CHAPTER XXI
A LIFE WORTH LIVING
The appearance of Lylda at one of the long windows of the balcony,interrupted the men for a moment. She was dressed in a tunic of silver,of curious texture, like flexible woven metal, reaching to her knees. Onher feet were little fiber sandals. Her hair was twisted in coils, piledupon her head, with a knot low at the back of the neck. From her head ingraceful folds hung a thin scarf of gold.
She stood waiting in the window a moment for them to notice her; thenshe said quietly, "I am going for a time to the court." She hesitated aninstant over the words. The Chemist inclined his head in agreement, andwith a smile at her guests, and a little bow, she withdrew.
The visitors looked inquiringly at their host.
"I must tell you about our government," said the Chemist. "Lylda playsquite an important part in it." He smiled at their obvious surprise.
"The head of the government is the king. In reality he is more like thepresident of a republic; he is chosen by the people to serve for aperiod of about twenty years. The present king is now in--well let ussay about the fifteenth year of his service. This translation of timeperiods into English is confusing," he interjected somewhatapologetically. "We shall see the king to-morrow; you will find him amost intelligent, likeable man.
"As a sort of congress, the king has one hundred and fifty advisers,half of them women, who meet about once a month. Lylda is one of thesewomen. He also has an inner circle of closer, more intimate counselorsconsisting of four men and four women. One of these women is the queen;another is Lylda. I am one of the men.
"The capital of the nation is Arite. Each of the other cities governsitself in so far as its own local problems are concerned according to asomewhat similar system, but all are under the central control of theArite government."
"How about the country in between, the--the rural population?" asked theBig Business Man.
"It is all apportioned off to the nearest city," answered the Chemist."Each city controls a certain amount of the land around it.
"This congress of one hundred and fifty is the law-making body. Thejudiciary is composed of one court in each city. There is a leader ofthe court, or judge, and a jury of forty--twenty men and twenty women.The juries are chosen for continuous service for a period of five years.Lylda is at present serving in the Arite court. They meet veryinfrequently and irregularly, called as occasion demands. A two-thirdsvote is necessary for a decision; there is no appeal."
"Are there any lawyers?" asked the Big Business Man.
"There is no one who makes that his profession, no. Generally theaccused talks for himself or has some relative, or possibly some friendto plead his case."
"You have police?" the Doctor asked.
"A very efficient police force, both for the cities and in the country.Really they are more like detectives than police; they are the men Isent up into the forest to meet you. We also have an army, which atpresent consists almost entirely of this same police force. After theMalite war it was of course very much larger, but of late years it hasbeen disbanded almost completely.
"How about money?" the Very Young Man wanted to know.
"There is none!" answered the Chemist with a smile.
"Great Scott, how can you manage that?" ejaculated the Big Business Man.
"Our industrial system undoubtedly is peculiar," the Chemist replied,"but I can only say again, it works. We have no money, and, so far, noneapparently is needed. Everything is bought and sold as an exchange. Forinstance, suppose I wish to make a living as a farmer. I have myland----"
"How did you get it?" interrupted the Very Young Man quickly.
"All the land is divided up _pro rata_ and given by each city to itscitizens. At the death of its owner it reverts to the government, andeach citizen coming of age receives his share from the surplus alwaysremaining."
"What about women? Can they own land too?" asked the Very Young Man.
"They have identical rights with men in everything," the Chemistanswered.
"But women surely cannot cultivate their own land?" the Doctor said.Evidently he was thinking of Lylda's fragile little body, and certainlyif most of the Oroid women were like her, labour in the fields would befor them quite impossible.
"A few women, by choice, do some of the lighter forms of manuallabor--but they are very few. Nearly every woman marries within a fewyears after she receives her land; if it is to be cultivated, herhusband then takes charge of it."
"Is the cultivation of land compulsory?" asked the Big Business Man.
"Only when in a city's district a shortage of food is threatened. Thenthe government decides the amount and kind of food needed, and thecitizens, drawn by lot, are ordered to produce it. The governmentwatches very carefully its food supply. In the case of overproduction,certain citizens, those less skillful, are ordered to work at somethingelse.
