HN 63 . K7 IRLF GIFT OF 8061 '12 W '1W 'A *N 'asnDBj G FRED KROMPHARDT M'CLINTON ft CO. USONAN FUNDAMENTAL LAW Copyright J 9 1 3 by G FRED KOMPHARDT 2460 SUTTER STREET SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRICE 50 CENTS The Name United States of America is a misnomer and should be replaced by the word US Usonan Fundamental Law The contents of this book are very new, because the people of to-day do not follow these principles; they are very old because the genius of old has already seen it; and yet they are new, because the peculiar combination adapted to existing conditions is new. Fate put me for a time into Usono; fate gave me a brain working over- time thinking how and why is this and that should be fixed in such a way. Happily, when I arrived at the shores of this land I had already seen the world and I was in the middle of the third decade of my life when my heart was already petrified. The daily shower of Usonan thought would run off me like water runs off a duck's back. I was a liberal, I was a free-thinker, I was a democrat, saying peoples must make mistakes to learn. Among the natives I found no liberals, few free-thinkers; but I agreed with many of them on one point, that Eoosevelt should not be king, though I did not share their fears that he would be. This little book is the result of my habit to measure things ' at my standard. If it agrees not with a kind reader's ideals, take it for what it is a knock in order to awaken. Liberalism does not mean that there shall be no law; it means that there must be all law, without which peaceful evolution is impossible. But it runs sharply counter to the popular superstition that a majority, or even plurality, of the voting few represents the people, and that the people have the right to do anything whatsoever. Liberalism demands the recognition of the rights of the individual by the people, and a recognition of the rights of the minority by the majority, and an abridgment of individual liberty by over- whelming public opinion only. The idea of government of the people, by the people and for the people, is by no means wrong, but as usually understood, meaning the crushing of most of the people by a few fanatics, it is simply ridiculous. The people are not masters, they must be taught; at the same time they must be allowed to make mistakes, 'or they will never learn. There is one thing certain" as to what government of the people means; that is, if the people want war they must themselves go to war, and there can be no army of hirelings. Wisdom has fixed it so that I can not coerce. If I can not convince, I must fail entirely, however, political theories count for nothing wh,en prac- tical problems must be solved. Many believe that a uniform and consistent philosophy is a necessary requirement for consistent laws,, but this is not quite true; tolerance is all that is indispensable. Let there be materialists that say it is our daily experience that matter thinks in man, and let there be idealists that dis- agree with them; let there be theists and atheists and every kind of theorists, and let there be practical people, but do not ask the other fellow to conform to your type of morality, and then there would be nothing in the way of consistent laws. The first practical principle of government is local self-govefnment based on individual independence; the second principle is interference with local self-government by an overwhelming public opinion only, but then de- cisively. Therefore, the following amendment to the Constitution should be enacted: Usonan Fundamental Law is binding on the States and municipalities. It is enacted one paragraph at a time by a two-thirds majority in both branches of Congress. If vetoed by the President it can not be passed over his veto during his term. One month must elapse between the publication by Congress and the final vote on any paragraph. 285336 It is the purpose of this law to establish a uniform foundation for all legal processes and the administration of justice thruout Usono, without unduly interfering with the right and necessity of local self-governanent. Whenever the health of the nation requires interference, interference there must be. In order that there be good laws they must be adapted to local con- ditions, and not be altogether uniform thruout the Union. Therefore, local self-government must be preserved, and even strengthened; but this must not go so far that Usono is not a responsible unit when dealing with foreign powers, nor so far that the States and municipalities have the power to violate the principles of justice with impunity. .For these reasons, some kind of Usonan Fundamental Law should be adopted and made binding thruout the land. The main thing is that an Usonan Fundamental Law be enacted how it will read is a secondary consideration. I say how I should want it; others will disagree with me; but in course of time the country will come around to my standpoint more and more. The day of the Puritan is gone, the day of the Liberal is at hand. Even libertinism is at least a recognition of the greatness of nature, and therefore better than puritanism, which treats nature, our friend, as an enemy. If there is such a thing as sacrilege, puritanism is the utmost sacrilege. Great iniquities will be perpetrated by the courts even after the adop- tion of Usonan Fundamental Law, but not as much as now. There is nothing mysterious about law. Anybody with the gift of gab can make a good lawyer, have many clients, and make plenty of money; often the more shallow he is the better. This being so, it is not to be expected that law will be reformed by lawyers; rank outsiders will have to do it. I advise the people to elect more men of breadth and fewer lawyers as their representatives. A way must be found to govern this country half-way decently, or its growth will soon stop and it will take a back seat among the family of nations. All beautiful theories must die away and practical things must be done. It is not just to introduce a reform for which the people are not ripe, but this little book will not be law entirely right away, and may contain many things that would be unjust laws if enacted without further education of the people. It is just that tyranny remain until the people be ripe for liberty. If Congress is given the power to enact Usonan Fundamental Law, some of it will likely be of such kind as I disapprove of vehemently; still, I would give Congress such power. Not I, but public opinion, should govern. The Usonan Fundamental Law cannot cure everything. The mischievous influence of the oil trust over Federal officials that is going on now, not years ago, but now, this very day, could be curbed to a very great extent by the President, but it can not be curbed by adopting a law. If the Presi- dent would stop bluffing foreign governments and clean up at home, he would earn eternal fame. Usonan Fundamental Law might be the gushing moutain creek that is turned into the Augean stable of Usonan politics. Usonan Fundamental Law should stand squarely in the way of every hot-head. The time will come when Europe will do a similar thing, but greater. There is to come an Europaeisches Grundgesetz binding Europe into one. In the future* there will be American Fundamental Law binding on all the States of America, but at present only Usonan Fundamental Law is practicable. For many decades to come it will be impossible to get a sufficient number of responsible men into the State and city parliaments. They are and will be composed chiefly of boyish, irresponsible people. Congress stands a little higher, and it is therefore wise to establish a strict control of the local governments by the Usonan Fundamental Law. Suppose I was dictator of Usono; I would have to leave most things as rotten as they are, for culture is of slow growth and must be deeply rooted in the people if it is to be at all. Pension the invalids, give work to the unemployed, then be harsh on beggars, tax the rich, favor not women, but men that support families, and the country will make rapid economic and cultural progress. Strict centralization can and must be combined with very extensive local self-government. A wise self-restraint is the basis of that co-operation which is the future, not socialism, communism. When a people can not talk without