(1976) The R Document

by Irving Wallace

  She took the clipping back. ‘After I read it to my students, I told them I wasn’t going to let them go through my course without reading the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution properly, or without understanding those classic documents.’

  ‘Did you mention the Bill of Rights?’ asked Collins. ‘Well, of course. It’s part of the Constitution, isn’t it?

  In fact, I got into quite a discussion with my class about the basic freedoms and civil rights. My students seemed highly stimulated. However, several of them went home and told their parents about it, and it got all exaggerated and distorted, and before I knew it the head of the Argo City Board of Education came down on me as a troublemaker. A troublemaker? What trouble? I said I was only teaching history. He insisted I was fomenting dissent, and he said he would have to terminate me. Truly, I still don’t understand what happened.’

  ‘Aren’t you going to protest your dismissal?’ Radenbaugh wanted to know.

  Miss Watkins seemed genuinely surprised at the suggestion. ‘Protest? To whom?’

  ‘Surely there must be someone.’

  ‘There isn’t. Even if there were, I wouldn’t think of doing so.’

  ‘Why not?’ persisted Radenbaugh.

  ‘Because I don’t want to get involved in such things. I just want to be let alone. I believe in live and let live.’

  Collins entered the discussion again. ‘But they won’t let you live, Miss Watkins. At least, not your way.’

  She seemed momentarily confused. ‘I don’t know. I guess there are rules here, like everywhere. I must have accidentally broken one. But it’s nothing I’d make a - a public fuss over. No, I wouldn’t think of doing that.’

  ‘What happened the last time you taught the Constitution?’ Collins wondered.

  ‘I had never taught it before. I used to teach European history. The city manager’s wife taught American history, but she retired last semester and I was moved over to replace her.’

  ‘What are you going to do now, Miss Watkins? Stay in Argo City?’

  ‘Oh, no, they wouldn’t let me. Unless you work for the company or city, you can’t stay. They wouldn’t give me another job. I suppose I’ll go back to Wyoming. I don’t know. It’s very upsetting. I just don’t know what I did wrong.’

  ‘Do you want to tell us more?’ Collins asked.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘About what goes on here?’

  ‘Nothing goes on here, really nothing,’ she said too emphatically. ‘I think I’d better get back to my class. If you’ll excuse me now…’

  She disappeared inside the room.

  Radenbaugh looked at Collins. ‘Who said it, Chris? If fascism ever comes to the United States, it’ll be because the people voted it in.’

  ‘Amen,’ said Collins. He took Radenbaugh by the arm. ‘We’d better get back to the hotel. There’s a lot to decide.’

  By five minutes after five o’clock the three of them had assembled in Chris Collins’ room in the Constellation Hotel.

  Collins was the first to speak, addressing himself to Chief Justice Maynard, who had just sat down on the hard bed, had removed his hat, and was now mopping his wet brow.

  ‘Well, Mr Chief Justice, what did you find out?’

  Maynard seemed dazed. ‘In a word, it’s - it’s - shocking.’

  ‘Unbelievable,’ agreed Collins.

  ‘Who could even imagine this going on in the United States?’

  ‘It’s going on, all right,’ said Collins grimly. ‘The people here are so indoctrinated with it, they dont know what’s happened.’

  Maynard nodded heavily. ‘Yes. that was my impression.’

  ‘It’s late,’ said Collins, ‘and I think the sooner we get out of here and head back for Phoenix, the better. We can discuss it in detail in the car. But right now, let me sum up what Donald and I found out. Between us, we covered a lot of ground, spoke to a lot of people.’

  ‘So did I,’ said Maynard. ‘I even saw the sheriff and the newspaper editor. They talk and they don’t realize what they’re saying. It’s become a way of life. Never in my experience, here or abroad, at least since the Second World War, have I seen a population living such a robotlike existence. Or dwelling under such an insidious oppression.’

