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Show A Message From Mars. What say you? A message by the wireless, and for us? Who can be sending us word? What can the trouble be? Is some ship fighting an unequal battle far away at sea? Is the seismograph heralding her-alding the course of some great earthquake that is on the march? Read me the message, please? What? From Mars? Now wo are interested. Hurry Hur-ry and road, please! "We are laughing, we in Mars, at the fix you are in down on your planet. You are in trouble and cannot pay your bills, and are blaming everybody in power and all those who have your money in care. We had just such troubles trou-bles until we learned a way to avoid them. The last time was when we were trying to build the grand canal, the one to the right as you look at us through your second hand telescopes. The contractor con-tractor failed and then the government took it in hand. But it was stubborn work; the formation was treacherous, the rock on the seventh level was so hard that dynamite had no effect upon it; wo had to do on a big scale what your Hannibal did on a small scale when he crossed the Alps heat it to a white heat and then pour vinegar upon it; we kept it up for generations; the lower end in a country that was filled with malaria and the workmen died by tens of thousands. At last tho government was made bankrupt those wore troublous trou-blous times sure enough. Tho banks all failod; cashiers suicided, women who had been rich ran away with circus mon; tho schools ran down; tho churches wore deserted; tho man who had had a million had no more, influence than a janitor; homes were broken up, violence was rampant and the good warned the people that it was all on ac count of their sins and that right behind tho whole business the ond of tho wprld was near, and quoted no end of old prophecies to prove It. At last a nico old guy put a notice In a morning newspaper, news-paper, which read to the effect that when God put Intelligent men on the planet, he gavo thm every needed thing; but no money. He reasoned that had money been necessary he would have given that, too. He besought the people to look around and see If they could ilnd anybody who ever got f I jflj anything out of the world except board and ' jfl clothes; explained to them that there was noth- J- fl ing of real value in the world except labor. 'tl' ' Tho parliament took the matter up, passed a fl , 1 JH law abolishing all forms of money nnd decreeing 'tji H that any man who would work two hours a day, X jH our days are 48 hours long, should have board. jL H and every one who would work four hours a day 'JBl , should have clothes and those who would not W IH work should have neither board nor clothes for fc fl that day. B It worked like a charm. There were no more m jfl thieves because there was nothing wcrth stealing, l fl no gambling, for there was nothing to win. When M ! H men worked four hours they had all the rest of i H tho day for study; no one could smell liquor be- fl cause there was nothing to buy with; there was no t. ! H incentive for crime; there was no pride of dress, '!r ; fl all dressed alike, tho rations purchased were so W- fl simple that no one grew ill it was our salvation. W fl You had bettor try it down there in your world " I H |
