Paris in the Year 2000

by Tony Moilin

  With the efficient organization of apprenticeship established by the Social Republic, similar economic disorder is not longer to be feared. A statistical committee, made up of experts, procures all the necessary information and calculates every year what the needs of industry are, and consequently fixes the number of apprentices to be taken on in each employment.

  The sales records of commercial establishments and the tax records permit the relevant labor statistics to be determined with great exactitude, and when a young person has been admitted to a model workshop and has learned a trade there, he is certain on emerging therefrom to find work and to earn a living honorably by exercising the profession to which he has devoted himself.

  6. Adult Education and Academies

  In all large cities, the Government has instituted public lecture courses that students follow, and with which adults can improve their education. These lectures, given by the most distinguished professors, embrace the totality of information: literature, languages both dead and alive, natural history, medicine, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics, etc. The lessons take place in the day and also in the evenings, in order that workers can attend without missing work. Although the lecture theaters in which the lessons are held are immense, they are always filled with a numerous crowd, so great is the merit of the professors and the zeal of the population.

  Not content with having instituted these public courses, the Government has encouraged open education and puts the State lecture theaters at the disposal of citizens who want to deliver lectures on any subject whatsoever. There are writers who treat literary matters, travelers who give accounts of their voyages, scientists who reveal new discoveries, and so on. Nothing is more varied and instructive than these individual lectures, and, although the improvised professors are not always very eloquent, they rarely fail to attract a fairly numerous audience.

  Another kind of instruction that the Government has not neglected is that provided by public libraries. There is one in every city. Classic works can be found there, as well as many other useful or curious books that one can read within the library or take home for a few days.

  As well as public libraries, there are reading-rooms everywhere, in which all of modern literature, contemporary books and newspapers can be read. These reading-rooms are considered to be commercial establishments and are run by Government employees. They are not free, but the cost of a subscription or a reading session is minimal, the Administration drawing no profit from it and often making a loss. It is consoled by the thought that the education of the people always brings back more than it costs, and that it is still better to read a bad book than get drunk in some dirty tavern.

  For their part, individuals, rivaling the Government in their zeal for education, have formed a multitude of scientific, literary and artistic societies, embracing the entire extent of human knowledge. Thus, in all cities, even the smallest, there are societies of agriculture, meteorology, botany and archaeology, choral societies and brass bands, etc.

  All these free associations correspond with one another; they communicate their work and hold meetings for competitions. Whenever they fulfill a genuinely useful function, the Administration does not fail to encourage them and accord them subsidies to buy instruments or publish their proceedings.

  One of those societies is classified among the establishments of public utility and has become a veritable State institution. I am referring to the Academy of Paris, which unites in its bosom all the illustrious individuals in France, in literary or scientific terms. That society, famous throughout the entire world, had five hundred full members, divided into five specialized Academies, each with a hundred members, to wit:

  The Academy of Belles-Lettres, for poets, dramatists, novelists, journalists and other writers.

  The Academy of Fine Arts, for painters, sculptors, engravers, architects and musicians.

  The Academy of Literary Sciences, for historians, economists, philosophers, archeologists, philologists, etc.

  The Academy of Natural Sciences, for anatomy, physiology, medicine, botany, zoology, geology, meteorology, etc.

  Finally, the Academy of Exact Sciences, for physics, chemistry, astronomy and mathematics.

  The members of these various academies are not elected by the academicians, as was the case under the old regime, but are elected by the Parisians themselves with the aid of universal suffrage and a majority vote.

  That kind of election had the result of suppressing intrigue and favor, and of only bringing into the Institute people who have made a name through their works. This has significantly changed the composition of two academies, those of Belle-Lettres and Fine Arts.

  One the one hand, a certain number of female artists and authors have been elected, to whom academic chairs were previously rigorously refused. On the other hand, the vote of Parisians has sent into these learned assemblies specialties that would once have seemed out of place. Thus, the Academy of Belles-Lettres counts many novelists and journalists among its numbers, and a few talented actors and actresses. Similarly, places in the Academy of Fine Arts have been gives to photographers of merit, instrumentalists, and singers of both sexes, alongside painters and composers of music.

  In spite of all the errors that universal suffrage might commit, the Academicians’ places are nonetheless avidly sought by talented people, and they are the obligatory consecration of all literary or scientific renown. Thus, the Government has a great deal of consideration for those who have succeeded in being elected; it allows them a salary of twelve thousand francs, and thus puts them among the number of the richest citizens of the Social Republic.

  V. GOVERNMENT

  1. Legislative Power

  The Government of the Social Republic is constituted by two distinct powers, which have clearly separate attributions: the legislative power, which makes the will of the People known and formulates it in laws; and the executive power, which implements the laws voted by the legislators.

