding the production of these mines was 
 much less than the mines of the United States, their 
 working had a very different effect upon the country 
 and people. As large capital was required to work the 
 mines in the United States, for the want of money 
 men were often forced to sell to foreign capitalists; 
 thus many of the best mines passed into the hands of 
 foreign syndicates for a nominal sum and their immense 
 wealth was forever lost to the United States, for want 
 of a system that would furnish money to the people, 
 instead of the banker. Individuals too in the American 
 mines often made millions; with this money they 
 obtained vast possessions, monopolized railroads, real 
 estate and other valuable property, finally becoming 
 insane over the sudden acquisition of such wealth and 
 power; others go to foreign countries and there court 
 royalty, often ending by marrying a daughter to some 
 titled pauper, who spends their wealth in a foreign land. 
 
 Thus the country which owned these greatest of 
 producing mines known to man, receive little or no 
 benefit from them; on the contrary, Americans risked 
 their lives delving for gold which an idiot might 
 squander in a foreign land. In fact, such has been the 
 legislative management of the United States for the 
 last twenty-five years, that while the gold and silver 
 has been constantly going abroad, the surplus beef, 
 pork, wheat, corn, cotton, rice, tobacco and many 
 other commodities have to a great extent fed and 
 clothed the civilized world; during that period the 
 United States as a people, are said to have become the 
 debtor-nation, not only of millions, but billions upon 
 billions of dollars and are to-day paying tribute in the 
 shape of interest to foreign syndicates, amounting to 
 millions upon millions of dollars annually. 
 
 Can any American wkc/ loves his country, respects 
 himself and his kindred, help feeling a sense of shame 
 when he contemplates these things. Whether it comes 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 271 
 
 from ignorance of legislators or unparalleled dishon 
 esty, trickery and bribe taking, it matters not; it is 
 robbery, nevertheless. 
 
 While this has been going on for years, the United 
 States Senate^ has had the services of many able men, 
 whose wisdom has been unquestioned, holding positions 
 and receiving pay at the hands of the American people. 
 But not one man has dared to grapple the plurocratic 
 monster and oppose a system of class legislation that 
 many of the ablest men in the nation foresaw and 
 publicly proclaimed would bring about this slavish, 
 inhuman result; but while many lent their silent con 
 sent, others in violation of all righteousness gave their 
 intellect and best efforts toward the passage of acts that 
 will forever stand in history as a monument to the 
 debauchery of the men who voted for them. Shall we 
 attribute all this to ignorance or dishonesty, or is it 
 possible that there is no better way and that American 
 liberty which once inspired the heart of our people has 
 been smothered in debt and pauperism? Perhaps 
 some of the gentlemen who have been in the United 
 States Senate during this time and have become mil 
 lionaires from a salary of $5,000 a year, could give us 
 some light upon this subject. 
 
 When that patriotic, American statesman, Charles 
 C. Pinckney, used these words: "Not one dollar 
 for tribute but millions for defense" and found a 
 responsive chord in every American heart, he little 
 thought that in a few short years, from class legisla 
 tion, his countrymen would not only be paying millions 
 upon millions of tribute in the form of interest, rent 
 and dividends, but that one-half of their number would 
 be living in rented homes. 
 
 It seemed like a pity to spoil a good story by such 
 an array of disagreeable facts, but in order to show 
 clearly the beauties and advantages arising from the 
 order of things existing in the new Republic, the con 
 trast is important; besides it enables the writer to 
 show the different effect of a Government run in the 
 interest of the people and one run in the interest of 
 bankers and millionaires. 
 
272 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 When years rolled on the exports of the Republic 
 became enormous. As not one dollar of it went to pay 
 interest, dividends or profits on foreign capital, and 
 very little to be spent in worshiping a royal class 
 that owed their station in life to birth, not to merit, 
 the people of the Republic enjoyed a degree of pros 
 perity unparalleled in ancient or modern times. Their 
 institutions of learning became the wonder of the 
 world. Owing to the improved condition of the coun 
 try, travel became so cheap that space was in a manner 
 overcome, and people living hundreds of miles apart, 
 were often like next door neighbors. 
 
 Improved machinery released so many men from 
 other departments that the railroad companies increased 
 their construction and repairing force, until the road 
 beds and bridges were made so perfect that with their 
 universal double-tracks danger of travel was reduced to 
 a minimum, collisions and other accidents being next 
 to impossibilities. 
 
 The postal system became so perfect in its workings 
 that farmers had their mail laid at their door every day. 
 
 Newspapers were so far superior to the subsidized 
 press of the United States, that a comparison would 
 be odious. One ever leading in a constant search for 
 new truths. The other constantly seeking new subter 
 fuge to cover up the crimes of millionaires; the one 
 the life of progress; the other the greatest known 
 obstacle in its way; one a credit; the other a disgrace. 
 
 As cleanliness was said to be next to godliness, a 
 huge joint-stock company was formed that did business 
 in every city, town and county in the country. Steam 
 laundries were brought to such a high state of perfec 
 tion and work was done so cheaply that they were 
 patronized by even the poorest families; light wagons 
 were constantly making their rounds gathering up the 
 soiled clothes and returning them ready for use. 
 
 Churches, while grand in architecture, were modest 
 and less pretentious in inside ornamentation. 
 
 In religious teachings they had kept pace with the 
 general advance of intelligence; creeds and dogmas had 
 in a great measure been abandoned and the brotherhood 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 273 
 
 of man, as taught by Jesus Christ, was accepted in 
 its simplicity. An endless, burning -hell of fire and 
 brimstone, with all teachings representing God as a 
 brutal monster, were forever buried with the musty 
 records of the past. 
 
 As limiting inheritance and a graduated income tax 
 produced a more equal distribution of money and 
 property, there were wealthy men and women by 
 thousands in every county, town and city. In conse 
 quence of this when, from drouth, fire, flood or pesti 
 lence, assistance became necessary, many willing hearts 
 and hands brought prompt relief. 
 
 Roads were hard, smooth and shady borders made 
 them so delightful that bicycles took the place of 
 horses to a great extent. Fruit, flowers and trees were 
 so common that every house became an eden, every 
 farm a paradise; people from the cities often sought 
 the shady nooks and corners in the country for recrea 
 tion and repose. 
 
 The only army found necessary was used in garri 
 soning the forts along the coast; some even considered 
 these superfluous, claiming that the advanced condition 
 of the people, intellectually, physically, socially and 
 morally would make them capable of taking care of 
 themselves against the combined world. 
 
 General Summerville being kept in command of the 
 army, continued the use of natives and pronounced 
 them the very best of soldiers; but he had another 
 reason for not enlisting white men and that was, that 
 times were so good outside of the army that none chose 
 to enlist except in case of war, and there was no 
 probability of that. 
 
 One of the most peculiar features of the new condition 
 of society in the Republic was, while the cities were 
 already assuming gigantic proportions, the manu 
 facturers and farmers crowding their surplus or over 
 production upon the market, the great steam navigation 
 company was kept busy transporting it to all parts of 
 the world, the people en masse receiving the dividends 
 on stock that represented all the great corporations of 
 the country; free schools and colleges running the year 
 
274 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 around without interruption. All this had been 
 accomplished without the use of gold as money, with 
 out a national bank, without a foreign debt, and not 
 the shadow of a millionaire, picture of a pauper, or a 
 subsidized press. 
 
 Kiyongo had now become a populous city and it was 
 American to the core. A society was formed there by 
 such men as had been crowded out of business in the 
 United States by the disastrous result of contraction 
 and other acts of Congress. The object of the society 
 was to keep in memory that sad event; it was ordained 
 by this society that they would build a monument of a 
 fine quality of building stone that had been found in 
 the mountains; to be located on a beautiful knoll three 
 miles east of the city of Kiyongo, the place being 
 selected on account of being in plain view from both 
 city and lake. It was erected in order to keep fresh 
 that legislation in the United States known as the 
 exception clause on greenbacks, gold interest on bonds, 
 contraction, resumption, and demonetization of silver. 
 It was claimed that the people of the United States, 
 through this legislation, had been robbed, not only of 
 millions upon millions, but even billions upon billions 
 had been wrung from an industrious people and millions 
 of men, women and children had lost their homes and 
 had been reduced to a state of want and suffering to 
 enrich a few individuals. It was also claimed that 
 John Sherman had been the main party through whom 
 this class legislation was secured; that the work had 
 been done with eyes not blinded to the results that 
 would follow, as was clearly shown by his former 
 speeches; but that it was a plain case ot corruption, 
 and therefore his name, with that of Arnold, and Judas 
 should be kept in memory as the three greatest traitors 
 to human progress that the world has ever known and 
 that a representative statue of each be placed upon the 
 great monument, and a history of their diabolical work 
 be traced in flaming letters on its sides. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 WHILE Mr. Goldburg was in Boston, Rebecca 
 wrote to one of the Professors of a seminary where 
 she had formerly been a student asking for a situation 
 as a teacher, and having been in high esteem in the 
 school, she received a prompt reply offering her a place 
 to commence at her earliest convenience. She put the 
 letter where she could get it readily and made up her 
 mind that if difference must come between her and her 
 father she preferred being the aggressor. The second 
 day after her father's return from Boston, he stopped 
 in the sitting room for a few moments to look over the 
 morning paper and Rebecca thinking it a good oppor 
 tunity, took the letter and presented it for his approval. 
 He read it with astonishment. 
 
 "Why is this?" he said, "that you are wanting to 
 disgrace the family by going to work for a salary? 
 Did your mother not tell you of the plan I have in 
 view, of uniting the two great estates through your 
 marriage with Mr. Goldaker?" 
 
 "Yes, father," said Rebecca, "but I do not like that 
 man." 
 
 "No, you never like any man that is respectable; 
 while I have been many years hard at work building 
 up a fortune that can be left as a monument to 
 myself and family, you absolutely refuse to marry 
 where you can, by so doing, throw millions into my 
 possession, and also start a family to inherit this vast 
 estate, which will be equal to the largest in the United 
 States and give your children a rank in the coming 
 Nobility, which is already organized and fast develop 
 ing into power." 
 
 "I am so sorry to oppose you, father; if you were in 
 want I would do anything possible to comfort you." 
 
276 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Want," said her father, in a mocking way, "do you 
 suppose that with all my gold I could ever come to 
 want? It is not want by which I am actuated, but it 
 is business, purely business. " 
 
 "True," said Rebecca, "it is business with you, but 
 1 am not property to be bartered off for gold; I am hu 
 man and I'll die before I will marry a man I do not love. " 
 
 The millionaire flushed at such insubordination and 
 straightening himself up, said: "Call your mother." 
 
 Rebecca obeyed and was about to leave the room, 
 when her father called her back. Addressing his wife, 
 he then said: "I have watched for years this growing 
 tendency to disregard my wishes. Rebecca has thrown 
 me out of millions of dollars by her sympathy for 
 poverty and her unpardonable contempt for power; 
 while presidents and statesmen are subservient to my 
 will, she alone stands out, as firm as the rock of Gib- 
 ralter. You, I believe, have by your silence allowed 
 this continual disobedience to go unchecked, and it is 
 now my tull determination to stop things where they 
 are, therefore all you have to do is to state the amount 
 you will require, and since our union has ceased to be 
 of benefit the sooner we separate the better." 
 
 This was just what Mrs. Goldburg was expecting 
 and she "knew that talk would be futile. The father, 
 she knew, would accept nothing on the part of 
 Rebecca but unconditional subjection to his will ; this 
 she could not grant. She had long believed from the 
 drift of things that she and her daughter would eventu 
 ally have to become entirely subservient to the power 
 of money which had so completely taken hold of her 
 husband and held him in its deadly grasp, or a dissolu 
 tion would naturally follow. She was therefore, in a 
 manner, prepared to hear such a proposition, but to 
 name an amount she had not considered. The estate 
 was worth several millions of dollars and she did not 
 care to answer without thinking over the matter. The 
 millionaire however was too anxious to make the tradri 
 before some lawyer might interfere, and continued: 
 
 "You may have this property (meaning the old home] 
 and the store that Col. Bundy is running, also thA 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 277 
 
 building the goods are in; I will also give you each a 
 check for $100,000 now drawing interest in the bank. 
 This is enough for anyone." 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Goldburg, "I have always claimed 
 that all money "and property above a competency is a 
 curse to the possessor. I therefore should be satisfied. " 
 
 Mr. Goldburgpromptly drew two checks of $100,000 
 each, presented^ them and also drew up a paper for 
 their signatures, releasing him from further claims. 
 "This evening," said he, "you shall have your deeds;" 
 and the business thus completed, he moved on into his 
 office, apparently well satisfied. 
 
 There had been times in bygone days when a scene 
 like this would have broken the hearts of both, but 
 since gold and greed had turned the heart of the father 
 and husband into a plutocratic, domineering boss, it 
 was surely a relief to let him go. 
 
 On the next day Mr. Goldburg had the papers all 
 made out, signed, and properly turned over to his wife 
 and daughter; then proceeded to settle up his business 
 affairs and went to Boston, where he afterwards mar 
 ried an actress; but continued business with Messrs. 
 Goldaker & Son. 
 
 When he had gone Mrs. Goldburg and daughter 
 proceeded to take stock and consider their great pos 
 sessions. When comparing their large estate of about 
 $270,000 to the millions of dollars that the father had 
 kept to himself, Mrs. Goldburg said she never before 
 comprehended so forcibly what an immense sum a 
 million of dollars was, and what gigantic frauds must 
 have been perpetrated in Congress in order to procure 
 legislation that would enable men to build up such vast 
 estates in so short a time. She declared that Mr. 
 Goldburg had given nothing in return for the vast 
 property that he now held, hence some one was surely 
 robbed and that some one was the American people. 
 
 Now that all restraint had been set aside, the manner 
 in which Col. Bundy had been robbed loomed up be 
 fore Mrs. Goldburg as a monster swindle. Always, 
 since the Colonel's failure, Mrs. Goldburg and Rebecca 
 had felt as though by accompanying Mr. Goldburg to 
 
278 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 the farm when he induced the Colonel to go into 
 business, they had indirectly assisted him and were 
 in some degree responsible for the Colonel's misfortune. 
 
 Looking at the matter from this standpoint, a mutual 
 feeling existed to do something for Col. Bundy and 
 family. Mrs. Goldburg believed he was robbed, and in 
 order to satisfy themselves they had the books brought 
 from the store, and on examination found that the 
 Colonel's losses commenced with the destruction of 
 greenbacks. That as they continued to withdraw 
 greenbacks from year to year, so his losses continued, 
 and as Mr. Goldburg, with other bankers, had put up 
 large sums of money to secure the passage of that act. 
 and as many millions of dollars had been lost by others, 
 all over the country during the same period, and that 
 bankers all over the country had at the same time 
 enjoyed unparalleled prosperity; they felt it was safe 
 to conclude that the same law which had robbed the 
 people from Maine to California and built up the banks, 
 had also robbed t'.ie Colonel and built up Mr. Gold- 
 burg's bank. 
 
 It was agreed that they would make Mr. Bundy a 
 present of the entire stock, and deed the building over 
 to its proper owner, Mr. Stillwater, taking his note for 
 a small sum. A few days after the transfer of the 
 property, Mrs. Goldburg and Rebecca called on Mrs. 
 Bundy, and before leaving, presented her with a bill 
 of sale of the entire store. Mr. and Mrs. Bundy 
 naturally declined the gift at first, but after an expla 
 nation that they only considered it a return of property 
 stolen, she accepted it with many thanks. 
 
 After Mr. Goldburg' s departure home affairs went on 
 pretty much after the same old fashion. For years he 
 had been from home so much, and was so selfish and 
 so unsocial when at home that his absence was more 
 of a relief than otherwise. Now that her father was 
 gone Rebecca made every possible effort to increase 
 her mother's happiness. The servants also enjoyed 
 the change. 
 
 Since the Colonel failed the friendship between the 
 Bundy and Goldburg families had not been of the most 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 27Q 
 
 intimate character, but now the two families met as 
 one. They were also on better terms with all their 
 neighbors, and it was noticeable that affairs had been 
 vastly improved in every respect. 
 
 Rebecca had ^always paid much attention to the 
 flower garden, and now that she felt it really belonged 
 to her, her interest increased and this pastime added 
 largely to her happiness, as well as her correspondence 
 with Minnie Sheppard. 
 
 After a few years spent in this pleasant, but aimless 
 way, Rebecca received the following letter: 
 
 HOME IN IOWA, 
 
 Sept. 4, 1 8 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND: I had such a strange dream last 
 night, if it was a dream. I seemed to awake in the 
 night; a rich glow of golden light was spreading in 
 gentle wavelets throughout the room. A small cloud 
 from which the light emanated stood out before me 
 and as it dispersed to mingle with golden light and add 
 to it another charm, a form was revealed which filled 
 my soul with joy, love and confidence, for I knew it 
 was Jesus. The form addressed me, saying: "Behold 
 thy Savior; see, if thou wilt, the nail holes and be 
 convinced. I come to give you a mission; this has 
 been my chosen people, but cruel hearted men have 
 been installed in office; a golden money God has been 
 set up for the worship of my people; my churches 
 have been desecrated and turned into dens of thieves 
 for money worship. Were I to-day to visit these plu 
 tocratic temples as I did long years ago in Judea, they 
 would look at my raiment and cry out as of old, 'give 
 us Barrabas.' 
 
 "While they profess to preach and worship in my 
 name, they suffer my little children to starve while they 
 hoard up wealth which they do not need; they suffer 
 thousands of my good people to be in want. They buy 
 up all the abundance which my Father has caused to 
 grow and have it stored in great houses away from my 
 people; they live in great castles, while many of my 
 good people have no place to lay their heads. 
 
280 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "I say unto you, it will be more tolerable for the 
 infidel and scoffer in the day of judgment, than for 
 these hypocrites who pretend to worship in my name, 
 but do not the things which I taught, and have become 
 but a plutocratic hoarde. 
 
 "Since my people have made this land a land of 
 gold worship, a land of millionaires and paupers, I will 
 give them a little time to wax hot, then I will destroy 
 their golden God and I will cleanse this land with fire. 
 
 "Before that time I will take many of my chosen 
 ones into a land, even to Africa, where the power ot 
 gold has been destroyed; where man lives in harmony 
 with his fellow men and gold is not hoarded; neither 
 has it any value as money; where plutocrats are unknown 
 and where man's productions are used for the benefit 
 of man. To that land would I have you go." 
 
 "Therefore I say unto thee, take thyself and thy 
 chosen friends, go unto that land where there are many 
 pupils and few teachers; go, I say and I will put words 
 in thy mouth and thou shalt become a power for good 
 in the hands of thy God." 
 
 Here my vision ended and I slept sweetly till morn 
 ing; but when I awoke my vision was on my mind and 
 I could not forget it; so I wrote to the New York 
 Ledger to find out if the new Republic would be a safe 
 place in which to travel. You will see the answer in 
 the last number of that paper. 
 
 I will not write any more for I am coming to see 
 you. Good bye. 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 MINNIE. 
 
 Rebecca read the letter to her mother, who laugh 
 ingly said: "The girl is crazy. " 
 
 But Rebecca replied: "It matters not, mother, when 
 she is with us, she will get over it." 
 
 The subject was dropped. Mrs. Goldburg probably 
 never gave the dream a second thought; but to Rebecca, 
 it seemed to have a fascination. 
 
 She read the letter to the Bundys; they paid no 
 particular attention to it. Mrs. Bundy said: "It was 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 28l 
 
 like her message; the minister had told her some very 
 strange things did occur, but it was generally conceded 
 to be the work of the devil and not safe to fool with. " 
 
 Of course this did not concern Mrs. Bundy, but 
 Rebecca took a different view of the matter. In her 
 opinion, a message received from some unknown intel 
 ligence, through some law as yet not fully understood, 
 it was hardly fair to give all the credit to the devil; 
 beside, she did not understand how the ministei 
 became convinced that it was through the devil; she 
 was not altogether satisfied. 
 
 Another week elapsed and a telegram came announc 
 ing that Minnie would arrive on the next train. Had 
 it been the Queen of Sheba, Rebecca and her mother 
 could not have been more delighted to receive the 
 visitor, and the meeting could not have been more 
 joyful. The family reception over, the two girls went 
 to their own room. Minnie hastened to give her plans; 
 she said she could not drive the vision from her 
 thoughts; it might be a dream; whether it was or not, 
 she had been taught to believe the Bible to be true, 
 and, said she: "I read in it that Jesus appeared tc his 
 disciples, and if he could appear to them, why could 
 he not appear to me? I believe that Jesus spoke to 
 me, and I believe him in preference to those who 
 preach chariry while practicing selfishness and dispense 
 entirely with justice. If I find myself mistaken I may 
 change my mind. 
 
 "One thing I do not understand; that is, that men 
 who claim to be called of God to preach, always laugh 
 and ridicule my story while a skeptic says, 'that is 
 strange!' Be this a dream or be it fancy, it matters 
 not; it is a new country and teachers are in demand. 
 I want to go where religion is not a mockery and 
 preachers deal more with justice; less with dogma, 
 more for love and less for fame. The Ledger's answer 
 to my question is that the Republic is considered quite 
 safe to travel in, even for ladies, and that teachers are 
 in demand. I am going, and you do not know how 
 glad I will be to have your company. I have been 
 kept in idleness all my life, except while at school, 
 
282 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 and now I want to do something to show that I am an 
 individual and not property." 
 
 "I rather like your wild scheme," said Rebecca, "may 
 be we can start a seminary for girls." 
 
 "That's it," said Minnie, full of enthusiasm," but 
 how do you think your mother will like the plan?" 
 
 "I can hardly say," said Rebecca, "she will laugh at 
 us, but you know both of us can present the case, and 
 she can't stand much coaxing; beside, she has for 
 some time been talking about a sea voyage. I can see 
 no harm in taking the trip, if we don't like the country, 
 and if we do there is nothing I should like so well as 
 to begin a school in a new country, where the young 
 mind can escape the slavery of churches founded upon 
 creeds which have been formulated in a semi-barbaric 
 age. Only think of a man going round in a night 
 gown saying one thing over and over and putting 
 wafers on the tongues of his dupes." 
 
 A few days passed pleasantly, the girls spending the 
 most of their time in the flower garden, while they 
 speculated on the prospect of an active life. They 
 were agreed upon one thing, that any kind of a life of 
 activity was better than this subordinate condition and 
 constant inertia, in which woman's aspirations are 
 restrained and her individuality, in a measure, lost. 
 
 If the hope of meeting in travel those from whom 
 they had been so cruelly separated in former years 
 found a place in their minds, that hope was so faint 
 that neither considered it worth mentioning. The two 
 girls, through sad disappointments, had reached that 
 condition in life where desperation demanded a radical 
 change. Had their teachings in early years enslaved 
 their minds as do infallible dogmas and their secrets, 
 in the hands of some powerful priest, they would, 
 perhaps, have been an easy prey to superstition and 
 might have fallen into the strong embrace of some 
 nunnery, or some other female prison of the same char 
 acter; but such was not the case. Education and a 
 free interchange of thought among the many students, 
 teachers and associates of different beliefs, had turned 
 their thinking faculties loose, and when the intellect is 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 283 
 
 once set free, its course is ever onward. They hoped 
 to be so situated as to be able to assist in spreading 
 the light of truth and to reach upward after that higher 
 knowledge for which the liberated intellect so sin 
 cerely yearns. -< 
 
 After talking over many different plans and discussing 
 the matter in every conceivable light, a plan was formu 
 lated and the two girls approached the mother. Minnie 
 was spokesman and the manner in which she presented 
 the subject would have done credit to even a Webster. 
 She first drew Mrs. Goldburg's attention to the 
 improvement in both health and spirits that would 
 naturally follow a sea-voyage, how the changed condi 
 tion would relieve their minds and produce a good 
 effect generally; the scenery and travel in darker Africa 
 having been brought into full view and made accessi 
 ble by the resistless hand of progress. 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg had been advised by her physician to 
 take a sea-voyage and had been thinking seriously of 
 doing so; the proposition was received favorably at 
 once, but the thought of going to Africa was one which 
 needed time for consideration. 
 
 Soon alter, Mrs. Bundy dropped in, and being 
 intormed of the plan, approved it at once; this might 
 be attributed in part, perhaps, to that hope which so 
 fondly clings to the mother's heart of finding her lost 
 boy, and seeing in this a possibility of realizing the 
 strange prophecy of the lady medium, she looked upon 
 it as a good omen and hoped, as mothers always hope, 
 when others all despair. A few weeks of discussion 
 now passed and it was decided to go; the word went 
 out and while preparations were going on the neighbors 
 kept dropping in, giving their opinions and wishing 
 them good luck. When nearly ready and the firls 
 were feeling that every obstacle had been overcome, 
 the most formidable difficulty of all was encountered. 
 A spinster in the neighborhood, conspicuous for long 
 prayers and earnest attention to the wants of her 
 neighbors, happened in at Col. Bundy's. In speaking 
 of the contemplated trip of the Goldburg family to 
 Africa, Mrs. Bundy remarked that she was glad they 
 
284 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 wers going for she now had a faint hope of realizing 
 that ever present dream, awakened in her heart by the 
 dream of a medium or fortuneteller. This was enough 
 to horrify the spinster; she told Mrs. Bundy that she 
 considered it downright wicked to think of that message 
 as being anything but the work of the Devil. 
 
 Mrs. Bundy saw at once that she had made a mistake 
 but it was too late. That evening the spinster called 
 upon the minister and finding him at home, sitting in 
 his easy chair, thinking, no doubt, upon some deep 
 subject, trying to solve the question as to how much 
 more money a minister ought to get for sitting around 
 in idleness half of his time during the week and doing 
 a very moderate day's work on Sunday, than a laboring 
 man could earn by working six days in the week from 
 daylight till dark, with no time to cultivate his mind. 
 
 When the lady entered the presence of the Parson, 
 it was evident that something of importance was about 
 to be disclosed. She seated herself, and after taking 
 breath and composing herself she began: 
 
 "What do you think? I've found out all about what 
 is taking Mrs. Goldburg and the girls to Africa. 
 When Parson Dingley had charge here, several years 
 ago, Mrs. Bundy went to a medium and received a 
 message telling her that her absent son was in Africa; 
 of course everybody knew the message came from the 
 Devil, but Mrs. Bundy believes in it, and Mrs. Gold- 
 burg and Rebecca are .fairly bewitched with it yet; 
 they have coaxed the other girl to go, and I think it 
 is a real shame; people here should put some of them 
 in the insane Asylum; there is plenty of evidence. I 
 believe Mr. Goldburg had to leave his wife on account 
 of her crazy notions, and the church lost one of its 
 best paying members when he left; to be sure he did 
 not give so very much money, but just see what his 
 influence was worth. Every rich man in town wanted 
 to belong to the same church with the banker. See 
 how Mrs. Goldburg did about that property gave it all 
 to the Bundies and Mr. Stillwater; never gave the 
 church anythihg. I think it a downright sharne and 
 the Devil is leading them into Africa to punish them 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 285 
 
 for not giving all that property to the church. I think 
 they ought to be stopped by law from fooling away 
 their money, and the church ought to attend to it. " 
 
 It was a matter of fact that the minister had been 
 receiving very^ material aid from Mrs. Goldburg and 
 Rebecca in the way of contributions, and anything 
 which would detain them without making a rupture 
 between them and the church would be greatly to his 
 advantage; so he took it upon himself to visit the 
 family and make a vigorous protest to their going; 
 he was received with courtesy and so well did he pre 
 sent his objections to Mrs. Goldburg that for a time 
 the girls were in despair; but at last he carried his 
 objections too far for Rebecca's patience and when she 
 took the case in hand it proved a very one-sided affair 
 and the minister was soon vanquished. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 TT WILL be remembered that in the close of a former 
 I? chapter Mr. Baxter left the country for the ostensible 
 purpose of forming a conspiracy with bankers of Lon 
 don to destroy the usefulness of the currency of the 
 new Republic and thereby force the states to accept a 
 gold standard, also the English banking system and 
 land laws; that he was accompanied by two detectives, 
 (we might here add) who shadowed him through the 
 whole trip. 
 
 On arriving in London Mr.- Baxter obtained an 
 interview with some leading bankers; they took but 
 little stock in his proposition, but finally consented to 
 try the experiment. 
 
 The services of some of the very best artists in the 
 country were secured and five hundred million dollars 
 of the best counterfeit was struck off and the mails 
 were loaded. So well had his actions been watched, 
 the mail was examined before it was allowed to land, 
 and all letters containing counterfeit money were taken 
 to the treasury. This ended the job; no more letters 
 came. After a few weeks Baxter returned, but for 
 some reason best known to the officials was not 
 arrested, and at once resumed business where he had 
 left off. Times were good and he seemed to be making 
 money, but the failure of the plot was in his mind; 
 defeat rankled in his bosom and he kept his gold buried 
 awaiting the time when it might once more be clothed 
 with power. 
 
 Coy and Saunders remained at the Capitol and after 
 the failure of this scheme, spent a great deal of their 
 time in traveling through the country, watching the 
 progress of things, trying to stir up discontent; talked 
 constantly of money inflation, honest dollars, sound 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 287 
 
 currency, etc.; but people were too busy to pay much 
 attention, seeming only to listen; it reminded them of 
 old times. However this did not discourage the gen 
 tlemen and they continued to lay plans for strangling 
 the new Republic, by establishing a gold gambling 
 banking system similar to that which had been used in 
 robbing the American people and by this means build 
 up an aristocracy in which they themselves would 
 figure as leaders. 
 
