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The woods, minds and ,all kinds of
property were sp divided that each
man knew what belonged to him and
there were no lawsuits.
"The security of the- working
classes seems to have been ever kfept
in view by the regulations of the
government, and these were .so ar-
ranged that the most wearing and
unwholesome laborsJ as those in the
mines, caused no hardship, much less
shortened the workers' lives."
These people knew no inetal hard
er than copper. They cultivated" the
land with wooden plows, pulled by
men not women or children. The
Peruvian sheep or llama was the
largest animal. They had no horses,
cattle or draft animals of any kind.
Their government was a despotism,
the emperor as absolute as the czar
of Russia ever was. They knew noth
ing of money and their commerce
was all barter trading labor pro
ducts. All taxes were paid in labor.
One portion of the land was, given
, to the priests to Support the religion
of the sun. Another portion was
kept by the emperor for the government-
All the rest was divided equal
ly among the people, in proportion
to the number in the family and to
the productiveness of the land. This
land division was made every year,
but iby custom each man seems to
have received the same land year
after year as long as he lived, if ,he
f wanted it.
. The emperor and. his nobles, held
the offices and did the governing. All
the land was cultivated by the com
mon people. The,, first to be culti
vated was the land of thesun; next,
the lands of the old, the sick, the
widow, the orphan and of the'sol
W diers in actual service; next, each
worked his own land, and last of all
they tilled and plantedJhe emperor's
share. Everybody worked who could.
Every one had to give a part of his
time in labor for the government on
public works. The, ruins of the
roads, canals and public buildings
are the marvel of scientific men to-
J day. The government maintained a
system of public warehouses whicn
the Spaniards found stored with am
ple supplies to feed and clothe the
people for several years. ' No man
could gain great wealth and no per
son could fall into poverty.
All this was the result of their sys
tem or laws and" government, with-,
out any of the marvelous tools or
mechanical power and transporta
tion ofx American industry. There
was noxprivate monopoly of natural
respurces of any kind, no landlords
and no land speculation.
The people of Oregan have politi
cal power and growing intelligence.
With the help and leadership of the
American Federation of Labor they
can and will do more for themselves
than all the emperors ever did" for the
people of Peru.,
In my next article I will briefly de
scribe the proposed law.
o o
FIGHT FOR BETTER.CONDITIONS-
Union barbers on South Side have '
been successful in fight for better
conditions and better pay. One ex
ception has been Murphy's barber
shop at 63d and Cottage Grove av.,
where thexowner refuses to deal with
the union and persists in hiring non
union barbers.
BITS OF NEWS'
First frost of season hit Chicago
lasV night. - Vegetable growers re
ported damages slight. Lowest tem
perature was 40. j ' t
Frank Krizensky, 13, 2922 Milwau
kee av., discovered fire in mother's
tea store. Extinguished with small'
loss. , , q tfttiiiaf
John D. Stjool, sup't Chicago pub
lic schools, left hospital for Chicago
today. Fully recovered from auto
accident.
Washington, -r- To encourage en
listments, war dep't considering rul
ing that recruits to regular army be
assigned post nearest their homes.
J
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