  These two powers have a common origin, however, in universal suffrage. The people composing them are all elected directly by the vote of their fellow citizens and are thus merely the delegates of the People, who are and remain the veritably sovereign.

  Citizens all have the right to vote as soon as they reach the age of majority at eighteen, and can only be deprived of it by a decision of a court when they have broken the law of the land. Women are not allowed to vote but they obtain their revenge by using their influence to direct the votes of their husbands, relatives and acquaintances—and in fact, although they do not participate in the count, it is they who determine elections and choose all the members if the Government.

  Elections for the legislative body take place every year and are carried out in the following manner.

  Within each electoral constituency, the citizens vote by open ballot for the candidates of their choice. When one of them has gathered a thousand votes in that fashion he is declared elected and people immediately cease voting for him. As for the candidates who have less than a thousand votes at the end of the count, they are submitted to second ballots until the most fortunate has obtained a sufficient number of votes to be elected. Finally, if, after the second ballots there are still more than five hundred electors in the constituency who have not elected anyone, those five hundred can select a representative exactly as if they were a thousand.

  In sum, the Republic’s representatives are appointed by a thousand electors only—electors whose names and addresses they know, with whom they can communicate frequently. It is thus easy for them to consult the sentiments of their electors on every question and vote in accordance.

  They never fail to do this, so it can be said that the People are genuinely represented by the legislative body, and when it votes on a law, it is exactly as if the citizens were voting themselves.

  Under the old regime, when legislators were appointed by a secret ballot of 35,000 voters, it was very different. In those times, the electors, not being personally known
to their representatives, could not communicate with them and thus make known their views on every question. So what happened? The representative acted exactly as they wished, voting according to their own opinions and not that of their electors. Before the election they made the most lavish promises in order to attract the favor of the public, but once elected they forgot them all and scarcely gave any thought to the desires and interests of the citizens they were said to represent.

  The representatives of the Social Republic are elected for a year only, but they are indefinitely re-electable, and, if they strive to be worthy of their electors, they are indeed almost always re-elected and maintain their mandate for life.

  The representatives receive and appropriate salary from the State, but it is forbidden for them to hold any other employment or exercise any industry for as long as their mandate lasts. Responsible for representing the People, they must devote themselves entirely to that task and consecrate all their time to it. All plurality, of any kind, is thus prohibited, and when the citizens perceive that a representative is negligent in fulfilling his functions and does not devote the necessary time and energy to them, they ceased to vote for him and choose someone more diligent in his stead.

  Once elected, the provincial representatives do not come to Paris but remain in their départements, within easy reach of their electors, and go to the local center, where they form a deliberating assembly. These provincial assemblies have exactly the same rights as those elected by the inhabitants of Paris and residing in that city. They all discuss public affairs, vote laws in the general interest and possess to the same degree the legislative power of which they are an integral part.

  When it is a matter involving the entire country, the Government submits it to all the French representatives, then counts the votes for and against, and passes or rejects the proposal according to whether the majority has accepted or rejected it. If, on the other hand, it is a matter of purely local legislation, the discussion remains circumscribed within the assembly of the département concerned, and the other legislative bodies are not involved.

  Thanks to the mode of election and constitution of the national legislative body, it is an exact representation of the will of the sovereign People and all the decisions it takes are inspired by the general interest and the desire to ensure the prosperity of the country. However, the representatives have other functions that are almost as important as that of making laws. In continuous communication with their electors, they listen to their demands and bring them to the attention of the Government. Thus, when a citizen has a petition to make or believes that he has a complaint against the Administration, he rapidly addresses himself to his representative, who takes it up and speaks on his behalf, exposing his grievances in the Chamber, and gives the matter all the desirable publicity.

  On the other hand, when the Government needs to consult public opinion on some matter, it addresses itself to the legislative body and asks it to appoint a committee. The latter immediately opens an enquiry, and its report, which always reflects the true state of minds, serves to align the conduct of the Administration.

  A multitude of questions, which would previously have been left to the arbitration of the Authority, are submitted in this manner to the tribunal of public opinion. Far from complaining and regretting its lost attributions, the Government multiplies these enquiries, only too glad thus to diminish its responsibility and to share with others the heavy task of administering a large population and pleasing everyone.

  Finally, to ensure the free manifestation of the public opinion of which the legislative body is the official organ, the citizens have complete liberty to come together and to express their thoughts by way of the Press.

  Without preliminary authorization and without the surveillance of any commissioner they can hold public meetings and discuss there any questions of religion, politics or social economics. Far from raising any obstacle to these assemblies, the Government favors them by making large and comfortable halls available to the public.