 A few years of unparalleled advancement and pros 
 perity passed; after which they felt that the time had 
 come to act; the Government was evidently growing 
 stronger, beside as people saw the great advantages 
 which came to them through the absence of monetary 
 power, vested in great syndicates and millionaires, and 
 saw too, how completely these great dynasties were 
 prevented from forming by the inheritance and income 
 tax, they were becoming bitter in their denunciation 
 of the old games of bankers who had impoverished 
 them in days gone by. Others who were deeply 
 grounded in the superstitious worship of gold, were 
 beginning to forget the dogma, growing in grace and 
 were also becoming reconciled to the changed condition. 
 
 Recognizing these facts, Coy and Saunders felt there 
 would certainly be danger in delay, so the two managed 
 to meet Mr. Baxter at Summerville; there, locked in 
 private apartments, beyond the reach of listening ears 
 a caucus was held. 
 
 Mr. Saunders was the first to explain; after referring 
 to the progress of the country, he said there was 
 something to work for. The property was now in 
 sight and such a harvest for financiers had never before 
 been heard of, except it might be in the United States, 
 while working the rich gold and silver mines, and: 
 "Look," said he, "at the men who made millions out 
 of that; by a little nice financiering on tbe part of 
 English bankers, when the richest mines were worked 
 and the Bank of England had the gold, the Americans 
 the experience, and had become the debtor nation; 
 yes, with all their virgin soil, rich mines, immense 
 productions of all kinds, they became the debtor 
 
288 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 nation; in less than twenty-five years after that man 
 Seyd dropped in on Congress, button-holed the great 
 Ohio statesman, and through him controlled the finan 
 cial legislation of the country. 
 
 "I need hardly refer you to the gold interest on bonds, 
 the exception clause on greenbacks, the strengthening 
 act, or contraction, or redemption, or demonetization 
 of silver; you both understand it all and know how it 
 was done; one robbery after another and the American 
 people stood it. These people are not a whit smarter 
 than the Americans and they will stand it too; we 
 only want to stand in or get the Bank of England at 
 our backs, the machine in operation, and we will 
 gather titles to property as easily as they did in the 
 United States. 
 
 "But we must knock in the head this bloody Consti 
 tution and have gold used for money; we can corner 
 it and people will be compelled to have it back to do 
 business with; then we can dictate price and terms; 
 but if we were to get this paper money all in the 
 bank the Government would issue more and the business 
 men would be independent of us, and we could not 
 affect prices an iota, for there would still be plenty of 
 money in circulation. 
 
 "We must have banks and banks are no good unless 
 we can control the price of labor for that is the bottom 
 of all value." 
 
 "What we want," said Baxter, "is clear enough, we 
 all know how the thing was done in the United States; 
 there is no doubt the same effect would follow the 
 same kind of manipulation here if we had the same 
 kind of government; but suppose you were to make a 
 millionaire of one of these Senators as was done in the 
 United States, what could he do? There is the 
 referendum in the way; to carry an election where 
 there were regularly organized political parties was an 
 easy matter, all that was necessary was to buy the 
 leader; but here the candidates are all independent 
 and stand upon their personal record, or merit; to say 
 you had been a democrat or republican for forty years 
 would be laughed at, The newspapers all have plenty 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 289 
 
 of backing and you can't buy them as you could in the 
 United States where they were all in debt to the 
 banks. The people here make their own laws ; they 
 have become so accustomed to using paper money and 
 shipping theirgold to foreign powers, when they either 
 get a big price for it in such things as they need or 
 exchange it for bonds that bring back a yearly interest. 
 I am afraid the old cry of sound currency, honest 
 dollar and such gags would have but little effect. 
 Why, I see from the last series of school books that 
 this great gold and banking swindle is so completely 
 exposed that twenty-five years from now a man would 
 hardly risk his reputation by advocating gold money 
 and national banks in this country; every school boy 
 would laugh at him." 
 
 "Yes," said Saunders, "we must modify this Consti 
 tution and change the whole system; the land must be 
 deeded over to the people, so we can get a chance at it; 
 we must have titles to the land, we must have gold money 
 and national banks, and we must also have the power 
 of the people, through their Government, to accumu 
 late limited, and the power of individuals to accumulate 
 wealth, unlimited; then we can soon amass money 
 enough on the outside to be actually stronger than the 
 Government, and able to control it. This done, laws 
 can be passed in the interest of the men who have the 
 gold. Millionaires will then spring into existence 
 everywhere, the people will be impoverished and 
 become slaves.' 
 
 "The Government will become the dog of the pluto 
 crats to take charge of the masses and furnish prisons 
 for those who have been robbed of their property and 
 complain of being out of work and are hungry. This 
 has all been accomplished in the United States, and 
 millionaires there to-day are enjoying every luxury that 
 wealth can give; if they do not wish to reside among 
 their slaves, they can move to a foreign land and leave 
 their dog, the people's Government, to watch and take 
 care of their sacred property rights. Now with gold 
 money, English land law, national banks and unlimited 
 inheritance, I believe we can, with the assistance of 
 
2QO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 English capital, put ourselves as absolutely in control 
 of this people, as the millionaires are of the American 
 people. But we must have the entire system changed 
 and the Constitution doctored or destroyed; to accom 
 plish this it will be necessary to be rid of Bundy, 
 Lincoln, Summerville and Jefferson. If we were rid of 
 these, we might control the executive and by not 
 enforcing the laws get people so indignant that they 
 would be finally led into revolution; then with a body 
 of well organized men burn the Capitol and destroy all 
 records; upon the heels of this call for volunteers, 
 organize an army to protect the Government; then in 
 rebuilding the Government use English money and 
 get in your work; see to it that the new Constitution 
 contains what we desire, and from that on we will have 
 clear sailing. People will be easily excited under such 
 circumstances, and when a report is circulated that the 
 Government is about to deed their land away to some 
 great syndicate they will all demand a title and that 
 will settle the land question, for when the land is once 
 deeded we can issue bonds the same as they did in the 
 United States. Every man that has money to spare 
 will invest it in these bonds; then when money becomes 
 scarce the bonds will pass into the hands of moneyed 
 men who will use them to bank on, and with a national 
 banking law like that of the United States, will 
 receive money from the Government at i per cent and 
 loan it to the people at 8 per cent; also take mort 
 gages, but then, what is the use to talk, you both 
 know just how it was done in the United States." 
 
 Baxter, who, notwithstanding his long association 
 with crime, still had a small degree of national pride, 
 becoming slightly worried at hearing an Englishman 
 refer so often to these disgraceful acts of robbery that 
 had been forced through the American House by the 
 terrible pressure of the money power, paid: 
 
 "Well, what do you propose to do, have you any plan?" 
 
 "Yes," said Saunders, "but it will take time, Coy 
 
 and myself have been talking the matter over for a 
 
 long time; the bankers of the world have so much 
 
 money invested in newspapers, and money loaned to 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2QI 
 
 others, and still others which they advertise in, it is 
 safe to say, they control the press of civilization. 
 This is a power to be both feared and respected. We 
 believe that when rightly informed of the wealth and 
 growing greatness of the Republic they can be easily 
 enlisted in the cause and no stone will be left unturned 
 to carry out our plans. Our first plan was to control 
 the press of this country, but the objection to that is, 
 the principal papers are owned by joint-stock compa 
 nies and have an abundance of capital and good sup 
 port; but being in good circumstances and working 
 for a salary, they would be hard men to approach; even 
 if you were to buy one or two the balance of the press 
 of the country would be turned on them and the 
 Department would be forced to remove them; in fact, 
 public sentiment has been so thoroughly moulded in 
 favor of the new system that even the press would be 
 instantly antagonized by the people, if it failed to 
 work in their interest. " 
 
 "The principal objection that occurs to me," said 
 Baxter, "is that the limit to inl eritance has checked 
 man's everlasting greed; put people more on a level. 
 As the struggle for money ha > been modified among 
 the rich, the struggle for a living among the poor has 
 entirely ceased. To tell the truth, in traveling through 
 the cities, towns and country, it seems to me there are 
 no poor, at least every one has a home and I have 
 never heard the word charity since I have been here, 
 except in a religious sense." 
 
 "True," said Saunders, "this inheritance law has 
 been one of the main obstacles in our way all along; 
 then comes the income tax, national money, Govern 
 ment control of stock companies and sale of stock 
 among the people; in fact, the whole system is nega 
 tive to the formation of a favored class as in England, 
 or the United States, and it must be destroyed, by fair 
 means if we can, by foul means if we must. 
 
 "The plan that we have hit upon is that you take 
 another trip to England. Of course it would hardly 
 do for either of us to show ourselves in that country 
 yet, but if these bankers see they can use us in destroy- 
 
2Q2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 ing this system and founding a government here like 
 the United States, based upon the English land laws, 
 gold money and banking system, we will become 
 millionaires as suddenly as John Sherman did with a 
 $5,000 salary; so we must keep in the back ground 
 uatil you have the business well under way; then they 
 will need us, and the fact of our being able to get 
 away with a pile of English, as well as American gold, 
 will only be to our credit and they will recognize in us 
 men worthy of becoming members of the great bank 
 ing fraternity. 
 
 "This country to-day furnishes the world to a great 
 extent with cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, beef, bacon 
 and flour; we are also shipping gold and silver in 
 large quantities, and all this business is carried on 
 without one dollar of foreign capital. In addition to 
 this the iron, copper and lead mines are extensive, with 
 an abundance of lead and coal; in consequence of this 
 steel, car and locomotive works, also wagon and farm 
 machinery works; they also have manufactories of 
 every description. 
 
 "The bad feature seems to be from the banker's 
 standpoint and is, that through the natural savings of 
 the people, the stock which represents all this business 
 has been absorbed; you can not monopolize it, for if 
 you hold above a certain quantity the income tax takes 
 your interest, and to save yourself you are forced to 
 turn some of it back into the treasury, only to see a 
 lot of old hay-seeds come along and buy it for their 
 son, John or daughter, Jane. Bankers and money 
 speculators you see are entirely shutout; this however 
 will all be in our favor in getting backing from the 
 money power." 
 
 "Speaking of this stock," said Coy, "reminds me of 
 a very peculiar run that I noticed last winter. This 
 stock, you see, all has coupons that fall due on the first 
 of December; all through that month people of all 
 shades and conditions could be seen going to the 
 treasury to cash their coupons. If you interrogated 
 them you would find that nine out of ten of them 
 would use it in buying Christmas presents, and the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 whole people are learning to await Christmas as cattle 
 look for the early coming of grass. " 
 
 "Yes," said Saunders, "I have noticed that, and it 
 looks to me like sheer nonsense to thus scatter money 
 among the common people. I think we should make 
 a note of all these things and reduce it to writing so 
 that Mr. Baxter will miss nothing in making his state 
 ment to the bankers of London. " 
 
 "It is quite clear to me," said Coy, "that unless some 
 check is put to this Republic, in a few years it will be 
 supplying the markets of the world with all kinds of 
 goods and produce, barring every kind of competition. 
 
 "As it is, only their own surplus is shipped in their 
 own vessels the price received will be of no great 
 importancs to a people who import little or nothing, 
 sell all their gold and silver product, pay no tribute or 
 interest and have unlimited capital of their own. 
 Men of all trades can work cheaper here than in any 
 other place in the known world, because every man owns 
 his own home, pays no rent, no interest; but to the 
 contrary receives a regular 5 per cent dividend on all 
 his savings. Talk about pauper labor; there are no 
 business men on earth, with pauper labor, who can 
 pay taxes, rent and interest and compete with these 
 people. These facts are already being noticed by the 
 money power, and if all the facts in the case are 
 properly presented, we will have the bankers of the 
 world at our backs; if these fanatics think that the 
 moneyed classes, who have reared their children in 
 luxury for ages, will allow themselves to be robbed of 
 their property rights, see the good things of life given 
 up to the use and enjoyment of the common herd, 
 either by legislation, or any other way, they are 
 mistaken. " 
 
 Without further discussion it was arranged that 
 Baxter should go to England at once. In a few days, 
 everything being in readiness, Baxter, armed with such 
 papers as Coy and Saunders had carefully prepared, 
 took a steamer for England. On reaching London he 
 presented himself at once to Baron Rothschild; the 
 cordiality of his reception was to him a great surprise. 
 
2Q4 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 They talked over the failure of the counterfeit scheme; 
 the banker said since that time the banks had been 
 reaping such a rich harvest in the United States that 
 they had paid no further attention to African affairs. 
 He was very glad Mr. Baxter and Jiis friends had 
 deemed it time to make another effort. 
 
 "We," said the Banker, "were considerably sur 
 prised the other day by a cablegram from America to 
 the effect that an envoy from the new Republic had 
 arrived in New York with an immense quantity of gold 
 which they made an effort to exchange for Government 
 bonds bearing interest; failing in this, they succeeded 
 in exchanging for western State and County bonds. 
 We cabled our agent in New York to offer them Eng 
 lish bonds, but they declined, saying their first object 
 was to dispose of their gold in such a manner as to be 
 able to draw upon it in case of famine, or failure of 
 crops, and as England could not produce enough for 
 her own people, they could never count on assistance 
 from that source; we look upon this as the best joke 
 of the season. 
 
 "Upon receipt of this news I made up my mind that 
 this new Republic should be looked after at once and 
 am very glad you have taken the matter in hand; here 
 tofore the Republic has been quite a relief to us, by 
 draining the United States of its surplus labor 
 that had been superseded by a cheaper class; it has 
 also assisted us materially in securing title to lands 
 (by attracting the owners), which will furnish a nice 
 income in the shape of rent for all time to come. Of 
 course we do not receive this rent direct; we have not 
 come to that yet, but others do and that enables them 
 to pay interest on bonds, bank stock, etc." 
 
 "I am very glad, " said Mr. Baxter, "that your schemes 
 in the United States have been a success, as you will 
 be the more willing to give us your assistance." 
 
 "Exactly," said the Banker, "but large bodies move 
 slowly and you must not be impatient of immediate 
 results. At the close of the Revolutionary war we 
 owned nothing in the United States; since then our 
 efforts to control that country have been incessant^ 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 to- day we own all their richest mines, a large share of 
 all public works, such as railroads, telegraphs, city 
 water works, etc.; in addition to this, all their vast 
 product of gold and silver is carefully stored within 
 our vaults. It is like the Veiled Prophet, the Ameri 
 cans never see it, and for this reason their worship of 
 it is more intensified. Their manufacturers are pro 
 tected by a heavy tariff, which enables them to form 
 great pools and crush small enterprises. These pools 
 borrow money from our banks which gives us quite a 
 large tribute; we even own their business, and every 
 man who drinks a glass of beer pays us tribute. 
 When you take into consideration the fact that this has 
 all been accomplished by careful financiering and that 
 the civilized world has been largely fed am cloth_d 
 from American products, during this same period, you 
 can scarcely fail to see that we have a money system 
 that is invincible. I also would call your attention ^o 
 the fact, that while we have actually captured one- 
 third of the oroperty and business of the United States 
 the English indebtedness to us has been largely 
 increased, and there is not a civilized government on 
 the face of the earth which Joes not pay tribute to the 
 golden god we keep safely locked in our vaults. 
 From this, no matter how slowly our work in the new 
 Republic may appear to nove, you will understand 
 that the power of gold acting upon superstition is 
 omnipotent, and you need not despair of the result." 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Baxter had been completely 
 awe-struck in the presence of the great gold king, or 
 monarch of monarchs, he here ventured to say that to 
 him the worship of gold, supposed to be safely stored 
 in vaults and actually had an existence, was more 
 sensible than worshiping a God who seems to have no 
 existence. 
 
 "That is true," said the great gold king. "I have 
 heard good Christians, Mohammedans, and others call 
 ing upon their God day after day, week after week, 
 month after month and year after year, and the only 
 answer was the echo of their own faint voice; when I 
 call upon my gold bags, I always meet with a quick 
 
296 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 response. I would not interfere with any man's 
 belief, but gold is my god and I believe that more men 
 worship gold than any other god. " 
 
 The banker now set out a box of cigais, after which 
 he dismissed Mr. Baxter with a promise that the 
 papers should be examined at once; he also invited 
 him to call at six in the evening. 
 
 Mr. Baxter retired to his apartments in the hotel 
 where he was interviewed in the afternoon by a num 
 ber of reporters; agents of brokers also dropped in, 
 having seen his name quoted among the arrivals from 
 the new Republic. They desired to purchase such 
 an amount of national money of the Republic as he 
 might happen to have, stating that it was in great 
 demand among the merchants, as they could buy goods 
 from the great shipping company of the Republic at 5 
 per cent less with that than with gold; this surprised 
 Mr. Baxter, as he had always been taught when young 
 by American statesmen, that money to be good in a 
 foreign country had to be made of gold or silver ; when 
 he became a man he was told that money must be 
 made of gold alone to be an honest dollar and good 
 the world over; now he was confronted with a new 
 problem. Here were men in London, wanting to buy 
 paper money of the Republic and offering its face 
 value, in small sums, or i per cent premium for large 
 quantities; he could hardly comprehend how a piece 
 of paper the size of a one dollar bill could be worth 
 $101 in gold. 
 
 "Why," said he, "it is nothing but paper." 
 
 "Yes," said the banker, "and this coin is nothing 
 but gold; the paper will buy more goods than the gold 
 in the new Republic, and that is why we want it. " 
 
 At twenty minutes past six Mr. Baxter once more 
 started out to call upon the Banker; as he passed one 
 of the great hotels, he stopped at a cigar store, ordered 
 some cigars, and happening to have a $20 gold piece 
 in his pocket, put it down; the shop man picked up 
 the coin, examined it carefully, then said: 
 
 "This is an American coin." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Baxter. He was then informed by 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 2Q7 
 
 the shop-keeper that it would be necessary to take the 
 coin to tha Broker and exchange it for English coin; 
 the fee for exchange would probably be twenty-five 
 cents. Here again Mr. Baxter's early teaching in 
 regard to honest dollars had been a myth and in a 
 jocular manner he drew from his pocket a $20 bill from 
 the new Republic. Throwing it upon the counter he 
 sarcastically said: "How do you like that kind of 
 money?" 
 
 The shop-keeper examined it and asked Mr. Baxter 
 if he was from the new Republic. Being answered in 
 the affirmative, and also informed that he arrived on 
 the steamer Queen of the Seas, the day before at 
 Liverpool. Asking his name, the shop-keeper picked 
 up a paper announcing the arrival of the steamer, and 
 finding Mr. Baxter's name among the list of passengers 
 concluded the bill was all right. 
 
 While the two were engaged in further conversation 
 a boy took the bill into the next door, which was the 
 office of a wholesale cigar store, where it was cashed, 
 returned, and Mr. Baxter given the change in clear 
 English coin. 
 
 "How is this?" said Baxter, "that you take paper 
 money from the Republic in preference to American 
 gold?" 
 
 "Because," said the shop man, "there is a large 
 company in the Republic which has complete control 
 of the trade between that country and this; I am told 
 they have an office in every important shipping port 
 throughout the world; their business is carried on like 
 machinery; they ship all their goods on their own 
 vessels and everything is conducted with system and 
 true business principle of justice to all and favor to 
 none; they buy and sell on so large a scale that com 
 petition is out of the question. Of course they take 
 our money but never send it out of the country; on the 
 contrary they turn it into goods and ship the goods; 
 they always sell goods at 5 per cent less when it is 
 paid in money from the Republic, or in other words, 
 pay a 5 per cent premium on money of the Republic; 
 
298 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 this is what makes their money worth more than gold 
 the world over. 
 
 "I am told that they have such fine government and 
 business methods at home that no time is lost on the 
 part of the toilers; they all have an opportunity of 
 investing their savings in the stock of the company for 
 which they work and the dividend on their stock soon 
 becomes an important factor in life. In consequence 
 of this many of our best tradesmen in every branch of 
 industry have emigrated to that country and send 
 back glowing accounts. They say they have the finest 
 machinery in the world and make it themselves; work 
 eight hours per day and every man is kept constantly 
 employed; as a result of this, their exports largely 
 exceed their imports, and it is only by accident that 
 we get hold of any of their money in buying it from 
 travelers here at the hotels, the brokers occasionally 
 make a little money. " 
 
 It would naturally be supposed that such talk as this 
 would set Baxter to thinking and turn him from his 
 course. It will be remembered, however, that he had 
 already cast his lot with the money power; he was 
 already committed to the gold standard; he dare not 
 falter, he dare not stop. The gold power had in a 
 measure controlled the world for ages and it was 
 stronger to-day than it had ever been. It had cap 
 tured the great American states, why should he doubt 
 of its ultimate success in crushing this new system? 
 Notwithstanding he found many reasons for continuing 
 in the course already mapped out, when his mind took 
 in the old cry of honest money and sound currency, 
 raised by the wise statesman, and contrasted that with 
 his late experience, he could not help saying: "What 
 a set of donkeys these American statesmen are. " 
 
 On reaching the Banker's office he found the million 
 aire in the very best humor and after a little desultory 
 conversation the Banker informed Baxter that he had 
 examined the papers and partly agreed with them; 
 that he felt the time had come when the gold power 
 should assert its rights; this cancer upon the body 
 politic of the world must be removed; that he had 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 299 
 
 called a convention of bankers for Monday next. 
 "The bankers of Germany and France," said he, "will 
 be represented and I am confident some step will be 
 taken; what, I cannot tell, but think we will likely 
 send a committee back with you to feel of the Govern 
 ment and suggest plans." 
 
 This gave Baxter an opportunity of visiting different 
 parts of the city, and he declared to a companion that 
 the city was actually barbarous in comparison with 
 Summerville, Kiyongo or the other great cities ot the 
 Republic. Monday at last arrived, and Baxter found 
 himself once more among the bankers. The meeting 
 was a large one; over fifty men present; all bankers 
 and millionaires. After the meeting came to order the 
 paper was read which had been so carefully prepared 
 by Saunders and Coy, in which they gave a detailed 
 account of property which had sprung into existence 
 as if by magic; gave a careful description of their form 
 of Government; how completely it operated to throttle 
 capital and destroy the power of gold. In terse words 
 it was declared that the new methods of business and 
 government were, to concentrated wealth, as fatal as 
 machinery and imported workers had been to labor in 
 the United States; that unless checked the Republic 
 would ship their vast product of gold to other countries, 
 and so inflate the money of the world as to materially 
 decrease its value, positively refusing to use the article 
 themselves, for any purpose, except for filling teeth. 
 
 After the reading was concluded, Mr. Baxter was 
 introduced. He stated that he and his associates, 
 Saunders and Coy, had owned mines in the Republic; 
 they had made quite a sum of money, but finding 
 themselves limited by the inheritance law, they sold 
 out their mines and since that time had been "lying on 
 their oars," awaiting an opportunity to secure favorable 
 legislation. "But," said he, "the Republic is con 
 stantly growing stronger; it has not only destroyed 
 banking, and in fact all monetary control at home, but 
 from its present growth there were good reasons for 
 grave apprehension on the part of the money power 
 of the world. Having watched the thing for years, he 
 
300 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 declared it to be his belief that further delay was 
 dangerous; sure as the world moves, if this new 
 Republic continues its growth for twenty years, it will 
 show a front worthy the steel of any power." 
 
 It was plain to Baxter that his talk had its weight; 
 the faces around him were long as the moral law and 
 he began to realize the fact that he had found the 
 place where the money laws of the world were made. 
 It also occurred to him that this was the place from 
 which some of the great American statesmen and 
 financiers received their inspiration, and this accounted 
 to some extent for a United States Senator becoming 
 a millionaire off an annual salary of $5,000. 
 
 When Mr. Baxter had finished, he was put upon the 
 witness stand and questions came thick and fast from 
 all directions. The first interrogation was, quite 
 naturally, in regard to the extent and richness of the 
 gold mines. Mr. Baxter informed them that as yet 
 there were vast regions of unexplored country; that the 
 gold fields already developed, were probably equal in 
 richness and extent to those of California and were 
 already yielding large quantities of gold; whether the 
 unexplored country would prove equal in richness and 
 extent to Montana, Idaho, Dakota, Colorado and other 
 gold producing states and territories of the United 
 States remained to be seen. It was evident that under 
 the present form of government they would not be 
 developed tor years to come, for the simple reason 
 that the Government so completely and systematically 
 controls the business of the country, backing every 
 enterprise with all the money necessary to the end 
 *,hat every man in the cou.itry should have constant 
 Employment. 
 
 "There, statesmen argue," said Baxter, "that where 
 all are kept constantly employed, where transportation 
 and commerce are honestly and systematically carried 
 on, there can be but one result, an excess of exports 
 and home prosperity among the masses. 
 
 "While this is the case few men will abandon society, 
 home and friends to hunt for gold. Having lived from 
 youth to maturity on the fat of the land, producing 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 3OI 
 
 nothing themselves, but consuming in luxury the pro 
 ductions of their fellow men and women, through the 
 power of gold, acting upon superstition, it could hardly 
 be considered strange that not one of these financiers 
 entertained a doubt as to their ability, through the 
 power of gold to crush, if need be, the new Republic. " 
 
 Without noticing that matter they proceeded to 
 discuss the advisability of opening these rich gold 
 mines. One said that there was gold enough now. 
 Their vaults were full; besides, what matters it as to 
 the size of the pile, when all values are measured by 
 it, all money based upon it? 
 
 "As the business of the world is done on credit and 
 all dues are made payable in gold, and having the bulk 
 of the metal in our possession we can fix its price and 
 that price we will have, for there is no other source 
 from which gold can be obained. Then why not 
 secure a title to the land and put a wall around these 
 mines? It will be worth as much in the ground as in 
 our vaults and should give greater confidence, for 
 people will know we can't spend or fool it away. We 
 can estimate the amount of gold by what has been 
 taken out of the mines in the United States and 
 Australia. If we can build a wall, succeed in keeping 
 it beyond the reach of the common herd, we can issue 
 gold certificates to the full value of the gold." 
 
 "What will you do with the gold certificates?" asked 
 a voice. "That is plain," said the learned financier, 
 "we can loan them to the United States to be used as 
 gold money." "How will you redeem them?"' asked 
 another. 
 
 "I would have our Secretary write at once to John 
 Sherman, Grover Cleveland, Carlisle, McKinley, Har 
 rison, Vorhees and others of our members in the 
 United States, have them demonetize silver and secure 
 a large issue of bonds; then we will buy the bonds 
 with these certificates; they will be good of course, 
 because they represent gold." 
 
 "In redeeming them how would you proceed?" was 
 asked by another voice. 
 
 "That is easji ' said the financier. "Suppose the 
 
302 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 bonds run forty years, the interest at 3 per cent; they 
 will pay the certificates all back to us as interest long 
 before the bonds are due, then they will have to bor 
 row them again to pay the bonds with. Of course the 
 next thing will be to issue more bonds, which we will 
 again buy, thus keeping the certificates in circulation. 
 I have studied finance for over forty years and I have 
 noticed that the gold always lays in the vaults and the 
 business of the world is largely done with paper 
 representing gold; this being the case, it has long 
 since occurred to me that a vast amount of labor might 
 be saved by this method. Why goto this great expense 
 of taking the gold from one hiding place and putting 
 it in another? Why take it from the earth and put it 
 in a vault? I tell you, gentlemen, this redeeming 
 money is all nonsense; as long as people live they will 
 want money, and as long as they want it there is no 
 necessity for its redemption. If we can get control of 
 the legislation in this new Republic, as we did in the 
 United States, we can own the whole country, people 
 and all, inside of twenty years; and I would suggest 
 that the first thing to be done is to issue an immense 
 quantity of paper money, get it into circulation by 
 building a wall to protect the gold mines, keep a few 
 trusty experts busy exploring the mines, and through 
 the associated press and our gigantic dailies, keep the 
 people of the world well posted in regard to the vast 
 quantities of gold we possess; call every man a crank 
 who dares to dispute it. We can then furnish the 
 world with money and stop this everlasting talk about 
 gold being scarce." 
 
 As no one seemed inclined to oppose this plan, the 
 subject was dropped for the time. 
 
 Another gentleman whose build was somewhat after 
 the Cleveland style of architecture, with a very large 
 body and very small brains, rose to his feet and said 
 he had been keeping an eye on this new Republic for 
 some time; he was taking several papers from there 
 did not read very much himself, had strained hia 
 judgment when young in figuring on the problem of 
 squaring a circle, which he finally accomplished by 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 303 
 
 driving a harrow tooth into a rat-hole. In conse 
 quence of this early strain upon his reasoning faculties, 
 he had always made a practice of hiring his reading 
 done by his pri>ate Secretary who had been keeping 
 himself posted thoroughly and would now make a 
 statement. 
 
 The private Secretary was then put upon the stand 
 and told what he knew, after which a learned discussion 
 took place. One of the most intelligent bankers said 
 for a long time he had been troubled with corns and 
 dyspepsia, in consequence he had read but very little, 
 his private Secretary would therefore speak for him; 
 he would however say this much, that he was in favor 
 of the plan to issue gold certificates to be used for 
 money, the world over, and buy American bonds as 
 already suggested. He then took his seat amid a storm 
 of applause. 
 
 The private Secretary then stated that Bundy, Lin 
 coln and Jefferson seemed to be leading men in the 
 Republic. "All bad names, " said the chairman, and an 
 audible "yes" came from the audience. 
 
 At this juncture some one called for Mr. Baxter to 
 state the amount he thought would be necessary for the 
 control of the men. The sound of his name brought 
 Mr. Baxter to himself. Ihe thought of being sur 
 rounded by so many millionaires and such a display of 
 ignorance on the part of the owners, and cunning on 
 the part of the secretaries, had completely hypnotized 
 him and thrown him into a magnetic sleep in which he 
 had seen all kinds of devils; the room was full of them. 
 Even these great financiers seemed to have cloven 
 hoofs, horns and tails; there were little devils and big 
 devils; old devils and young devils; devils with horns 
 and devils with tails. Lucifer himself could hardly 
 have turned out a more interesting set of devils, and 
 each had his hands full of gold certificates, and was 
 watching the United States and the new Republic. 
 Rothschild seemed to be the prince of all the devils 
 and he read a letter from John Sherman, a great 
 American financier, who had made several millions of 
 
304 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 dollars from a salary of $5,000 in the United State 
 Senate. 
 