using superlatives, it is a sure sign of degeneration, which must, if continued, lead to a replacement by the yellow race, that has a better sense of proportion. Sense of proportion is the first requirement for every household; it is the first requirement for the national household. While their mouths are overflowing with optimistic platitudes, their actions are extremely pessimistic. Things must look very dark and gloomy indeed to overcome the deep-rooted mother instinct that they can't have an own child. I do not despair of this country, in spite of the great lack of culture I find. It can be done. I make so many propositions, but I don't want them adopted in haste. I want one after another thoroughly discussed and enacted when the convic- tion is gained that they are needful. No reform is well until the people are ripe for it; besides, we have been living under these laws so long, we can stand it a little longer. Those people who think corruption in Usonan politics could or should be stopped by education or reform, or by any party, or by direct legislation, or any fad, as long as the theory holds sway that a slight majority has all rights and the minority none, are downright fools. Corruption is a necessary safeguard against the existing tyranny of ill-considered law. Corruption is also a necessary safeguard of the honest business interests, as long as the law-makers are mostly lawyers and quibblers that know nothing of economic law nor of business, and the less they know the more they think that they can and should regulate everything in the most whimsical and hypocritical manner, for tyranny breeds hypocrisy, and hypocrisy breeds tyranny, and the only way out is corruption. Of the teachers at Usonan colleges 24 per cent are Germans; 71 per cent have studied in Germany; but this is not enough. German culture must pene- trate the common people thoroughly, even those that never learn or hear one word of German. Thig is the only possible way of eradicating those excrescences of our political and economic life, which are to a great part due to the arrogance and conceit based on imported insularity grown on new soil to unprecedented proportions. Anything good may be abused. Republican government is good and is very thoroughly abused in Usono. The right of Congress to enact an Uso- nan Fundamental Law may be abused; demagogues and mentally unbalanced world betterers may write injurious provisions into it, but in course of time they will be eradicated by the people gradually being lifted by their true leaders until the time of freedom shall come. Any State, city or local government of any kind that violates the Usonan Fundamental Law is liable to pay damages to the Federal Govern- ment. This must be strictly enforced, since its non-enforcement would impair the validity of the Usonan Fundamental Law. The first principle of justice is: "There is no absolute right or wrong, human affairs are relative." Any law that conflicts with this principle is en- forcible only as far as it does not conflict with it. I Demand that : the people must be taught, that the other fellow must be : allo~wed to live according to his 6$n light; Until the people have learned to act according to thai principle, they are utterly incapable of any decent self- government. Law is foil protection of society only. Any law that enforces any par- ticular brand of morality or personal behavior is void. This law makes all prohibition laws void, also such laws that construe a difference between sexual intercourse of married and that of unmarried peo- ple, though rape, seduction of minors and traffic in women are not counten- .anced by it, because these things would be a grave interference with the rights off the individual. The institution. of marriage can not and should not be abolished, but that does not mean "that the marriage fanatics should be allowed to run amuck and interfere with everybody that does not think nor act quite as mono- gamically as they pretend to. Monogamy is superior only where it exists without coercion; where it exists by coercion it is prostitution. Marriage is not holy; the natural sexual connection based on love is holy. . Government by majority does not mean that the rights of the minority must be trampled under foot. Any law that does not properly respect the rights of the minority, thereby violates the Usonan Fundamental Law and is void. Regulation of the liquor traffic, for instance, is proper; the rights of the minority are then respected; but any prohibition law is void, also the anti- canteen law. Nobody can be allowed to dictate to his fellow man. There is no sense in thinking that 51 per cent of the voters represent public opinion, while the other 49 per cent count for nothing. But if public opinion is sufficiently decided about any question so as to muster a two-thirds majority of the voters, interference with local self-government is justified. The people can commit no crime? The people can and do commit many crimes, and they get it in the neck, too, for every crimel they commit; and then they .look about for somebody to blame. The law-makers pass many laws of criminal intent that do great mischief, but it is not feasible to send them to prison for that. Increasing culture of the nation is the only restric- tion that can be applied. The oath taken by officials, judges and jurors must state specifically that their chief guide in reaching decisions must be the spirit of the Usonan Fundamental Law, and not the dead, letter of any one law, so often made by irresponsible legislators. Every law must be based on practical equity and be of equable applica- tion. , A law, for instance, that holds the father to account for his children, while it does not hold the mother to account, is thereby void. The purpose of a law or ordinance must be clearly stated after its title. If the letter of a law seems to conflict with its purpose, it can be en- forced according to its purpose only. The spirit of a law is always to take precedent over the letter, and the definitions given in a law that were made under conditions that! are past, must be considered adapted to the existing conditions, so that all law will, as much as feasible, adapt itself automatically to changing conditions. Formality is to be replaced by what Bozi calls "lebendes Eecht" living right, living law or living justice. Any law or decision that makes justice depend on any legal jargon is void. The legal jargon now in use and contributing much to the delay of the law, and the popular contempt for all law, must be eradicated and replaced by a simple, straight-forward, common sense language. Everybody is considered innocent until proven guilty. In all court decisions, the criminal intent and the amount of danger to society must be considered, little mistakes must be entirely overlooked. Any law is void if proper provision for its enforcement is not or can not be made. Any law that has not been enforced for a year in several cases where it clearly applied, is thereby void. No law can ever be enforced spasmodically; old blue laws are void with- out repeal. This law refers to all criminal law and such regulations that are enforced ex-officio by regular governmental organs, not to the civil law where suit must be brought by private parties. It is designed to strike not hundreds, not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of ridiculous laws from the statute books at once. A difference is to be made between crimes and transgressions, so that people convicted of transgressions do not mingle with criminals which would tend to make them also criminals. Nothing can be called a felony, nor even a crime, unless it is a serious interference with another human being. Prisoners must be induced to work without undue competition with free labor. They may earn money, which may be used to assist their families, but the chief object of their work must be to fit them for the struggle of existence in their coming free life. This is a far better safeguard for society against any possible repetition of their crimes than any fear of punishment can ever be. It must be remem- bered that legal punishment is a crime that society commits. Though it seems the only way, it remains a crime as much as any individual crime, which is also the outcome of necessity. Self-defense is the excuse for