The times., 1901-03-10

! THE ReDublic has it's own money not
! national currency. This money is in the
! form of pasteboard disks, each represent
! ing certain value. The lowest wages
( paid for a days work is fifty cents. Girls
/ get the same pay as do boys. The lowest
! wage is given to unSktlied labor As soon
| as better work is done, seventy cents is
! paid until finally ninety cents day is
/ given for skilled labor. This money can
be frittered away without restraint lust
I as in the nation at large. but each child s
! money which has been put in the bank
! or saved in any way is redeemed at the
end of sixty days in potatoes. groceries or
I any other kind of provisions or clothing
! Money nut in the bank draws per cent
/ week thus encouraging thrift.
The Junior Republic also has it's system
| of taxes The tax must be paid by the
WORKERS to support the idlers, who are
! soon called 'paupCTs' by the industrious
I boys and girls The idlers are made TO
/ feel that they are looked down upon py
I the others Those who earn thelr way
when they come to their dinner find the
: table. set with a clean white cloth ana
{ nice dishes At this table the i1lers or
! "u1uurrs" are not permitted They are
furnished with a tin-basin of soup ana
/ niece of bread, both served on an un-
/ blamed hemlock board The idlers eat in
! The same room with the workers and 1t
/ does not take them long to note the az
! ference in fare and service.
/ Those who have to pay the tax to sup
( port the paupCrs soon begin to grumple
{ at tbe burden imposed on them. In TINS
I rCsDect the community again resembles
The National Republic Without being
( told what to 90. the Industrious portion OF
/ the Frceville Government discovers ire
mendously effective means to bring the
! deliuOuentS to terms. The idler is OStra-
cised and vigorously snubbcd. He very
I soon finds himself desptsed creature ana
/ very lonesome. This state of affairs does
4 not suit him and he goes to work with
4 feverish energy which proves the etfec-
J tivsnesS of his punishment. one of the
/ most iucOrriEible boys the little T3puDhc
] hfr q 9
/ days with $50 to his credit This was
! mostly in the form of potatoes and pro-
/ visions. enough TO supply his family for
I a whole winter.
! The highest ambition of a boy after he
| has been few days at the farm Is 10 be-
/ come a COP There is a finely organized
! police force uniformed in blue and brass
/ buttons Every boy wants to get on de
! force at once. His amaZement is com
! plete when he is told he will have to pass
! "A civil service examination first. hen
/ he comes up for his examination in read
! ing writing. arithmetic, and geoprapny
| and fails TO pass, he realizes that his past
! truancy does not pay. Many mother has
! blessed the day when she placed her boy
/ in the care of the management at Free
| Vile. for she had no further need TO urge
| her boy to go to school.
There is plenty OF work Tor the ponce
/ force for there are crimes and criminals
at FreeVillc as well as OutHde the luriS-
diCti0n Of the Junior Republic. There are
thieves and highway robbers and coun-
I d
money in his clothes has been held up
and made to disgOrFe and ingenious at
tcmpts to counterfeit the Republics cur
renCy have been made. Then the culprit
is arrested and brought before the grand
I Jury which iuStinctiVeIy seems to be able
to discriminate between what IS evidence
and what is not After the district at
tOrney and the counsel for the defence,
both BOYS have summed up and the jury
brings in q verdict of guilty, the cuI-
prit is taken to the Jail where he is dis
r,f la.I rTrlf Ing
stripes running cross-Ways, IS given him
TEa is iura rcrrated for a period ranging
from halliday to several days Hard
bed and bread and water is his portion
while in Jail If a boy resists arrest. that
crime, resisting an officer is added to the
original charge and he pays the penalty
II is comicaI to see mite Of a boy po-
liceman arresting a hoy large enough to
eat him" but on whose face is a look
of intense earnestness as he permits hiIn-
self to be led TO the stationhOuSe by the
officer.
one of the boys who had been industri-
Ous and upright and quite favorite was
arrested for some offence and, when the
jury came in, the foreman stepped up
to Mir George, the president and in trial
by-jury- cases. the judge. and said:
Hes guilty. but he int done nuthin
before, so we's want yer to let him down
easy and go light on him.
This was a just verdict and the Of
fender was sentenced to a half-daYs so
iourn in the Jail This boy became Speak
er of the House of Representatives before
the season Of sixty days was over.
Election to the Senate and House OF Rep
rcsentatives is by popular vote in which
the girls participate with as much zest
and enthusiasm as the boys. Both
branches Of the Republics Congress con-
tain girl members. Universal suffrage is
"a constitutional provision in the Junior
Republic. But unlike the Congress at
W NashingtOn there are no Subsidy bills
or other nefarious jobs attempted in this
little Congress Matters of grave moment
to the Freeville community are debated
earnestly without hint of a clOture rule.
No entangling alliances with the Gov
ernment at Washington or other foreign
states are attempted. Lobbying is ram
pant but no money bribes are offered as
the little pasteboard discs are too highly
prized by the Republics voters Some
other tempting offer is made. but as a
rule the integrity of the members Of Con-
uress Is above question.
The neighbOring farmers take kindly to
the children Of the Republic and frequent
lv give them apples and other fruit which,
after the recipients own appetite is ap-
pcased are sold TO the less lucky mem
bers and thus an increase is made in the
bank account and domestic trade Is
kept up and adds another source of in
come other than that which comes from
working in the Republics shops.