 A large, ugly looking devil then came in staggering 
 under a load of United States bonds. After dumping 
 them at the feet of the Prince of the gold power, he 
 straightened up and the Prince of devils said: "This 
 is Grover, the stuffed prophet; for this service I appoint 
 him first in my cabinet." Baxter then looked and it 
 was Grover, sure enough, with his well-known, besotted 
 look. Like the others he had cloven hoofs, short 
 horns, and a tail of wondrous length; he smelled fishy, 
 and the buzzards had been roosting in his hair. The 
 Prince patted him on the head and he danced in 
 ecstacy, then waltzed and waltzed until he became 
 entangled in his own tail; while in this laughable situ 
 ation, the sound of Baxter's name awoke him from his 
 trance to a realization of the fact that he was among 
 bankers. He sprang to his feet, a picture of confusion; 
 wiping the cold sweat from his face, he collected his 
 thoughts and proceeded to inform the millionaire 
 bankers that he did not think Bundy, Lincoln and 
 Jefferson could be bought; at this he saw a smile of 
 derision light up the face of all, and the Prince of 
 bankers said: "Not so, my man, we have proved this 
 thing to be a truth, that all men have their price. " 
 
 Mr. Baxter was then asked if he was personally 
 acquainted with any of the Senators; he answered in 
 the affirmative, stating that he had been quite intimate 
 with Senator Sherman. 
 
 "Senator Sherman?" inquired the Prince of bankers 
 "have you a man there by that name?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Baxter, feeling his own insignifi 
 cance more and more, among the bankers. " 
 
 "Is he any relation to the Ohio Senator?" 
 
 "He says not," Baxter replied. "No matter," said 
 the Prince, "I rather like the name, that is, if there is 
 no Billy mixed up in it." "There is not." 
 
 After further discussion it was decided to send a 
 committee of one to report plans for establishing a 
 National Banking system in the new Republic; also a 
 gold standard. It was suggested that a man by the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 305 
 
 name of Lord Dead Ernest Seyd had been quite suc 
 cessful in dealing with American Senators and Con 
 gressmen, and he was therefore selected for the mission. 
 
 He was sent with instructions to spend $10,000,000 
 if necessary to secure the recognition of gold as money; 
 also secure some change in the laws concerning the 
 great newspapers. 
 
 "It is important," said the Prince of bankers, "that 
 we control these papers; if the present ones cannot be 
 controlled, we can afford to start and run larger ones 
 and circulate them at ten cents a year for the next ten 
 years, in order to control votes, and I would advise that 
 you pay particular attention to this matter. The 
 manner in which we control the vote of the United 
 States through the great dailies is quite sufficient to 
 convince you of its importance. 
 
 "If legislation fails, look after their defenses; feel of 
 the people. If the Government cannot be controlled 
 it must be overthrown by inciting insurrection. I am 
 told they have no saloon, nor political parties; this is 
 all wrong for they all form a part of our methods. 
 If all else fails, as a last resort, you know the English 
 Bank and syndicates own Great Britain, and we will 
 fix up a claim to that part of Africa and send around a 
 lot of iron-clads, which will probably have a very 
 salutary effect." 
 
 In regard to this matter the Prince of bankers said 
 to Mr. Baxter: "Holding a debt against the English 
 Government of more than she can pay, and our own 
 vaults filled with gold and full control of all the banks 
 of England and the United States, you will not for a 
 moment doubt our power to do this, " 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 IN a former chapter we left Mrs. Goldburg and the two 
 girls busily engaged in preparing for a trip to Africa, 
 with the purpose in view, on the part of Mrs. Gold- 
 burg, of seeing the country; with the girls, however, 
 another object was prominent, that of founding a 
 College in which they could find use for the intellectual 
 culture they had gained in years of careful study; both 
 felt that under the system in vogue in the United 
 States, there was but small chance for ladies to dis 
 tinguish themselves They had seen cultured and 
 brainy women in the United States too often held up 
 to ridicule by a subsidized servile and insolent press, 
 while using freely both talent and money for the 
 upbuilding of society and amelioration of mankind, to 
 even for a moment, think of subjecting themselves to 
 such a terrible ordeal. 
 
 As teachers were in demand in the new Republic, 
 they hoped that the conditions there would be more 
 favorable and woman's influence recognized as a neces 
 sary element in maintaining an equilibrium in both 
 government business and societ)', and that her place, 
 as toy and slave, would be filled by animals, if filled at all. 
 
 Preparations for the trip being completed and a 
 farewell taken of loving friends and old neighbors, they 
 were soon standing upon the deck of one of the great 
 ocean steamers of the new Republic, watching the city 
 and American coast as it faded fast from view. 
 
 The voyage passed without incident and when they 
 landed at Summerville, each was enjoying the best of 
 health and spirits; they took rooms at the Palace Hotel 
 where they found every comfort and convenience 
 possible and far beyond their expectations. They 
 rested quietly until the next Monday, then took a trip 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. $07 
 
 about the city. The hotel was fortunate in having as 
 housekeeper and hostess a young lady, Miss Colvil, 
 by name, who was a person of superior attainments; 
 in her kind, affable way she had shown the ladies every 
 attention and thus made them feel perfectly at home; 
 she also accompanied them as a guide in viewing the 
 points of interest in the city. 
 
 At nine o'clock the party took seats in a fine carriage 
 drawn by a span of black horses which they were 
 informed were shipped from New York. They rolled 
 almost noiselessly over smoothly paved streets, 'mid 
 tall, magnificent structures of granite; through the 
 business streets the buildings were of stone and one of 
 the most charming features was the superior style of 
 architecture, each entire block seemed to have been 
 designed on one common plan, both for usefulness and 
 beauty. Business seemed to be conducted on a grand 
 scale, for it was not uncommon to see a whole block 
 occupied by one company, as, for instance, a whole 
 sale boot and shoe company occupied one whole block, 
 supposed to have been built fire-proof, and especially 
 designed for the business. This place received their 
 goods from many different manufactories, as the com- 
 pan}' could increase its capital stock when necessary 
 by application to the head of the department; they were 
 enabled at all times to pay cash, which enabled manu 
 facturers to do the same, and the credit system had 
 entirely passed out of use. As the company, like all 
 others, was limited to a 7 per cent dividend, there was 
 seldom any marked change in prices, which greatly 
 simplified business, and as the profits of the concern 
 were never invested in the business but paid out 
 regularly once a year on dividends, there was seldom 
 any necessity for change in the arrangements. All 
 wholesale business was carried on in the same way and 
 under the same general rule, so that competition was 
 unknown and thousands of dollars saved, which might 
 have been wasted in advertising. 
 
 If an overproduction of a manufactured article 
 occurred, manufacturer's prices remained the same, but 
 they were not allowed to increase their work until the 
 
308 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 demand had become equal to the supply, and it was 
 sometimes found necessary to change the same labor 
 from the manufacture of one article, but under no 
 circumstances was a company allowed to diminish the 
 number of its employes. 
 
 The surplus which fell upon the commercial compa 
 nies was either held for future consumption or shipped to 
 foreign countries and exchanged for something of value; 
 if it happened that nothing of value could be obtained 
 that was needed at home gold, silver or money was 
 taken and exchanged for securities. Gold was never 
 shipped home for as it was only used in the arts there 
 was always an over-production coming in from the 
 mines; the commercial companies therefore, held it in 
 their foreign offices until such time as it could be 
 disposed of. 
 
 All other branches of business, such as dry goods, 
 clothing, hats, caps, notions, hardware, etc., were con 
 ducted on the same general plan, each occupying one 
 or more blocks and were entirely separated from other 
 business. The buildings were of uniform height and 
 each seemed to be constructed with reference to pre 
 serving the symmetry and beautifying the whole street. 
 
 For an hour or more they continued their drive 
 through this grand emporium, when suddenly the 
 scene changed and they "found themselves in the resi 
 dence portion of the city; on all sides they were greeted 
 by tasteful homes, situated on spacious grounds and 
 surrounded by flowers in profusion and ornamental 
 trees in great variety. 
 
 The buildings were artistic and beautiful, the streets 
 were wide, having; two street-car tracks, with wide 
 drive-ways on either side, and kept in complete order. 
 "I cannot understand," said Mrs. Goldburg, "how the 
 city can afford to keep such a continuation of streets 
 in such perfect order; we have been driving for hours 
 and still everything looks, as it did in the most aristo 
 cratic part of the city. It looks as though this was a 
 city of wealthy people." 
 
 "Indeed it is," said the hostess, "we have more 
 wealthy people than any other city on earth and yet 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 309 
 
 we have not fifty men in the city who have reached 
 half a million and there is not a millionaire in the 
 whole country. Our city is not aristocratic but it is 
 social and stylish to an extreme; since under our new 
 methods all have become useful, so all have become 
 wealthy, independent and prosperous, each in his own 
 line. Everything is done on so grand a scale that the 
 very best results are attained: profits, too, are small 
 and labor is well paid; with no loss of time, no strikes 
 or lockouts, a good investment for their savings and no 
 monopoly of land, we find that all are tully able to live 
 according to their tastes, and the very fact that there 
 is a limit put upon inheritance seems to stop that 
 everlasting grabbing after all that is in sight. 
 
 1 remember of hearing an old veteran say, that in the 
 war of the great Rebellion, while they were in the 
 South, poor men who had never owned a slave and 
 never could own one under any ordinary course of 
 events, would come into camp and ask: 'Why do 
 you-uns come down here to free our slaves?' I sup 
 pose that human nature is the same the world over and 
 as these people were afraid of losing the slaves they 
 never owned or had the slightest chance oi owning, so 
 many of our people who have not the slightest chance 
 of climbing for wealth one-fourth of the way to the 
 limit of inheritance, have already begun to lose their 
 hoggish grasping, money-worshiping notions, through 
 a fear that Government might inherit their wealth. 
 Thus selfishness begets righteousness and as it is man's 
 destiny to follow his ambition after an ideal, on seeing 
 the way to millions obstructed, he soon finds his course 
 of progress turned into another channel. 
 
 "Having once seen the goal of happiness, great wealth, 
 far in the future he now beholds a world of comfort 
 near by and that goal transferred from accumulated 
 wealth to a higher state of civilization, of better living, 
 greater enjoyments and more intelligence. Under this 
 condition of things, his ambition to excel leads him to 
 build beautiful cottages and make flowery homes. 
 
 "As incentives to his becoming a millionaire have 
 been removed, man, true to his nature, follows another 
 
310 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 incentive to excel in such attributes as will be most 
 appreciated by his fellows, thus gaining their admira 
 tion and appiause. " 
 
 "In our whole trip," said Mrs. Goldburg, "I have 
 seen no indication ot a saloon; is it possible that your 
 people have been able to do away with the use of 
 intoxicating drinks?" 
 
 "The habit, fashion or custom, " said the lady, "which 
 ever you please to call it, of dram drinking, is only an 
 effect; the result of a condition. When we removed 
 the cause the custom disappeared. It is claimed by 
 our teachers that, as the Sunday School is the nursery 
 of the Church, so the saloon is the nursery of hell; as 
 the free school is the fore runner of knowledge, so the 
 fashionable saloon is the educator of drunkards, cause 
 ot much misery and fore runner of crime, debauchery 
 and a multitude of sins. We have no saloons, but we 
 have their counterpart, halls of pleasure, where every 
 thing is found which is calculated to please and attract; 
 all visit and enjoy these places, old and young, ladies 
 and gentlemen, alike attend to spend their leisure in 
 social conversation, in singing, dancing, eating, speech- 
 making, debate and in many other ways, all calculated 
 to amuse, entertain and instruct. Many refreshing 
 beverages are served, but none that will intoxicate; 
 they are kept open at all times, and as reading rooms 
 are attached, they become a place of leisure for all 
 ladies and gentlemen, though entire strangers are 
 always welcome. Millions of dollars are invested in 
 the furniture, fixtures and paraphernalia of these great 
 halls; large sums of money are being constantly spent 
 in securing the very richest display of art and on 
 account of the thousands of halls, it has created a 
 demand for fine art in painting, sculpturing and filigree 
 work, as to set in motion the wheels of evolution in 
 that direction. 
 
 "In consequence of this, schools of this kind have 
 been established from one end of the country to the 
 other, and it is believed that the day is not far distant 
 when our people will lead the world in art. 
 
 "It has been our aim to treat the liquor question, as 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 31 1 
 
 all others, in a rational manner. Used properly, it is 
 considered valuable, but dram drinking is considered a 
 curse and saloons are believed to be institutions cal 
 culated to foster and perpetuate that curse; therefore 
 they are dispensed with, by placing the sale of liquor 
 in the hands of -an immense joint stock company, that 
 has an office in every town and city, where the very 
 best liquors are kept on sale by the quart or gallon 
 only, and it is under no circumstances to be drank 
 upon the premises. The very cheapness of it is said 
 to have a tendency to make it unpopular; beside, our 
 people are all educated and in our ethical teaching, to 
 drink is disgraceful." 
 
 After passing that part of the city where wholesale 
 trade was carried on, they came to the streets occupied 
 by retailers; here the sight could hardly have been 
 surpassed and on inquiry the ladies were informed that 
 nearly all of the retail business was done by individuals; 
 draying, teaming, repair shops of all kinds were also 
 done by individual enterprise; but the hatred usually 
 engendered by unbridled competition is not present; 
 it is generally believed the principal reason is in con 
 sequence of the inheritance laws and graduated income 
 tax. "None seem anxious," said she, "to accumulate 
 wealth to be inherited by the Government, which would 
 put it right back among the people again, through 
 public institutions of learning or public work, while 
 the great business done by our joint companies pro 
 motes pride and patriotism. 
 
 "As the labor of the country is largely done by 
 machinery, there are a great many men who would find 
 no employment were it not provided by the Govern 
 ment; therefore the cities, counties, states and Repub 
 lic, each have a regular system of improvements where 
 every idle man may find work. This is why you see 
 the streets and walks so invariably fine." 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg spoke of the spacious building lots 
 and the lady guide said: "Our street car lines are so 
 perfect, and being run by a company whose profits are 
 limited to 7 per cent, car fare is so remarkably low 
 that distance is considered of but little consequence 
 
$12 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 and many of the shop men ride four and even five 
 miles to work; so you see there is no necessity for 
 crowding buildings together." 
 
 The party put up for dinner at an inn on the out 
 skirts of the city. The building was home-like but a 
 magnificent piece of architecture; it was surrounded 
 by a flower garden with its fountains and statuary; the 
 ladies had never seen anything so beautiful. 
 
 "From what country do you get all your works of 
 art?" asked Rebecca 
 
 "This," said the guide, "is all the product of our own 
 institutions, many of which have been running for 
 several years; in consequence of the extensive use of 
 labor-saving machinery, a system of government, too, 
 that gives every man employment and encourages 
 industry by just legislation, so there is no loss from 
 conflicting interest; we find there is an abundance of 
 spare help which gives every man having a taste for 
 art or science, an opportunity to gratify that taste; 
 their productions are fully appreciated by those other 
 wise engaged; it is claimed by our economists that with 
 our improved tools and farm machinery one man will 
 produce an abundance of food for twenty-five persons; 
 that our manufacturers can do ten times that amount; 
 as a very large portion of our population are farmers, 
 you will see at a glance that after taking out all our 
 middle-men, such as merchants, draymen, mechanics, 
 railroad men and others beside women, children and 
 students, we still have abundance of help to spare. 
 Government, therefore, encourages every branch of 
 industry and learning by liberal appropriations; our 
 surplus wealth, you understand is handled by the 
 Government to improve the race, while in other coun 
 tries it passes, through legislation, into the hands of 
 millionaires and is used to enslave the race or is hoarded 
 beyond the reach of those who need." 
 
 The grounds were beautifully laid off with walks, 
 shady nooks and rustic seats for the comfort and con 
 venience of the public. The party rested for a while 
 after dinner and again took up their journey. By a 
 circuitous route they returned to the Hotel through a 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. $13 
 
 country, as Rebecca expressed it, that looked like a 
 picture of continual prosperity, happy homes, beautiful 
 grounds, playing children and warbling birds; not the 
 slightest evidence of a pauper or a millionaire had met 
 their view. While they had seen many magnificent 
 carriages, they were not attended by footmen dressed 
 in livery, indeed they were told that such attendants, 
 in that country, would be called slaves and the man 
 thus attended, a snob and both would be ostracised 
 from society. On reaching their apartments at the 
 Hotel the guests were left to entertain themselves, which 
 they did in looking over the evening papers and recount 
 ing the events of the day. They all agreed that the 
 whole appearance of the place was charming. 
 
 Miss Colvil joined them in the parlor after supper and 
 found the ladies in excellent spirits and not in the least 
 fatigued but delighted with their experience. 
 
 Minnie, too, enjoyed everything she had seen but 
 the ride had set her to thinking; everything was so 
 different from what she had seen before. Said she: 
 "If anyone had told me that a city of this size could 
 exist without its horde of paupers, and that such an 
 extensive business could be conducted without banks 
 and millionaires to furnish money, I would have 
 thought them insane." 
 
 "True," said the hostess, "I too have always been 
 accustomed to seeing money controlled by the banks 
 and it seems strange to me; but when you understand 
 our system, which is so very simple and works so 
 perfectly, you will wonder how the people of the 
 United States have allowed themselves to be robbed by 
 the bankers so long and so completely. In other coun 
 tries governments make the money and give it to the 
 bankers to speculate on; with this control of the money 
 they soon own a large share of the property. When 
 the plant is thus started, through rent and interest, it 
 is like the rolling of a great snowball and gathers to 
 itself, as time rolls on, until it becomes more powerful 
 than the government. As it grows rich year by year, 
 the people must of necessity grow poor; it could not 
 be otherwise. If a man dies, it matters not, the estate 
 
314 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 rolls on, collecting rents and interest, robbing the poor 
 and building up an aristocracy. 
 
 "Here these vast estates are not allowed to exist; no 
 one man or woman can inherit more than $100,000. 
 Of course the property is here as in all other countries, 
 but there has never been any difficulty in rinding per 
 sons willing to own it; we find that it is not necessary 
 that bankers and millionaires should own our property; 
 the large business enterprises are owned by joint stock 
 companies, as in the United States, but our people 
 seem perfectly willing to own the stock and as bankers 
 and millionaires do nothing but own property, we think 
 we can do without them, at any rate so long as men 
 and women come nobly to the front and each own their 
 <share. We are determined at all events, that if bank 
 ers and millionaires can do without us, we will make 
 an effort to do without them; if they want all the golcf 
 in the United States and England, we are glad of it; 
 it will give us a good market for the production oi 
 our mines; we don't want it, we find paper money is 
 better for us." 
 
 "O yes," said Minnie, "nobody will deny but what 
 paper money is more convenient than gold. We use 
 it in the United States, but we have gold in the 
 treasury to redeem it with and of course that makes it 
 good. While I do not wish to be understood as 
 criticising your Government, I would like to ask how 
 you expect to .redeem your paper money after you have 
 disposed of all your gold?" 
 
 Minnie said this with a degree of hesitancy which 
 showed that she felt keenly the awkward position Miss 
 Colvil would be in at having such an unanswerable 
 question propounded; on the contrary the young lady 
 felt quite at ease as she said: "I suppose, Miss Min 
 nie, you noticed some of our business institutions 
 when we were driving, yesterday?" 
 
 "O yes," said Minnie, "they were grand." 
 "What did you think of their permanency?" 
 "Why," said Minnie, a little surprised at such a 
 question, "permanency seems to be one of their strongest 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 315 
 
 features; the buildings are of the most solid material 
 possible." 
 
 "How long do you suppose the people will continue 
 to do business in this city?" 
 
 Minnie, a little puzzled, answered: "Always for 
 anything we know now." 
 
 "Then," said the hostess, "will you please to tell me 
 at what time and for what cause these people will dis- 
 contiuue the use of money?" 
 
 Minnie now began to see the point, but she was honest 
 and always willing to learn and she answered promptly: 
 "I suppose so long as they do business they will need 
 money. " 
 
 "Then how could Government redeem this money 
 without putting out other money to take its place? 
 When a bill becomes worn it is redeemed with a new 
 one and gold cuts no figure in the case, simply because 
 it is not recognized. Your Government, the United 
 States, has had $100,000,000 laying idle in her vaults 
 for the last twenty years for the ostensible purpose of 
 redeeming the greenback, which has not been redeemed 
 yet and probably never will be; during that time the 
 Government has paid over $75,000,000 interest on 
 bonds that could have been paid with that gold. 
 Would it not have been the wiser policy to have waited 
 till they wanted the greenback redeemed, before bor 
 rowing the money, and thus save to the people that 
 enormous sum of $75,000,000 interest. We propose to 
 loan all our gold to the United States; we are glad 
 they want it; we can loan them $100,000,000; in 
 thirty-four years they will have paid the gold all back 
 to us and will still owe us the full amount. Is it any 
 wonder the Americans are a debtor nation?" 
 
 Minnie was overwhelmed by the peculiar turn which 
 things had taken; she said not one word, but Rebecca 
 soon broke the silence by saying, in a jesting way: 
 "Minnie, we must remember that things often look 
 differently from different standpoints." 
 
 "Yes," said Miss Colvil, from the bankers' stand 
 point their gold system is all right; fortunately we are 
 entirely rid of that class of society which is composed 
 
316 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 of bankers and millionaires only; getting rid of them, 
 we consider a wonderful step in human progress. " 
 
 After a short silence Minnie asked if there were any 
 places of amusement. 
 
 "O Yes," said the hostess, "these halls of pleasure 
 are always open; they take the place of saloons and are 
 a great place to spend leisure moments. I was just 
 about to suggest that we visit one of them to-night." 
 
 "Do ladies visit such places," asked Minnie in a 
 doubtful manner. 
 
 O yes, you will see as many ladies as gentlemen 
 there and I know you will enjoy the evening. " 
 
 "We will go," said Minnie, looking at Mrs. Gold- 
 burg, as if still doubtful as to the propriety of such a 
 step. "Why," said Mrs. Goldburg, "Miss Colvil has 
 been a very good guide so far, and I think we may 
 safely follow her now. " 
 
 "O, " said the hostess, "you may rest assured you will 
 see or hear nothing but what would be admissible in 
 any drawing room. It is very different here from what 
 it is in the United States; here the gentlemen all have 
 ladies of their own to look after and we shall hardly 
 be noticed. 
 
 "You see the methods of business here are so thor 
 oughly based upon principles of justice that every man 
 has an opportunity not only to make a living, but also 
 to have a good time, enjoy life, and lay by money for 
 old age. If a man rents a house and pays his rent 
 regularly for a few years, he finds himself sole owner 
 of the property. Americans would laugh at such a 
 proposition, yet when you examine the plan it is abso 
 lutely just, and in consequence of this, there are few 
 bachelors and old maids; all have good homes and are 
 surrounded by good influences; consequently crime has 
 almost disappeared and our many criminal laws have 
 become obsolete. In fact the business of the country 
 has been so thoroughly systematized and is so abso 
 lutely just, that law has, in a wonderful degree, become 
 unnecessary, and there is not one lawyer here where 
 there are ten in the United States; you will find as 
 you proceed through our country that there is a vast, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 317 
 
 difference between a Government in the interest of the 
 people and one run in the interests of a class of 
 aristocrats. " 
 
 After Miss ColviPs reassurance that it would be 
 perfectly safe for. ladies to go upon the streets unat 
 tended, they were soon ready to go, and Miss Colvil 
 and Rebecca took the lead; a short walk took them in 
 front of one of the finest blocks in the city. The doors 
 were standing wide open and a throng of people were 
 coming and going. There were no screens before the 
 door and Rebecca mentioned this fact to Miss Colvil 
 who remarked: "People controlled by honorable 
 motives require no screens; even in the United States 
 they are only used in saloons and banks and their only 
 object is to hide dishonorable methods." 
 
 They passed through the vestibule when they 
 emerged into a grand and magnificent hall, brilliantly 
 lighted; it was about 125 feet long and had a double 
 row of billiard tables running the whole length of the 
 hall. "This," said Miss Colvil, pointing to the billiard 
 tables, "is our national game." Every table was in use; 
 at some of the tables ladies were playing, at others 
 gentlemen, and at others ladies and gentlemen were 
 playing together. Along each side of the hall in front, 
 was a magnificent bar and the wall back of it was one 
 solid mirror; in front of it was a shelf of onyx resting 
 upon cabinet work of a superior order; at intervals 
 along this shelf stood large globular jars of pure water 
 in which different varieties of the finny tribe were 
 sporting in the perfect artificial light of the hall. 
 
 The water was kept pure by connection of silver 
 tubes which kept a tiny stream filtering through the 
 jars; these tubes wound around and assumed fantastic 
 shapes as they led from jar to jar, while resting upon 
 filigree work of the rarest kind, formed principally 
 from silver, gold and precious stones. "This," said 
 Miss Colvil, pointing to this wonderful display, "is the 
 way we use our silver and gold." 
 
 Vases of silver containing beautiful boquets occupied 
 places in every part of the hall, while growing plants 
 and blooming flowers were also there. Cages hung 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 from the ceiling containing birds of beauty and son& 
 which were adding much to the grandeur of the 
 occasion. As the ladies stood before this wonderful 
 display and beheld it so charmingly reproduced in the 
 great mirror, they regarded it as a sight long to be 
 remembered; turning from this magnificent scene, they 
 feasted their eyes upon the busy throng of players with 
 happy but earnest faces, listened to the click of ivory 
 balls and watched the faces of the players as they 
 changed from smiles of satisfaction to looks of per 
 plexity. Rebecca remarked the perfect order which 
 reigned supreme and contrasted it with the whiskey 
 saloons of the United States where drunkenness and 
 disorder prevail to such an extent as to make woman's 
 presence inadmissible, and even men prefer a screen to 
 hide them from the accidental glance of some 
 respected friend. 
 
 After passing the bar, which was about forty feet 
 long, small tables filled the space along the side of the 
 room, where spectators were seated, eating, drinking 
 and looking at the play. The walls of the hall weu 
 adorned with paintings rare and costly; passing down, 
 the aisle midway, they stepped into an elevator and in 
 another moment the scene changed; they were in a hall 
 with galleries and a stage; the chairs on this floor 
 could be moved, thus con-verting it into a huge dance 
 hall. Here they listened for an hour to charming 
 music, both vocal and instrumental. Miss Colvil 
 explained that this part of the establishment was under 
 the management of a musical and literary club, con- 
 Listing of several hundred members; from this club, 
 talent is chosen to furnish entertainments, consisting 
 of vocal and instrumental music, elocution, dramas and 
 comedies. 
 
 The club was organized for the double purpose of 
 enjoyment and instruction ; the performers received no 
 pay and therefore, there was an opportunity for all to 
 learn, and the very best theatrical talent was developed. 
 
 The regular admission fee to these entertainments 
 was ten cents, but nightly tickets could be purchased 
 for $1.00 a month; this money went to the landlord, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 wlio was expected to keep the room in order and 
 furnish scenery and paraphernalia. 
 
 Ranged along by the side of this great hall was a 
 series of rooms nicely furnished and carpeted, provided 
 with chairs and tables where ice cream and fruits 
 could be served to four, six or eight persons. In front 
 of this was another long hall fitted up and used as a 
 free reading room. 
 
 After having visited every part of these great halls, 
 the ladies returned to the hotel thoroughly satisfied 
 with their evening's enjoyment. 
 
 "Are there many such halls?" said Minnie, as they 
 were once more quietly seated in the parlor of the hotel? 
 
 "O, yes," said Miss Colvil, "they take the place of 
 the saloon; as the saloon was designed by the Devil to 
 give every young man a fine start for hell, so these 
 halls have been designed by Christians, in accordance 
 with the Christ-principle, to give the young a start 
 toward a better state of existence; as the saloons have 
 been abolished, a number of these halls have been 
 substituted to accommodate the people, for all like to 
 enjoy life. As our industries are based upon true 
 business principles, owned at home, run constantly, 
 and profits scattered among the people, so all have 
 money, and you would be surprised to see how univers 
 ally these halls are patronized. " 
 
 "It must take a great many Police," said Rebecca, 
 "to keep order and protect the women' and ' children 
 from insult. " 
 
 "Woman requires no protection from man," said 
 Miss Colvil, "she is an even match tor him under all 
 circumstances; it is only brutes she fears, and when 
 men are transformed into brutes by the use of alcohol, 
 woman trembles; here we have no drunkards because 
 we have no saloon system to teach men to drink. We 
 have hundreds of these great halls in this city, some of 
 them more extensive than the one we were in, others 
 not so large, all run on the same general principle, 
 varying only in accordance with the ideas of the 
 managers. They all keep open on Sundays and in the 
 club room or hall a minister of the gospel is employed, 
 
320 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 at the expense of the house to deliver three religious 
 non-sectarian sermons or lectures. You would think 
 this would interfere with the churches; it does in some 
 particulars but not in attendance or support. It holds 
 them to the test of common sense and does away with 
 bigotry to some extent. When men of brains become 
 ministers, they advance intellectually more rapidly than 
 their followers and are obliged to put on the brakes. 
 These halls give the people so much wholesome 
 instruction, that the ministers feel at liberty to turn 
 loose their best thoughts, thus the effect is a salutary one. 
 
 It was growing late, so Miss Colvil took her leave 
 and the ladies retired to dream of their wonderful 
 experience and the peculiar fashion, new methods 
 arid ideas. 
 