collective crimes, but self-defense is most effective if convicts are led to lead useful lives. It takes two judges to pronounce sentence for any crime (not for tran- gressions). It takes three judges to inflict any punishment exceeding five years' detention. Any judge that shows prejudice against any class of society must be impeached. Laws that favor animals and make a hardship for man are void. All law must protect first children and mothers, then men and women, then animals. Anybody arrested is entitled to damages according* to the length and consequences of detention. This also applies in case of conviction, when the penalty must be reduced accordingly. If the States do not reform their legal procedure on their own account as an outflow of their culture, then Congress should, after having waited long enough in vain, say to them, it costs money not to reform. Touch them at their weak spot and they will speedily give in. Three quick steps, a court decision, an appeal to a higher court and a final appeal, and no other legal wrangling. In any civil or criminal suit in which decision is not rendered within three months, decision on appeal within six months, decision on final appeal within nine months after filing of the suit, the State pays damages to the parties. This provision goes in force eighteen months after publication, so the States have time to reform their systems of legal procedure. Every new law that creates a new possibility of offense must contain a provision that for twelve months after it is in force the penalty can be nothing but a fine. A law that remains an efficient law, if such features that violate the Usonan Fundamental Law are removed, is not entirely voided by the Usonan Fundamental Law. In any trial by jury no unanimous verdict can be demanded. A reason- able time must be allowed for deliberation and the taking of a number of ballots, but no undue influence of one juror on another to make him change his mind is permissible. Conviction results from a three-fourths majority and the highest penalty can only be inflicted in case conviction is unanimous. The instructions of a judge are never binding on a juror. The judge can give explanations only. The juror must decide exclusively according to his conscience. Where the death penalty exists it can therefore be inflicted only if every juror brings in a voluntary verdict of guilty, and not as is now the case when some of them surrender their reason to the more powerful gift of gab of the others. This reform is necessary because conviction, which for some crimes can not be had at all is for most supposed crimes often very easy in Usono, and many errors of justice occur, due partly to the low cultural state and hypoc- risy of the law-makers and their shameful fear of skirts, partly to the ex- treme prejudices and conceit of the people, partly to the arbitrary power of the judges and the unscrupulousness of the police. Any law that makes it the duty of jurors to decide as to the sanity or insanity of any person is void. "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" is the only de- cision jurors can give; also they may grant that the offense was committed under extenuating circumstances but a neutral commission of experts must decide as to the legal sanity and degree of legal responsibility. Expert testi- mony on eithe'r side as to these things is not admissible in any procedure. Reading newspapers* unless the defendant objects, does not disqualify a juror. Sanity or insanity can never make any difference in the necessity for detention of, individuals that are dangerous to society. The official oath of policemen and rolitical officials counts for as much, and no more nor less, than the oath of witnesses. The right to convert penalties must be used with a view to the safety of society. Not what the convict has been, not what he has done, not whether the crime is avenged or not, but only whether he is then such a one that may be safely at liberty, is to be considered. Nobody can be found guilty of contempt of court and be sentenced to more than a fine of $10 by the court where the offense occurred; and con- tempt of court is never a crime, never more than a transgression. The words "acts of God" in all legal documents are to be replaced by the words, "natural events beyond human control," to do away with such hypocrisy, as if some events could be God's acts, others not. Criminal negligence is punishable by law. No referendum, recall, initiative or other popular petition can be sub- mitted to the voters, unless signed by forty per cent of the voters. Any State law that interferes with the self-government of cities must be passed by a two-thirds majority. The condition now is that cities adopt a charter containing many thou- sands of words so that nobody can find his way through any more, and if any little thing is forgotten they run to the State Legislature. It must be just the other way around. Instead of cities having self-government as far as granted only, they ought to have complete self-government except as far as specifically prohibited. To interfere with self-government should always require a two-thirds majority in the next higher governmental division. I wish I could say all law must be enacted by a two-thirds majority, but it would prevent the adoption of necessary laws. In case a State refuses to give legal satisfaction to a party, individual or State, native or foreign, its officials and legislators will be held personally responsible in the Federal courts. It has happened repeatedly that States have refused to give legal satis- faction and the Federal Government has tried to buy it off with money. Such a thing must never happen again. Henceforth the Federal Govern- ment must hold the States responsible. The method of injunction can not now be entirely abolished, but for its proper use it must be thoroughly changed. A limited power to issue injunctions is vested in a limited number of courts appointed by the States. Every appeal from an injunction must be heard as soon as asked by the State Supreme Court, an appeal from that court's decision must be heard at once by the Federal Supreme Court It is only by injunction that local governments are prevented from committing every imaginable crime against individuals and corporations. Public opinion pays no attention. Treaties that are binding on the States and to\ which any of them seriously object can be ratified only by a two-thirds majority of the Senate. No State or municipality can ever refuse to obey the law because there are no funds available. The officials will be held personally responsible for making the funds available by emergency measures that may be author- ized later. Any law that fixes responsibility on one sex and exempts the other is void. The Usonan Fundamental Law as I propose it will give to women equal rights with men, but it will take away those special privileges that tend to make a parasite of her. It is unworthy for woman to live under special privileges. There are advantages, but she naturally will desire, and evolu- tion will lead, to equal rights and equal duties. It is utterly impossible to prevent this development; therefore, the thing to do is to smoothly guide it along. I do not participate in that modern sentimentalism, feminism. They say women should not be hung. I say if men are hung women most cer- tainly should be hung. Woman is not of the active, but of the passive sex, it therefore requires far greater depravity of character for a woman to commit murder than for a man. Equality before the law is the only feasible way. Natural law knows no chivalry, no politeness, but is relentless whether man or woman be concerned. Such necessity and equality tend to develop the greatest and best qualities in man and woman, as it has developed man from the beast. They say; a slave-mother can not bear worthy sons. I say there has been many a slave-mother of great sons that moved the world, slave-mothers that slaved in their homes for their families and didn't know they were slaves, but the modern suffragette, parasite, figuring day and night on dresses, when she is not scheming to get more special privileges for parasitic women, never bears great sons. The law should favor the mother, not the woman. The more special privileges are given to women, the harder is the