Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages

by Alcanoan O. Grigsby; Mary P. Lowe

We were more than a little mystified at the turn the conversation had taken and as it related to us Captain Ganoe asked:

"What does this mean? It seems from your remarks that we have been numbered and that we are now to be labeled. I would be pleased to have an explanation. We highly appreciate the interest you have taken in our welfare, and anticipate much pleasure and profit to be derived from a knowledge of your language, as it will give us access to the boundless stores of wisdom which are contained in your literature. But is it really necessary for us to be numbered and labeled? I take it for granted that it is all right, but I do not understand it."

"Perhaps," said MacNair, "this should have been explained to you sooner; but I was guided by my own experience when I found myself among these people. There was so much to be learned and it could not all be acquired at once. I deemed it best to give you as nearly as possible just what you asked for, and let you get somewhat acquainted with the customs of the country before asking you to take the steps necessary to become citizens of Altruria, which also makes you citizens of the inner world, entitled to all the rights of citizenship, no matter where you go. In America, you require a foreigner to declare his intentions to become a citizen, and then, after five years you permit him to be sworn in as a full-fledged citizen. We have no regulations but such as apply to all alike. The child has no choice of birthplace, but it has a natural right to food, shelter, clothing, education, etc. Hence, children are numbered, so we may know how many are to be provided for. When they reach maturity and graduate from school, they are requested to select the names by which they desire to be known. This entitles them to a voice in public affairs and makes them eligible to any public trust. When I gave you a number, the right to food, clothing and education was conferred upon you. When you select names you will be registered as citizens and will be entitled to a voice in public affairs and eligible to any public trust for which you may be selected."

"Then," said the Captain, "it seems that we have no reason to be dissatisfied with either the number or the label, as the first gives us free access to wealth that we did not create, and the second confers upon us the sovereign right to be consulted as to how our benefactors should conduct their business. We seem to be the beneficiaries in all these regulations, 'reaping where we have not sown.' What right have we to the fruits of the labor of others to whom, as yet, we have been of no benefit whatever?"

"The same right," said Oqua, "that you have to live. Your right to life cannot be questioned, and you cannot live unless you have access to the fruits of the earth, which are garnered by the labor of the people. The primary object of human society is to secure to each individual member the right to live and be happy, and to this end, each must be secure in the possession of the means of subsistence and the liberty to enjoy the healthy exercise of every function of mind and body. This, being the primary object for which our social organism was created, our first duty is to humanity, and all of our rules and regulations have this one object in view."

"But does not this endanger the perpetuity of the social organism," asked the Captain, "by opening the door to those who would take advantage of this broad definition of rights to impose grievous burdens upon those who confer these rights?"

"Not at all," responded Oqua. "When all the people enter into an organization of society, the primary object of which is to provide the best possible conditions for each of its members, the personal interests of each, will, to say nothing of the moral obligations, impel them to perpetuate such organization, by doing everything in their power to promote the best interests of all. Hence, just as soon as all have been made secure in their natural rights to life, liberty and those equitable conditions which place happiness within the reach of all, sound policy, as well as equal liberty and even-handed justice demands that all should have an equal voice in the conduct of public affairs in which all are equally interested. It would be manifestly unjust and oppressive, to ask the people to submit to regulations to which they never consented."

"I admit the force of your reasoning," said the Captain. "The same ideas, expressed in different language, were adopted in my own country and have served to embellish platform utterances and sensational newspaper appeals, but in practice, they have been treated as mere 'glittering generalities.' Here, you seem to regard them in a far different light, as something to be reduced to practice in every day life; and with a people as well educated as yours this seems to be easy, but, with an ignorant and brutal populace the case would be very different."

"Not so," said Oqua. "There is more good than evil in the human soul. The populace might be made ignorant and brutal by the violation of these principles, and if so, the application of these principles in all the transactions of life would inevitably produce an intellectual and refined populace. This is no 'glittering generality,' but a sober truth, and this is the lesson that your people must learn before they can ever reach their ideal of what they ought to be. When the leading minds among any people realize that there is absolutely but one way by which the masses of mankind can ever be elevated to higher and better conditions mentally and morally, and that way is, by placing them under better conditions physically, it will be found that the whole people can be lifted up to a higher plane of being as if by magic. It is on this line that the people of this country have been moving for centuries and it is to this that we desire to call your attention. We give you a number, which signifies that because you have an existence, you are entitled to the blessings of our civilization. But now we want you to register your name, as a co-worker. When you take this step, you will have given us your permission to ask your co-operation whenever it is needed. Are you willing to register and assume the duties incumbent upon citizenship?"