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diff --git a/44074-0.txt b/44074-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..93b2911 --- /dev/null +++ b/44074-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7628 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44074 *** + + MECCANIA + THE SUPER-STATE + + + + + MECCANIA + THE SUPER-STATE + + BY + OWEN GREGORY + + METHUEN & CO. LTD. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + + + + + _First Published in 1918_ + + + + + INSCRIBED + + TO + + W. H. S. + + IN TOKEN OF TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS' + FRIENDSHIP + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION: A FEW WORDS ABOUT MR. + MING AND HIS JOURNAL ix + + CHAP. + I. I BECOME A FOREIGN OBSERVER 1 + + II. BRIDGETOWN, TOUR No. 1 17 + + III. INTRODUCTION TO MECCO 53 + + IV. PROFESSOR PROSER-TOADY'S LECTURE 82 + + V. CULTURE IN MECCO 97 + + VI. MORE CULTURE IN MECCO 122 + + VII. A MECCANIAN APOSTLE 139 + + VIII. THE MECHOW FESTIVAL 163 + + IX. MECCANISATION 177 + + X. CONVERSATIONS 193 + + XI. AN ACADEMIC DISCUSSION 240 + + XII. THE LATEST INSTITUTION 260 + + XIII. NEVER AGAIN 289 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +A FEW WORDS ABOUT MR. MING AND HIS JOURNAL + + +As this book is little more than a transcript of a document originally +written in the form of a journal by a man who, until about a year ago, +was an entire stranger to me, and as the document itself contains not +a few statements which make large demands upon the credulity of the +average reader, it seems necessary to offer some explanation regarding +both the journal and its author, Mr. Ming--or, to give him his full +name, Ming Yuen-hwuy. + +If I were able to go bail for Mr. Ming and assure the British Public +that he was an entirely credible and impartial witness, the book might +have stood on the same foundation as other volumes of 'revelations' +concerning a country with which Englishmen are still insufficiently +acquainted. But I cannot go bail for Mr. Ming. The chief source of +my knowledge of him is the journal itself. It has even been suggested +to me that Mr. Ming did not write the journal, but must have stolen +it from some European, probably an Englishman. On this point I shall +have something to say presently. Perhaps the best solution of these +difficulties will be to say what I know of the origin of the book. + +Mr. Ming was introduced to me, by a friend whose name it is unnecessary +to give, in November or December 1917. My friend said he remembered +meeting him in London as far back as 1909. Since then, however, Mr. +Ming had not only lived in London and travelled throughout England, +but had also spent about two years in France and Italy, and had +visited America. What his previous career had been I do not know, +nor did my friend know. He appeared always to have plenty of money, +and we surmised that he might have been attached in some way to the +Chinese Legation; but he never gave the least hint about any such +connection. What I do know is that he had a remarkable knowledge of +our language, and a remarkable familiarity with our laws, customs +and political institutions. He professed a great admiration for our +British Constitutions, a circumstance which may account for some of the +political views to which he gives expression in his journal. + +A day or two after he had been introduced to me I invited him to dinner +and on this occasion we found much to talk about--chiefly European +politics. At length, after we had finished a bottle of wine and a +liqueur or two, he remarked that of all the countries he had visited in +Western Europe he had been most impressed by Meccania. (He pronounced +the word '_Mek-kah´-nia_.') + +My knowledge of Geography is not complete, I admit, but I thought +I knew all the countries of Western Europe (the war has helped +wonderfully to fill up certain gaps). I replied that I had never heard +of such a country. + +"Probably not," he answered. "But it exists. And the proof of it is +that I spent some five months there in 1970, and kept a journal of my +experiences." + +"You mean 1870," I said. + +"No, 1970," he replied. + +I hardly knew whether he were experimenting upon my sense of humour, or +had got confused between Chinese and European chronology; or whether +the liqueur had gone to his head. Possibly--and here I became a little +nervous--he was a little 'abnormal.' "Anyhow," he said, "one of my +chief objects in seeking an interview with you was to consult you about +publishing this journal." + +We were dining in my chambers and he begged permission to fetch his +hand-bag from the anteroom. He returned with a bulky manuscript. I +wondered if he were hard up and wanted to draw me into some sort of +bargain, but I reflected that he seemed to be a much wealthier man +than I. He said he was convinced that his journal was an important +contribution to political literature, and would be found of interest +not only in Great Britain but in France and America as well. It would +be a good thing also if the Meccanians themselves could read it. +Unfortunately there was no chance of that, he said, because nothing was +read in Meccania except by permission of the Government. He went on to +explain that the journal had been kept partly in English, partly in +Chinese and partly in Meccanian; but that he had since written a rough +translation of the whole in English. His knowledge of English, though +sufficient for most practical purposes, was not such as to satisfy +the literary critics; and that was one of the reasons why he sought +my assistance. The upshot was that I promised to read the manuscript, +which I did in a few hours next day. + +I found that it purported to be the journal of a visit or tour, made +in 1970, to a country he called Meccania. I had little difficulty in +penetrating the fiction. (It was obvious what country was meant.) As +to the date, 1970, I soon came to the conclusion that this was another +literary device, to enable him to describe with greater freedom what +he considered to be the probable, or as he would be inclined to say, +the inevitable development of the tendencies he had observed in that +country. Whilst some parts of the description were clear, and even +vivid, many things were left in obscurity. For instance, the extent +and the limits of the country were quite vague. Only two cities were +described in any detail. Little was said about domestic life, little +about religion, little about women and children. + +When I questioned him subsequently on these points, he said that the +obstacles to obtaining full information had proved insuperable: he +had not been at liberty to travel about when and where he pleased, +nor to get into close contact with the common people. The journal +itself if carefully read, he said, gave a sufficient answer on these +points, and he had preferred to give a faithful account of what had +actually happened to him, and of the conversations he had had with +representative Meccanians, leaving the evidence to speak for itself. If +he had said little about Education the little that he had said would be +found most illuminating, by the aid of insight and imagination. If he +had said little about military matters, that was because it would have +been positively dangerous to be suspected of spying. + +I then questioned him about his references to Luniland, which occur on +the very first page of the journal and are scattered throughout the +book. Did he mean to indicate England by this term? If so, it was not +exactly flattering. + +Mr. Ming said he intended no offence. The references _were_ perhaps +a little obscure. The simple fact was that some years ago he had, +for his own amusement, written a harmless satire upon some of our +national characteristics. He had then hit upon the phrase Luniland and +Lunilanders, and he could not get it out of his head. It was just an +instance of his whimsicality. + +"But why Luniland?" I asked. + +"Why not?" he said. "You do such funny things without seeing that they +are funny." + +"Such as what?" I asked. + +"Well, to take a few things that have happened recently in connection +with your great war. You are intensely proud of all your soldiers, +and rightly. Yet you seem to pay the citizens who stay at home about +three times as much as the soldiers who go out to fight; and I have +been told, although this seems more difficult to believe, that you pay +the men who volunteered from the very first less than those whom you +subsequently had to compel to serve in your armies." + +"I am afraid these things you allege are true," I replied, "but they do +not seem funny to us." + +"No, probably not," he said. "Each nation has its own sense of humour!" + +"Have you noticed anything else of the same kind?" I asked. + +"Oh, a great many things," he said, "but I just gave you a sample of +what first occurred to me. I did hear of some men being excused from +serving in the army because they were engaged in carving gravestones." + +"For the soldiers, I suppose?" + +"Oh no," he replied, "there is no time to carve gravestones for the +soldiers; for people who die in their beds at home. Yet you do not +profess to be worshippers of the dead." + +"Do not misunderstand me," he added. "You are a wonderful people, and +it is perhaps because you are Lunilanders that I cannot help liking +you. We are Lunilanders ourselves if only we knew it. If you were to +come to my country you would find many things just as funny as those I +have observed here. Perhaps when you have more time and the opportunity +is favourable you may like to read my book of observations on +Luniland, but Meccania is a more important subject." + +After a careful reading of Mr. Ming's account of Meccania I was +inclined to agree with him. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that +the dangers to be apprehended from Meccania, or Meccanianism, are far +more real and imminent than the dangers from what he would call our +Lunilandishness, and for that reason I have done my best to bring +before the British Public his account of Meccania, although I hope at +some future time to produce, perhaps for a smaller circle of readers, +his notes on Luniland and the Lunilanders. + +Lastly, a word about the suggestion that the journal cannot be the +work of a Chinaman. It is implied that the sentiments professed by Mr. +Ming, his interests and his way of looking at things, are those of an +Englishman. What does this really amount to? Mr. Ming does not like the +Meccanians. Certainly _we_ should not like the Meccanians. Therefore +Mr. Ming is an Englishman. Mr. Ming does not like interferences +with his personal habits: he has some belief in the political value +of individual liberty. An Englishman resents interference and is +also credited with a passion for Liberty. Therefore Mr. Ming must +be an Englishman. Now I would suggest that, so far from Mr. Ming's +sentiments being evidence against him, they really substantiate his +character as a Chinaman and remove all suspicion of his having stolen +the document from some Englishman, or some other European. In the first +place, he submits calmly to indignities that a typical Englishman +would fiercely resent. In the second place, he records things with a +detachment that few Englishmen would be capable of, and resigns himself +to the customs of the country in the manner of a mere spectator. In the +third place, he betrays a philosophical interest, which is again very +different from the behaviour of most of our countrymen. He records at +great length conversations which we perhaps find tedious, because he +thinks the ideas of the Meccanians even more significant than their +customs. An Englishman's journal, in the same circumstances, would be +certain to contain angry diatribes against the Meccanians, whereas +Mr. Ming writes with singular restraint, even when he is describing +features of Meccanian life which we should consider revolting. + +Possibly the style in which the book is presented, the turns of +expression and the colloquialisms, give the journal an English +appearance; but for these features the editor is responsible, as it was +Mr. Ming's wish that the book should not suffer from the most common +defects of a mere translation. + + + + + NOTE ON PERSONAL NAMES + + The names which occur in the narrative are exactly as given by Mr. + Ming in his journal, but it would appear that he has taken some + liberties with the language in attempting to give an approximate + English equivalent for the original meaning. The translation of + personal names and place-names is notoriously difficult as many + names are either corrupt or obscure. + + + + +MECCANIA + +THE SUPER-STATE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +I BECOME A FOREIGN OBSERVER + + +I had already spent several years in various parts of Western Europe, +staying for long periods in Francaria, Romania and Luniland, before I +made up my mind to pay a visit to Meccania. Before coming to Europe +I had read a great deal about Western civilisation generally and had +conceived a great admiration for many of its features. My experiences +during my travels had, on the whole, strengthened my feelings of +admiration; although even an Oriental may be allowed to criticise +some of the characteristics of Western nations. In Romania I had +been delighted with the never-ending spectacle of history displayed +in every part of the country. The whole land was like an infinite +museum; but it was not in Romania that the living forces of the present +were to be found. In Francaria, on the other hand, the people were +more interesting than the country, charming as that country was in +many ways. One perceived that the people were highly civilised; they +displayed a combination of intellectual and moral refinement, an +appreciation of the material and sensuous enjoyment of life as well as +a traditional standard of conduct and manners, while at the same time +they were keenly alive to the most modern political ideas, and were +perpetually discussing new phases of all those problems which must +constantly emerge wherever political liberty is held as an article of +popular faith. + +But it was in Luniland that I felt most at home. Just what it was that +kept me constantly pleased and interested it would take long to tell, +and I must reserve my observations on Luniland for another occasion. It +will be sufficient to say here that I was not so much impressed with +the wealth of ideas current in society in Luniland--Francaria was more +prolific in ideas, and in Francaria intellectual discussion was more +brilliant--as with the stability of certain political principles which, +as it seems to me at any rate, are destined to prevail ultimately +throughout the world. + +For many reasons I thoroughly enjoyed the three or four years which, +with short intervals of absence, I had spent there. I had made many +acquaintances and even a considerable number of friends. In fact, I +had stayed so long, contrary to my original intention, that there was +little time left for carrying out the project of visiting Meccania, and +I was in some doubt whether I should not have to return home without +seeing that remarkable country. For I had already received one or two +pressing reminders from my family that they were expecting my return. +Before leaving home, however, I had promised some of my political +friends, who were interested in the subject of Meccanian culture, that +I would not return without investigating the social and political +life of Meccania. They had, in fact, written several times to remind +me of my promise, and I had put them off by explaining that, whilst +travelling in the rest of Europe was a simple and easy matter, I could +not enter Meccania without elaborate preparation. + +When I began to talk to some of my friends in Luniland of my idea +of investigating Meccanian culture on the spot, I received the most +conflicting advice. Some said, "Don't go on any account. You will be +arrested as a spy, and probably shot!" Others said Meccania was ahead +of Luniland in every respect, and that I should certainly see something +worth remembering if I went there. Others, again, said that if I did +go, I should be looked upon with suspicion on my return. In fact, I +gathered that most of my friends would never open their doors to me +again. Finally, I took counsel with Mr. Yorke, a gentleman occupying an +important position in Lunopolis, a man of wide culture and sober views, +whom it was a great privilege to count among my friends. + +He discussed the matter very frankly with me. I remember it was a +cold evening early in March, and we sat by the fire in his study +after an excellent dinner. "We Lunilanders," he said, "do not like +the Meccanians, and few of us ever visit Meccania. We prefer to have +nothing to do with that country, and if you followed the advice which +nine out of ten of my countrymen would give you, you would not go near +Meccania. But you have come to Europe partly, at all events, to study +our civilisation, and not simply to amuse yourself; and although there +is little intercourse between the Meccanians and the rest of us, if +you want to know Europe you cannot afford to neglect Meccania. If I +may advise you, I should say, Go there by all means. See as much as +you can with your own eyes. But try to see the country as a whole. +Don't be content to see just what interests you, or amuses you, or +what excites your admiration. If you do that, you will be like certain +cranks from this country who come back and tell us there is no poverty +in Meccania, there are no strikes, there is no disorder, no ignorance, +no preventible disease. You at any rate are not a simpleton to be taken +in by any sort of hocus-pocus. But the Meccanians are very clever, and +they manage to impose on many people who are not so wideawake as you +are. How much you will be allowed to see I don't know. It is a good +many years since I was there, but, if things are managed as I am told +they are now, you will not see all you want by any means. In fact, +in one sense, you would learn far more from books--you read Meccanian +easily already, I know--than from an actual visit. But unless you go +there you will not feel satisfied that what you read is true, and you +will not have the same sense of reality. + +"The great thing is to look at the country as a whole--I don't mean +geographically, but spiritually. There is always a tendency for +foolish people to take this idea from one country and that institution +from another. Enthusiastic reformers are ready to shut their eyes to +everything else if only they can get support for their particular fads. +If you find after a real study of Meccanian life that you would like to +turn your own country into a second edition of Meccania, I shall say, +like old Dogberry, that you are not the man I took you for." + +He impressed upon me the importance of a thorough knowledge of the +language, but I was able to satisfy him on that score; for I had learnt +to read easily before coming to Europe, and had already undertaken +a long course of colloquial Meccanian under a good teacher during a +visit to Francaria. Besides, I rather prided myself on my aptitude for +languages, and considered myself well equipped. So I packed up all the +miscellaneous goods I had collected, and stored them in Lunopolis, +reserving only a couple of trunks filled with the usual necessaries for +a mere tourist. + +I had my passport from our own Government. I procured another from the +Luniland Foreign Office. I obtained, further, the necessary permission +from the Meccanian Government, and, choosing the shortest route, +arrived at the outer frontier on March 28th. As most people know, +Meccania has a double frontier on the Western side. A belt of country +twenty miles wide is preserved as neutral territory, a veritable +No Man's Land. This is a relic from the Great War. It is entirely +uninhabited and uncultivated. Not a single line of railway crosses +it, and only five roads, which are merely rough tracks, lead across +it from various points to the five frontier towns on the inner side. +These are the only gates into Meccania on the West. The small town on +the outer frontier in Francaria, through which I was to pass, is called +Graves. Here my first delay occurred. Intercourse with Meccania is so +limited that although the official conveyance goes only once a week, +I found no more than a dozen persons collected there in readiness for +the journey across No Man's Land. I was about to take my place in the +conveyance provided to carry us to Bridgetown on the inner frontier, +when it was discovered that I had no ticket authorising me to make this +journey. I produced my passports and the letter giving me permission +to travel in Meccania, but the official who took charge of foreigners +pointed to a printed instruction on the back of the letter informing +me that a ticket would be forwarded by a later post. No explanations +or expostulations were of any use. Until I had that ticket I could not +enter Meccania. The conveyance went only once a week. There was nothing +for it therefore but to stay at some hotel in Graves, or return to +Lunopolis in search of my missing ticket. I put up at a small hotel in +Graves and telegraphed to my last address for my letters. These arrived +two days later, and among them was my precious ticket. + +The week I spent in Graves forms no part of my Meccanian tour, so I +will say nothing about it except that it gave me an opportunity of +seeing the extraordinary sight of No Man's Land. It stretched like +a belt of desert as far as one could see. Rough grass grew here and +there, but no other vegetation. Every year, in the warm weather, the +grass was fired, and other means were taken also to ensure that the +weeds should not injure the vegetation on the cultivated side, which by +contrast looked like a garden. At intervals of every twenty yards or +so an iron pole was erected with wire between. Otherwise there was no +obstacle; but no unauthorised person, so I was told, ever crossed the +line. + +At the end of the week a few more travellers arrived and were met +by the conveyance from Bridgetown. It was something like a large +prison van, but quite comfortable inside except for the fact that the +passengers could not see outside. My fellow-passengers were evidently +strangers to one another. One or two, I thought, were Meccanians +returning home, but as there was little conversation and the journey +lasted not more than an hour, I was able to learn nothing about any of +them. When the car stopped--it was a sort of large motor-omnibus--the +door was opened by a porter in a dark blue uniform, and I found myself +in the large courtyard of the Bridgetown Police Office. What became +of my fellow-passengers I have no idea, but I was conducted to a +waiting-room, where another subordinate official in a grey uniform +took my papers, and about ten minutes after led me into a small office +adjoining, where a man in a green uniform sat at a desk surrounded by +neat little bundles of papers of various colours. He was a rather stout +man of middle age, with bushy iron-grey hair and whiskers, yet rather +bald in front. With his light grey eyes slightly protruding, he looked +at me for a few seconds and said, "Mr. Ming?" + +I said, "I am Mr. Ming." + +"I am Inspector of Foreigners Stiff," he said very distinctly, "and +whilst you are in Bridgetown you will be responsible to me for your +good conduct. By what title are you authorised to be addressed?" + +"I am plain Mr. Ming, or Citizen Ming," I replied. + +"But you have some other title, doubtless," he said. "What office do +you hold in your own country?" + +"Well," I replied, "I am what we call a National Councillor. I am also +the President of the Literary Society of my own province, and I have +been once the Mayor of my native town." + +"Then you had better be addressed as National Councillor Ming, or as +Literary President Ming, or Mayor Ming," he answered promptly. "Choose +which you prefer, and write down the title on the third line of this +form." + +I wrote down, with a smile, "National Councillor Ming." + +"National Councillor Ming," he said, as I handed the form back to him, +"before we have any further conversation, you will please pass into the +next room and undergo your medical examination." + +I passed into the next room, where I found a man, also in a green +uniform, but with different facings from those worn by Inspector of +Foreigners Stiff. "National Councillor Ming," he said, "allow me to +make my necessary medical examination." I wondered how he had got my +name so pat. Then I remembered that immediately before passing me into +the next room, Inspector Stiff had put a card into a pneumatic tube +by the side of his desk. The doctor led me out of his office into a +small bedroom, next to which stood a bathroom fitted with various +apparatus. After undressing in the bedroom, I was ordered to step into +the bathroom, where first of all I was carefully measured in at least a +score of places: head, ears, arms, hands, legs, feet, chest, etc. etc. +Thumb-prints and foot-prints were taken; I was weighed; my chest was +sounded; my organs were investigated with various curious instruments; +a record of my speaking voice was taken, for which purpose I had to +pronounce several long sentences in Meccanian and in my own language. A +lock of my hair was cut off, and finally I was photographed in several +different positions. I was then ordered to bathe, at first in water, +afterwards in a fluid which was evidently some sort of disinfectant. +At the end of about an hour and a half the doctor pronounced me to be +"disease-free," and asked me to dress myself in some garments specially +used on these occasions. The garments were made either of paper, or +of some substance like paper, and were intended to be destroyed after +use. I was now in the bedroom. The doctor had disappeared, but a sort +of orderly in a grey uniform knocked at the door and brought in a tray +with some food and coffee. He announced that Inspector of Foreigners +Stiff would be ready to see me again in fifteen minutes. I was very +glad of the food, the first I had eaten since my arrival, and at the +end of the fifteen minutes I was again led into Mr. Stiff's room, still +wearing my paper suit. + +"Now," said he, "you will remain in your room until morning, when +your own clothes will be restored to you after having been thoroughly +disinfected. You can have supper supplied to you in your room, and +as you will have a few hours to spare I should advise you to make +yourself acquainted with the contents of these documents. You will find +they contain all the instructions you require for the first few days." + +I retired to my room feeling rather fatigued by the various experiences +I had already gone through, but for want of something more interesting +I began to study my 'Instructions.' The first document was a closely +printed circular of eight foolscap pages containing numerous extracts +from the Law relating to the Conduct of Foreign Observers. By the time +I had waded through this I thought I had done enough for one day, and +as the orderly came in with preparations for some supper I asked him +if I might see the daily paper. He did not seem to understand what I +meant. After some further explanation he said, "We have no daily paper +in Bridgetown: we have only the weekly local gazette." + +"But you have some kind of newspaper which circulates in Bridgetown," +I said. "Perhaps it is published in some other large town, perhaps in +Mecco?" I suggested. (Mecco is the capital of Meccania.) + +"We have no general newspaper published daily," he replied. + +I thought he had misunderstood me, so I begged him to bring me the +local Gazette. He said he would try to get me a copy. Presently, +while I was eating my supper, another official, dressed in a bright +chocolate-coloured uniform with green facings, made his appearance. He +explained that Inspector Stiff had gone home--it was then about seven +o'clock or later--and that he was left in charge of the office. I had +asked for a newspaper. For what purpose did I require a newspaper? + +"Oh," I said, "just to see the current news." + +"News what about?" he asked. + +"About anything," I replied. "One likes to see the newspaper to see +what is going on." + +"But no one wants anything except for some purpose," he replied, "and +you have not explained the purpose for which you require a newspaper. +Also, there are no general newspapers. There are the various gazettes +issued by the different departments of Government, and there are a few +local gazettes dealing with purely municipal matters. But until you +have entered upon your authorised tour of observation, I should have no +authority to supply you with any of these." + +What a fuss about such a trifle, I thought, and wished I had never +troubled him. I apologised for making the request, whereupon he said, +"If you wish for something to read after supper there is a case of +books in the office, from which, no doubt, I can supply your needs." + +I thanked him, and presently went to see the books. There was a work +on the _Law in Relation to Foreign Observers_, in three volumes; a +_History of the Development of Town Planning_, in five volumes; a +treatise on _Sewage_, in two volumes; a series of Reports on the +various Municipal Departments of Bridgetown; an _Encyclopædia of +Building_; and a few other works equally interesting. I took away a +volume, hardly noticing what it was, intending to use it only as a +means of inducing sleep, which it did most effectively. + +I was awakened about half-past six next morning by the orderly in the +grey uniform entering the bedroom to announce that my bath would be +ready in five minutes, and that it was against the rules to be late. I +promptly went into the bathroom and found the bath half filled with a +thin, greeny-yellowish fluid which smelt like a strong disinfectant. +The orderly explained that all foreigners were obliged to be +disinfected in this way. + +"But," I said, "I was disinfected only yesterday." + +"The bath yesterday," he explained, "was to ensure that you brought no +disease into the country." + +"And what is this for?" I asked. + +"This is to prevent you from contracting any new disease through the +change in climate," he answered. + +I remarked that the authorities were very solicitous of the welfare of +foreigners, to which he replied: + +"Ah, we must look after ourselves; a sick man is a source of +infection." + +I was told to remain in the bath forty-five minutes. I found I had no +choice, for, once in, I had no power to get out. + +At the end of the forty-five minutes the orderly came and lifted me +out, turned on a shower bath, and said, "Breakfast in ten minutes." +My own clothes had been returned to me. I dressed quickly, ate my +breakfast, which was the usual light continental early breakfast of +rolls and coffee, and was preparing to leave the Police Office when the +orderly informed me that Inspector of Foreigners Stiff was ready to see +me. + +"National Councillor Ming," he began, as soon as I entered his room, "I +find you have with you letters of introduction to several persons in +Meccania." (So my private papers had been closely scrutinised during +the process of disinfection.) "You will, of course, not present these +until you have received permission from the proper authority. In no +case can this be given until a period of three months has elapsed. +Now after completing these forms, in accordance with the Instructions +I handed you yesterday, you will be authorised to begin your tour of +observation in Bridgetown." Here he handed me four forms. "You must +first decide whether you mean to stay a week, or a month, or longer; +for that will naturally determine the programme of your tour of +observation. You cannot in any case leave without giving three clear +days' notice and completing your arrangements as to the place you are +proceeding to." + +"Oh," I said in some surprise, "I had no idea that would be necessary. +I thought I would just look round, perhaps for a day or two, then go +on to one of your other important cities and make my way by degrees to +Mecco." + +"Then you cannot have read the Instruction Form No. 4, or you would +know that is quite impossible. If you intend to stay a month, please +fill up this blue form." + +"I think, perhaps, it would be better to say a week," I replied; "then +if I want to stay longer I suppose I could do so?" + +"If you had read the Instructions you would have seen that the plan of +a tour of a week is on quite a different scale from that of a tour of a +fortnight or a month. You must decide now which you will take." + +I stuck to the week, and we filled up the necessary forms for Tour +No. 1. + +"Your conductor will be Sub-Conductor of Foreign Observers Sheep," he +said next. + +"My conductor?" I exclaimed. "Is it necessary to have a conductor?" + +"You are not still in Luniland," he replied testily, "and I must +again remind you that if you had read the extracts from the Law with +reference to Foreign Observers you would not have asked the question. +Sub-Conductor Sheep will be here in five minutes," he said, evidently +anxious to get rid of me, "and as soon as you have discharged this +bill of expenses he will take you to the Hotel for Foreign Observers, +and you will begin your tour." Here he handed me a sort of invoice +containing the following items:-- + +To food, 5s.; to bed, one night, 4s.; to medical examination, 10s.; to +temporary garments, 2s.; to service, 2s.--total, 23s. + +There was certainly nothing exorbitant about the charges; all the same, +I grudged the 10s. for the medical examination. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +BRIDGETOWN, TOUR No. 1 + + +Sub-conductor of Foreign Observers Sheep came in as I was paying the +bill. He was a well-set-up man about fifty, and had the appearance of +an old Non-Com. He looked quiet and rather stolid. I never saw him +smile during the whole week I was with him, but he was not offensive in +his manner. Like Inspector Stiff he wore a green uniform, but one with +fewer facings and with chocolate-coloured buttons. Before we started +to walk across to the hotel he asked if I had got my pocket-diary. I +fished out a small notebook, such as I had used in Luniland for marking +engagements. + +"That is of no use for the purpose," he informed me. "You must have one +like this"; and he showed me a book about six inches by four inches, +with four pages for each day. + +"Oh!" I said, "I shall never need all that; besides, it is spaced for a +month only." + +In a perfectly matter-of-fact voice he said calmly, "Every person in +Meccania uses a pocket-diary like this. You will find it indispensable +in order that you may make your entries correctly in your weekly diary +for the Time Department." + +"The what department?" I asked, rather puzzled. + +"The Time Department: but never mind; I will explain all that in its +proper place. We will get a pocket-diary as we go along." + +We walked to the hotel, and on the way Sheep slipped into an office of +some kind and handed me a pocket-diary of the regulation type. As we +entered the hotel, which was a very small affair,--evidently the number +of foreigners in Bridgetown at any one time could not be more than a +dozen if they were all lodged here,--he popped his head into a sort +of box-office near the door and said in a loud voice, "Nine o'clock. +National Councillor Ming." A girl in the box-office echoed the words +whilst making an entry on a large sheet, and handed him a buff-coloured +sheet of cardboard, divided or ruled into small squares. This he +presented to me, telling me to note down on it the exact time when I +entered and left the hotel, and to get it initialed every other day by +the girl clerk in the box-office. If the times did not tally with her +record I was to consult the manager of the hotel. + +"The first thing to do is to report yourself to the manager of the +hotel," said Sheep when he had taken me to my room, where I found my +baggage, which I had not seen since I left Graves. + +The manager was a rather fussy little man, also in a green uniform +like Sheep's but with different facings. He did not seem specially +pleased to see me. All he said was, "I hope you will not give so much +trouble as the last of your fellow-countrymen we had here. If you will +study the regulations you will save yourself and me much inconvenience. +Meals are at eight, one, and six, and at no other times. And remember +that conversation with other Foreign Observers is prohibited until you +have received the Certificate of Approval." + +Conductor Sheep had rung up for a motor-car, and as we waited a few +minutes for its arrival he said, "As you will have seen from the +printed programme of Tour No. 1, we shall first make a geographical +survey of the town, then we shall visit the public buildings, taking +note of their architectural features, and beginning first with those +under local control, following on with those under the joint control +of the Central and Local Government, and concluding with those solely +under the control of the Central Government. And of the first category +we shall see those first which have to do with the bodily needs, and +of these we shall take first those connected with food, then with +clothing, then with housing; for that is the only logical order. +Everything has been carefully prescribed by the Department of Culture +and the Department of Sociology, and the same plan is followed by all +Foreign Observers, whatever city they may be visiting." + +We went first to a look-out tower which stood on a hill about a mile +outside the town. Here we had a view of the surrounding country. The +town lay in a bend of the river. It was not exactly picturesque, but +the large number of new public buildings near the centre, the broad +streets lined with villas, each surrounded by a garden in the large +residential quarter on the western side, and even the orderly streets +of houses and flats on the more thickly populated eastern side, +produced altogether a fine effect. The country round was magnificent. +Low wooded hills rose on three sides, backed by higher hills in the +distance. Sheep talked almost learnedly about the geology of the +district and the historical reasons for the situation of Bridgetown. +Then he pointed out that the plan of the town was like a wheel. In +the centre were the public buildings and squares. The main streets +radiated like spokes, and between these came the residential quarters +of the seven social classes; those of the first three on the west side, +those of the fourth to the north and south, those of the fifth, sixth +and seventh, to the east. On the east side also lay the factories, +workshops and warehouses. The shops were arranged in a sort of ring +running through the middle of each of the residential quarters. + +"The seven social classes?" I asked. I had heard in a vague way of the +existence of this arrangement, but had little idea what it meant. + +"Yes," answered Sheep, as if he were reading from a guide-book, "the +first consists of the highest aristocracy, military and civil; the +second, of the military and naval officers, all of noble birth; the +third, of the highest mercantile class with an income of £5000 a year +and the officials of the first grade in the Imperial civil service; the +fourth, of the officials of the civil service of lower grades and the +bulk of the professional classes; the fifth, of the skilled artisan +class; the sixth, of the semi-skilled; and the seventh, of the menial +industrial groups." + +I asked him to go over it again whilst I took a note for future +reference. + +The rest of the morning passed in listening to Sheep's elaborate +descriptions of the drainage and sewage systems, the water supply, +the power and light and heat supply, the tramway system, the parcels +system, the postal delivery system, the milk delivery system, all from +the geographical point of view. After lunch we spent some time in going +all over the town on the tramways. This completed the geographical +survey. + +At six o'clock I was deposited in the hotel just in time for dinner. +Presently I prepared to go out to some place of amusement; but on +attempting to leave the hotel I was stopped by the porter, who told me +I could not leave the hotel unless accompanied by my conductor. + +So I spent the evening in writing up my journal. During the day I +had noticed that everywhere all the men were dressed in a sort of +uniform, and that the colours of these uniforms corresponded to the +rank or class of the wearers. Perhaps I ought to have mentioned this +circumstance earlier, for certainly it was one of the first things +I noticed when I began to go into the streets. The colours of the +uniforms are very striking and even crude. They supply the only +touch of the picturesque in Bridgetown, for, judging by my first +day's impressions of the town, I should imagine that the authorities +responsible for rebuilding it have swept away every vestige of the +tiny mediæval city which once existed on this spot and have replaced +it by a perfectly uniform piece of Meccanian town-planning. In such a +setting these uniforms strike one at first as out of place, but perhaps +I have not yet grasped their purpose or significance. The colour of the +uniforms of the members of the First Class is white; that of the Second +Class, red or scarlet; of the Third, yellow; of the Fourth, green; of +the Fifth, chocolate; of the Sixth, grey; of the Seventh, dark blue. +But so far I have seen no white uniforms, and only a few scarlet. I +saw several yellow uniforms to-day, but the most common were the green +uniforms of the Fourth Class and the chocolate uniforms of the Fifth +Class, to which the skilled artisans belong. Greys and dark blues were +also fairly numerous; but what surprised me most of all was the small +number of people to be seen in the streets. I must ask Sheep for the +explanation of this. + +Promptly at nine o'clock next morning Sub-Conductor of Foreign +Observers Sheep made his appearance at the hotel, and we began our tour +of the public buildings. He took me first to the 'Import-Food-Hall,' +which stood alongside the railway on the outskirts of the town near +the industrial quarter. It was a great warehouse through which all +the food brought into the town has to pass before it is allowed to be +sold in the markets and shops. (The sole exception is milk, which is +distributed by municipal servants.) The building was very extensive +and several stories high. The two ends were open for the passage of +railway wagons. The architecture was not without a certain coarse +dignity. The arches were decorated in Romanesque style, and the whole +front facing the street was covered with rude sculptures in high relief +of scenes connected with the production of food. The interior walls +were covered with frescoes depicting similar scenes. Conductor Sheep +grew almost enthusiastic over this exhibition of Meccanian Art. All +these decorations, he said, had been executed by the students of the +Bridgetown Art School. I was not altogether surprised to hear this; +there was something so very naïve and obvious about the whole idea. + +We next saw the municipal slaughter-houses, which were almost +adjoining. Inspector Sheep informed me how many minutes it took to +kill and prepare for the meat market a given number of cattle, sheep or +pigs. He dilated on the perfection of the machinery for every process, +and assured me that not a single drop of blood was wasted. The amount +of every particular kind of animal food required for each week in the +year was ascertained by the Sociological Department, and consequently +there was no difficulty in regulating the supply. The perfection of +the methods of preserving meat also effected some economy. Conductor +Sheep assured me that the Meccanian slaughter-houses had become the +models for all the civilised world, and that a former Director of the +Bridgetown slaughter-houses had been lent to a foreign Government to +organise the system of technical instruction for butchers. + +The five markets were in five different parts of the city. They served +to distribute perishable foods only, which were not allowed to be +sold in the ordinary shops. All women in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh +Classes were obliged to do their marketing in person. Each person was +obliged to deal solely with one dealer for a year at a time, and to +attend at the market at a particular hour, so that there should be no +congestion and no waste of time on the part of the dealers. This, I +suppose, explains the wonderful orderliness of these markets. There was +no gossiping or chaffering. Whether the people enjoy this arrangement +is a matter upon which Sheep did not enlighten me. He said it had been +calculated by the Time Department that an economy of 50 per cent had +been effected in the time spent upon the daily purchase of food since +the introduction of the modern market system. + +Foods that are not perishable are sold in the shops, and as regards +certain articles there is the same system of choosing each year the +shop at which one buys a particular article, whilst as regards others +trade is free. The housewife must buy her bread always from the same +baker; but things like mustard, spices, coffee or preserved food may be +bought at any shop. + +The sale of drink is regulated in a different way. The three lowest +classes are not allowed to keep drink in their houses; but as the +favourite national drink is a mild kind of beer which can be got in +any restaurant, there is no apparent hardship in this regulation. The +way in which excess is checked is very curious. The weekly budgets +of every family, in all classes below the fourth, are checked by the +authorities--by which department I do not know--and if the amount +spent on drink exceeds a certain sum per head, a fine is inflicted and +the offender warned. If the offence is persisted in, the offender is +forbidden to buy any drink for a specified period. One might suppose +that such regulations could easily be evaded; so they could in most +countries, but not in Meccania. Everything is so perfectly scrutinised +that no evasion seems possible--at any rate as far as the three lowest +classes are concerned. + +"This scrutiny of family budgets," I remarked, "is it not resented and +even evaded?" + +"I do not think it is resented," answered Sheep, "but it certainly +cannot be evaded. Why should it be resented? The facts are only known +to the officials, and in any case they would be required by the +Sociological Department. How else could it obtain the necessary data +for its researches? Every woman is taught how to keep her household +accounts in the proper manner, and she sends in her account book at +the end of each quarter. That is necessary for many reasons. No," he +concluded, as if the idea had not occurred to him before, "I have never +heard of any complaints. Only those would wish to complain who desired +to evade some salutary regulation; consequently there is no reason why, +out of regard for them, we should interfere with a practice that has so +many advantages." + +"What are the advantages?" I asked, for so far I had seen no advantage +except the possibility of checking expenditure upon drink. + +"The use of these accurate family budgets and household accounts to the +Sociological Department is simply indispensable. To the Department of +Trade and Industry also they are very valuable. In fact, you may take +it that all our Meccanian institutions are so arranged that they serve +several purposes and fit in with the whole Meccanian scheme of life." + +Incidentally, in connection with the family expenditure on food, he +mentioned model dietaries. I was curious to know what these were. He +explained that there were three recognised kinds of dietaries. First, +the Food Department prescribed model dietaries for families of the +three lowest classes in normal health. Secondly, when each person was +medically examined--and this happened at least once a year--the medical +officer might prescribe a dietary for the individual; and lastly, if a +person were positively ill, it would be the duty of the medical officer +in charge of the case to prescribe a dietary. I was going to ask some +further questions about the Medical Department, when Sheep reminded me +that we had still several other municipal departments to visit before +we came to the Medical Department, and that we must not depart from the +programme of our tour. + +The Department for the Inspection and Regulation of Clothing came next. +I was rather surprised that this should be a municipal institution, +seeing that the regulations were uniform for the whole country. + +Sheep explained that it was just because the regulations were so +perfectly uniform that the function of administering them could be +entrusted to the municipality. The department was quite a small +affair. Only about ten inspectors were required for Bridgetown. Their +duties were to see that no person wore any uniform to which he was +not entitled, and that on ceremonial occasions full-dress uniform was +worn. It was quite easy to ensure that a uniform of the right colour +was worn, but in addition to that the various grades of each class +were indicated by the various facings, stripes, buttons and badges, as +were also the different occupations within each class and grade. The +penalties for wearing unauthorised decorations were very heavy, and +infringements were very rare, as detection was almost certain. + +"I should have thought that the whole clothing trade would be in the +hands of the Government," I remarked. + +"That is not part of our system," replied Sheep. "The production of all +the kinds of cloth for all the uniforms is so standardised that there +would be no advantage in the State taking over the mere manufacture. +Each person chooses his tailor from a small panel. Naturally the +members of the higher classes have the best tailors. In fact, a tailor +of the first grade would not be allowed to make suits for the three +lowest classes; it would be a waste of talent." + +"And what about the women's clothing?" I inquired. "They do not wear +uniforms. Is their dress regulated in any way?" + +"Only in two ways," answered Sheep. "Every woman must wear, on the +front upper part of each of her outdoor dresses, a piece of cloth of +the regulation pattern and colour, to indicate the class to which she +belongs. Also the expenditure on dress is limited according to the +social class." + +When we came to the offices of the Department of Health, Sheep said I +had made a grave error of judgment in choosing Tour No. 1--the tour for +a single week only--as there was enough to occupy us for a week in the +Department of Health alone. It included the Sanitation Section, the +Medical Inspection Section, the Medical Dispensing Section, the Medical +Attendance Section, the Hospital Section, the section of the Special +Medical Board, the Marriages and Births Section, the Post-Mortem +Section, and the Buildings Section. + +After this I was not surprised to hear that over a thousand persons were +employed in the Health Department, in addition to the workmen--chiefly +of the Sixth and Seventh Classes--who did the actual menial work of +keeping the sewage system in order and keeping the streets clean. I +might write a whole chapter on the Health Department, but it will +perhaps suffice if I mention the most singular features. + +Inspectors visit every house twice a year to see that each house and +flat is kept in a sanitary condition. Each person is medically examined +once a year--this is in addition to the system of medical inspection in +schools--and whatever treatment is prescribed he must submit to. + +"What happens," I asked, "if a person declines to submit to treatment?" + +"He would be taken before the Special Medical Board," answered Sheep. + +"And what is that?" I asked. + +"We shall come to that presently," said Sheep reprovingly. He went on +to explain that the Dispensing Section treated all persons of the three +lowest classes who did not require to go into a hospital. The doctors +were municipal officials and there was no choice of doctor. + +"Why do you not allow choice of doctor?" I asked. + +"That would interfere with the proper classification of the diseases," +he answered. "As soon as a complaint is diagnosed, it is handed over +to the appropriate doctor for treatment. The same applies to the +Medical Attendance Section; but persons in the three lowest classes +are not generally attended in their homes, they are brought into +the hospitals. The chief work of the Medical Attendance Section is +in connection with births; consequently we employ a number of women +doctor-nurses in this Section. Now we come to the Special Medical +Board. It is a sort of Higher General Staff. It collates the results +of the work of all the other medical sections, and is responsible for +the annual report. It receives the instructions of the Central Medical +Department of Meccania, and sees that these are carried out. It directs +special investigations in all abnormal cases. In the case of so-called +incurable diseases it pronounces its decree as to whether the case is +incurable, and in that event it authorises the death of the patient." + +"Authorises the death of the patient?" I said. "Without the patient's +consent?" + +"The patient can hardly be the best judge," said Sheep. + +"What about the relatives then?" I asked. + +"The relatives have no voice in the matter," said Sheep. + +"That sounds very drastic," I remarked; "and what about the sort of +case you mentioned a little while ago?" + +"The case _you_ mentioned?" said Sheep. "I do not remember any such +cases, but if one occurred it would be dealt with under Section 143 of +the Medical Regulations, which prescribes that in case of persistent +disregard of the instructions of the authorised medical officer, with +the consent of the Special Medical Board, the person guilty of such +refusal is to be removed to an asylum for mental abnormality." + +"A lunatic asylum!" + +"We do not call them lunatic asylums. The term is obsolete; it does not +accord with our system of classification." + +Sheep next dealt with the Marriages and Births Section. This is in some +ways the most remarkable of all. It appears that a licence to marry is +issued to all persons in normal health, the Department prescribing the +number of children to be born within each period of five years. Persons +classified as abnormal are specially dealt with, and on this subject +Sheep referred me to the Report of the Central Medical Department, +which I could obtain in the Great Meccanian Library at Mecco. The +Post-Mortem Section carried out an examination in all cases of interest +to the Health Department before cremation. + +I asked what the Buildings Section was. It seems to be a sort of link +between the Architectural Department and the Health Department, and +supervises the building regulations from the hygienic point of view. + +The next day Conductor Sheep called punctually at nine o'clock to +continue the tour of observation. We had come to the end of one +section, as marked out in the mind of the 'Authority,' and were now to +begin another, namely, the institutions controlled partly by the City +and partly by the State. I suspect that the control by the City is a +good deal of a fiction, for the State has power to take over any of the +functions that are not performed to its satisfaction. + +We began with the Police. The office of the Central Police Station +was in the building where I had first been inspected, examined and +instructed, on my arrival. It was a large building for a town of the +size of Bridgetown, and seemed full of officials, police officers and +clerks. Yet I had noticed very few police officers in the streets. I +remarked upon this to my guide. I said, "In the country I have just +come from they have a great many police officers in the streets of the +large towns, but very few other officials connected with the police +service. Here, apparently, you have few police officers in the streets, +but a great many other officials connected with the police service. Can +you explain that?" + +"Yes," he said; "I have heard something of the kind before, and +although I have never been abroad to other countries, the books in +our libraries describe the police systems so fully that I think I can +answer your question. The police in Luniland--so I am informed--do +little else besides keeping order in the streets and following up +criminals." + +"Exactly," I remarked. "What else should they do?" + +"Here," said Sheep, "these are the least of their functions. We +employ fewer police in keeping order in the streets, and in detecting +criminals, than any country in the world. Crime and disorder are almost +unknown in Meccania. Our people are so well brought up that they +have little desire to commit crime. Those who do show any propensity +in that direction are deported to criminal colonies and give very +little trouble afterwards. Besides, there is, after all, very little +opportunity to commit crime, as you would soon discover if you +attempted to do so." + +"I can well believe that," I said. "But what, then, do your police find +to do?" + +"Speaking generally, their function is to see that the regulations +devised for the good of the State are properly carried out." + +"And those regulations are rather numerous, I suppose?" + +"Undoubtedly. As they affect every department of life, there are many +occasions upon which the assistance of the police is necessary in order +that people shall not make mistakes," said Sheep. + +"But," I said, "I thought that the officials of each department of +State attended to so many things that there would be little left +for the police. For instance," I added, "the inspectors of food and +clothing, of buildings, of public health, of education, and so forth." + +"Yes, yes," answered Conductor Sheep; "but suppose some matter arises +which may belong to several departments; the citizen needs guidance. +Quite apart from that, the police watch over the life of the people +from the point of view of the general public interest. They collect +information from all the other departments. Suppose a man neglects his +attendance at the theatre: the amusement authority must report the case +to the police. Similarly with all the other departments. Suppose, for +instance, a man were to try to make an unauthorised journey, or to +remain absent from work without a medical certificate, or to exceed +his proper expenditure and get into debt, or try to pass himself off +as a member of a higher class: in such cases it is the police who +take cognisance of the offence. Then there is the annual report and +certificate of conduct with respect to every citizen. How could this be +filled up without exact information? All this involves a great deal of +work." + +"Indeed it must," I replied. + +"You see, then, that our police are not idle," said Sheep triumphantly. + +"Indeed I do," I replied. + +After this enlightening explanation the offices of the Police +Department no longer presented a mystery to me. I looked with awe at +the hundreds of volumes of police reports in the official library of +the Bridgetown police office, and wondered what the Central Police +Office Library would be like; for I was told it contained a copy of +every police report of every district in the country, as well as those +for the great capital Mecco. + +When we came to the Department of Education, which was one of the +institutions managed by the State and the Municipality, Conductor Sheep +regretted once more that I had chosen Tour No. 1. We could only spare +half a day at most for this important department. Here, again, I can +only note a few of the unusual features of the system, as explained +to me by my encyclopædic conductor. We saw no schools except on the +outside, but I noticed the children going to and from school. They +all marched in step, in twos or fours, like little soldiers. They did +not race about the streets or play games. Wherever they started from +they fell into step with their comrades and carried their satchels +like knapsacks. The State Inspectors, it seems, decide what is to be +taught, and how it is to be taught: the local officers carry out their +instructions and classify the children. In the office of the Department +there is a sort of museum of school apparatus in connection with the +stores section. The books are all prescribed by the Central Department, +and no others may be used. The children of the Sixth and Seventh +Classes attend common schools in order to get the benefit of better +classification. There are no schools in Bridgetown for the members +of the First and Second Classes. They go elsewhere, but the other +classes have separate schools. The children of the Sixth and Seventh +Classes stay at school until they are twelve; but their instruction is +largely of a practical and manual kind. Those of the Fifth Class remain +until fifteen, and are trained to be skilled workmen. After fifteen +they receive instruction in science in connection with their several +occupations. + +Closely connected with the system of education, for the three lowest +classes, is the Juvenile Bureau of Industry. This is controlled by +the Department of Industry and Commerce. No young person in Meccania +can take up any employment without a certificate granted by this +Department. The officials of the Juvenile Bureau, after consultation +with the officials of the Education Department, decide what occupation +boys and girls may enter, and no employer is allowed to engage a boy or +girl except through the medium of the Bureau. + +"What about the inclinations of the boys and girls, and the desires of +their parents?" I remarked to Sheep. + +"The inclinations of the boys?" said Sheep, more puzzled than +surprised. "In what way does that affect the question?" + +"A boy might like to be a cabinet-maker rather than a metal worker, or +a mason rather than a clerk," I said. + +"But such a question as that will have been determined while the boy is +at school." + +"Then when does he get the chance of choosing an occupation?" + +"It will depend upon his abilities for different kinds of work. And he +can hardly be the judge of that himself," added Sheep. + +"Where do the parents come in, then?" I asked. + +"The parents will naturally encourage the boy to do his best at school. +And after all, does it matter much whether a boy is a mason or a +carpenter? In any case, the number of carpenters will be decided each +year, and even each quarter, by the Department of Industry. It is not +as if it would alter his class, either; he will be in the same class +unless he is very exceptional and passes the State Examination for +promotion." + +I saw it would be useless to suggest any other ideas to Sub-Conductor +Sheep, who seemed constitutionally unable to understand any objections +to the official point of view. I could hardly hope to learn much about +education in a single afternoon. All we saw was the mere machinery from +the outside, and not even a great deal of that. I gathered that there +was a most minute classification, with all sorts of subdivisions, of +the children according to their capacities and future occupations. +There were sufficient local inspectors to provide one for each +large school, and their chief business was to conduct psychological +experiments and apply all sorts of tests of intelligence in order to +introduce improved methods of instruction. The inspectors themselves +were all specialists. One was an expert on mental fatigue, another +devoted himself to classifying the teachers according to their aptitude +for teaching particular subjects, another specialised in organising +profitable recreative employments for different grades of children; +another superintended all juvenile amusements. Sheep showed me the +exterior of a large psychological laboratory attached to the Technical +College. Bridgetown was too small to have a University of its own, +but it had two large 'Secondary' Schools for pupils in the Third and +Fourth Classes, and an enormous technical school for the boys of the +Fifth Class. It was fitted up like a series of workshops for all sorts +of trades, with class-rooms and laboratories attached. Sheep asserted +that it was through these schools that the Meccanian artisans had +become by far the most efficient workmen in the whole world. I had not +time to ask many questions about the provision for games or physical +training, but from something Sheep said I inferred that whilst games +had been reduced to a minimum the experts had devised a system of +physical training which satisfied all Meccanian requirements. + +Sheep strongly advised me to study Meccanian education in Mecco if I +ever got there. All true Meccanians recognised, he said, that the whole +national greatness of Meccania rested on their system of education. No +doubt statesmen had done much, but the ground had been prepared by the +schoolmasters, and the statesmen themselves had been brought up in the +Meccanian system of education. He himself, he confided, was the son of +a Meccanian village schoolmaster. + +Why then, I asked, begging his pardon if the question were indiscreet, +did he wear the chocolate button which indicated that he had once been +a member of the Fifth Class? + +"When the sevenfold classification was introduced," he answered, +"village schoolmasters who were not graduates were in the Fifth +Class, and I was in the Fifth Class until I was thirty and gained my +promotion in the Police Department." + + * * * * * + +Tour No. 1 made no provision for studying the lighter side of life +in Bridgetown. Sheep said that practically all forms of amusement +were controlled by a section of the Department of Culture, but that +the Organising Inspectors of Private Leisure were appointed locally, +subject to the approval of the Central Department. + +"Organising Inspectors of Private Leisure!" I exclaimed. "What an +extraordinary institution!" + +"In what way extraordinary?" said Sheep. + +"I am sure they do not exist in any other country," I replied. + +"Perhaps not," replied Sheep; "but, then, our culture is not modelled +on that of any other country. Possibly other countries will discover +the use of such officials when they have developed a better system of +education." + +"But what is their function?" I asked. + +"Any person who has more than an hour a day unaccounted for, after +doing his day's work, and fulfilling all his other duties, is required +to submit a scheme every half-year, showing what cultural pursuit he +proposes to follow. The inspectors will assist him with expert advice +and will see that he carries out his programme." + +"Is there nothing left unregulated in this country?" I asked in as +innocent a tone as I could command. + +"That is a very interesting question," replied Sheep. "If you will +consult the _Forty-eighth Annual Report of the Ministry of Culture_ +you will find an interesting diagram, or map, showing the whole field +of Meccanian life and the stages in its organisation. One by one all +the spheres of life have been gradually organised. If you examine the +diagram showing the present state of Meccania, and compare it with +similar maps for other countries, you will perceive how very much more +advanced our culture is than that of any other country." + +"And what regions still remain for the Department of Culture to +conquer?" + +"An investigation is going on at the present time into the interesting +question of individual taste," he answered. "It is being conducted by +the Æsthetic Section of the Department, but they have not yet reported." + +Where everything is so completely regulated it is not surprising to +find that poverty, as understood in many countries, no longer exists; +but I was not quite clear how it was provided against. Once more Sheep +was ready with a complete explanation. + +"Our laws," he said, "do not permit anyone to remain idle, and the +regulation of the expenditure of the lower classes secures them +against improvidence. Besides, as they contribute to insurance funds, +they receive a pension in old age, and allowances during sickness or +disablement. Poverty is therefore impossible." + +"Apparently, then," I remarked, "if the labouring classes will +surrender their liberty to the State they can be relieved of all danger +of poverty." + +"I do not understand what you mean by surrendering their liberty," +replied Sheep. + +"In many other countries," I said, "people desire to please themselves +what they will work at, and indeed whether they will work at all. They +like to have the liberty of striking, for instance, against wages or +other conditions that do not satisfy them, and I have heard people in +such countries declare that they would rather preserve their freedom in +such things than be secured even against poverty." + +"It is no part of my business to discuss such questions," replied +Sheep, "but I have never heard such a question even discussed in +Meccania. The foundation of Meccanian law is that the private +individual has no rights against the State." + + * * * * * + +It was towards the end of the week that I mentioned to Conductor +Sheep that I had had great difficulty in procuring a copy of the +local newspaper published in Bridgetown; in fact, I had not managed +to get a sight of it. Sheep explained that Tour No. 1 did not allow +time for the study of local social life in such detail as to provide +a place for such a thing, but he was good enough to procure me a +sight of the _Bridgetown Weekly Gazette_. It was well printed on +good paper, but it was more like an official municipal record than a +newspaper. It contained brief reports of municipal committee meetings, +announcements as to forthcoming examinations, lists of persons who +had passed various examinations; and statistics of births, deaths +and marriages. The figures for the births were given in an unusual +form. There were fifty first-born boys, forty-five first-born girls; +forty-seven second-born boys, forty-eight second-born girls; and so on +down to three fourteenth-born boys and seven fourteenth-born girls. +There were statistics of accidents, with brief details. There was a +list of small fines inflicted for various infringements of regulations, +and announcements of forthcoming legal cases. The only advertisements +were a few concerning sales of property and household goods. It was +altogether the driest document calling itself a newspaper I had ever +seen. I tried to draw Sheep on the subject of newspapers in general, +but he seemed rather annoyed. + +"I procured this _Gazette_," he said, "as a concession to your +curiosity, although it forms no part of our programme, and now you wish +to go into a subject which is totally unconnected with our tour. The +question is of historical interest only, and if you stay in Meccania +long enough to study the historical development of our Culture, +you will study the history of the Press in its proper place and +connection. I will, however, add for your present information that the +Central Government issues a complete series of Gazettes, which serve +the same purpose for the country as a whole as the _Bridgetown Weekly +Gazette_ for his locality." + +With that the subject was closed for the present. + + * * * * * + +Although I had now been here nearly a whole week, I had not yet had +an opportunity of strolling round to see anything that might catch +my fancy. Everything had been done according to the programme. +Nevertheless, I had noticed a few things in the course of my daily +tours which Conductor Sheep did not think worthy of comment. I got very +tired of his guide-book style of explanation. Bridgetown was hardly +worth the painful and systematic study which he compelled me to give to +it, and I decided to go straight on to the capital in a few days. + +I saw no drunken people--the regulations do not permit drunkenness. +I saw no loose women in the streets. On this subject I can get no +information from Sheep, but I suspect there is something to learn. +There were no advertisement hoardings. I must confess I rather missed +them; they may be ugly, but they are often interesting. The shops were +very dull. Nothing was displayed in the windows to tempt people to buy, +and there were no people about the streets shopping in a casual way. +People must know what they want, and go to the shops which specialise +in the particular article. There were large stores; but even these were +so divided into departments that there was little fun in shopping. +Indiscriminate and casual shopping is distinctly discouraged by the +State. Advertising is restricted to trade journals, except for a little +in the miserable local gazettes. Only those forms of production which +the State considers necessary are allowed to expand indefinitely; +all the others are regulated. Consequently there are none of the +incitements to expenditure which exist in most modern countries. I have +never been a great shopper, but I could not have believed how much +duller life was without the attractions of the shop windows and the +stores, if I had not been here. For instance, I found that I had very +foolishly come without a pair of bedroom slippers, so I wanted to buy +a pair. I looked round naturally for a shop where I should see such +things displayed in the window, but I had to go to the slipper section +of the boot department of a store, choose from an illustrated catalogue +the quality I wanted, and take whatever they had. + +I thought I should have seen book-shops displaying all the most recent +books and publications. In other countries I found it possible to pick +up a great deal of information by noticing the kind of literature +exposed for sale. Booksellers' shops have always an attraction for +me. To my amazement the book-sellers' shops have disappeared from +Meccania, yet I know from my own reading they used to be quite a +feature in the life of the old Meccania. The censorship of the printing +trade has apparently revolutionised the book-selling business. At any +rate, the only place in which I could get to see books in Bridgetown +was at a sort of office in the Technical College. It seems that the +Publications Department of the Ministry of Culture--I think that is the +right name--has in every town a public room, fitted up like a small +library, in which all the current books published are exhibited for six +months at a time. This is really a very useful institution in itself, +but the books exhibited were not on sale, so all the pleasurable +excitement of a book-_shop_ was wanting. To _buy_ books one must order +them through an authorised book-agent, who has a sort of monopoly. I +wondered why such an extraordinary arrangement should have been made, +but when I got the explanation from Sheep it was quite consistent with +the general scheme of things here. + +I asked him whether the Government discouraged the public from reading. +He said, "Not at all. Our people are great readers; they do not need +any incitements to read. They consult the lists of new books and come +to the book-room to see any book in which they are interested. Then +they decide whether to buy it or to borrow it from the public library." + +"But why do you not permit people to open book-shops?" + +"It would be a sheer waste," replied Sheep. "One book-agent can +supply all the books required in Bridgetown without keeping a stock +of thousands of books that would never be wanted or not wanted for +years. Apply the same principle to other towns and you will see that by +keeping only one central stock we effect a great economy." + +I pointed out that in other countries the publishers kept the stock and +supplied booksellers with what they wanted, allowing them to keep a few +copies for the immediate sales; and that consequently this was almost +as economical an arrangement. + +"But," said Sheep, "we have no publishers in your sense of the word. +When a book is written it cannot be printed without the sanction of the +Government censors, who decide how many copies in the first instance +are to be issued. The publishers are really printers who arrange the +form and style of the book, but undertake no responsibility such as +publishers in other countries undertake." + +"Then the Government are really the publishers?" I suggested. + +"Well," answered Sheep, "the Government _are_ the publishers of most +books. That is to say, the number of Government publications exceeds +the number of private publications, but as regards the latter the +publishers or printers assume the financial responsibility for the +sales but are insured by the Government against loss, so long as they +comply with the conditions imposed by the Publishing Department." + +But I have digressed too far. My interest in book-shops must be my +excuse. Not only were there no casual shoppers, but I saw no one +sauntering about the streets. Everybody seemed to have an object in +view. There were no children playing. The children were either marching +in step to or from school, or they were performing some kind of +organised game--if it could be called a game--under the supervision of +a teacher or guardian. The workmen going to their work, or returning, +also marched in step like soldiers. The women going to market went at +the appointed time and took their place in a little queue if there were +more than three or four in front of them. At the theatre there was no +crowd outside; every one had his numbered seat and went to it at the +minute. Each man's ticket has printed on it the day of his attendance, +the number of the seat and the exact time at which he must be present. + +There are no such things here as football matches or other sports +witnessed by crowds. The men attend military drill once a week, some +on Sundays and some on Saturdays. This is in addition to their annual +periods of drill. The only custom which survives from old times, +resembling the customs of other countries, is that of sitting in the +evening in gardens attached to restaurants. Here the people listen to +bands of music whilst they drink a thin kind of liquor and smoke cigars. + +The sense of orderliness is almost oppressive. Every hour of the day +has been mapped out for me, except when I have been writing my journal +in the evening. The day before yesterday we began to visit the State +institutions. The chief of these is the Post Office, but the most +remarkable is the Time Department. The Post Office is very much like +any other post office, except that it has a Censor's Department. All +letters are actually read by the clerks in the Censor's Department. +Sheep gave me a curious explanation in justification of this +extraordinary institution. Put briefly, his case was this. The State +could not, with due regard to the interests of the community, allow +_all_ letters to go uncensored. All sorts of mischief might be hatched. +If the State censors any letters it cannot logically stop short of +censoring all. As to the labour involved, this pays for itself. For +the public, knowing that its letters are liable to be read, does not +indulge in unnecessary letter-writing. Thus time is saved, which can be +devoted to more useful purposes. The statistics compiled by the Time +Department have completely proved that the labour of the fifty clerks +employed in censoring the letters effects a saving of more than four +times the amount of time which would otherwise be spent by the public +in useless letter-writing. + +This Time Department is the most extraordinary institution of all I +have seen so far. Every person over ten years of age is required to +fill in a diary-form each week showing the time spent daily on every +separate operation. The diary form is a stout double sheet of foolscap +providing four pages altogether. The first page is stamped with the +name, address, and other particulars of the 'diarist.' The two open +pages are ruled into 336 small oblong spaces, one for each half-hour of +the week. In these spaces brief entries are made, such as 'breakfast,' +'tram-journey,' 'conversation,' 'sleeping,' etc. This part of the +diary thus gives a chronological account of each day in successive +half-hours. On the back page is printed a long list of about 150 +categories in three columns. I noticed such headings as these:--Sleep, +dressing, meals (subdivided), travelling (conveyance specified), +employment (specified under many heads), study (specified), reading, +letter-writing, interviews with officials, attendance at theatre, +concert, church, museum, etc., conversation (subdivided into family, +friends, others), other amusements (specified), public ceremonies, +drill, etc. Against each of these headings the total number of minutes +spent during the week is recorded. + +The information derived from these diaries is scrutinised and worked +up into elaborate reports and statistics for the benefit of the +Sociological Department, the Police Department, the Department of +Trade and Industry, and so forth. I hope to learn more of this most +remarkable feature of Meccanian life when I reach the capital, where +the Central Time Department carries on its work. + +I have good reason to remember the Time Department, for on Sunday +morning after breakfast I was sent for by the official who manages +the Hotel for Foreign Observers. He told me rather curtly that he had +just received a telephone message from the local office of the Time +Department inquiring whether I had sent in my diary, as it had not +been received. I told him I knew nothing about such a thing. He said, +"Nonsense. You have had the usual instructions given to all foreigners. +Look among your papers." I did look, and there, sure enough, was a +sheet of instructions and three blank forms. He said, "You had better +fill it up at once." So I went to the writing-room and began. But I +could not remember what had happened at all clearly enough to fill the +half of it in. At the end of an hour the hotel manager came to ask what +I was doing all this time. I explained my difficulty. He asked if I had +not kept a pocket-diary: it was indispensable. I suddenly remembered +the pocket-diary Sheep had procured for me; but I had forgotten to +make use of it. What a fool I was! We spent the next hour doctoring up +the diary and then sent it in. He told me I should have to pay a fine +of ten shillings for the delay. I did not mind that, but the next day +I received a visit from an official from the Time Department, who +came with Conductor Sheep to point out that there were many errors in +the diary. The times for a number of items did not tally with those +in Conductor Sheep's diary, although we had been together the whole +week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. I should have to make out a fresh +diary with the assistance of Conductor Sheep, and pay a fine of £1. +The charge of falsifying my diary would not be made, in view of my +colossal ignorance; the charge would be reduced to that of negligence +to verify particulars. Conductor Sheep was rather disagreeable about +the affair, as it might be considered to reflect on him. I certainly +thought he might have taken the trouble to instruct me more fully upon +such a momentous business. However, as I was on the point of leaving +Bridgetown for Mecco, I was not much disturbed by his ill-humour. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +INTRODUCTION TO MECCO + + +It is a week since I arrived in Mecco, and for the first time I have +leisure to write up my journal. The life of a Foreign Observer is very +strenuous, for the Meccanian method of seeing everything according +to programme and timetable is very fatiguing. Already I feel that +a holiday will be welcome at the end of my tour. In the whole of +this vast city of Mecco there is nothing casual, nothing incidental, +nothing unprovided for. Although I am only a spectator, I feel like +a little cog in the huge complicated machine. The machine seems to +absorb everything; the individual counts for nothing. That is perhaps +the reason why it seems impossible to get into contact with any human +being other than the officials who instruct me and conduct me every +moment of my time. I begin to wonder whether the individual Meccanian +really exists, or whether his personality is merged in the official +personality which is all that is visible to me. + +To resume the record of my experiences. Before I left Bridgetown, +Sub-Conductor Sheep repeated his opinion that in choosing Tour No. 1, +which allowed only a week for the study of an important town, I had +revealed my incapacity as a Foreign Observer. He evidently put me down +in one of the pigeon-holes of his mind as a mere tourist--a creature +almost extinct in Meccania. The day before my departure I paid the +bill for his services, which were reckoned at the modest rate of 16s. +a day. My hotel bill was also discharged, and I proceeded to my final +interview with the Police Authorities. I had to submit to another +disinfecting bath, but apart from this the medical examination was a +formality. + +At the Police Office, Inspector of Foreigners Stiff was very sarcastic +at my expense. "So you think there is nothing more to be learnt in +Bridgetown," he remarked. "It is not more than ten days since you left +Luniland, and you think yourself qualified to proceed to the very +centre of our national Culture. Evidently your stay in Luniland has not +improved whatever powers of appreciation you may have possessed; but +that is what one would expect from that country of amateurs, charlatans +and cranks. You have seen nothing of our Museum, our Art Collections, +our Libraries: you are not interested in such things. How, then, do you +suppose you will be able to appreciate what you will find in Mecco? We +do our best to assist all Foreign Observers, but it is rather a waste +of time to provide an experienced and qualified Conductor for persons +who are so clever that they only require a week to learn all there +is to know in a whole city. However," he added, "the law with respect +to Foreign Observers does not forbid you to proceed to Mecco. You +have your medical certificate, I suppose, to show that you are still +disease-free?" I produced it. "Have you notified the Railway Authority +of your intention to travel to Mecco?" I had not done so. + +"Turn to paragraph 44 of your Instructions and you will see that a +day's notice must be given," he said brusquely. "You will have to stay +another night in the hotel and travel to-morrow. Good morning." + +Sheep accompanied me to the booking-office at the station, where I +filled up a form of application. When this was presented to the clerk +in charge, a fussy little old man in a chocolate-coloured uniform, he +turned to Sheep in great excitement and whispered something which I did +not hear. Then he turned indignantly to me and said, "But you are not +an Ambassador, nor even a Government Agent." + +"No," I said; "I am merely National Councillor Ming." + +"So I see," he answered testily, "but why do you wish to travel First +Class?" (I had filled in the word "First" in the space for "Class.") +"Are you not aware," he said, "that only foreigners who are Ambassadors +are ever permitted to travel First Class? You will travel Third Class +in the compartment for Foreign Observers." + +Next morning I went to the station in good time. An attendant from the +hotel brought my bags over and handed them to one of the porters. I +did not see them again until I found them in the hotel at Mecco. I was +handed over to an official at the station. This person looked at my +travel-permit and informed me curtly that I had arrived too early. I +said, "Oh, that does not matter. I can look about the station until the +train starts." + +"That is not permitted," he said. "You will go to the waiting-room--that +is what a waiting-room is for. Your train will come in a quarter of an +hour before it is due to leave, and you will then take your seat, +Coach Third Class, Compartment IV., Seat No. 12." + +So I was taken to the waiting-room. Apparently I did not miss much of +interest, for the station was one of the quietest and dullest I have +ever seen. There is very little traffic across the frontier, so that +Bridgetown station is a sort of dead-end. Only three passenger trains a +day go direct to Mecco, and these are by no means crowded. I have since +learnt that the restrictions on travelling in all parts of Meccania are +part of the general policy designed to keep down unnecessary forms of +expenditure to a minimum. + +The train was due to leave at ten o'clock. At a quarter before ten +exactly, as I looked through the window screen I saw it gliding along +the platform into the bay. A bell rang, and my porter came to take me +to my place. As I stepped across the platform I saw about a hundred +people preparing to get into the train. Where they had been up to this +moment I do not know. There was no bustle. Each person took his place +as if he had been taking his seat in a concert-room. There was no +examination of tickets. Every one had booked his seat the day before, +and every seat was numbered. The train was made up of five passenger +coaches, a post-office van, a baggage wagon, two wagons for perishable +goods and a special coach for soldiers (privates). One of the passenger +coaches painted red bore a large Roman II., indicating that it was a +Second Class coach, another painted yellow was marked III., two others +painted green were marked IV., and another painted chocolate was marked +V. There was no First Class coach on this train, as there were no +persons of the First Class travelling by it. Neither, apparently, were +there any Sixth or Seventh Class passengers. Every one travelling wore +a sort of uniform overcoat of the same colour as that of the coach in +which he travelled. It was only later that I was able to recognise +readily and without confusion the colours appropriate to the seven +social classes, but I did notice that the Fifth Class wore chocolate, +the Fourth green, the Third yellow and the Second red or scarlet. + +I was taken to a compartment temporarily set apart for foreigners in +the Third Class coach. There was still ten minutes before the train +started, so I looked out of the window and saw the porters and minor +officials storing the luggage, putting in the mails, and so forth. The +perishable goods had already been loaded, in a siding I suppose. No one +was permitted on the platform except the railway servants, so that the +station looked almost deserted. Presently the stationmaster, dressed in +a green uniform with chocolate facings and a bit of gold braid on his +cap, came on the platform and looked at his watch. Then, exactly as the +big bell of the station clock began to strike ten, he waved a signal +and the train glided out. + +In a few minutes we were going at 100 miles an hour, and in less than +a quarter of an hour the speed increased to 150. The track was smooth, +but I began to feel dizzy when I looked out of the window. There was +little to be seen, for every now and then we passed between embankments +that shut out the view. I pulled down the blinds, turned on the light +and tried to read. In a short time I had almost forgotten the immense +speed at which we were travelling. + +I had previously learnt that if I went to Mecco by the express I +should see nothing of the country, and had consequently proposed to +travel by a stopping train, perhaps breaking my journey a few times. +But when I mentioned this to Sheep he said it would be impossible. I +could not stop at any place to make a stay of less than three days, +and each of the places I stopped at would have to be notified. I must +either go direct to Mecco, or to some other city. So here I was, almost +flying to Mecco. After about an hour, one of the guards came in to +see that everything was in order. He wore a chocolate uniform, with a +number of stripes and other symbols to indicate his particular grade, +occupation and years of service. After stamping my ticket he grinned +good-humouredly for a Meccanian, and said, "So you are going to see the +wonders of our wonderful Mecco. Lucky man! There is nothing like it +anywhere in the world." + +"Indeed," I said, "you have travelled abroad a good deal, then?" + +"Oh no. I have never been out of Meccania, thank God!" + +"What makes you think there is nothing like it, then, in any other +country?" I asked. + +"Oh, the wide streets, the buildings, the gardens, the monuments, the +uniforms, the music, everything--it is c-o-l-o-s-s-a-l! When you have +seen the great monument, the statue of Prince Mechow! There is nothing +like it anywhere. You will see! And you must not miss the Memorial +Museum of Prince Mechow! I tell you it is a privilege to live in Mecco. +But I must not gossip," he said, as if half ashamed; "I have many +duties," and off he went. Towards the end of the journey, which lasted +a little over two hours, he looked in again and said, "You must not +leave Mecco until you have seen the great festival on Prince Mechow's +birthday." I promised to remember it. + +As we drew near to Mecco the train slackened speed, and I could see, +but only for a minute or two, a great city spread over a wide plain. +There were domes and towers, steeples and pinnacles, huge masses of +masonry suggesting great public buildings, then miles of houses and +gardens and in the far distance warehouses and factories, but no smoke. +We plunged into a tunnel and then emerged suddenly into a blaze of +light. The train glided along the platform, and as I stepped out I +could not help looking round in admiration at the truly magnificent +arches and lofty dome of the great Central Station of Mecco. The roof +seemed to be made of some wonderful prismatic glass that radiated light +everywhere. The