lot of the mother, and the fewer mothers there will be. There is the contradiction in existence in Usono that woman is better, but the mother is worse off than in other civilized countries. Man, being positive, suffers more than woman; man, suffering, pro- gresses more; man, positive, moves the world. Woman, passive, suffers authority, dogma and the like and thereby escapes much suffering. Man must do it if it is to be done, yet woman must have equal rights. That the majority of women don't want the vote is never any reason why those that want it should not have it. Suppose man and woman did not differ relatively only, but that there was an absolute difference, even then they would have to be given equal rights, like the iron and the stone in the re-inforced concrete, each doing its share of the work, the iron taking all the tension, the stone all the com- pression, because they are opposites, like man and woman, are opposites. Though I speak for woman suffrage, I have nothing whatsoever in common with militantism. People that resort to unlawful means exclude themselves from the right to make laws. Patience in the name of justice is the weapon that overcomes all resistance. All women will not vote, neither do all men; all women will not work in professions that were formerly man's field, neither do men refrain from working in professions that were supposed to be woman's field; the ma- jority of women will tend to their natural profession only, but some will be very useful in other fields, and for their sake legal equality with man is necessary, especially since it does not tell against the womanly woman, who is entirely free to live the womanly life. Man is mentally more complex than woman, even so woman may be a very useful member of society, though I am sorry to say very many are female drones, producing neither children nor anything whatsoever, except a drain on the pockets of their male relations; if a few of them could be drawn to useful occupations by being given equal rights, it would be well. It is wise to give the vote to woman. It will serve as an education. There is nobody more in need of education than woman. Life does not educate her half as much as man, and she should be given more responsibility than she has, since the burdens she had to carry in former days have been lifted more and more from her shoulders by a host of inventors and en- gineers. Any law by which divorcees receive a pecuniary benefit in excess of their pre-matrimonial station is void. A fine may be collected from the guilty, which goes to the State, but not to the divorcee. The parasitic tendency of the Usonan woman must be checked, because in Usono the word marriage has become a synonym of duress. A man's business and his property cannot be tied! up by any court if his wife is suing for divorce. Marriage is not an alms-house. They may leave out the word obey from the marriage ceremony, but in practical life the wife will have to obey the husband that provides for her just the same; nor is she worse off than he, for he, too, must obey those that provide for him, whatever station in life may be his. The pill is often sugar-coated to disguise its bitter taste, but obey it is nevertheless for every living thing. 10 There is an excessive number of bachelors in the country and it is greatly woman's fault. Children are exactly equal before the law, whether they spring from legal marriage or not, equal as to responsibility of parents for their educa- tion, as to inheritance, etc. There is no such difference as legitimate and illegitimate children. It is impossible to force all men to be exclusively monogamic through- out their lives, especially when they are young and not ready for marriage; but it is possible to make all woman's actions as far as they are natural, also legal, and to extend all protection of the law to every mother and every child. The theory of eugenics has been evolved by people that over-estimate isolated facts and have no conception of the whole. Man, and genius wherever it has been needed, has been evolved by the operation of natural law. If eugenics should take the place of natural law, hot-house plants that can not survive, would be evolved and thereby all further progress cut off. oSTot more, but less, interference with the actions of the individual is necessary. The greatest possible freedom gives the greatest possible evolu- tion of character and of genius. Nobody can ever be sued for alienation of affections. This ridiculous abuse must stop entirely. Any law that prescribes any dress of any kind to civilians is void. There must be no interference with the habits of peoples and individuals, and any disturbance of the peace can be prohibited by laws made to that effect. Boys and girls that have grown to puberty can not be considered as minors in sexual things. Much abuse is caused by the artificial age limit of twenty-one. It is a nuisance to treat young men and women of twenty as if they were ten years old. ,Any town that closes a segregated district must take care of its; in- mates to the end of their days. There is no such thing as sending them to another town. Every so-called moral wave that I have witnessed in different parts of the country has always been a terrible outbreak of public criminality. Marriage must be, if only as an indispensable means of protection of motherhood, but if marriage must be, its necessary consequences can not be suppressed by any means whatsoever; therefore, prostitution will be, for in need is makeshift needful. The law must recognize this fact and must not drive more and more young girls to prostitution by taking the old ones out of it, and it must not make the life of prostitutes harder than it naturally is, and it must certainly never chase them from one town to another. The crazy moralists, orthodox phariseans, think they can con- vince everybody of the necessity of suppressing prostitution and running the risk of rape by saying: Do you want your mother and sister to do it? The same old arrogance that wants to impose on others. Any woman that wants sexual intercourse is entitled to it, and neither any relative nor any politician has any right to force her to live according to a type of morality that she does not recognize. Everybody has the faults of his virtues, says Eochefoucauld. If you want marriage you must have prostitution; both have outlasted and will outlast all attempts at reform. It is unlawful to send hirelings for killing natives or foreigners for money. If the people want war they must go to war themselves. 11 If the people had to get the chestnuts out of the fire themselves they would not talk about making war on Mexico or about annexing Canada. This menace to the peace of the world, this army of hirelings, must go. Every able-bodied boy receives military training between the ages of twelve and twenty years, first as boy-scout, later, according to conditions, such training that will* make him fit to defend the country in case of need on the battlefield. Every able-bodied girl about fifteen to seventeen receives such train- ing as will make her fit to assist the army, especially the wounded, in case of need. The Navy is manned by picked men that volunteer from those that have already 'received military training. To serve in the Navy is a special privilege, and special remuneration is received, while during the common training on land nothing but pocket money is given. Officers are professional instructors. The Army can be used for the defense of the country only, and can not be sent across the sea, only volunteers may go to foreign possessions. Until the army of hirelings is abolished Usono will not be trusted by the other American countries, north or south. Is it, however, feasible to organize a popular defensive army? Of course, it is. The Usonan boy takes' well to early military training; he will be glad of the opportunity, and a magnificent system of defense can be built up, ready at any moment against any foe, but no hirelings again to be sent to the remote parts of the world for conquest. The majority would receive very little training, just a foundation to build on in case of need, and as a memento to restrain! jingoism, while a few picked men and volunteers would receive as much more training as the Government might deem necessary. The necessity of checking