  Collins rose, and moved restlessly around the room. ‘Let me tell you, in a nutshell, what Donald and I found out. The Argo Smelting and Refining Company owns the only basic food and clothing stores in town. The mining employees are paid salaries, but they are also given coupon books, v/ith scrip, which is good only in the company stores. When they run out of money, they can use the scrip to buy on credit. Thus, most of them wind up in hock to the company.’

  ‘A subtle form of slavery or economic bondage,’ added Radenbaugh.

  ‘But there is much that is less subtle. The company owns every acre of land, owns or controls the city hall, sheriff’s office, schools, hospitals, theater, post office, church, repair shops, city newspaper, this very hotel. The company librarian bans books - not so much sex books as political books and history books. The post office screens - a euphemism for opens - all incoming and outgoing mail. The school board determines what the teachers should teach. The sheriff sees that peddlers and salesmen are not given permits. The hotel allows no one to stay more than two days. Strangers are picked up for vagrancy after three days. The company censors the minister’s sermons. Unmarried men and women are segregated by sex into four company board-inghouses, which are filled with informers. As to general housing -‘

  ‘I looked into that,’ said Maynard. ‘I pretended I was considering buying a house and settling down here. It was fruitless. Only employees of Argo City Smelting are eligible to buy homes. The company holds the mortgage on every house that is bought. Mortgage payments are deducted from salary. If the owner decides to leave town, he must sell his house back to the company. On rented homes, the rents are also deducted from paychecks.’

  ‘More bondage,’ said Radenbaugh.

  Collins moved toward Maynard. ‘What else did you find out?’

  Maynard’s gray head wagged from side to side. ‘Enough to sicken me. I have never encountered such blatant disregard for the Bill of Rights. I stopped once to have a salad

  in a company cafeteria. While at my table, out of curiosity, I jotted down on a napkin - two napkins, actually - the basic rights offered in the first ten amendments to the Constitution - the Bill of Rights adopted in December, 1791. Next to each amendment, I wrote down how the amendment is observed in Argo City. Listen to this -‘

  He tugged the two napkins out of the pocket of his khaki jacket and exchanged his sunglasses for a pair of square-lensed reading glasses.

  ‘ - just listen to this,’ Maynard resumed. ‘The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, press, speech, and the rights of assembly and petition. Here in Argo City you attend one church or none at all. You read one newspaper, the Bugle. All outside newspapers and most magazines are banned. Did you know that? Television consists of one local UHF station - company-controlled, of course. National programs are videotaped, and only certain ones are shown. The same for radio. Taped shows are played. All radios are sold by the company, ones with special band niters so they can’t pick up Phoenix or other cities. Free speech is crippled all the way. Speak out of turn, and an informer reports you. You are out of a job and out of your home. No public gatherings and demonstrations permitted. The last one occurred four years ago. It was broken up, and the workers protesting lack of safety regulations were arrested. The jail was too small to hold them, but unbeknownst to anyone, there is an internment camp outside of town, in the desert -‘

  ‘An internment camp?’ Collins blinked, remembering his son, Josh, and the trip to Tule Lake.

  ‘Yes. Four weeks’ confinement in that camp ended the protest. There has never been another since.’ Maynard tried to make out his writings on the first napkin. ‘The 2nd Amendment gives the citizen the right to keep and bear arms, meaning it gives each state a r
ight to have a militia. But not in Argo City, Only an elite group of company employees - higher-placed, dependable ones - can and do own weapons. The 3rd Amendment says no soldier can be quartered in a private residence without consent of the owner. Five years ago, a ruling was made here that permits

  the police, in time of emergency, to move in and live under anyone’s roof. The 4th Amendment gives people the right to be secure against unreasonable search. An Argo City ordinance allows the sheriff’s men to enter anyhome without a warrant. The 5th Amendment protects the accused in a capital crime - only a grand jury can indict a civilian, by the way - and it guarantees due process, and says no one need be a witness against himself. Well, there’s no grand jury in Argo City. A judge decides whether the evidence makes a trial necessary. The judges, of course, are appointed by the company. The 6th Amendment guarantees that the criminally accused shall have a speedy trial, impartial jury, be confronted by the witnesses against him, have the assistance of counsel for defense. In Argo City you can languish in jail indefinitely before being tried. No juries here. One of the judges sits as both judge and jury, like it or not. Witnesses against the accused need not appear in person. Counsel for the defense is supplied by the company.’ Maynard uttered a sigh. ‘As Stanislaw Lee once said, “The dispensing of injustice is always in the right hands.” ’

  ‘Cripes,’ muttered Radenbaugh. ‘Wrong as they were, at least I had twelve jurors and I chose my own defense attorney.’