 The next morning at nine o'clock, having break 
 fasted and returned to their apartments, Miss Colvil 
 entered and they arranged to take a ride on the street 
 cars to Lake Park. On entering the car they found 
 that neither pains nor money had been spared to make 
 it both comfortable and beautiful. Rebecca spoke of 
 this and Miss Colvil said: "Did you ever notice in 
 the United States that whatever was done by the 
 Government was always done lavishly? It is the same 
 here in all business, where comfort and convenience 
 can be taken into consideration; our business is done 
 by large companies under the absolute control of Gov 
 ernment; as individual greed has no part in the affair, 
 work is never slighted to save money, nor is anything 
 ever spoiled by cheap making to gratify a stingy owner. " 
 
 The streets traversed that day were similar to those 
 visited on their previous ride; beautiful buildings, 
 comfortable, home-like and tasty, with indications of 
 happiness and prosperity everywhere. On returning to 
 the hotel it was agreed that nothing could have been 
 nicer. "Yes," said Miss Colvil, "if you go through our 
 markets and stores, you will find it of rare occurrence 
 that anything is exhibited for sale, not produced at 
 home; in fact our people are such great producers that 
 we have over-production, and the over-production is 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 321 
 
 greater than our imports; consequently we have no 
 foreign debt." 
 
 "What is the reason," said Rebecca, "that the United 
 States which is also a Republic, is equally rich in 
 land, timber, mines, navigable rivers, with equal chances 
 is largely in debTto foreign powers and a large part of 
 their property and business is already owned by foreign 
 syndicates?" 
 
 "The trouble is," said Miss Colvil, "the American 
 people borrow money to do business with, from Eng 
 lish banks; the interest is eating up the country and 
 eventually will take everything." 
 
 "The people who come to this country, " said Rebecca, 
 "must all have been rich." "Not as you understand 
 riches," was the reply; "we call labor, capital." 
 
 "Our people were intelligent and all the trades were 
 represented; they had nothing but could make every 
 thing and the first thing they made was money; they 
 had some gold but they exchanged it for tools to work 
 with and made their money of paper. " 
 
 "But is paper money good?" said Rebecca. 
 
 "I guess it is," said the girl, "there seems to be no 
 trouble to get rid of it. Our Government makes the 
 money; there is no bank, but a law prohibiting the 
 taking of interest, consequently we have no debtor or 
 poor class. We have little law, but the finest business 
 methods in the world; our busines's system is so per 
 fect that there is no want but can be supplied without 
 recourse to dishonest methods." 
 
 "Why do you object to interest?" was asked. 
 
 "Simply because a man who pays interest cannot 
 afford to pay his help what is their due; and if a man 
 cannot loan his money on interest he will use it him 
 self and be compelled by the law of supply and 
 demand to pay his help, the same as others. If he has 
 bonds or notes bearing interest, he at once becomes a 
 parasite. One of the fundamental principles of our law 
 is, that no man shall have something for nothing; if a 
 man invests his money in business stock he is sup 
 posed to become a part of the concern and is held to be 
 justly entitled to his share of profits; this in the nearest 
 
322 } IDEAL REMTBLIC 
 
 oar Government comes to allowing interest. We have 
 r. great continent; our mineral and agricultural produc 
 tions are only limited by the amount of work that is 
 done. Our Government keeps enough money in circu 
 lation so that no enterprise suffers for want of it, and 
 all have constant employment; as labor is i'-^ pro 
 ducer of wealth, we are fast becoming wealthy people. 
 
 "The American Government, as has been shown, 
 makes both bonds and money and gives them to the 
 banks. Through bad, if not dishonest legislation, the 
 banks loan the money to the people and get a big 
 interest on it; the Government pays interest on the 
 bonds; thus the banks, which are only parasites at best, 
 grow in power until they are able to corner money; 
 then industries suffer, men cease to labor, the produc 
 tion of wealth is discontinued and the banks or 
 syndicates who have cornered the money, soon own all 
 *jhe property that has been produced; classes are formed, 
 want and misery reign with some, while waste, luxury 
 and extravagance is the rule among others. They all 
 want honest money, but we want honest men; honest 
 money and honest hammer with us would have the 
 same meaning, which would simply be an article which 
 honestly filled the bill for which it was intended: 
 nothing less, nothing more." 
 
 The subject was dropped and after a short pause 
 Miss Colvil said: "If you are not too much fatigued, 
 let us visit the Senate to-night. I know you will like 
 it; the hall is one of the largest and finest in the 
 country. It was built by the Government and is now 
 under the control of a reform society; It is a govern 
 mental concern and the society receives its authority 
 to operate, under certain regulations from the Govern- 
 ment. The subjects discussed generally pertain to the 
 science of government. There you will hear every 
 system of government discussed, from socialism to 
 absolute monarchy." 
 
 "Who are your speakers?" asked Minnie. 
 
 "O they come from all parts of the country; thei<9 is 
 not a prominent man in the Republic but at some time 
 takes a part in the discussion Qnce a year they hold 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 323 
 
 a Congress in which every noted speaker is invited to 
 take part and they are glad to do so as it brings them 
 prominently before the public. In this Congress they 
 discuss all questions pertaining to government; such 
 as money, gambling, gold, faro banks, national banks, 
 lotteries, saloons, whiskey traffic, taxes, tariff, trans 
 portation, commerce, crime how to prevent and how 
 to punish. " 
 
 "Ahem," said Minnie, "I would like to know what 
 gambling, banks and lotteries, and such things have to 
 do with Government?" 
 
 "There is not a Government on earth," said Miss 
 Colvil, "except our new Republic, but are absolutely 
 controlled or intimately connected with gold-gambling, 
 while national banks are a part of the gambling 
 machinery in the United States; while whiskey and 
 saloons cut a prominent figure in controlling the vote. 
 In this Congress every gentleman and lady are supposed 
 to speak their true sentiments, and if ever they become 
 candidates for office the sentiments there expressed 
 will be held up before the people as their platform or 
 political faith. 
 
 "This we are told, is to encourage men to be hon 
 orable and weigh their opinions carefully; as our 
 papers are run on the investment of the people, they 
 are under obligations to no one but the people; there 
 fore if a man goes back on his record as made in this 
 Congress, they show him up at once; as there are no 
 political parties to back him up, he must be careful 
 and make a record that will stand the test of criticism. 
 It is said that from the records of this Congress have 
 been obtained some of our best laws, and through it 
 some of our best men have been introduced to the 
 public; the reports of this free, unpaid and unlimited 
 Congress, on all subjects pertaining to Government are 
 published, not only by every newspaper in the country, 
 but they are also put into book form and extensively 
 sold at cost of publication. 
 
 "By this method we not only bring the best talent to 
 the front, but it comes pure and beyond the debasngi 
 influence of monetary power. The reports have such a 
 
324 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 general circulation there is not a reading man through 
 the country, no matter what his occupation, who is not 
 better posted than ninety per cent of your Americans, 
 on all matters of Government. I do not even except 
 your Congressmen. When a law is referred by our 
 Congress to the people, they generally know how to 
 vote; as a result, what few laws we have are very good 
 ones. This Congressional session commences each 
 year on the loth of No /ember and adjourns before the 
 Holidays; during the other months a variety of subjects 
 is discussed both by home and visiting talent. One 
 night in the week is set aside for students, another for 
 amateur speakers; sometimes rival societies choose 
 speakers and have joint discussions and it becomes 
 very interesting. All public lecturers use this hall." 
 
 The interest of the ladies was so much aroused, that 
 the decision was made that the following night they 
 would visit the Senate. The evening passed very 
 pleasantly in receiving callers who were introduced by 
 Miss^ Colvil, and the next evening found them all on 
 their way to the Senate. 
 
 The entrance was through a large Reception Hall in 
 which were placed tables and chairs, and these were 
 occupied by little groups of persons, some merry-mak 
 ing, others getting ready for debate. The subject for 
 that night was one of general interest and as good 
 talent had been procured the crowd of people gathering 
 into the great hall was immense; the ladies took a seat 
 at a side table and ordered some glasses of cotch, a 
 new beverage, which they found to be both delicious 
 and refreshing. 
 
 While thus seated Minnie picked up a paper and 
 read aloud the subject for discussion that evening, as 
 follows: Resolved, that National Banks and Bankers 
 during their reign have committed and caused to be 
 committed more crime and caused more suffering than 
 all other thieves, robbers, murderers and criminals 
 combined, 
 
 These ladies had seen some of the power wielded by 
 these banks in the United States and long since 
 regarded the growing power of the institution as dan- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 325 
 
 gerous to man's liberty; but to have them boldly pro 
 claim it the giant cause of more crime and suffering 
 than all others combined was entirely beyond their 
 comprehension; it was with no small interest that they 
 looked forward ^to the discussion. As they looked 
 about the great hall, everyone seemed to be busy; 
 some were gathered in groups chatting with friends 
 they had chanced to meet, others promenading up and 
 down the hall; all were richly dressed and everything 
 seemed to have the appearance of a gala day. A band 
 was playing sweet strains of music. On either side of 
 the hall were tastefully arranged tables for the sale of 
 nuts, fruits, ice-cream and drinks of many varieties, 
 but nothing that would intoxicate. 
 
 Passing on the ladies found seats in the great audi 
 torium; a small circular was placed in the hands of 
 each, from which they learned that tl e discussion 
 would be opened by Prof. Charles D. La Rue, who had 
 just completed an examination of the subject in ques 
 tion, as chairman of a committee appointed by the 
 Government to investigate the following subjects: 
 Banks, their methods and effect upon Government, 
 commerce and society; the use of gold as money, its 
 effect, and where and how the superstition originated. 
 
 Prof. Charles D. La Rue had served three years as 
 chairman of this committee of five and their investiga 
 tions had been thorough and complete. Having turned 
 the results over to the Government and been discharged, 
 he was now at liberty and would lead in the discussion 
 in the affirmative. The work of the committee was 
 afterward published and was pronounced the greatest 
 monetary history extant. 
 
 The great hall and its galleries were packed and the 
 ladies remarked upon the intelligence and attention of 
 the audience. 
 
 "The fastest horse is always the nicest looking, " said 
 Miss Colvil: "it is so with people; the better their 
 condition and the more intelligent they become the 
 better they look. Good opportunities make thrifty 
 people; under our home-made laws and perfect business 
 methods, our people are not only happy but they are 
 
326 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 fast becoming the most intelligent people on the globe; 
 the ladies in particular are fast coming to the front in 
 all public affairs. " 
 
 Prof. Charles D. La Rue was now introduced and 
 proved himself, not only a fine orator but seemed to 
 have the history of banks and of money at his tongue's 
 end; he boldly charged the banking system and indi 
 vidual control of money, with all the poverty and 
 three-fourths of the crime in England, France, Ger 
 many and the United States; he showed conclusively 
 that the banking system, from first to last, was the 
 foundation of a giant conspiracy against the Govern 
 ment and the people in all countries where it exists; 
 that bankers were never satisfied to let the representa 
 tives of the people make the laws, but were constantly 
 interfering with legislation and when once fairly 
 established in a country they expected the legislators 
 to consult them on all financial questions; that their 
 advice under such circumstances is always in their 
 own favor is only natural. 
 
 He referred to instances in the United States where 
 in order to carry through Congress such bills in their 
 interest, this great banking class or conspiracy, would 
 hold meetings all over the country and in the name of 
 the great people whom they assumed to represent, 
 demand the repeal of certain laws, or the passage of 
 acts which were altogether in their own interests and 
 detrimental to the interests of the people. He showed 
 further that wherever the system had been suffered to 
 exist, it never failed to become stronger than the 
 Government and control legislation in its own behalf; 
 that their wealth, also was accumulated in so systematic 
 a manner, or method of robbing others, through the 
 manipulation of gold and carefully prepared banking 
 schemes, that the very people who had been robbed 
 often considered the bank had been showing them favor. 
 
 He also showed in a clear and comprehensive manner 
 the many gambling games and the machinery invented 
 for the purpose of robbing the masses; among others 
 which he named and described were the wheels of 
 fortune, faro bank, state bank, national bank, and 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 327 
 
 lotteries ot every description. "They differ," said he, 
 "only in method, the principle is the same and the 
 result is to enrich the gambler at the expense of the 
 masses; the existence of such a system was only made 
 possible by the ancient, superstitious worship of gold, 
 which still clings to the human race." He showed that 
 the principle upon which these games are run is per 
 centage, and percentage taken by a national bank of 
 the United States on the Bank of England, only differed 
 from the iaro bank in the amount taken and the 
 manner of taking 
 
 "The percentage of a faro bank is called "splits;" you 
 lay your money on a card; if the card wins you are 
 paid in full; if it loses they take your money; but if 
 it splits, which really is a stand-off or a draw, then 
 they take half your money. This is their percentage, 
 and if a dozen men play all night, it is safe to calcu 
 late that the bank will have more money than all of 
 them put together in the morning. It is taken so 
 gradually that no one misses it; it is the same with all 
 gambling games. The national banks have their dis 
 count, commission and interest. The only way it 
 differs materially from the other gimbling games, is 
 that through their system they control legislation and 
 compel every man who uses money in any way to pay 
 a certain part of their percentage; while in the other 
 game there is no compulsion, if you don't play, you 
 don't pay. 
 
 "Of course it is difficult to understand just how this 
 is done; our statesmen are forced to confess they do 
 not understand the money question; to save their lives, 
 they cannot solve the problem of banking or money. 
 When we consider that these are picked representa 
 tives from a nation of people whose common country 
 school teacher is supposed to be able to solve any and 
 all mathematical problems, based on reason and true 
 principles of philosophy, we can readily see how care 
 fully this great gold game is guarded. The people will 
 probably never understand the game, but I fully believe 
 they will get tired of its bad effects and eventually 
 destroy it, root and branch. 
 
328 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 I once saw a machine for the manufacture of envelopes; 
 the paper was put into the machine between two 
 rollers which cut the paper in proper shape for 
 envelopes, folded, pasted, counted and dropped them 
 out in packs of twenty-four. I looked at the work in 
 wonder and astonishment; I could not understand the 
 inside working of it, but I could see the result. The 
 Bank of England in the first place is not a bank 
 owned by that Government, as its name would indi 
 cate, but is nothing more nor less than a private cor 
 poration to which the Government grants many privi 
 leges. It was started less than 200 years ago on a 
 very modest capital; since that time it has loaned the 
 English Government so vast a sum of money that the 
 hope of ever paying it has long since vanished and the 
 great English statesmen now advocate the doctrine 
 that a government debt is a government blessing. As 
 the wealthy class own the bank, and also Government 
 debt, which has been largely received through the 
 bank, the interest on that debt must be paid by taxing 
 in some way the labor of the people. The debt cer 
 tainly is a blessing to the rich, and if the rich are the 
 Government then this obnoxious doctrine must be 
 true, but if the people are the Government, the propo 
 sition is absolutelv false. This same great bank has 
 not confined its money-making schemes to Great 
 Britain, but it should be borne in mind that while the 
 American people in the last quarter of a century have 
 produced material to, in a great measure, feed and 
 clothe the world, have worked the richest mines on 
 earth, under the mysterious working of this English 
 banking system, these same people have seen their 
 products go abroad and property fall into the hands of 
 English syndicates. 
 
 "My countrymen," said the Professor, "I can no 
 more understand the secret workings of this great gold 
 and silver banking business, than I can understand the 
 envelope or any other nice piece of machinery which 
 is all boxed up. But I can see its deadly work; I can 
 easily see the United States has had a dozen different 
 great states and territories, producing millions of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 329 
 
 dollars' worth of gold and, to-day, there is not gold 
 enough in the country to pay off the British syndi 
 cates. Where has this gold all gone? To satisfy the 
 balance of trade? No, for the balance of trade has 
 been in favor of -the United States. 
 
 "It is like irrigating a field; a man turns a great 
 stream of water into a large field; the fish run down 
 into the field and collect in the low places; they see 
 the water taken up by the loose soil; they watch it 
 disappear; it is really fascinating; they are optimists 
 and when one hole gets full, they hunt for another. 
 That worked all right as long as there was plenty of 
 water in the reservoir which fed the stream, but when 
 the water runs low the stream decreases but absorption 
 continues. The poor fish are first left in a pond, then 
 in, a puddle, but at last in the mud. While the 
 American people had a great continent loaded with 
 wealth, right from the hands of the Creator, they were 
 happy, contented and prosperous; but in an evil hour 
 the bank of England got in its work and established 
 its machinery in every city, town and village. The 
 absorption of wealth at once commenced; when men 
 lost their homes they moved west and took Government 
 land; they hunted new places and made new discov 
 eries; the continent was one immense pile of wealth, 
 but it could not last always; the absorption was too 
 great. The people saw millionaires springing up 
 everywhere; thousands upon thousands of dollars bet 
 upon prize fights. They saw palaces, palace cars and 
 yachts; it was fascinating, but at last the rich mines 
 of gold had been exhausted, the Government land had 
 all been taken, everywhere valuable franchise had 
 passed from the control of the people; even their 
 homes had become the property of syndicates. The 
 people are now in the pond; how far, O how far away 
 may be the time before they reach the mud. 
 
 "Is it any wonder that the wise statesmen of the 
 United States are so often compelled to confess 
 ignorance on a simple question of dollars and cents? 
 I shall never blame any man tor not understanding 
 interest, discount and commission. I think these 
 
330 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 words should be expunged from the English language. 
 I would vote for such a law. The proudest act of my 
 life is that of casting my first vote for our glorious 
 constitution that demonetizes gold, does away with the 
 intrinsic value of money, prohibits taking or paying 
 interest, limits inheritance and gives to woman equal 
 rights with man. It is with a touch of embarrassment 
 that I come before an audience of the size and intelli 
 gence of this to speak on an ordinary subject, but upon 
 this great question, embodied in our Constitution, and 
 others of a similar nature, I feel that I could defend 
 the cause before the arch-angels and the bar of God, 
 feeling myself fortified by the everlasting rock of truth. " 
 
 The speaker continued by exposing the crooked 
 ways of gold-gamblers and bankers, generally, and 
 showed conclusively that the secret working of the 
 great banking conspirators had, without doubt, caused 
 more poverty and suffering than all other causes 
 combined. It is not our purpose, however, to allow 
 the Professor's speech to interfere with our story; 
 suffice it to say, it was quite in line with the general 
 thought and observation of the ladies and they returned 
 to the Hotel feeling that they had not only been very 
 highly entertained, but that the lecture had beep 
 highly instructive. 
 
 The hours had passed so pleasantly and the nev 
 developments had been so wonderful, that the ladies 
 retired that night with the feeling that they were still 
 in a land of civilization and that the grand principle 
 of truth was still at the bottom of all things; they also 
 felt that the power of superfluous wealth and super 
 stition, urged on by greed, would become so great that 
 its self-destruction would be inevitable, then Truth 
 and Justice would come to the front. 
 
 With harmonious feelings like these, they were soon 
 wrapped in such restful slumber as comes to those who 
 live and are at peace with all the world, forgetting 
 self, in the welfare of the great brotherhood of man. 
 
 Rebecca had informed Miss Colvil of their intention 
 of founding an institution of learning, for young ladies, 
 somewhere in the New Republic, and she had commu- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 331 
 
 nicated the same to some of the members of the 
 Ladies' Society of Progress and Advancement; the 
 result was that on the following day they received a 
 call from a number of ladies belonging to that society. 
 If Rebecca had been both astonished and gratified at 
 the manifestation of honesty, brotherly love, and 
 charity for other's faults, which she had seen on every 
 hand, it remained for tnese ladies to fill her cup of joy 
 to overflowing. 
 
 To behold the spiritual development of these ladies 
 and note the harmony existing, which could only be 
 accounted for as the natural condition resulting from 
 changed methods and new ideas, carried Rebecca into 
 an ecstacy of delight; to be present at a gathering of 
 ladies where they were discussing methods and means 
 for the advancement and general good of others, each 
 unmindful of self, acting harmoniously and searching 
 far into the realm of thought, after nc-w plans for the 
 destruction of man's greatest enemy, ignorance and 
 superstition; all this without, apparently, a thought of 
 the expense that might be incurred, with a knowledge 
 that these ladies represented the wealthiest families in 
 the place; finding how completely their ideas, thoughts 
 and desires harmonized with her own, her heart was 
 too full for utterance; excusing herself, and leaving the 
 ladies to be entertained by her mother and Minnie, she 
 went to her room that she might regain composure; it 
 is not to be wondered at that aL which had transpired 
 during the last few days had wrought upon her 
 nervous temperament and she needed solitude and 
 perhaps the relief which comes from weeping to restore 
 her equilibrium. She soon returned with complete 
 control of her feelings and prepared to discuss any 
 subject which might be introduced. The conference 
 lasted for several hours and before its adjournment, 
 Rebecca had been chosen to deliver a lecture before 
 the society the following Saturday evening. After 
 arranging preliminaries they adjourned. 
 
 To one of the ladies Rebecca expressed herself as 
 having noticed a singular peculiarity which she had 
 met the utter disregard of any expense which might 
 
332 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 be necessary in carrying out their plans. To this the 
 lady replied that such a condition was due to the fac^ 
 that all property above $100,000 to each heir, goes to 
 the Government and then finds its way back among the 
 people through public works. 
 
 "There is probably not a family represented here 
 to-day," said the lady, "that is not already far beyond 
 the limits; consequently we are handling our surplus 
 money which we really have no use for, in other 
 words, we are handling Government money, and do 
 you not remember how lavish your people are when 
 they handle Government funds? But another thing has 
 a good deal to do with the liberality of our people, 
 and that is, if either a lady or gentleman has business 
 qualifications, an opportunity to make money is always 
 open. All our extensive business is done by joint- 
 stock companies; this makes a. demand for business 
 men, and no matter what a man's peculiar calling may 
 be a place is always found to suit him, and when it is 
 known that chances are always open for all, even their 
 own sons and daughters, they can afford to be liberal. 
 
 "All people love to excel and thus receive the 
 applause of mankind; in the United States all applaud 
 wealth. The approach of a palace car or the yacht of 
 a millionaire is always heralded by every newspaper in 
 the land and attention is called to it by conspicuous 
 head-lines; people with hungry children, worship 
 wealth; it is a sign of superior financial ability; honor 
 counts for nothing unless backed by money; intellect 
 counts for nothing unless you use it for money getting. 
 All the selfish qualities of men are brought to the front 
 in the reckless scramble for gold. The biggest hog 
 gets the biggest pile of the necessaries of life and 
 Jocks it up; the others go ragged and hungry but call 
 him great. 
 
 "With us things are quite the reverse; by experi 
 ment and careful calculation, we have demonstrated the 
 fact that with our improved machinery, which we make 
 ourselves, one man's labor is quite equal to the sup 
 port of many others beside himself; where no robbery 
 is going on and there is no waste of time or product, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 333 
 
 the good things of life become so common and easily 
 obtained that man, to excel, must explore other fields 
 than wealth. This gives intellectual advancement new 
 impetus; here the historian, humanitarian, philoso 
 pher, scientist, moralist, religionist, artist, sculptor, 
 author, journalist and tradesman all find their admirers. 
 Music, too, is cultivated to the very highest degree and 
 receives its share of patronage. It is those who excel 
 in these things who gain the admiration of our people. 
 Our rich men are so plentiful and have so little power, 
 that they attract but little attention. 
 
 "The American hog is of two varieties, the quadru 
 ped and biped; the one is fattened and killed; the other, 
 too, is being fattened but for what purpose is not so 
 clear. Should history repeat itself, as it is said to do, 
 their chances seem fairly good to meet the same fate 
 as the other hogs. 
 
 "We have discarded both varieties and neither fatten 
 the one nor the other, nor do we allow them to control 
 our money or make our laws. Our changed conditions 
 make different people; there is no occasion to be 
 selfish for all have everything in abundance and some 
 to spare." 
 
 Rebecca listened to all this with great interest; it 
 seemed so entirely in keeping with, and explanatory 
 of her general surroundings. She was fast opening her 
 eyes to the real cause that had brought such a happy 
 state of affairs among these people. It was with light 
 hearts and kindly feeling that the ladies separated, 
 after this long and interesting visit; in fact so marked 
 was this feeling of harmony and good cheer, that Mrs. 
 Goldburg remarked after the departure of the ladies, 
 that such an absence of alt selfish motives was truly 
 wonderful. "Such a meeting," said she, "would be 
 impossible in a country where a conspiracy of bankers 
 and gold-gamblers, not only rob industry of half its 
 earnings, but destroy the means of production by con 
 trolling money and withholding it from the producers 
 when most needed. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 WHILE Baxter was visiting bankers in England, 
 Coy and Saunders had not been idle. After 
 returning to their place in Kiyongo, they made it a 
 point to become more intimate with John Benedict 
 Sherman. This Mr. Sherman was a man of fair ability 
 but was without honest motive. Naturally he was a 
 traitor at heart, was not ostentatious but loved money; 
 with him it seemed to be a mania. He was willing to 
 enter into any plot to impoverish others, in order to 
 increase the size of his own useless pile of gold; not 
 because he needed it but because he wanted it. When 
 he had succeeded in robbing others, he did not hide 
 his face for shame, but stood boldly up and made long 
 arguments, full of subterfuge and point-blank lies, to 
 cover up his work and make black look white. 
 
 He had one very peculiar trait of character and that 
 was to buy American gold coin with every dollar he 
 had to spare. The Coin being at a discount, as Mexi 
 can silver is in the United States. In buying it he 
 would increase his number of dollars and would rake 
 it in from the treasurer's counter with a chuckle which 
 indicated an idiosyncrasy representing gold-worship, 
 probably inherited from some of his ancestors far in 
 the past. He had a building of his own, with an 
 under-ground vault where he kept his gold coin; he 
 would often go into it, and by the light of a candle 
 count it over and over again, sometimes for hours. 
 He was getting old and had no children to inherit his 
 wealth; but like the common wood-rat of the Rocky 
 Mountains he semed to possess a mania for increasing 
 his pile, without any visible reason for so doing. 
 
 Messrs. Saunders and Coy were not slow in discov- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 335 
 
 ering this peculiar trait in the man's character. It 
 appeared that a brother of his, being a man of noble 
 character, had in the past done some great service to 
 the people and being now dead, this man, John Bene 
 dict Sherman, in consequence of his brother's noble 
 deeds, had the full confidence of the people, and great 
 influence. It was therefore decided to court his 
 friendship and have him ready for use; from that time 
 he was feasted on every occasion. 
 
 For a long time they had been acquainted with a 
 couple of fast young men, or rather rough gentry as 
 they supposed Jack Pixley and Tim Bowen. These 
 two men claimed to be doctors, but it was evident 
 they had but little practice, for to all appearance they 
 were always at leisure; the two became acquainted with 
 each other through Saunders and Coy. After this the 
 four gentlemen often took oysters together and fre 
 quently met at the halls. They had given hints to Coy 
 and Saunders, that they were first-class crooks, had 
 plenty of money, but were always ready to make an 
 honest dollar. They had both been anarchists one in 
 New York, the other in Chicago but both were now 
 at leisure. It occurred to Coy and Saunders that the 
 services of these men might be of importance; they 
 invited them to their rooms which were furnished in 
 fine style; the house, too, was not without its well- 
 stocked liquor and card room; here the gentlemen 
 spent many a lively night in playing that favorite 
 American game called poker. 
 
 The game was very limited for all agreed it was only 
 a friendly game with money enough on the board to 
 make it interesting; some nights cards were dispensed 
 with and the whole evening was given up to revelry. 
 On one of these occasions, when all had become quite 
 lively, Mr. Pixley said he had been a confidence man 
 in New York, and in consequence of a little killing he 
 had to get out. Since he had been here he had robbed 
 several men, but his experience had been that the 
 sub-treasury system was so complete that every man in 
 the country carries a check book, the money stays in 
 the treasury and these checks do the business of the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 country, so if you rob a man you get nothing and it 
 don't pay. Saunders then took him into his confi 
 dence and told him that he had a little job on hand 
 that there would probably be lots of money in, but it 
 was likely to require a little blood-letting. 
 
 "O that's all right," said Pixley, "I am an Ameri 
 can of the late pattern and anything for money is my 
 motto." "Correct," said Saunders. 
 
 While this conversation was going on Coy and Bowen 
 were in another room making up a fresh lot of hot stuff 
 and as they returned the conversation was dropped. 
 The glasses were filled and Coy offered the following 
 toast: "The United States and honest money." 
 Pixley now became eloquent and delivered a tirade 
 upon the new Republic, denounced its rag-baby money 
 system and finally wound up his remarks with eulogies 
 on John Sherman and the Stuffed-Prophet, both of 
 honest money and sound currency fame in the United 
 States. This speech met with hearty approval and all 
 drank to the Stuffed-Prophet. When the night was 
 well spent in drunken revels the party separated, to 
 all appearance with the very best of feeling. When 
 Pixley and Bowen took their leave, Saunders and Coy 
 agreed that the two men were bricks. Saunders said 
 that he believed that man Pixley would think no more 
 of killing a man, than he would of killing a fly. 
 
 The next day Saunders and Pixley met by chance 
 and went to a private room in a hotel where they took 
 several drinks out of Saunders' bottle. After a little 
 more talk as to the prospect of something exciting in 
 the near future, where all would have an opportunity 
 to distinguish themselves and make a few honest dol 
 lars, it was arranged that Pixley should make it a 
 point to meet Bowen and feel of him gently to see if 
 it would be advisable to let him in to any of their plans. 
 