  In the Social Republic the Press similarly enjoys complete liberty. There are no deposits or official stamps, and anyone can found a periodical and wrote whatever he likes therein without fear of being subjected to fines or send to prison.

  Thanks to that liberty, political newspapers are very numerous, very cheap and yet well-produced. Generally edited by the representatives of the legislative body, who find them a convenient means of putting themselves in daily communication with their electors, they are completely filled with instructive and interesting articles and do not contain a single advertisement.

  It is they that genuinely represent public opinion, and as all citizens subscribe to at least one paper and read others in reading-rooms, the People are well acquainted with the country’s affairs and really exercise the executive and legislative powers that they delegate to their representatives.

  2. The Executive Power

  Among the Socialists of the year 2000, executive Authority is entrusted to a single magistrate: the Secretary of the Republic.

  That Secretary promulgates the laws votes by the legislative body, and is responsible for their execution. He is the head of the Administration, appoints all the employees, either directly or through the intermediary of his ministers, and while, so to speak, doing nothing himself, is solely responsible for all the actions of the Government and must answer to the country for the power placed in his hands.

  The Secretary of the Republic is elected by the direct universal suffrage of the whole of France, of which he is the delegate, and which confides to him the exercise of national sovereignty. He is elected by simple majority; moreover, the ballot is secret, in order that everyone may vote freely, without fear of making enemies.

  When the Social Republic was proclaimed, it was initially decided that the Secretary would only be appointed for a year and could never be re-elected. This measure was adopted in order to prevent that usurpation of power and not to give it to a master. Soon, however, the Socialists perceived that, in order to avoid one danger, they were falling into a much greater evil: anarchy.

  In fact, scarcely had the annual Secretary been elected than people began wondering anxiously, who would be put in his place the following year. There was no lack of candidates, and as soon as one of them appeared to have a greater chance, he was immediately surrounded, adulated and acclaimed. Everyone wanted to be his intimate friend and collaborate in his election, some for fear of losing their positions, others in order to obtain better ones.

  In France, therefore there were always two heads of government at once—one in exercise and one in expectation. The latter was no less influential, and his innumerable partisans agitated with the passion of hopeful ambition. In order to put their man in a good light and ensure his election, they mounted a systematic opposition to the Authority, indiscriminately criticizing all the Administration’s decisions and repeating at every opportunity that France would never be happy until the candidate of their choice had been elected.

  Once elected, he new Secretary began by dismissing all the employees who had not rallied to his candidature with sufficient rapidity, and giving their positions to the devoted partisans to whom he owed his election. Then he tried to keep his promises and to occupy himself with the country’s affairs, but was impeded in his turn by a new candidate for the Secretariat, who soon became the leader of a powerful opposition and began a new electoral campaign as agitated as that of the preceding year.

  In addition to that, the Secretaries being unable ever to be re-elected, it was soon necessary to take men of little or no ability, and when, by chance, an intelligent administrator appeared who handled the Republic’s affairs well, at the end of the year it was necessary to bid him farewell like all the rest and replace him with someone less competent.

  Things proceeded in this fashion for some time, but as disorder and agitation increased continually, the Socialists ended up getting weary of that anarchy and decided to amend their Constitution. They decl
ared than in future, the Secretary of the Republic would be appointed for ten years, and that he could be re-elected at the expiry of his mandate. That long delegation of power ceased immediately, of course, and before the fixed term, in case of crime, madness grave infirmity or notorious incapability. In all such circumstances, the legislative body had to vote a law calling upon the people, who had to vote yes or no as to whether the Secretary in office was to retain or quit his position.

  As soon as a decennial Secretary was appointed who was very capable, agitation and anxiety ceased, to give way to confidence and security. He engaged in a little less politics, but paid much more attention to his own duties, and employees and manufacturers, instead of thinking about changing the Government, no longer thought about anything but getting down to work and fulfilling their functions. The Administration, no longer being hindered by a noisy opposition, put all its zeal into choosing its functionaries and giving advancement not to the most conspiratorial but to the most capable. The Authority, reassured of it future and certain of achieving what it had begun, undertook immense projects of public utility, and was able to bring them to completion.

  In brief, after ten years of general prosperity and perfect tranquility, the people were so satisfied with his regime and were so unworried about possible usurpation that they reelected the same Secretary and entrusted him with a new mandate. Only a few extreme Republicans were discontented. They said that liberty had been lost, that the Government was no longer a Republic but a Monarchy, and that, at that price, France would pay dearly for the wellbeing it enjoyed. But France let them speak, and, whether it was a Republic or an elective Monarchy, the Constitution it had adopted satisfied it, and it had no desire to change it.