Page:A thousand years hence. Being personal experiences (IA thousandyearshen00gree).djvu/343

 change began to come over Marsian views and counsels in this respect, chiefly at the instance of a leading Marsian statesman of that time, by name Leep-Trebor-Ris, whose somewhat sudden conversion was doubtless attributable to our influence. I recollect meeting this distinguished Marsian, when upon a business trip to the planet, in the interests of my then commencing provision trade. I marked his extreme attention to my argument, and also that, shortly afterwards, he introduced and carried his great measure for allowing food always to pass freely, boundary or no boundary.

But this, to us, simple-looking measure, produced a political convulsion in the planet, which was hardly equalled even by that of the preceding great Tca-Mrofer. The Old Party, to which Leep had belonged, was rent to its very foundation, one section of it emerging, on this special food question, and joining another and larger section from the New Party, under the name of Leepites, a party which lasted for some years. And even now, although all parties have been long agreed as to the propriety and benefit of this great measure, by which the planet's food-distributing policy has ever since been guided, and although its author has been a whole generation dead and gone, yet the strong feeling of the time partially survives, and the extremer sections of the Old Party have hardly yet forgiven the renegade, as they call him, and arch-betrayer of their party's anti-change and anti-progress principles and efforts.

Another old Marsian peculiarity regarded the police protective arrangements. These were in some respects fairly good, but the effect was ever liable to be sadly