ground was covered with immense tiles in coloured +patterns, all as clean as if they had been washed and scrubbed that +very hour. Not a speck of dirt or smoke was to be seen. Although +hundreds of people were in the station, there was no bustle. No one +sauntered about; every one seemed to go just where he had business. +There was no scrambling for luggage or for cabs. No one was allowed to +take luggage with him unless it could be carried in one hand; the rest +was all registered and sent to its destination by the railway servants. +Only persons of the third or a higher class were allowed to use +motor-cabs, and these were all ordered beforehand. The impression of +orderliness was almost uncanny. As I reached the end of the platform I +was touched on the shoulder by a man in the green uniform of the Fourth +Class, decorated with several stripes and badges. "You are National +Councillor Ming," he said, "and I am Conductor of Foreign Observers +Prigge." + +He seemed to be in very good spirits, but this made him rather +offensive than amiable. He treated me as if I were a sort of prisoner, +or at any rate as if I were a very juvenile pupil. He said that as my +bags had gone to the Hotel for Foreign Observers we need not go there +first, but could proceed straight to the Police Office. This was not +far from the station and was a large building, almost like a fortress +in front. Viewed from the other side, as I afterwards saw, it was more +like a set of offices with large windows. + +First of all I was taken to the police doctor, who spent nearly two +hours upon a minute medical examination of me. The object of this +could not have been to make sure that I was "disease-free," for I +had been seen the day before by the police doctor at Bridgetown. It +could not have been for the purpose of identification, seeing that the +authorities had obtained all the finger-prints and everything else +they required, on my first arrival. I could only conclude that it was +for the purpose of scientific research. I judged from the remarks +made by Doctor Pincher in the course of his investigations that he +was an expert anthropologist. He took samples of my hair, not only +from my head, but from various parts of my body. He took a sample of +my blood, and of the perspiration from several different glands. He +even removed a small particle of skin, without any pain. He tested +my eyesight, hearing and smell, my muscular powers, and all sorts of +reactions to various stimuli. He informed me that I should require a +pair of spectacles. I said I did not think it was worth while, as I +had never yet experienced any discomfort. He replied that that made no +difference, and proceeded to write out a prescription which he told me +to take to a certain office, where, in a few days, I should be supplied +with the necessary glasses. He then took a cast of my mouth and of my +ears, and measured me in twenty different places. Finally he gave me a +drink of what appeared to be water, but which made me unconscious for +several minutes. What he did during those few minutes I do not know, +and he did not deign to inform me. As I left him he smiled--I suppose +he thought he was being amiable--and said, "We do not have the pleasure +of seeing a Chinaman here every day." + +I was then taken to the office of Chief Inspector of Foreigners Pryer. +He looked at me, asked a few trivial questions, and handed me over to a +subordinate, Lower Inspector of Foreigners Bulley. This gentleman sat +at a desk, and after noting the time and my name on a sort of tablet, +took out a yellow form, foolscap size, upon which he proceeded to make +notes of my answers to his questions. He put me through a catechism +as to what I had seen in Bridgetown. Which of the local institutions +had I visited, which of the national, which of the local and national? +What had I learnt of the industrial and social economy of Bridgetown? +What had I learnt of the cultural institutions? Had I made notes of my +daily tours, and could I produce them? (Luckily all my notes were in a +language that Inspector Bulley could not read.) + +He then proceeded to discuss plans for my tours of observation in +Mecco. In the first place, how long did I propose to stay? I did not +know. What did the length of my stay depend upon? I said it would +largely depend upon my ability to stand the strain of it. + +I thought this would perhaps annoy him, but on the contrary it pleased +him immensely. "Good!" he said. "You are here to study the institutions +of Mecco, and you will stay as long as you have the strength to carry +out your task." + +That was not what I meant, but I let it pass. + +"I think you had better select the preliminary six months' tour of +observation," he said. "After that, you can begin the study of any +special branch for which you are qualified, and for which you have +an inclination; possibly industry, possibly art, possibly sociology, +possibly education. We can decide that at the end of your preliminary +period. You will have for your guide, for the first few weeks, Lower +Conductor Prigge. As, however, he has just been promoted to a higher +rank in the police service, he will not be available after the first +few weeks, but I will arrange for a suitable successor." + +He then presented me with several documents. "This," he said, handing +me a thick notebook of some two hundred pages, "is the preliminary +diary in which you make your notes in whatever form you like. There +are four pages for each day. This is the formal diary for the Time +Department, to be carefully entered up each week and posted before +Sunday morning. These are the sheets of Instructions specially drawn +up for Foreign Observers in Mecco; you will notice they are all marked +'Tour No. 4,' and numbered consecutively. And this," handing me a thin +metal plate about half the size of a postcard, "is your identification +ticket." + +It was now the middle of the afternoon. I had had no luncheon, so when +Prigge came to take me off to the hotel, I proposed that we should +have some tea. He demurred a little, as he did not drink tea, but he +consented to have some coffee and a cigar in the smoke-room if I would +drink my tea there. So we went on talking over our tea and coffee, and +this is a specimen of the conversation:-- + +"You will understand," said Prigge, "that everything depends upon +your own energy and intelligence. If you apply yourself thoroughly +to the work before you, you will learn more in a fortnight under +my guidance than in a whole year in Luniland. I have had a long +experience in conducting foreigners. Most of them have no idea how to +observe, especially those who come from Luniland. They want to roam +about without any system or method at all. They want to see an Art +Gallery one day, and a manufactory the next; or even on the same day. +Then they want to see a natural history museum on the same day as an +archæological museum; they will fly from pottery to pictures, and from +geology to botany. Why, I was taking one of them through our great +museum illustrative of the stages of culture, which is arranged in +twenty successive centuries, and when we had reached the sixteenth he +actually wanted to turn back to look at something in the twelfth!" + +"I think it will be a good thing," I said, "if I ask you questions as +we go along, about matters that strike me. With all your knowledge you +will be able to tell me many things outside the regular routine." + +"Your proposal implies," he replied, "that I shall not give you +the appropriate information in proper order. If you will follow my +directions you will learn more than by any amount of aimless and +desultory questioning. I have studied the principles of Pedagogy as +applied to conducting Foreign Observers, and I shall accommodate the +presentation of new matter to the existing content of your mind, in so +far as your mind has any definite content. You will not be precluded +from asking questions, but whether I shall answer them will depend upon +their relevance to the subject in hand." + +Before we parted he gave me some general instructions. "For the first +week," he said, "you will not be permitted to converse with other +foreigners staying in the hotel. Tonight you will be free to attend +to your private affairs and prepare for tomorrow. We shall begin by a +survey of the general geography of the city, and in the evening you +will have permission to attend one of the lectures specially given +to Foreign Observers by Professor Proser-Toady on Prince Mechow, the +re-Founder of the Meccanian State. Professor Proser-Toady is the +Professor of Historical Culture in Mecco, and this course of lectures +is given periodically, so that foreigners may have no excuse for being +ignorant of the true history of the rise and development of Meccanian +culture." + +So I spent the evening in writing letters, looking up my 'Instructions,' +and filling up my diary. For this day, interviews with officials +accounted for at least five hours. Next morning at nine o'clock +Conductor Prigge turned up, looking more perky than ever. He had all +the airs of a professor, a police officer, and a drill sergeant rolled +into one. "Our first business will be to study the map," he said. "To +that we will give one and a half hours. After that we will ascend the +look-out tower in the Meteorological Department and take a view of +the city in the concrete. In the afternoon we will go by tram-car in +three concentric circles, and in the evening you will attend Professor +Proser-Toady's lecture." + +We began with the maps. I remembered something of the maps of the old +city from my geographical studies at home, and I remarked on the great +changes, for hardly a vestige of the old city seemed to remain. + +Prigge appeared rather pleased. "That is an instance of the superiority +of our culture," he remarked. "All the other capitals of Europe," he +said, "still preserve the plan of the mediæval city, in the central +parts at least. And the central parts are the most important. The +authorities profess to have preserved them because of their historical +interest. In reality it is because they do not know how to remodel +them. Against human stupidity the very gods fight in vain, but to +intelligence all things are possible. Any dolt can plan a new city, +but we are the only people in Europe who know how to remodel our old +cities. Now you will notice," he went on, "that we have preserved the +old royal palace and several other important buildings. They do not +interfere with the general plan. The large central ring, over a square +mile in extent, is occupied by Government buildings; and although there +is a larger number than in all the European capitals put together, +they are not crowded. The square of Prince Mechow, where the great +statue stands, is the largest in Europe. The ring outside that is +occupied by Cultural Institutions, Museums, Art Galleries, Libraries, +the University, the Zoological Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, and so +forth. Next comes a very much larger ring, occupied almost entirely by +the residential quarters of the six social classes. (In Mecco itself +there are no members of the Seventh Class.) The whole presents a +superficial resemblance to a great wheel." + +"Where, then, is the manufacturing quarter and the business quarter?" + +"Now where would you expect?" he asked, as if to show off his own +cunning. + +"I saw a number of factories in the distance," I said. + +"Yes," he answered, "the manufacturing quarter lies outside the ring +and forms a sort of town by itself." + +"And the business quarter? That must be centrally placed," I said. + +"Not necessarily. If you draw a line from the centre of Mecco to the +industrial quarter you will find the commercial quarter occupying +a long rectangle between the second ring and the outer edge of the +exterior circle. The commercial quarter thus cuts the residential ring +on one side. The residential quarters of the Sixth and Fifth Classes +lie on each side of the commercial quarter and are therefore nearest to +the industrial quarter. + +[Illustration] + +"You will observe," he continued, "that we have no Seventh Class in +Mecco itself. We are an Imperial city, and even the servants of the +well-to-do belong to the Sixth Class. It is the greatest privilege of +a Meccanian citizen to live in Mecco, and all the citizens of Mecco +are, so to speak, selected. None but loyal upholders of the national +and imperial ideal are allowed the privilege of living here. It would +not be right. There again, it is our superior national culture that +has enabled us to realise such a plan. What Government in Europe could +drive out of its capital all citizens who did not actively support the +State?" + +"It is indeed a wonderful thing," I said. "But what becomes of such +disloyal citizens when they are, shall I say, expelled or exiled?" + +"Ah! You must not believe that _we_ have had to indulge in any policy +of expulsion. You will not find any disloyal element anywhere in +Meccania. A few individuals you might find, but most of them are in +lunatic asylums." + +"But surely," I said, "I have read in the histories of Meccania, that +formerly there were large numbers of people, among the working classes +chiefly, who were, well, rather revolutionary in their ideas, and whom +I should not have expected to see becoming loyal to such a State as the +Meccania of to-day." + +He smiled a very superior smile. "Really," he said, "the ignorance of +our country which foreigners betray is extraordinary. Disloyalty to +the State is found in every country _except_ Meccania. We have got rid +of it long ago by the simple process of Education. If we find an odd +individual who displays disloyal sentiments we regard him as a lunatic +and treat him accordingly." + +"How?" I asked. + +"We put him in a lunatic asylum." + +"And your lunatic asylums? Have you enough for the purpose?" I ventured +to ask. + +Conductor Prigge luckily did not see the point. "In most cases," he +said, "the threat is sufficient. We require very few lunatic asylums, +just as we require few prisons. But we are wandering from the subject," +he remarked; and he drew out a map of the residential quarters, +coloured in white, red, yellow, green, chocolate and grey, the colours +of the classes, omitting the Seventh. + +I noticed that the parts coloured white, red and yellow covered about +half the circle. I was going to put some questions to Prigge as to the +relative numbers of the classes, when he said, "I do not think you +have yet grasped our sevenfold classification of the citizenship of +Meccania." + +"Somewhat imperfectly, I am afraid," I replied. + +"Then you have not grasped it," he said. "You cannot be said to grasp +it if you are not perfectly clear about it. I will explain. Attend! +Begin with the lowest. That is the logical order. The Seventh Class +consists of persons of the lowest order of intelligence who cannot +profit by the ordinary instruction in the schools beyond a very +moderate degree. They are not very numerous. From the age of ten they +are taught to do simple work of a purely mechanical kind, and when +strong enough are set to do the most menial work which requires little +intelligence. A few other persons, who have failed in life through +their own fault, are relegated to this class as a punishment. + +"The Sixth Class corresponds to the unskilled labouring class of most +foreign countries. They are recruited from the children who at twelve +years of age show only average ability. They are then trained to do +either simple manual work, or to act as servants in families below the +Second Class. + +"The Fifth is the largest class; it is larger than the Sixth and +Seventh together. We require a very large number of skilled artisans +and clerks in a subordinate capacity. Consequently, we train all who +are capable of profiting by a combination of theoretical and practical +instruction until the age of fifteen, and even for some years after +that, in industrial schools, where they study the practical aspects of +mathematics and science. Consequently, they are by far the most skilled +artisan class in the world. We have no trouble in inducing them to +apply themselves to study, for any member of the Fifth Class who failed +to profit by the system of instruction provided for him would soon find +himself in the Sixth Class, which enjoys much less in the shape of +privileges and material well-being than the Fifth. + +"The Fourth Class includes most of the bourgeoisie, the bulk of the +officials and clergy, as well as the small group of professional people +who are not officials. In detail it comprises tradesmen, managers of +businesses and foremen in responsible positions. All these are in the +Industrial and Commercial world. Then come all Civil servants below +the first grade, all non-commissioned officers in the Army and Navy, +all the Clergy below the rank of Bishops. The professional people I +referred to are a few who have not been absorbed in the official class. +We have no journalists in Meccania, no doctors who are not in the State +service, and no lawyers who are not officials." + +"Then who _are_ these professional people?" I interrupted. + +"They are merely a handful of people, mostly possessed of small private +means, who write books that are never published, or cultivate art, or +music, or science. They are not good enough to be taken into the State +service, and they are gradually disappearing altogether. + +"The Third Class," he resumed, "corresponds partly to the Higher +Bourgeoisie of other countries, but it also includes several +more important elements. It comprises the richer merchants and +manufacturers, who must possess an income of at least £5000 a year; the +first class of Civil servants, the Higher Clergy, those University +Professors who have held their posts for ten years and are approved +by the Ministry of Culture, landed proprietors who are District +Councillors and Magistrates, and all Fund-holders with an income of +£10,000 a year. + +"The Second Class is the military class. It includes all officers, who +must be of noble birth. A few of the highest Civil servants are in this +class, but they must have previously served as officers in the Army or +Navy. + +"The First Class is partly military and partly civil; but, except +members of royal or ducal families, all in the First Class have +previously passed through the Second. Ambassadors are in the First +Class, but they have all served for a period as officers in the Army. +Even the head of a department of State is not admitted to the First +Class unless he has previously been in the Second Class. + +"Lastly, the relative numbers of the various classes are as follows: +out of a total population of 100,000,000 only about 10,000 are in the +First Class; 4,000,000 are in the Second; 6,000,000 are in the Third; +20,000,000 are in the Fourth; 40,000,000 are in the Fifth; 20,000,000 +are in the Sixth; and the rest, nearly 10,000,000, in the Seventh Class. + +"All women take the rank of their fathers or their husbands, whichever +is the higher; children take the rank of their parents until their +sixteenth year. Is that clear?" + +"Quite clear," I replied, "except in one particular." + +"What is that?" + +"I take it that some, at any rate, pass from one class to another. By +what means, for example, does a person who starts life, let us say in +the Fourth Class, obtain admission to the Third?" + +"We must take some particular category." + +"A business man, a small manufacturer who is highly successful, perhaps +makes some valuable discovery which enriches him. How does he obtain +admission to the Third Class?" + +"He must have an income of at least £5000 a year, and he must have +performed some service to the State," answered Prigge promptly. + +"And a Civil servant?" + +"If he is promoted to the first grade he also is admitted to the Third +Class, but this does not frequently happen." + +"Then, on the whole, the children of those in each class respectively +remain in the class in which they are born?" + +"That is so as a rule. The percentage has been worked out carefully by +the statistical branch of the Sociological Department. About 4 per cent +of the Seventh Class enter the Sixth, about 5 per cent of the Sixth +enter the Fifth, about 3 per cent of the Fifth enter the Fourth, about +8 per cent of the Fourth enter the Third. No one, strictly speaking, +enters the Second from the Third, but as many of the men of the Second +Class marry women in the Third Class, which is the rich class, the sons +may enter the Second Class, if they are suitable as officers in the +Army. Also, a number of the women of the Second Class marry men in the +Third Class, and their sons also may enter the Army." + +"It is a wonderful system," I ventured to observe. + +"It is simplicity itself," said Prigge, "yet no other nation has had +the intelligence to discover it, nor even to copy it. As a matter of +fact, it is the only logical and scientific classification of society; +it puts everybody in his proper place." + + * * * * * + +After this conversation, or rather this discourse, we walked out to +ascend the look-out tower; but on the way we had to cross the great +square of Prince Mechow, and there, for the first time, I saw the great +monument about which I had heard so much. I had expected something +extraordinary, but I was not prepared for the actual thing. It was +as high as a church steeple. At the base was a huge shapeless mass +of basalt. Above this rose a square granite block, twenty feet high, +covered with high-relief sculptures representing in allegorical form +the reconstruction of the Meccanian Super-State. At the four corners +were four figures representing Arms, Intellect, Culture and Power. +Above this again towered a great pedestal a hundred feet high and +forty feet in diameter. On the top stood the colossal statue of Prince +Mechow, a gigantic portrait-figure of a man in the uniform of the +First Class, his breast covered with decorations, a sword in one hand +and a mace or some symbolical weapon in the other. The impression of +brute force which it conveyed was terrific. Every person in the square, +as he came within sight of it, took off his hat; those in military +dress saluted it, and pronounced the words, "Long live Meccania and God +bless Prince Mechow!" + +My first feeling on seeing it was one of intense disgust at the +barbarity of the thing, and I was just going to make some satirical +remark when I caught sight of Prigge's face. It wore an expression +of absolute ecstasy, and the look of fierce disdain with which he +said "Uncover!" was startling. He added something which sounded like +"Mongolian monkey," but in the excitement of the moment I was not quite +sure what he said. + +I tried to pacify him by saying, in as innocent a tone as I could +assume, "It is indeed the most remarkable statue I have ever seen." + +"It is the most perfect embodiment of Meccanian Culture: no other +country could produce such a work," he replied solemnly. + +"I am inclined to agree," I said. "Who was the artist who conceived and +executed a monument of such wonderful proportions?" + +"The artist? What other nation could produce a man who united such +gifts with such a true Meccanian spirit? He desired that his name +should never be spoken. When the work was completed after ten years, +he gave up his life, and begged to be allowed to be buried underneath +the rock with all the tools that had been used in the execution of the +statue. His dying request was respected. His name is never uttered, +but every child in Meccania knows it, and every citizen in Meccania +comes once every ten years to salute the statue of Prince Mechow and do +honour to the hero-artist who lies buried beneath." + +"I shall never forget the story," I said, and we walked on to the +look-out tower. On the way, I noticed that every person in the street +saluted every other person of higher rank than himself. I have since +learnt that there are six different forms of salute, one for each class +above the Seventh, and that it is a point of strict etiquette to give +the right salute. A salute appropriate to the Fourth Class given to +a member of the Third is an insult, and the wrong salute given to a +member of the Second (military) Class may cost the offender his life. + +We ascended the look-out tower. The sight was magnificent. From where +we stood the details of the architecture could not be seen, nor even +the style of the buildings. But the general impression produced by such +a vast assemblage of massive edifices was one of grandeur and power, +while the bright sunlight and the absence of smoke and dirt gave the +whole city the appearance of having suddenly sprung up in a night, like +Aladdin's palace. + +To the west, in a great semicircle, the quarters of the first three +classes presented a spectacle such as I have not seen in any capital. +Every house was a mansion or a villa surrounded by a pleasant garden. +Here and there one saw large stretches of beautiful park. To the east +the houses were clustered more thickly together, but even on this side +there was an air of orderliness and comfort, although certainly not of +luxury, which contrasted favourably with the populous districts of the +towns I had seen in other countries. About five miles away we could +see distinctly, with the aid of the glasses, the manufactories and +workshops and warehouses of the industrial town that served the needs +of the whole capital. + +Conductor Prigge seemed duly satisfied with the impression made on me. +"Here," he said, "you are at the centre of the civilisation of the +modern world. Here are three million thoroughly efficient Meccanians, +every one in his proper place, every one fulfilling his appointed duty. +Think of the disorder, the squalor, the conflict of aims, the absence +of ideals, represented by a city like Lunopolis, or Prisa, and look on +this picture!" + +We descended and returned to the hotel. + +After luncheon we proceeded with our tour of the tramway system. By +this means I got a good view of the exterior appearance of the houses +of the various classes. It confirmed the impression I had gained +from the look-out tower, except in one respect. The houses of the +well-to-do looked as if they had all been designed by the same school +of architects, and except that they differed in size they might have +been turned out by machinery. The houses of the rest of the population +were 'standardised' to an even greater degree. The dwellings of the +Sixth Class are really blocks of small flats of a standard size; those +of the Fifth Class are similar, except that the rooms are a little +larger and there are more of them. One curious fact came to light in +the course of Conductor Prigge's explanation of the housing system. +It seems that the Births Department determines the number of children +each family is expected to have within a given period of years, and +the houses are distributed accordingly. Thus a family in the Fifth +Class which is due to have, let us say, four children within the next +seven years, is assigned a flat of five rooms. Then, if the same family +is due to have two more children within the next five years, they +move into a house with seven rooms. Persons in the first grade of the +Fifth Class are allowed to take a flat with more rooms on payment of a +special rate or tax. + +Apparently there is very little choice of houses. As all the houses of +a certain grade are practically alike, if a tenant wishes to move to +another street he has to furnish valid reasons; and it is not easy to +furnish reasons satisfactory to the authorities. Besides, the number of +houses or flats is very closely proportioned to the number of tenants, +and there are never many vacant houses. The members of the Third and +higher classes own their own houses, and can therefore change their +residences by purchasing or exchanging. By special privilege members +of the Fourth Class can obtain permission to buy their houses, but as +these are mostly flats they are usually rented from the municipality. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PROFESSOR PROSER-TOADY'S LECTURE + + +Following Conductor Prigge's instructions, I presented myself at +six o'clock in the evening at the entrance to the Great University +of Mecco. It was the first time I had been out without my 'keeper,' +but as everybody else was dressed in the Meccanian costume, whilst +I was wearing the clothes I had been accustomed to wear in Luniland +and Francaria, there was little risk of my going astray. A porter +darted out of a box in the entrance hall and directed me to Room 415, +where the Professor of Historical Culture was to deliver his monthly +four-hour lecture to Foreign Observers. I found about a dozen Foreign +Observers of various nationalities waiting in the small lecture-room, +and presently a few more arrived. Some were Scandinavians, some South +Americans; a few, I thought, were Turks; several were from some part +of India. At 6.10 precisely the Professor came in. He wore a brilliant +yellow uniform of the Third Class, with green facings and buttons and +a number of little ribbons indicating, I suppose, various services +rendered to the cause of Meccanian Culture. Apart from his dress he +resembled the caricatures of Meccanian professors in our comic prints. +His head was bald on the top and at the front, but at the sides great +tufts of white hair protruded. His grey beard was of ample proportions. +His coarse wizened face and staring eyes, covered by a pair of huge +spectacles, gave him the appearance of a Jack-in-the-box as he sat +behind a high reading-desk. His voice was tough and leathery. At the +end of three hours it sounded as fresh and as harsh as in the opening +sentences. I cannot reproduce the whole lecture; if I did it would +almost fill a book by itself. I can only hope to give a rough idea of +it by paraphrasing some of the most salient passages. + +He began by saying that to accommodate himself to the culture of his +foreign auditors he would endeavour to present his subject in the +simplest possible form, which was the narrative, and would sketch +the biography of the great re-founder of the Meccanian State, the +true architect of the First Super-State in the world, the greatest +political creative genius that had ever stepped upon the World Stage, +Prince Mechow. We had all seen his memorial statue, a unique monument +to a unique individual, and no doubt it had made an impression +upon our imagination; but it was impossible for any work of art +however great--and here he paid a tribute to the hero-artist who +built the monument--to convey more than a symbolical suggestion of +the all-embracing magnificence of Prince Mechow's truly Meccanian +personality. For that we must look around at the Super-State itself. + +Prince Mechow, he said, was historically the culminating figure of +the national development of Meccania. Compared with many countries +in Europe, Meccania could not boast a long history. Some historians +sought a false glory for Meccania by tracing its greatness back to the +so-called Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, but true Meccanian history +went back only a few hundred years. In fact, it was not until the +eighteenth century that the Meccanian State in the proper sense of the +word began, and only in the nineteenth century did it take its place +among the powers of the modern world. In the nineteenth century the +Meccanian State was saved by the genius and will of one great man, the +worthy predecessor of Prince Mechow, his great-uncle Prince BLUDIRON. +From a scientific or philosophical point of view it was difficult +to say whether Prince Bludiron had not contributed as much to the +greatness of Meccania as Prince Mechow; for it was he, undoubtedly, who +laid the foundations upon which the final structure rested. The work +of Prince Bludiron was very different from, but also similar in spirit +to, the work of Prince Mechow. His task had been to rescue the young +and inexperienced State from the perils and distractions of the false +ideals of Liberty and Democracy, to secure the power of the State over +all sections and classes, to create the proud and confident Meccanian +spirit and to set the nation on the right path. + +The task of Prince Mechow was to erect the Super-State on the +foundations laid by Prince Bludiron; in other words, to organise the +energies of the whole nation to one supreme end, to train and direct +the powers of every individual so as to produce one mind and one will. + +Turning to the work of Prince Bludiron, the Professor said that when +he began his work Meccania was distracted by false and conflicting +ideals, of foreign origin. Revolution was in the air. People were ready +to drive out their lawful rulers. Popular government was demanded. +Parliaments were being set up. It was the saddest page in Meccanian +history. Had these anarchic forces triumphed, Meccania would have sunk +to the level of other nations, and the Super-State would never have +arisen. It was the greatest testimony to the intellectual genius and +moral power of Prince Bludiron that, after forty years of strenuous +work, the whole outlook for Meccania was completely changed. The false +ideal of individual liberty was dead and buried. Popular government +was a discredited superstition. The military aristocracy were secure +in their rightful position. The efficiency of the Government was +demonstrated in every direction, and not least on the field of battle. +Wars had been won with a rapidity unprecedented in any age. + +Prince Bludiron's success was so complete that it was almost impossible +for us now to realise how great his difficulties had been. So strong +were the forces of Democracy that even he had to temporise and set up a +Parliament. He even granted manhood suffrage. + +Dr. Proser-Toady then explained how Prince Bludiron outwitted the +disloyal elements among the people by securing the reality of power +to the organised centralised State, whilst leaving the semblance of +control to the representative bodies. He quoted a Foreign Observer, at +the end of Prince Bludiron's career, who declared that the institutions +set up by him enabled the State to wield the maximum of power with +the minimum of opposition. Strangely enough, said the Professor, the +very movement that threatened to undo all his work was in reality +of the greatest service. He referred to the movement of Meccanian +Socialism or Social Democracy which owed its peculiar character to a +certain demagogue named Spotts. The career and influence of Spotts +was for a time almost as remarkable as Prince Bludiron's. Spotts +persuaded his followers that the economic tendencies of modern life +must inevitably create the Socialist State. The people need only +wait until these tendencies had worked themselves out and then seize +the power of the State, which would drop into their hands like ripe +fruit. He saw in the existing State nothing but organised Capitalism. +Consequently he encouraged his followers to take no part in the actual +Government, but to maintain themselves in permanent opposition until +the inevitable revolution came about, when they were to assume the +whole control. Spottsian Socialism became the universal doctrine of the +Meccanian proletariat of those days. They talked about the economic +interpretation of history, about economic forces, about economic +revolutions, mixed with vague notions of Liberty and Equality. But in +reality they cared not a straw for Liberty; what they sought was Power. +Yet by standing in permanent opposition to every other element in the +State they played into Prince Bludiron's hands. Whilst they waited for +the inevitable revolution, he had accustomed the people to prosperity; +and had raised the prestige of the State at home and abroad. He had +gained the support of all the strongest elements in society, had +trained an efficient bureaucracy and an efficient military aristocracy. +And yet at his death the followers of Spotts went on waiting for the +economic revolution! + +The Professor then dealt briefly with what he said was the most +difficult period for a Meccanian historian, the period between the +death of Prince Bludiron and the rise of the still greater statesman, +Prince Mechow. In that interval no great leader arose, but a number +of foolish statesmen who fancied they were cast in the mould of the +great Bludiron. At that time Meccania had commercial relations with +the whole world, and was rapidly penetrating every country with its +peculiar culture. Its army and navy were growing in strength, and the +temper of the people was becoming restless and aggressive. They lacked +the controlling hand of Prince Bludiron. They were carried away by +dreams of sudden world-conquest. Foolish statesmen allowed the country +to be plunged into war with half the world at once. The Meccanians +performed wonders, but they could not perform miracles, and in the end +the country was reduced to great straits. Provinces were torn away. +Its accumulations of wealth were exhausted; its manhood was decimated. +The situation was terrible, yet it was this tremendous ordeal that +indirectly created the most favourable conditions for the work of +Prince Mechow. + +During the war the Government had been compelled to take over, more and +more, the control of every department of life. Under the pressure of +war the last vestiges of the obsolete doctrines of Individualism had +disappeared. Now that the war was over, the necessity for increasing +all the means of wealth-production placed a new power in the hands of +the State. It was in these years of what was called 'Reconstruction' +that Prince Mechow came to the front. Every one was depressed. The +most conflicting views were expressed. Some people lamented that the +whole work of Prince Bludiron had been destroyed. Others said it had +been all a mistake, and that the nation ought to have followed the +example of the rest of Europe. Some advocated hare-brained schemes of +'Internationalism,' as they called it. + +Prince Mechow was one of the few who kept a clear head. He saw exactly +where the blunder had been made. Meccania had ventured upon projects of +world-conquest before completing the internal work of perfecting the +Super-State on the foundations laid down by Prince Bludiron. He saw +that we must go back exactly to the point where Prince Bludiron left +off. But the first step was the most difficult. Prince Mechow was quite +a young man, not more than thirty, and was only an Under-Secretary. +He had one advantage in that he was a grand-nephew of Prince Bludiron +and had the ear of the Emperor, who very soon made him Minister of the +Interior, a post created to relieve the Chief Minister. + +Professor Proser-Toady said we should obtain the clearest conception +of Prince Mechow's views and the best key to his policy in a volume of +correspondence with his cousin General Count Block. Count Block, like +many of his military colleagues, was alarmed at the general confusion. +He declared there was nothing for it but to sweep away all popular +representative institutions, restrict education to the upper classes +and fall back upon the direct rule of the military. Prince Mechow +pointed out that such a policy would fail utterly: it would bring +about the very revolution it sought to avoid. Efficiency could never +be created by the military alone. Industrial efficiency was absolutely +necessary to military power. He agreed in the main with Count Block's +objects, but declared that his means were clumsy and inadequate. +The work of Prince Bludiron must be continued by the creation of a +Super-State. The _term_ had already been coined, but the _thing_ did +not yet exist. + +It is in Prince Mechow's clear conception of the Super-State that we +see his intellectual genius, but it is in the steps he took to bring +it into being that we realise his kinship with his famous predecessor, +Prince Bludiron. Prince Bludiron had had to live from hand to mouth +relying upon his statesman's instinct. Prince Mechow, even before he +became Chief Minister, foresaw every detail of the structure he was +determined to erect. + +The State, he said, has hitherto done only what is forced upon it by +necessity. It has never attempted to utilise the whole energies of the +Nation. The Super-State will only come into being by uniting in itself +the will, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the multifarious energies, +of the whole people. The State has been merely the strongest organ of +society: the Super-State must be the only organ, uniting all others in +itself. + +How was such a conception to be realised concretely? In explaining his +plans he found ample illustration in the circumstances of the recent +Great War. The State had not only controlled everything essential to +the conduct of the war; it had not only regulated the manufacture of +all supplies, including food and clothing for the whole nation, but had +undertaken a thousand activities never previously dreamt of, except by +the Socialists. + +He proposed to capture the whole armoury of the Socialists by gradually +seizing everything for the State itself. The motto of the Super-State +must be Efficiency. But to be efficient the State must absorb all the +persons who represented efficiency. The whole conception of Bureaucracy +must be revolutionised by being carried to its logical conclusion. +The efficiency of a business firm depends upon the efficiency of the +persons composing it. The efficiency of the Super-State will depend +upon the efficiency of the new Bureaucracy and the Military Class. +There was no instance in history of an efficient Government being +overthrown by any popular forces. + +A century of industrial development had transformed the material world, +whilst in the meantime the organisation of the State had almost stood +still. The Super-State must borrow from the Socialists the conception +of an all-embracing power and activity, and from the Industrial world +the machinery for the execution of its will. The most efficient and +successful business firms were those which got every ounce of work +out of every member of the firm. The Super-State must not be less +resourceful. + +Now as to the methods, said the Professor. How was the State to absorb +into its service all the energies of the nation, without at the same +time becoming a Social Democracy? Already the Social Democrats, as in +Prince Bludiron's time, were proclaiming that the Capitalist State was +working out for them the Social Revolution predicted by Spotts; and as +in Prince Bludiron's days so under Prince Mechow they went on waiting +for the Social Revolution. They are waiting still. In the meantime +Prince Mechow got into the saddle and began his practical reforms. He +was a man of the most extraordinary energy and versatility. He was not +content to begin with Education and wait for a generation. He attacked +a dozen different problems at the same time: Education, Industry, +Commerce, Railways, Finance, the Press, the Stage, the Professions, +the Church--every side of national life received his attention; but +the prime instrument through which he worked was the Bureaucracy. He +laid it down as an axiom that the machinery of the State must work so +smoothly that the people should be unaware of its operations. + +There have been instances in history, he wrote in one of his letters, +in which a Government has been overturned in a single day. How? By a +perfectly planned _coup d'état_. What can be accomplished on a single +occasion can be done as a part of the regular working of the State +Machinery. Our Super-State must be capable of a _coup d'état_ every +day. Those of his friends who did not see the necessity for his reforms +he silenced by showing them that if they did not capture the State the +Social Democracy would do so. + +During the first ten years of his regime he worked wonders. He renewed +the State control of all the large industries. He took into the service +of the State all the most capable business men and manufacturers, all +the best scientists and engineers as well as the best administrators. +The Censorship of the Press was continued and extended to every form +of literature. He bought up all the big newspapers and drove all the +little ones into bankruptcy. When every clever journalist was engaged +on the State newspapers and all advertisements were controlled, +there was not much room for an 'opposition' Press. The Schools and +Universities were already well under control, but he revised the whole +system. He made every teacher and every professor a direct servant of +the State. Every textbook was revised. He paid particular attention +to history, philosophy and literature. The new generation were thus +educated in an atmosphere calculated to cultivate the true Meccanian +spirit. Inspectors, organisers and directors of Education infused new +energy into the system and trained the whole population to co-operate +with the Super-State. + +As to the proletariat, he saw to it that there was no unemployment. +Production went up by leaps and bounds, wages were increased, but there +was no waste. Goods that could not be disposed of immediately were +stored, but methods of control and regulation were introduced to direct +industry into the right channels. Whilst he controlled the wage-earners +he at the same time controlled the employers. All surplus wages and +profits were invested in the State funds. + +Of course there was opposition to these reforms. The Military Class +were slow to understand his methods, so he established periodical +military councils, took them into his confidence and eventually won +them over completely. As for the Social Democrats, he did not scruple +to employ against them the same methods they would have employed +against him. He made use of secret agents to preach the doctrine that +by his methods the way would be prepared for the social revolution. +When at length he inaugurated the system of the seven social classes +the Social Democrats professed to see in this a means of stimulating +class consciousness; but after a few years they discovered that no +class was willing to surrender its privileges. The Fifth Class, which +includes the most skilled artisans in Europe, began to see that no +revolution would improve their position, whilst it might lower them to +the level of the Sixth or Seventh Class. The boasted solidarity of the +proletariat proved to be an illusion, like most of Spotts's ideas. + +When he reformed the railway system he made travelling free. But of +course if travelling were to be free, restrictions must be imposed. +Similarly in regard to housing. He applied all the technical knowledge +in the country to the problem. Standardised houses and other devices +made it possible to rebuild any portions of our cities and to transfer +population from one region to another with the greatest ease. On the +other hand, restrictions were necessary. You cannot have free trade in +houses and at the same time guarantee a house to every family. + +I have condensed Dr. Proser-Toady's lecture, which lasted several +hours, into such short compass that it gives very little idea, I am +afraid, of the complete revolution worked out by Prince Mechow's +reforms. For instance, he showed how the whole character of politics +had been transformed, how the questions that agitated Meccania sixty +years ago had entirely disappeared; how the Press no longer existed, +because its functions had been absorbed by other agencies; how the +Parliament, which I was surprised to hear still existed, was now +organised to correspond with the seven social classes; how the State +was so wealthy that control over taxation was no longer necessary. + +He ended with a remarkable passage about the seven social classes and +the national Meccanian uniforms. + +"Many Foreign Observers," he said, "in times past, have made merry +over our sevenfold classification and our national costumes. What +have other nations to put in their place? They too have these classes, +for they are natural and inevitable. They have their nobles, their +soldiers, their officials and professional men, their bourgeoisie, +their artisans, their labourers and their degraded 'submerged tenth.' +But they are afraid to call them by their proper names, afraid to +recognise them. They have no uniforms, no dignified and pleasing +costumes; but you never mistake one class for another. You never +mistake the labourer for the wealthy bourgeois or the popinjay +aristocrat. Nowhere else, they say, would people consent to wear the +servile badge of their caste. We Meccanians are proud of our seven +national colours. So far from being a degradation, the historical +origin of the costumes proves that it is a privilege to wear them. +The seven uniforms were once the ceremonial dress of the seven guilds +established by Prince Mechow. When permission was granted for all the +members of the classes to wear the ceremonial dress it was the occasion +of national rejoicings everywhere. The national costumes are part of +the Ritual of the Super-State." + + * * * * * + +Long-winded as some parts of the lecture were, I must confess it was +most illuminating, and to me, as a student of politics and sociology, +exceedingly interesting. I begin to understand now what the Meccanian +Super-State really is. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CULTURE IN MECCO + + +During the first few weeks of my tour in Mecco--Tour No. 4--Conductor +Prigge kept my nose well to the grindstone. At times he made me feel +like a small schoolboy, at times like a prisoner in charge of a warder. +It would be tedious to detail all the incidents of my daily rounds, or +to describe everything in the exact order in which it was presented to +my view. So I propose to set down, as they remain in my mind, the most +interesting or remarkable features of this truly remarkable city. One +circumstance, however, annoys and almost distresses me. I cannot get +into contact with any individual living people. I see everything as a +spectacle from the outside. + +As I go about, the impression of orderliness, cleanliness, and even +magnificence of a kind, is such as I have seldom felt in any part of +the world. At times the whole city gives one the same sort of feeling +that one experiences in going through a gigantic hospital, where +everything is spotless and nothing is out of its place. I am even +getting used to the coloured uniforms of the seven classes. In the +central parts of the city green and yellow predominate; for the number +of people belonging to the official class is enormous. Even apart from +their actual number they are the most conspicuous, because the lower +classes are at work in their factories and business houses, and are +consequently seldom seen except when returning home in the evening. +Occasionally I notice a few white uniforms (of the very select First +Class) and occasionally, too, a crowd of officers in their brilliant +scarlet uniforms. At the other end of the scale, the most common colour +visible is the grey, worn by the numerous servants in the well-to-do +quarters. The few servants who wear chocolate are mostly the lackeys of +the very rich, and the upper servants in the large hotels. + +On the day after Dr. Proser-Toady's lecture, Conductor Prigge was more +than usually "pedagogic." I wanted to look about the streets and ask +questions about many things that occurred to me at the moment, but +he insisted upon pouring out detailed information about the drainage +system, the postal areas, the parcels' delivery areas, the telephone +system, the market system, and so forth. What did interest me, however, +was the organisation known as the Time Department, of which I had +already seen something at Bridgetown. + +There is, as I have said, an enormous number of public buildings in +Mecco, but nobody can miss the gigantic office of the Time Department. +It towers up, about seven stories high, over the surrounding +buildings, and above it rises a great clock that can be seen for +miles. In this central department alone, ten thousand people are +employed--that is, of course, in addition to all those employed in the +local offices of the Time Department in various parts of the country. + +Conductor Prigge was tremendously proud of the Time Department. +"Other nations," he said, "have never thought of establishing such an +institution for themselves. They have not even had the intelligence to +imitate ours. We Meccanians were the first to discover both time and +space: our philosophers were the first to understand time and space: we +have been the first Government to organise time and space. We can tell +you," he went on, "the exact amount of time occupied by any person, +or any group of persons, in doing anything. We know exactly how much +time is devoted to eating and drinking, as well as the time required +to produce a picture, or a piece of sculpture, or a poem, or a musical +composition; or how long it takes to learn any language, or any subject +of study." + +"But," I said, "what about the time spent by all the clerks and +officials employed all over the country, as well as here, in the Time +Department itself; isn't it rather extravagant? What is the object of +it all?" + +"Do you think," he replied, "that we should keep up such an institution +if it had not proved to be useful in the highest degree? Foreigners +have such childish ideas of organisation," he continued. "This was one +of the most brilliant inventions of Prince Mechow, but it has taken +thirty years to bring it to its present state of perfection. It pays +for itself over and over again, in the mere economy it effects; and it +has other far-reaching effects on the whole social and economic life of +the nation. In the first place, in the matter of material production, +in every trade and occupation it enables us to speed-up scientifically. +An increase of 1½ per cent in the productiveness of the four main +industries alone would more than pay all the expenses of the Time +Department. We have increased productiveness all round by at least 20 +per cent since the introduction of the Time Department; and although +not all of this increase is due to the Time Department, we may safely +reckon 5 per cent. We have done away with all the dawdlers in art, +all the incompetent painters and novelists and poets. In connection +with the Post Office we have been able to diminish the amount of time +spent in writing useless letters by 50 per cent. Why, without the +Time Department the Department for the Direction of Leisure would be +helpless. In Education, how should we know the right proportion of time +to be devoted to the various subjects, the right amount to recreation +or amusement? And apart from economy, the aid given to the researches +of the Sociological Department is simply invaluable. The efficiency of +the Police Department is due in great measure to the Time Department." + +"But," I inquired innocently, "is there no feeling of resentment on the +part of the public at the somewhat inquisitorial methods of the Time +Department?" + +"Resentment!" he said, almost angrily. "Why should there be resentment?" + +"At having to give an account of all that one does even in one's +leisure time?" + +"But when everybody knows that we save millions a year by it, and +when the State has decided that it is for the public benefit, and +the obligation is imposed upon everybody; why should anyone raise +objections?" + +"Still," I said, remembering my unfortunate experience, "you find it +necessary to inflict fines in order to ensure compliance with the +regulations about filling up the weekly diaries." + +"Naturally. But perhaps you overlook the educative effect of having to +keep the diary. The proper keeping of the diary is almost an education +in itself." My conductor said this with such an air of finality that I +thought it was not worth while to pursue the question further. + +I was much amused by a conversation I had a few days ago on another +subject. It was about five o'clock and I was feeling rather tired, so +I proposed that we should have a meal in a restaurant, and then go to +some place of amusement in the evening. + +"You may return to the hotel if you are indisposed," said Prigge, "and +rest there during the evening; or you may have a meal in a restaurant +and resume your tour. But until we have completed at least the first +week's tour of observation, you cannot possibly be permitted to visit +any place of amusement, as you call it. Besides, such places as you +probably have in mind, do not exist in Mecco. I have seen, in other +countries, what are termed music halls, where a lot of so-called actors +were making fools of themselves." + +"Perhaps," I ventured to say, "you did not look at the performance from +the right point of view." + +"I see! You mean that I should have regarded these childish performances +as illustrating the stage of mental culture of the people. From that +point of view your 'music halls' may be of some interest, just as the +drama of foreign countries is of interest; but it is so very primitive." + +"Primitive? In what way primitive?" I asked. + +"Primitive by comparison with our highly developed drama. For example, +all the foreign dramas I have seen are written in the narrative form, +or rather, I should say, the drama is still in the chronological stage. +We have left that behind." + +"Indeed," I said, "I am afraid I can hardly conceive of drama in any +other form." + +"Exactly. _You_ cannot understand. But our Meccanian culture is +not exactly designed for the intelligence of foreigners. If you are +specially interested in the subject of the drama--it is not one of +my specialities, although of course I am not ignorant of the drama, +no Meccanian is--I will introduce you to my friend in the Department +of Public Amusement, which is a branch of the Ministry of Education +and Culture. He will probably enable you in the shortest period of +time--and that is always a consideration, although most foreigners are +often quite oblivious of the time aspect of such matters--to understand +the Meccanian drama, in so far as it is possible for a foreigner to +understand it." + +I thanked him, and he made a note in his pocket-book to remind him of +his promise. "Perhaps you can tell me," I said, "how your people do +amuse themselves, apart from going to the theatre; for they cannot go +to the theatre every evening." + +"I notice that, like all foreigners, you are more interested in +amusement than in the serious aspects of life. You will receive full +information at the proper time if you will avail yourself of my offer +to take you to my friend Dr. Dodderer, the Sub-Controller of Public +Amusements (Section B); but I do not mind giving you a few facts such +as are common knowledge among all Meccanians." + +"Well," I said, "take your commercial travellers, who must spend a good +deal of time in towns away from home. What do they do in the evenings?" + +"If you were to go to the Great Meccanian Library," he replied, "and +consult the Reports of the Sociological Department for the last twenty +years, you would be able to see exactly how all these persons have +spent their time. But you would perhaps be surprised to find that the +number of persons travelling about and staying away from home is very +small. When you have studied our industrial and commercial system you +will see that we require comparatively few commercial travellers. As +to the way they spend their time, you must understand that in every +town there are guilds of all the professions. Consequently, as every +commercial traveller naturally wishes to improve his knowledge, he +frequents the guild house, where he meets with other members of his +profession and discusses matters of interest. If he comes from Mecco +he will be welcomed, as the provincial members will be only too glad +to learn anything from one who comes from the very centre of Meccanian +culture. Also, he may wish to visit the local museums, or other +cultural institutions. If not, he will attend either an outdoor or an +indoor concert." + +"The commercial travellers of Meccania must be quite unlike the +commercial travellers of all other countries if they spend their +leisure in the way you have described," I remarked. "You spoke of +concerts," I continued. "I suppose music is still the most popular form +of amusement in Meccania?" + +"Neither the drama nor music are, strictly speaking, mere amusements," +answered Conductor Prigge. "They may be so regarded in other countries, +but not in Meccania." + +"Then what are they?" I asked. + +"They form part of our general scheme of culture," replied Prigge. "As +you probably know, attendance at the theatre once a week is compulsory +for all persons over eighteen. Those below eighteen attend the juvenile +theatre as part of their school course in literature." + +"Attendance compulsory?" I said. "But if Meccanians are so advanced in +the cultivation of the drama, why should it be necessary to enforce +attendance?" + +"Perhaps it is not really necessary, but I doubt whether our scheme of +dramatic culture could be carried out without strict regulation. For +instance, there are some plays more popular than others. People would +want to see these plays in great numbers and there would not be room +for them; whilst the less popular plays would not be well attended." + +"Just so," I said, "that is what one would naturally expect; and where +is the harm?" + +"Our scheme provides a succession of plays throughout the year, all +designed as part of our culture, and if people were at liberty to pick +and choose what they would see, and what they would not see, we should +have no guarantee that they would have gone through the course." + +"Would that matter," I asked, "so long as they were amused?" + +"May I repeat that the Meccanian drama is something more than +amusement," he replied testily. "You will learn more of this subject +from Dr. Dodderer. We need not pursue it further." + +"Then may I ask whether attendance at concerts is compulsory also?" + +"It is not compulsory, but it is strictly regulated as regards the +different grades of music," he answered. + +"I should like to know how you regulate attendance at concerts," I +said; "I have never heard of it elsewhere." + +"I dare say not," said Prigge. "Other countries are still in a very +backward state as regards musical culture. In the first place, all +persons below eighteen have to pass an examination in some branch +of practical or theoretical music, unless they are defective in the +musical sense. Then, before any adult is admitted to the first, second +or third grades of concerts, he has to pass an examination in musical +appreciation. That is to say, only those are admitted to concerts +of the first class who hold a first-class certificate in musical +appreciation, and so on with the other grades. Otherwise we should have +people whose musical knowledge is very moderate listening to the best +music by the best performers. By means of our system we can provide +exactly the right standard of music at all public concerts. At the +beginning of each season the programmes of all the concerts of the +first three grades are issued. Each person enters his name for a course +of concerts according to the grade of musical culture attained by him. +He is informed how many concerts he may attend in the season; he then +chooses which concerts he will attend, and after that there is no +difficulty." + +"No," said I, "I should think there would be no difficulty after such +careful preparation. Then the open-air concerts in the beer gardens," I +said; "where do they come in?" + +"Those are not regulated in the same way. We can tell from the Time +Department whether any person is spending too much time at these +performances, and any person who neglects to pass his examination in +musical appreciation before the age of thirty is forbidden to attend +such concerts--if they can be called concerts--more than once a week." + +"And is it possible to carry out such a regulation?" I asked. + +"You have not studied our Time Department to much purpose if you ask +such a question," answered Prigge. + +"I suppose, then," I said, "as I have no certificate I shall not be +permitted to hear any of your best music?" + +"Foreigners who are Doctors of Music of any University," replied +Prigge, "are admitted by special leave of the Ministry of Culture +to attend a specified number of concerts even of the first grade, +and others can attend a few concerts of the third grade, likewise by +special permission of the Ministry of Culture." + +I think it was on the same day that Prigge said to me, "I notice you +are not wearing your spectacles." + +"I have never worn spectacles," I said. + +"But you were ordered to wear spectacles by Dr. Pincher." + +"He did prescribe them," I said, "but I have not troubled to get them, +as I do not really require them." + +Conductor Prigge looked positively aghast. "You must go at once," he +said; "you have the address. You had better pretend that there has been +some delay--but no, your diary will show that you have not been to the +optician. You will certainly be fined in accordance with Regulation 127 +of the Instructions to Foreign Observers." + +I went accordingly, and in a few days I had the spectacles. I suppose +this incident caused me to notice that nearly all Meccanians wear +spectacles or eyeglasses. Some wear two pairs at once, and I have seen +even three pairs worn. I felt thankful nothing wrong with my teeth had +been discovered. + +A day or two later I was taken by Prigge to see Dr. Dodderer. What I +learnt from him was even more remarkable than what my conductor had +told me, so I will not apologise for giving a fairly full account of +my interview. + +We were due at ten o'clock, and a whole hour had been reserved for me. +As we entered his room he noted the exact time on his tablet and said, +"The object of your visit is to learn something of the Meccanian drama, +as part of the system of culture, and the relation of amusement to our +system of culture. Very good; if you will be seated I will do my best +to enlighten you." + +He was a dried-up little man, with bright black eyes and a narrow but +lofty forehead. I thanked him and prepared to listen. I knew he would +think me disrespectful if I did not make use of my notebook, so I +prepared to make copious notes. + +When he saw I was ready, he sat with his eyes shut and his hands +clasped together in front of him, and proceeded to pour forth a long +discourse. He began by saying that all the higher animals showed some +disposition towards play; and that, in particular, the human animal +was pre-eminently distinguished in this respect. Some anthropologists +had argued that the persistence of the play-instinct was a proof +of the essential usefulness of play, in developing both muscular +and intellectual power. He himself did not adopt this view, or, at +any rate, only in a modified form. He held that play was one of the +most wasteful methods of nature, and that if the competition between +the various races and subdivisions of the human species had been +perfect, the race that could reduce play to an absolute minimum, +confined perhaps to the first three years of life, would--_ceteris +paribus_--succeed in winning the foremost place. Play was certainly +the least profitable form of mental activity, and one of the problems +of education was the gradual elimination of play from the scheme of +national culture. It was unfortunately true that even the best system +of education had to make concessions to this instinct of play, and it +would take many generations before it could be reduced to a minimum. +But the experiments of the Meccanian psychologists had demonstrated +that the amount necessary, both in the case of children and in the case +of adults, had been grossly exaggerated in the past, and was still +grossly exaggerated by other nations. These experiments would have +been impossible without the assistance of the Time Department, and the +absence of a Time Department in other countries probably accounted for +the little progress they had made in this direction. + +"For example," he continued, "other nations have almost entirely +neglected the value of cultural toys. They have been content, even +where they have given any thought at all to the subject, to devise toys +which gave a little more opportunity for ingenuity, but their object +has been mainly to amuse; they have had no clear conception of the +ultimate purpose of toys in a complete cultural scheme. Now we have a +carefully thought-out scheme, and although it does not come under my +department, but under Section A1, it affords a good illustration of the +basis of our system. All our toys are classified in fifteen stages. We +began with only five stages, but the number has gradually increased, +for the system necessarily becomes more complex as it becomes more +perfect. Stage I. is represented by simple objects which a baby can +grasp and recognise before the age of eighteen months. Stage II. is +represented by balls and cubes and objects of that order. Stage III. +by dolls and images. Stage IV. by objects which can be grouped so +as to afford a basis for the teaching of number. Stage V. by simple +mechanical toys and simple tools. Stage VI. by constructive blocks of +various kinds...." + +Here, I am afraid, I became confused, but I remember that Stage XIII. +was represented by toys which formed an introduction to chemistry, +and that the toys of Stage XIV. could only be worked by boys whose +mathematical knowledge was far in advance of what I should have thought +possible. He explained that visits were paid by the domestic Inspectors +of Child-Life to see that the parents made proper use of the system +of cultural toys. There had been great difficulty at first, but the +parents were now properly instructed; and in a short time there would +be no need to instruct them, as they would have grown up in familiarity +with the system. + +"Other experiments equally valuable have been conducted in order to +discover what forms of amusement are most profitable from the cultural +point of view; these include experiments designed to improve production. + +"For example, in our schools for the children of the Seventh Class, +we find we have to allow a considerable time for non-intellectual +pursuits. It would be sheer waste to allow all this time to be given +to mere amusement. Children who cannot give more than three hours a +day to study, can be very usefully employed in making simple articles. +We have a number of simple machines which can be worked by quite small +children. You would be surprised to learn, perhaps, that goods worth +a million are exported annually which are all the product of the +semi-recreative work of these children. On the other hand, any boys +of the _Second_ Class who cannot profitably be kept at intellectual +pursuits for more than a few hours a day, are trained to be active and +bold and self-reliant in preparation for their military career. + +"The same principle applies not only to children at school but to +people of all ages. For example, we discovered, through our Time +Department again, that thousands of men were wasting precious hours +upon games such as chess. We have introduced mathematical exercises +of an interesting kind as a substitute, with most beneficial results. +Others were addicted to aimless walks and rambles in the country. +We began by offering prizes for botanical, entomological and other +specimens, and for essays upon scientific subjects. We have, in fact, +almost eliminated aimless amusement from the life of our common +people. In the Fifth Class, which is a highly intelligent class, +we encourage the pursuit of science by promoting those who pass +certain examinations, which include a thesis, to the first grade of +their class, and in a few cases we are able to promote exceptionally +promising young men to the Fourth Class." + +"In what way does this bear upon the drama?" I said in a pause in Dr. +Dodderer's discourse. + +"I have been trying to show you the basis of our system of public +amusement. With us, amusement is never an end in itself. We find a +certain crude kind of interest in the drama, or shall I say in the +theatre, in almost all peoples, and some of the greatest poets have +utilised that interest in order to reach the minds of their hearers. +The greatest poets are those who have conceded least to the mere +instinct for amusement. We have followed the same principle. But we +could not carry out this scheme of dramatic culture without first +getting control over the theatre. Prince Mechow, with his usual +insight, saw that it was useless to control and direct the Press, if +he did not at the same time control and direct the Theatre. First of +all he made the censorship a reality. Then he took all the most popular +playwrights into the State service. Then he was able to weed out those +who were incapable of entering into his purpose. Gradually all the +theatres became cultural institutions of the State. All this took time, +of course. Even now there are a few popular theatres where only the +lower kinds of dramatic varieties are performed. Attendance at these is +not compulsory." + +"I do not yet understand," I said, "why it should be necessary to make +attendance compulsory when the drama is so popular." + +"For the majority of the people," replied Dr. Dodderer, "compulsion is +quite unnecessary; but it is just those who are most in need of the +culture that can be given through the medium of the drama who would be +lax in their attendance. The whole subject has been investigated," he +continued, "by the aid of the Time Department, and we are satisfied +that we get the best results through our present system." + +"Since your playwrights became Civil servants has there been no decline +in the quality of your dramatic productions?" I asked. + +"On the contrary," replied Dr. Dodderer. "Our modern plays are on a +much higher level. There are several reasons for this. In the first +place, in the old days the uninstructed public were hardly fit judges +of dramatic or literary excellence. They often preferred plays of +little cultural value. Consequently, the men who could write really +good plays often found it impossible to get them produced. Our Board +of Dramatic Criticism is now able to decide the merits of all plays, +and the dramatists are quite independent of the caprice of the public. +Also, we can carry specialisation to a point undreamt of in former +times." + +"Specialisation?" I said; "that is quite a new idea to me." + +"Naturally, there are writers who have plenty of ingenuity in +devising plots, but who are lacking in literary style; others who +write excellent Meccanian, both prose and verse, but who are weak +in the dramatic instinct. It is, in fact, very seldom that a modern +Meccanian drama is the sole work of any single author. Moreover, the +drama as developed by us lends itself particularly to specialisation. +For example, most of our classical plays are presented in four +phases. The simplest phase comes first. The subject is presented in +chronological-dramatic form, somewhat resembling the dramas of other +days and other countries. Next comes the analytical phase, and after +that the synthetic. The last phase or act is a complete philosophical +symposium in which the whole subject is presented in its highest and +most abstract form." + +"When you speak of the subject of a play, what do you mean exactly?" I +asked. + +"The old plays had often no real subject; they had titles, it is +true, but these titles were mere names of persons, or mere names +of places or incidents. What, for instance, can you make of a title +such as _Julius Cæsar_? or _The Emperor of the East_? or _Catherine_? +or _The Tyrant of Genoa_? or _The Crime of Boniface_? If you are +acquainted with the development of the drama, you will know that +about ninety years ago a great advance was made by means of what +was then called 'The Problem Play.' Some of these plays had a real +subject. We have gone much further, of course. Take the subjects of +some of our best-known plays: _Efficiency_, _Inefficiency_, _National +Self-Consciousness_. These are all by our Chief Dramatic-Composer +Grubber. His latest play, _Uric Acid_, is in my opinion even better +than these." + +"_Uric Acid_!" I exclaimed; "what an extraordinary subject!" + +"It is one of a series of medical plays," explained Dr. Dodderer, +quite undisturbed. "The subject lends itself splendidly to the +methods of Meccanian Art. The part played by uric acid in the life +of the individual, the family, the State, treated physiologically, +pathologically, sociologically, ethically and philosophically, is +almost infinite in its possibilities, and Grubber has made the most of +them." + +"And do the public enjoy these medical plays?" + +"You appear to be obsessed, if I may say so," replied Dr. Dodderer, +"with the idea of enjoyment. You must bear in mind our standpoint, +which I have already explained. But certainly the public take great +interest in the medical plays. Sub-Dramatist Smellie wrote a series, +_Phthisis_, _Nephritis_ and _Meningitis_, which are almost equal to +Grubber's _Uric Acid_, but he fails a little in the higher aspects +of the subject, and consequently his fourth acts fall short of the +highest philosophical perfection. I remember reading the proofs of +his first play, _Gall Stones_. It was excellent until he came to the +philosophical phase. It reminded me of an older play produced in the +transition period, some fifty years ago, called _The Blind and the +Deaf_. It had a considerable vogue for several years, but you see from +its title that the conception was not fully developed." + +"These medical plays," I said, "are not the most typical productions of +the dramatic genius of modern Meccania, I suppose?" + +"In some ways they are," replied Dr. Dodderer. "That is to say, they +are almost peculiar to our country. But one of our younger playwrights +has developed the subject of economics in a way almost equally unique. +His _Significance of Food_, and his _Insurance_, and _Distribution_, +are a mere introduction to his masterpiece, _Value_. A very slight +work on _Inaccuracy_, which was almost a farce, first attracted +the attention of the Board of Criticism. They refused to produce +_Inaccuracy_ in its original form, and he embodied it in a more mature +work, _Production_, which was the first of his genuine economic plays." + +"I suppose, then, you have historical or at least political plays?" + +"Historical plays are mostly performed in the juvenile theatres," he +said. "I have very little to do with them. They fall under Section +A, and, as you know, I am the Sub-Controller of Section B," replied +Dodderer. "But," he continued, "we have a certain number of more +advanced historical plays for adults. For instance, _The Evolution of +Society_, with its sequel, _The Triumph of Meccania_, are excellent +historical plays. Political plays have become almost obsolete, but +there are still a few produced occasionally. _The Principle of +Monarchy_ is still quite a classic in its way, and _The Futility of +Democracy_ is one of the most brilliant pieces of Meccanian satire. +_Obedience_ is another classic." + +"It seems to me a very remarkable fact that your Sixth and Seventh +Classes should be able to appreciate such plays as those you have been +describing," I said, "especially in parts of the country which cannot +be so far advanced as the capital." + +"I do not say that they appreciate the drama in the same degree as the +more educated classes; but you must remember they have gone through +a long course of training. You perhaps now appreciate our wisdom in +making attendance compulsory. Without regularity in attendance we could +not arrange for a proper sequence of plays. Also, I must admit that on +the days when the Sixth and Seventh Classes are due to attend, we put +on the less advanced plays as a rule." + +"What happens," I asked, "to the old plays which were written, say, a +hundred years ago; are they never performed?" + +"Oh dear, yes," replied Dr. Dodderer; "the performance of such plays +forms a regular part of the literature course at all our Universities +and Colleges. We also utilise quite a number of them in the courses of +plays for the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Classes; but the form in which +they are written is so simple and childish, such a contrast to the ripe +perfection of the fully developed Meccanian drama." + +"It must be a difficult matter," I remarked, "to arrange for +progressive courses of plays for so many people as you have in Mecco." + +"On the contrary, the larger the city the easier it is. Members of the +Third Class and, of course, of higher classes, are considered capable +of appreciating all kinds of plays. Class Four consists of four grades, +and the two higher grades, all the members of which are over thirty, +are likewise eligible to attend any plays. We have a very simple plan +of classifying all the others. At the age of eighteen they are all at +liberty to attend plays which are classed as Stage I.; then after six +months any one is at liberty to apply for a certificate entitling him +to attend plays in Stage II. After another year they can obtain a +certificate for Stage III.; and so on. We seldom refuse an application, +and in fact we rather encourage our people to advance, otherwise many +people would be content to remain in Stage II., or Stage III., all +their lives. Then, at the beginning of each season, we know how many +to provide for in each class, and at each stage; and the greater the +number of theatres the easier it is to arrange the plays accordingly." + +"What about the actors?" I asked. "In most countries the leading +actors are very much sought after, and can make large fortunes. I +should imagine your system does not allow of that kind of career for a +successful actor." + +"All our actors," replied Dr. Dodderer, "are trained in the Imperial +Meccanian Dramatic College. The lower grades belong to the Fifth Class, +the higher grades to the Fourth. The technique of acting has been +brought to such perfection that the 'star' as he used to be called, +has entirely disappeared. There is no room for him in our system. The +'star' was a mere product of popular enthusiasm." + +"How do you judge, then, of the popularity of any particular actor?" + +"We take no account of it at all," replied Dr. Dodderer. "Our expert +Board of Dramatic Criticism determines the standing of each actor. +We have, of course, expert psychologists, who are able to test the +particular psychological effect both of each phase of the play and of +the impression made by individual actors. Their experiments are of +great value both to our dramatic managers and to the writers of plays." + +At this point Dr. Dodderer announced that the hour he had reserved for +me was at an end. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MORE CULTURE IN MECCO + + +I returned to Conductor Prigge and my daily grind. But as most of +this first period was spent in visiting systematically a number of +institutions similar to those I had seen in Bridgetown, but on a larger +scale, it is hardly necessary to describe them here. For instance, +the arrangements for receiving and distributing food are on the same +principle: the markets are managed in the same way. The general system +of shopping is the same, except that, as the city is much larger, there +is very much more 'shopping by post.' As the shops are not permitted +to display anything in shop windows, nor to advertise except in the +trade gazettes and catalogues, there is not much incentive to spend +time in desultory shopping. The great Stores are more like warehouses +than shops. I had gathered from my conversations with Sheep that the +State seemed to place obstacles in the way of personal expenditure, and +yet at the same time production was encouraged. Sheep's explanations +had not seemed to me entirely satisfactory, so I decided to question +Prigge on this interesting point. As his services were charged for at +double the rate of Sheep's, I thought I ought to get more complete +information from him. So one day I said to him, "How is it that in +Meccania, as far as I can judge, you have brought production to such +a pitch of perfection--I mean as regards the enormous quantities +manufactured--whilst at the same time you seem to restrict expenditure +or consumption in so many ways?" + +Prigge tilted back his head and put on his professorial air. + +"Such a question would be better dealt with when you come to make a +definite study of our National Economy, but as it is really quite an +elementary question--a commonplace of all our textbooks--I do not +mind explaining it briefly now. Your first error is in supposing that +the State encourages production indiscriminately. We produce what we +require and no more, but we are able to measure our requirements better +than other nations. In other countries people are allowed to buy a lot +of things they do not require; this causes unnecessary production, of +course. Unregulated consumption gives rise to unregulated production." + +I still felt puzzled as to what became of the wealth produced by the +wonderfully efficient system of wholesale production, for, as far as I +could tell, the people seemed less luxurious in their habits than those +of countries far less advanced in machine production. But I felt I +should be getting on dangerous ground, and forbore. + +The commercial quarter, in which we spent a whole day, was remarkably +small for so large a city, especially considering that the city is not +commercially self-contained. But I learnt that Mecco is not really +the commercial centre of Meccania. The merchants are little more than +the agents for the distribution of goods. The quantities are largely +fixed by the Department of Industry and Commerce, consequently there +is not much room for enterprise, except in effecting economies in +distribution, in bargaining with the Government as to the kinds of +goods to be produced, and in discussing with manufacturers matters +of detail as to patterns and styles. For example, the Schools of Art +produce every year designs for cloth for women's dress. The merchants +select from these the patterns to be manufactured. There is little +excitement in a merchant's career. Most of the clerks seem to be +occupied in the preparation and revision of catalogues, which are the +substitute for advertisements. No new article can be produced until +it has been approved by the Improvements Section of the Department of +Industry and Commerce. + +All this side of the life of Mecco was very tame and stereotyped. +Prigge discoursed at length on the merits of the Post Office and all +its works, but the only remarkable thing I noticed about it, besides +the censorship of letters, and the enormous number of people employed, +was the ingenious arrangement whereby a conversation carried on in any +part of Meccania could be overheard at the Central Office. + +The absence of life and bustle in the streets was as striking as in +Bridgetown. Most of the people in the Government offices belonged to +the Fourth Class, and as these all lived in the two quarters running +north and south of the central ring, they could reach their offices +in a very short time. The midday meal was taken in a canteen within +the office. The few inferior employees, messengers, porters, cleaners, +etc., who belonged to the Fifth or Sixth Class, lived almost as near. +The higher Civil servants of the Third Class, who of course were less +numerous, did not make a crowd in the street. The green uniforms +of the Fourth Class were the most conspicuous object everywhere. +The industrial classes, living as they do on the side nearest the +industrial town, are transported by an ingenious system of trams and +underground and overhead railways, so that in half an hour they can +all get from their homes to their work, where they remain all day. All +goods arriving from the industrial town for distribution to the Stores +are carried by a regular service of motor-vans. The distribution of +goods to houses is so systematised as to require comparatively few +vehicles. For instance, certain kinds of goods can be delivered only +once a month for each household, others only once a week. Consequently +one sees a perfectly regular stream of traffic, which is never very +dense and never congested. All this might have been very interesting +to a student of municipal socialism and mechanical organisation, but +my chief interests lay in other directions, and it was not until we +came to the cultural institutions that I found things so remarkable, +at any rate from my own point of view, that I shall make no apology +for describing them with some fullness here, even at the risk of being +tedious to those who think more of locomotion than of liberty, or who +regard the Post Office as the highest symbol of civilisation. + +I had looked forward with some curiosity to my first visit to a +Meccanian Art Gallery, for, as I had not been into any private houses, +and as there are no shop windows, I had seen hardly any signs of +Meccanian Art Culture, except in Architecture. The decorative work in +the public buildings did not impress me favourably. It was Patriotic +Art, executed by the students of the Imperial Meccanian Academy. + +Prigge announced that, as he had been promoted to a higher grade in the +Police Service, he would no longer be available to conduct me. By way +of consoling me for the deprivation he said that in any case I should +have to be handed over to various specialist conductors, as I had +almost completed the general part of my tour and had reached the stage +when I should have to begin the study of definite branches of Meccanian +culture. He had consequently arranged for me to spend the first three +days in the Great Meccanian Gallery under the guidance of Specialist +Art Section Sub-Conductor Musch. + +Sub-Conductor Musch met me at the appointed time at the hotel. He +was a very different type from Prigge. He was much less of the +drill-sergeant; in fact he looked rather 'decadent,' if a Meccanian +can be decadent. He spoke in a soft voice, which was quite a contrast +to the leathery voices of most officials I had encountered previously. +He began by saying that before we actually began our inspection of the +pictures there were certain preliminaries. + +The Great Meccanian Gallery, he said, was the temple of all that was +sacred in the æsthetic world. I must be properly prepared for it, +so that I could concentrate my attention upon what I saw and not be +distracted by having to ask questions about extraneous matters. If I +would pay careful attention he would describe the general arrangements. + +"The Great Meccanian Gallery," he said, "is one of the four galleries +in Mecco; the other three are subsidiary. The first gallery is devoted +to the old historical collections that existed before the time of +Prince Mechow, and contains only foreign pictures. The second gallery +contains Meccanian pictures of a date previous to the foundation of the +Great Meccanian Gallery by Prince Mechow. The fourth gallery contains +foreign pictures contemporary with those in the Great Meccanian +Gallery. And now we come to the Great Meccanian Gallery itself. + +"Every picture in that gallery is an expression of the Meccanian +spirit; otherwise it is not admitted. Its technique must also satisfy +the Board of Art of the Department of Culture. Consequently, as +soon as you enter you are in the atmosphere of pure Meccanian Art. +Previous to the creation of this gallery, the influence of Art was +rather de-nationalising. The æsthetic sense was cultivated in total +ignorance of the possibility of marrying it to the Meccanian spirit. +The Meccanian spirit is the active, creative male; the æsthetic sense +is receptive, conceptive, essentially female. Of the two, Meccanian Art +is born." + +He went on in this style for several minutes until I thought I had +better get something more definite from him for my 'guidance.' So I +said, "How does one tell whether a picture is an expression of the +Meccanian spirit?" + +"To the true Meccanian, all things truly Meccanian are sacred, and +by the inward cultivation of the sense of reverence for what is most +characteristically Meccanian he arrives at a certainty which is +incommunicable to others." + +"But suppose opinion is divided. Suppose, for example, one man says, +here is a picture which is full of the Meccanian spirit, and another +man says the contrary." + +Musch smiled in a sad, superior way, by which I saw that after all, in +spite of his 'decadence,' he was a true Meccanian. "You are evidently +not well acquainted with either Meccanian history or philosophy," +he said. "Even our early philosophers taught that the Meccanian +spirit must embody itself in institutions or it would evaporate. The +Imperial Meccanian Academy is the visible embodiment of the highest +manifestation of the Meccanian æsthetic spirit. All Meccanian artists +are trained under the influence of the Academy. Its judgment, as +expressed by the Central Board, is infallible. None of its decisions +has ever been reversed. I do not think you realise how completely the +influence of the Academy has moulded the Meccanian appreciation of Art +during the last generation," he went on in his slow, soft speech. "You +have heard something from my friend Dr. Dodderer of the care taken by +our all-beneficent Super-State in the cultivation of the appreciation +of the Drama, and you have probably heard something too of our musical +culture. Other forms of Art are equally sacred, since they are all +Meccanian. Every person in the Fourth and higher classes goes through a +course of art appreciation, which extends over several