"Look well at them as they pa.s.s," said the instructor; "you may recognize them."
They walked with the sprightliness of youth though their hair was white as snow. They smiled at the children as they pa.s.sed.
"Two of the faces are familiar," remarked Remand, "but the third is strange. Surely, surely--"
"Surely you did not expect to see George Washington and Martin Luther in the flesh, walking and talking as other men?"
"Never."
"It is they."
"And the third?"
"The third is Socrates of old."
"What is their mission?"
"They are about to speak to the children. They have been at the school of the prophets all morning, and now they come from the high school yonder. You see what advantages today"s students of history have."
"Has the knowledge of G.o.d exalted men to the society of resurrected beings?"
"Your senses do not deceive you," was the reply.
"Now I must go," said the instructor. "Farewell, and peace be with you."
He went into the house again, the three following directly, but they saw nothing more of him.
III.
"Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills * * * for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof."--_Psalms 50:10, 12_.
The King of Poland and his counselor lodged that night in the city.
Early next morning, Paulus came again for them.
"What do you wish to see, today?" he asked.
"Take us to some or your workshops and mills," replied the King; "we would like to learn more of your social and industrial conditions, about which we have heard."
A car soon took them to a part of the city where the workshops were situated. The buildings were not great, black-looking structures with rows of small windows in the walls; but they were handsome, s.p.a.cious buildings, resembling somewhat the finest of the public buildings with which the visitors were acquainted in their own country. Remand noted the absence of smoking chimneys, and inquired about them.
"We have done away with all that," explained Paulus. "Pure air is one of the essentials to life. One of the crudest imperfections of the past was the wilderness of smoking chimneys which belched forth their blackness and poison into the atmosphere. As you have noticed, our city is clean, and the air above us is as clear as that above forests or fields."
"I suppose you use electricity for light and power," remarked Remand; "but you need heat, too."
"We use electricity for heat also," was explained. "We get it direct from the earth, also have it generated by water power, both from falls and the waves of the sea, and transmitted to us. Some of these power stations are hundreds of miles away among the mountains, and by the sea.
We have also learned to collect and conserve heat from the sun; so, you see, we are well supplied for all purposes. This building," said the instructor, pointing to the one in front of which they had stopped, "is a furniture factory. Would you like to see it in working operation?"
"Yes; very much," said the King.
They entered clean, well-lighted, airy rooms where beautiful machinery was being operated by well-dressed and happy-looking workmen. The visitors pa.s.sed from section to section, noting, admiring, and asking questions.
"Whose factory is this?" asked Remand of the guide.
"You mean who has charge--who is the steward?" corrected Paulus.
"No; not exactly that. This magnificent plant must have an owner, either an individual or a corporation. I asked for the ownership of the property."
The guide looked strangely at his companions. Then he realized that these men had come from the parts of the earth where the celestial order had not yet been established. The old ideas of private property rights were still with them.
"My friends," he said, "The earth is the Lord"s, and the fulness thereof. He is the only proprietor. How can weak, mortal man own any part of this earth! No, ownership is for a future time, a future state.
Now we are only stewards over the Lord"s possession."
"But someone must have charge here," said the king.
"Certainly. A master mechanic is steward over this factory, and he renders an account of all its doings to the Bishop, who is the Lord"s representative. In this building, as you have seen, are many departments, and these are also stewardships, given to those in whose charge they are. Likewise, each workman has a stewardship for which he is responsible and accountable to the Lord."
They came to the wood-carving department where beautiful designs were being drawn and executed.
"Each man, as far as possible, does the kind of work best suited to his tastes and abilities. Here, for instance, those who are skilled carvers of wood find employment for their talent, and they turn out some fine articles of furniture. Of course, we have machines that stamp and carve wood; but the pleasure derived from the use of the skilled hand is not to be denied the well-trained mechanic and artist."
"I don"t quite understand what you mean by stewardships," said Remand as they pa.s.sed into a rest room.
"Let us sit down here," replied Paulus, "and I shall try to explain further. You must know that all this order, beauty, peace, and plenty has been attained by an observance of celestial law. And the celestial law as pertaining to temporal things is that no man shall have more than is required for his and his family"s support. In this respect all men are equal according to their needs. In olden times, this law was called the order of Enoch, because we are informed that Enoch and his city attained to a high degree of righteousness through its observance. Later it was called the United Order. It has been revealed to and tried by men in various periods of the earth"s history, but never has it had such a chance to redeem the world as it is having now. According to this law, no man can acc.u.mulate unto himself the wealth created by the work of others, as was the case in former times with us, and still prevails to some extent among other nations. All surplus which a worker acc.u.mulates beyond his needs is turned into the general storehouse of the Lord. Thus each man becomes equal in temporal things as well as in spiritual things. There is no rich or poor: each man obtains what he requires, and no more."
"What is the extent of this surplus?" asked the King. "Is it large?"
"Yes; because of the nearly perfect condition of our industrial system, a great amount of wealth flows into the general storehouse. You will understand, of course, that all public inst.i.tutions receive their support from this fund, so that the old order of taxes is done away with. You have noticed our beautiful city. You have not seen palaces of the rich and hovels of the poor, but you have seen magnificent public buildings, parks, and thoroughfares. These inst.i.tutions that are for all alike have been built and are sustained by the surplus; and this city does not represent all of what the people of the Lord are doing. The Lord"s work is being extended throughout this land and to lands beyond the sea. Not the least of our duties is the building of temples and the performing of the work for our dead in them. So you see, we have need of much wealth to carry on our work."
"Yes; I understand," remarked Remand; "but in our country and time, as indeed, it has been in the past, many have tried plans of equality, but they have been more or less failures. Why have you succeeded so well?"
"The chief cause for the past failures of the world in this industrial order lies in the supposition that unregenerated men, who have not obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and who are, therefore, full of weaknesses and sins incident to human nature without the power to overcome them--I say the mistake lies in the supposition that such men can come together and establish a celestial order of things, an order wherein the heart must be purged from every selfish thought and desire.
No wonder that a building erected on such a poor foundation could not stand. We have succeeded because we have begun right. We have had faith in the Lord and His providences, have repented of our sins, have been born again of water and of the Spirit, and then we have tried to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of G.o.d. We have done this pretty well, or we could never have succeeded in this work of equality that you see and admire. People who do the things that you observe around you must have the Spirit of G.o.d in their hearts. This celestial order is G.o.d"s order, and those who partake of its blessings must be in harmony with G.o.d"s mind and will. High law cannot be obeyed and lived by inferior beings who are not willing to submit to the first principles of salvation and power."
The three sat in quiet contemplation for a time. Then the King said: "Tell us about the wages of these workmen. The proper adjustment of wages has always been a source of much trouble with us."
"Yes, in the days when every man had to look out for himself and had no thought for his neighbor, it was a continual struggle to get as much as possible for one"s work and to give as little as possible for the work of another. Such conditions were natural under a system of greed and selfishness, and they brought on much contention and trouble, which, happily are now ended. In the beginning," explained the speaker, "those who enter this order of equality are required to consecrate all their property to the Lord. Then each is given a stewardship according to his needs and his ability to manage and to work. Children have a claim upon their parents for support until they are of age, when they also are given a stewardship."
"Are the wages equal to all?"
"No; and for the very good reason that the needs of all are not alike.
According to the old order, the superintendent of these works, for instance, would draw a salary of perhaps $5000.00 a year, while the men who do the manual labor would get less than a tenth of that sum."
"True," remarked Remand, "supply and demand regulates these things.
Superintendents are scarce, but common workmen are plentiful."