Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages

by Alcanoan O. Grigsby; Mary P. Lowe

"My own explanation," said Wallaroo, "is, that identity of ideals and similarity of conditions naturally lead to similarity of development, as in accordance with natural law the race is always building in the direction of its ideals."

"That is certainly," I said, "a scientific proposition, but it does not explain why blonde, for instance, should ever become an ideal complexion among the dark races. How do you account for it?"

"Your question," said Wallaroo, "is one that should be carefully studied in the light of science and history, in order to be understood. One thing is certain, that the early inhabitants of my own country, Noxuania, were very dark, ranging from brown to black, while at present, brunette is the rule and blonde is not uncommon."

"But how," I asked, "do you account for the change?"

"My opinion," said Wallaroo, "is that the influence of the white missionaries created a new ideal in the minds of the people and especially in the minds of the mothers, who almost worshiped them."

"But how is this?" I asked. "In the outer world, the dark races very often persecute and destroy the white missionaries."

"And so they did here," said Wallaroo, "before Equity was established in Altruria among white people, and another class of white missionaries were sent to the dark races. These came not to promulgate metaphysical creeds, but to bring material blessings, and establish freedom, equality and fraternity. They practiced just what they preached and wherever they went, they bestowed blessings. The people, especially the women, soon came to worship them as Saviors because they sought only to do them good on the material plane which they could appreciate, and left them to free their minds from superstition in the natural way by increasing their knowledge. It is not strange, under these circumstances, that with these children of nature, white became the ideal color. Improved material conditions, together with a scientific education, higher ideals and ample time for development have produced all the changes which have been wrought out."

I found the members of the Council from the other Grand Divisions to be highly cultured people and I looked forward to meeting them in the future with pleasure. I was especially, interested in Wallaroo and LeFroy because they represented peoples which at the introduction of the present Altruistic civilization would correspond to the people now occupying Central Africa and the South Sea Islands. Wallaroo had attributed their remarkable development as physical, mental and moral beings to the higher civilization derived from the religion of humanity regardless of creeds, that had been brought to them by the Altrurian missionaries. The more I thought of these things the more I was impressed that I must visit these countries, mingle with the people and make a close study of their history. LeFroy told me that their written history commenced with the work of the missionaries of the new civilization, but much additional knowledge had been gained from archeological and ethnological researches in the light of such pre-historic traditions as had been preserved. These missionaries did not come to promulgate doctrines of a FUTURE life but to establish conditions which would confer blessings in THIS life, such as could be appreciated on the animal plane. For this reason they were welcomed as superior beings to lead them morally and spiritually.

By these glimpses of a new field of discovery that was opening up before me, I was more than ever stimulated to complete the work I had in hand which was directly applicable to the solution of the great economic problem confronting the people of the outer world. As had been promised by Battell, at the Council which met on April 15th, I was able to report the deficiencies that had been discovered in the airship by my second trial trip to the southern verge during its winter season. At this meeting it was determined to name the new vessel the Eolus, though I preferred to call it the Petrel because I had demonstrated that it could ride the storm. The time for the excursion to the Watch Tower at the northern extremity of the continent and my departure for the outer world was fixed for the twentieth of May and the next meeting of the Council on board the Silver King on the fifteenth, while enroute. This gave me really less than one month to complete my manuscript and get everything in readiness for what I regarded as the most momentous voyage of my life.

While I was enrolled as a teacher of English, and the geography, history and institutions of the outer world, I had really given all of my attention to the study of the Altrurian language, and of the manner in which the great problems now confronting my own country had been solved. Every day revealed something new or presented the old in a new light. The arts and sciences had been developed to a degree that had scarcely been dreamed of in the outer world. Psychic powers such as clairvoyance, clairaudience and telepathy, which in the outer world were classed as occult by believers, and as baseless assumptions by the multitudes, were here well understood by the many, as revealed in the fact that my disguise had been so readily penetrated by native Altrurians. But at the same time they respected my right to conceal my identity. This was a marked peculiarity of these people. The right of persons to keep a secret in their own bosoms was never questioned, and when it was discovered, as I take it for granted was usually the case, it was never alluded to. Here, my assumed character of Jack Adams, the sailor, was held in the highest esteem by the few to whom I had explained the reason for it, because it had been necessary, in order to enable me to be true to my own higher sense of right. In the outer world this would have branded me as disreputable and I would have been ostracized as something vile by the so called better classes of society.