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The Commoner.
VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2t
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twenty foot long, nnd cix or eight feet wide and
thick.
The Indians UBcd tools mado of a mixture of
copper and tin, Iron being apparently unknown
, to them.
Money wan not used among the Indians, al
though the Incas had gold and sliver In abun
dance. So large was their store of the precious
motals that Atahualpa, when captured, offered
as a ransom a quantity of gold plate and orna
ments sufficient to fill a room twenty-two feet
long, seventeen feet- wide, and nine feet high,
nnd his half-brother offered twice as much. Tho
first offer was accoptod, and although tho un
fortunate monarch actually turned over to
Pizarro gold which Prescott estimates at fifteen
million dollars, his life was taken by the con
quoror who was afraid to release him.
In speaking of the Indians, I must mention
the peculiar animal which served them In so
many ways. Tho llama was the Indian's chief
rollance. It resembles tho camel; In fact, Its
scientific namo Is cameluB lama. If the camel
deserves to be called "tho ship of the desert,"
tho llama may with equal propriety be de
scribed as the freight train of the Andes. It is
docllo and yet quite independent. It carries
from seventy-five to one hundred pounds, ac
cording to tho roads, and when overloaded lies
down and refuses to move. In like manner it
reserves tho right to rest when, In Its opinion,
it has traveled far enough. When the llama
lies down, tho driver, knowing from experience
that violonco will bo of no avail, sits down and
sings to tho animal: "Llama, (pronounced
Yairia) llama, llama, pasa (go on) pasa, llama,
pasa, etc. When the llama has rested suffi
ciently it yiolds to-the persuasion of tho driver
and resumes its journey.
Tho llama can go seven days without food or
water, and for this reason it is very serviceable
on long mountain trips, but after such a test
of endurance tho animal must be given three
weeks rest. While it reminds one of the camel
in the shape of tho head, the length of the neck
and In tho manner in which it lies down, it
grows a coarse wool, from which the natives
still make tho most of their clothing. When it
Is added that the flesh of the llama is used for
food, and that its dung, when dried, furnishes
the chief fuel, It will be seen that the llama was
Indispensable to tho Indians before the advent
of tho whito man, and that it is very necessary
to his comfort even now.
Tho Indians also used the wool of the alpaca,
a native sheep which is rapidly disappearing,
and the still finer wool of the vicuna.
Specimens of cloth of great antiquity are to
be found in tho museum, and earthen vessels of
all sizes and shapes prove a knowledge of the
potter's art.
Thoro aro some traces of tho Orient anions
the customs of the Indians. For instance, the
Inca would open the spring season by ploughing
a furrow with a golden plow, just as the emperor
of China now celebrates the coming of sprinc
There is more, however, to remind one of the
Egyptians. Tho bodies of the rulers were em
balmed, and they were left alone in their nal
acos with such things as they might need on
their return to life. Some of the statues, too,
resemble the work of the Bgyyptians, and there
aro characters enough like hieroglyphics to
suggest a written language. It Is generally be
lieved, however, that the Incas had no written
language, although one writer Insists that thev
found a written tongue but prohibited its use
rA record of population and events was kept
by means of a cluster of knotted strings, called
guipus, which tho wise men busied themselves
In preparing nnd explaining. "weives
I assume that tho reader is familiar with the
story of the conquest, with the cruelty of the
Spaniards, and with their bloody quarrels ove?
the spoils, and shall not therefore review the
history of colonial days. w e
The chiof interest in the Inca- civilization
arises from the fact that in this secluded "m
Pire on tho ablelands of the Andes a aoclaltaUc
system was being tested. The Inca represented
the government; he asked for unfaltering loy
alty nnd guaranteed his subjects against wait
The tasks were, apportioned by overseers ami
food and clothing were supplied as needed The
sheep were sheared at an appointed time and
even hunting was done in concert The 'indi
vidual could not choose his habitat on, h?s avo-
s-rr'tS: ssr tho
o v uuiu lUo vaueys on tho Pacific
slope, ten thousand feet below. If the people
of any section complained they were removed
in a body to some more loyal section, and their
places were filled by persons who were not dis
affected, but care was taken not to injure the
health of the parties transferred.
There was no poverty among the natives
they were equal in their present possessions and
in their prospect for the future. So long as
one worked he had nothing to fear, and he had
nothing to hope for beyond food and clothing.
There was little crime against property and
whenever crime was committed It was promptly
punished.
Here was a state of society in which there
wero no extremes, no reason for envy, no room
for pride,' and no excuse for despair. The in
dividual had no choice? he could neither fall nor
rise; he was the creature of circumstance and
powerless to change his environment. It was
fortunate for him that the Inca was considerate;
the environment might have been worse.
It is not fair, of course, to charge against
socialism all the evils of the social system of
which the subjects of the Inca were a part. It
is only fair to suppose that universal education
and the moral progress of the world would great
ly raise the level of the people whether living
under a socialistic or an individualistic system.
There was enough of the socialistic principle
applied in the Incan system, however, to make
some comparison possible, and insofar as a com
parison can bo fairly made, it is against the
theory. The government ownership and opera
tion of all tho meatis of production and trans
portation may be reasonably expected to pro-
duce the same stagnation that was visible among
the Indians.
A socialistic system would necessarily imply
restriction as to location and occupation. If
the government is to be the employer of all who
are engaged in producing and in distributing
tho products of labor, it must have the right
to assign the tasks, and to determine what each
shall do and in what place each shall work.