years. No person +is admitted beyond the fifth stage of the Great Meccanian Gallery +unless he has passed the advanced test. Attendance at the gallery +is compulsory, once a fortnight, for all persons of the Fourth and +Third Classes between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five. The Fifth +Class are not admitted to rooms beyond Stage III., except by special +permission on four days in the year. For them we have a few local +galleries, as we have for the Sixth Class also, containing pictures +which are soundly Meccanian in spirit but which do not come up to the +standard of the Great Gallery." + +Presently we proceeded to the gallery containing the old historical +collection. Musch said that we should see what we wanted of this +in an hour, in fact it was rather a formality to visit it, but the +Regulations for Foreign Observers made it necessary that I should see +this first. It turned out to be really a fine collection, such as I had +seen in many others parts of Europe; but I almost gasped at the strange +freak which had inspired the curators in arranging the pictures. They +were arranged strictly according to subject. All the "Nativities" were +together in one room, all the "Madonnas" together in another, all the +"Adam and Eves" together, all the "Deluges," all the "Susannas," all +the "Prodigal Sons," all the "Venuses," all the "Bacchuses"; whatever +the subject, every picture relating to that subject was placed together +as if the gallery were a collection of butterflies. + +Musch took no interest in this collection. It was all dead, he said, +obsolete, pre-Meccanian, untouched by the spirit. When we came to the +second gallery containing the older Meccanian pictures he showed more +interest. Some painted three centuries ago I thought very fine, but +Musch said they were lacking in self-consciousness. The Meccanian +spirit was overlaid by false foreign culture. Only when we came to +some weird and powerful but almost revolting pictures, dating from the +beginning of the century, did he grow enthusiastic. These, he said, +were the genuine precursors and pioneers of Meccanian Art. + +It was afternoon when we entered the first section or stage of the +Great Meccanian Gallery. This was the first stage for young persons, +and was divided into a section containing 'elementary-general' +pictures, and another containing historical pictures. The general +pictures were mostly scenes of places of interest in various parts of +Meccania, or national customs and public ceremonies. The technique +was distinctly good. The historical pictures mostly represented wars +against foreign enemies. I noticed that the Meccanians were represented +as heroes, and their enemies as brutalised hordes of semi-lunatics. +Others represented Meccanians discovering all the arts of peace and +war. I spent a dreary day and more, working painfully through Stages +I., II. and III., up to XIX., until, on the third day, we came to the +most advanced specimens. These reminded me of Dr. Dodderer's account of +the Meccanian drama. There was a number of allegorical subjects--"The +Birth of the Meccanian Spirit," "The Victory of Time over Space," "The +Festival of Chemistry," "The Nuptials of Science and Force," "The +Conquests of Culture." Others were more mystical--"War the Servant of +Culture," "The Deity instructing Monarchy," "The Eternal Principle of +Meccanian Monarchy," "The Wisdom of the Super-State," "The Unity of the +Seven Classes." + +Some of these were immense canvases forty feet long, full of life-size +figures drawn with microscopic exactness. The artists had certainly +managed to catch and even accentuate the Meccanian features of every +face. I felt the Meccanian atmosphere, but I still could not understand +why such careful cultivation should have been required to produce this +extraordinary collection. I would gladly have given the whole gallery +for a few masterpieces from the old collection. + +I could not imagine that any effect produced on the mind even of +patriotic Meccanians could be worth all the trouble spent upon either +the creation of the gallery itself or the organisation of artistic +culture that centred round it. I was therefore curious to see what sort +of effect the sight of the pictures had upon other visitors. In one +of the lower rooms I had seen some groups of schoolgirls accompanied +by a teacher. They all had their notebooks, and were taking down +notes in shorthand. Musch explained enthusiastically that these girls +would spend a whole afternoon on half a dozen pictures, and that by +the time they were twenty years of age they would have studied every +picture up to Stage XIX. in the gallery. What I overheard from the +teacher's lecture was something like this: "Now let us analyse the +colour scheme. By the aid of the colour divider you perceive at once +the proportions in which the colours are distributed. Now notice that +red, which occupies only 7 per cent of the canvas, is more conspicuous +than green, which occupies more than 25 per cent." I did not catch +the next passage, but presently I heard: "All the pictures by the +same artist have the same distribution of colour. Consequently it +would be possible to determine by an analysis of the colour scheme the +authenticity of any picture by this artist. Next notice the method of +the brush strokes. Under the microscope" (here the microscope came into +play) "you will see the characteristic quality of the brush stroke. +It has been already ascertained that in this picture there are 5232 +down-strokes of an average length of 3 millimetres, 1079 strokes from +right to left of an average length of 1½ millimetre, only 490 from left +to right, and 72 upward strokes. The same proportion of strokes has +been discovered in several other pictures by the same artist, according +to the size of the picture. This picture was painted in exactly 125 +hours. The quantity of paint used must have been almost exactly +three-quarters of a litre, so you can make a calculation to ascertain +the number of brush strokes to the litre." + +In another gallery I noticed some superior young men of the Fourth +Class in their green uniforms, discussing the merits of a popular +artist. One of them was saying, "And I maintain that his morality +is pre-Meccanian; he lacks super-masculinity." In another room a +few stolid citizens of middle age were slowly making a pilgrimage. +I wondered why they did not move faster and get it over, until I +discovered there was a rule that, at each visit, non-students were +not allowed to spend less than half an hour in one room, or more than +three-quarters of an hour. This regulation did not apply to me so long +as I was under the charge of Musch, who had access to the whole gallery. + +I found Musch a less desirable acquaintance than Prigge. I suspected +him of being addicted to drugs, and wondered how far his enthusiasm +for the Meccanian spirit was an official pose; for, after completing +my visit to the Great Gallery, I was asking him whether all artists +were employed by the State, and whether there were not other types of +pictures produced, besides those represented in the Great Gallery, when +he began to tell me of another phase of art. + +"All artists," he said, "who in the seventh year of their training are +accepted by the Academy are employed permanently by the State; the +others are found other employment according to their capacity, but are +not permitted to produce pictures." + +"I suppose," I said, "the artists who are taken into the service of the +State are controlled in some way. What happens, for instance, if they +turn out to be idlers?" + +"They are certainly controlled. The Board selects the subjects for the +year, for each artist, according to his capacity. Of course he may +suggest subjects too, but until they are approved he is not allowed +to proceed. He must also submit a plan or sketch of his proposed +treatment." + +"And is a painter not allowed even in his own leisure to paint subjects +of his own choice?" + +"Ah, there you touch upon an interesting subject," replied Musch, with +something like a leer. "The Board are naturally desirous of preserving +the Meccanian spirit in all its purity, but the effort to rise to the +sublime heights of emotion which that demands, produces a reaction, and +many of our artists find an outlet for this, so that beside the pure +stream of Meccanian Art there flows, as it were, another stream." + +"In other words," I suggested, "they carry on an illicit production +of works of a lower ethical quality, which can only be disposed of by +being sold to the rich." + +"Your intuition is remarkable," he replied. + +"Not in the least," I said. "One only requires a little knowledge of +human nature to see what must happen. But how does this practice escape +the attention of the Super-State?" I said. + +"There are many patrons of Art among the higher official class," +replied Musch significantly. + +This was the first time I had learnt from any person that the State had +any chinks in its armour. + +"Perhaps you can tell me," I said, "something which has puzzled me ever +since I came here, and that is--Why your Super-State occupies itself +so meticulously with such things as Music, and the Drama, and Art. +Such interests seem rather foreign to the main purpose for which, as I +understand it, the great statesmen who have made Meccania what it is, +designed it." + +"I have often wondered the same thing myself," replied Musch. "I can +only say that if all this side of life were left unregulated, the life +of the State would be incomplete. Sooner or later the consciousness of +the State must embrace all things." + +I said no more, and this was the last I saw of poor Musch, for next day +he was ill, and I was taken by another Sub-Conductor, whose name was +Grovel, to see the Mechow Memorial Museum. Almost everything in Mecco +is a sort of memorial or reminder of Prince Mechow. Mechow Street, +Mechow Square, the Mechow Monument, Mechow Park, the Mechow Palace, +Mechow Hotels meet one at every turn. There are even Mechow whiskers, +of a pattern seldom seen outside Meccania, but immensely popular among +middle-aged officials of the Third and Fourth Classes. Curiously +enough, I learnt that the higher officials rather resent the wearing of +this style of whisker by subordinate officials, but as it is a sort of +symbol of loyalty it is not considered proper to repress it. + +The Museum is near the square and is the largest biographical museum in +existence. It contains a model of the house Prince Mechow was born in, +with all his clothes and toys, all the schoolbooks he used, and models +of all the rooms he lived in, including his bedrooms. One room contains +all the letters he wrote, all the letters written to him, all the +minutes he wrote as a Civil servant, the very pens he used, the office +furniture, etc. etc. The library contains not only the books he read, +and the few he wrote, but an enormous number of books and pamphlets +written about him personally and about all his work. + +Besides his printed speeches, which run into many volumes, there are +phonographic records of them, which are 'performed' daily in a special +hall, to youths and girls from the High Schools. + +One large room contains models of all the towns in Meccania, as they +were before his reforms and as they are now. Another room is devoted +to the great Monument. It contains the original plans and models, as +well as a model of all the copies erected in various towns. Adjoining +this room is a large collection of photographs of Prince Mechow, +casts of his face and waxwork models of him as he appeared on several +great historical occasions. One case in the library struck me as very +characteristic. It was a series of volumes in folio, sumptuously +bound. The first was entitled _Prince Mechow as Statesman_; and there +were at least thirty others with such titles as Prince Mechow as +Subject, Prince Mechow as Conservative, Prince Mechow as Reformer, +Prince Mechow as Student, Prince Mechow as Author, Prince Mechow as +Orator, Prince Mechow as Philosopher, Prince Mechow as Husband and +Father, Prince Mechow as Agriculturist, Prince Mechow's Taste in Art, +Prince Mechow's Taste in Music, Prince Mechow's Taste in Literature, +Prince Mechow's Taste in Nature, Prince Mechow's Loyalty, Prince +Mechow's Generosity, Prince Mechow's Pets, Prince Mechow's Religion. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A MECCANIAN APOSTLE + + +It was a week or two after my visit to the Mechow Museum that I made +the acquaintance of one of the Foreign Observers who was staying at +the hotel. A day or two before, I had been sent for by the Hotel +Manager, and had been presented with a small certificate authorising +me to take my meals in the common dining-room, and to converse with +other foreigners whose names I was instructed to enter in my diary. I +had previously noticed a certain gentleman from Luniland whose face +seemed familiar to me. On this particular evening he came across to my +table and introduced himself as Mr. Johnson, a friend of Mr. Yorke, in +whose house I had stayed and where he had met me. We soon fell into +conversation, and when dinner was over we retired for a long chat to a +corner of the smoke-room. It appeared that he had been in Mecco over +a year, and had travelled also in various parts of the country. In +fact, this was his second visit, he said, his first having been made +a few years before. He was a man of about forty-five, tall and slim, +with a rather large bony nose and a grave but kindly expression. His +manner was quiet and dignified, and at first he spoke with a certain +obvious restraint; but afterwards he became more genial and was rather +humorous, after the manner of many of his countrymen. + +"I should rather like to ask what you think of this country, but it +would hardly be fair, because the chances are that every word we say +here is overheard. I always suspect they have one of those beastly +contrivances fixed in the walls, to enable the manager or somebody +representing the Authorities to listen to everything that goes on. I +don't much mind if they turn me out of their precious country, but I +wouldn't like to get you into trouble. Anyhow, I believe if we were to +begin talking in my language, which I remember you speak very well, we +should presently have somebody round reminding us that it is against +the rules." + +"Yet you have spent quite a long time in the country apparently," I +remarked. "I have really been wondering whether to stay here much +longer, and perhaps you could give me some tips if I decide to stay." + +"Well," he replied, "it's just a matter of taste whether you like the +country. I shouldn't be able to stand it but for one thing." + +"And what is that?" I asked. + +"It enables me to thank God every hour that I am not a Meccanian." + +"Yes," I said, "there's something in that. I myself object to some of +the inconveniences that these numerous regulations about everything +entail, but they are nothing, I suppose, compared with what it would +feel like if one expected to spend one's life here." + +"It's just possible they really like it. But what sort of 'tips' were +you thinking of? Perhaps I know the ropes a little better than you, if +you have been here only a month or two." + +"Well, there are two things I would like to know," I replied. "I am +rather tired of being 'conducted' about everywhere. That's the first. +And I want to get to know individual people as I did in Luniland. Here, +so far, I have met only officials, always on duty. It seems impossible +to get into contact with real live people. Until lately, as you know, +I was forbidden to talk to the people staying in the hotel; but now +that I have got over that difficulty, although, no doubt, I can pick up +a certain amount of information from my fellow Foreign Observers and +enjoy their conversation, I am no nearer getting to know the Meccanian +private citizens themselves." + +"And do you particularly want to know them?" asked Mr. Johnson. + +"One naturally wants to know what the people of any country are like, +and unless one has some fairly intimate intercourse of a social kind +with people of different ranks and types, one might almost as well +stay at home and read the matter up in books," I replied. + +"I see. You are a genuine Foreign Observer. Well, to tell the truth, +so am I," he said more confidentially. "I am not here because I +like it. I detest the whole lot of them. I came here for the first +time five or six years ago. I had heard a lot about the country and +its wonderful organisation. Organisation! Blessed word! I had also +heard some rather tall stories, and thought the accounts had been +exaggerated. I came with an open mind. I rather prided myself on being +an impartial observer. I was prepared to allow a lot for the natural +differences of taste between one nation and another. At first I was +so keenly interested that I didn't mind the little restrictions, but +when the novelty had worn off, and I began to realise what it all +meant, I determined to make a more thorough study of the country than +I had at first thought would be worth while. So I am here now studying +Meccanian education. Now the only way, so far as I know, of getting rid +of your everlasting 'conductors' is to get permission to study some +special subject. I went through just the same experience. I was what +they call merely a 'general' observer. The Authorities don't exactly +like the 'general' observer. They can't find it in their hearts to +let him alone. As they regulate their own people they must keep as +close a watch on the foreigner. As he doesn't fit into their system, +they have to invent a system for him. It is troublesome to them, and +not very pleasant for the foreigner; but Meccanian principles make it +necessary. However, if you can satisfy them that you are a _bona fide_ +student of some special subject--it doesn't matter what it is, you may +choose anything from the parasites in the intestines of a beetle to +the philosophy of the Absolute--they will treat you quite decently, +according to their lights." + +"How do you account for this difference?" I asked. + +"They are immensely flattered by the notion that if you come here to +study anything, it must be because their knowledge is so superior to +what can be found elsewhere. However, if you want to get rid of the +daily worry of a 'conductor,' that is what you must do. But you must be +a specialist of some sort, or they won't admit you to the privilege." + +"But there is no special subject I want to study," I said. "I am just +a 'general' observer, and if I undertake to study a special subject I +shall miss seeing what I most want to see." + +"That is a difficulty. Perhaps you had better go on as you have been +doing, and when you have had enough of that, go in for some political +institutions; they have got you registered as a National Councillor, so +you can pretend to study the working of the Constitution or some such +thing." + +"That's rather a good idea," I said; "but, judging from what I have +seen, I should doubt whether they will let me see what I want to see." + +"Why, what do you want to see?" + +"Just what I cannot get from an inspection of the machinery of the +State--the effect of the laws and customs on the actual life of the +people." + +"Ah, that you will have to get by the aid of your imagination." + +"But," I suggested, "is it not possible to get permission to live in +some family, or with several different families in different classes in +succession?" + +"Oh yes," replied Johnson, "quite possible, if you are prepared to go +through all the necessary formalities; but I doubt whether you will get +much by it. You see, each family is a sort of replica, in miniature, +of the State. They will have to report to the Police once a week upon +all your doings. Every word you say will be listened to. They will be +studying you, just as you will be studying them. I have tried it. There +_is_ no natural intercourse in this country. Try it if you like, but I +am sure you will come to my opinion in the end. + +"Don't forget to enter the time of this conversation in your diary," +Mr. Johnson said as we parted. "If you make a mistake, or if I make a +mistake, we shall have an interview with an inspector from the Time +Department, and the hotel manager will worry us to death about it." + +The next day I resumed my tour of observation with a new 'conductor' +whose name was Lickrod. He was almost affectionate in his greeting when +we met at the Police Office, and we had not been long together before +I recognised that he was a different type from Prigge, or Sheep, or +any of the others I had met. He was to take me to see the Industrial +town, and he was full of enthusiasm for everything we were to see. As +we went along in the tram he explained rather effusively that it was +a great pleasure to him to meet foreigners. He had a mission in life, +just as Meccania had a mission among all the nations. He was a loyal +Meccanian--in fact, he yielded to no man in his loyalty to the State; +but for that very reason he ventured to criticise one defect in the +policy of the Government. I began to wonder what that could be. + +"I have travelled abroad," he said, "and I have seen with my own eyes +the benighted condition of so many millions of my fellow-creatures. I +come home, and I see everywhere around me order, knowledge, prosperity, +cleanliness--no dirt, no poverty, no disorder, no strikes, no +disturbance, no ignorance, no disease that can be prevented--Culture +everywhere. It makes me almost weep to think of the state of the +world outside. We have not done all that we might have done to carry +our Culture abroad. We have kept it too much to ourselves. In my +humble way, as a Conductor of Foreigners, I take every opportunity I +can of spreading a knowledge of our Culture. But instead of a few +score, or at most a few hundred, foreigners every year, we ought to +have thousands here. Then they would become missionaries in their +own countries. I always impress upon them that they must begin with +the reform of education in their countries; and I would advise you, +before you return, to make a thorough study of our system of education. +Without that you cannot hope to succeed." + +"But," I suggested, "if other countries followed your example would +they not become as strong as you? Perhaps your Government looks at it +from that point of view." + +"There are, on this question," he observed sagely, "two opposite +opinions. One is that it is better to keep our Culture to ourselves; +the other is that we ought to teach other nations, so that ultimately +all the earth can become one great and glorious Meccania." + +By this time we had arrived at the entrance to the Industrial town. +Conductor Lickrod broke off to note the time of our arrival, and to +lead me into the office of the Governor or Controller of what, for +convenience, I may call Worktown. Indeed the Industrial quarter is +known by a similar term in Mecco. This Controller is responsible +for the preservation of order; but as there is no difficulty about +discipline in the ordinary sense of the word, his functions are rather +to promote a high standard of Meccanian conduct among the workers +of all ages and grades. In this work he is assisted by scores of +Sub-Controllers of Industrial Training, as they are called. + +The organisation of the Controller's Department was explained before +we proceeded to any of the works. There was a large room filled with +thousands of little dossiers in shelves, and card-index cases to +correspond. The particulars of the character and career of every worker +in the town could be ascertained at a moment's notice. All the workers +were either in the Fifth or Sixth Class, but they were divided into +more than a dozen subgrades, and the card-index showed by the colour +which of the many grades any particular person had attained. + +I asked how the workmen were engaged. + +"The industrial career of a workman," said Lickrod enthusiastically, +"begins, if I may so express myself, with the dawn of his industrial +intelligence. In our schools--and here you perceive one of the +perfections of our educational system--our teachers are trained to +detect the signs of the innate capacity of each child, and to classify +it appropriately. In 79½ per cent of cases, as you will see from the +last report of the Industrial Training Section of the Department of +Industry and Commerce, the careers of boys are determined before the +age of thirteen. The rest is merely a question of training. By a proper +classification we are able to adjust the supply of each different kind +of capacity to the requirements of our industry. We avoid all the +waste and uncertainty which one sees in countries where even the least +competent workmen are allowed to choose their employment. We guarantee +employment to everybody, and on the other hand we preserve the right to +say what the employment shall be." + +"Does that mean," I asked, "that a workman can never change his +employment?" + +"In some of the more backward parts of the country it is sometimes +necessary for workmen to change their employment; but here, in Mecco, +we should think we had managed our business very badly if that were +necessary." + +"But without its being necessary, a man might wish to change. I have +heard of many cases, in Luniland and Transatlantica, of a clever and +enterprising man having risen to eminence, after an experience in half +a dozen different occupations. Here, I understand, that is impossible." + +"Ah," replied Lickrod, "I see you have not grasped the scientific basis +of our system. You say such and such a person rose to eminence, shall +we say as a lawyer, after having been, let us say, a printer or even a +house-painter. If there had been a sufficient supply of good lawyers +it is probable that he would not have succeeded in becoming an eminent +lawyer. Now, _we_ know our requirements as regards lawyers, just as +we know our requirements as to engineers. We have also the means of +judging the capacity of our young people, and we place them in the +sphere in which they can be of most service." + +I thought I could see holes in this theory, but all I said was, "So you +think of the problem from the point of view of the good of the State, +regardless of the wishes of the individual." + +"Certainly of the good of the State; but you mistake the true meaning +of the wishes of the individual. The apparent wish of the individual +may be to follow some other course than that which the State, with its +fuller knowledge and deeper wisdom, directs; but the real inward wish +of all Meccanians is to serve the interests of Meccania. That is the +outcome of our system of education. We must talk about that some other +time, but just now I want you to see that our system produces such +wonderful fruits that it never enters the head of any Meccanian workman +to question its wisdom." + +We entered a gigantic engineering works, full of thousands of machine +tools. Everything appeared as clean and orderly as in the experimental +room of an engineering college. Some of the workmen wore grey-coloured +overalls, showing that they belonged to the Sixth Class, but most of +them wore the chocolate uniform of the men of the Fifth Class. These +were evidently performing highly skilled work. Even the moulding shops +were clean and tidy, and the employment of machinery for doing work +that elsewhere I had been accustomed to see done by hand astonished +me. The workmen looked like soldiers and behaved like automatons. +Conversation went on, but I was informed by Lickrod, again in a tone +of pride, that only conversation relative to the work in hand was +permitted. Here and there I saw a man in a green uniform, applying some +mysterious instrument to one of the workmen. I asked Lickrod what this +meant. + +"That is one of our industrial psychologists, testing the +psycho-physiological effects of certain operations. By this means we +can tell not only when a workman is over-fatigued, but also if he is +under-fatigued. It is all part of our science of production." + +"What happens if a man is under-fatigued persistently?" I asked. + +"He will have to perform fatigue duty after the usual hours, just as he +would in the army," he answered. + +"And do they not object to this?" + +"Who?" + +"The workmen." + +"Why should they? The man who is guilty of under-fatigue knows that +he is justly punished. The others regard the offence as one against +themselves. It is part of our industrial training. But we have indeed +very few cases of under-fatigue in Mecco. You know, perhaps, that all +our citizens are, so to speak, selected. Anyone who does not appreciate +his privileges can be removed to other cities or towns, and there are +thousands of loyal Meccanians only too eager to come to live in Mecco." + +One of the most remarkable industries I saw carried on was the +House-building Industry. The plans for houses of every kind, except +those for the Third and higher classes, are stereotyped. That is to +say, there are some forty or fifty different plans, all worked out to +the minutest detail. Suppose ten houses are wanted in any particular +quarter, the Building Department decides the type of house, the order +is given for ten houses, Type No. 27 let us say. This goes to the firm +which specialises in Type No. 27. There are no architect's fees, and +the expenses of superintending the work are almost _nil_. + +I asked Conductor Lickrod why it was that, when the whole industry of +house-building had been reduced to a matter of routine, the State did +not itself carry on the work, but employed private firms. + +"That question," he said, "touches one of the fundamental principles of +our Meccanian policy. If you study our National Economy you will learn +all you require about it, but for the moment I may say that the control +of the State over Industry is complete, yet we have not extinguished +the capitalist. We do not desire to do so, for many reasons. The Third +Class, which includes all the large capitalists, and the Fourth Class, +which includes the smaller capitalists, furnish a most important +element in the National Economy. Their enterprise in business and +manufacture is truly astonishing." + +"But what motive have they for displaying enterprise?" I asked. + +"What motive? Why, every motive. Their livelihood depends upon the +profits made; their promotion to a higher grade in their own class, +and in the case of those in the Fourth Class their promotion to the +ranks of the Third Class, also depends upon their skill and enterprise. +But most of all, the Meccanian spirit, which has been inculcated by +our system of education, inspires them with the desire to excel the +business men of all other nations for the sake of Meccanian Culture." + +Certainly the organisation of industry was marvellous, and the +production of everything must be enormous. We spent three days going +through factory after factory. There was the same marvellous order and +cleanliness and perfect discipline, wherever one turned. On leaving +the works the men all marched in step, as if on parade. Inside, they +saluted their 'officers,' but the salute was of a special kind--the +hand was raised to the shoulder only, so as to avoid a sweeping motion +which might have brought it in contact with some object. One of the +triumphs of organisation, to which Lickrod called my attention, was the +arrangement whereby the workmen reached their work at the proper time, +got their midday meal, and reached home in the evening without any +congestion. Each separate workshop had its appointed time for beginning +work; some began as early as 6, others at 6.15, the last to begin were +a few that had a comparatively short day, starting at 7.30. The midday +meal began at 11.30, and was taken by relays until about 1.30. All the +women employed in the canteens were the wives and daughters of workmen, +who spent the rest of their time in household work at home. + +At the end of the third day, as I was taking coffee with Conductor +Lickrod, I took advantage of his communicativeness, which was rather +a contrast to the brusqueness of Prigge, to get some light on several +matters that had so far puzzled me. + +"Your industrial system," I remarked, "as a productive machine, appears +to me to be quite marvellous." + +Lickrod beamed. "I knew you would think so," he said. "We have a word +in our language which, so far as I am aware, has no exact equivalent +in other languages, because their culture does not include the thing. +It means 'the adaptation of the means to the end.' Our industrial +system exemplifies the virtue connoted by that expression; but our +whole industrial system itself is only a means perfectly adapted to its +end. We have no 'Industrial Problem' in the old sense of that word. Of +course we are always effecting improvements in detail." + +"But I have been wondering how it is," I said, "that with all this +marvellous efficiency in production, your workmen in the Fifth and +Sixth, and I suppose in the Seventh Class also, appear to work as long +as those in other countries; they do not appear to be richer and they +seem to have fewer opportunities of rising in the social scale." + +"I have heard the same question put by other Foreign Observers," +replied Lickrod, "and I am glad you have come to me for information +on the subject. A complete answer involves a correct understanding +of our whole Culture. To begin with, the supreme good of the State +can only be determined by the State itself. The wishes or opinions of +the private individual are of no account. Now, the State knows what +its requirements are, and determines the amounts and kinds of work +necessary to meet these requirements. By means of our Sociological +Department, our Industrial Department, our Time Department, and the +various sections of our Department of Culture, we know perfectly how to +adjust our industries to the end determined by the State. Every class +and grade therefore is required to contribute towards the supreme good +of the State according to its ability." + +"I quite understand," I interrupted, "the point of view you are +expounding; but what I am wondering is why, with all this efficient +machinery of production, everybody in the country is not in the +enjoyment either of wealth or of leisure." + +"I am afraid it is not easy for a foreigner, without longer experience, +to appreciate the different value we attach to things such as wealth +and leisure, and other things too. Suppose, purely for the sake of +argument, that our working class worked only five hours a day instead +of nine or ten: what would they do with their leisure?" + +"I suppose they would enjoy themselves," I replied; "and seeing that +they have had the benefit of a good education, I take it that they +would know how to enjoy themselves in a decent manner. Besides, your +regulations would be able to prevent any excesses or disorders." + +"And you think they would be better employed in enjoying themselves +than in serving the State as they do now?" asked Lickrod. + +"Who is to judge whether they would be better employed?" I answered. + +"That is just the question," said Lickrod, "and it is there that our +Culture is so much in advance of other nations. Private enjoyment is +not the supreme end of the State." + +"But surely," I said, "you do not go on producing wealth simply for +the sake of keeping your working classes employed ten hours instead of +five? What becomes of the wealth?" + +"As I said before, we produce just the wealth we require." + +"Then I confess I am baffled," I said. "Possibly a great deal is +required for your army and navy and other public services. You have, +you must acknowledge, a very large number of people employed as +officials of all kinds. As these are not producing material goods, +perhaps the surplus wealth is drained away into these channels?" + +"All that is included in my statement, that we produce what we +require," answered Lickrod. + +"Can you give me any idea," I asked, with some hesitation, fearing I +was getting on delicate ground, "how much of the industrial product +is required for military and naval purposes? I don't suppose you can, +because I am aware that your Government does not publish its military +estimates; and even if it did, it would not be possible to tell how +much of the labour of the working classes is absorbed in that way. But +whilst I do not ask for any information that it is not usual to give, I +suggest to you that when I see the extraordinary productivity of your +economic machine, coupled with the comparative simplicity of the mode +of life pursued by the bulk of your population, I am bound to infer +one of two things: either a vast amount must be absorbed by some rich +class, or it must be in some way absorbed by the State itself." + +"I think your reasoning is perfectly sound," replied Lickrod. "I could +not tell you what proportion of the wealth product is absorbed by the +army if I wished; for I do not know, and nobody in Meccania knows, +except the Supreme Authority. The Finance Department knows only in +terms of money what is spent upon the various services. But without +knowing either exact amounts or proportions, I have no hesitation in +saying that a very great deal of the wealth product does go in these +directions. But that is part of our Meccanian ideal. The army is the +nation, is it not? Every workman you have seen is a soldier; and he is +a soldier just as much when he is in the factory as when he is in the +camp or the barracks. He spends five years of his life between twenty +and thirty in the camp, and he spends from one to two months of every +year afterwards in keeping up his training. Then of course there is the +equipment of both army and navy, which of course is always developing. +Your idea is, I suppose, that if we devoted less to such objects as +these, the people of the working classes, or even the whole body of +people, would have more to spend upon pleasure, or could enjoy more +leisure." + +"Yes," I said, "in most other countries every penny spent upon either +military purposes or upon State officials, beyond what is strictly +necessary, is grudged. The people scrutinise very keenly all public +expenditure. They prefer to spend what they regard as their own money +in their own way. It seems to me therefore, that either your people do +not look at the matter in the same way, or if they do, that the State +has discovered a very effective way of overcoming their objections." + +"What you say," replied Lickrod, "only brings out more and more +the difference between our Culture and that of other nations. This +sense of antagonism between the interests of the individual and the +interests of the State, which has hindered and apparently still hinders +the development of other countries, has been almost entirely eradicated +among the Meccanians." + +"What!" I said, "do you mean that a Meccanian pays his taxes +cheerfully?" + +"What taxes?" asked Lickrod blandly. + +"I do not know in what form your taxes are paid," I said, "but they +must be paid in some way, and I suspect that even in Meccania, if they +were left to voluntary subscription, the Exchequer would not be quite +so full." + +"Now that is a very curious instance of what I am tempted to call +the political stupidity of other nations. Instead of removing all +circumstances that provoke a consciousness of difference between the +individual and the State, they seem to call the attention of the +private citizen, as they call him, to these differences. They first +allow a man to regard property as entirely his own, and then discuss +with him how much he shall contribute, and finally make him pay in hard +cash." + +"And how do you manage to get over the difficulty?" I said. + +"All Meccanians are taught from their youth--even from early +childhood--that all they have they owe to the beneficent protection +of the State. The State is their Father and their Mother. No one +questions its benevolence or its wisdom or its power. Consequently all +this haggling about how much shall be paid this year or that year is +avoided. The State is the direct paymaster of nearly half the nation. +Hence it can deduct what is due without any sense of loss. Through our +Banking system the collection of the rest is quite easy. The private +employers deduct from the wages of their employees, and are charged the +exact amount through the Banks. No one feels it." + +"But does your Parliament exercise no control over taxation?" I asked +in some surprise. + +"Our Parliament is in such complete accord with the Government that it +would not dream of disturbing the system of taxation, which has worked +so well for over thirty years," replied Lickrod. + +"Have they the power to do so?" I asked. + +"They have the power to ask questions, certainly," he replied; "but the +taxes are fixed for periods of seven years. That is to say, the direct +taxes falling upon each separate class are fixed every seven years in +each case; so that the taxes for the First Class come up for revision +one year, those for the Second Class the next year, and so on. The +Constitution does not allow Parliament to increase the amount asked for +by the Government, and as the vote is taken not individually but by +classes, it is hardly to the interest of any of the classes to try to +reduce the amount assessed upon any one class. Besides, the Government +derives a considerable proportion of its income from its own property +in the shape of mines, railways, forests, farms, and so forth. When we +hear foreigners speak of Parliamentary Opposition we hardly know what +the term means. It is entirely foreign to the Meccanian spirit." + +"You speak of the Government," I remarked, "but I have not yet +discovered what the Government is." + +"I am afraid I must refer you to our manuals of Constitutional Law," +replied Lickrod. + +"Oh, I know in a general way the outline of your Constitution," I said, +"but in every country there is a real working Constitution, which +differs from the formal Constitution. For instance, Constitutions +usually contain nothing about political parties, yet the policy and +traditions of these parties are the most important factors. The merely +legal powers of a monarch, for instance, may in practice lapse, or may +be so rarely exercised as not to matter. Now in Meccania one sees a +powerful Government at work everywhere--that is, one sees the machinery +of Government, but the driving force and the controlling force seem +hidden." + +"You may find the answer to your question if you make a study of our +political institutions. At present I am afraid your curiosity seems +directed towards matters that to us have only a sort of historical +interest. It would never occur to any Meccanian to ask who controls the +Government. His conception of the State is so entirely different that +the question seems almost unmeaning." + +"I have recently spent a long time in Luniland," I remarked at this +point, "and I am afraid a Lunilander would say that if such a question +has become unmeaning to a Meccanian, the Meccanians must have lost the +political sense." + +"And we should say that we have solved the problem of politics. We +should say," he went on, "that the Lunilanders have no Government. A +Government that can be changed every few years, a Government that has +to ask the consent of what they call the taxpayers for every penny +it is to spend, a Government that must expose all its business to +an ignorant mob, a Government that must pass and carry out any law +demanded by a mere majority--we do not call that a Government." + +"They regard liberty as more important than Government," I replied, +with a smile. + +"They are still enslaved by the superstitions of the eighteenth and +nineteenth centuries," he replied solemnly. "No nation will make real +progress until it learns how to embody its physical, intellectual +and spiritual forces in an all-embracing State. Our State may be +imperfect--I know it is--but we are in the right way; and developed +as it may be in another century it will completely answer all human +requirements." + +"Developed?" I said, almost betraying my amusement, for I wondered +what further developments the Super-State was capable of. "In what +directions do you anticipate development?" + +"There is still an immense fund of religious sentiment that is +squandered upon unworthy objects: this may be--I feel sure it will +be--directed into a nobler channel. Our ritual, too, in no way +corresponds to the sublimity of the Idea of the Super-State. The ritual +of the Catholic Church--which is after all but a section of the whole +State--is still superior, from the sensuous and the artistic point of +view, to our State ritual. Our reverence for the State is too cold, too +inarticulate. I have sometimes thought that the Emperor might found an +order of priests or monks who would cultivate an inward devotion that +would inevitably give birth to a real religion of the State." + +"You are a true missionary," I said; "in fact, I think you are entitled +to be considered a Meccanian Apostle. I have learnt a great deal from +our intercourse, and just as you have suggested that the Government +might bring more foreigners to see the wonders of your Meccanian +Culture, I would suggest that they should send you and others like +yourself into other countries to enlighten them as to the real mission +of Meccania." + +He was pleased to accept this testimony from an innocent and +well-disposed Foreign Observer, and said that I could best show my +appreciation by inducing more of my fellow-countrymen to come and study +the wonders of Meccanian Culture. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE MECHOW FESTIVAL + + +I told Mr. Johnson of this conversation when next we met, and he seemed +immensely amused by it. "You will have a chance of seeing a bit of +Meccanian ritual to-morrow," he said. + +"You mean this Prince Mechow Festival," I replied. "What is it like? I +suppose you have seen it before?" + +"Haven't you noticed the whole town is crowded with visitors?" he said. +"But I won't take the edge off by telling you anything about it. You +shall see it for yourself without prejudice." + +I was aroused about five o'clock next morning by a tremendous booming +of guns. It lasted for half an hour, and sounded like a bombardment. +Then, for the next half-hour, all the bells in Mecco began ringing. +By this time I was dressed and out on the veranda of the hotel. I had +tried to go outside the hotel, but was reminded by the porter that we +were instructed to remain indoors until we were taken to a building in +the great square to watch the proceedings. At a few minutes after six +we were conveyed in a motor-car to one of the hotels in the square, +and provided with seats at the windows. There were only about twenty +Foreign Observers in Mecco altogether, and as most of them were not +very desirable acquaintances I sought the company of Mr. Johnson. + +The streets were rapidly filling with people, the great majority being +dressed in grey and chocolate uniforms, with a fair sprinkling of +green. There were also quite a number of dark blue uniforms. As there +is no Seventh Class in Mecco, I pointed this out to Johnson, who said +that all the people in the streets were from the provinces. + +"You will see the citizens of Mecco presently," he said. + +"Where have they lodged all these people?" I asked, for I knew the +hotels would not hold them. + +"Oh, every person is billeted upon somebody of his own class as far as +possible. Some of them have relatives here." + +At seven o'clock, about fifty bands of music struck up, in different +parts of the great central circle. They all played the same tunes and +kept wonderful time. As soon as they struck up, Johnson said, "That +means the processions have started." + +We waited about a quarter of an hour. The square itself was quite clear +of people, but a few sentries in brilliant uniforms stood guarding the +entrances from the four streets that led into it. The great statue +towered above everything. Presently, headed by a band, the first of +the processions, composed of members of the Sixth Class, in their best +grey uniforms with all their badges and stripes, reached the square. +Six men, at the head, carried a great banner, and were followed by +another six, carrying an enormous wreath, which they deposited at the +foot of the statue. Then, as the procession moved on across the square, +six abreast, the two outside files left the procession, and separating, +one to the right the other to the left, filled up the back of the whole +square four deep. How many men there were altogether of the Sixth +Class I have no idea, but they took half an hour to file past. Then +followed another still bigger procession of the Fifth Class. These +performed a similar ceremony, and proceeded to fill up the square ten +deep. After them came the Fourth Class, in their green uniforms. This +procession was much more brilliant in appearance than even the Fifth +Class in its bright chocolate uniform. There were apparently ten grades +of the Fourth Class, including as it does nearly all the professional +men, as well as officials and business men. Some of the men in the +first two grades had their breasts almost covered with badges and +decorations. Last came a much smaller procession of the Third Class. +The yellow against the background of green and chocolate and grey, as +they filed into the square, filling the inner part about four deep, +made a brilliant colour effect. There were no women in the processions, +but the buildings in the square were full of the wives and daughters +of the men of the upper classes, who watched the proceedings from the +open windows and balconies. The bands went on playing all the time the +processions were moving in and filling up the square. It must have +been half-past nine when the music suddenly stopped. There was silence +for five minutes. Then suddenly the guns burst forth again, and for a +quarter of an hour the noise was deafening. Then the bells rang for +half an hour, but after the guns they sounded like a mere tinkling. At +half-past ten, after a short silence, a subdued kind of murmur went +through the crowd, and we saw advancing from the Imperial Church, +which stands back from one side of the square, a new procession, this +time in military uniforms. They seemed to be arranged in companies of +about fifty, and there must have been a hundred companies. They were +all on foot, as it would have been very inconvenient to have cavalry +in the crowded square. They filled up the central space. Immediately +after came a group of about fifty generals, all belonging to the Army +Council. They were followed by the members of the Imperial Council, +all dressed in Generals' uniforms. Then came the Emperor himself, +followed by the Prime Minister and some of the chief officials of the +State. I could not see the face of the Emperor from where I stood. He +was dressed in the most gorgeous sort of uniform I have ever seen, and +as he appeared, at a given signal (which I did _not_ see), a great +shout went up from all the people present, "Hail the Emperor! Hail +the Emperor! Hail the Emperor!" Then everybody knelt on one knee for +about half a minute, whilst he uttered some kind of blessing which I +could not hear. The bands then struck up the National Hymn, after which +there was complete silence for a minute or two. Suddenly a loud voice +was heard. It must have been produced by a kind of megaphone, but it +was perfectly clear. We were listening to the Emperor's formal speech +on the occasion. I have not the exact words, but as near as I can +reproduce it the speech was something like this: + +"We meet for the sixteenth time since the death of the illustrious +Prince Mechow, to commemorate his never-to-be-forgotten services and +to thank God for the blessings which, through the divinely appointed +instrumentality of that noble Statesman, he has so abundantly bestowed +upon this his most beloved country.... + +"Superior to all other nations and races in our God-given endowments, +we had not achieved those triumphs of culture of which our noble race +and nation was capable, until by God's grace my father's Minister, +Prince Mechow, showed my people of all ranks and classes how to direct +their efforts, through discipline and knowledge and devotion, to the +strengthening and glorifying of our divinely founded State.... + +"To-day we again show our gratitude to God for having raised up, in the +direct succession of great servants of the State, one who knew how to +serve his Emperor and his God, and thus to defeat the evil intentions +of all the host of envious and malignant enemies--enemies to God as +well as to our nation--by whom we are surrounded.... + +"Let those enemies beware how they set God at defiance by thwarting +the divine mission he has entrusted to us. He has set our glorious +and invincible State in the midst of all the nations, but in their +blindness and ignorance they have scorned our mission.... If, whilst +all other nations are striving within themselves, class against class +and man against man and rulers against ruled, in our nation and among +my people there is but one will, one purpose, one mind, we owe it, +under God, more to Prince Mechow than to any other.... This monument, +which to-day we decorate with the wreaths of memory, is but a symbol +of that monument which exists in the shape of the whole nation, whose +forces he organised and whose purposes he directed to one end, the +strength and unity of the State. Hail to Prince Mechow! Hail! Hail! +Hail!" + +The whole crowd burst out in shouts of "Hail to Prince Mechow! Hail!" +Then came renewed shouts of "Hail the Emperor! Hail!" After he had +bowed a dozen times or so, those near him prepared to form the +procession back towards the Imperial Church, and for the next two +hours the processions filed out to the sound of music. It grew very +tiresome, and I was getting hungry, so we got permission to return to +our hotel for a meal. Until now everybody had fasted, but the rest of +the day was given up to a sort of carnival. Banquets were arranged to +take place in every part of the city, and the whole population prepared +to enjoy itself. At these banquets it is the custom to make patriotic +speeches, which are faithfully reported. The man who is adjudged to +have made the best patriotic speech is awarded a special decoration +called the Prince Mechow Prize. + +As the streets were liable to be crowded with strangers, it was not +thought fit to allow us to wander about; but I learnt from Johnson that +as the day goes on, and a large quantity of beer is drunk, the streets +become filled with a boisterous crowd, which is a most unusual sight in +Mecco. + +Two things seemed to me rather odd about this festival: why was it that +the Emperor allowed such adulation to be paid to a former subject; and +why was the commemoration of Prince Mechow, who had done so much to +introduce the strictest discipline, the one occasion when licence was +allowed? I put these questions to Mr. Johnson as we sat talking in the +smoke-room, where we could faintly hear the murmur of the crowd in the +streets in the distance. + +"It is just as well you did not ask these questions of any of your +Meccanian conductors," replied Johnson. "The real reason is one which +I don't believe any Meccanian would avow. This Mechow Festival is +a genuine expression of national character. They used to 'enthuse' +about Bludiron in almost the same way, some eighty years ago. I have +heard my father tell of some of the scenes he saw here. They have a +childish belief in national heroes. Then, the upper classes have a very +special reason for encouraging this cult of Mechowism. They realise how +completely he did their work for them and made their power secure, and +it suits them to cultivate the superstition that there is something +sacred about everything he established. Perhaps you know that the +Military Class are the real power behind the Throne here. They let the +Emperor play his part on the stage in public, but he takes good care +not to do anything to offend them; and this worship of Mechow is a sort +of symbol of their power. The real effect of Mechow's reforms was not +to make the Emperor himself supreme, but to make the Military Caste +all-powerful. They take care, therefore, to make this festival popular. +I don't suppose the Emperor altogether enjoys the part he has to play +on an occasion like to-day." + +"What you say about the Military is rather interesting," I replied, +"for only a day or two ago I was trying to get Lickrod to tell me what +the Government really is. I couldn't make out whether he knew or not, +but he certainly didn't enlighten me much." + +"Of course it's the Military Class," said Johnson, with a laugh. "I +thought everybody knew that. It's a very open secret." + +"I have heard that theory put forward," I said, "but I can't quite make +it square with the facts." + +"Why not?" asked Johnson. + +"Well, if the Military are the supreme power, why should they have such +an elaborate Bureaucracy and make such a parade of culture in every +direction?" I said. + +"Ah," replied Johnson, "you must remember we are living in the +twentieth century; in fact, you must remember all that this wonderful +rascal of a Mechow taught his countrymen. The clumsy methods of the +Military Autocracy of a barbarous age would not be of the slightest use +in our times. Human society in modern times, even under an Autocracy, +is tremendously complex. An elaborate Bureaucracy is a necessary part +of the machine. Suppose, for instance, that you were an autocrat, and +you wanted to be able to wield the whole force of the nation over which +you ruled, how could you give effect to your will unless the whole +nation were organised with that end in view? Suppose you had absolute +power, as far as the law could give it you, and suppose you wanted a +powerful army; you would want also the best equipment. How would you +get it unless your industries were already organised and under control? +There is no doubt at all that the nation that can control and mobilise +all its resources for whatever purposes it happens to require them, has +a great advantage, from the military standpoint, over other nations not +so organised." + +"But," I said, "they organise all sorts of things that have nothing +to do with military efficiency. Look at the theatres, and at Art, and +Music: their organisation of these is carried to an absurd point." + +"That is quite true, but did you ever know any big organisation that +did just exactly what it ought to do, and stopped short of the things +it ought not to do? Once set up a Bureaucracy and it will inevitably +extend its functions. People are dirty, so the bureaucrat says, let +us make them wash. Then, he says, let us make them keep their houses +clean. Then, he says, let us make them keep their clothes tidy. He +doesn't like the way they walk, so he makes them march in step. You can +see that there was a tremendous advantage in having a well-instructed +middle class and a well-instructed working class. To secure this, a +powerful department to organise and enforce education was necessary. +Once the Bureaucracy was created there was hardly any limit to its +functions. Besides, and this seems to me rather important, the more +widely extended are the functions of the Bureaucracy, the more +effectually is its main purpose disguised. The people are accustomed to +being directed and 'organised.' They imagine, in a vague sort of way, +that it is all for their good. Another little turn of the screw is not +felt. If the State tells me what to eat, why shouldn't it tell me what +to wear, and what to read, and what to think? + +"There is another reason why it 'organises' all this culture. In every +nation some kind of intellectual life goes on. It must be either free +or controlled. If it is let alone, the force of ideas is such that, +in the long run, they will shape the political structure. The State, +if it means to preserve itself as an Autocracy, must get control over +the intellectual life of the nation. In ancient times it succeeded for +a time. In the Middle Ages the Church tried the same thing. In modern +times most States have _not_ made the attempt, but this State _has_ +made the attempt. It has done no more than Plato would have done. It +has done it rather differently perhaps, but it has followed the same +idea." + +"They would feel rather flattered, don't you think," I said, "if you +told them they were carrying out Plato's principles?" + +"Perhaps they would, but that only means they have learnt nothing from +twenty centuries of political experience." + +"On the contrary, it looks as if they have learnt a good deal," I said. + +"They have learnt how to make a nation of slaves and tyrants." + +"And yet they don't seem to mind being slaves, if they are slaves." + +"I wonder," replied Johnson. "A hundred years in the life of a nation +is not a long time. Human nature is a strange thing. They kiss the rod +so affectionately that I don't mind how long _they_ remain in bondage: +all I care about is that they should not make slaves of the rest of us." + +"Do you think there is any danger?" I asked. + +"I do indeed," replied Johnson. "A great danger." + +"Why, how could it be brought about?" I said. + +"In all sorts of ways. Liberty is the most precarious possession of the +human race. Very few nations have possessed it for long together." + +"But surely," I said, "Meccania is so unpopular, to put it mildly, with +almost all other nations, that her influence can hardly be dangerous." + +"Oh, but it is," insisted Johnson. "The danger takes several forms. +Meccania is tremendously strong as a military power. She knows it, +and other nations know it. Suppose a great war took place, and she +were successful; she would bring other nations under her power, as +she has done in the past. These would soon be compelled to adopt +her institutions. Then, in self-defence, other nations would feel +themselves compelled to resort to the same means as have proved +successful in her case, to make themselves strong too. To a certain +degree that has already taken place. Lots of our military people now +are always agitating to introduce what they call reforms, to place us +on a level with Meccania. Then all sorts of cranks come over here: +Sanitary Reformers, Eugenists, Town Planners, Educationists, Physical +Culturists, Temperance Reformers, Scientific Industrialists, and +so forth. Each of them finds some idea he wants to push. There are +people who think that if they could only cure unemployment they would +bring in the millennium, and they are willing to reconstruct society +for the sole purpose of doing away with unemployment. And so we get +disconnected bits of Bureaucracy set up, first for this and then for +that. By and by some one will come along who will try to co-ordinate +the whole thing." + +I had evidently set Mr. Johnson on to a train of thought that excited +him, for he usually took things very calmly. After a short pause +he went on: "And yet I don't think the greatest danger comes from +these would-be bureaucrats of ours. With us the bureaucrat only +gets his chance when we have played the fool so badly that somebody +has got to step in and set things right. For instance, we had what +we called magistrates at one time. They were supposed to be the +prominent citizens with common sense and initiative; but they became +so incompetent, and the authorities chose them so foolishly, that +they lost the public confidence; so we had to replace them partly by +officials and partly by paid judges. Then look at our manufacturers; +they hadn't the sense to apply a reasonable proportion of their profits +to developing their business on scientific lines, so the State had to +step in and compel them to. They hadn't the sense, either, to encourage +their workpeople to become educated, nor even to pay them any more +than they could help. Consequently the State had to step in again. No, +what I am most afraid of is our disinclination to set things right +ourselves. We can't let mothers go on murdering their babies, we can't +let food dealers poison the public, we can't let seducers of children +traffic in obscenity; and as the public is apathetic about all these +things the bureaucrat steps in and adds another Department to the +fabric. What I am afraid of chiefly is that we shall get into a bad +mess that will place us at the mercy either of the Meccanians over here +or of our own Meccanians at home." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MECCANISATION + + +When I came to reflect that night upon the experience of the last few +days, I was much impressed by three things which somehow seemed to +hang together. There was first my conversation with Lickrod. If all +Meccanians, or even a majority, took the same view of the State that +he did, there could be no limit to the functions of the State. He +seemed to claim for it all the moral authority of the Mediæval Church, +and although in other countries theories are put forward for academic +discussion without having much influence upon practical politics, in +Meccania the powers that be are able to carry out their ideas without +the obstruction which necessarily arises in countries where public +opinion is more spontaneous. He had evaded the question as to the +control of the Government, and had maintained that such a question +had no meaning in a country where the people were not conscious of +any difference between the State and themselves. Then there was this +Mechow Festival. Now, it was either a sincere manifestation of a +national admiration of Prince Mechow, and an approval of his work in +creating a Super-State with unlimited powers, or it was a proof that +the ruling class, whatever that was, could manipulate the whole life +of the nation as it pleased. Lastly, there was the idea that Johnson +had thrown out. He was quite confident of the accuracy of his own view +that the Military Class was the power behind everything, and that the +whole elaborate bureaucratic organisation of society had for its motive +and driving force the desire and the will to make Meccania a perfect +instrument of militarism. + +Up to this time I had been partly amused and partly annoyed by what +I had seen and heard and experienced. I was amused by the meticulous +regulation and organisation of all the petty details of life, by the +pedantic precision of all the officials I had met, and by the utter +absence of a sense of humour in the mentality of the Meccanian people. +I had been annoyed by the meddlesome interference with my private +habits, but I tried to disregard this, because, as an experienced +traveller, I had sufficient experience to tell me that in every country +one has to accommodate oneself to the customs and prejudices of the +community. But most of all, I felt baffled by my failure to find out +anything about the real life and thought and feeling of the people. + +I determined that I would make a more serious attempt to get behind +the screen which all this officialism set up between the people and a +well-intentioned Foreign Observer like myself or Mr. Johnson. I would +find out whether the screen was erected only between the foreigner and +the people, or whether the people themselves were so 'organised' that, +even for them, intercourse was made difficult. I promised myself that +Lickrod, with his genuine enthusiasm for every feature of Meccanian +culture, would be much more likely to enlighten me than any person I +had come in contact with before. We had still some days to spend in +completing our general survey of industry in Mecco. As President of +an important Literary Society, I expressed a desire to see how the +whole business of literary production was conducted in Meccania, for I +understood that several features in the system were quite unlike what +could be found anywhere else in the world. Conductor Lickrod was almost +eager to gratify my curiosity--at any rate up to a certain point. + +"The printing industry," said he in answer to my questions, "is a +perfect example of the effect of Prince Mechow's reforms. It would be +impossible in any other country to do what we do, even if they employed +three times the number of men. In other countries the waste of labour, +not only manual labour but brain labour and business enterprise, is +ridiculous. Look at the amount of advertising, the number of rival +newspapers and magazines, the number of rival publishers of all sorts. +It is a perfect chaos. Now we have no advertising, as advertising is +understood abroad. Every commodity can be classified, whether it be a +hair restorer or a mansion for sale. Our system of commerce gets rid +of advertising miscellaneous commodities. The wholesale merchants have +their regular catalogues issued to the trade, and the same system is +extended to retail trade. For example, if you want to buy an article +of clothing, apart from your regular uniform, you consult a directory +of the retail dealers. Then you consult a catalogue of any particular +firm at the bureau for retail trade, where you will find a catalogue +of every shop in the town you happen to be in. There are no hoardings +covered with posters tempting people, out of mere curiosity, to buy +things they don't want. Now look at a typical newspaper in any foreign +country. Half of it is covered with advertisements of concerts, +theatrical performances, other amusements, sales, situations vacant and +wanted, clothing, patent medicines, books--every imaginable thing. With +us that is all unnecessary. The bureaux of employment do away with all +advertisements for employment--but in any case we should require few of +these, because our system of employment is so much better organised. +As to concerts and theatres, everybody knows, through the official +gazettes, what amusements are available for months in advance." + +"You have not only got rid of the advertisements," I remarked, "but +even of the newspapers themselves, I understand. I have certainly seen +none except the local gazettes." + +"Exactly; I was coming to that," he continued. "Look at the enormous +waste of effort that goes to the production of forty or fifty big +newspapers. What is the use of them? Every item of information can +be classified. It may be a crime, an accident, an event in foreign +politics, a new law, a trial, a new discovery in some branch of science +or industry, and so on. Now look at all the ingenuity displayed in +getting hold of some sort of account of these things at the earliest +moment, in order to gratify the mere curiosity of crowds of ignorant +people. Then look at the special articles, all or nearly all produced +in haste, and the so-called leading articles, all designed to +influence the mind of the public by giving some particular colour or +interpretation to the alleged facts. Our official gazettes give the +public all they require to know. The _Law Gazette_, issued each week, +gives information about all the breaches of the law committed, all +the important processes before the Law Courts, all the changes in the +Law. All the 'articles' which are necessary to throw light upon legal +matters are written by real experts. As you know, the journalist is +extinct in Meccania. The Industrial Gazettes--one for each of the main +branches of industry, with a general Industrial Gazette for matters +affecting industry generally, contain everything required in a much +more complete form than can be given in a daily newspaper. So you +see that, applying the same principle to the various aspects of our +public life, we are able to substitute one well-organised publication, +dealing completely with all matters and issued with all the authority +of the State, for the miscellaneous jumble of scraps which are called +newspapers in other countries. + +"Then look at the number of magazines; they represent a stage of +culture which we have left entirely behind. We have our Literary +Gazettes to keep the public informed about all the recent publications. +We have our Quarterly Records for every department of knowledge. If +you want the latest contributions to history or archæology, philology, +ethnology, or anthropology, you know where to go for them. Everything +is done by experts, and we do not go to the trouble of printing +anything by anyone else on such subjects." + +"Then you have no popular magazines such as would interest people who +are not strictly students, but who take an interest in things?" I asked. + +"No. As I said a moment ago, we have left that stage of culture behind. +We provide a good education for all those who, we think, are able +to utilise it for the good of the State. After that, every one is +encouraged to pursue that branch of knowledge which will be most useful +to him in his calling. In a certain sense every man is a specialist. We +do not encourage people to dabble in things they only half understand." + +"But is there not also a need," I said, "for what I may call general +knowledge on the part of the public? For instance, suppose a new law +is to be introduced which is to affect people's lives, _everybody_ is +concerned, whether he is a specialist or not. Or suppose some question +of public morals, or some question of political interest arises, you +surely want the public to discuss such things. How, indeed, can your +authorities keep in touch with the public mind unless there is some +medium by which the general public can express itself?" + +"What you say," answered Lickrod, "only serves to demonstrate the +truth of what I am trying to convey to you, namely, that our Culture +is so differently conceived that you foreigners cannot understand our +attitude. You use the expression 'public opinion.' Our psychologists +will tell you exactly how that public opinion is formed. They made +a careful study of it before we decided to replace it by something +better. It was one of the superstitions of the nineteenth century, +which has not only lingered on but has become a serious hinderance +to the development of scientific government in all countries except +Meccania. They actually allow their fiscal policy to be determined by +'public opinion.' Fiscal policy is entirely a matter for the State, +and the only persons qualified to advise the State are the experts. +You speak of public morals, but the business of guiding the morals +of the nation is the highest function of the State itself. Now the +organs through which every nation or State functions are determined and +developed by the national consciousness: this consciousness expresses +itself just as legitimately through experts as through an uninstructed +public opinion." + +"So you would be prepared to say, then," I said, "that your people +fully acquiesce in the suppression or abolition of one of the +institutions which most foreigners consider almost the last safeguard +of liberty? I mean, of course, the daily press." + +"The present generation of Meccanians, that is, the young people, say +between twenty and thirty, have never known the Press. The older men +were, I confess, bitterly opposed for some years, or at least a section +of them were; but if anyone proposed to revive the Press nowadays he +would be regarded as one would be who wished to revive steam-trams, or +wigs, or general elections." + +"But suppose some people were mad enough to want to publish a +newspaper, could they not do so?" I asked. + +"Well, there is no positive law against it, but it would be impossible, +all the same." + +"Why?" + +"The expense would be very great, for one thing. There would be no +advertisements, remember. They would not be allowed to publish news +before it had been submitted to the censor, or before it was given to +the public through the official gazettes...." + +"You need say no more," I said. "I quite see it would be impossible. +The censorship extends to all printed matter, I gather?" + +"Certainly," he replied. "The State would be guilty of a grave neglect +of its function as guardian of the Meccanian spirit if it permitted any +scribbler who wished to seduce the minds of the people to mislead them." + +"But," I could not help replying, "I thought that your people were on +the whole so well educated that there would be less danger of their +being misled in Meccania than in any country. Also I have been informed +that all the best writers are already in the employ of the State; +and, further, that the people generally are so completely at one in +sentiment with the spirit and policy of the State that there could be +no real danger from the free expression of opinion." + +Conductor Lickrod smiled. It was a benevolent, almost a pitying smile. + +"I perceive," he said, "that some of the most commonplace axioms of our +policy seem like abstruse doctrines to people whose culture is less +advanced. But I think I can make all this clear. Your argument is that +our people are well instructed, our writers--the best of them--are +employed by the State, and our common loyalty to the Meccanian ideal +is so firmly established that even a free Press, or at least the free +expression of opinion in books, would give rise to no danger. Now +do you not see that it is only by means of our system--so wisely +conceived by the greatest statesman who ever lived--that we _have_ this +instructed public, that we _have_ all the best writers in the service +of the State, that we _possess_ this common allegiance to the Meccanian +spirit? When we have achieved what no other nation has achieved, should +we not be fools to introduce an entirely contrary principle, and for +the sake of what? In order to provide an opportunity for the few +people who are not loyal to Meccania to attack the very State whose +children they are. For, examine what it is you propose. No one who is +a loyal Meccanian finds the least fault with our present system. It +has the enormous advantage over all the systems of other countries +that, without any waste, it provides the most authentic information +about every conceivable subject, it gives the public the benefit of the +services of such a body of experts as no other country possesses. And +the people who would write such books as _you_ are thinking of; who +would support them? They are already fully employed in some manner, and +in the manner considered by the State to be the most useful. I assure +you this is a purely academic discussion, for no one would dream of +putting into practice such a proposal." + +"There must be something in the mentality of the Meccanians very +different from that of other nations, and that is all the more +surprising because, at least according to the ethnologists, they are +not racially different from several of the surrounding nations." + +"That is quite true, with some slight reservations. We are not a pure +race by any means. We have racial elements within our nation which are +indeed distinct from those of the surrounding nations, and they have +perhaps contributed to the final result much more than in proportion +to their actual numbers. What you call Latin culture has never done +more than furnish us with the material for such elements of our culture +as we wished to utilise. You see it has hardly affected our language. +No, the Meccanian culture of to-day is the result of education and +scientific statesmanship." + +"Excuse my putting the question so bluntly," I said, "but it seems +to me that the principles you have put forward would justify even a +revival of an institution known in mediæval times, and even later, as +the Inquisition. I suppose there is no institution corresponding to +that in Meccania?" + +"It is quite unnecessary. And that is one powerful argument in favour +of our system of controlling the Press. That control, together with +our other institutions of which it forms part--our whole polity +is a perfect harmony--makes an 'Inquisition,' as you call it, an +anachronism." + +"But," I said, "I was told by one of your own people of something that +seems to a mere outsider to resemble an incipient Inquisition." + +"Indeed," he said, "and what is that?" + +"Well, I gathered that in certain cases the Special Medical Board +uses its discretionary power to incarcerate persons whose opinions or +convictions make it impossible for them to embrace what I may call the +Meccanian ideals of life." + +I felt I was treading on delicate ground, but as Prigge on a previous +occasion had openly approved of putting people into lunatic asylums if +they did not accept the Authority of the Super-State I felt justified +in sounding Lickrod on the point. To my surprise he betrayed no +embarrassment. + +"You are probably not aware," he said, "of the remarkable strides that +have been made by our medical scientists in Meccania during the last +fifty years. The pathological side of psychology has received great +attention, with the consequence that our specialists are able to detect +mental disease in cases where it would not be suspected by less skilled +doctors. I believe I am right in saying that our experts detected the +disease now widely recognised as _Znednettlapseiwz_ (Chronic tendency +to Dissent) long before it was known in other countries that such +a characteristic was in any way connected with brain disease. The +microbe has been fully described in the twenty-seventh volume of the +_Report of the Special Medical Board_. The first clue to the existence +of this disease was discovered during the great war, or perhaps a +little later. A number of people persisted in putting forward views +concerning the origin of the war, which were totally at variance with +the official, and even the Imperial, explanatory statements made for +the enlightenment of the public. At the time, it was regarded as just +mental perversity. But what led to the discovery was that, after ten, +and even fifteen years in some cases, notwithstanding every natural +inducement to desist from such perversity, these people deliberately +and persistently maintained the objectivity of their hallucinations. +Experiments were made; they were under close observation for some +years, and at length Doctor Sikofantis-Sangwin produced his theory and +confidently predicted that the bacillus would be found in a few years. +From that time the path was clear. The disease was most rife some forty +years ago, soon after the beginning of Prince Mechow's premiership; but +since then it has almost disappeared. You see it is not hereditary, +and the normal conditions of Meccanian life are very unfavourable to +its development. But coming back to your point, although no doubt this +is what has given rise to the calumny that the Special Medical Board +uses its powers as an Inquisition, there is not a vestige of truth in +the charge. Each case--and the cases are becoming very rare indeed--is +investigated on strictly psycho-physiological lines. The patients in +all cases are isolated, and placed under observation for some months +before any pronouncement is made." + +"Your explanation is as usual most illuminating," I replied, "and the +patience with which you deal with my questions emboldens me to put to +you some further difficulties that have been puzzling me." + +"Proceed," replied Lickrod encouragingly. + +"Well now," I said, "your whole national culture is so elaborately +perfect, from the standpoint of its basic principles, that it is +certainly well worth studying by any student of sociology or politics +or economics; yet we foreigners find ourselves hampered at many points +whenever we wish to get into contact with certain kinds of facts. For +instance, we may wish to find out what are the ideas, the current +thoughts and feelings, of the various groups, and even individuals, who +make up society. We cannot go and live with people and converse freely +with them. I have not been able to understand why your Government takes +such precautions to keep secret, as it were, facts which in any other +country are as open as the day." + +"That is not at all difficult to answer by anyone who really +understands the principles of our Culture, and I am surprised that +none of the conductors who have instructed you have explained it--that +is, if you have asked them," he answered. "You have been hampered, +you say. Yes, but you have been assisted too. You have been shown +things in a way that would be impossible in most other countries +within such a short time. Our Government has paid great attention to +the instruction of foreigners. Instead of leaving them to gather +all sorts of erroneous impressions, it provides them with authentic +information. If, on the other hand, there are things which it does not +wish foreigners to know, it takes care, and quite rightly, that they +shall not obtain the information by any illicit means. For instance, +if you were foolish enough to attempt to obtain information about our +military affairs, you would find yourself against a blank wall; and, if +I may say so, you might hurt your head against the wall. But then there +are matters which, without being secret, cannot well be investigated +by the individual inquirer. Take such a thing as the current thought +of any particular class or group. Only a trained and well-equipped +social-psychologist is capable of making such an inquiry. The liability +to error is tremendous. All the books written by travellers reveal +this. We do not wish to be exploited by casual and irresponsible +travellers. We provide opportunities, under proper conditions, for +expert investigators; but very few are willing to comply with the +conditions. Besides, our Culture, like all the finest products of the +human intellect, is a very delicate thing. When we have carefully +educated our people in the Meccanian spirit we are not prepared to +expose them to the insidious influences of irresponsible busybodies. +Every Meccanian is valuable in our eyes, and just as we protect him +from infection in the shape of physical disease, so we protect him from +the more insidious but not less injurious influence of foreign ideas. +You will find plenty of philosophical justification for that policy in +the writings of Plato and Aristotle--two philosophers who are studied +in all the foreign universities but whose systems of thought are +utterly misunderstood except in Meccania." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CONVERSATIONS + + +It must have been more than a week after my long talk with Conductor +Lickrod that I was sitting one evening in the hotel with Mr. Johnson +and a certain Francarian gentleman to whom he had introduced me, when +the latter made a suggestion that has since proved very useful to me. +Mr. Villele the Francarian is a short and rather stout man of middle +age, with a pair of merry black eyes, a swarthy complexion, and dark +hair beginning to turn grey. He professes to find Meccania and the +Meccanians amusing, but I suspect from the nature of his sarcasms that +he entertains a deep hatred of them. We were talking of my journal when +he said, "And what is the use of it?" + +"Well," I said, "I do not flatter myself that I can produce a great +literary work, but the facts I have been able to place on record are so +interesting in themselves that I believe my countrymen would welcome a +plain straightforward account of my visit to this most extraordinary +country." + +"I have heard," he said, "that the Chinese have very good verbal +memories. Have you committed your record to memory in its entirety?" + +"Why should I?" I replied; "it is to save my memory that I am taking +the trouble of making such full notes, even of such things as +conversations." + +"And how do you propose to get your journal out of the country?" + +"I propose to take it with me when I return," I said. + +At this he turned to Johnson and laughed, but immediately apologised +for his apparent rudeness. + +"And what about the Censor?" he asked. + +"Surely," I replied, "these people take such precautions not to let us +foreigners see anything they do not want us to see, that they cannot +object to a faithful record being made of what they do permit us to +see!" + +"Then you have not even read Regulation 79 of the Law concerning +Foreign Observers." + +"What is that?" I asked. + +"Simply that foreigners are not allowed to take out of the country +anything they have not been permitted to bring in, except with the +consent of the Chief Inspector of Foreign Observers." + +"And you think they will object?" + +"I have not the slightest doubt." + +"But it is written partly in Chinese; they would have to translate it." + +"All the more reason for detaining it. If you ever get it again, it +will be in a few years, after it has been translated for the benefit +of the Sociological Section of the Ministry of Culture." + +"What do you advise me to do, then?" I asked. + +"Have you any friends at the Chinese Embassy?" he asked. + +"I have no personal friends. At least I have not troubled to inquire. +I have had no business at the Embassy; there seemed no reason why I +should trouble them." + +"There is a fellow-countryman of yours here in Mecco who is _persona +grata_ with the Authorities," said Villele, "but he is rather a dark +horse." + +"A dark horse?" I said. + +"He is a sort of convert to Meccanianism. He has written books in +appreciation of Meccanian principles, Meccanian ideals, Meccanian +institutions, and so forth. They are eagerly read by the Meccanians. +They even use them in their colleges. I have read them, and they seem +to me very clever indeed. I translated them for the benefit of my +countrymen, and I am not exactly an admirer of things Meccanian." + +I must have looked rather puzzled, for Mr. Johnson came to my rescue. + +"Mr. Villele means," he said, "that these books have a double meaning. +I have read one of them. Under cover of the most exuberant flattery +he gives such an impression of the cold-blooded devilishness of the +system, that some of us suspect his real purpose to be that of exposing +the whole business." + +"He knows more of Meccania than anyone who is not a high official," +said Villele; "and if you want to pursue your investigations any +further, and incidentally get your manuscript conveyed out of the +country, I should advise you to seek an interview with him." + +"Will that be possible," I asked, "without arousing suspicion?" + +"Oh, quite easily," answered Villele. "_He_ is above suspicion, if you +are not," he added, smiling. "He holds a weekly _salon_ for foreigners, +and you can easily get permission to attend. After that I leave it to +you, and him." + +That evening we went on talking a long time. Mr. Villele related some +remarkable things, but I was not sure whether he was merely making fun +of the Meccanians. + +"You have not seen much of the Meccanian women?" he remarked. + +"No," I said; "I have had no opportunity." + +"They are quite as wonderful as the men," he said. "You never heard, +for instance, of the great Emancipation Act, Regulation 19 of the +Marital Law?" + +"No," I replied; "what is it?" + +"No Meccanian woman is obliged to submit to the embraces of her lawful +husband." + +"But how did the men ever consent to such a law?" I asked; "for in this +country it is the men who make the laws." + +"It is rather a queer story," he replied. "It is quite a long time ago, +forty years or more, since a movement arose among the women, influenced +no doubt by the women's movement in Europe, which had for its object, +or one of its objects, greater freedom from the domestic tyranny of +the Meccanian husband. Some of them, of course, thought that the way +to secure everything they wanted was to get the right to vote for the +National Council; but the wiser among them saw that the vote was merely +a bad joke. Anybody could have the vote, because it was worth nothing; +seeing that the powers of the representatives were being reduced to +nothing. All the same, this women's movement, such as it was, was the +nearest approach to a revolutionary movement that the Meccanians have +ever shown themselves capable of. Once more our dear old Prince Mechow +came to the rescue. He was a real genius." + +"But I thought you did not admire the Mechow reforms?" I interrupted. + +"I do not; but I recognise a genius when I see him. Believe me, Prince +Mechow was the first Meccanian to understand his countrymen. He knew +exactly what they wanted, what they would stand, what they could do, +what they could be made to believe. He was absorbed in his early +reforms when this women's movement broke out, and some people were +afraid of it. He attacked the problem in his characteristic fashion. +He knew the women didn't want political power; he knew also that there +was not the slightest danger of them getting it; but he saw immense +possibilities in having the women as his allies in certain of his +reforms, especially his Eugenic reforms. He hit upon a really brilliant +idea. I don't suppose you can guess what it was?" + +"How can I?" I said. "All this is quite new to me." + +"Well, if you had read Meccanian literature, or even the writings +of the old travellers in Meccania--your predecessors as Foreign +Observers--you would know that the Meccanian women are the most +primitive in Europe. They have one ideal as regards men. They have a +superstitious admiration for physical strength. If a Meccanian woman +were really free to choose her mate, in ninety-nine cases out of a +hundred she would choose the strongest man. They have always been like +that. Probably many primitive peoples have had that characteristic, but +the Meccanians have preserved that trait longest. You think I am joking +or spinning a theory?" + +"I was thinking that as they have had the same marriage laws as the +rest of Europe for many centuries, the fact, if it is a fact, cannot be +of much practical importance," I said. + +"The fact itself is vouched for by dozens of writers among the +Meccanians. They pride