Asiatic immigration makes it necessary to be constantly on the alert, because Asiatic powers are rising rapidly and will demand equal rights that must be denied as an act of self-preservation. The peace of the world is safe not by treaties, not by the Hague tri- bunal, not by the talk of the pacifists, but by the abolishment of all hired armies, by the proper preparation of the nations for defense and by the gradual enlightenment of the people. A nation that has an army of hirelings can not lay any great claim to being a civilized nation. Government by majority is to be substituted everywhere for govern- ment by plurality. If no candidate has a majority in the first election a second election is to be held in which only those two candidates enter that have received the largest number of votes in the first election. This para- graph is, however, not to be construed as prohibiting the introduction of proportional representation in any parliamentary body where that is de- sired. Not State nor municipality can have more elections than one in one year. The first election held in a year is the only one that is legal. If a recall, referendum or initiative election is to be held it must be on the one election day. If the first (primary) election gives no final result a sup- plementary election held within a month from the first is not counted as a second election. Voting is necessary to keep the people satisfied, but as a rule it results in bad government and should therefore be reduced to the lowest practical minimum. Elections should occur if possible only once in five years. If due to the restriction of the number of elections vacancies occur, the remaining elected officials assemble and fill them by majority vote. 12 The commission system of municipal government is an old thing by a new name. Cities should reform their governments with a view to having few elections and elect few men, who employ experts in administration for the different departments. The police judges, chiefs of police, mayors, en- gineers, must be experts that are employed and not good vote-getters that have themselves elected but are incapable in administration. In no city should be more than half a dozen men that are elected; the rest should be experts that are employed. Nobody is eligible to any political appointment except experts and such as have served from the bottom up. The veto power of any chief magistrate is final for thei length of his term, the same as the veto power of any parliamentary body is final until a new one is elected. Any campaign committee or political manager is prohibited from ac- cepting a loan. Nothing but cash contributions, without any string to them, may be accepted. No bill can come before any parliamentary body unless it comes from the administration or is signed by 25 per cent of the members. No amend- ment can be submitted unless signed by 15 per cent of the members. Any law that prevents the natural development of business, be the tendency toward centralization or decentralization, is void. As long as the ordinary criminal law remains unenforced against trust officials, as long as perjury of Government officials that make common cause with their cut-throat methods remains unpunished, there is not the slightest hope that any special legislation can do any good. Our bu- rocracy must be reformed and the trust problem is solved. Taxes must apply to all property alike, whether it be private or col- lective or church property. All taxes on property valued at less than $20,000, and on incomes of levss than $2000, must be reduced to one-half if the tax-payer has one child under fourteen, to one-third if he has two children, to one-quarter if there are three or more children under fourteen. The issuance of stocks and bonds below par is prohibited. Every issuance of stocks or bonds is done with a sworn prospectus that must be inspected by a State commission, not as to advisability of forming a company, but as to truth of statements contained. ,A!1 loans, bonds and mortgages must contain a provision for their amortization in fifty years 1 or less. If such a provision is not insertedv pay- ment of interest will cease after fifty years and the capital is forfeited. Publicly as well as privately owned public utilities must use their net income in excess of a five per cent dividend on the actual capital invested, for the improvement and cheapening of the service. All farm lanrt held by speculators and not worked must pay ten times as high taxes as farm land used by farmers. Any unimproved town property must pay ten times as high taxes as improved property. If any State or city does not collect those extra taxes the Federal Gov- ernment will. Any property that doea not pay its taxes when they are three years overdue falls to the smallest governmental subdivision within which it is situ- ated, and for ten years it can not be sold, but only leased. 13 The market value, less unpaid taxes, is paid to the former owner from the proceeds of leasing. All usurers' contracts are void, however harmless they look on their face. Until such a time when the country is ready for Government ownership of the railroads the following should hold: Railroads must form local combinations (in restraint of trade) to pre- vent the wasteful duplication of lines, and thereby make such a saving that they can build new lines into undeveloped territory. Common carriers are responsible for all accidents that occur on them, and are held to pay damages by the States where accidents occur without any civil suits being brought. The pressure per axle on railroads is limited to a figure fixed periodically by the Federal railroad commission; also the speed and the strength of the roadbed; all three different for transcontinental and for local roads. These two laws will reduce the accidents on railroads greatly. All grade crossings of one railroad with another are prohibited. Ten years later: All grade crossings of railroads with streets in cities are prohibited. Ten years later: All grade crossings of railroads with any public roads are prohibited. Government ownership of the railroads will come, but not by way of the Usonan Fundamental Law. There are many other things the future will bring, but not thru the Usonan Fundamental Law. A profile thru which all engines and cars must pass is fixed by the Federal railroad commission. All engines, cars, bridges and tunnels must be changed to suit within ten years. Any law that provides an improvement which necessitates a pecuniary outlay by private people or corporations must go into effect gradually, else damages must be paid which are determined by special juries. Any tax on bonds, etc., as far as it amounts to more than fifteen per cent of the interest they pay, is void. Anybody owning timber land must re-forest as fast as he cuts. All income exceeding one million dollars a year is to be confiscated by the local government where the person has legal residence. The income tax should be revised in such a way that the higher incomes pay higher taxes than now. Nobody can inherit or receive a present of more than a million dol- lars. If all legal heirs are thus satisfied and something is left over from an estate, it falls to the smallest governmental subdivision wherein the estate is located. All real property of non-resident ownerships pays a sur-tax. There is great talk about excluding the go-between and middleman; there is no honest endeavor to do so. The European peoples are helping them- selves by forming co-operative societies; the Usonans do not. Who can help them if they don't even try to help themselves? They lack the social virtues necessary for co-operation. They are themselves corrupt and therefore think that everybody else is, and invent stories of corruption without basis in fact about the other fellow. Without a' glad giving of deserved trust, co-opera- tion and national success is impossible. As long as the country is a colony; 14 it goes anyhow, but that time is fast slipping away. However, the following can be done: All towns of more than 25,000 inhabitants must establish a sufficient number of public markets where the producer can meet the consumer to the exclusion of the middleman. Farm and industrial products held for more than three days by middle- men pay a tax of one per cent of their value for each day