 After a few days Pixley again met Saunders, gave 
 him the substance of two or three conversations with 
 Bowen and wound up by saying, he believed that all 
 that would be necessary would be for them to approach 
 him carefully and convince him there was money in it; 
 Saunders was of the same opinion, so it was arranged 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 337 
 
 that Pixley and Bowen should come around and spend 
 an evening occasionally until further developments. 
 After this Pixley and Bowen might often have been 
 seen engaged in frivolous conversation, making their 
 way at early evening to the rooms of Saunders and 
 Coy, where they^ would spend long hours in gambling 
 and drinking; the plot still remained in embryo. 
 After several weeks had passed, Baxter appeared on 
 the scene; on telling his experience, Coy and Saunders 
 were impatient for some move toward the accomplish 
 ment of their hearts' desire, that of overthrowing in 
 some way the present money and property system and 
 establishing the gold base and English land-law system. 
 But the money lord had decided to travel over the 
 country before seeing them, but at last he entered the 
 city, quite unnoticed. True, his name had been taken 
 from the hotel register by the evening paper, but there 
 were no millionaires to hob-nob with him, nor did 
 Senators and Congressmen seek his advice, for the 
 referendum put a quietus on them. 
 
 Mr. Baxter met him at the hotel and afterward 
 escorted him to the private rooms of Saunders and 
 Coy; the four had a pleasant chat and it was remarked 
 that the great money-lord loved champagne as well 
 as a common man loves whiskey; in fact, he finally 
 threw off his mask and called for whiskey straight 
 and all acknowledged after he was gone, that a money- 
 lord is very much like other people, when robbed of 
 the power of gold. Saunders said that no man of 
 any distinction cound command the respect that is due 
 him, in a country where the common herd are fed on 
 the fat of the land. Said he: "Had we received the 
 Lord in style due to his rank, driven him about the 
 city in a coach and four, and foot-men in livery, as 
 they would do in Washington, every paper in the 
 country would have made its grand effort to get out a 
 cartoon which should be more ridiculous than all 
 others; as the papers are daily visitors to every family 
 circle, the affair would meet with ridicule from one 
 end of the country to the other, and thus a man of 
 wealth loses prestige. 
 
338 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 As this was the first time that the Lord had found 
 an opportunity to take a social glass with kindred 
 spirits since he had been in the Republic, it is not 
 surprising that he got a little too full and the whole 
 night was given up to bacchanalian orgies, or what is 
 called by common people, a regular old drunk. 
 
 The next night the Lord of money again dropped in; 
 this time without Baxter. After a few drinks, he 
 proceeded to business. The Lord was given a com 
 plete history of the growth of the new Republic and a 
 full explanation of its peculiar laws; several plans were 
 suggested but nothing was agreed upon; it was finally 
 agreed that they would meet in secret at least once a 
 week, and that they would have a regular meeting 
 every Saturday night to which Baxter would be 
 admitted. They dare not trust him in all their plans, 
 but needed his services too much to be willing to lay 
 him one side entirely. 
 
 It was further arranged that the Lord should make 
 the acquaintance of some of the Senators; to accom 
 plish this, the Senator, John Benedict Sherman would 
 be used. A few nights later they again met and 
 getting filled up on hot whiskey the Lord gave as his 
 opinion that nothing short of revolution would accom- 
 lish anything. Sherman, he said, seemed to be the 
 only man that could be handled; beside, said he: "The 
 Senators have no power; under their peculiar business 
 system there are so few conflicting interests that law is 
 made, in a great measure, unnecessary and the Refer 
 endum works to a charm. Public sentiment makes 
 the law and as there are no political parties, no 
 saloons and the newspapers are run by stock compa 
 nies with plenty of money, and are limited in their 
 profits, I see but one way and that is to overthrow the 
 Government; in organizing a new one, get in our gold 
 bank and land-laws; this done the remainder of the 
 work will be easy." 
 
 After a long and earnest council it was conceded 
 that the most plausible plan was to secure the original 
 copy of the Constitution and rights of man, have them 
 doctored so as to make gold the money of the country; 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 339 
 
 if this could be accomplished through Senator Sher 
 man, they could then organize a conspiracy, employ 
 roughs, have Lincoln, Bundy, Jefferson and Summer- 
 ville assassinated, and burn the Capitol; then in 
 organizing a new Government the new copies of the 
 Constitution would recognize gold and in the excite 
 ment it would be passed over unnoticed, as was the 
 demonetizing of silver in the United States in 1873. 
 This done, they believed they could get gold in circu 
 lation and of course, national banks would soon follow. 
 "This done," said the money Lord, "it will be only a 
 question of time." 
 
 "I think it will work all right," said Saunders, "if we 
 can get rid of these few men." "I, too," said Coy. 
 
 After draining their glasses once more, the money 
 Lord said: "We will continue our social meetings 
 and obtain all the information possible; further than 
 this we can do nothing until I hear from my people. " 
 
 Thus saying, he took his departure. 
 
 Immediately after this, the following letter was sent 
 to a friend at home. 
 
 CITY OF KIYONGO, CENTRAL AFRICA, August ioth. 
 To the Earl of Tuxbury; 
 
 My Dear Sir: I have delayed writing from week 'to 
 week and from day to day, hoping that something 
 favorable would result, but as yet am completely non 
 plussed. I find things very different here from the 
 United States. There they fall over one another to do 
 honor to a man of wealth; the newspapers herald his 
 approach and political tricksters are after him for bids; 
 you can buy the leaders of the great parties and they, 
 with the help of the saloons, control the vote. The 
 banks too are always with you in financial legislation; 
 here there are no banks nor saloons and no political 
 parties; the great corporations, instead of being for 
 you, are against you. There gold and silver have 
 always been their money; here it has never been 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 used; here their whole financial system is founded 
 upon this general principle, that gold and silver are 
 productions of the earth, consequently have a value as 
 bullion which must change as do all other commodities, 
 according to its production and use. 
 
 That money is created by the Government in order 
 to facilitate book-keeping and enable parties to make 
 exchange of commodities, that like a note or order, a 
 bill payable or a bill receivable, its values should never 
 change; therefore it is claimed that money made of 
 gold has two values, one a bullion value which is 
 always changing, another a money value which should 
 never change; to harmonize the two is simply impos 
 sible. They should therefore be kept forever separate. 
 
 Finance is taught here in all the schools and this is 
 the fundamental principle; the old theory of giving 
 money an intrinsic value, has been so scoffed at and 
 ridiculed here, that I am fully convinced that legisla 
 tion in favor of metal money is entirely out of the 
 question for the present. 
 
 In approaching any public men here in regard to 
 the use of gold, they say at once, they have gold 
 enough in their mountains to supply the world with 
 money. They also say they don't need the gold and 
 they have no men to spare to dig it; that while other 
 nations are producing gold, they will be found busy 
 producing something of more value to man; this is the 
 way they talk. Only yesterday a man said to me: 
 "My kind sir, do you know that we have extensive 
 treasury vaults full of gold and silver bars which are 
 the products of our mines? That the immigrants 
 bring millions of dollars of American, English and 
 German gold coins to our country? These being at a 
 discount here soon find their way into the Government 
 vaults. That we have plenty of national money in 
 circulation to keep al 1 business active and every man 
 in the country employed? We manufacture everything 
 and import but very little. As we have the most im 
 proved machinery in the world and no interruption of 
 business in consequence of breaking banks or want of 
 confidence, our own productions are simply enormous, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 341 
 
 and as our own vessels keep the surplus production 
 constantly dumped upon foreign markets to sell for 
 what it is worth there, we are often forced to take gold 
 and silver in exchange. It has become a rule with our 
 foreign trade to.exchange all our gold accumulation 
 for interest bearing bonds or other securities; but when 
 this is sometimes found impossible, the gold is shipped 
 home to the already bursting vaults, and thus, from so 
 many sources the great pile of gold continues to increase 
 its bulk. 
 
 "Our methods differ materially from the Americans; 
 they exchange their surplus productions for confidence 
 and interest; we exchange for such articles of commerce 
 as we need and when we can get nothing else we take 
 gold. Our paper money is worth more than gold, 
 simply because merchants can buy more of our goods 
 with it than they can with gold. What do you sup 
 pose we care about an International Conference? Our 
 people have all the mechanical arts and sciences known 
 to man and if other nations were to use all the gold 
 they have to make a golden calf and all fall down and 
 worship it, our system would not be changed a particle. 
 We only want the rest of the world to consume our 
 products; we have enough and some to spare and we 
 don't care what kind of money other people use. If 
 they were to push their golden calf into the ocean 
 and through their blind, superstitious worship of gold, 
 follow it in, the loss of the gold would not affect us in 
 the least, but the loss of the people would. If all the 
 gold on earth were sunk to the bottom of the sea, does 
 any one suppose the world would be materially 
 affected? It would only be a blow to superstition." 
 
 This is the way these people talk. It is claimed by 
 some of our most successful financiers, that to work a 
 man successfully, you must bring a pressure of some 
 kind to bear, then you can get his attention and in 
 some way control him. The business system and 
 peculiar laws here, make every man so completely 
 independent there is no chance for a deal; public 
 sentiment is free, it is not controlled by monetary 
 pressure; hence men fear public sentiment. In the 
 
342 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 United States, public sentiment is controlled by the 
 money power, through the use of national banks, news 
 papers, the associated press, whiskey and saloons; 
 hence men say: "Public sentiment be damned, all I 
 want is money." 
 
 The press here is perfectly at ease; there are ten 
 newspapers here to one in the United States and they 
 are said to be well supported. All large papers are 
 run by companies controlled by the Government, the 
 people owning the stock. The editors of that class of 
 papers work for a salary and while, in a great measure, 
 they control public sentiment, it is only an intellectual 
 control; its force and power consists in being right. 
 If wrong, public sentiment soon finds a way to make 
 itself felt, to that extent that it can be consistently 
 said: "Public sentiment controls these large papers." 
 The smaller papers are run by private enterprise and 
 probably in their way, do as much toward moulding, 
 as do the large ones. If one of these editors goes 
 crooked the others would burn him up and if it were 
 possible to buy every paper in the country, public 
 sentiment would start new ones; beside, even if it 
 could be done, it would cost much for the risk. From 
 this you will see what a difficult matter it will be to do 
 anything in this direction. 
 
 T have examined their coast defenses and am sur 
 prised to find every point fortified, and the only army 
 they have is drilling on these batteries; they have 
 extensive ship-building works and have constructed a 
 cigar-shaped vessel for the purpose of smoking our 
 battle-ships; its purpose is to collide with our vessels. 
 It carries no guns and no shot can affect it; it requires 
 but six men to manage it, and they have a safety 
 apparatus by which the crew escapes if the boat goes 
 down in colliding; it is built for a speed that will 
 overhaul our vessels, and they claim to have enough 
 ot these turtle-backed monsters to sink one-half of the 
 English navy, with no particular risk to themselves. 
 They^are designed for harbor defense, and after seeing 
 one, I am convinced it will clo all they claim. 
 
 If they sink in colliding, they say the loss is small 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 343 
 
 in comparison to the damage that might be done by 
 one of our great ships. Their manufacture of firearms 
 is not to be excelled, and it is claimed that they could, 
 if necessary, put a large army in the field in a few 
 days; still they have not the expense which other 
 countries incur in keeping a regular standing army; 
 even their police force has very little to do, and all 
 things considered, it seems to me like a very dangerous 
 project to urge a war with these people. 
 
 They are all soldiers at will, and" statesmen from 
 necessity; having no political parties to guide them, 
 vote from principle; they pay no fancy prices for 
 public service, and there is no country in the world 
 which exacts more from its public servants. They are 
 not man-worshipers and it is said, that if a president 
 die, there is hardly a school district but can furnish a 
 man to fill his place. 
 
 Their manufacturing establishments are a marvel of 
 perfection and they have established this fact beyond 
 controversy that labor, money and system are the three 
 requisites in production; they have a maxim: "That 
 nature produces men, Government makes money and 
 system is the outgrowth of constant effort to overcome 
 obstacles." I believe if we were to send a half dozen 
 battle-ships here to force an issue of any kind, there 
 would be a gala day in the cities, while the monsters 
 which are impervious to shot and shell would send 
 them to the bottom. 
 
 After a careful study of this matter, my conclusions 
 are that there is but one method by which we may hope 
 for a reasonable degree of success in securing the con 
 trol of money here, and I have formed my plans to that 
 end. I have some good men as helpers Messrs. Coy, 
 Saunders and Baxter are all staunch men and can be 
 depended upon. I have also made the acquaintance of 
 a man by the name of John Benedict Sherman, a mem 
 ber of the Senate, in high standing, principally in 
 consequence of some noble deeds of his brother; his 
 price is rather extravagant, I think, but without doubt, 
 he can be bought to do whatever is necessary. Our 
 plan is to organize a band of staunch men, secure 
 
344 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 possession of the original Constitution and rights of 
 man, and have them so changed by an expert penman, 
 as to abridge some of the radical points; this done, 
 we will probably have to resort to very extreme meas 
 ures before accomplishing much in the way of legisla 
 tion; therefore should you hear of anything startling, 
 you must consider that it was unavoidable; the fact is, 
 this paper money system must be destroyed or it will 
 destroy all our gold interests throughout the civilized 
 world. They are even now talking about making 
 another large shipment of gold to the United States to 
 be exchanged for securities; it is not their production 
 of gold that we need to fear, but it is their example in 
 their use of paper money and the sub-treasury plan, 
 which will sooner of later take the place of our gold 
 and national banks, and this would be the downfall of 
 class supremacy. 
 
 Should you still desire that I should make an effort 
 to crush the monster, you will please send at once the 
 best expert penman you can command; have him bring 
 such chemicals as will be necessary to remove ink and 
 doctor the Constitution. I shall make no report until 
 I have accomplished something, but will write you an 
 occasional private letter. 
 
 Very truly and respectfully yours, 
 
 DEAD EARNEST SEYD. 
 (Lord Luxenburg. ) 
 
 After this letter was written the parties already 
 named continued to hold their secret meetings in which 
 plans were formulated. The money Lord, Coy and 
 Saunders had a secret plan which they dare not lay 
 before Baxter or Sherman; this was, that after the 
 Constitution had been doctored, Lincoln, Bundy and 
 Summerville were to be assassinated; having learned 
 that Jefferson was about to return to the United States 
 his name was not taken into account; then the public 
 buildings were to be burned and all books destroyed, 
 except the original copy of the Constitution, which was 
 to be doctored. 
 
 It was believed that this general destruction would 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 345^ 
 
 be followed by placing Senator Sherman in the Presi 
 dential Chair, and once there he could be depended 
 upon to do anything for gold; all agreed that to pile 
 up gold was the height of his ambition. The money 
 Lord could afford^to make him a millionaire twice over 
 to get legislation in favor of gold. 
 
 Coy suggested that arrangements should be at once 
 made with Sherman to have Saunders put in charge of 
 the police on Sherman's coming into power, and that 
 salaries of these men be largely increased. 
 
 "That is right," said the money Lord, "if we can 
 control the police and sheriff, we can enforce such 
 laws as are to our liking and nulify the others; if the 
 people make too much noise the number of police can 
 be increased; when we get control of the public crib. 
 we can afford to pay these fellows well." 
 
 "The salaries of all officers," said Saunders, "should 
 be doubled at once. In this way we will secure their 
 confidence. See how they increase the salaries in the 
 United States and mark the effect. It became a panic 
 and extended from president to constable." 
 
 They had already secured the services of Pixley and 
 Bowen to do the killing, for which service they were 
 to receive from the money Lord $100,000 each. 
 
 Time passed slowly and meetings were discontinued 
 for a time in order to avoid suspicion, but each man 
 was busily engaged in getting better acquainted with 
 the officials. After a Ions: and anxious waiting, a man 
 arrived from England, prepared to change the Consti 
 tution. The money Lord, Sherman, Saunders Baxter, 
 Coy and the expert penman at once held a meeting} 
 their plan was outlined by the money Lord, as follows: 
 Sherman was to secure the original copy of the Con 
 stitution and bring it to their place of meeting on the 
 following night at half past seven, when they would all 
 be together; the work of changing the Constitution 
 would begin at once. "That done," said the Lord, 
 "we will lay on our oars and see what we can do 
 toward having a law paased in favor of gold." 
 
 They then separated in different directions, but in 
 accordance with previous arrangements, the money 
 
346 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 Lord, Saunders and Coy met again at the same place 
 an hour later. After quietly enjoying their whiskey 
 toddy and cigars, the discussion began; all agreed that 
 favorable legislation would be impossible until they 
 were rid of the objectionable parties; the money Lord 
 said that as soon as these men were out of the way and 
 the excitement of the affair had subsided, he thought 
 there would be but little difficulty in getting gold made 
 the money of the country. "Then," said he, "we will 
 have a power by which future legislation can be con 
 trolled. The next step will be a national bank, and 
 then the thing will run itself. " 
 
 He referred to the manner in which silver had been 
 demonetized in the United States by a mere trick; 
 neither the men who voted for the bill nor the Presi 
 dent who signed it, knew that it demonetized silver, and 
 yet it became a law and millions upon millions of 
 money passed into the hands of the money class from 
 its enforcement. "While this was being done," said 
 he, "the people were kept quiet by strong, silver coin 
 age planks in all political parties, and that is one thing 
 we must attend to here; we must never miss an oppor 
 tunity to raise political strife that will be likely to lead 
 to the organization of parties. It will be much easier 
 to buy the leaders than the voters; the referendum, 
 too, must be repealed or nulified; this Government 
 control of whiskey must also be broken up, and the 
 right to run saloons restored to the people, for that is 
 a very prominent part of our system. " 
 
 Pausing for a moment while all hands took another 
 drink, the money Lord proceeded to discuss at length 
 the working of the gold game. "National banks," 
 said he, "are the machines which do the work; as 
 attachments, we have the broker's office, clearing 
 house, saloons, trusts, lotteries, gambling houses and 
 bucket shops; as supports we have the two great 
 political parties, board of trade, subsidized newspapers 
 and associated press; as methods we have the control 
 of money, bonds, mortgages, interest, discount, confi 
 dence and money panics; as arguments we have sound 
 currency, honest dollars, rag-baby, reform, protection., 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 347 
 
 over-production, parity, and a Government debt is a 
 Government blessing. 
 
 The system has been planted in the United States, 
 and its successful working there has been too great to 
 admit of a doubt,^ but immediately on making gold the 
 money of this country, our success is assured, and the 
 desired results will follow, as a matter of course." 
 
 The others coincided, so they took another drink; 
 all smiled, then laughed, then smiled again and took 
 another drink; this time all hands clicked glasses to 
 the health of Johnnie Bull and the national banks; 
 a ha ha ha, followed this and all lit fresh cigars. 
 
 By this time all had become quite well enthused and 
 Saunders explained that Pixley and Bowen could be 
 depended on to do the killing of at least two; that he 
 would take care of the others, and all that was neces 
 sary was the fixing of the Constitution, and by the 
 snap of his finger he could send the fanatics to hell. 
 
 "Don't talk so loud," said Coy, feeling alarmed at 
 the simple utterance of such words. 
 
 "Why," said Saunders, "have these walls ears, or 
 has the earth become a telephone that I should fear to 
 speak? I tell you, gentlemen, I knew full well some 
 years ago that this would come about, and I did not 
 build these walls so loose and thin that the vulgar 
 horde might list to what I say; no, no, not I, they are 
 two feet thick or more. The very floor is stuffed and 
 air-tight overhead, beside the room above is where I 
 sleep and is always under lock and key. Here, far 
 beyond the reach of human ear, is where I come to 
 think and drink, and drink and think and lay my 
 plans; and now that it will soon be mine 'to beard the 
 Lion in his den,' I feel quite brave. Long years have 
 they my efforts all despised; debased my gold and made 
 of me a laughing-stock; ha ha, these knaves: their 
 time is short tor power will soon be mine, and when I 
 wield the scepter ray ambition shall be satisfied. Gold, 
 gold will be the power with which I'll crush these 
 toiling hordes that fatten at the cost of Government 
 employ, while men with gold, pass by unnoticed and 
 without due respect. 
 
348 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Hate, hate, yes, cruel hate shall be the watch-word 
 of my heart's desire, until I quench with deadly fire, 
 the life of these my mortal foes. 
 
 "Buried down beneath the floor I have the glittering 
 gold on which I'll found this nation's bank and on that 
 base I'll furnish money for this land; they have what 
 they call money now, but I do not; 'tis trash, green 
 back would be a better name, and when these fanatical 
 knaves are gone and Sherman in the chair, we soon 
 will have contraction, and then it is I'll make my 
 power felt. 
 
 "When words of want, consternation, misery and 
 woe come forth as from a burning hell; alms-houses, 
 prisons, jails all full, Soldiers' Homes for many 
 thousands more; other millions tramping for a job and 
 soup-houses everywhere; then it is, and not till then, 
 they will come to me for help. I'll give it, not in gold, 
 but paper money, based on gold, honest money, sound 
 currency. " 
 
 Once more the glasses clicked and the Stuffed 
 Prophet received their compliments. Soon the party 
 retired; the Lord, Chief Counselor, Financier and 
 Banker, Dead Earnest Seyd, to his hotel, Coy to his 
 private home and Saunders to his room above, all to 
 meet the following night to doctor the Constitution. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 WE must now return to the hotel in the city of 
 Summerville and continue to record the travels 
 and experiences of Mrs. Goldburg, Rebecca and Min 
 nie. In a former chapter it will be remembered that 
 Rebecca had accepted a proposition to address one of 
 the leading Progressive Societies of the place. Several 
 days elapsed before the appointed time, during which 
 the ladies made the acquaintance of a family at the 
 hotel, by the name of Gardner; the family consisted of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gardner and four children, only one of 
 whom, a daughter, was at present at the hotel. The 
 eldest was a son, Charles by name; then Mary, Jennie 
 and Theodore. They lived on a farm in the interior, 
 nearly one hundred miles from Summerville, and sixty 
 miles from Kiyongo. 
 
 On this occasion Mr. Gardner had come to the city 
 in a light carriage, accompanied by his wife and eldest 
 daughter, Mary. As their route was through a beau 
 tiful farming country, thickly settled, and the roads 
 being fine, they had preferred coming this way in 
 order to visit friends along the route. Mr. Gardner 
 was a very unassuming man, but the essence of 
 politeness. 
 
 Rebecca was greatly attracted by this family and 
 found Mr. and Mrs. Gardner to be persons of deep 
 thought, who had ascended to intellectual heights where 
 superstition seemed a pigmy, far below. Mary, too, 
 was a bright girl and at once became the favorite of 
 these ladies. Her disposition was so innocent and con 
 fiding, that Rebecca and Minnie took her to their 
 hearts and she became their constant companion; Mrs. 
 Gardner and Mrs. Goldburg also became fast friends, 
 and as the family were to return home in a few days, 
 they insisted that Mrs. Goldburg and the two young 
 ladies should accompany them. It would give them 
 
350 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 an opportunity to see something of the interior of the 
 country, and also to make new acquaintances. 
 
 Their carriage had three seats, and the roads being 
 smooth, all could ride comfortably, and as they were 
 desirous of seeing the country as far as possible, they 
 decided to go. 
 
 Before they left the hotel, Mrs. Goldburg was not 
 only surprised, but felt highly complimented, at receiv 
 ing from the Street Car company, a pass over their 
 line while they remained in the city; taking into con 
 sideration the wonderful cheapness of this way of 
 travel, it did not amount to much in a money point 
 of view. 
 
 The reader will naturally wonder that Rebecca was 
 able to prepare for her lecture on such short notice, 
 but it must be remembered that while she was at home, 
 she had long weeks, months and even years of leisure, 
 all of which she had devoted to self-improvement. 
 She had not only read, but had written a great deal; 
 among these writings were lectures, leisurely and care 
 fully prepared; some of them, even, committed to 
 memory and rehearsed before her mother and Colonel 
 Bundy's family. The subject of the lecture she had 
 chosen for this occasion was, "Crime, Its Causes and 
 Its Cure." 
 
 The subject being an important one, the Lecture was 
 the result of much careful study, and to say that its 
 rendition was a success, would be tame language. 
 She had expected to address a small audience of only 
 the members of the Society, and when she learned that 
 she was to appear before an audience of five or six 
 thousand she was somewhat abashed; she possessed 
 great determination, however, and accepted the situa 
 tion; she had often been upon the rostrum before. 
 
 On this occasion she went upon the platform and in 
 a calm, clear and earnest voice, dealt with facts in so 
 forcible a manner as to win the confidence, admiration 
 and love of that great audience. As a result of the 
 appreciation of her efforts, the ladies were tendered a 
 banquet before they left the city. 
 
 Three days after the lecture they took their depature 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 351 
 
 but the time was so occupied in receiving calls, that 
 they were obliged to give up for the present, all further 
 explorations of the city. 
 
 From information gained through interviews the 
 ladies were bt one opinion, that the improved condi 
 tions were only made possible by the limit of the 
 accumulation of wealth in the hands of individuals. 
 All conceded that the establishment of great monetary 
 dynasties to roll on down the ages, and become a 
 power in the hands of a few to interfere with the 
 honest working of Government, trade and commerce, 
 to the injury of the masses, long after the man who 
 first made the accumulation is dead, and gone to that 
 place where no man goes until he has surrendered the 
 last farthing, is wrong. That it is a custom dangerous 
 to good government, to liberty and civilization; that 
 it is a custom that comes down to us from semi- 
 barbaric age; that it belongs to hereditary Kingship 
 and should be expunged from all Republics .where 
 people aspire to a higher state of civilization. 
 
 The days passed quickly amid such enlivening 
 experiences, and the morning for their anticipated trip 
 came. The start, which is always regarded as the most 
 difficult part of a journey, had been made without 
 incident. The day was all that could be desired, the 
 roads smooth and their route took them past many a 
 comfortable home, situated on a forty-acre tract ot land, 
 and occupied by people both intelligent and prosperous; 
 the land all seemed to be surveyed in long, narrow 
 strips running back form the road. 
 
 The houses were not large but artistically built and 
 in various styles; one thing was noticeable, all were 
 surrounded by trees both ornamental and shade, and 
 shrubbery and flowers abounded; neither was there a 
 neglect of fruits and vegetables; indeed, Mrs. Gardner 
 remarked that their tables were largely supplied the 
 year 'round from their own gardens and orchards; not 
 only that, but the cellars were well filled with canned 
 fruits and vegetables which they prepared by a method 
 of their own, to keep indefinitely; each family had a 
 small pasture where a few Jersey cows and a few horses 
 
352 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 and sheep were kept the American hog being dis 
 pensed with. Another habit of these people which 
 v Mrs. Gardner mentioned, is that they are adopting an 
 almost exclusive vegetable and fruit diet, combined 
 with milk, and for this reason they prefer the Jersey to 
 any other kind. They believe such food more con 
 ducive to health and longevity, beside being more 
 easily produced than a diet which includes meat. 
 
 "Don't you find it difficult to supply the table with 
 a sufficient variety of dishes to satisfy the taste, with 
 out meat?" asked Mrs. Goldburg. 
 
 "Not at all," was the quick reply. "On the contrary, 
 I have found that we live better now than when we 
 used more meat; then we too often thought that if we 
 had meat alone, that was sufficient, while now we take 
 greater pains to have vegetables well seasoned with 
 butter or cream; in addition to this, we are never 
 .without some kind of fruit. When we get to Uncle 
 Ben's to-night, you will see what a really good country 
 meal is, and I doubt if you would eat meat if they 
 had it. I believe the day will come when people will 
 look back upon this generation of meat-eaters with the 
 same feeling of disgust which we have for cannibals." 
 
 It was now near noon. They had been constantly 
 meeting farm-wagons going to the city, laden with 
 products of the garden, farm and orchard; each wagon 
 was driven by a citizen; good, honest and intelligent; 
 not a Chinaman or a dago was seen. The thought that 
 each of these men had a home, a wife and innocent 
 children, and that these homes were made secure by a 
 Government for the people, and protected from every 
 species of invasion, was food for reflection. Mrs. 
 Goldburg called the attention of Mr. Gardner to the 
 absence of all low and ignorant classes of foreigners, 
 such as are often seen in the United States. 
 
 "This," said he, "is easily accounted for; the United 
 States corporations run the country and control the 
 legislation; their first move is to secure a high tariff on 
 imports; this shuts out foreign competition. The next 
 step is to pool all interests and put wages as low as 
 possible, and to secure plenty of help in case of strikes 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 353 
 
 they import paupers by millions, and they become 
 useful to the money power in controlling the price of 
 labor. Here we have no money power, no pools, no 
 monopolies. No man comes to our country except of 
 his own free will and pays his own expenses. True, 
 we have extensive emigrant societies, but they are like 
 Missionaries and work for the good of the country; 
 their office is to go among the most intelligent classes 
 of the foreigners, circulate literature giving all facts 
 necessary to secure a good class of emigration." 
 
 At noon they drove up before a farm-house standing 
 nearer the road than was common. The Gardners had 
 stopped at this same house on their way to the city. 
 Seeing them the lady at once recognized Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gardner, and coming to the carriage, invited them to 
 stop for dinner, an invitation they very willingly 
 accepted. The husband of the lady, just then coming 
 from the field, assisted Mr. Gardner in putting up his 
 team while the ladies passed into the house and the 
 gentlemen soon joined them. While dinner was being 
 prepared by the lady of the house and her two daughters, 
 the party took seats upon the porch. 
 
 It was evident that the travelers were fully alive to 
 the changed condition. They had noticed that nearly 
 the whole population was American and yet they were 
 so much more liberal and sociable than people at 
 home; on mentioning this, the stranger said: "It was 
 the confidence people had in their ability to live upon 
 their own earnings and there was no way in which 
 others could build up monetary dynasties that would 
 eventually rob them of their homes and means of living. 
 When we feel secure in all these things, why should 
 we not be sociable? We have all the comforts of life 
 and save money every year; a millionaire can have no 
 more." "In what way do the people generally invest 
 their earnings?" said Mrs. Goldburg. 
 
