Eurasia

by Christopher Evans

I was introduced to the President of the United Workers of Eurasia and he told me that all the working men and women were united in one great union and that the present Minister of Labor was a lady who for years had championed the cause of Labor and that she was unceasing in her efforts to better their condition now that she was at the head of the Department of Labor. The wages of all Government employees were fixed by law and could not be raised or lowered except by a two-thirds vote of the people, and only one bill from each department could be submitted by the Parliament to the people to vote on at each election, so that graft and corrupt practices could gain no footing by appealing to selfish interests.

The law provided a liability fund for sickness, injuries and death among working men and women; one-half of the fund payable by the working men and women and the other half by the employers. The money for the fund had to be paid monthly. Every working man and woman had to pay out of his or her wages a fixed sum for which the employer was held responsible and every employer had to pay an equal sum for every person in his employ. This law applied equally to every person in Eurasia, the employer as well as the employed. There was no charge for membership in the labor union and no walking delegates, for the Government gave them permission to hold their meetings in the churches, which were all Government property, and in the public schools. Whenever the members of the union in any district wanted an increase of wages the law required them to serve a written notice on the employer and a copy of it on the District Court. The Chief justice then called both parties before the Court and ordered them to each select one person as arbitrator, and for those two selected to settle the dispute and if they could not agree, then the case went immediately before the District Court and a majority vote of the Court settled it. As a result of this common-sense method of settling labor disputes there were no strikes.

Every corporation, before shutting down its works, had to serve ten days' notice on its employees and also file a copy of it with the District Court, stating its reasons for so doing, and if the labor union protested, the Court heard the case and if there was unsufficient cause shown by the corporation it had to continue work until such time as it showed good and sufficient reasons to stop work. The Government strictly enforced the eight-hour law, and no working woman was permitted to work overtime. Children were not allowed to work for wages under any circumstances for they were the wards of the State, but men could work overtime if the union permitted them, with double pay for it. The Government granted a pension of half the wages yearly received by every working man and woman that was over sixty years of age and a full pension wage to every working man or woman over seventy years of age, no matter what their financial condition was at that time.

Every person before casting a ballot at the polls was required to show a receipt from the Department of Health that two dollars had been paid into the Old Age Pension fund for the previous year, which was a salutary measure in preserving the purity of elections by eliminating the shiftless and improvident from participation in the election.

The Government obeyed the Fourth Commandment, "Honor thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

CHAPTER XVII.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.

I learned that the Department of Health had greater responsibilities than any other department of the Government, for the physical, mental and moral welfare of the people was in its keeping. One of its duties was to prevent the introduction of any diseases into Eurasia, and to make it effective every person coming into the country had to undergo a physical examination by three Government physicians, and all persons that were idiotic or insane or had any of the following diseases, viz.: syphilis, tuberculosis, cancer, leprosy, yellow fever, smallpox, or any other contagious disease or fever, or was shown on examination to be addicted to vicious habits, were denied admission. Another of the duties of the Department of Health was to examine every person that applied to practice medicine and surgery or to engage in any professional calling. The law required a medical examination to be made of the person, who was granted a license every year, so as to keep the professions up to a high standard.

Before granting license to any man, three male physicians in Government employ examined him, and if a female three female physicians examined her. The first examination was physical, and if found to be in good physical health they were passed up for a mental examination, and if they qualified for their profession they were examined morally, when they were asked the following questions: "Do you believe in the Brotherhood of Man? Will you do unto others always as you would desire that others should do to you? Do you promise that you will not render obedience directly or indirectly to any person or persons outside of Eurasia and that you will render willing obedience to the laws and do all that lies in your power to maintain the honor of the country?" If they did not agree to those rules of conduct they were denied a license. If any person attempted to practice any profession without a license he was punished by six months' imprisonment at hard labor.