  Maynard picked up his second napkin and read from it. ‘The 7th Amendment. Well, this also guarantees the right to a trial by jury - that is, in suits of common law. This has been entirely ignored in Argo City. The 8th Amendment promises no excessive bail, protects the citizen against excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishment. Well, here, for as little as a misdemeanor, the bail is set so high that the accused rots in prison until he is tried. I wasn’t able to learn the amounts of fines. But apparently cruel and unusual punishment is the norm. Guilty people lose their homes. Protests or felonies send you to a barbed-wire internment camp in the hot desert. God knows what else they have in their books. The 9th Amendment safeguards other rights not specified in the Constitution. I didn’t find out much tying into that, except that Argo City citizens apparently have no clear rights other than the right to eat and sleep, under certain conditions. The 10th Amendment reserves all

  powers not delegated to the Federal Government by the Constitution to the states and the people. Here, obviously, all powers delegated by the Constitution to the Federal Government, the states, or the people are totally controlled by the company.’

  ‘Or by Vernon T. Tynan,’ said Collins. ‘Or by Tynan, yes,’ Maynard agreed. He stuffed the napkins back in his pocket. ‘Gentlemen, how in the devil could this have happened? I can see the Federal Government’s not being aware of what’s going on here. But the state of Arizona - one would think the state would be aware ‘and act upon it.’

  ‘No, I can see how the situation would be allowed to exist,’ Radenbaugh said. ‘Ten to one the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is supposed to control corporations, is itself controlled by the Argo Smelting and Refining Company. Then Tynan had something on Argo Smelting, and he moved in on them for his grand experiment.’

  Maynard was more agitated than ever. ‘This is absolutely the most appalling situation I’ve ever encountered.’

  ‘We can’t sit by and let it go on,’ Collins said. ‘As Attorney General, I’ve got to act. I can send a team of investigators in here -‘

  Maynard raised a hand. ‘No, that’s not of immediate concern. Argo City and its 14,000 people are not the issue. They are merely part of the larger issue. You said it yourself, Mr Collins. There’s more at stake - far more.’ ‘You mean the 35th Amendment.’

  ‘We know that crime-free Argo City inspired Director Tynan to develop the 35th Amendment. We know he tested aspects of the 35th, and refined them, using Argo City as a laboratory for suppression and repression in the last four years. We know we have today seen a preview of the entire United States a year from now, and in the years to come, if California ratifies the 35th and makes it part of the Constitution.’

  The Chief Justice stood up and aimlessly crossed the room, immersed in some inner conflict, but when he returned to Collins and Radenbaugh, his creased countenance had opened up at some private resolution.

  ‘Gentlemen,’ he said, ‘I’ve made my decision. If it is up to me, California cannot and shall not pass the 35th Amendment.’

  Collins could not hide his elation. ‘Are you - What are you going to do, Mr Chief Justice?’

  ‘I’m going to do what I promised you I’d do if you uncovered evidence that this democracy is in real danger,’ Maynard said. ‘You’ve shown me one part of The R Document, apparently Director Tynan’s master plan. I have seen fascism accepted as the price for security. Now I can see this fascism brought to the entire nation, all under the guise of law. I can’t and won’t let it happen.’ His eyes held on Collins. ‘I’m going to speak to the President first. I’m going to try to persuade him to reverse his position. If I fail, then I’ll come forward and be heard. If my influence, Mr Collins, is what you believe it to be, there will be no 35th Amendment, no more Argo Citys in America, and our time of agony will be ended.’