 "We have so far invested them in stock, but the last 
 year or two stock has been very hard to get; the only 
 way we can get it now is to leave our money at the 
 treasury and make an application for stock; then you 
 are entitled to the first that is on the market in your 
 
354 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 town, according to date of deposit. In addition to 
 this, as an investment, we are constantly improving 
 our lands, thus making homes for our children; others 
 spend all their surplus or over-production in enabling 
 their children to come to the front, intellectually; while 
 some spend all their surplus in frivolous enjoyment 
 and high-living. 
 
 "Instead of one man, like Astor, owning his $100,- 
 000,000, we have 1,000 persons with $100,000 each; 
 these 1,000 persons spend a great deal more in luxury 
 than the one millionaire, and this all helps to keep 
 our money in circulation. " 
 
 "In case of war," said Mrs. Goldburg, "can your 
 Government issue bonds?" "Certainly not," said the 
 gentleman, "we would only continue to issue money 
 to meet all demands." 
 
 "But would not that produce inflation?" said Mrs. 
 Goldburg. "To some extent, probably, and prices of 
 everything would advance in proportion. The price 
 of labor and all that labor produces would be increased. 
 Money would be plentiful and business active. Gov 
 ernment then having power to control all corporations 
 and regulate the profit on business done by these great 
 corporations to the needs of the government, would 
 raise the price of freight, fares, and in fact, everything, 
 until the profit of the business of the country would 
 keep the circulating medium within bounds. 
 
 "Congress you will understand has power in time of 
 war to suspend the payment of the five per cent divi 
 dend on stock until the war has been closed, and by so 
 doing could prolong a war indefinitely." 
 
 "But," said Mrs. Goldburg, "will not money then 
 become so plentiful as to lose its value?" 
 
 "We think not," said the gentleman, "in fact I see 
 no reason why it should. Our Government is the 
 people and the people are the Government; in it every 
 individual is represented. All lands belong to the 
 people or Government; individuals having only pos 
 sessory title to small tracts of land so long as they 
 keep the same in use. Our money in based upon this 
 land and cannot depreciate in value, unless the land 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 355 
 
 also depreciates. As money becomes more plentiful, 
 land, with all other property, appreciates and preserves 
 an equilibrium. The stability or value of the land as 
 a surety depends upon the ability of the Government 
 to defend its title,, and its ability to defend the title 
 depends upon the patriotism of the people. History 
 records no instance where an intelligent people have 
 been called upon to defend their homes and did not 
 respond. It is only bankers who hold back under such 
 circumstances for the sake of speculation. 
 
 "The title to land may be considered good, hence its 
 value as a surety cannot be questioned, and money is 
 also good. If our people were conquered, and our 
 land confiscated by the conquerors, our money would 
 be an entire loss. When a country has its money 
 based on gold and is conquered, and the people lose 
 their homes by confiscation, they lose nothing on gold 
 from the fact that the bankers ship it all out of the 
 country, often before the first gun is nred, all for the 
 sake of the 'dear people;' I will let you decide which 
 is best. " 
 
 "Another question, Mr. Gardner. As the law prevents 
 the collection of interest-bearing debts, what will citi 
 zens do with money which collects in their hands 
 during flush times?" 
 
 "When your bankers," said the gentleman, "have 
 more gold coin than they can loan to advantage, they 
 store it away in vaults until such time as it is needed; 
 here we have no bankers, consequently the people have 
 the money and they do with it just the same as your 
 bankers; they lay it away or deposit it in sub-treasury 
 vaults until it can be used to advantage; you see it is 
 like a postage stamp, always good. 
 
 "There is one more thing that our Government offers 
 to individuals as security for our money. You are 
 already aware that we, as a Government, own a share 
 in the profits of all the business done by these great 
 joint stock companies, and they are as numerous as the 
 Government is large; even without taking our land 
 into consideration, this alone would make our money 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 good as wheat, and far better than gold, a thing which 
 you can neither eat, drink nor wear. 
 
 "As another resource in time of war is that our Gov 
 ernment, in order to protect its mines, buys all gold, 
 silver, lead and copper products. The surplus of 
 metals is carefully stored in great vaults, where it will 
 be safe in time of war; some of this gold has long 
 since been converted into United States bonds, but it 
 comes right back into our treasury again, as interest, 
 in a very short time and we still retain the bonds. 
 As the United States is a producing country, these 
 bonds would be a resource in time of war. 
 
 "The gold and silver bullion which is constantly 
 piling up in our vaults would be another resource; by 
 its shipment we could keep the balance of trade in our 
 favor through a long and tiresome war; our lead and 
 copper surplus would also be a resource. We believe 
 that by being well prepared for war, will save us prob 
 ably, from ever having one; in fact, there is a belief 
 that the time is not far distant when Justice will be 
 enthroned the world over; then war will be unneces 
 sary, a thing of the past and known only in history. " 
 
 "If you will excuse my inquisitiveness, " said Mrs. 
 Goldburg, "I would like to ask who built all these 
 fine roads?" 
 
 "Certainly," said the gentleman, "we are proud of 
 our country and like to talk about it. Our Govern 
 ment controls all the corporations and retains from 
 their profit 2 per cent per annum for the entire capital 
 stock. This profit is so enormous that the money of 
 the country flows to the treasury, as it does to the 
 banks or to Wall Street in your country. It Govern 
 ment did not in some way get it in circulation again, 
 we would be subject to the same panicky conditions 
 that are so often felt in the United States and Great 
 Britain and would soon have starvation, tramps and 
 soup-houses right in the midst of abundant crops. 
 
 "To prevent contraction our Government once a year 
 makes an appropriation for public improvement to 
 cover all surplus funds on hand, and with a view to 
 keeping from $50 to $75 per capita of money in circu- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 357 
 
 lation; if money is destroyed or placed on deposit by 
 the people and thus kept from circulation, more is 
 issued by the Government to preserve an equilibrium 
 between money and its uses. This accounts for our 
 turnpike and gravel roads." 
 
 Dinner was now announced and the travellers were 
 not only agreeably surprised, but their requirements 
 were fully satisfied by an array of good things, even 
 though there was an absence of meat. Dinner was 
 followed by an hour's pleasant chat, after which the 
 guests continued their journey, feeling as if they were 
 parting from old friends instead of acquaintances of 
 but a few hours. They were obliged to decline a press 
 ing invitation to remain over night. The drive during 
 the afternoon was past a continuation of pleasant homes 
 where prosperity was indicated everywhere. They 
 continued to meet loads of produce being taken to the 
 city. To gratify the ladies, Mr. Gardner of ten stopped 
 and made inquiries as to crops and other matters cal 
 culated to give information to the strangers as to the 
 true condition of affairs; to the surprise of the ladies, 
 the old story of hard times and scarcity of money, 
 showing distress in financial affairs so often heard at 
 home, was here unknown. The only thing mentioned 
 as being scarce was help; "the people have plenty of 
 land, and plenty of stock; they raise an abundance 
 and have enough to sell, and if help were more plenty 
 would have a still larger surplus; our farms are not 
 large and no one wants to hire more than one or two 
 men; unless they can find men who have been well 
 raised, who can be taken into the family and treated 
 as such, they prefer doing without help. We can get 
 negroes, but they are disliked as a rule, and with our 
 good machinery, work is easy and we have a surplus 
 from our labor." 
 
 As they progressed on their journey it was noticed 
 that the farms were larger, many of them containing 
 eighty acres. Mr. Gardner explained that the farms 
 were surveyed in smaller lots, near to the cities, in 
 order to secure an abundance of fruit, vegetables and 
 eggs convenient to market. 
 
358 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 They had just passed a beautiful farm when Rebecca 
 remarked to her mother: "Can you tell me why we 
 have not met one man in all this time carrying his 
 blankets? These people must have beds for their 
 men." This excited Mr. Gardner's curiosity and Mjrs. 
 Goldburg explained: "That in California, she had 
 heard it said, it was customary for workingmen to 
 carry their own blankets to be used as beds ; they were 
 not furnished by their employers with so much as a 
 wind-break, farther than what a wire fence might give. " 
 
 "Is it possible," said Mr. Gardner, "that free, inde 
 pendent American citizens can be brought down to so 
 degraded a condition?" 
 
 Long before night they reached Uncle Ben's. The 
 whole family were all on the lookout, Uncle Ben, Aunt 
 "Lizzie and the children, beginning with a young man 
 nineteen years of age, down to a little girl of five, were 
 anxious to give them a cordial greeting. They were 
 all musicians, and had two violins, guitar and bones, 
 beside a fine organ and plenty of hands to play all; 
 they had been under the tutelege of a fine Master and 
 had become very proficient; in addition to the instru 
 mental music, they were gifted with fine voices and 
 entertained our friends with such soul-stirring strains, 
 as carried them away to that realm where human 
 thought seems to communicate with angels. 
 
 Minnie was a lover of music and to her this was a 
 feast. In her ecstacy she exclaimed to Mrs. Goldburg: 
 "Why, oh why will Americans deprive themselves of 
 happy homes and joys like these, only to allow a few 
 men the privilege of satisfying a chronic, greedy appe 
 tite, more the result of habit and education than of 
 natural law. O, will people ever learn to listen to the 
 words of Jesus, lay aside greedy desires and work for 
 the good of all?" 
 
 "It would seem," said Mrs. Goldburg, "that these 
 people have pretty thoroughly solved the question by 
 establishing a Government of the people, and for the 
 people; Justice crowned, and money-Kings destroyed. " 
 
 After dinner the following day, our travellers tore 
 themselves away from *his happy family, with a feeling 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 359 
 
 of gratification at the kind treatment they had received 
 and all- agreed that it was folly to be encumbered with 
 wealth, when such comfort and happiness could be 
 found in country homes. A competency was to their 
 minds a surer passport to happiness than a surplus of 
 wealth. 
 
 "The greatest sin," said Rebecca, "if such a thing 
 as sin exists, is for a set of men to organize themselves 
 into a conspiracy to rob such people as these of their 
 little homes, with their luxuries and comforts and 
 means of enjoyment, through a carefully prepared sys 
 tem of banks, interest, mortgages and control of money; 
 if the people of the United States do not rise in their 
 might and overthrow the monster, the system from its 
 own vile wickedness will destroy itself. " 
 
 "I wish we could visit those people again," said 
 Minnie, as they drove away. "I shall never forget 
 them," said Rebecca, "and I mean to write to them." 
 
 "Mother," said Rebecca, after a few moments of 
 silence, "do you know this makes my heart ache for 
 the people at home?" 
 
 "Why so?" said her mother. 
 
 "Why, mother, only think of the contrast; while 
 these people are free, happy and contented, with a sur 
 plus of everything; the finest free school system in the 
 world, no foreign capital, no foreign credit, no foreign 
 debt, no bank, no millionaire's and no paupers; our 
 people have a similar country to this; good credit 
 abroad, large national debt, one-third of the business 
 owned by foreign syndicates, biggest crop of mushroom 
 millionaires the world has ever seen; paupers, tramps, 
 soup houses everywhere; with all this they are not 
 happy, contented nor satisfied, but are still found 
 voting for more. 
 
 "In this land we hear no cry of distress. Every 
 farmer owns his own home; no rent, no taxes; with 
 good tools, improved machinery, and all at work, each 
 produces a surplus, and it is because they are aot 
 robbed by a National banking system, that they arefcll 
 able to enjoy life. When the farmer and laboring 
 masses prosper, trade is always good with merchants; 
 
360 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 in fact everybody has a little money and something to 
 do, consequently everybody feels good. When surplus 
 goods are shipped away, there comes something in 
 return to contribute to man's happiness. In our 
 country, statesmen say that over-production brings 
 want with starvation; surely they are honorable men. 
 
 "While they are sending great ship-loads of wheat, 
 beef, pork cotton, rice and many other things abroad 
 to pay for the use of gold, the people whose labor 
 produced these things are crying for bread, and still 
 they vote yes, blindly, blindly vote. I fear our people 
 are not capable of self government. Here we read no 
 accounts of the Treasurer of State conferring with a 
 council of bankers to devise means to relieve the wants 
 of the dear people, simply because there are no banks, 
 no bankers nor any pegple in want. " 
 
 "There is one thing, " said Mr. Gardner, "before it 
 slips my memory. In your country an unprincipled 
 man, by the accidental discovery of a mine or by 
 getting to the bottom of some great swindle, founds a 
 great estate; nature has decreed that his time of ras 
 cality and oppression shall be short and death cuts him 
 off; your laws, instead of placing the property at his 
 death among the people who rightfully own it, and 
 from whom it has been drawn, either by chance or 
 rascality, actually preserve it as a power to roll on 
 down the ages and crush and grind the unfortunate 
 people who come in contact with it, just in proportion 
 to the good or bad disposition of the man under whose 
 management it happens to fall." 
 
 "That is true, " said Rebecca, "and it would certainly 
 seem right to let a man's power to oppress end with 
 his death, and your inheritance law seems to accom 
 plish this admirably." 
 
 We will not attempt to follow the party through their 
 long journey, but simply state that the remainder of 
 the trip was similar to that already described, one con 
 tinuous scene of prosperity, happiness and good cheer. 
 On arriving at the home of Mr. Gardner, which was a 
 jnost delightful one, they found that the boys had been 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 361 
 
 left in charge outside, while an aged aunt had been 
 their housekeeper. 
 
 As in TSncle Ben's family, the children were all 
 musical. They had instruments and knew how to play 
 them. It was understood by the children that the 
 ladies were to remain a week, and they were antici 
 pating a fine time. They had ample time before night 
 to explore the flower garden, and Mary took great 
 pleasure in showing its beauties to Minnie and Rebecca ; 
 Mary noted with delight the development of her favorite 
 plants and was rejoiced to find everything in such 
 splendid condition. 
 
 Mrs. Gardner thought Minnie was a little hasty in 
 asking the young ladies to go out before giving them 
 a chance to even rid themselves of dust, but they were 
 as eager to go as Mary was to have them and returned 
 to the house feeling repaid for such a variety of shrubs 
 and flowers they had never seen before; indeed, 
 Rebecca was so fond of flowers that she listened with 
 as much eagerness to their childish glee in telling who 
 each plant belonged to and who it was from, as she 
 would have done to a discourse from Henry Ward 
 Beecher. After thoroughly inspecting the flower gar 
 den, Mary took them to the pasture to see "old Bloss, " 
 their old family cow; then they must go down the lane 
 to see "old Beck's," new calf, which Jennie said was 
 the "sweetest calf" she ever saw. The young ladies 
 felt a deep interest in the happiness of their little 
 companion, and enjoying the healthful exercise of 
 following her through a narrow walk with shade trees 
 on either side, which combined use as well as beauty in 
 yielding a bountiful crop of nuts. 
 
 On they went down the long lane, only stopping to 
 admire the rich plumage of some feathered songster or 
 listen to its sweet warblings. At last the gate was 
 reached and passing through they found the cows 
 standing quietly in the shade; the cows seemed to 
 recognize the fact that Mary had returned and sub 
 mitted willingly to the caresses the little ones bestowed 
 upon them. Then the colts came in ior a share of 
 
362 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 attention and each was admired in turn and its history 
 given in hill. 
 
 During this ramble Rebecca's thoughts were not idle 
 she was contrasting this happy, contented home-life 
 here, with home-life in the United States, where a few 
 were struggling to get everything and place it beyond 
 the reach of the masses, while the masses in turn were 
 struggling to keep what they have for their children 
 or subsist on a crust while their principal crop goes to 
 pay the interest on a mortgage which was given for 
 greenbacks that had already been paid as interest; still 
 the principal now demands gold, which is worth more 
 than twice as much as the greenback was; all this to 
 keep up a splendid banking system. 
 
 Alter supper, which was thoroughly enjoyed, each 
 one attended to his own particular duties about; the 
 place, and Mrs. Goldburg and Rebecca retired to the 
 parlor, while Minnie lent her assistance to Mrs. Gard 
 ner in the dining room. 
 
 As soon as the lamps were lighted all gathered in the 
 parlor where a pleasant evening was passed in conver 
 sation and music; a number of the young people of the 
 neighborhood happened, in and each contributed to the 
 musical part of the entertainment, so that Mrs. Gold- 
 burg remarked upon the fact, and Mr. Gardner pro 
 ceeded to say: "My dear lady, music is not only 
 taught in all our schools, but teachers are employed in 
 nearly every family, so if you were to travel from one 
 part of this country to the other, you would find music 
 everywhere." When this musical treat was ended, the 
 older ones withdrew to another room, leaving the young 
 people to enjoy themselves to their own tastes. 
 
 Mrs. Goldburg began the conversation by saying: 
 "In looking over your paper I see that your mines of 
 gold, silver, lead, copper and iron, also your manu 
 facturing industries and transportation are all carried 
 on upon the grandest scale; your iron and steel works 
 are almost equal to those in the United States, and 
 still you say there is no foreign capital invested in the 
 whole country?" 
 
 "O no," said Mr. Gardner, our financial system is 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 363 
 
 the secret of our success. In your country, when they 
 want to build a railroad, or erect some great manu 
 facturing work, that will cost, say $100,000,000, a 
 company is organized and issues $100,000,000 stock. 
 Then a couple ot men are posted off to New York 
 Boston, and finally to England and sell the stock at a 
 big discount; then they build the road; if the money 
 runs short, they issue bonds (mortgage) for more money 
 which also goes to England in exchange tor gold. 
 
 "When the road is completed, they charge such 
 enormous freight rates and fares that it becomes nec 
 essary, in order to have their profits look reasonable, 
 to call the road that cost $100,000,000 worth twice 
 that amount; this they call capitalizing. Honest men 
 and people who pay fare and freight are not supposed 
 to understand the full meaning of this word, it belongs 
 only to financiers. To common people, it seems to 
 have a double meaning; in fare and freight terms it 
 means much, more or all; in tax times it means right 
 the reverse; little, least, nothing. 
 
 "The result of this system is, that the English syn 
 dicate soon gets the gold back and still owns the road. 
 Tn this country our people framed a constitution treat 
 ing gold and silver as commodities; it was provided 
 that it be held in vaults to be used as bullion in satis 
 fying the balance of trade with foreign countries. It 
 was agreed that our money, like checks or drafts, 
 belongs to the book-keeping, exchange or business 
 department of the country and is simply a tool, a 
 means, a convenience to enable citizens to exchange 
 labor and the products of labor and carry out business 
 methods* Its value, like any other tool, consists in the 
 many uses to which it can be employed. That our 
 people will need this money as long as they continue 
 to do business; for the next thousand years. Money 
 made of gold, if kept in actual circulation would, it 
 was believed, in one hundred years lose from wear one- 
 fourth of its original weight and to preserve its simi 
 larity to other coins it would not only require re-coinage 
 but would also require a large purchase of gold. To 
 avoid this constant expense, it was agreed to use gold 
 
364 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 only as a commodity in bullion. Government made 
 money of a less expensive material and one that could 
 be renewed at a small cost. The value thereof was to 
 be regulated by keeping as nearly as possible from $50 
 to $70 per capita in circulation; the money to be made 
 a full legal tender for all debts, both public and private 
 
 "To- satisfy a few old moss-backs who believed that 
 money could have no value unless some arrangement 
 were made for its redemption with something having 
 intrinsic value, like gold or silver, it was ordained that 
 after the expiration of one thousand years, if the peo 
 ple found no further use for money, they could then 
 borrow gold on bonds to redeem it with; just as well 
 as for us to be running in debt to keep up the interest 
 and wear of gold through all that time. By this 
 arrangement it was claimed that the people one 
 thousand years hence would not only have the satis 
 faction of gathering all the gold in the country to take 
 the place of money, but they could also issue bonds, 
 establish a national blessing, and their children will 
 inherit the blessed privilege of paying the interest for 
 all time to come. 
 
 "Our Government not only made and furnished 
 money for all these great enterprises, but the stock 
 representing all these vast sums of money has been 
 reserved for our own people, just the same as they 
 reserve the land, only the use of the land is given to 
 citizens and their heirs free of rent or taxes, forever, 
 or as long as they keep it in use as a home, and the 
 stock furnishes them an investment for their savings. 
 
 "As the inheritance law prevents its being monopo 
 lized, you will find it now scattered among the people 
 and does away with the necessity of a savings bank. " 
 
 Rebecca and the two youngest children, becoming 
 tired of play, had joined the circle; Mr. Gardner, after 
 pausing a few moments turned to his wife and said: 
 "Mother, won't you show Mrs. Goldburg our stock?" 
 In response, Mrs. Gardner turned to the bureau and 
 proceeded to open a drawer; it was plain to Rebecca 
 that some new treasure was about to be disclosed for 
 she had noticed that the children had been very much 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 365 
 
 interested while the father was talking about stock. 
 In another moment Mrs. Gardner returned and placed 
 upon the stand in front of Mrs. Goldburg a beautifully 
 ornamented treasure-box, and on opening it four large 
 envelopes were ^taken out. On each was printed in 
 beautiful type the name and address of each of the 
 children; Jennie and Theodore each took their envel 
 ope and showed their stock to the ladies; it amounted 
 in all to several hundred dollars. Jennie explained 
 that their father gave it to them and they were to keefT 
 it, principal and dividend, until they were married) 
 then they could use it as they pleased. 
 
 "The pleasures, joys and comforts arising from the 
 vast amount of money that is paid out each year," 
 said Mr. Gardner, "among the people as dividend on 
 this stock, could never be counted in dollars and cents. 
 It bears its good fruit everywhere." 
 
 "Yes, sir," said Mrs. Goldburg, "but can it last? 
 My observation is that laws so absolutely just are gen 
 erally evaded in some way or not enforced, and my fear 
 is that the money power of the earth will finally com 
 bine and bring to bear a pressure that will destroy the 
 system; it occurs to me that you will need many safe 
 guards to maintain it, for you see that it destroys 
 plutocracy absolutely. " 
 
 "Just so," said Mr. Gardner, "and the safeguards 
 that we depend upon are our free schools which teach 
 business and finance to the end that every scholar of 
 eighteen is well posted on the way the world has been 
 robbed by the gold banking frauds. The protective 
 tariff and land frauds of the United States are also 
 thoroughly exposed in our school histories; next to our 
 schools is the initiative or referendum which brings 
 every change in statute law before the people; the 
 absolute prohibition of all political parties; we also 
 have another, which I believe should be classed second 
 to none, and that is universal suffrage. We find that 
 ladies will vote invariably for what they believe will be 
 for the good of their children, and no amount of bribe 
 money or false logic will turn them; men are careless 
 with their votes, women are careful. " 
 
$66 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 "Suppose foreign nations refuse to take your money?" 
 said Rebecca. "That is just it," said Mr. Gardner, 
 "that is just what we want; money that is perfectly 
 good at home but cannot be used in foreign countries. 
 We require a certain amount of money to conduct 
 business; when that money is withdrawn, business 
 suffers; so long as it remains in circulation at home, 
 it is where we want it, right where it can be used. 
 
 "When you started for this country, you exchanged 
 your national bank currency for gold coin; when you 
 got here that gold coin was not money and you had to 
 go to our national treasury and sell it; you did this to 
 get money to pay your expenses while here. As gold 
 is used as money in the United States the business of 
 that country has suffered a loss of just that much of 
 this money; should you continue your journey to Eng 
 land, you would have to do the same thing there go 
 to a Broker or Bank and sell your American coin for 
 just what the gold is worth as bullion; if your coin is 
 worn and falls short in weight, they give you only its 
 bullion value. Suppose one of our people go to Eng 
 land or France he goes to the Treasury here where 
 he buys gold bullion for 50 per cent less than it is 
 worth in London; when he gets to France or England 
 he sells his gold bullion just the same as you sell your 
 American coin, only he gets 50 per cent more than 
 he paid. 
 
 "The talk that you hear from your great statesmen in 
 the United States, 'we want a dollar that is good the 
 world over,' is either sophistry made to deceive the 
 confiding people they are so systematically robbing, or 
 it is the voice of ignorance; like an echo, repeating a 
 shallow sound. " 
 
 "If," said Rebecca, "you are selling gold from your 
 treasury for 50 per cent less than it is worth in Lon 
 don, why don't London bankers come here and buy it? 
 That, it seems to me, would be a good profit on gold. " 
 
 "It certainly would," said Mr. Gardner, "but how 
 will they get the money to buy it with? They can't 
 come here and buy our gold with English or American 
 money, because foreign gold coin is worth 50 per cent 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 367 
 
 less here than our national money; so after a banker 
 pays 50 per cent premium for our money to buy gold 
 with, he would have his trouble for his pains. 
 
 "The fact is, that so long as we keep our people all 
 employed with our abundant capital to carry out so 
 many enterprises, our fine machinery to work with and 
 an abundance of rich soil, we will continue to have 
 over-production; in consequence of this, our exports 
 for all time to come, will exceed our imports; hence, 
 gold bullion will continue in the future as in the past 
 to flow into our treasury. There it will pile up and 
 represent our over-production. In your country over 
 production is a ghost from whose spectral form many 
 a half-starved family shrinks; its ghastly presence is 
 felt in every convention, stands guard at every ballot 
 box, stalks abroad among the troubled masses and cries 
 aloud, 'I am the winter of thy discontent.' We have 
 the advantage of every country on earth, except the 
 United States, in amount of superior farming land, 
 rich mines; of timber, of water-power, and we fully 
 believe that a little, unproducing island, like Britain, 
 will never be able to compete with us in the markets 
 of the world. We have the advantage of the United 
 States in this; they pay so much for confidence and 
 credit abroad, that the people are impoverished and 
 not able to increase the irproductive powers. " 
 
 "This looks all right," said Rebecca, "but how about 
 inflation?" 
 
 "Inflation," said Mr. Gardner, "is another English 
 ghost that escaped from the island and has found a 
 home among American statesmen. Its warning cry has 
 been heard in every part of that great country; it is 
 strictly a political ghost and makes its home among 
 bankers. Its mission is to frighten the victims of 
 plutocracy and keep them in the rank of ignorance. 
 Inflation is a myth; a gold-monger's hobby; the law 
 says just how much money shall be put in circulation 
 and no more. When people have free coinage of gold, 
 inflation might be brought about by the discovery of 
 rich gold mines, then additional legislation would be 
 necessary; it is the same way with our money; if new 
 
368 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 mines of great richness were discovered, their large 
 products would increase the volume of money, but as 
 the taking of interest is not allowed, those who had 
 more money than they could use, would lay it aside 
 until the Government's share of profits on the business 
 of the country would reduce the circulation. Our 
 greatest trouble has been to keep the money in circu 
 lation; the tendency has been toward contraction, by 
 the money flowing back into the treasury. " 
 
 "How do you levy State taxes?" said Rebecca. 
 
 "Taxes," said Mr. Gardner, "is a word that is almost 
 obsolete among us and would probably be expunged 
 from our books of learning, were it not for its use in 
 limiting incomes. The expense of Government is 
 quite small. We have no land disputes but can be 
 settled before a Justice of the Peace; we have no law 
 suits with corporations or between corporations. All 
 these thousand-and-one laws growing out of unlimited 
 competition of unbridled wealth, have been unneces 
 sary by our improved business system. In order to 
 protect our elections against fraud, we put the salary 
 of officials at what is supposed to be the average pay 
 for the same class of work in private life. We there 
 fore pay no fancy prices, and men cannot afford to pay 
 much money to get an office. We pay no interest on 
 bonds; our criminals have been the most important 
 item of expense, but even that is light in comparison 
 to your country and is gradually growing less. 
 
 "The Government's shire of the profit on the busi 
 ness of the country, and a revenue derived from a 
 graduated income tax is so enormous that it has been 
 found necessary, in order to keep the money in circu 
 lation, to make annual appropriations to each State of 
 so much money per capita; this has been found suffi 
 cient to pay the entire expense of State Government, 
 including schools. 
 
 "The cities have a license system which seems to 
 work very nicely; as the cities are supported by the 
 trade of the people, this license is supposed to affect 
 all alike." 
 
 "You spoke of criminals," said Mrs. Goldburg, "if 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 369 
 
 your criminal code is as different from ours as your 
 other laws it would be interesting to hear something 
 of it, if not asking too much." 
 
 "Not at all," said that gentleman, "our treatment of 
 criminals, I assure you, is very different from that in 
 vogue in any other country. We start out on the 
 broad ground that to punish crime with a view to 
 avenging the wrong done, is a crime itself. It is 
 claimed by our Law-giver that when a crime has been 
 committed and the fact fully established, the Court has 
 two duties; first, to the people, they being the injured 
 parties, and that duty is to prevent a repetition of the 
 crime; this is done by confining the criminal. It is 
 claimed that crime is simply an effect. Its causes are 
 an unbalanced mind, bad education, surroundings or 
 conditions. Therefore the duty of Government toward 
 this man or woman is to improve the surroundings, 
 enlighten his understanding, and doctor and improve 
 his mental condition. To accomplish this, our Peni 
 tentiaries are like small cities thoroughly walled in. 
 
 "Life prisoners have a department to themselves; 
 they are given their choice, hard work or an educa 
 tion; to avoid hard work they commonly begin study 
 ing very diligently and finally take up reading as a 
 pastime. Their sanitary regulations are of the best 
 character and they are furnished billiard tables for 
 exercise and amusement. Those who need discipline 
 are carefully managed, but those who are industrious 
 are allowed to choose their own hours for study, reading 
 and recreation; if a prisoner's wife wishes to follow 
 him into prison, she is allowed to do so and provision 
 is made for her comfort; but she is required to attend 
 the class with her husband and advance with him 
 intellectually. 
 
 "Prisoners for smaller crimes are allowed four hours 
 for work, two hours each day for recreation, four hours 
 for study; they can learn any trade they choose, and 
 the product of their labor is kept and given them when 
 they are discharged. We also have a Humane Society 
 whose business it is to provide places of employment 
 tor these unfortunates when they are discharged; im- 
 
37O AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 prisonment here is not attended with disgrace; on the 
 contrary, it is considered a very good school and I 
 have known a number of cases where men went right 
 from the prison to the pulpit. There have been but 
 few cases where men have not come out thoroughly 
 reformed. " 
 
 "Does not their work come in competition with honest 
 labor?" said Mrs. Goldburg. 
 