so held; but if held by the producers or the immediate consumers, or in retail stores, they pay no tax. Transportation companies may hold them for short periods, as the traffic demands; otherwise they pay the tax. By this law all cold storage will be in connection with transportation and out of reach of speculators. A people that does not think and act socially must lose' out in the eco- nomic struggle of nations. The national health suffers first and the rest will speedily go after. Every State must prohibit all labor of children under fourteen and limit the hours of labor of all under eighteen. They may go further. All States must give special benefits, pensions for instance, to all mothers of children under fourteen. Any law or regulation that interferes with the legitimate taking care of their interests by workingmen by striking, by posting peaceful pickets, by speaking in the street without interfering with traffic, is void. Until the unemployed are given work by the States, it is prohibited to interfere with tramps riding on freight trains, or with the winter quarters they put up for themselves. An order to leave town is always unlawful and entitles the person thus treated to damages. There is no shoving the responsibility on other shoulders, and increasing the gravity of the tramp problem. Any law, charter or ordinance that prevents a city, county or State from properly assisting its invalids is void. Wherever the hours of work are regulated by law, the office hours which seem to be easier, but as a matter of fact are harder on the system, must be shorter than the shop hours. Any law that provides minimum wages, hours, etc., for one sex only is void. It is prohibited to receive remuneration for giving or finding employ- ment, except from the employer, who can not hold .anything out of the wages. A very great abuse exists thruout the country, a conspiracy of employers and employment agencies. This must be entirely abolished. Any law or ordinance that makes a State or community dependent on labor unions or other private organizations is void. Every municipality and every State must provide a commission that legally fixes the minimum wages that may be paid in the district, and the maximum working hours for different kinds of work. This is done periodi- cally, at least once in five years. No minimum wage law, except for minors, can anywhere go in effect until provision is made to assist the unemployed. 15 Transportation in cars that need not have seats and may be hitched to freight trains must be furnished by all railroads at a charge of one-half cent per mile. Every State must pay pensions to the sick, the invalid and the' aged by a system of insurance to which both the employers and the employed contribute. All cities and States must provide for the unemployed by letting them plant forests on the bare hills, build roads, line all roads with trees and what- ever public work may be wanted in the district. The amount of work to be done must be changed according to the number of unemployed that apply. They must be given the necessities of life, but no money until they leave to look for employment in their trades. Nobody can stay longer than two months at a time, except instructors, and he receives three-fourths of the minimum wage that is paid in the district and is discharged and can not be taken back for a month. If any State does not make sufficient provision in such a way, it must pay such high fines to the Federal Government that it will speedily come around, just to save money. There are always employers that have difficulty in finding men; they will then know where to get them. England will find out in a few years that her system of insurance against unemployment has more drawbacks than advantages. Private in- surance is correct; the State, however, must not give money, but work, to the unemployed. The self-reliance of the men must not be undermined. The English system gives no help to those that need it worst. If some learn that other work than what they are used to is also honorable, it is well. Many of the reforms that I demand can be carried out without enact- ing any Usonan Fundamental Law. For instance, Congress might pass a law that all interstate railroads must carry the unemployed in freight trains at one-half cent a mile, and another law to give work to the un- employed in the reforestation and road work and to pay them when they leave three-fourths of the minimum wage that Congress might adopt for interstate and Federal work, and the forty-eight States might take the hint and pass similar laws suited to local conditions, and the problem of unemployment, and vagrancy, would be solved, because, wherever there is a firm and honest will there is a way, since intelligence is glad to come to the assistance of such a will, but the will, to properly assist the eco- nomically weak, is not in existence in the country yet. With all that it would? still be necessary to enact an Usonan Funda- mental Law in order to restrain those many silly pranks of irresponsible State legislators, which must be made to conform to the public opinion of the whole country. Any law or court decision that makes citizenship or other benefits granted by courts dependent on a superficial memorized knowledge is void. Any law that excludes reasonably healthy Europeans, Americans, Australians, that can take care of themselves from Usono, is void. Many natives think that because their forbears came to the shores of this land as paupers, illiterate adventurers and refugees, that therefore they are better than the poor immigrant of today. Those nativists in Congress don't know how much money the Usonan people are making out of the immigrants. The unions don't realize that only because immigrants are taking the lower places can they maintain their monopolies, because the unions, as organized today, are not representa- tive of the working men, they are monopolies. 16 The immigrants represent a high monetary value; it costs money to raise people to mature age, and they do not send back( as much as their bringing up has cost; further, when they work here they produce more than they consume, and the natives grow rich on them; further, the more educated people are turned out in the Usonan schools and colleges, the more brawny men are needed, whether they can read and write or not; it is therefore fool- ish to restrict European immigration, it is also utterly unjust, the degenerate descendants of Europeans have no moral right whatsoever to exclude Euro- peans. Any law that abridges the right of aliens as to ownership of property or carrying on of any business is void. The Asiatics must be rigorously excluded from Usono, but those that are now here must be treated decently, otherwise they can not be as- similated and will be a menace to the peaceful development of the country. I know very well that all races can be mixed and will be mixed in course of time, and must be mixed in order to develop the best qualities of each in the future humanity, which must be a cross as we are a cross of former races. The idea that the Asiatic can not be blended with the Euro- pean is erroneous; it can only not be done suddenly. An inrush of Asiatics into Usono, as threatens now, would lead to civil war, and therefore it must not be, but the blending will take place anyhow, very gradually, as it has happened before, because the European, as is well known to every student of the human races, who does not cling to the surface, is a cross of the longheaded and flat-haired African with the round-headed and round- haired Asiatic, which is sufficiently proven by the cross-section of European hair being oval and the skull of medium length. To the uninitiated it may seem strange that the European should be chiefly a cross of the Asiatic and the African, but by further analysis it seems natural. The African was not black before the firmament of clouds fell in the deluge and Europe was practically uninhabited during the following glacial period. Then, when the ice retreated, Asiatics, as well as Africans, followed it, losing culture but gaining energy in their hard life as pioneers, being bleached to a white in the damp climate of the North. In the question of the mixture of the races the temper of the people must be considered as an elementary force of nature. Immigration