Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/49

 monogamous marriage in domestic relationships; the clock in the realm of time; the compass as a guide to travel; the standards of weights and measures to express quantity; the yardstick as the unit of length; four wheels in the domain of land transportation; the fish-shaped boat in the domain of water transportation; gold in the monetary system, and the corporation in the field of business.

How do we know that these are standards? Because they have been evolved through reasoning and experiment and have been tested by experience and demonstration. Nothing was discovered or evolved up to the time of their adoption that worked as well, and nothing has since been evolved that could be substituted for them with profit and universal approval. All of the standards above referred to except the standard form of government have met with almost universal adoption throughout the entire world, and it is high time that we should adhere strictly and literally to the republic as the standard form of government in nation, State, county and city, and recommend its adoption throughout the world.

It meets as severe a test as can be applied to any of the standards named.

During the thousands of years of history prior