 "There," said Mr. Gardner, "is another absurdity of 
 bad Government; the very idea of complaining of a 
 man because he works. If your American friends 
 would adopt an Industrial system that is founded upon 
 Justice, strip the money lords of their control of money, 
 quit tramping, go to work and improve the country, 
 they would soon find that the more work every 
 man did, the better it would be for all, Our prisons 
 are schools run at the expense of Government and we 
 visit, take an interest in, and are as proud of them as 
 we are of our free school system." 
 
 "One thing more I would like to ask, " said Rebecca. 
 How much stock are you allowed to buy?" 
 
 "All you have money to pay for, if you are a citizen; 
 but the law absolutely prohibits the Government from 
 paying dividends to foreigners." 
 
 "Will you not then have millionaires?" 
 
 "O no; it would be a difficult matter for a man to 
 become one under our form of government. You can 
 own only what land you can cultivate; you only hold 
 that by right of possession; therefore there is no mak. 
 ing millions out of land speculation. In mercantile 
 or manufacturing business, you would come in compe 
 tition with these great joint stock companies, and they 
 do business on so small a margin you would be a long 
 time reaching the million mark. " 
 
 "Well," said Rebecca, "suppose a young man were 
 to inherit $100,000, invested it in stock, compounded 
 it for a lifetime, would he not be pretty rich?" 
 
 "If he did this," said the gentleman, "he would have 
 to earn his living at the same time, so he would 
 become a useful citizen, and when he died, all his 
 surplus wealth would be inherited by the Government 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 37 1 
 
 and go right back into circulation through its liberal 
 appropriations; beside, we have a tax on all incomes 
 above $10,000, levied with a view only to preventing 
 an aggregation of wealth. " 
 
 "Then you really think your Government has done 
 away with rich men altogether?" Rebecca said. 
 
 "Not at all," said Mr. Gardner, "on the contrary, 
 suppose Gould, Vanderbilt and Astor to be worth 
 $300,000,000; in place of these three rich men we 
 would have 6,000 men with $50,000 each, and in this 
 country everything is produced so cheaply, in conse 
 quence of keeping our people constantly employed, 
 with the very best of machinery, that $50,000 is quite 
 sufficient to keep a man and his family with all the com 
 forts and luxuries that even a millionaire's wealth can 
 provide; and I might say more, for in consequence of all 
 our people being employed, our brightest minds find time 
 to study such branches of the sciences and of art as 
 will produce luxuries that your millionaires never 
 dreamed of. So you see that we have hundreds of rich 
 men where you have but one. It has not been the 
 purpose of our Government to do away with rich men, 
 but to make conditions such that all who are inclined 
 to work and economize, would not only be able to live 
 in comfort, but also to accumulate something for their 
 children; also bring about a condition of affairs that 
 would develop the latent powers in man's nature, that 
 the world might receive the benefit of them. 
 
 "Uur system encourages the bettering of man's con 
 dition by every honorable method; but forever puts the 
 veto on any man, by chance or rascality, establishing 
 a monetary system that will continue to grow until it 
 becomes a factor in Government. The question that 
 we propose to solve is, shall wealth rule and govern 
 the people or the people control and govern wealth." 
 
 "What do you think of the theories of Government 
 put forth by Socialists?" asked Rebecca. 
 
 "I hardly like to say," said Mr. Gardner, "Socialists 
 are a people who have my warmest sympathy: I believe 
 they are honest in trying to better man's conditition, 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 but their system looks to me like taking a step back 
 ward. The Roman church is socialism; the Mormon 
 church is socialism. 1 have read Bellamy's book 
 Looking Backward then I have an article here giving 
 Anna Regent's views of a social Government. To me 
 it looks more like the picture of a self-supporting 
 poor house, where a few direct and others do the work. 
 
 "The greatest boon to life, is liberty; liberty to lay 
 plans for your own welfare and to advance your own 
 interests in your own particular way. All any man 
 wants is a chance to work out his own destiny inde 
 pendent of Prince, Potentate and Priest. The family 
 is by nature a social, independent government and any 
 law, religious or political, that mixes up the interests 
 of one family with those of another family, is wrong 
 and not in accordance with natural laws. As an indi 
 vidual, all any man should ask is justice; as a member 
 of a government a man has a right to ask justice and 
 protection against combined powers such as the power 
 of crime, the power of combined or aggregated wealth, 
 the power ot organized bodies such as churches, mobs, 
 and parties. 
 
 "We hold that a church as a monetary power is 
 wrong and to be feared; that all churches as religious 
 gatherings for honest worship are right and should be 
 encouraged; that a mass meeting for the purpose of 
 discussion or getting an expression of the people is 
 good; but if that mass meeting continue an organiza 
 tion from year to year for the purpose of influencing 
 legislation or the vote of the people in their own favor, 
 it becomes a conspiracy and should be prohibited. 
 
 "With us political parties are prohibited, in fact all 
 national organizations are prohibited; five or more 
 persons in any neighborhood can organize for any 
 legitimate purpose and secure a charter, then ground 
 will be furnished them for a building; but they state 
 positively in their articles of incorporation that they 
 are not connected with any similar organization, either 
 financially or in a business way; that they pay no 
 tithing or money in any way to any other institution; 
 that they acknowledge no allegiance to any man in any 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. $73 
 
 way outside their own organization or to any power 
 except the Republic." 
 
 "I should think that would be a blow at religion/' 
 said Mrs. Goldburg. 
 
 "It don't seem to be," said Mr. Gardner, "you see 
 fine churches everywhere and our ministers are never 
 forced to the sad extremity of preaching to empty 
 benches. The fact is, they did not like the idea at 
 first, but one after another called their little crowd 
 together and organized a church. It was soon found 
 that they were so much more liberal than when under 
 church discipline that the plan fairly captured the 
 public and we have a regular boom all over the country 
 in church building and church going. It has inter 
 fered with the church of Rome more than any other, 
 and we consider that, not as a church, but rather a 
 monetary, political despotism, based upon superstition 
 and maintained by a rigid church discipline, centered 
 in an infallible Pope. Its mission is to rule through 
 ignorance and money. Since these people through 
 compulsion of law have been forced to abandon the 
 Pope, like other creed-bound souls, they are coming to 
 recognize the true teaching of Christ, the Universal 
 brotherhood of man, and are fast growing out of their 
 former slavish condition. " 
 
 The ladies remained a few days longer during which 
 they took many delightful drives; in answer to the 
 question as to how their magnificent roads were built, 
 Mr. Gardner said: "Government furnishes the money; 
 sometimes farmers take the contract, but usually it is 
 done by contractors from the city; they always have 
 one year to do it in, so they can take a dull time and 
 thus keep their men constantly employed. In this way 
 our country saves millions of days' work that in you'' 
 country would be spent in tramping, hunting for work. * 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 WE WILL now look after the money men. In a 
 former chapter arrangements had been made for 
 the purpose of doctoring the Constitution. They met 
 on the night appointed. The Lord Earl Chancellor and 
 Dead Earnest Seyd, accompanied by the Expert book 
 keeper and penman, in the room of Saunders and Coy 
 and were soon joined by Baxter, Bowen and Pixley. 
 Drinks were served; the money Lord and Saunders 
 then passed into another room for a moment and held 
 a short conversation in a very low whisper. 
 
 On returning to the room the money Lord placed a 
 sack of gold on the table, then quietly took his seat; 
 Saunders then stepped forward, took the sack and 
 scattered its glittering contents on the cloth, then said: 
 "Gentlemen, here is the cash that moves the world; 
 with it you are respectable in every land and clime; its 
 possession makes reliable critics of knaves and fools; 
 it possesses power that no man can stay; without it 
 even Kingdoms crumble and decay; with it Rothschild 
 is a monarch in his peculiar way. He rules, not one, 
 but all the clans on earth; with his golden sceptre he 
 stands behind the throne and dictates terms of peace 
 and war. He has the power to crush, he has the 
 power to build; before this man all nations bow and 
 act upon his will. But still, it is not the man they 
 fear, it is the power of gold and here it is; plenty and 
 to spare and every man who does his part will get a 
 splendid share. 
 
 "Our cause is just. These people here are drunk 
 upon the paper stuff they call cash, but it is not, it has 
 no worth, it is only paper trash. Their Government 
 has usurped the right of ruining all the banks and 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 375 
 
 robbing wealthy men of that which they accumulate; in 
 the name of God it must be said, they rob the living 
 and the dead by what they call law, inheritance and 
 fncome tax; they say it is right, but we do not; we 
 call it rot, and wrong, and robbery of that noble class 
 of men who purchase land and rent it to the poor for 
 ho^nes; then feed the worthless mob on soup when 
 panics come and all are out of work. Fanatics here 
 are leading on toward calamities untold; no nation has 
 ever lived without the help of gold. 
 
 "When over-production and inflation overtake the 
 foolish crew, they will die like rotten sheep, beyond 
 the care of the noble few who own the gold. 
 
 "Now," said he, in a mild and confidential way, "it 
 is to avoid this calamity that Sherman has agreed to 
 interfere in behalf of the dear people and you, brave, 
 noble-hearted men who stay with us through each and 
 every move will get your gold; you will also be made 
 members of a class of money lords who know no such 
 thing as fail. Here now is a little gold my Lord has 
 asked that I should give to you, that you might know 
 we mean just what we say. " 
 
 Then giving part to each, the glasses were filled up 
 and from the sparkling cup all drank long life to the 
 bank that has the gold. Soon after this a knock was 
 heard and in a moment more John Benedict Sherman 
 entered. "How now my noble Lord?" said John. 
 
 'Quite well," replied the money Lord, "and how art 
 thou, old friend and nearest to my heart of all this 
 noble band?" "Quite well," said John. "And how 
 about thy most important enterprise? Hast thou the 
 Constitution?" "I have, my Lord," said John, pulling 
 from his breast the document which he had stolen from 
 the room containing archives of which he was custodian. 
 
 "Bravo," said every man as Mr. Sherman handed 
 the coveted prize to the money Lord, who quickly 
 placed it in the hands of the expert; this man examined 
 the document for half an hour, then asked if it could 
 be left over for half a day. After considering the 
 matter for a time, Sherman consented to an arrange 
 ment of this kind. Mr. Saunders then showed the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 expert to a room where he could work without 
 interruption. 
 
 This done, the money Lord addressed his little band 
 as follows: "Mr, Sherman, my brave men, has done 
 a uoble deed." "You," said he turning to the Senator, 
 have taken the first grand step toward placing gold 
 where it rightfully belongs. There is no nation on 
 earth but acknowledges the superior rights and privi 
 leges of that class who own the gold. Its rights and 
 properties as money have been acknowledged since 
 civilization began and must not be interfered with now. 
 In behalf of the gold banking power of the world, 
 allow me, in presence of these gentlemen to present to 
 you, Senator Sherman, as part compensation for the 
 noble service you just rendered, this paper which 
 entitles you to stock in the Bank of England to the 
 amount of $1,000,000. You are now a millionaire; 
 it is our wish that you remain in this country in the 
 interest ot the bank. While it will be necessary for 
 you to remain a citizen of the Republic, we shall 
 expect you to visit us in England, now and then, and 
 I am authorized to say to you that upon your first visit, 
 you will be made Knight of the Garter and your 
 picture shall adorn our walls." 
 
 Glasses and bottles were now brought out and all 
 drank the health ot Rothschild. The Money Lord in 
 order to impress upon his hearers the power there is in 
 gold, explained at great length how the English syndi 
 cates and bankers had controlled legislation in their 
 own favor in the United States since 1862. The 
 exception clause on greenbacks, the bond issue with 
 gold bearing interest, banking act contraction, resump 
 tion, demonetization of silver <*iid many other base 
 frauds were referred to, showing conclusively that not 
 one financial act had been passed in all that time that 
 was not directly in the interest of the money power. 
 
 " In a few years, " said he, "we have reduced the com 
 mon horde of America to their proper place and classes 
 have been formed and money rules the American 
 to-day more completely than it does the English; by 
 the national banking system we actually get money 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC- 377 
 
 from the Government for one per cent and loan it back 
 to the people, their own money, on good security at 
 8, 9 and even 10 per cent." 
 
 At this all gave an approving laugh, except Baxter, 
 who seemed a little nettled at having the weakness of 
 his own people exposed; the talk was soon interrupted 
 for a moment by Saunders ordering drinks. After 
 partaking freely a box of cigars went round. Then the 
 money Lord continued addressing Sherman. "It would 
 take too long my dear Senator to explain all the details 
 of how we captured that country, but in short, you will 
 find that history records the fact that while the United 
 States has been working the richest gold and silver 
 mines the world has ever produced, has been raising 
 provisions to feed the world and cotton to clothe them, 
 their indebtedness to us has constantly increased. 
 
 "Their great gold production is all safely stored 
 away in our vaults, the silver in theirs; and mark me 
 well, Senator, the time is not far distant when we will 
 have them demonetize their own silver and btsrrow our 
 gold for which we will demand interest bearing bonds. 
 Of course we have had many good, true Americans 
 helping us, but they have all been well paid and have 
 become millionaires; in fact, we now have an organiza 
 tion of monied men all over the business world, and in 
 it millionaires from America figure very conspicuously; 
 this organization will eventually extend throughout the 
 earth and the gold power will elect presidents and con 
 trol legislation, make kings and depose them when 
 they fail to carry out the mandates of our order. 
 
 "As the great wealthy classes have ruled the world 
 in past ages through the power of superstition centered 
 in a Pope, we propose to rule the world through the 
 unlimited power of gold; but its central office will be 
 in London, not in Rome. The business of the world 
 will soon be done by joint stock companies; the money 
 or gold power will own the stock and through it 
 receive all the profits of business and individual effort. 
 
 "The New Republic of Bundy, Lincoln, Jefferson and 
 Summerville has already been neglected too long, but 
 the war has commenced; the power of concentrated 
 
378 AN ID EAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 wealth will soon be felt; this fanatical system must be 
 destroyed and the power of gold restored. 
 
 "If we can do this by controlling legislation, we will 
 prevent the shedding of blood and reap eternal blessings 
 from the powers on high. I tell you, Senator Sherman, 
 if our efforts should entirely fail, there will be a 
 pressure brought to bear upon these people that will 
 leave them rotting by the roadside; when the scourge 
 has been removed, classes will be formed; rhe toiling 
 masses will then be taught not to get above their 
 occupation; that it is a mistake for them to abandon 
 their own sphere and infringe on the rights of nobility. " 
 
 It was now suggested that drinking time had come 
 again and soon the corks began to pop; this time they 
 drank success to the money Lord. 
 
 This finished, the Lord took a dignified position and 
 with the air of one who held supreme authority, also 
 considered himself complete master of the situation, 
 he inquired of Sherman if he knew any member of the 
 lower House who could be considered worthy to become 
 one of their associates. After thinking a while the 
 Senator said he "thought he could name a man who, 
 by money, could be induced to associate himself with 
 us; his name is Benedict Arnold and I take him to be 
 one of our kind." 
 
 "Would it be possible to see him and bring him here 
 this very night?" said the Lord. 
 
 After consulting his watch, Sherman said: "Should 
 I find him without delay, it would be barely possible." 
 
 "Will you do this little favor," said the Lord; "then 
 bring him to me at once; make known that this is a 
 matter of honor; our office is one of charity. What 
 we wish to do may not be exactly right, but" we do it 
 to avoid something in the future that we believe would 
 be still worse; be sure, my dear Senator, and impress 
 upon his mind the fact that money will be no object if 
 our ends can be attained." 
 
 The Senator now took his departure; the Lord 
 politely escorted him to the door and by way of cau 
 tion, said: "It will perhaps be well, Senator, to have 
 the man commit himself; here is $100 in gold, see that 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 379 
 
 he accept the same as bonus before he comes; should 
 we fail to agree on general terms, this will pay him 
 tor the trouble we have given him. We represent a 
 noble class, have an important work to do, wish to be 
 strictly honorable in all our methods and liberal with 
 our friends." 
 
 The Senator took the money, passed into a dark alley, 
 followed that to one of the back streets; after a brisk 
 walk he reached a main thoroughfare where he stepped 
 upon a street car and in a few moments was at the 
 hotel where he found Mr. Arnold quietly reading the 
 evening news. As the Senator approached Mr. Arnold 
 recognized him, arose and extended his hand; a few 
 low words passed and the two retired to a private 
 room; after being in deep conversation for some time, 
 they again came forth and as they did so, Sherman 
 dropped some pieces of gold into the hand of the 
 Congressman which he quietly slipped into his pocket; 
 soon after this the Lord and his companion heard a 
 low knock at the door and Saunders received the two 
 gentlemen and they were ushered into the presence of 
 the money Lord. Mr. Arnold was introduced in due 
 form, after which a few common-place remarks passed 
 between them, drinks were served and for a time all 
 went merry; at last when things had quieted down the 
 man of gold addressed Mr. Arnold as follows: 
 "You are a member of Congress?" "Yes, sir." 
 "Have you considered the financial situation?" N 
 "As a special subject," said the Congressman, "lean 
 hardly say that I have. Our financial system is so 
 simple that it seems to require no particular study; it 
 is a mere matter of dollars and cents and we have none 
 of those difficult problems arising from giving money 
 two values; one a bullion value which is constantly 
 changing, the other a money value which should never 
 change. " 
 
 "True, true," said the money Lord, "there are many 
 knotty questions, but it is through an understanding 
 of this problem that we make our money; we under 
 stand it but the common people don't; do you see?" 
 
380 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 After quietly knocking the ashes from his cigar and 
 taking another puff, the money Lord continued: 
 
 "Mr. Arnold, has it never occurred to you that it is 
 humiliating for a great Republic like this to be tying 
 themselves to the rag-baby make-shift for money, 
 instead of using the clear quill?" 
 
 "I hardly know how to answer that question," said 
 the Congressman, feeling his own insignificance in the 
 presence of this money Lord who wore diamonds and 
 had millions at his back. He then proceeded in regu 
 lar school boy style, as follows: "I was raised a 
 Republican in the United States and was taught that 
 paper money had no value unless based on gold; when 
 I first came here I talked a great deal about the evils 
 that would arise from a paper currency. I called it 
 rag-baby and such other names as the bankers gave it 
 where I was raised. When I saw our Government 
 issuing money to the great companies by millions, 
 enough to run every conceivable enterprise and give 
 work to every one that wanted to work, I said now we 
 will have inflation; but the people kept buying up the 
 stock and the money kept going back into the treasury, 
 the same as it goes into the banks at home. My 
 prophecies of inflation all failed; times, too, have been 
 so wonderfully good and growing better all the time, 
 it actually looks as if the people of this Government 
 had all gone into partnership on the joint stock plan 
 and are doing so much work that they will soon, with 
 their fine machinery, be able to" feed and clothe the 
 entire globe. In this reckless push of all kinds of 
 business, they seem to have forgotten all about gold 
 and lost respect for it; in fact, things have assumed 
 such a shape through our extensive exports that gold 
 is worth absolutely nothing. The agents of these 
 great companies have had so much trouble abroad in 
 exchanging gold for interest bearing securities that I 
 supposed it was getting to be a drug on the markets 
 of the world. " 
 
 "That you see is where the trouble comes from," 
 said the Lord, "your people are constantly taking out 
 gold and shipping it to us; we cannot buy it for they 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 3&T 
 
 will not take our money and the exchange of goods is 
 all in their favor. We can hardly afford to give them 
 bonds for that is our stock in trade, beside we do 
 not need the gold. You see a little gold does us as 
 well as more would, for the fact is, we don't use it as 
 money very much, because paper is so much handier; 
 but gold is made the base; we keep it in our vaults; 
 that makes our paper good. There is where confidence 
 comes in. We get gold base, and confidence, and 
 parity, and honest dollars all mixed up until none but 
 a financier can understand it, and that is the way we 
 make our money. We have millions of money laying 
 idle in our vaults; all we ask is for all the Govern 
 ments on earth to make gold the only legal tender; 
 tfien, as we have pretty much all the gold and people 
 ;ompelled to have it to pay debts with, we can fix the 
 price, and the less we have the more we can ask for it. 
 As long as the United States can get gold from this 
 Republic, they will not come to us. If your country 
 will use their own gold for money, their circulation is 
 so great that they, too, like the United States, would 
 soon have to come to us for money and you who 
 assist in securing this end will fare as sumptuously as 
 have the bankers of the United States. 
 
 "I should think," said Arnold, that when the people 
 of the United States see their property slipping away 
 from them, the masses growing poorer, the bankers 
 richer, they would change their policy." 
 
 "Yes, you would think so," said the Lord, "but they 
 don't; the fact is they are proud of their millionaires 
 and the poorer they get the better we can manage them. 
 We have banks in the United States and a bank in 
 England; when we want to force Congress to pass a 
 law in our favor, we ship the gold to Britain, the 
 associated press sends out the report for news; we get 
 up a big scare, the banks quit loaning money, a panic 
 ensues, business firms collapse, men are thrown out of 
 employment, soup houses started; then through our 
 great dailies we raise a cry for whatever law -we want 
 passed, as a means to restore confidence and make 
 good times. 
 
32 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 "Shysters who expect favors from the moneyed men 
 or from banks, take up the cry and if any man dare to 
 oppose it, they call him crank, calamity-howler or 
 anarchist; confusion prevails. We tip the great states 
 men and remind them that it takes money to run the 
 great political machine; then they make long speeches, 
 full of sophistry, arguing from false stand-points and 
 finding no solution, until the people conclude that the 
 truth is like the way of the Lord, past finding out, and 
 they become disgusted, quit reading the papers and 
 turn their attention to rustling for something to eat; 
 then mid the cry of distress, the law is passed, banks 
 again loan money and the starving get something to do 
 at the lowest possible prices. 
 
 "Time rolls on and we have an election and a land 
 slide, that is, the voters slide out of one party into 
 another. Then we repeat the dose and make another 
 haul. A robber stops the train and robs the safe of a 
 few hundred dollars, they shoot him down on sight; 
 we get the company in a pinch, take the whole road 
 and they call us great. 
 
 "Since time immemorial there has been a wealthy 
 class. There has been a poor class and there always 
 will be. Some men are born to be rich, some are born 
 to be poor. Right now, there is a chance for you to 
 get on the winnyig side, and what I want is your 
 assistance in getting a law through Congress to bring 
 about free coinage of gold; that will be pretty good for 
 the present; but we will try to get a law through the 
 next Congress to withdraw the present money and 
 issue bonds in its place ; also establish national banks, 
 based on bonds. The banks can loan national money 
 based on the bonds, that will supply business with the 
 means of continuing, and we, as bankers, will get 
 interest from the Government on the bonds and 
 interest on the money from the people. This will be 
 millions of dollars in our pockets each year, and you 
 will soon see millionaires coming to the front here as 
 rapidly as they did in the United States after we got 
 control of their money." 
 
 "Do you suppose, " said Arnold, "that our legislators 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 383 
 
 could be induced to withdraw from circulation all our 
 paper money, which amounts to millions upon millions 
 of dollars, and put out bonds, thereby actually create 
 a debt where none exists, the interest of which would 
 in twenty-five or thirty years amount to more than the 
 face of the bonds? Besides this, compel the people to 
 borrow money to take its place. The interest on the 
 money, even, without the interest on the bonds, would 
 impoverish the people. " 
 
 "Never mind the people," said the money Lord, "we 
 must look after our own business and let the people 
 look after theirs. I will make it of interest for you to 
 be with us. " 
 
 "But," said the Congressman, "it is a bare-faced 
 swindle. Our people would never stand it." 
 
 "My dear sir," said the Lord, "there is where you 
 are mistaken; you understand we are not going blind; 
 we have a precedent. In the United States after the 
 civil war, there were millions upon millions of dollars 
 of money in circulation, enough to satisfy every 
 demand and make business lively; the people were 
 drunk with prosperity, just as they are here to day. 
 They went to their work joyously singing, 'Uncle Sam 
 is rich enough to give us all a farm,' and right amid 
 these lively times we forced a bill through Congress 
 similar to the one I have just proposed. Bonds with 
 gold interest were exchanged for national money and 
 the money was destroyed; then through the national 
 banking act, we deposited the bonds with the Govern 
 ment and they gave us 90 per cent of our money back 
 and we loaned that to the people to take the place of 
 the old-fashioned greenback. So you see this plan is 
 no new thing. The American people stood it and your 
 people are not one whit smarter than they were. Of 
 course the same causes will produce the same effect 
 here. As to the part you are to play in this affair, in 
 making up your mind, you should consider former 
 examples. 
 
 "In the United States, General Weaver fought the 
 scheme in Congress where he was antagonized by Mr. 
 Garfield, who afterward jumped from almost obscurity 
 
384 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 to the Presidential chair; while General Weaver, who 
 remained true to the people, has never received an 
 office since and has spent thousands of dollars advo 
 cating the people's cause. If you look the matter up, 
 my dear Mr. Arnold, you will find that those who sup 
 ported our scheme in the United States have all been 
 well paid; they are millionares to-day and hold the 
 destiny of the nation in their hands." 
 
 The money Lord now, by a peculiar motion of his 
 hand, which is only practiced and understood in that 
 high order of society to which he belonged, suggested 
 drinks; toasts went round and merry-making became 
 general. When, after many drinks it subsided, the 
 money Lord continued: "I am fully authorized, Mr. 
 Arnold, to push the work and the money at my com 
 mand is unlimited; every man who assists me in the 
 scheme will be promptly and liberally paid; in the end 
 will become a millionaire and one of us. 
 
 "In the United States there are more millionaires 
 than in Great Britain and they are to-day members of 
 our noble order and are of our making; for without 
 our careful engineering the United States would to-day 
 be plodding along with her greenback money, and 
 there would be hardly a man in the whole country 
 wealthy enough to command the respect of his fellows. 
 Now if you are willing to assist us in this matter, and 
 link your destiny with ours, braving every disappoint 
 ment, I will make you one of us, and to make my 
 word emphatic, what say you to a cool $100,000 in gold?" 
 
 "Gold," said Arnold, "has little value in this country; 
 you see, my Lord," and the Congressman came near 
 choking, for he had never said, "my Lprd" to a man 
 in his life before; he had been taught by a kind and 
 loving mother, that Lord meant God and there were 
 not many gods, but One; but the smiling face of the 
 money Lord reassured him and he went on: "Our 
 foreign trade is conducted by probably the greatest 
 joint-stock company in the world, and our exports so 
 far exceed our imports that the gold in our vaults is 
 piling up continually and to check the accumulation, 
 our Government has refused to buy gold, except the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 385 
 
 production of our mines. If I am to remain in this 
 country a life-time $100,000 in gold would be a good 
 deal like a white elephant, good for a show, only; I 
 could neither sell it nor use it for money. If you could 
 give me $100,000 in our money, I could invest it at 
 once where it would produce an income; there are 
 always chances to become a partner in some business 
 that will pay; I would then have something to work 
 on with some hope of success; but gold in this coun 
 try is a drug." 
 
 "That is all very true, but it is impossible," said the 
 money Lord, "to get that kind of money. Gold will 
 not buy it; but what we want is a law for the free 
 coinage of gold and you will see how quick our gold 
 will show its power. First, the law makes money of 
 gold, then money makes law to sustain gold and 
 increase its value. With your assistance I think we 
 can pass a law this very year that will place gold 
 in power. " 
 
 "I doubt that," said Arnold, "there is Lincoln, 
 Bundy and Summerville; these men are high in 
 authority and always on the alert. I have locked horns 
 with them before and they are a power, beside, there 
 is the Constitution in the way." 
 
 The money Lord gave a knowing look to Saunders, 
 then said: "What care we for the Constitution; if we 
 get gold made the money of the country, we will put 
 so much of it in the hands of officials here that we can 
 trample the Constitution under foot; and as for Lincoln, 
 Bundy and Summerville; all along the page of history, 
 from time immemorial, you will see such men have 
 always died at the hands of those they tried to protect. 
 The people are ignorant and ungrateful; money men 
 are wise, educated and pay their helpers well. What 
 we want now is work; I present you with a check tor 
 $100,000 in British gold. If we succeed, you will be 
 a nobleman of wealth and a power in the Government. 
 Should we fail, you can exchange with some man who 
 is going trom here to some of the gold-base countries; 
 but we belong to a class that know no such thing as fail. " 
 
 Mr. Arnold took the proffered check, put it carefully 
 
386 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 away and drinks were once more served; several glasses 
 were emptied in quick succession. All became quite 
 well enthused and with a shake all around, agreed to 
 meet on the following evening when unfinished business 
 would be taken up. 
 
 As the party passed into the back yard, Sherman 
 staid behind and the Lord instructed him to post Mr. 
 Arnold, according to his own discretion, on the con 
 templated change of Constitution, then accompany 
 him back on the following evening. 
 
 Mr. Arnold was not really a bad man. Being a 
 lawyer, he accepted the first $100 more as a retaining 
 fee than as a bribe. He knew Mr. Sherman as a 
 prominent statesman and had no reason to believe 
 him dishonest. He stood high as an authority and had 
 the confidence of the people. When he found himself 
 in the presence of the money Lord, he was over-awed; 
 that gentleman's superior manner, backed by unlimited 
 capital, made our Congressman's personality fade into 
 insignificance. Persons of modest means who have 
 been thrown into company with millionaires, will 
 recognize the disadvantage under which Mr. Arnold 
 was placed. Mr. Sherman was in a position far his 
 superior and was undoubtedly working for the money 
 men, then why should he refuse? He had always 
 considered himself a very ordinary man; the people 
 had elected him to Congress, then called him honora 
 ble; he had never believed himself better than his 
 neighbors, but in this he must have been mistaken, 
 else these money kings would not be taking him into 
 their confidence and giving him more wealth than he 
 could accumulate in a life time. The money Lord's 
 arguments were good. He knew what had been done 
 in the United States. If he kept the check and 
 the scheme failed he would be a rich man. If they 
 captured the new Republic as they had the United 
 States, he would become a millionaire and a place in 
 the Senate would be secured to him for all time to 
 come. Thus Arnold soliloquized. 
 
