“According to your description the present state of society appears to be an unbearable condition of affairs”, I said.
“If you inquire among the members of the different guilds, especially among the farmers,” Mr. Forest continued, “you will find that I am describing things just as they are. Every member of the industrial army knows that ability and industry alone will secure a desirable position only in exceptional cases, if at all; that political influence is the almighty factor in every affair of our lives, and that the industrial army is governed by officers whom the worker must try to please, by personal adulation, by presents, by a slavish devotion to the orders of the superiors, and indirectly by inducing all the members of his family and all his friends to support every measure and every member of the administration. If the members of the industrial army could elect their officers, the discipline would of course, not be so strict, as it is now; but even an occasional row amongst the men would be preferable to the present state of affairs, where every one who happens to be unpopular with the ruling party is leading a terrible existence. The number of suicides is therefore becoming larger every year and is to-day four times greater than in your times”.
“The number of suicides in European armies 113 years ago was very large”, I remarked thoughtfully, “although the men had everything they needed in the line of lodging, food and clothing”.
“Yes,” said Forest, “the necessities of life without liberty are of little value. The soldiers of your time threw away their lives, because they did not consider a life without freedom worth living, and still their term of service lasted only three or five years, and they had but a comparatively easy duty to perform in times of peace. The service in our industrial army lasts, at the best, 24 years of our life. The men and women are at the mercy of their officers, and they can appeal against maltreatment to other members of the administration only to judges who decide definitely such cases, generally by simply sending back the complainants to their work with an admonishment to try to win the good will of their superiors, and thus secure promotion.”
“You have been speaking about politicians, Mr. Forest”, I said. “Do many men take an active part in political life?”
“I should say they did”, my predecessor answered. “Many of the men from 45 years upwards, and many women do little else, except busy themselves with politics. They can live on their credit-cards wherever they please, and many of them prefer to spend their time in Washington, “hustling around” in a very lively fashion, trying to gain favors for their friends, and for such people as address themselves to the hustlers. The lobby in the halls of Congress in your days is described as a bad crowd, but to compare it with the hustlers of our days, would be like comparing a Sunday school with pandemonium. Millions of people who desire better work or promotion, and who have nothing to hope from the influence they are able to command at home, write to the hustlers at Washington to secure their services.”
“But what can the seekers of favors offer to those who live in Washington for the purpose of gaining favor for other people, and whom we may call the lobbyists of the twentieth century?” I inquired. “In the present day, men do not accumulate fortunes.”
“Indeed, they do not”, answered Mr. Forest with a smile. “But some people desire to have occasionally a “high time” and to spend five or ten times the amount of their credit-card during each year. Some of our administration leaders keep, what we may style, a “great house”. They receive guests and entertain them with delicacies and wine. Some of the most prominent lobbyists do the same thing. An applicant for favors has to give up a part or perhaps nearly all of his credit-card, and he may look to his future subordinates for a rich compensation”.
“But why are people not satisfied with their legitimate income”? I asked, painfully surprised to see that wire-pulling and corruption were quite as prevalent as they had been 113 years ago. “Is not the income a credit-card affords sufficient to support people?”
“You can never satisfy the people”, Forest said. “Nowadays the clever and industrious part of the people feel that they are robbed for the benefit of their lazy, awkward or stupid comrades, that they have to submit to the impudence and blackmailing of some of their superiors, or else undergo humiliating treatment. And even the men and women of the lowest ability, who are benefited by our present system, are not all of them pleased. Some of them would rather do away with personal property and separate housekeeping. In fact, but a very small portion of our citizens are really satisfied.—And people who are fond of good cooking, costly meals and Havana cigars, certainly cannot pay for such luxuries, and have to depend upon others if they desire to enjoy them. We have in Washington, also, a great many young women, who prefer flirtation, fine meals and a fast life to the regular employment in the industrial army or the life of an ordinary good wife”.