Such a condition may have been tolerable under
the Incas, whose subjects were ignorant of his
tory and of the .conditions existing in other
countries, and In addition, were held in- awe
of the ruler both by superior force nnd by rev
erence, but it would be unbearable among an
enlightened people, living under a government
of their own creation, administered by mortals
like themselves.
We can not form an intelligent opinion of
the conditions that would exist under a socialis
tic system by comparing it with our present civil
service system. Our civil service furnishes em
ployment for comparatively few, and as the em
ployes enter the service voluntarily, the condi
tions must be such as to draw them from other
occupations; and, whenever dissatisfied, they
can resign and take up some other kind of work.
There is now perfect freedom both in entering
and in leaving government employment, and
one can consult his tastes and convenience. This
would be impossible in a socialistic state, and
there would be no outlet for the discontent
that would naturally be aroused.
If party organizations were kept up and
without them the masses would be powerless
to remedy abuses we might expect party lead
ers to reward their supporters with the best
places and the most agreeable work, while the
drudgery would fall to the opposition. In this
respect the subjects of the Inca were probably
more fortunate than wo would be under our form
of government, for the Inca had no political
friends to reward, and no opponents to punish
But even if we could imagine contentment
under a system which makes all, or nearly all
employes of the state, we can not believe such
a system conducive to permanent and continu
ous progress. Freedom, not bondage, furnishes
the environment for the development of man
hood and womanhood.
God might ljave made man perfect, surround
ed h m with food and relieved him of the need
of clothingas he did the animals but He
chose to make him a free moral agent and en
dowed him with power to choose between han
piness and misery made it possible for him
to advance or to encompass his own ruin
This freedom has its penalties, but they are
necessary to spur man on to great achievement.
Individualism Is in harmony with the divine
plan, for it sets before man good and evil and
urges him to choose the good but leaves him
free to reject the advice and suffer the conse
quences. wm
It is not only natural but commendable that
the sympathetic seeing the distress and suffer
ing in the world should desire to protect man
from them, but the remedy must be in i harnES
with natural laws. Sometimes a father, who has
reached financial Independence -through struggle
and self-denial tries, in mistaken kindness, to
save his son from a similar experience;, but he
usually finds that he has robbed his' son of
energy, if not of character.
- Socialism does not present a real remedy; the
cure is worse than the disease. It may exter
minate the fear of poverty, but it also eliminates
the hope of independence. Under it man can
not fall very low, but he can not rise at all.
Socialism grades down while' individualism
grades up. Under socialism the tendency would
be for each man to work as little as possible,
unless he worked under compulsion, with a con
stant lowering of the average; under individu
alism the tendency Is- for each to make his work
as effective as possible, and he needs no master's
lash to force him to his taBk.. , .
There is but one just basis of rewards, name
ly, that one shall be compensated in propor
tion to the value of the service rendered, and
this basis can not be fixed with accuracy by gov
ernmental decree. There are so many degrees
of capacity such infinite variety in ability to
render service that competition alone can. fix
the reward with equity and fairness.
The trouble is that abuses have grown up
under individualism and socialists, by attacking
these abuses, turn attention away from the de
fects of the system which they propose. Fortu
nately for them, their system has never been
tested by practice, and therefore its faults-have
not been clearly exposed. The system which
the Spaniards found in Peru was probably the
nearest approach that has been found to a social
istic system and it is an interesting study for
that reason.
The intelligent advocates of individualism
must see that the best way to meet socialism is
to remedy the abuses which have aroused just
criticism, and leave the system free to develop
the best that is in us under the stimulus' which
competition furnishes.
It must be remembered, too, that there is a'
moral principle which, while independent of,
acts entirely in harmony with,- the economic
principle which underlies individualism, namely,
that one holds what he earns in trust for society.
To give a man more than he earns is apt to iSe
numb hisrsetfse of justice; to givehlni lesS'tiSan
he earns" Is apt to rouse1 resentment; butiJwhen
he receives a reward which app"roximates'rin
value the service rendered, he is encouraged
to do his best, and then the spirit of philan
thropy should lead him to share with those less
fortunate, and thus secure the satisfaction that
comes from generous deeds.
Christianity contemplates a social system vast
ly superior to that which the Incas imposed, upon
their subjects a system resting upon justice
and philanthropy, in which both happiness and
greatness are measured by service; It presents
a conception of life in which each individual
strives to make the most of himself that he may
make the largest possible contribution to the
welfare of all.
WTT.T.TATW T TJTJVATOr "
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vopyrignt oy xnow York World.
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- THE BOY WHO FORGETS
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I lovft him. thA hnv TVir fnn;n(
Does it seem such a queer thing to say?
Can't help it; he's one of my pets: '
Delightful at work or at play.
I'd trust him with all that I own '"'i
And know neither worries nor frets: :'&'
But the secret of this lies alone v
in Tr thinm 4i.x xi - ' .... r.
vu mmfco tuuu me laaaie forgets.-'
He always forgets to pay back
The boy who has done him an ill
Forgets that a grudge he owes Jack '
And smiles at him pleasantly still.
m Z e" o iiio turn. V7
To choose what the others shall nlav"'
Forgets about others to learn piayV;
The gossipy things that "they say."- ?"
Hw?rgets t0 look sulky and cross '
,,v,u iuiuBB mo noi going his wav
Forgets someone's gain is hisOoss T
Forgets, in his worktime, his play
So this is why I take his part; -
Why I say he is one of my pets
I repeat it with all my heart:
I love him for wimf v. L i..
-Dn i " " "r" t? XU1 s J r -
,iwq sauces uamp, St. Nicholas.;
All new and renewal subscribers to Tho Com.
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