direct from Asia must be prevented. There will, of course, be a slow ingress from Hawaii and from Central and South America, but so slow that it will be assimilated. Such prevention is only possible if European immigration is favored. The present nativistic tendency in Congress is race suicide. Euro- pean immigration will decrease too soon on its own account, due to the eco- nomic progress in the lesser European states. Crossing races is necessary and inevitable, but it must be slow. The process of the formation of the European was slow. It was effected during those undulations of the glacial period, which have misled geologists into believing that there have been more than one glacial period. That such an error is possible proves that it was a long time. Restrict European immigration and the next century will see America Asiatic. Agreements must be made between the States and cities for the recog- nition of diplomas given by schools and universities exempting the< owner from the necessity of taking a civil service or medical examination. Examinations never show the worth of a man and the trend to base everything on examinations must be halted. There can never be any interference with the liberty of thought, or teaching and of learning at the universities, and it is the office of every administration and of all courts to defend this liberty against all comers. When Barrows criticised the administration for its bluffing towards Mexico, it was not yet too late. There should always be far more such 17 criticism, not mere fault finding, and fewer , ridiculous things would be undertaken. Senators are going about saying, I would not criticise President Wilson if I disagreed with him. Such an attitude is very deplorable. Prompt criticism is the only safeguard the country, has against lack of judgment in elected officials. No religious teaching of any kind whatsoever is to be permitted in the public schools; it is to! be left altogether to private organizations. All private (religious) schools and houses* of correction must be thor- oughly inspected, and controlled by the State where they are located. Any law or regulation that makes the admission to any kind of a public school dependent on a knowledge of any ancient language is void. The study of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and other dead languages must be left entirely to specialists; only the modern national languages and Es- peranto! are to be taught in the public schools. All schools and colleges must teach gymnastics to their pupils up to the eighteenth year, not with a view to training the best for interscholastic affairs, but with a view to give proper health-giving exercise to all. Anybody in any way injured in any college rush or similar performance (hazing) is; entitled to damages twice as heavy as under common law, to be levied on the college. Any law o* regulation that makes the progress of students in schools and colleges dependent on examinations of superficially memorized knowl- edge is void. Any law that interferes with the whipping of boys and girls in school or by their parents when they show disobedience or malice is void. The education of the boys is far more important than that of the girls, because the majority of them will support families when they grow up, while women, far from dreaming of ever supporting anybody, don't even want to be mothers. It is desirable that boys be taught by men. It is desirable that boys receive an education suited to boys and not as is now the case suited to girls. Boys should be brought up to become economically successful, patriotic men and good fathers, not chauvinistic braggers as now; girls to become good wives and mothers. It is, however, at present not feasible to incorporate in the fundamental law a provision that the sexes must be separated in all public schools and that boys must be taught exclusively or almost so by men. Therefore I only say: In all new schools for more than fifty children the boys must be separated from the girls!, and three-fourths of the boys' teachers must be men. This will cost more money, but to get good education we -have to spend more money. The colonial system was necessary, but Usono must outgrow the colonial state soon. Any endowment of educational or scientific institutions that has a string to it is void as far as the string is concerned. . This acts into the past. ' All the Eockef eller and Carnegie and similar donations will thereby become public property and will be managed by public boards without regard to special stipulations. The money is public money and has come into Rockefeller's, and Carnegie's hands only in defiance of the law and must row again be entirly free so that it may* be used in the future for the reeds of the future and not according to petrified regulations, some of which may now be very good but will become out of date. -18 All States must establish colleges for the education of newspaper men. All States must set aside funds for assisting newspaper men in making foreign journeys. The deep night of ignorance and insolence of the average Anglo-Usonan newspaper man must be broken. The daily press is now a great power for mischief; it should become a power for the advancement of culture. The money spent for such a purpose will bring fruit a thousand-fold. Development can be prevented by abuse, but it can never be produced by not-drinking, not smoking or not using women. Said Dana: "I'd rather see the whole world voluntarily drunk than one obliged to be sober." As a matter of fact, his wish was granted. I have never met a man that was not voluntarily drunk, and drunken beyond.!, all control and possibility of sense are the prohibitionists. It is the duty of local governments to prevent excesses due to the abus.e of alcohol in order to protect the public, and the most efficient way to do so is to prohibit as far as feasible the abuse of alcohol. It is a criminal act to'agitate for the prohibition of the use of alcohol. Nobody must use it. Those that don't use it at the proper time are fools. Those that want to prevent their fellow-men from using it are criminals. Those that abuse it may become dangerous to society and must be held "....,, to their limit by persuasion, and if necessary, by force. To: allow no personal freedom because it leads occasionally to excess, but to make everybody walk between two' walls of law so he can neither swerve right nor left, would destroy all self-reliance and self-restraint and produce great weakness. A people used to such conditions for generations, would lose all power of resistance and become the easy prey of criminal ambition. Character is the greatest asset of the individual and of the people, and character can be developed only in freedom. Where laws are made to regulate the consumption of alcoholic beverages or drugs, the use of light drinks and drugs like beer, wine and tobacco must be favored against the use of whisky, opium, cocaine. Any law that T , produces the opposite effect is void. All prohibition laws are thereby void, as well as local option laws, because they are notorious for increasing the abuse of opium, 6oeaine and whisky by making it difficult to get mild ''alcoholic beverages- like the bulky light wines and beers. . .. Thruout the country, saloons that have a bar accessible to the peo- plev must pay twice as high a license as such places that, have a bar ac- cessible to waiters only, and that are sufficiently provided with seats and tables, so that people are induced to behave in a more civilized manner than to take one drink after another over the bar. Where alcohol distillates are sold the license must be at least twice as high as where nothing stronger than wine or beer is sold. All cities must maintain a proper number of lavatories independent of the saloons. All taxes that are levied on alcoholic beverages apply automatically to all non-alcoholic beverages, with the only exception of water and milk. In the city of San "Francisco there are more people who work thru the week and go for a hike on Sunday than at any plae,e. in UsonO that I have heard of. This is due to the absence of a Sunday closing, lawv People"- . can get refreshments after an excursion. Without that they will not go into the fresh air and sunshine, which they need so much. San Francisco is all right in that