themselves on having preserved these primitive +characteristics; they glory in never having been influenced by Latin +culture. The marriage laws you speak of have been adopted by the +men, in self-defence, so to speak. In very early times the Meccanian +marriage laws were essentially the same as they have been for two +thousand years, and the penalties on the women for infractions of the +marriage laws were more severe in practice than in any other country. +Notice the facts: breaches of the 'moral code' before marriage are +regarded very lightly: illegitimacy in Meccania, as is proved by +statistics, was more prevalent than in most countries; but the men +took care that breaches after marriage should be severely dealt with. +I told you it was a long story, and I have not yet come to the point. +For twenty or thirty years before Prince Mechow got into the saddle +all the young hot-headed Meccanian patriots got Eugenics on the brain, +but none of them knew how to put their ideas into practice. Mechow +himself was a Eugenist of the most brutal type. He believed that if he +could once utilise this primitive instinct of the Meccanian women, he +could do something much more effective than eliminating certain feeble +types, which was all that the Eugenist theorists had so far aimed at. +He proposed to give every woman the right to choose, within limits, +the father of her children. He knew that all the Meccanian women were +obsessed with a frantic admiration for the Military Class--in the old +days it was the ambition of every woman to marry an officer, and that +was why the officers who were not well-to-do never had any difficulty +in getting a rich _partie_. Well, he actually made a law to the effect +that any woman could claim a sort of exemption from the marital rights +of her husband, upon the recommendation of an authorised medical man." + +"But why on earth did the men consent to such a law?" I asked once more. + +"That was easily done. You had only to invoke the Meccanian spirit, +devotion to the supreme interests of the State, the opinion of the +experts and all the rest of it. The opposition was stifled. The three +highest classes were all for it; the women supported it, and although +they had no political power they made opposition impossible." + +"And what effect has this law had? I am afraid I do not see how it +would effect the purpose Prince Mechow had in view," I said. + +"The consequences have been enormous. I do not mean that the law by +itself effected much, but taken as part of a system it solved the whole +problem from Mechow's point of view." + +"But how?" I asked, somewhat puzzled. + +"You understand, I suppose, the system of medical inspection and +medical supervision and medical treatment?" + +"To a certain extent," I replied. + +"Well, you realise perhaps that, in the hands of a patriotic medical +staff, the system can be so worked that every woman who is 'approved' +can be provided with a 'eugenic' mate from an approved panel, drawn +chiefly from the Military Class, eh?" + +"Is this one of Mr. Villele's jokes at the expense of the Meccanians?" +I asked Mr. Johnson. + +"He is telling the story in his own way," answered Johnson, "but in +substance it is quite true." + +"But it sounds incredible," I said. "What do the husbands say to it?" + +"Oh, the business is done very quietly. A woman is ordered a 'cure' by +the 'medical authority,' and she goes away for a little time. The men +on the panel are kept in training, like pugilists used to be. As for +the husbands--did you ever attend any lectures in the Universities on +Meccanian ethics? Of course you have not been in the country very long. +Jealousy is regarded as an obsolete virtue, or vice, whichever you +like. Besides, you must not imagine the custom affects large numbers. +Probably not more than 10 per cent of the women, chiefly in the Fifth +and Sixth, and to some extent in the Fourth, Class, are affected." + +"But I should have thought that social caste would be an insuperable +obstacle," I said. + +"Surely not! When did you hear that women were chosen for such purposes +from any particular class? It is not a question of marriage." + +"There is one circumstance," interposed Mr. Johnson, "that has some +bearing on this subject. Domestic life in Meccania for generations +past has been based on quite a different ideal from that prevalent +in other parts of Europe. A Meccanian in the old days used to choose +a wife very much as he would choose a horse. She was thought of as +the mother of children; in fact, the Meccanian sociologists used to +maintain that this was one of the marks of their superiority over other +European nations. Conjugal affection was recognised only as a sort of +by-product of marriage. Of course they always pretended to cultivate a +kind of Romanticism because they wrote a lot of verse about the spring, +and moonlight and kisses and love-longing, but their Romanticism never +went beyond that. As the object of Meccanian sentiment, one person +would do just as well as another." + +"Our friend seems very much surprised at many things he finds in +Meccania," remarked Mr. Villele, "and my own countrymen, and more +especially my own countrywomen, only half believe the accounts they +read about this country, simply because they think human nature is the +same everywhere; but then they are ignorant of history. Civilisations +just as extraordinary have existed in ancient times, created through +the influence of a few dominant ideas. The Meccanians are a primitive +people with a mechanical culture. They have never been civilised, +because they have no conception of an individual soul. Consequently +they find it easy to devote themselves to a common purpose." + +The conversation went on for a long time. It was a warm summer evening +and we were sitting in the garden at the back of the hotel, otherwise +we should have been rather more guarded in our remarks. As we parted, +Mr. Villele repeated his advice to seek an interview with Mr. Kwang, +as he called him. (His name was Sz-ma-Kwang, but for convenience I +shall allude to him as Mr. Kwang.) A day or two later, I contrived to +get an interview with him, and although Conductor Lickrod was present +I soon discovered that Mr. Kwang and I were members of the same secret +society. He promised that I should see him again before long, and that +he would be happy to assist me in any way he could. He told Lickrod +that he had been doing his best, for the last five years, to induce +the Chinese Government to send more 'observers' to Meccania; but his +enthusiasm for Meccania had perhaps defeated its own object, as it +caused him to be mistrusted. His writings on Meccania were well known, +and it was thought that he was trying to proselytise. He spoke most +flatteringly of me to Lickrod, and said that, in view of the influence +I should have in my own country, it was well worth while giving me +every facility to see all I wished. He would guarantee that, under his +tutelage, I should soon learn to appreciate things from the right point +of view. + +Two days after this, I received a message to call on the Chief +Inspector of Foreigners. He received me most politely, and almost +apologised for not having had time to see me before. He had only just +learnt that I was a friend of the excellent Mr. Kwang. He said I should +be permitted to visit Mr. Kwang whenever I chose, and that I was now +at liberty to make use of the letters of introduction I had brought +with me to several persons in Meccania. It would not be necessary for +me to be accompanied by a 'conductor' every day. He would transfer me +to Class B, Stage II. Class B meant Foreign Observers staying not less +than six months; and Stage II. meant that they were permitted to submit +a plan each week showing how they proposed to spend the following +week; so that on the days which were occupied to the satisfaction of +the Inspector of Foreign Observers for the district, the services of a +'conductor' could be dispensed with. + +I did not know whether to avail myself of my new-found liberty or not. +For when I came to talk the matter over with the only person at hand, +Conductor Lickrod, I found that it was not very easy to prepare a plan +that would be accepted by the Authorities, unless I were prepared to +pursue some definite line of research. When I talked of taking a few +walks in the poorer quarters, calling in for a few lectures in the +University, hearing some concerts, and seeing some plays and other +amusements, looking round the museums,--a programme innocent enough +in all conscience,--Lickrod said no Inspector would sanction such +a miscellaneous time-table for an observer in Stage II. I was not +qualified to attend concerts; I had not yet received permission to +visit the theatre. Unless I were pursuing some particular study, I +could only visit the museums in company with a conductor. As for a +stroll through the poorer quarters, he failed to see the object of +that. On the whole, I decided to stick to Lickrod for another week at +any rate. I asked if I might see something of Education in Mecco. He +said certainly, if I desired to make a study of Meccanian Pedagogics +for a period of not less than four months. Otherwise it would not +be possible to enter any of the educational institutions. I could +get permission to read in the Great Library, if I would specify the +subject, or subjects, and show that I was qualified to pursue them. In +that way I could read up Meccanian Education. If I were not willing +to do this, he advised me to talk to Mr. Johnson, who was a keen and +capable student of Meccanian Pedagogics. + +I suggested investigating Meccanian political institutions, but similar +difficulties arose there. I could only study Meccanian politics if I +were registered as a specialist, and for that I should have to obtain +permission from the Department for Foreign Affairs as well as from the +Chief Inspector of Foreign Observers. He remarked, however, that in +his opinion there was little to study beyond what could be got from +books. The political system of Meccania was really simplicity itself +when once the fundamental principles had been grasped. I replied that +in most countries it took a foreigner rather a long time to understand +the views and policy of the many different groups and sections in the +representative assemblies. Each of them usually had their organisations +and their special point of view. He replied that in Meccania the State +itself was the only political organisation. + +"But," I said, "when your members of the National Council meet, do they +not fall into groups according to their views upon policy?" + +"They are grouped according to classes, of course," he answered. "Each +of the seven classes has the same number of representatives, and +there is no doubt a tendency for the representatives of each class +to consider things somewhat from the point of view of the interests +of their class. But the members have no meetings, except in the full +assembly and in the committees. Such group-meetings form no part +of the Constitution. We do not do things by halves. When the State +decided to have nothing to do with party government, it decided also +not to have anything to do with group government. There is no room +for such trifling in Meccania. So you see there is nothing for you to +investigate in this direction." + +"The classes themselves, then? Is there no body of opinion, no +collective political tradition or sentiment cultivated by the various +classes?" + +"You might find something there," said Lickrod, musing a little. "But +except in the shape of books I do not know how you would get at it." + +"But all books are censored, are they not?" I said. + +"Certainly, but how does that affect the question?" + +"Books would hardly give me a truthful idea of all the currents of +thought." + +"But surely you cannot suppose that the State would assist you in +trying to discover things which, by its deliberate action, it had +already thought it desirable to suppress?" he answered. "Besides," he +added, "such things belong rather to the pathology of politics. By the +way, you would find some useful matter in Doctor Squelcher's great work +on Political Pathology." + +"That is a new term to me," I said. + +"Doctor Squelcher's researches have proved invaluable to the Special +Medical Board in connection with the disease _Znednettlapseiwz_ +(Chronic tendency to Dissent) which you also had not heard of." + +In view of this conversation my attempt to investigate Meccanian +politics did not seem likely to meet with much success. + +Before seeing Mr. Kwang again, I received an invitation to dine with a +certain Industrial Director Blobber, one of the persons to whom I had +a letter of introduction. He lived in a very pleasant villa in the +Third Quarter, and as it was the first time I had had an opportunity +of seeing the interior of any private _ménage_, I was naturally rather +curious to observe everything in the house. The door was opened by +a servant in a livery of grey. The hall was spotlessly clean, and +decorated in yellow tones, to indicate the class to which my host +belonged. I was shown into what I took to be a drawing-room, the +prevailing tone of which was also yellow. The first thing that struck +me was the peculiar construction of the easy chairs in the room. They +were all fitted with mechanical contrivances which enabled them to +be adjusted in any position. At first I thought they were invalids' +chairs, but they were all alike. The other furniture suggested the +latest phases of Meccanian decorative Art, but it would be tedious +to describe it in detail. The frieze was decorated with a curious +geometrical design executed in the seven colours. There were silk +hangings which at first I took to be Chinese, but which I soon saw +were imitations. The carpet had the Imperial arms woven in the centre. +It seems it is one of the privileges of officials of the Third Class +to have the Imperial arms as a decoration on certain articles of +furniture; only members of the Second and First Classes may have their +own arms. The mantelpiece was large and clumsy. A bust of the reigning +Emperor stood on one side and one of Prince Mechow on the other. + +Mr. Blobber joined me in a few minutes. He was dressed in a lounge suit +of bright yellow with green buttons. (The buttons indicated that he had +been promoted from the Fourth Class.) He was polite, in a condescending +sort of way, and spoke to me as if I had been a child. He was a foot +taller than I am, and decidedly portly in build. He had a red face, a +rather lumpy nose and a large bald forehead. He wore spectacles and was +decorated with the 'Mechow' beard, which he not only stroked but combed +in my presence. + +After the first formal greetings, he said, "So you have come all the +way from the other side of the world to see our wonderful country. You +had all the countries in the world to choose from, and you had the good +sense to come to Meccania. You decided well, and I hope you have been +profiting by your stay." + +"Yes," I said; "I have seen a great many things to admire already." + +"For example?" he said. + +"The wonderful roof of your Great Central Station," I said. + +"Ah, yes unique, is it not? We have, of course, the finest railway +stations in the world, and the finest railway system too. But that is +only part of our industrial organisation." + +"You have indeed a wonderful industrial system," I said, "and no +industrial problem." + +"No industrial problem?" he replied. "We have a great many. We do not +produce half enough. Of course, compared with other countries, it may +seem that we are doing very well, but we are not satisfied." + +"I meant rather that you have no disturbances, no strikes, no Trade +Unionism or anything of that sort." + +"Of course, you cannot help thinking of what you have seen in other +countries. No, we have no time for nonsense of that kind. But I take +no interest in that sort of thing. I have enough to do with my work. +The chief Director of the Imperial Porcelain Factory is a busy man, I +assure you." + +At this moment Madame Blobber came in and I was introduced to her. She +was a great contrast to her husband in many ways. She was tall and +rather thin--at any rate for a Meccanian--and would have been graceful +but for a certain stiffness and coldness in her manner and bearing. She +had a pale face with cold blue eyes. Her mouth was rather large, and +her lips thin and flexible. While her husband's voice was leathery, +like that of most Meccanians, hers was thin and penetrating, but not +loud. We crossed into the dining-room. A butler in a chocolate-coloured +livery saw that all was in order, and left the room. Waiting was +unnecessary. The first dishes were on the table, where they were kept +hot by electricity, and others on the sideboard were afterwards handed +by a woman servant in a grey uniform. + +It was a rather silent meal. Mr. Blobber was much occupied with his +food, which he evidently enjoyed, and at a later stage he relapsed +into a sleepy condition. Madame Blobber then took the lead in the +conversation. She was evidently a very well-read woman, especially in +all matters relating to Art. I suspected she had no children and had +made herself a blue-stocking. She talked like a professor, and with +all the dogmatism of one. She said the Chinese had never had any true +knowledge of colour. They had merely hit upon some colours which were +pleasing to a crude taste. The Meccanians in fifty years had absorbed +all the knowledge the Chinese had ever possessed, and much more besides. + +I ventured to say that there were still some secrets of artistic +production in porcelain that foreigners had not discovered. She +laughed at the idea. The 'secrets,' she said, were the very things the +Meccanian experts had rejected as of no value. I might as well say that +the Chinese political constitution was a secret because the Meccanians +had not adopted it. When I suggested that scientific knowledge was not +a complete equipment for Art, and would not necessarily increase the +artistic powers of a nation, she said this was a mere superstition. Art +was not a mystery. Every work of art admitted of being analysed; the +laws of its production were ascertainable; and it could be reproduced +or modified in every conceivable way. + +I asked if the same were true of music. I had heard, I said, that +for nearly a hundred years even the Meccanians had produced no great +musician. + +"Another superstition," she declared. "The great musicians, as they +were called, were merely the pioneers of music. Their works were much +overrated in foreign countries. We have proved by analysis," she said, +"that they were merely groping for their effects. _We_ know what they +wanted to effect, and we have discovered how to get those effects. +Musical psychology was an unknown science a hundred years ago. Why, the +old composers had simply no means of testing the psychological effects +of their works by experiment." + +"I am afraid I am very ignorant of musical science," I said. "In fact, +I did not even know there was such a thing as a science of music." + +"What did you think music was?" she almost snapped. + +"Simply one of the Arts," I said. + +"There can be no art in the proper sense without a science." + +"But I thought you Europeans considered that in Sculpture, for example, +the Ancients had never been surpassed; and yet they had no science of +sculpture." + +"Their science was probably lost: but _we_ have recovered the +true science. The basis of all sculpture is accurate measurement. +Whatever has bulk, whatever occupies space, can be measured, if your +instruments are fine enough. Our instruments _are_ fine enough. We can +reproduce any statue ever made by any artist." + +"But that is only copying," I said. "How do you create?" + +"The process is a little more elaborate, but the principles are exactly +the same. Even the classical sculptors had models, had they not? Well, +our sculptors also use models; they pose them in thousands of different +positions until they have the attitude they want; they have instruments +to enable them to fix them in position, and the rest is merely accurate +measurement." + +"I should never have imagined that sculpture had been carried to such a +point," I remarked. "Is there much of it in Meccania?" + +"Not a great deal of the finer work. Accurate measurement is a slow and +costly business even with our improved instruments." + +"Tell me," I said,--"you see I am very ignorant of Art as understood in +Meccania,--has Literature been pursued by the same scientific methods?" + +"It depends upon what you mean by Literature," replied Madame Blobber. + +"Broadly speaking," I said, "I mean the art of expressing ideas in +language that satisfies one's sense of beauty." + +"All our professional writers go through a period of training in the +particular department they cultivate. For example, our writers of +history are very carefully trained, writers of scientific treatises +also." + +"But what of your novelists and poets?" I asked. + +"We do not specially encourage the writing of novels. All stories are +merely variations of a few themes: all the stories worth writing have +been written long ago. We print a certain number of the old novels, +and we employ a few specialists to 'vamp' up new stories from the old +materials, chiefly for the benefit of the lower classes. We Meccanians +never really took to novel-writing, except under foreign influence, and +that passed away long ago. The theme of almost all novels is domestic +life and individual passion: they treat of phases of thought and +feeling that our Culture tends more and more to make obsolete. We have +developed the Drama much more; in fact, the drama takes the place of +the novel with us." + +"I have heard something of your Drama from Dr. Dodderer," I said. + +"Indeed! Then you understand the fourfold treatment. That in itself +would explain why we have discarded the novel. We still keep up the +philosophical parable, which is a sort of link between the novel and +our modern drama." + +"I am afraid I should find it difficult to appreciate some of your +plays," I said; "_Uric Acid_, for instance." + +"That is only because our mental environment is in advance of the rest +of Europe. Physical science, including of course medical science, is +part of our mental furniture: we have assimilated whole masses of ideas +that are still unfamiliar to other peoples. Naturally our drama finds +its material in the affairs that interest us." + +"And Poetry?" I said. "Is Poetry still cultivated?" + +"Naturally! Most of our dramas are in poetry: our language lends +itself admirably; it is almost as easy to write poetry as prose in our +language." + +"But is there no lyrical poetry?" + +"Certainly; we utilise it as one of the means of cultivating the +Meccanian spirit, especially among the young. No poetry is published +unless it contributes to the uplifting of the Meccanian spirit." + +At this point Director Blobber woke up and proposed that we should +retire to his study for a glass of spirits and a cigar. Madame Blobber +left us, and for the next half-hour I did my best to keep Mr. Blobber +awake. But it was evident he wanted to go to bed, and by half-past nine +I left the house, without any desire to see either of my hosts again. + +Two days later I received another invitation, this time to dine with +an Under-Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. I had not +presented any letters of introduction to him. I could therefore only +suspect that this invitation was in some way due to Mr. Kwang. I went, +of course; but I could hardly help wondering what was in store for me. +Under-Secretary Count Krafft belonged to one of the great families and +wore the uniform of the Second Class, with a badge to indicate that he +was now in the Civil Service, although of course he had served as an +officer in the army. His wife was apparently dining elsewhere, for I +saw no sign of her, and we dined _tête-à-tête_ in a small apartment in +his large mansion in the Second Quarter. He was much more a man of the +world than the others I had met, and in his manners resembled the men +of good family whom I had met in Luniland. After a short preliminary +talk, about nothing in particular, he said he was sorry that he had not +learnt of my presence in Mecco when I first arrived, particularly as I +was a friend of Mr. Kwang. + +"The applications from foreigners for permission to travel in +Meccania," he said, by way of apology, "are not very numerous, and +they are always referred to me for my signature. Yours reached us +from Luniland, and was regarded as that of a mere globe-trotter. It +is a pity you did not give the name of your friend, Mr. Kwang, as a +reference. We think very highly of Mr. Kwang, and I should be pleased +to give special facilities to any of his friends. I don't suppose you +have been neglected," he added; "our officials have instructions to pay +attention to the comfort of all Foreign Observers, and I am sure we do +more for them than any Government I am acquainted with." + +We were by this time about half-way through dinner, and under its +influence I ventured upon a mild joke. + +"You do everything for them," I said, "except leave them alone." + +He took this in good part. + +"You have been in Luniland," he remarked, "where every one does what he +pleases. When you have spent as long a time here you will appreciate +the wisdom of our arrangements. No doubt it seems a little irksome at +first, and perhaps rather dull, especially as you have seen only the +mere routine aspects of the life of the lower and middle classes--I +use the old-fashioned terms, you see. But how else would you arrange +matters? We cannot invite all foreign visitors, indiscriminately, to +take part in our higher social life, and it would not be fair to our +own citizens to allow foreigners a greater liberty than we allow to +ourselves." + +"So you put us in a strait-jacket," I said, laughing, "because you have +to put your whole nation in a strait-jacket." + +"Our whole nation in a strait-jacket," he replied, with a smile. "So +that is how it strikes you, is it?" + +"Well, isn't it so?" I said. "Your children are sorted out while they +are at school, their play is turned into useful employment, their +careers are decided for them; hardly any of them rise out of their +original class. Then everybody is under the eye of the Time Department, +everybody is inspected and looked after from the cradle to the grave. +It is almost impossible to commit a real crime or to set up any +independent institution. There is, you must admit, a certain want of +freedom in your arrangements." + +"But of what people are you speaking?" said Count Krafft. "You seem to +have confined your attention to the lower classes. For them, in all +countries, something of a strait-jacket is needed surely. Certainly it +is for ours. We know our own people. When they are properly drilled and +led they do wonders, but left to themselves they have always relapsed +into laziness and barbarism, or else have burst out into anarchy and +revolutionary fury." + +"But what scope does your system allow for their energies?" I asked. +"Every aspect of life seems confined by your meticulous regulations." + +"That is an illusion," he replied. "You see, we are a highly +intellectual people and it is quite natural for us to formulate +regulations. Modern life is necessarily complex, and the chief +difference between us and other nations is that we recognise the +complexity and organise our activities accordingly. We are simply +in advance of other nations, that is all. Take a simple thing like +Railways. We organised our Railway system to suit our national +purposes instead of leaving them to commercial enterprise. Take the +Education of the people. The State took charge of it fifty years before +other nations recognised its vital importance. Take the question of +Public Health; even those States which prate about individual liberty +have had to follow in our wake and organise the medical service. +Besides, it is only by organising the activities of the lower classes +that the State can maintain its supremacy." + +"I see," I replied, "the strait-jacket is for the lower classes. I +thought it was a garment worn by everybody." + +"The expression was yours," he said, with an indulgent smile. "We +certainly do not regard it as a strait-jacket." + +"That is perhaps because the ruling classes do not wear it," I replied. + +"We do not recognise any classes as ruling classes," he said suavely. +"It is an obsolete expression." + +"But I thought you liked to recognise facts and call things by their +proper names," I replied. + +"Certainly we do," he answered. "But which are the ruling classes? The +Super-State is the supreme and only ruler in Meccania." + +"Even in a Super-State," I said, "I should have thought, from what you +have said, that some groups of persons really wielded the power of the +State." + +"Under the crude organisation of most foreign States that is quite +possible," answered Count Krafft; "but the essence of the Super-State +is that, in it, power cannot be exercised without authority, and only +these persons are authorised through whom the Super-State chooses to +express its will. It places everybody in such a position as enables +him to render the greatest service to the State that he is capable of +rendering. Consequently no fault can be found, by any class or section, +with the power exercised by any other class or section; because they +are merely the instruments of the State itself." + +"That sounds a very comfortable doctrine for those who happen to wield +the power," I said. "It leaves no room for any 'opposition.'" + +"The Super-State would not be the Super-State if it contained within it +any opposition," he replied. "You ought to read the speech of Prince +Mechow on the Super-State as the final expression of the Meccanian +spirit," he went on. "Foreigners are apt to confuse the Super-State +with an Autocracy. It is essentially different. In an autocracy of the +crude, old-fashioned type, an exterior power is visible, and your talk +of ruling classes would be appropriate there. In the Super-State all +the functions are so organised that the whole body politic acts as one +man. We educate the will of the component units in such a way that all +conflicting impulses are eradicated. After all, that was the ideal of +the Catholic Church. Prince Mechow applied the same principle when he +reformed our Educational system. A good Meccanian would no more seek to +violate the obligations laid upon him by the Super-State than a good +Catholic would seek to commit deadly sin." + +"Then there is no room for a Free Press in the Super-State," I remarked. + +He saw my point and replied, "A 'Free Press,' as you call it, would +be an anachronism. What necessity is there for it? Its function +has disappeared. It only existed during a brief historical phase +in the earlier development of the modern State. Our great Prince +Bludiron was the first to perceive its inconsistency with the line +of true development. Prince Mechow absorbed all the functions of the +independent professions, and among them those of the journalists, who +were always an element of weakness in the State." + +"But what, then, is the object of this complete Unity which, as far as +I can make out, the Super-State seems always to be aiming at?" I asked. + +"The object?" he replied, almost bored by my pertinacity. "Unity is the +law of all organic life. We are simply more advanced in our development +than other States, that is all." + +"Then it is not true that all this super-organisation is for the +purpose of fostering national power?" I said. + +"That is the old argument of the weak against the strong, the poor +against the rich, the ignorant against the educated. Every healthy +person is a strong person; the rich man is stronger than the poor man; +the educated man is stronger than the ignorant. The modern State, even +among our neighbours, is infinitely 'stronger' than the incoherent +political organisms of earlier times. It cannot help itself. Its +resources are enormously greater. How can the Super-State help being +strong? No State deliberately seeks to weaken itself, or deprive itself +of its natural force." Then, as if tired of the discussion into which +our conversation had led us, he said, "But these are all matters about +which you will learn much more from my friend the Professor of State +Science. I am afraid I have been dishing up one of his old lectures. +You will find this liqueur quite palatable." + +We then drifted on to more trivial topics. He said I had spent too +long among the petty officials, grubbing about with my Tour No. 4. I +ought to see something of better society. Unfortunately it was the dead +season just then, and I might have to wait a little time, but there +were still some dinners at the University. Some of the professors never +went out of Mecco and would be glad to entertain me. + +We parted on very good terms. His manner had been friendly, and if he +had done little besides expound Meccanian principles he had at any rate +not been dictatorial. I wondered whether he really believed in his +own plausible theories or whether he had been simply instructing the +Foreign Observer. + +When I saw Mr. Kwang a day or two afterwards--this time alone--he +greeted me cordially and said, "So things are improving?" + +"They promise to do so," I said, "but so far, all that has happened +has been a very tedious visit to Director Blobber and an academic +discussion with Count Krafft." + +"So you don't appreciate the honour of dining with an Under-Secretary +of the Super-State?" he said. "You have stayed too long in Luniland." + +"I am promised the privilege of seeing something of the best Meccanian +Society, but what I was more anxious to see was the worst Meccanian +Society." + +"They will take care you don't," he answered, laughing. + +"But why? In any other country one can associate with peasants or +vagabonds or artisans or tradesmen or business men." + +"You ought to know by this time--I am sure it has been explained to you +over and over again. You would gather false impressions, and you might +contaminate the delicate fruits of Meccanian Culture." + +"That is the theory I have heard _ad nauseam_. But there is nothing in +it." + +"Why not?" + +"Because by keeping us apart they arouse the suspicions of both." + +"Oh no, they may arouse _your_ suspicions, but the Meccanian knows +that what the State prescribes for him must be for his good. This is +the only country where theories are carried into practice. It is a +Super-State." + +"And you admire it? You have become a proselyte," I said jokingly. + +"Have you read my books yet?" he asked. + +"I saw one for the first time this week," I said. + +"Well?" + +"I recognise it as a masterpiece." + +He bowed and smiled. "From the President of the Kiang-su Literary +Society that is high praise indeed." + +"I am undecided whether to remain here longer," I said, "or to return +home, perhaps calling for a rest and a change to see my friends in +Lunopolis. I should like your advice." + +"Of course that depends upon circumstances. I do not yet understand +your difficulty or the circumstances." + +"Well," I said, "I came here prepared to stay perhaps a year, if I +liked the country, with the intention of obtaining general impressions, +and some definite information on matters in which I am interested; but +every Meccanian I have met is either a Government agent or a bore." + +"What, even Madame Blobber?" he interposed, smiling. + +"Even Madame Blobber," I said. "I am getting tired of it. I try all +sorts of means to gratify my perfectly innocent curiosity, and am +baffled every time. Now I am promised a sight of high Society, but I +expect they will show me what they want me to see and nothing they +don't want me to see." + +"Why should they show you what they don't want you to see?" he laughed. + +"I don't know how you stand it," I said. + +"I have had the virtue of patience," he said, "and patience has been +rewarded. I, too, am going home before long. I have got what I want." + +He made the signal that bound me to absolute secrecy, and told me what +his plans were. When I said that he ran a risk of being victimised +he shook his head. "I am not afraid," he said. "By the time I reach +home, every Meccanian agent in China will have been quietly deported. +And they will not come back again. We are not a Super-State, but our +country is not Idiotica." + +"And in the meantime," I said, "suppose I stay here another month or +so, what do you advise me to do?" + +"Oh, just amuse yourself as well as you can," he said. + +"Amuse myself! In Meccania?" + +"Yes; it is not worth while trying now to do anything else. You will +find out nothing new--nothing that I have not already found out. It +takes ten years to penetrate beneath the surface here, even with my +methods," he said. "But I have got what I want." + +"And how am I to amuse myself?" + +"Accept all the invitations you get, keep your ears open and use your +own considerable powers of reflection. By way of relief, come and talk +to me whenever you want." + +I followed Sz-ma-Kwang's advice: I gave up all thought of investigating +either Meccanian Politics, or 'social problems,' or anything of the +kind. I thought I should probably get better information at second +hand from Mr. Kwang than I could get at first hand for myself, in the +short time that I was prepared to stay, and I am satisfied now that I +decided rightly.... I saw Lickrod almost daily, and went with him to a +number of places, museums, the great library, industrial exhibitions, +manufactories and so forth. We spent a day or two looking at examples +of Meccanian architecture, which was more interesting from the +engineering point of view than from the artistic. I began to receive +invitations to several houses, chiefly of high officials in the Civil +Service and one or two members of the higher bourgeoisie. + +In the meantime I had some interesting conversation with my friends, +Mr. Johnson and Mr. Villele, as we sat in the garden after dinner. I +had never yet asked Mr. Johnson why he was pursuing what I could not +help thinking was the distasteful study of Meccanian Pedagogics, but +as Lickrod had recommended me to talk to Mr. Johnson about Meccanian +education the question came up naturally. I put it to him quite frankly. + +"You are what I should describe as an Anti-Meccanian by temperament," +I said, "and it seems very odd that you should be studying Meccanian +Pedagogics of all things in the world." + +"It is because I am an Anti-Meccanian, as you put it, that I am +doing so," he replied. "You see in Luniland we never do things +thoroughly--thank God!--and we have no pedagogical system. But every +now and then a sort of movement arises in favour of some reform or +other. For a long time Meccanian education was out of court; people +would hear of nothing that savoured of Meccania, good or bad. Then +there was a revival of interest, and societies were started to promote +what they called Education on a scientific basis--by which they meant, +not the study of science, but Meccanian education. As Professor of +Education in one of our smaller Universities I was obliged to take some +line or other, and the more I studied Meccanian Education from books, +the less I liked it. So I came to equip myself with a better knowledge +of the whole thing than the cranks who have taken it up." + +"I suppose you find some things worth copying," I suggested, "in a +field so wide, especially seeing that they have applied psychological +science to methods of study?" + +"Oh yes, there are certain pedagogical tricks and dodges that are +decidedly clever. In fact, if the human race were a race of clever +insects, the Meccanian system of education would be almost perfect. +The pupils store up knowledge as bees store honey, and they learn to +perform their functions, as members of an organisation, with wonderful +accuracy. I cannot help thinking sometimes that Meccania is a society +of clever insects." + +"Exactly," struck in Mr. Villele. "There are the soldier ants, and the +slave ants, and the official ants, and the egg-producing ants. We ought +to call Meccania the Super-Insect-State, eh?" + +"Yes; the land of the Super-Insects," said Johnson. "No person in +Meccania, certainly no child, is ever looked upon as an 'end in +itself'; he is simply one of a community of ants." + +"Of course," I said, "to be quite fair, we cannot consider anybody +strictly as an end in himself, even in Luniland." + +"Theoretically that is so," replied Johnson, "but in practice it +makes all the difference in the world whether you regard a man as an +individual soul, or as a cell in an organism or a wheel in a machine." + +"Why do you Lunilanders and Francarians, if I may ask such a large +question, allow yourselves to be influenced at all by what is done in +Meccania? There is so little intercourse between the countries that it +hardly seems worth while having any at all," I said. + +"Because in both countries there are still many people who regard +the Meccanians not as Super-Insects, but as human beings," answered +Johnson. "And there is always, too, the ultimate possibility of +conflict. If they were on another planet it would not matter, providing +they could invent no means of communicating with us. In itself +Meccanian education is of little interest, except, of course, as +education in the insect world might be interesting, or perhaps as a +branch of pedagogical pathology or psychological pathology." + +"In effect," interrupted Mr. Villele, "it all comes back to what Mr. +Johnson was saying a few nights ago, that the key to the whole polity +of Meccania is military power. Meccanian education is merely a means to +that end, just as the Time Department, and every other institution--and +the absence of certain other institutions like the Press, for +example--is. The Super-State is the grand instrument of Militarism." + +"Is it not possible," I said, "that the real key to the Super-State is +the desire of the ruling classes to keep themselves in power?" + +"But the two things go together," answered Villele. "The Meccanian +maxim is that 'The State must be strong within in order to be strong +without.'" + +"And is not that true doctrine?" I said, wondering how they would +answer the argument. + +"To a certain extent," answered Johnson cautiously. "But where are +their enemies? Why should they want all this 'Super-Strength'?" + +"They say they are surrounded by unfriendly nations," I replied. + +"So they are," answered Villele, "but they have done their best to +make them unfriendly. If you knock a man down, and trample on him, and +rob him into the bargain, you can hardly expect him to be a friendly +neighbour next day." + +"We started by talking about education," I remarked, "but we have very +soon got into a discussion about Militarism--somehow we seem to get to +that no matter what point we start from." + +"And with very good reason," said Villele. "There used to be a saying +that all roads lead to Rome. In Meccania all roads lead to Militarism. +You who are not faced by the problem it presents may regard it as an +obsession, but a man who refuses to admit the plainest evidence is also +the victim of an obsession." + +"And you think the evidence is unmistakable?" I said. + +"For what purpose does the Meccanian Parliament--if it can be called +a Parliament--surrender its control over taxation? For what purpose +does the Government conceal its expenditure upon army and navy? For +what purpose does it destroy the freedom of the Press, and freedom of +speech? For what purpose does the Government keep every person under +supervision? For what purpose does it control all production?" + +"I cannot answer these questions," I said; "but what evidence is there +that the Meccanian system of education is designed as part of the +scheme of Militarism?" + +"The evidence is abundant," answered Johnson, "but it is not so plain +as to be unmistakable. If you see one of our elaborate pieces of +modern machinery, a printing-machine or a spinning-machine, you will +find that it contains a thousand separate contrivances, and unless +you are an expert you will not be able to perceive that every part +is absolutely necessary to the performance of the simple function of +printing or spinning. Yet that is the fact. It is just the same with +the Meccanian educational machine. Its chief purpose, according to +the Meccanian theory, is to enable the citizen--or, as Villele and +I might say, the Super-Insect--to perform his functions as a member +of the Super-Insect community. But the chief end of the Super-Insect +State is Power. The Meccanians say so themselves. Anyhow, we can easily +see for ourselves that their system of education fits in exactly with +Militarism. It makes men efficient for the purposes required of them +by the Super-State; it makes them not only docile and obedient, but +actively devoted to the interests, not of themselves individually, but +of what they are taught to regard as something more important, namely, +the Super-State; it fosters the superstition which makes possible such +an incredible custom as Villele has told you of; it keeps them ignorant +of all other ideals of civilisation." + +"All that may be true," I replied. "It may very well be that the +system of education does favour Militarism, but it may not have been +deliberately designed to that end. It has been put to me," I added, +"that all this elaborate organisation, including education, is part of +the inevitable tendency of things in the modern world, and that the +Meccanians are only doing a little in advance of other people what they +will all do sooner or later." + +"That won't do at all," interposed Villele. "They cannot have it both +ways. What becomes of the genius of Prince Mechow if it is all an +inevitable tendency? They tell us other nations are not clever enough, +or not far-seeing enough, or not strong-willed enough, to produce +such a system. These reforms had to be introduced in the teeth of +opposition. Other nations have not adopted them and will not adopt +them except under the pressure of fear. It is Militarism alone that is +strong enough to impose such a system." + +"But," said I, "I find it difficult to believe that any civilisation, +even Meccanian, can be really the result of the domination of a single +idea. Not even the communities of the ancient world were so simple in +their principles." + +"That fact tells in favour of our contention," answered Villele. + +"How so?" I said. + +"Why, you admit the natural tendency of all civilised peoples towards +diversity of aims. The more highly developed, the more diversified. If, +therefore, you find a people becoming less diversified, subordinating +all individual wills to the will of the State, you must suspect some +extraordinary force. You would