"This supervision over supply and demand is exercised by the governmentnot only in the question of food but in manufactures, in fact, in allindustrial activities. A very nice balance is obtained, so thatpractically no unnecessary work is done throughout the nation.
"And gentlemen, do you know, as a matter of fact, I think that is thesecret of a race of people being able to live without having to workmost of its waking hours? If your civilization could eliminate all itsunnecessary work, there would be far less work to do."
"I wonder--isn't this balance of supply and demand very difficult tomaintain?" asked the Big Business Man thoughtfully.
"Not nearly so difficult as you would think," the Chemist answered. "Inthe case of land cultivation, the government has a large reserve, thecultivation of which it adjusts to maintain this balance. Thus, in somedistricts, the citizens do as they please and are never interfered with.
"The same is true of manufactures. There is no organized business in thenation--not even so much as the smallest factory--except that conductedby the government. Each city has its own factories, whose production iscarefully planned exactly to equal the demand."
"Suppose a woman marries and her land is far away from her husband's?That would be sort of awkward, wouldn't it?" suggested the Very YoungMan.
"Each year at a stated time," the Chemist answered, "transfers of landare made. There are generally enough people who want to move to makesatisfactory changes of location practical. And then of course, thegovernment always stands ready to take up any two widely separate piecesof land, and give others in exchange out of its reserve."
"Suppose you don't like the new land as well?" objected the Very YoungMan.
"Almost all land is of equal value," answered the Chemist. "And ofcourse, its state of cultivation is always considered."
"You were speaking about not having money," prompted the Very Young Man.
"The idea is simply this: Suppose I wish to cultivate nothing except,let us say, certain vegetables. I register with the government myintention and the extent to which I propose to go. I receive thegovernment's consent. I then take my crops as I harvest them andexchange them for every other article I need."
"With whom do you exchange them?" asked the Doctor.
"Any one I please--or with the government. Ninety per cent of everythingproduced is turned in to the government and other articles are takenfrom its stores."
"How is the rate of exchange established?" asked the Big Business Man.
"It is computed by the government. Private exchanges are supposed to bemade at the same rate. It is against the law to cut under the governmentrate. But it is done, although apparently not with sufficient frequencyto cause any trouble."
"I should think it would be tremendously complicated and annoying tomake all these exchanges," observed the Big Business Man.
"Not at all," answered the Chemist, "because of the governmental systemof credits. The financial standing of every individual is carefully kepton record."
"Without any money? I don't get you," said the Very Young Man with afrown of bewilderment.
The Chemist smil
ed. "Well, I don't blame you for that. But I think I canmake myself clear. Let us take the case of Loto, for instance, as anindividual. When he comes of age he will be allotted his section ofland. We will assume him to be without family at that time, entirelydependent on his own resources."
"Would he never have worked before coming of age?" the Very Young Manasked.
"Children with parents generally devote their entire minority to gettingan education, and to building their bodies properly. Without parents,they are supported by the government and live in public homes. Suchchildren, during their adolescence, work for the government a smallportion of their time.
"Now when Loto comes of age and gets his land, located approximatelywhere he desires it, he will make his choice as to his vocation. Supposehe wishes not to cultivate his land but to work for the government. Heis given some congenial, suitable employment at which he worksapproximately five hours a day. No matter what he elects to do at thetime he comes of age the government opens an account with him. He iscredited with a certain standard unit for his work, which he takes fromthe government in supplies at his own convenience."
"What is the unit?" asked the Big Business Man.
"It is the average work produced by the average worker in oneday--purely an arbitrary figure."
"Like our word horse-power?" put in the Doctor.
"Exactly. And all merchandise, food and labor is valued in terms of it.
"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing--all inrelation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he isable, or he can keep it low."
"Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man.
"In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allowhim a limited credit. Persistent--shall I say willful--debt is a crime."
"I thought at first," said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in thisnation was on the same financial footing--that there was no premium putupon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if notmoney, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods."
"Not such an inordinate amount," said the Chemist smiling. "Becausethere is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldlywealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcometo enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderanceof wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it."