  Collins grabbed Maynard’s hand and pumped it warmly. Radenbaugh nodded approval. ‘We’d better get moving,’ Maynard said gruffly. ‘I’ll go to my room to get my things. I’ll meet you in the hall in two minutes flat.’

  Maynard hastened out the door.

  Jubilantly, Collins and Radenbaugh took up their effects and started to leave. At the door, Collins halted Radenbaugh.

  ‘Where are you going from Phoenix, Donald?’

  ‘Back to Philadelphia, I guess.’

  ‘Come to Washington. I can’t put you on the Federal payroll. But I can put you on my private one. I need you. Our work is not done. Once Maynard kills the 35th Amendment, we’ll need a new and decent program to substitute for it, one that will bring about a reduction in crime without sacrificing our civil rights.’

  Radenbaugh looked moved. ‘You really can use me? I’d be glad to, but -‘

  ‘Come on. Let’s not waste time.’

  In the hall, they met Maynard emerging from his room. They descended in the elevator together. Collins checked them out at the desk, and then the three crossed the lobby

  and exited into the warm late afternoon.

  As Collins and Radenbaugh proceeded to the parking lot, Maynard halted to buy the latest edition of the Argo City Bugle from a bearded blind vendor seated on a box next to the hotel entrance. As the vendor heard the clink of the coins, the eyes behind his dark glasses remained vacant, but his mouth curled in a smile of thanks.

  Maynard hurried to catch up with his companions. Minutes later, Radenbaugh drove the Ford out of the parking lot, heading back through Argo City toward Phoenix and free air.

  *

  In front of the Constellation Hotel, the blind vendor pocketed his money, came to his feet, and placed what was left of his stack of newspapers on top of the box.

  Tapping his white cane, he hobbled past the hotel, continued on past the parking lot, then turned toward the filling station on the corner. Following his cane, he made his way unerringly to the nearer of the two telephone booths in the rear.

  He entered one booth, closed the glass door, and propped his white cane in a corner. Finally, glancing behind him, he removed his dark glasses, pocketed them, took the receiver in his hand, dropped a coin into the slot, and absently studied the numbers on the dial as he waited.

  The operator came on. He gave her the number. After a few moments, he deposited the quarters.

  He waited. The telephone was ringing. A voice came on at the other end.

  The vendor cupped the mouthpiece of the phone.

  ‘Please put me through to Director Vernon T. Tynan,’ he said urgently. ‘Tell him it is Special Agent Kiley reporting from Field Office R.’

&n
bsp; He waited again. Only seconds.

  Tynan’s voice came on loud and clear, and with equal urgency. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Director Tynan. Kiley here at R. There were three of them. I recognized only two. One was Attorney General

  Collins. The other was Chief Justice Maynard–-Absolutely

  no question. Collins and Maynard..,’

  It was midmorning of the following day, and President Wadsworth had telephoned twice within the past fifteen minutes.

  For the first time in memory, Director Vernon T. Tynan had avoided taking a call from the President of the United States. With Harry Adcock, behind closed doors, he had been deeply occupied listening to a tape that Adcock had delivered. It was the tape taken an hour before of a private telephone conversation between Chief Justice Maynard and President Wadsworth. The Chief Justice had initiated the call, and his curt conversation with the President had lasted no more than five minutes.

  The President’s first call to Tynan had come as Adcock arrived with the critical tape. ‘Tell him I’m not in my office yet,’ Tynan had instructed his secretary. ‘Tell him you’ll try to locate me.’ The President’s second call had come as Tynan was still listening to the tape. ‘Just say I’m still not in,’ he had ordered his secretary, ‘but that you expect me any minute.’

  He had heard the tape to its end.

  Adcock shut off the machine. ‘Do you want to hear it again, chief?’

  ‘No, once was enough.’ Tynan leaned back in his swivel chair. ‘I must say I’m not surprised. After Kiley reported from Argo City last night, I suspected this would happen.

  Now it’s happened. Well, I’d better call the President back and hear his replay of it.’