 On the following night the parties again met at the 
 private room of Saunders in accordance with their pre- 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 387 
 
 vious understanding. The first thing . in order was 
 drinks; long life to the money power, was the senti 
 ment expressed. The expert then produced his work 
 upon the Constitution. All agreed the job was com 
 plete. The Inheritance clause had been so changed 
 that it could easily be evaded. The effectiveness of 
 the Money clause had also been destroyed, and still 
 there was not the least evidence of the Instrument 
 having been tampered with. 
 
 The Money Lord said it was a marvelous work and 
 equal to the demonetization of silver in the United 
 States in 1873. Mr. Sherman explained that it was 
 not exactly what he wanted, but he was willing to 
 accept it in order, as he believed, to prevent something 
 worse. Unless something was done he feared the 
 people would continue to prosper until they became 
 so drunk on worthless money, big wages, fair prices 
 and plenty of work that they would demand free coin 
 age of silver and that would be disastrous. "Too much 
 money, " said he, "makes men reckless and extravagant. " 
 He thought common farmers and toilers expected to 
 live as well as the wealthy classes and he feared to 
 contemplate the end of a system that encouraged such 
 extravagance. Drinks were now called. All drank 
 success to the new enterprise, and while Saunders was 
 on one of his political flights, in which he extolled 
 plutocracy, a heavy jar or blow burst in the outside 
 door and footsteps were heard along the narrow 
 approach to this room. All noise was hushed; tramp, 
 tramp, tramp came the unwelcome sounds. 
 
 "What means all this?" said Saunders. "I see, we 
 are betrayed. Baxter, give me the key, I'll meet them 
 in the hall, and e'er they burst another door, I'll 
 bathe this blade in human gore." 
 
 "Brave Saunders," said the money Lord, "hold, 
 hold, thou art too bold. We'll let the knaves come in, 
 then buy them with a little gold and make them part 
 of us. They, possibly, are the kind of stuff that we 
 most need." 
 
 Then Saunders turned and said: "My Lord, these 
 men are knaves, but I feel sure they never will sell. 
 
388 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 I'd rather put my trust in hell, than in these men." 
 Then, turning to the little band, said: "Who is the 
 traitor that would give us up to death?" 
 
 "Look," said Pixley, "see in me one of the common 
 horde, a spy, detective, police; all that you men 
 most despise. " 
 
 "Thou art the traitor, then," said Saunders, "and 
 die thou shalt, " and brandishing his blade he made a 
 move, but Pixley, brave as he, with gun in hand, 
 said, "stand!" At this, from heavy blows, the door gave 
 way and a dozen men, or more, all in uniform, 
 marched in. 
 
 "In the name of the Republic, I command you to 
 surrender," said the Chief. 
 
 "Ha ha ha," said the money Lord, "have seats, gen 
 tlemen, and let us talk the matter up. " 
 
 "Not so, "said the Chief, "we came here not to talk. " 
 
 "One moment with thee, then, " said the money Lord, 
 and the two with Saunders stepped into a side room. 
 "Be seated," said the Lord. 
 
 "No, no, you must be brief," said the honest Chief, 
 "I cannot dally here for idle words." 
 
 Then said the Lord: "Now is you time to make a 
 raise and secure a place in society seldom reached by 
 ordinary men. We have a scheme in view for legisla 
 tion here. We want your help. I mean just what I 
 say. I represent the banking business of the world. 
 There is no limit to my cash. Say now that you will 
 work for us and a million dollars in gold in England's 
 bank is yours." 
 
 The Chief in anger, said: "Dost thou take me fora 
 knave, to offer me a bribe?" 
 
 "Not so, not so," said the Lord, it is only like the 
 finding of a mine to you acid such a chance will not 
 come to you every day. " 
 
 The Chief, in an irritated air, said: "What care I 
 for your gold? It is trash and does not weigh when 
 honor is in the scale. " 
 
 "Honor," said the Lord, "is measured up by gold; 
 with it man is honorable everywhere; without it he is 
 never heard. The world at large honors the man of 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 389 
 
 gold; the man without it has nothing and knows 
 nothing; he dares not say his soul is his own, and now 
 I bid thee take this check and we will make thee one us. " 
 
 "Sir," said the Chief, in earnest tones, "my duty is 
 first to my country and to God. This talk is all to no 
 effect. Were you to give me all the gold on earth it 
 would not cure a solitary pain nor would it buy one 
 pure, angelic thought. Had gold been clothed with 
 the same power in the new Republic that it is in other 
 countries, few men, perhaps, would have refused a 
 bribe like this, but gold being debased, Justice reigned 
 and in its course the people's cause sustained." 
 
 After this positive refusal, the Chief stepped to the 
 door and said; "Come on," and passing to the other 
 room the men could only follow. When all had 
 returned, he said: "Gentlemen, my duty is impera 
 tive and in consequence of the enormity of the crime 
 of which you are charged, I shall be compelled to put 
 all in irons. " 
 
 "I protest," said Saunders, "against this toul act. 
 We are all honorable men of fortune. Fix your bonds, 
 sir, and we can give you all you dare to ask." 
 
 "Bonds, 15 said the Chief, "do you not know that in 
 this land, liberty cannot be bought with gold? We 
 take no bonds; the rich and poor are responsible alike 
 for their crimes. " 
 
 "Then I protest," said Sherman, "against the 
 usurpation and ungentlemanly procedure. I am a 
 Senator of this Republic and there is no precedence 
 for such arbitrary and inhuman conduct toward a gen 
 tleman of official standing. I will give you my honor, 
 sir, to report at court to-morrow and will be responsi 
 ble for all of my associates, but I deny your authority 
 to arrest either me or my associates. :| 
 
 "I, sir," said the Lord, "am an English citizen and 
 will claim the protection of the British flag." 
 
 "Put these men in irons," said the Chief, and his 
 orders were quickly carried out. 
 
 This being done, the room was searched for papers 
 and the Constitution found among some books where 
 it had been laid during the hilarity of the evening. 
 
3QO AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 All were then taken to jail. As court was in session, 
 they were tried in a very few days, found guilty, and 
 the Judge, in sentencing them to be hung for con 
 spiracy and treason, calling their attention to the 
 enormity of the crime, said: "There was but little 
 doubt that the main body of conspirators were in the 
 United States and England. If he had them all, he 
 could hang a traitor to human liberty on every tele 
 graph pole from one side of the continent to the other." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 WE will now return to the quiet farm of Mr. Gardner. 
 It was situated not many miles from the city of 
 South Bend; the ladies had several times been driven 
 to the city and had been interested in seeing its large 
 factories and smaller concerns, running in full blast. 
 The retail stores were first class and well supplied with 
 goods, and were the only establishments run by private 
 enterprise, in the same way as they are run in the 
 United States, except that there is rio such thing as 
 having credit; there was no necessity for that. 
 
 "Persons who are well can always find work," Mr. 
 Gardner explained to them, "and if one person meets 
 with misfortune, assistance is furnished by neighbors, 
 all being well off. Before the national banking system 
 and gold-gamblers had sway in the United States, the 
 same condition existed there, but now there seems to 
 be a reign of selfishness and terror. 
 
 "A gentleman came here five years ago from Indiana, 
 by the name of Grimes, aad started a carriage and 
 wagon shop on a small scale; being a good mechanic 
 his neighbors induced him to organize a joint-stock 
 company with a capital stock of $300,000 to carry on 
 the manufacture of carriages and wagons. After 
 organizing in due form, we sent our papers on, the 
 plan was approved, a charter granted and the stock and 
 money sent to our sub treasury; officers were appointed 
 and Mr. Grimes made superintendent. It is a much 
 simpler method than selling the bonds to foreign 
 syndicates. 
 
 "On receipt of the money business commenced and 
 the factory has ever since furnished constant employ 
 ment for many men, made a market for timber, also 
 for such other articles as are consumed by the work- 
 
3Q2 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 men and their families. Two-thirds of the stock is 
 now owned by those who work for the company; the 
 remainder is scattered among the people, and the 
 factory, with an abundance of capital, is shipping its 
 vehicles to all parts of the country. In the Republic 
 we have several such establishments, but their profits 
 being limited, they do not come in competition. 
 
 "These other large manufacturing establishments 
 were started on the same plan; the stock is now owned 
 by our citizens, not one dollar of it having gone out 
 of our own county, while the money that started the 
 institutions has all gone back into the treasury from 
 whence it came. From this you can see the beauties 
 of our system; there is nothing useful to man, outside 
 of natural productions of the earth in a wild state, but 
 is the product of brain and muscle; the people have 
 that, but it is worthless without means; money is the 
 means by which men are set to work; their work soon 
 earns money which, finding no better investment, goes 
 back to the Government in exchange for stock. You 
 see the result; we have no place, nor use for foreign 
 capital, while we hold that it is the duty of Govern 
 ment to keep the land for the use of the people, we 
 also hold it to be the duty of Government to keep all 
 commercial stock for the purpose of securing, so far as 
 possible, a safe investment for the savings of the 
 people and to prevent its being monopolized. Our 
 inheritance law has served a very good purpose." 
 
 "I am told," said Mrs. Goldburg, "you have many 
 great ships; how do you manage to build them?" 
 
 "In exactly the same way, only the stock is portioned 
 out to the different sub-treasuries, according to popu 
 lation; this is done with a view to giving all our people 
 an opportunity to invest their savings." 
 
 During their stay an election was to take place; 
 the ladies, knowing that universal suffrage was the rule 
 and that no proposition could become law until voted 
 on by the people, thus making themselves their own 
 legislators, had a desire to learn something of their 
 peculiar methods; therefore when an opportunity pre 
 sented itself, Mrs. Goldburg said to Mr. Gardner: 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 393 
 
 "I would like to know something concerning your 
 elections. It occurs to me from what I have heard, 
 that a polling place is about the last place that a 
 modest woman would like* to be seen in." 
 
 "Modesty," said he "should prevent no one from 
 going where duty calls. We are taught that there 
 exists in man's nature, two controlling elements, one 
 for good and the other for evil. The one is con 
 stantly leading upward toward God, the other farther 
 away from truth, justice and light. It is claimed that 
 where the elements for good predominate in an 
 assembly, woman's safety and protection are secured 
 and her presence is always desirable; if the proper 
 place for woman is not at the polls, it is the best 
 evidence in the world that the people have surrendered 
 their right to self-government and allowed bad influences 
 to come in and dominate elections. 
 
 "Show me the place where the presence of a man's 
 wife, mother and sister is not admissible and I will 
 show you a splendid place for him to avoid. While 
 our elections are so pure that our women and children 
 can be present, we have no fear of the vote being 
 influenced by bankers or any other conspiracy against 
 the best interests of the people, through the use of 
 money, whiskey or dishonest methods. " 
 
 After a moment's pause, he continued: "To-morrow 
 we are to have an election and if you will, we would 
 be glad to have you all go and see for yourselves how 
 our elections are conducted." 
 
 Two miles from the farm was a prominent cross 
 road and a central point in the neighborhood. Govern 
 ment had reserved two acres of land on each corner for 
 public uses; on one corner a magnificent church had 
 been erected, the combined effort of the entire religious 
 element. It was owned in common by a society 
 organized for the purpose, whose charter stipulated at 
 what time each denomination should have its use. 
 
 On the same lot was a small building designed for 
 small gatherings, such as primaries, literary or other 
 societies. In this building the election was held. On 
 the other corners stood a public school building, a 
 
394 AN IDEAl, REPUBLIC. 
 
 residence near by for the use of teachers, and opposite 
 a repair shop and a store. 
 
 On the day of election the ladies went to the place 
 for voting, in Mr. Gardner's carriage; they found 
 many other ladies already there, and having been 
 introduced to several prominent people, they took seats 
 and became interested spectators of the scenes about 
 them. Everything was quiet and orderly; a majority 
 had brought their ballots from home already prepared, 
 and these were standing about in groups engaged in 
 pleasant conversation, in so lov; a tone as not to dis 
 turb others; in the back of the room stood a table and 
 around it were sitting the board of electors consisting 
 of five persons, three of whom were ladies. 
 
 Public sentiment here being opposed to the use of 
 even the mildest form of whiskey at the polls, it was 
 not tolerated; consequently there was an absence of 
 bottles. Mr. Gardner remarked, "that they would as 
 soon think of allowing a lunatic to vote, as a drunken 
 man. Money-sharks were conspicuously absent; men 
 here receive office more as a matter of honor than for 
 profit, the salaries being gagued by the general price 
 paid for the same kind of work outside thus no one 
 could afford to pay for position except by good works. " 
 
 That evening, Rebecca received through the mail, a 
 letter from a member of an Ethical society in Kiyongo, 
 asking her to deliver a course of lectures before their 
 society. She returned an answer to the effect that she 
 would do so and allowed them to make their own 
 appointment as to the time. 
 
 During Rebecca's visit at this delightful home, she 
 had informed herself through the papers of the trial of 
 the conspirators and of the dreadful sentence. She was, 
 under all circumstances, opposed to capital punish 
 ment and determined, if her lecture was a success, to 
 risk everything in the effort to secure the release of the 
 me'n. She had learned something of President Bundy's 
 character but nothing of his previous history and dared 
 not hope that the honest, innocent, simple-minded 
 youth who had occupied so prominent a place in her 
 thoughts and affections, and had gone to California 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 395 
 
 while yet a boy, was now the President of a great 
 Republic. She dared not mention to her mother or 
 Minnie, the possibility of such a thing, nor was she 
 willing to allow herself the comfort of such a hope; 
 still the name was constantly presenting itself and she 
 found herself often thinking of her early love. 
 
 The society at Kiyongo had given out the appointment 
 and in order to meet it, it was necessary for the ladies to 
 take the morning train, which they did after saying good 
 bye to this kind family. On arriving in the city, they 
 were met by members of the society and escorted in a 
 carriage to the hotel where the committee arranged to 
 meet them later and withdrew. 
 
 That evening President Bundy was looking over his 
 evening paper, when General Summerville, who had 
 just returned from a trip to the coast, came. While 
 conversing, a hand-bill announcing the lecture was 
 thrown in; the name, Rebecca Goldburg, at once 
 attracted the attention of the President. For a time 
 he was completely lost, in thought and so oblivious to 
 his surroundings that it required persistent entreaty 
 on the part of his companion to elicit this explanation: 
 "I once knew a girl by the same name; I learned that 
 she was married to a millionaire in Boston; but this 
 announcement leads me to think I may have been 
 misinformed." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said the General, "I remember seeing 
 that name written on waste paper on your desk, about 
 a thousand times. I am not surprised at your being 
 interested. " 
 
 "What do you say to our going," said the President 
 and the two friends soon found themselves occupying a 
 box in the great hall. 
 
 "The seats filled up rapidly and the President asked: 
 "Do you know where the lady is from?" 
 
 "I do not," said the other, "she delivered a lecture 
 at Summerville not long ago and I was told by a friend 
 of mine that she made a decided hit; he called her a 
 regular star." 
 
 They had not long to wait; the seats were nearly 
 full and the band had just ceased playing an American 
 

 396 AH IDEAL REPUBLIC, 
 
 national air, in honor of the fair lecturess, when 
 Rebecca stepped upon the stage, was duly introduced 
 and greeted with a round of applause. 
 
 To Frank, for it was Frank Bundy, now, pure and 
 simple, it was like an apparition. There before him, 
 stood the fair form of his early love; was it all a 
 dream? No, it was too real. 
 
 He sat as one entranced, and when her clear, calm 
 voice, unfaltering in its accent, penetrated the atmos 
 phere of that great hall and touched the hearts of all, 
 its effect was like the balm of love or zephyrs laden 
 with rich perfume. 
 
 All seemed deeply interested, and every word was 
 distinctly heard in that vast auditorium. 
 
 The lecture was a brilliant satire on man's incon 
 sistencies, but had, from beginning to end, an under 
 lying principle of love and wisdom that carried men's 
 souls upward and onward. 
 
 Frank sat leaning forward, catching every accent, 
 his whole soul filled with his boyish love, and to him, 
 Rebecca's voice was to his love-thirsty soul, like nec 
 tar to the lips of the tarnished traveller. 
 
 The subject of the lecture was "Progress," and as it 
 has been the design of this work to show, in as simple 
 a manner as possible, the false teaching of gold-gam 
 blers, no effort will be made to reproduce Rebecca's 
 words, except so far as they were related to evils 
 resulting from the superstitious use of gold as money. 
 
 Going back into remote periods, she pictured man 
 in his barbaric state; first, in families wandering 
 through the forests and along the streams, sleeping in 
 caves and cozy nooks in nature's wilds; they lived 
 upon fruits, leaves, grasses, barks, herbs and insects. 
 When they were scarce, they hunted game and lived upon 
 meat; as time rolled on, in favored regions, mankind 
 became more numerous. It was then decreed in nature 
 that man should go forth and subdue the earth; by the 
 natural course of evolution, from necessity and inborn 
 desire to progress, he began to cultivate the soil and 
 soon found himself, as farmers and toilers always do, 
 (if not robbed) with plenty and to spare. 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC, 397 
 
 Then, guided by brutal instinct and void of reason, 
 others came in larger numbers and robbed them of their 
 crops; this forced those who toiled into small commu 
 nities for protection; there progress continued and 
 animals were domesticated. Those who lived on high 
 and barren lands raised goats, while those who occu 
 pied the fertile bottom lands, raised corn. 
 
 Those on the high lands, as stockmen always do, 
 found that nature had supplied them with more than 
 they could use; when a man in the valley had a sur 
 plus of corn, he was often willing to take a goat in 
 exchange for a bushel. At la^t it came to pass that 
 the herdsmen wanted ten bushels of corn; but the 
 farmer said, "I have no place to keep the goats." 
 Then the herdsman proposed to give ten pieces of 
 leather of a peculiar kind, made only by himself and 
 said to the farmer: "This is my money, each piece 
 represents a goat; I will give them to you tor corn." 
 The farmer took the money; the next day a man came 
 to work for the farmer and was to have one bushel of 
 corn for each day's work. The farmer wanted twenty 
 days' work, but the man wanted only ten bushels ot 
 corn. Then said the farmer: "What do you want?" 
 "I want goats " "All right, "'said the farmer, "I will 
 give you ten pieces of money and you can buy goats. 
 The man did the work and took the money and it so 
 happened that he wanted pottery from another neigh 
 bor, but the man said, "I do not want your work, I 
 want corn and goats." "All right," said the man, "I 
 will give you money and you can buy corn and goats, " 
 He then took the pottery and gave him six pieces of 
 money and kept four for his own use. 
 
 "This," said the fair lecturer, "was money in every 
 sense of the word; it did everything that money .can 
 do for man's benefit, assisted in the exchange of 
 product and labor. An ax has its use and its benefits 
 to mankind are incalculable, and yet men have been 
 known to kill others with an ax; so it is with money, 
 it has been used to rob and oppress mankind since 
 earliest history and will continue to do so until the 
 people learn the difference between money for the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 benefit of mankind and money for the benefit of a few 
 and oppression of the many." 
 
 As time rolled on the robbers of the forest, being 
 no longer able to seize upon their crops by main force, 
 brought in nuts, dried-fruits, skins and other things to 
 barter off for corn; thus trade began; the robber 
 chief kept trading until his place was called a store. 
 As men multiplied, crops increased; other stores were 
 started and a Government formed under a King. This 
 King had a council of wise men, similar to the House 
 of Lords, or the United States Senate, and these wise 
 men formed the laws and made money of leather. 
 The country prospered, the King had castles built, 
 roads made, the country improved; had a great many 
 men employed and there A^as plenty of money in circu 
 lation, and everything was life. 
 
 Then gold was found by the robber bands in the 
 mountains and was brought to the stores, but no one 
 wanted it; at last, when all the gold had been gathered 
 that could be found, each store had some. .It had cost 
 them nothing but the finding; they wanted to trade it 
 for corn and for work, but the people did not want it. 
 They then called a meeting of the other robber chiefs 
 and assumed the name of bankers. This was the work 
 of a conspiracy against the people. They had a few 
 bright coins made of gold; those coins weighed one 
 ounce each and were marked twenty dollars. To each 
 of the wise statesmen they gave five of these coins, 
 then said to them: "Ye are great; ye are the King's 
 council; make us money of this, we pray, and demone 
 tize all other money." Then these robber chiefs, mer 
 chants or bankers set up a cry for honest money; they 
 said unto the wise men or King's council: "See, you 
 all have coins; they are worthless now, but make them 
 lawful money and you can buy corn with them to last 
 a year." "These bankers argue well," said one, and 
 made haste to pass a few coinage bills and demonetize 
 all other money; then the bankers went to the Govern 
 ment and had their gold coined into money free. The 
 people must have money to pay debts and do business 
 with. The bankers* then said: "As we have all the 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 399 
 
 gold, our note is good; the people, to have prosperity, 
 must have confidence;" so they issued money-notes and 
 bought up all the large holdings of corn. After a few 
 months, when corn became scarce, they said to the 
 laborer: "Give me my price or starve;" and the 
 laborers were forced to work all the time for what 
 they could eat. The men who owned the gold, had 
 great ware-houses full of corn; the people were many 
 of them starving. As was natural, the farmers asked 
 "how it was that they had produced all the corn and 
 still must go hungry, while those who had raised 
 nothing had more than they could use. " To settle the 
 vexed question an extra session of the wise men was 
 called and after debating the question for several 
 weeks, decided it was all on account of over-production 
 and inflation and extravagance on the part of the 
 people. It was ordained that the farmer might have 
 the privilege of borrowing honest money from these 
 bankers at a reasonable interest and give a mortgage 
 on their homes; the reasonable interest, however, was 
 to be whatever the gold-men chose to ask. 
 
 The vexed question was settled for that time. "From 
 that day to this," said the fair Lecturer, "the same 
 question has been settled in the same way, every few 
 years. All the time the people grew poorer and the 
 robbers grew fatter; the King and his council became 
 willing tools to the money power; at last the people 
 rose in arms, cut off the heads of the King and his 
 wise men; the bankers gather up their gold and fly to 
 some other country; the people war with one another 
 in their starving condition and thousands are slain." 
 
 Thus progress is overcome. 
 
 Since those days, time after time, civilization has 
 been hurled back into a state of semi-barbarism by this 
 same power of gold in the hands of greed; but the 
 principle of love and of honor has been found under 
 lying these disasters, and upon these our progress has 
 been based. At each successive rise, our civilization 
 reaches a higher plane. In this, our present, the 
 mortal mind seems to have tapped a boundless ocean 
 of thought, and men and women are to-day, thinking 
 
400 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 as they never thought before. Greeds are being 
 shaken with internal strife; the pulpit is sometimes 
 invaded with original and independent thought, and 
 our intellectual giants have turned the search-light of 
 reason on an endless, burning hell and proved it to be 
 a myth. Kingdoms are crumbling and the labor 
 problem is coming to the front; the invention of labor- 
 saving machinery has been the giant ot our modern 
 times. By these great machines which are bought 
 up by money Lords, thousands of men have been dis 
 placed. The machinery is doing the work the men 
 were wont to do; by the present reign of things, these 
 men have lost their usefulness, and from the stand 
 point of a demagogue might well be called an over 
 production. But honest, intelligent men will look for 
 facts and find that while commerce, manufacture, and 
 industry have undergone an entire change through the 
 use of these wonderful inventions, the science of Gov 
 ernment, dominated by the gold power, has not advanced 
 an iota; therefore the whole system is out of balance, 
 and in order to bring about an equilibrium in our 
 social affairs, it is now time to call a halt. Let the 
 gold power be overthrown and the same great mass of 
 intellect that has invented so much machinery, turn 
 their attention to the science of Government, and when 
 that science shall have reached the same degree of 
 perfection that other things have attained, man will 
 surely have reached a higher plane of civilization. 
 
 "It would seem from what I have seen in the last 
 month," said the lecturer, "that here in this great 
 Republic, wonders have been already accomplished in 
 that direction. " From the great structure of your 
 Government the light of reason, truth and justice seems 
 to radiate like the glow of a brilliant sun. 
 
 "In your system you seem to know no such thing as 
 over-production, but over-accumulation is nicely cared 
 for by being inherited by the Government and gradu 
 ally finding its way back among the people who 
 produced it. The adoption of this law may be 
 regarded as the grandest step in the reform of Govern 
 ment ever taken since time began, and from it will 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 40! 
 
 spring all the rules and regulations necessary for 
 man's comfort and happiness. 
 
 "As sensible laws have been adopted by your people 
 want, extravagance arid crime have in a great measure 
 disappeared. That crime will eventually, entirely dis 
 appear, is hardly an unreasonable hope; as it disap 
 pears progress will crown your efforts with her smiles; 
 love be enthroned in every family; harmony exist and 
 who shall say that some day our people will not be 
 brought in juxtaposition with friends in immortal 
 spheres. As intellectual development has already pro 
 duced an instrument with which the very heavens have 
 been pierced and planetary systems, with their orbits, 
 mapped, who will say that a farther intellectual develop 
 ment will not produce an instrument that will invade the 
 realm of our future hope, and there disclose our loved 
 ones gone before, carefully preparing a place for our 
 reception and enjoyment in that house of many man 
 sions. Then will death surely have lost its sting and 
 the grave been swallowed up in victory; but shall 
 progress cease? Not while mortal or immortal man 
 exists. Not while one star of this great universe con 
 tinues to shed its lustre upon its fellow, will progress 
 cease. Never falter, never fear, onward, upward; 
 remove by thy harmonious, intellectual power the veil 
 that separates us from the great angelic hosts and there 
 behold our loved ones, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers; 
 all in harmony, plucking the sweets of everlasting joy 
 and love, and weaving wreaths by which we may be 
 crowned according to the good they find in us. 
 
 "Progress cease? Not while eternal, everlasting and 
 unbounded space remains. Onward, upward, through 
 countless ages, learning, improving, developing, unfold 
 ing, step by step, slowly but surely, ever onward; 
 through realms of boundless light till we creative 
 powers attain; then onward to the borders of our uni 
 verse and add to nature's store another world, another 
 sun, another planetary system. Then shall progress 
 cease? Not while eternity remains." 
 
 In closing her lecture, Rebecca said: "As I closer 
 my eyes and look into a wilderness of thought, I see 
 
402 AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 
 
 before me the happiest and most intellectual people on 
 this broad earth; no cry of hunger, want or woe is 
 heard, but all is peace and love; and yet methinks I 
 hear the clank of iron chains upon the limbs of men, 
 and in their iron cells I see wretched men condemned 
 to death. O horror of horrors! Will the flames of 
 everlasting hell be never quenched and superstition 
 never lose its hold upon our minds? Is there no 
 power in prayer? Let us rise and invoke the favor 
 and guidance of angel friends, and greatest of all Him 
 who rules through the power of love and justice. " 
 
 At this juncture, while the audience, as by an inspi 
 ration, rose to their feet, Frank quietly left his box and 
 in one moment stood behind the scenes, beyond the 
 view of the audience, but within a few feet of the long- 
 lost treasure. When the audience became quiet once 
 more, Rebecca moved a little forward, as if to come in 
 better touch with their feelings, then began: "O Father 
 of mercy, Thou who rulest all things by Thy great 
 love and wisdom, in this, the mistake of a million souls 
 give us counsel, give us strength, give us of Thy great 
 wisdom that we may not mistake a heartless cruelty for 
 law and justice. Let us not reproduce those brutal 
 scenes handed down to us from a barbaric age, through 
 our lingering superstition; send to us, O Father, Thy 
 great angelic hosts, that we may of them take counsel 
 and in thy presence, let us wash our hands of the blood 
 of these men and invoke the source of power to turn 
 them loose, but send them from this land." 
 
 Seating the audience,^ she said: "This night, before 
 I close my eyes in sleep, I will pray that these poor 
 souls be sent back to the land of their birth and that 
 instead of destroying men, the power of this great 
 Republic may be used in destroying the conditions 
 which make the production of such men possible. 
 Is there one in this great audience who will say amen 
 to a prayer like this?" 
 
 Quick in response, from that great audience, came 
 one stentorian, "Yes." 
 
 Rebecca bowed herself from the audience and as she 
 turned half round to leave the stage, their eyes metj 
 
AN IDEAL REPUBLIC. 40$ 
 
 she recognized her Frank and as he approached her 
 rapidly, with one wild scream of joy, she sprang into 
 his arms. Full of excitement, General Summerville 
 rushed to the stage to congratulate his friend. Mis. 
 Goldburg and Minnie fully realizing the situation, 
 moved quickly forward; as Minnie and the General 
 met, the recognition was mutual and Minnie saw in 
 him the realization of her early love; while he, too full 
 for utterance, clasped her to his heart. 
 
 This was a scene where it might well have been said: 
 "The angels wept for joy. " Had there been a Shakes 
 peare, a Burns, or a Bacon as a witness, the world 
 would perhaps have been furnished with a literary 
 treat. But no poets nigh, the writer must needs draw 
 the veil and leave these fond hearts to re-plight those 
 vows so often made in youth; after so cruelly broken; 
 and loved ones separated through the power of gold, 
 now reunited where gold had lost its power. 
 
 We will only add that the sympathies of the people 
 were brought to bear so powerfully upon the court and 
 executive, from that time forward, that the sentence 
 was remitted and the prisoners with their great box 
 of gold were banished for life. 
 
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 An ideal republic 
 
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