"What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot haveit?" the Big Business Man asked.
"It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with asufficiently large balance wants to buy it."
"Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor.
"No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world."
"You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" theDoctor inquired.
"The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by havingthe amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs."
"When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked theBig Business Man.
"I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according tomy own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance."
"What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man."Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do youhave taxes?"
"No," answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite thereverse, we sometimes have dividends.
"The government, you must understand, not only conducts a businessaccount with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The valueof articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by asuccessful business administration, the government is enabled not onlyto meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its owncredit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is dividedamong the people every five years--a sort of dividend."
"I should think some cities might have much more than others," said theBig Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?"
"It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities.But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the Nationalgovernment and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quitesimple," the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy tolive, and very worth the living."
Unnoticed by the four interested men, a small compact-looking gray cloudhad come sweeping down from the horizon above the lake and was scuddingacross the sky toward Arite. A sudden sharp crack of thunder interruptedtheir conversation.
"Hello, a storm!" exclaimed the Chemist, looking out over the lake."You've never seen one, have you? Come upstairs."
They followed him into the house and upstairs to its flat roof. Fromthis point of vantage they saw that the house was built with an interiorcourtyard or _patio_. Looking down into this courtyard from the roofthey could see a little, splashing fountain in its center, with flowerbeds, a narrow gray path, and several small white benches.
The roof, which was guarded with a breast-high parapet around both itsinner and outer edges, was beautifully laid out with a variety offlowers and with trellised flower-bearing vines. In one corner weregrowing a number of small trees with great fan-shaped leaves of blue andbearing a large bell-shaped silver blossom.
One end of the roof on the lake side was partially enclosed. Towardsthis roofed enclosure the Chemist led his friends. Within it a largefiber hammock hung between two stone posts. At one side a depression inthe floor perhaps eight feet square was filled with what might have beenblue pine needles, and a fluffy bluish moss. This rustic couch wascovered at one end by a canopy of vines bearing a little white flower.
As they entered the enclosure, it began to rain, and the Chemist slidforward several panels, closing them in completely. There were shutteredwindows in these walls, through which they could look at the sceneoutside--a scene that with the coming storm was weird and beautifulbeyond anything they had ever beheld.
The cloud had spread sufficiently now to blot out the stars from nearlyhalf of the sky. It was a thick cloud, absolutely opaque, and yet itcaused no appreciable darkness, for the starlight it cut off wasnegligible and the silver radiation from the lake had more than doubledin intensity.
Under the strong wind that had sprung up the lake assumed now anextraordinary aspect. Its surface was raised into long, sweeping wavesthat curved sharply and broke upon themselves. In their tops the silverphosphorescence glowed and whirled until the whole surface of the lakeseemed filled with a dancing white fire, twisting, turning and seemingto leap out of the water high into the air.
Several small sailboats, square, flat little catamarans, they looked,showed black against the water as they scudded for shore, trailing linesof silver out behind them.
The wind increased in force. Below, on the beach, a huge rock lay in thewater, against which the surf was breaking. Columns of water at timesshot into the air before the face of the rock, and were blown away bythe wind in great clouds of glistening silver. Occasionally it thunderedwith a very sharp intense crack accompanied by a jagged bolt of bluishlightning that zigzagged down from the low-hanging cloud.
Then came the rain in earnest, a solid, heavy torrent, that bent downthe wind and smoothed the surface of the lake. The rain fell almostvertically, as though it were a tremendous curtain of silver strings.And each of these strings broke apart into great shining pearls as theeye followed downward the course of the raindrops.
For perhaps ten minutes the silver torrent poured down. Then suddenly itceased. The wind had died away; in the air there was the fresh warmsmell of wet and steaming earth. From the lake rolled up a shimmeringtranslucent cloud of mist, like an enormous silver fire mounting intothe sky. And then, as the gray cloud swept back behind them, beyond thecity, and the stars gleamed overhead, they saw again that great trail ofstar-dust which the Chemist first had seen through his microscope,hanging in an ever broadening arc across the sky, and ending vaguely attheir feet.