respect, but the rest of the country is in V shameful 19 condition. There is every incentive to abuse strong alcoholic beverages, especially on Sundays, because whisky is not bulky and can be smuggled so easily. The Puritans are guilty of having produced this condition, and it must be changed whatever the Women's Christian Temperance Union may say. The following law is therefore necessary: Any law that prevents families, including minors, from getting refresh- ments, excluding opium, whisky, cocaine, on any day in the year at an inn located half a mile from any railroad is void. The States are held responsible to the Federal Government for the maintenance and proper management of a sufficient number of such inns. The States and towns have a free hand how they want to regulate those inns, but the Federal Government demands that there must be regula- tions that prevent the consumption of intoxicating liquors by drunkards or drunken people, and by such as cause a disturbance, and that order is well maintained, and that the inns are not turned to any use conflicting with their purpose as harmless places of healthful recreation. All local governments are held to enforce laws and regulations that will reduce drunkenness and the abuse of all poisonous drugs. The interest in sport in Usono is nothing but a gambling interest. Some don't put any money up, but they gamble on it in their minds, and that is as near as they ever come to getting any exercise for their health out of sport. Nothing should be done to encourage this, but, instead, the actual taking of exercise by the people at large, that now only look on or read about it, should be promoted. Any law that assists any professional or semi-professional sport event in a pecuniary or other way is void. The Olympics are included, as they are not yet cleaned from the taint of professionalism. Any law that fixes a penalty for ending the life of the hopelessly sick with their own consent is void. Any; city that does not come up to ths standard of cleanliness, to be fixed by a Federal commission which constantly inspects all towns, must pay such damages to the Federal Government that it would be cheaper to introduce a proper cleaning system. If the Usonans were ripe for self-government their cities would be clean without Federal inspection, but they must bcome clean somehow. Seattle, Washington, is the only exception I know; there may be a few others. New York, Chicago, San Francisco are no exceptions. The finder receives 10 per cent of the value of the find as the reward of honesty. All governments must always consider the opinion of experts that are not Government officials in all questions that refer to more than detail. For instance, the Eeichsbank is well organized, President Wilson's currency reform is wrong. The burocracy must never have complete control. In questions of such grave import private experts should have even more power than to give advice. Beyond the poison laws of the States the Federal Government has the right to prohibit or restrict the manufacture of any article considered by experts as too dangerous. All official statements of measurements of any kind must make use of the metric system. Every prescription pharmacy in the country must stay open day and night, or the right to fill prescriptions must be taken away entirely. Drug stores close when they please. No building may "be higher than the width of the widest adjacent street. Steeples are permissible to any height as long as they cover no more than one per cent of the ground area of the building. Buildings that are now higher must come down within twenty years. New York City and others cannot be permitted to draw the best talent from the country and then oblige them to live and work without air and light, and to crowd them on the streets and cars beyond description. Busi- ness need not be crowded together, the telephone makes that entirely un- necessary. The health of the Nation is at stake and thorough-going in- terference is necessary. Christian Science practitioners and other healers are prohibited from receiving money for their prayers or manipulations unless they actually per- form a cure, Christian Science practitioners occasionally perform some healing, though not in the way they think they do, the majority of them, however, are reaping a rich harvest from the religious superstition of the people for which they do nothing in return, and the widows of their victims are en- cumbered with debt for their "absent treatments." It is prohibited to interfere by violence with anybody that wants to die. Nobody has the slightest right whatsoever to force earthly life on anybody. Any law that, by checking abnormality, also checks genius, (steriliza- tion of criminals, for instance), is void. Every Secretary of State must give his whole time to public business. Electioneering and campaign speeches by men in office are prohibited. The Monroe doctrine, as stated by Monroe himself, is right; it cer- tainly is against Usonan interests if any American, European or Asiatic power should cause any American State to lose its independence, but the Monroe dictrine, as it spooks in the heads of many people, is a very grave insult to all American nations, which see their independence interfered with by such a doctrine of supervision of their affairs. Eoosevelt has violated the Monroe doctrine by violently interfering with the independence of the Republic of Colombia. A canal zone was to be established and Eoosevelt did not know how to manage it without having a little war. It is too late now, but it should never happen again. If the Monroe doctrine is so construed that the American States are not allowed to work out their own salvation, they will never get that healthy development which is due them. Any diplomatic action that tends to make other nations and their rulers dance to the moral fiddle of any Usonan burocrat is void. To try to force any particular type of morality on other folks is the utmost immorality. It is very natural that President Wilson, having been elected by a minority, should think that nobody can be a good President unless elected by a minority, and it is very natural that Usonans in general Should hope that every country shall in future be governed like their own by legal graft, but although this is very natural, the Administration has no right to even advise other governments to reform themselves in that direction. There is only one thing the Federal Government has a right to do in foreign countries, and that is to protect Usonan interests, in case of grave necessity, even by intervention, but there can never be even a hint at 21 intervention on account of any government not coming up to any standard. Everybody must work out his own salvation in his own way. Mr. Bryan, who is the soul of that immoral policy of making ridiculous demands* th&t no self-respecting Mexican can ever listen to, should be dismissed at once.' One -bad' governm'eiit crumbles, a worse one takes its place, and yet the necessity remains that the Mexicans must work out their own salvation. President Wilson and Mr. Bryan are responsible for many lives lost in Mexico by the moral support they have 'given to a continuance of in- surrections. It is always impossible .to take the second step first. Reforms can be introduced in Mexico only after the rebellion is over. The inquisition is not dead. The inquisition is rampant thruout Usono, and an attempt was made recently to extend it over Mexico; luckily it failed. The- appointed heads of departments in any government do not come under civil service rules. . There is a limit to civil service, otherwise there would be no limit to red tape. Any law that makes a body of examiners the arbiters of the employ- ment of civil service men is void. Civil service, as now generally organized, leads to an arrogant bu- rocracy and is worse than the spoils system. The decisive word about the employment of any man must be spoken by his employer. Now, after all the seriousness, let's have some fun. Tactlessness, when it goes to such length as to carry the supposed bones of Columbus to an exposition, is to be punished by electrocution. Thissis more effective than race suicide, it might kill off about lOOp per- cent of the common people. 22 1C 07190 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY