Melbourne and Mars/Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV.
The Earthborn's Club.
ABOUT sixteen o'clock Grayson and I went to the home of the Earthborns'. I was much surprised to find it a large building and to see, when we went into it, that there were so many people of both sexes there at that early hour. I thought that there could only be a few; what was my astonishment to find that this club has more than a thousand members nearly half of whom were women of various ages. It appears to me that with this club to visit Dr. Hildreth had not much trouble in picking up the information she gave my mother on the day I overheard their conversation, Grayson had been away for a few weeks and as he went into room after room the members rose to greet him; I did not know until then that he was president of the club. Really in meeting this man at the very outset of my career I was most fortunate. He is a power in the land, quiet, gentle and kind as he is, and willing to put up with so much in me that must appear very crude, raw and boyish. In four days I was fully elected a member of the club and had all the rights and advantages of that position.
Here are people who are conscious on Mars of their earth life; others who are conscious on both sides; some who are conscious of earth life while on Earth and of Martial life while on Mars, but not on either conscious of the other. These are but few; there may be many, but for obvious reasons they are not easily discovered. One third are like me, living on both planets; the rest can give records of various periods; I was introduced to one woman who for twenty years had belonged to the club and who had been "transferred" but three days ago.
I am very much impressed by a very commanding and handsome woman of about fifteen years of age. If royalty were a thing possible here I would call her a queen. I dare not attempt to describe her; she is not manly nor mannish; she associates on even terms with all of us but does not form any friendships. She appears to me to be a model of strength and gentleness; her eyes fascinate me and many others, and her voice has such a thrilling charm that most people are silent when she speaks.
One evening we had a small musical gathering in the concert hall of the club; none but earth songs had to be sung; she sang two what she called Scotch songs, written by one Burns, with such pathos that most of us shed tears, we were so deeply moved. One of our club, a cheerful little man, gave us some comic songs; and others gave samples of the music and sentiment of earth-dwellers from the time of Sophocles to that of Tom Moore. But the Scotch songs from Burns; those rang in my ears for days and weeks and led up to a closer acquaintance if not a friendship with Martha Newsome.
In the club buildings there are two large rooms, one devoted to history, and the other to geography of earth. In the geography chamber the central object is a most perfectly finished globe, mounted so that it can be turned over in any direction with a mere touch. It is twelve feet in diameter and ruled in degrees of latitude and longitude, each tenth degree being indicated by a red line. There is not a town of any importance left off this globe, and each town is correctly named, and on referring to the key, itself an encyclopedia of geography such as has never been produced on Earth, we find the small outlying villages belonging to the district named correctly. The mountains are raised in proportion to the size of the globe, and rivers and water-sheds, lakes and inland seas are all in position. In addition to the great globe there are a number of smaller ones, from two to three feet in diameter; one of these is a copy of the original made and compiled before the "Black Century." This gives an antiquity of ten thousand Martial years, nearly nineteen thousand earth years.
In comparing this ancient globe with the modern ones I was astonished to find very little change in the geographical aspects, but there were great inhabited areas and large cities even at that time. A very vast population lived in Western America and all round the Mexican Gulf. Eastern Asia, India, Ceylon, Southern Asia and the valley of the Nile were covered with population a thousand years later. The pyramids of Egypt were built by the descendants of the men who built those in Arizona.
My friend Martha told me that a peaceful nation had developed a high civilisation in Western America prior to the 'Black Century,' and that these people were driven across the Pacific by the constant incursions of wild tribes from the north and east of the American continent. She said, too, that vast hoards of gold, silver, and precious stones are waiting to be unearthed from beneath the old pyramids of Arizona and other places in the south and west.
'If I wanted to write a history of our old home, indeed of our present home so far as we are concerned, I would come here for my materials. For all the records here are contemporaneous; men who knew related their own knowledge of facts actually transpiring at the time of relation.'
'I am sorry,' said I, 'that I know nothing of my other life. All I know is what I can remember of a brief half hour that Grayson kindly caused me to spend in Melbourne. Ignorant I am, and can add nothing to these records, either historical or geographical.'
'Do not let that matter trouble you,' said Martha. 'Your time will come, and if you can record nothing here you can write on the Earth side, and you are doing so. I, too, from my home in Edinbro', will make some communications, though my Scotch neighbours may think me mad. But it just strikes me that, situated as you are, there is a likelihood of your being ignorant of the differences between the inhabitants of these two planets.'
'That is true,' I answered. 'I have only got a little vague information, and that only during my journey from the antipodes. I hoped to get that kind of knowledge here, but so far other matters have occupied my attention.'
'Look at me,' said Martha. 'Do you think that I am as big as the woman whom you saw on earth?'
'Yes, you appear about the same size, or perhaps a little taller than the average.'
'That is not the case,' Martha replied. 'If you had met me in the streets of Melbourne in my present form you would have seen a sharp, thin little dwarf, about three feet ten inches in height and very slight, about half the weight of an ordinary Earth woman. If you had met me in Edinbro' you would have seen a strong woman of middle age, about five feet seven inches in height. There I am the mother of four fine sons and two daughters, and I cannot make either my husband or any member of my family thoroughly understand my position. I live a very active life in my Earth home, and am a happy woman. I do not know by what dispensation I am allowed to have two bodies and two lives. How one soul animates two bodies I cannot tell; my mental faculties are equally on the alert in both spheres. On Earth I worship in the Church of Scotland; here I attend Thanksgiving every Sabbath morning. I am equally happy in the two kinds of worship. I might have married here; have had to refuse several offers, but for the fact that my earth life is so present and real that I should feel as if guilty of bigamy. My husband in Edinbro' is a good man, but he is not a Martial, or if he is, he knows nothing about it. It seems as if there is something more in man than body and soul. John Wesley was perhaps right in speaking of body spirit and soul.'
'This difference in height and size must involve a number of differences. A given number of Martials will consume far less food than the same number of Earth dwellers, and I have previously known that they will consume less fluid?'
'Yes,' said Martha, 'the Earth man will eat three times as much food, and in many cases five times as much, and he has to take more fluid to make up for fluid waste. Sometimes, indeed, he drinks for the sake of drinking, and dies a victim to what is unknown here, the vice of drunkenness. We may say that, on the average, what will support one earth man would support four of our people. We have to remember that the earth man has to lift a body twice as cumbrous and to stand the pull of twice as much gravitation, so that in making any movement he has four times the work to do that we have. He has also to stand the pressure of a much heavier atmosphere.'
'You, being conscious on both sides, see all this, I suppose?'
'Indeed, no, I do not,' said Martha. 'I have had to learn it. In coming from one planet to the other I perceive none of these differences. Everything is in proportion in both, so that nothing strikes us as different. We must, however, in reading and writing about the two planets, remember that there are several differences, or we may make mistakes. They could not be serious ones after all. A few errors of size and distance would not invalidate the general truth of what we write and say. Our central avenue is a thousand miles to us, and if an earth man came it would be the same to him if he came as we came, the only way possible, but if he could bring his earth faculties it would be about three hundred and forty miles, still a fairly long street. He might find out that our foot is not twelve inches, but only eight; but before he could live our life with us it would be a foot again. We have only four-ninths of the heat and light of the sun that the earth people have, but here we are used to what we have and should not be able to stand a change to earth conditions any more than an earth man could stand a change to ours. Our Maker has wisely adapted us to the circumstances and surroundings of our life, and we have been wise enough to make the best of these also. We life only by following out the Divine plan and obeying the laws of our being.
'We must be weak as compared with the earth men!'
'No,' said my friend, 'considering our size we are a strong and compact species; we are relatively stronger and more active than our earth friends and we are warmer and our death rate is much lower. We do not employ half so many surgeons and physicians as they do. Our work is done more easily, but we are a busy race and have twice as many workers in proportion, profitable people as they have. Indeed, as you have already seen, this is for the greater part a made world; an idle population could not live upon it. We work to a purpose here. Our time is not spent in making guns, building forts and ships of war, and standing, millions of us, waiting to kill each other at the word of command. Again, we have not a vast population who spend their time in buying, selling, and carrying about all kinds of provisions and goods. What we make goes direct to the consumer and pays him for his work. The middle man who buys from the manufacturer and sells to the consumer and makes a profit out of articles that are not better but frequently worse for going through his hands does not exist here. This sets at liberty a whole army of men for industrial and productive pursuits.'
'But these changes will gradually be made upon earth?'
'Eventually they will,' answered Martha, 'though not yet. Earth-dwellers are not yet ready for an altruistic socialism. Their actions are selfish; they wish to acquire and to hold for themselves. We seek for the good of others and know that they seek for ours. On Earth people have to lock all their doors; here we have no need for lock or key. We only close doors and windows to keep out the cold; they have to use hasp and bolt and lock to keep out thieves. True, there is no incentive to steel or to accumulate; for we can always obtain what we require as long as we live. We cannot fall into poverty; and if by any chance we should become possessed of more wealth of any kind than we can use it would have to go into the coffers of the State.'
'The State, it appears to me, holds all the wealth.'
'Practically it does,' was the reply, 'who could hold it so safely and distribute it so wisely? Besides, the State is the people, we have a perfect democracy and a perfect socialism. No class can prey upon any other class in social life; all are free and have equal rights; we cannot be equal in power and capacity, hence some are greater than others. Politically we are self-governed and all laws are made for the benefit of all.'
'But our laws are not made by the people and for them?'
'By whom then, are they made and for whom?' asked my fair instructor. 'The Central Executive of one hundred of the best and most capable men and women on our planet meets twice a week not far from here for the purpose of directing the affairs of the world and for the good of all its dwellers; but that body cannot make a law it can only put laws into operation. When same new law is wanted men and women selected by the people form a temporary Parliament and consider the question; these are rare occasions. The Central itself when it wants a new member elects one from those selected in each district to manage local affairs.'
'Power must be invested somewhere?'
'It must,' answered Martha, 'and on Mars it is held by those who cannot be interested in abusing it. We have no party; whosoever joins the Central is elected for life and has no advantage but that which you hold, viz., the Freedom of the Planet. We are not ruled by a mob, nor by a despot; we rule ourselves and make the wise one hundred administrators of the laws we have from time to time made.'
'I have had very little experience of life except that which I have lived here as a Martial youth. I know practically nothing of earth life. I am therefore to be excused if I ask you what you think of the moral tone of the earthborns who come to this planet; are they equal to the people of Mars?'
'Generally they are,' answered Martha, 'if they were not fit to associate with the Martials they would not be born here; without flattering ourselves we may say that we have risen to another world. Your earth life has been pretty good else you would not have been here. It is possible that some of us are prepared for Martial life by the influence of friends on Mars; there may be much more connection than we dream of between the two planets. Most of what you regard as new inventions are Martial suggestions received from the souls of friends who have come to dwell in a smaller but happier, because better world. Some of our earth friends may be tempted more than the Martials are but I have never heard of anything being done by an earthborn that might not have been done by a Martial.'
'You remember the earth life and I do not; can you tell me if there are any people there who claim to be from Venus?'
'I can,' answered my friend. 'There are none. Venus may be a grand world some day; it will be able to support life when the sun has left us in the cold, but it is one hundred thousand years short of the human stage at present. It is passing through a carboniferous epoch and its highest life is that of reptiles. It is fourteen times as hot as it is here; and it receives light in like proportion, but the light will never reach the surface of the planet through the thick, heavy atmosphere.'
At this point my friend left me having some other matter to attend to, and a young man who had heard some of our conversation, told me that she had come to study music for a year at the great school; he was afraid that she was not very happy as she did not appear to form social ties of any kind. He was interested in our conversation because he, like me, knew nothing about his earth life. He said that he was studying earth, history and found great pleasure in it because it corresponded in many ways with that of our own planet in its early days. He discovered that there had been a time when tribe fought against tribe, and later a time when nation fought against nation in the history of our own world, and he thought that the Earth was developing and growing and only going through the experiences that belonged to its period of evolution.
'I can trust the records I find here,' said the youth, 'for they are fresh, and are corroborated by many observers. Look at the common place journal, in which each earth man, who is conscious on the earth side, records the principal events of his day. One says that a German statesman, Bismarck, and the present emperor of Germany, are trying to ameliorate the condition of the working classes; that the statesman is devising a plan to prevent the artisans from falling into poverty. Read entries made by other Europeans of our Club and you find that they all allude to it. No less than three Americans tell us that a millionaire, Carnegie, of Pittsburg, says that his class ought to invest their millions for the public good during life, and above all things not to leave wealth to their children. He would make the State heir of half his wealth. This is a step towards making the State sole heir as with us. And now, for the last ten days, we have been receiving accounts, from some hundred or more of a great revolt of laborers in London, and of the sympathy their revolt has excited in all parts of the British Empire. One of our recorders, writing of your city of Melbourne, says that the little colony, having in it only about twice as many people as the strikers and their families, has sent twenty-two thousands of pounds to the relief of the sufferers by the strike. Look at the significance of those three events. They all tell of the growth of altruism both in the Christian Church, where it is supposed specially to reside, and in the larger world of men, who are begining to recognise the tie which binds each man to all his fellow men. In a thousand years hence these records of Earth history will be invaluable, and we can rely on their truth, because if false they would be contradicted now.'
I was almost startled by this outburst from so young a man, and began to think his company worth more than I at first supposed, and I therefore exchanged cards with him. 'George Foster' was on his card. I asked him if he knew his earth name. He answered that he did, and he mentioned a name known as that of a Statesman, a Scholar, and a Historian all the Earth over. I no longer wondered. I knew that such a shining soul must attain to greatness even in Mars.
This day I spent the evening at Grayson's. His wife is a sweet voiced gentle matron, with hair as white as his own. Their family of three children are all married; the younger daughter and her husband live with the old people and keep the house alive. Mother Grayson treats me with the utmost kindness. She tries to make her house a home for me; she has a place for my books, and has a comfortable corner of her sittingroom, with chair and table, set apart for me. This evening Grayson asked me if I was willing to forego the pleasure and profit of my course of studies at the College of Engineers for about half a year.
I answered expressing my willingness to do so if any good end could be served thereby.
'That being the case,' said he, 'you will receive an intimation from the Central after its next meeting. The Minister of Agriculture has decided to make a trial of your discovery and invention on a moderately large scale during the next spring and summer. He is therefore preparing to lay tubes and wires in a piece of land five miles square, now inside the snow line. The land gets free from snow and ice in summer and rapidly grows a lot of grass, and even a crop of tubers is sometimes grown; but we cannot trust the land, and unless a crop can he got in very early it cannot be ripened and secured.'
'The Central, then,' I asked, 'wishes me to clear this twenty-five miles of land and apply electrical warmth?'
'Yes,' said Grayson, 'the men and the materials are already there: two engineers also are directing operations. You are wanted to supervise the special part with which you are most familiar, so that the experiment may have a fair chance.'
I now know for the first time that Grayson is a member of that august body, the Central Executive.