not deny the fact that individual +liberty has been suppressed?" + +"No," I said, "I do not deny that." + +"But you think the Super-State has such an interest in the tender plant +of the individual souls of its children, their moral and spiritual and +physical life, that it is merely a meticulous grandmother trying to +prepare them all for a better world, eh?" + +I laughed. + +"No, that won't do. Only two things are strong enough to suppress the +spirit of liberty: one is superstition calling itself religion; the +other is Militarism." + +"If it were less well done," resumed Johnson, "it would be easier +to detect. But it is diabolically well done. Who but the Meccanians +would think it worth while to control the whole teaching of history +for the sake of cultivating Militarism? In most countries anybody +may write history, although very few people read it. Here only the +official historians may write: only the books prescribed by the State +may be read. And all the people while they are at school and college +must read it. In this way they create a powerful tradition. One need +not laugh at the idea of State historians. They have done their work +too well for that. Their falsification of history is not a clumsy +affair of inventing fairy tales. It is scientific falsification. +They utilise every fact that can tell against, or discredit, other +nations, and every fact about their own people which can raise their +national self-esteem. The method is not new, for you may say that all +historians are biased. But in other countries the bias of one historian +is counterbalanced by the bias of others. The _method_ is not new but +the _system_ is. As an example, take their treatment of a well-known +Luniland statesman of the beginning of the last century--and this +is a fairly harmless instance. He was undoubtedly a single-minded, +public-spirited man, a patriot who was also a good European, for he did +as much as any one man to save Europe from a military tyranny. But he +shared many of the current ideas of his age and lived according to its +customs. In _Meccanian_ history all we are told of him is that he drank +heavily, gambled, persecuted ignorant and misguided labourers, bribed +the people's representatives, enriched capitalists and landlords by his +fiscal system, and displayed his ignorance of finance by inventing a +fallacious Sinking Fund that any schoolboy could see through." + +"Mr. Johnson is putting the case much too mildly," interposed +Villele. "There are in the 'reports' issued by the Government on all +sorts of matters, but particularly with regard to foreign affairs, +falsifications of fact of the most barefaced character. Now the +writers of the school and college histories quote very extensively +from these official reports, implying always that the statements are +true. Further than this, you know, but not perhaps as well as we do, +that in countries where speech is free and the Press is free there +are any number of libellous writers who vilify their opponents in a +shameless fashion. In Luniland in particular, if my friend will pardon +my saying so, there are enthusiasts for some particular cause who have +no sense whatever of proportion. For instance, to hear some of the +so-called Temperance advocates you would imagine that the Lunilanders +were a nation of drunkards, wife-beaters, seducers, abandoned wretches +of every kind. To listen to their Socialist fanatics you would +imagine that every working man was a down-trodden slave. To listen to +their anti-vivisectionists you would imagine that the whole medical +profession spent its leisure in the sport of torturing animals. To +listen to some of the priests you would think the whole nation was sunk +in vice. To listen to the anti-priests you would think the priests +were a tribe of grasping hypocrites, and so on and so on. Now you will +find Meccanian histories, and works on the social and political life of +foreign nations, full of quotations from such writers." + +"As I said at the outset," remarked Johnson, "this may seem a little +thing in itself, but it is symptomatic and characteristic. Look at an +entirely different aspect of the system. The whole teaching profession +is honeycombed with sycophancy. Every teacher is a spy upon every +other. Every one tries to show his zeal, and gain some promotion, by +a display of the Meccanian spirit. As you know, there are no private +schools. There is not a single independent teacher in the whole +country. It is in the Universities even more than in the schools that +sycophancy runs riot." + +"That may be perfectly true," I said, "but would you not get this +disease of sycophancy wherever you have a bureaucracy, quite apart from +Militarism? Suppose there were no army at all, but suppose that the +State were the sole employer and controller of every person and thing, +you might still have all the petty tyranny and sycophancy that you +describe." + +"But there is a difference," said Johnson. "Under a mere bureaucracy +it is still possible for the large groups of workers to combine, and +very effectually, to safeguard their interests; especially if at the +same time there is a real parliamentary system. Indeed, many years ago +one of the strongest arguments brought forward in Luniland against any +large extension of State employment was that the employees, through +their trade combinations, would be able to exert political pressure, +and rather exploit the State than be exploited by it. No, I maintain +that a military autocracy without a bureaucracy may be brutal and +tyrannical, in a spasmodic sort of way; but it is loose-jointed and +clumsy: a bureaucracy apart from a military control of the State may be +meddlesome and irritating; but it is only when you get the two combined +that the people are bound hand and foot. Anyhow, I cannot conceive of +the whole teaching profession, including the highest as well as the +lowest branches, being so completely enslaved as it is here, without +there being a driving power at the back of the bureaucratic machine, +such as only Militarism can supply in our times--for religion is out of +the question." + +"Well, now, is there any other sort of evidence," I said, "that the +educational system is inspired by Militarism? So far the case is 'not +proven.'" + +"The cultivation of 'the Meccanian spirit,' which is one of the prime +aims of all the teaching, points at any rate in the same direction." + +"But the Meccanian spirit is only another name for patriotism, is it +not?" I said. + +"Your scepticism," remarked Villele, "would almost make one suppose +you were becoming a convert to Meccanianism." + +"Not at all," I said. "I have tried to get firsthand information on +these matters and I have failed. Here I am, listening to you who are +avowedly, if I may say so in your presence, anti-Meccanians." They both +nodded assent. "Would it not be foolish of me to accept your views +without at any rate sifting the evidence as fully as I am able? It has +this advantage, I shall be much more likely to become convinced of the +correctness of your opinions if I find that you meet the hypothetical +objections I raise than if I merely listen to your views." + +"The Meccanian spirit is another name for patriotism," said Johnson; +"but it is Meccanian patriotism. Patriotism is not a substitute for +Ethics in the rest of Europe, nor was it in Meccania two centuries ago. +Absolute obedience to the State is definitely inculcated here. No form +of resistance is possible. Resistance is never dreamt of; the Meccanian +spirit implies active co-operation with the Super-State, not passive +obedience only but reverence and devotion. And remember that the +Super-State when you probe under the surface _is the Second Class, the +Military Caste_." + +"But do not all States inculcate obedience to themselves?" I said. + +"No," replied Johnson bluntly. "They may inculcate obedience to +the laws for the time being; it is only Churches claiming Divine +inspiration that arrogate to themselves infallibility, and demand +unconditional obedience. In the rest of Europe the State is one of the +organs--a most necessary and important organ--of the community: here, +the State or the Super-State is the Divinity in which society lives and +moves and has its being. It is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent." + +"Admitting all you say about the deliberate policy of the Super-State," +I answered, "is it not strange that a hundred millions of people +submit themselves to it, and that even outside Meccania there are many +advocates of Meccanian principles?" + +"Tyrannies have flourished in the world in every age," replied Johnson, +"because there is something even worse than Tyranny. To escape a plague +a man will take refuge in a prison. Anarchy, such as that which broke +out in Idiotica some fifty years ago, was a godsend to the rulers +of Meccania. They persuaded the public that there was a choice only +between the Super-State and Anarchy or Bolshevism as it was then +called. We know that is false. Liberty may be attacked by an open +enemy or by a secret and loathsome disease; but that is no reason for +surrendering either to the one or the other." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AN ACADEMIC DISCUSSION + + +It was some days after this conversation with my friends at the hotel +that I was present at a dinner-party given by the President of Mecco +University. There were about thirty guests, so that at table a general +conversation was almost impossible; I could hear only what was said +by those close to me. I was seated between a member of the diplomatic +corps and a general. General Wolf, a benevolent-looking old gentleman +with a large, coarse face and a double chin, seemed rather disappointed +that I could not discuss with him the Higher Mathematics. He deplored +the neglect of Mathematics in Meccania. He admitted that unless a +person had a mathematical brain it was useless to attempt to make +him a mathematician; but he said the Eugenics section of the Health +Department was not sufficiently alive to the importance of improving +the mathematical stock. He railed very bitterly against a member of the +Eugenics Board who had tried to get authority to improve the supply +of artists. Happily the Board had turned down his proposals. Count +Hardflogg, who wore the Mechow whisker and an eyeglass, and frowned +fiercely at everything one said to him, was full of a recent report by +the experts in the Industrial Psychology section of the Department of +Industry and Commerce. It seems they had recommended a shortening of +hours for the members of the Sixth and Fifth Classes in a number of +provincial towns, to bring them more on a level with the same class of +workers in Mecco itself. He said it was the thin end of the wedge; that +they ought not to have reported until experiments had been made with +a different diet: he blamed the Eugenics Section, too, for not being +able to produce a tougher strain of workers. Reduction of working hours +should not be resorted to, he maintained, until every other expedient +had been tried: it was so very difficult to increase them afterwards. +Besides, in the Strenuous Month, it had been proved over and over again +that the men could easily stand a longer working day without physical +injury. + +"And what is the Strenuous Month?" I asked. + +"Oh, of course," he said, "you have not studied our industrial system +as a factor of military organisation. There is a very good account of +it in Mr. Kwang's _Triumphs of Meccanian Culture_. Briefly it is this. +Every year, but not always in the same month, the signal is given for +the Strenuous Month to begin. The workmen then work at top speed, and +for as many hours a day as the Industrial Psychologists determine, for +thirty days consecutively. It is excellent training, and incidentally +has a very good effect on the output for the other months of the year. +The men are so glad when it is over that, unconsciously, they work +better for the rest of the year." + +"But I should have thought they would be so fatigued that you would +lose as much as you gain, or more perhaps," I said. + +"Oh no," he answered; "they are allowed one day's complete rest, which +they must spend in bed; their diet is arranged, both during the time +and for a month after. They must go to bed for two hours extra every +night for the following month. The effect is most beneficial. They like +it too, on the whole, for they get paid for all the extra product--that +is to say, it is added to their pension fund." + +"But I thought the pension fund was so calculated," I said, "that it +tallies exactly with what is required for the support of each man from +the time he ceases to be able to work." + +"Certainly," he replied. "After fifty-five most of our men work an +hour a day less every two years, with variations according to their +capacity, as tested by the medical examinations." + +"Then how do they benefit," I asked, "by the product of the strenuous +month, if it is only added to their pension and not paid at the time?" + +"If it is added to the pension fund," he replied, "it is obvious that +they must benefit." + +I did not pursue the matter further. He asked me if I had been to the +Annual Medical Exhibition. I said I had not heard of it, and did not +suppose I should receive permission to see it, as I was not altogether +well qualified to understand it. He said it was most interesting. He +was not a medical man himself, of course; but as an officer in the army +he had had to get some acquaintance with physiology. + +"The medical menagerie gets more interesting every year," he said. + +"The medical menagerie!" I exclaimed. "Whatever is that?" + +"It is a wonderful collection of animals, not only domestic but wild +animals too, upon which experiments have been carried out. There are +goats with sheep's legs. There are cows with horses' hearts, and dogs +with only hind-legs, and pigs without livers--oh, all sorts of things. +The funniest is a pig with a tiger's skin." + +"And what is the object of it all?" I said. + +"Oh, just a regular part of medical research. The most valuable +experiments are those with bacilli, of course; but only the experts can +understand these, as a rule." + +"But it is not safe to infer that the results of experiments on animals +will be applicable to human beings," I said. + +"Of course not, without further verification; but the Special Medical +Board have ample powers to carry out research." + +"What, upon human beings?" I exclaimed. + +"People do not always know when they are being experimented upon," he +remarked significantly. "Besides, if a man is already suffering from an +incurable disease, what does it matter? Of course, we use anæsthetics, +wherever possible at least; that goes without saying." + +After dinner we drank wine for a little time, seated in little groups +after the manner of a custom in some of the colleges in Luniland. +Here, instead of being placed with the two gentlemen who had been my +neighbours at table, I was one of a group of four, the others being two +professors and a high official in the Sociological Department. One of +the professors was Secret Councillor Sikofantis-Sauer, an Economist; +the other was Church Councillor Muhgubb-Slimey, a Theologian. We +talked of indifferent matters for some time until the High Official +left us, when the idea occurred to me to try whether the Economist +would enlighten me upon the subject of the ultimate destination of the +phenomenal production of the Meccanian economic organisation. + +I remarked that I had never seen in any country so few signs of +discontent as in Meccania, and I asked if this was due to the great +wealth that must necessarily be produced by the efficiency of the +methods of production. Professor Sikofantis-Sauer, the Economist, said +that my question betrayed that I was not acquainted with the Meccanian +System of Ethics. I wondered why the Professor of Economics should +begin talking of Ethics. He went on, "Social discontent was never +really due to lack of wealth. Properly speaking, it has no relation +to material wealth at all. This has been proved up to the hilt--if it +needed any proof--by our researches in Economic and Social History. +In a nutshell the proof is this. What was called poverty in the early +nineteenth century would have been considered affluence in, let us +say, the fifth or even the tenth century. The whole idea of wealth is +subjective. Now anyone knows that, where wealth is allowed to become +the main objective of the social activities of the people, the desire +for individual wealth is insatiable. The notion that you can ever +reach a state of contentment, by increasing the wealth of the people, +is one of the greatest fallacies that even the economists of Luniland +ever entertained--and that is saying a good deal. Consequently, if we +have succeeded in eradicating discontent, it has not been by pursuing +the mirage of a popular El Dorado. No, you must replace the insane +desire for the gratification of individual indulgence by a conception +of a truer kind of well-being. If the individual once grasps the fact +that in himself, and by himself, he is little better than an arboreal +ape, and that all he possesses, all he can possess, is the gift of the +State--which gives him nourishment, language, ideas, knowledge; which +trains him to use his powers, such as they are--he will assume an +entirely different attitude. Our system of education, far more than +our system of production, is responsible for the eradication of social +and of every other kind of discontent." + +"Then I suppose," I said, "the lower classes, as we sometimes call them +abroad--your Fifth and Sixth and Seventh Classes, for example--never +inquire whether they receive what they consider a fair share of the +national product?" + +Professor Sauer laughed aloud. "Pardon me," he said, "but you remind me +of a story I used to hear when I was a boy, of a man who had slept in +some cave or den for fifty years, or was it a century, and woke up to +find a different world. Such a question belongs to the buried fossils +of economic theory. Who can say what is a fair share? You might as well +ask whether one musical composition is more just than another." + +"Well, perhaps you can tell me this," I said. "Considering the +superiority of your methods of production, I should have expected +to find a much higher standard of individual wealth, or comfort, or +leisure--you know what I mean--among not only the lower classes, but +all classes. I cannot help wondering what becomes of all the surplus." + +"We have all enough for our needs," he said, "and the requirements of +the State are of far more importance than the gratification of the +tastes of individuals." + +"May I put in a word?" said Professor Slimey the Theologian. "In the +modern world, the productive powers of man have outstripped his other +powers. It is one of the mysteries of the ways of Providence. The +discipline of labour is necessary for the development of the soul, but +the devil has sought to seduce mankind by teaching him how to produce +more than is good for him, in the hope that he will become corrupted by +luxury. In other countries that corruption has already taken place. The +strenuous life is the only life consistent with moral health. Under the +Divine guidance our ruling classes--I am old-fashioned enough to use +that expression, for in the eyes of God there are no First or Second +Classes--have preserved the sense of duty; they are a discipline unto +themselves. God's blessings have been multiplied unto them, and they +have not forgotten the Divine injunctions. We cannot expect that the +masses of mankind can discipline themselves, and for them the only +safety lies in well-regulated and well-directed labour. There can be no +greater curse for a people than idleness and luxury. Fortunately, we +have been able to preserve them from the evil effects of superabundant +wealth." + +"I have sometimes wondered," I said, "whether the requirements of the +State in regard to what is called National Defence were so great as to +account for the surplus product." + +"Undoubtedly the demands of the army are very considerable," replied +Sauer. "You must remember that we have to protect ourselves against +the whole world, so to speak." + +"But no estimate has been made, I suppose, of what is required for such +things?" I said. + +"That is a matter of high policy," replied Sauer. "It would be +impossible to estimate for it as a separate item in National +expenditure. There again you betray your Lunilandish conceptions +of National finance. No doubt they keep up this practice still in +Luniland, but such a notion belongs to a bygone age. The State must be +able to mobilise all its resources; that is the only logical policy, if +you mean to conduct the affairs of the nation successfully, not only in +time of war but in time of peace. Your asking how much National wealth +is devoted to Defence is like asking a man how much of his dinner is +devoted to sustaining his religion." + +"But is it not important to be able to form some approximate idea, from +the economic point of view?" I said. "For, in one sense, it represents +so much waste." + +"So much waste?" exclaimed Professor Slimey indignantly; "to what +nobler purpose could the energies of the people be directed than to the +defence of their Emperor, their God and their Fatherland?" + +"I did not mean that it might not be necessary," I replied, "but it is +like a man who has to build a dyke against floods. It may be necessary, +but if he could be sure that the floods would not come, he could +devote his energies to something more profitable." + +Professor Slimey shook his head solemnly. "No, no," he said, "that +is another of the fallacies current among foreign peoples. We should +sink to their level if our people had not ever before them the duty +of serving God by upholding the power of Meccania, his chosen nation. +Indeed, I often think what a dispensation of Providence it is that it +involves so much labour. Imagine the state of the common people if they +could maintain themselves by the aid of a few hours' work a day!" + +"Would there not be so much more scope for the spread of your Culture?" +I said. "In fact, I had been given to understand that your Culture +had reached such a high level that you could easily dispense with the +discipline of long hours of labour." + +"Our Culture," he replied, speaking with authority, "is not an +individual culture at all. It must be understood as a unity. It +includes this very discipline of which you seem to think so lightly. It +includes the discipline of all classes. The monks of the Middle Ages +knew that idleness would undermine even their ideal of life, for they +knew that life is a discipline. Our National Culture is the nearest +approach to the Christian ideal that any nation has ever put into +practice." + +"I cannot, of course, speak with confidence upon such a question," +I replied, "but I thought the Christian ideal was the development +of the individual soul, whereas the Meccanian ideal--I speak under +correction--implies the elimination of the individual soul: everything +must be sacrificed to the realisation of the glory of the Super-State." + +"The Super-State," answered Slimey, "is itself the Great Soul of +Meccania; it includes all the individual souls. What you call the +sacrifice of the individual soul is no real sacrifice; it is merely a +losing oneself to find oneself in the larger soul of Meccania. And just +as the individual soul may inflict suffering on itself for the sake +of higher self-realisation, so the Super-Soul of Meccania may inflict +suffering on the individual souls within itself for the sake of the +higher self-realisation. The soul of Meccania is as wonderful in the +spiritual world as the material manifestation of Meccania is in the +material world." + +"I am sure you are right," I said, "although it never struck me in that +light before. The soul of Meccania is the most wonderful phenomenon in +the history of the world." + +"No," replied Professor Slimey, with his solemn air, "it is not +phenomenon: it is the thing in itself." Here he paused to drink a +liqueur. Then he went on, "It is purely spiritual. It has existed +from eternity and has become clothed and manifest through the outward +and inward development of the Super-State. You foreigners see only +the outward forms, which are merely symbols. It is the Super-Soul +of Meccania that is destined to absorb the world of spirit, as the +Super-State is destined to conquer the material world." + +Professor Sikofantis-Sauer gazed with his fishy eyes, as if he had +heard all this before. "Some day," I said, "I should like to hear +more of the Super-Soul, but while I have the privilege of talking to +both of you I should like to learn some things which probably only a +Professor of Economics can tell me. You, as Meccanians, will pardon +me, I know, for seeking to acquire knowledge." They nodded assent. "I +know something of the economic ideas of other nations in Europe," I +said, "but your conditions are so different that I am quite at sea with +regard to the economic doctrines of Meccania. What Economic Laws are +there within the Super-State?" + +"A very profound question," answered Sauer, "and yet the answer +is simple. What you have studied in other countries is merely the +economics of free exchange, as carried on among peoples of a low +culture. Our Economics have hardly anything in common. Some of the laws +of large-scale production are similar, but beyond that, our science +rests upon other principles. Our science is based upon Meccanian +Ethics. The laws of demand have quite a different meaning with us. The +State determines the whole character and volume of demand, and entirely +upon ethical grounds." + +"And distribution too, I suppose?" + +"Naturally. That is implied in the regulation of demand. The State +determines what each class may spend, and in so doing determines both +demand and distribution." + +"But I was under the impression that the well-to-do--the Third and +higher classes generally--had much more latitude than the lower classes +in these respects," I said. + +"Quite so. That again is part of our national ethical system. Just +as our Economics are National Economics, so our Ethics are National +Ethics. The higher functions discharged by the higher classes demand +a higher degree and quality of consumption. You will find some most +interesting researches upon this subject in the reports of the +Sociological Department. Dr. Greasey's monograph on the _Sociological +Function of the Third Class_ is also a masterpiece in its way." + +"And the Second Class?" I said. "They will require still more latitude?" + +"The Second Class, like the First," replied Sauer, "stands outside +and above the purely Economic aspect of Society. Their function +is to determine what the National-Social Structure shall be. Our +business as economists is to provide ways and means. No doubt they are +unconsciously guided, or shall I say inspired, by the workings of the +Meccanian spirit, of which they are the highest depositaries; and all +the organs of the State are at their service, to give effect to their +interpretation of the will of the Super-State." + +"You do not find any tendency on their part, I suppose, to make large +demands for themselves in the shape of what we non-Meccanians persist +in calling 'wealth'?" I said. + +"Such a question," answered Sauer, "does not admit of any answer, +because it involves a conception of wealth which we have entirely +discarded. The Second Class--and with them, of course, I include +the First Class, for they are indivisible in their functions and +spirit--exists for the Super-State. Whatever they consume is consumed +in the discharge of the highest duties of the State. Whatever is +required by them is simply part of the necessary expenditure of the +State. But although no limit is set--and who would presume to set any +limit?--it is remarkable how little of this expenditure assumes the +form of personal consumption. For the sake of the dignity of the State, +their life must be conducted--collectively--on a magnificent scale. +But, as you know, a dignitary like the Pope may live in the finest +palace in Europe and yet be a man of simple tastes and habits; so +our noble class--and no nobler class has ever existed--may represent +the glory of the Super-State and yet be the embodiment of the purest +virtues." + +"I would go further," said Professor Slimey at this point. "Our noble +Second Class--and of course I associate the First Class with them, for +in reality they are all one--are the true Protectors of the State: +they are the guardians of us all. Have you not noticed throughout +all history that, after a successful war, the people are ready to +bestow all manner of honours and benefits upon those who have saved +their country? Well, I say those who have given us all the glory and +honour, ay, and the spoils of victory too, without going to war, are as +deserving of the rewards as if they had come back from a long campaign. +We cannot honour them too much. Besides, it is good for the people to +feel that there is a class upon whom they can bestow the natural warmth +of their affection and their admiration. The desire to bow down in +reverent admiration, the desire to do honour to the worthiest of our +race, is a God-given impulse, and should be encouraged, not checked. +Our people feel this. We do not bargain with them as to what share +they shall have: we do not lay aside a tenth, or some such absurd +proportion: we say, take our wealth, take whatever we can give, it is +all yours, you are the fathers of the State, you are our saviours." + +"And you think this spirit prevails throughout Meccania?" I said. + +"I am perfectly sure of it," replied Slimey. "All our greatest artists +offer their works freely to the members of the Second Class; all the +most gifted scientists compete for places in the colleges for the +training of the Military; the services of our best writers are at +their disposal: we withhold nothing from them." + +"Then it is true, I gather, that the custom I have heard of, by which +wives and daughters of other classes, if they are thought worthy by +the Eugenics Board, are--shall I say--dedicated to the service of the +Second Class, arouses no feeling of indignation?" + +"Indignation!" exclaimed the Professor of Theology. "It is a duty and a +privilege." + +"But is it not contrary to the principles of the Christian religion? +I confess I speak with some hesitation, as I do not belong to the +Christian communion; but I have been told by some of the strictest +of the Christian sects in other countries that such a practice is a +violation of the Christian code." + +Professor Slimey refreshed himself, and I could see another long +speech was coming. "That is a sample of the uncharitable criticism +which is constantly being aimed at us, by those who cloak their envy +and spite under the name of Christian doctrine. Yet they are utterly +inconsistent with themselves. They admit the Doctrine of Development, +yet they deny its application, except to suit their own purposes. Take +Usury, for example. Christian doctrine, as expounded by the Fathers, +regarded usury as sinful. Yet usury is practised in all so-called +Christian countries without protest. Why? Because their system of +Economics cannot work without it. I might give other illustrations, +but that will suffice. Now Ethics must undergo development if there +is to be progress in morals. The supreme well-being of the State +gives the key to all progress in Ethics. If the custom you refer to +were due to private concupiscence, we--and I speak for all Meccanian +theologians--would be the first to denounce it. The sin of adultery is +a spiritual sin, and exists only where carnal desire is the motive. +Every theologian knows that the same physical act may be performed +in conformity with the behests of the Mosaic law, or in direct +disobedience of it. The one is a sacred duty, the other is sin. It is +like the alleged obligation to speak the truth upon all occasions. +There is no such obligation. We must look to the end in view. Where the +supreme needs of the State demand concealment or even deception, the +private ethical impulse to speak the truth to an enemy is superseded +by the greater obligation to the State. The virtue of Chastity is not +violated; it is raised, if I may say so, to its transcendent degree, +by an act of sacrifice which implies the surrender of merely private +virtue to the interests of the State; for you must remember that the +State as developed by the Meccanian spirit is the highest embodiment of +the will of God upon earth." + +"We seem to have been carried rather a long way from Meccanian +Economics," I remarked, turning to Professor Sauer by way of apology +for having carried on the conversation for so long with Professor +Slimey. + +"Not at all," he answered. "Meccanian Ethics and Meccanian Economics +cannot be separated." + +"It must make the science of Economics much more difficult in one +sense; but, on the other hand, what a relief it must be to have got rid +of all those old troublesome theories of value!" I observed. + +"We have not got rid of theories of value," answered Sauer; "they too +have only been developed. The basis of our theory of value is to be +found in Meccanian Ethics." + +"In other words," I said, laughing, "the value of a pair of boots in +Meccania is determined by the theologians!" + +"How do you mean?" asked Sauer. + +"I mean that the remuneration of an artisan in the Fifth Class will +purchase so many pairs of boots; and the remuneration of the artisan is +determined by what the State thinks good for him; and what the State +thinks good for him is determined by Meccanian Ethics; and I suppose +the theologians determine the system of Meccanian Ethics." + +At that point our conversation was interrupted by an announcement that +the toast of the evening would be drunk. This was the signal for the +party to break up. We drank to the success of the Meccanian Empire and +the confounding of all its enemies, and I went home to the hotel to +find a message from Kwang asking me to see him the following day. I +spent the morning as usual with Lickrod, who was initiating me into +the method of using the catalogues in the Great Library of Mecco. It +was indeed a marvel of 'librarianship.' There was a bibliography upon +every conceivable subject. There was a complete catalogue of every +book according to author, and another according to subject. There was +a complete catalogue of the books issued in each separate year for the +last twenty-five years. There were courses of study with brief notes +upon all the books. Lickrod was in his element. As we came away, about +lunch-time, I said to him, "Suppose I want to take back with me, when I +leave the country, a dozen books to read for pure pleasure, what would +you recommend me to take?" + +"Upon what subject?" he asked. + +"Upon anything, no matter what. What I am thinking of are books which +are just works of art in themselves, pieces of pure literature either +in poetry or prose." + +"A book must be about something," he said; "it must fall into some +category or other." + +"Is there no imaginative literature?" I asked. + +"Oh, certainly, we have scores of treatises on the imagination." + +"But I mean books that are the work of the imagination." + +"I see. You want them for your children, perhaps: they would be found +in the juvenile departments; fables and parables, and that sort of +thing." + +"No, I mean books without any serious purpose, but for grown-up people. +I seem to remember such works in the old Meccanian literature." + +"How very odd," answered Lickrod, "that you should express a wish to +see works of that kind." + +"Why?" I asked, in some surprise. + +"Because we find works of that kind in great demand in the asylums for +the mentally afflicted. You see, we treat the inmates as humanely as +possible, and our pathologists tell us that they cannot read the books +by modern authors. We have to let them read for a few hours a day, and +they beg, really rather piteously, for the old books. It is always +old books they ask for. I suppose in a way they are cases of a kind +of arrested development. At any rate, they have not been able to keep +pace with the developments of our ideas. Doctor Barm reported only last +year that the only books that seem to have a soothing effect on these +patients are those written, oh, two hundred years ago, and of the very +kind you probably have in mind." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE LATEST INSTITUTION + + +I went to see Kwang in the afternoon, and found him in a state +of suppressed excitement--at least I could not help having that +impression. After a little time, when I had given him some brief +account of my experience at the dinner-party, he said, "I told you the +other day that I had some thoughts of returning home. I shall be off in +a fortnight." + +"This is rather sudden," I said; "have you received bad news from home?" + +"No," he said; "I told you I had practically completed my work. The +fact is, that things are beginning to develop rather fast here. I see +signs of preparation for a 'forward move.'" + +"Oh!" I said. "Not another war?" + +"Not necessarily," he replied. "Light your cigar and I will tell you +all you need know." I did so and waited. + +"The next war," he said, "will be a chemical war." + +"A chemical war? What on earth is that?" I said. + +"They have been experimenting for thirty years and more, and they think +they have discovered what they want. It may take them several years to +perfect their arrangements; it will certainly take them a year or two, +and may take six or seven. But one never knows. I suppose you never +heard of the three days' war, did you?" + +"No," I replied; "what was it?" + +"The State of Lugrabia, with which the Meccanians are in permanent +alliance, refused to ratify a new treaty that seemed unfavourable +to them in some respects, and feeling ran so high that there was +some talk in Lugrabia of putting an end to the alliance. Without any +declaration of war the Meccanian Government dispatched a small fleet +of air-vessels, planted about a dozen chemical 'Distributors,' as they +are euphemistically called, and warned the Lugrabian State that, unless +their terms were complied with, the twelve chief cities would be wiped +out. The war was over in three days. And to this day the outside world +has never heard of the event." + +"How can it have been kept secret?" I said. + +"Ask rather how could it leak out," replied Kwang. + +"Anyhow," he went on, "they think they have got something that will +enable them to defeat any combination. There is no question in dispute +with any foreign power. The political 'horizon' is perfectly clear. +But it is time for me to go home." + +"Do you think this idea of theirs is really dangerous?" I asked. + +"Undoubtedly." + +"But can it not be counteracted in any way?" + +"If it can't it will be a bad look out for the rest of us," he said. + +"But do you see any means of meeting it?" + +"There is, if I can get the Governments to act. But they are at a +tremendous disadvantage." + +"Why?" I said. + +"Because everything they do will be proclaimed from the housetops. +However, what I wanted to do immediately was to arrange with you about +leaving the country. Of course you will stay as long as you like, but I +should advise you not to stay too long. I shall not announce that I am +going away permanently, and I shall leave nearly all my things here to +avoid suspicion; but within three months they will know that I am not +likely to come back, and then they may want to look _you_ up if you are +still here." + +"I shall go as soon as you think it is advisable for me to go," I +said. "The only thing I wanted to make sure of was the thing you have +apparently found out. Once or twice since I came I have felt sceptical +about the Machiavellian designs attributed to the Meccanian Government +by all these neighbours. Naturally they see a robber in every bush. I +have sometimes been inclined to think the Meccanians like organising +just for the love of it, but you are satisfied that there is more in it +than that." + +"My dear child," said Kwang, "there are some people who can't see a +stone wall till they knock their heads against it, and who can't tell +that a mad bull is dangerous till he tosses them in the air; and from +what I learn you are almost as bad," he said, laughing. "You have +been here, how long? Four or five months at any rate. Well, you have +a very unsuspicious mind. But I am going to give you an interesting +experience. I am going to take you to see a friend of mine who has +been a prisoner in an asylum for the mentally afflicted for the last +fifteen years. I enjoy the privilege of talking to him alone, and I +have permission to take you. I won't stop to explain how I obtained the +privilege, but it has been very useful." + +In another quarter of an hour we were rolling along in Kwang's +motor-car to a place about forty miles outside Mecco. The roads were +as smooth as glass and the car made no noise, so we could converse +without raising our voices. Kwang observed that if I wished to stay in +Meccania there was only one way of getting behind the screen, and that +was to become a convert. The rôle of a convert, however, was becoming +more difficult to play. He had lately begun to suspect that he was +being watched, or at any rate that one or two people at the Foreign +Office were jealous of his privileges. Some years ago, the Head of +the Foreign Office had given him practically the free run of the +country, and had utilised him as a sort of missionary of Meccania. His +books on the _Triumphs of Meccanian Culture_ and on _Meccania's World +Mission_ had been given the widest possible publicity, both in Meccania +and abroad. He still enjoyed all his privileges, for Count Krafft +was a powerful friend at the Foreign Office. Consequently the Police +Department had orders not to interfere with him, and he had free passes +for almost everything. But another Under-Secretary had lately begun to +question the wisdom of his colleague, not openly but secretly, and was +trying to get hold of evidence. + +"They lie so wonderfully and so systematically themselves," said +Kwang, "that they naturally suspect everybody else of lying too. But +this suspicion very often defeats its own object. Still, they can't +expect to have a monopoly of lying. I have seen official pamphlets for +circulation in the departments, on the methods of testing the _bona +fides_ of foreigners; and elaborate rules for finding out whether +foreign Governments are trying to deceive them." + +"And you have satisfied all their tests?" I said. + +"Absolutely," replied Kwang, with a smile; "but I am not yet out of the +country, and I don't propose to risk it much longer, or I may not be +able to get out. However," he added, "there is not the slightest risk +in taking you to visit the Asylum for _Znednettlapseiwz_. I have made +a special study of these asylums, of which there are only about half a +dozen in the whole country. I got permission some years ago. I had been +discussing with Count Krafft the difficulty of dealing with a certain +class of persons, to be found in every modern State, who act as a focus +for all opposition. They cling obstinately to certain ethical and +political doctrines quite out of harmony with those of the Super-State, +and profess to regard Bureaucracy and Militarism as inconsistent +with liberty. He told me a good deal about the methods employed, and +suggested that I should visit one of these asylums. I did so and asked +permission to make a study of a few individual cases. Eventually I +wrote a monograph on the case of the very man we are going to see, and +although it was never published Count Krafft was much pleased with +it. The man we shall see, Mr. Stillman, represents a type that has +almost entirely disappeared from Meccania. He has had a remarkable +history. At one time, for two or three years, he was the chief +political opponent of the great Prince Mechow. He belongs to an older +generation altogether, a generation older than his contemporaries, if +you understand what I mean. Nearly all his contemporaries are 'Good +Meccanians,' but there are still the remnants of the opposition left. +When Stillman was a boy there were left alive only a handful of men +who had stood up to Prince Bludiron. Most of these former opponents +had emigrated, some to Transatlantica, some to Luniland and elsewhere. +The rest ultimately died out. Stillman attempted to create a new +opposition, but it was a hopeless task. If you want to understand the +political history of Meccania you cannot do better than get him to talk +to you if he is in the mood." + +We approached the asylum, which stood upon a lonely moorland, far away +from any village. The gates were guarded by a single sentinel. As we +walked along the path, after leaving our car in a yard near the lodge, +we passed little groups of men working upon patches of garden. They +looked up eagerly as we passed, and then turned back to their tasks. I +noticed they were dressed in ordinary black clothes. It struck me at +once, because I had become so used to seeing everybody in the familiar +colours of one of the classes. On my mentioning this to Kwang, he said, +"That is perfectly in accordance with the Meccanian system. These men +now belong to no class; they are shut off from the rest of the world, +and their only chance of returning to it is for them to renounce, +formally and absolutely, all the errors of which they have been guilty." + +"And do many of them 'recant'?" I asked. + +"Very few. Most of them do not want to return to the ordinary life of +Meccania, but occasionally the desire to be with some member of their +family proves too strong for them. They are nearly all old people here +now. None of the younger generation are attacked by the disease, and +the authorities hope"--he smiled sardonically--"that in a few years the +disease will have disappeared entirely." + +We first went to call upon Hospital-Governor Canting. He was in +his office, which was comfortably furnished in very characteristic +Meccanian taste. The chairs were all adjustable, and covered with 'Art' +tapestry. The large table had huge legs like swollen pillars--they +were really made of thin cast-iron. There were the usual large +portraits of the Emperor and Empress, and busts of Prince Mechow and +Prince Bludiron. There was the usual large bookcase, full of volumes +of reports bound in leather-substitute, and stamped with the arms of +Meccania. Governor Canting wore the green uniform of the Fourth Class, +with various silver facings and buttons, and a collar of the special +kind worn by all the clergy of the Meccanian Church. He was writing at +his table when we were shown in. He greeted Kwang almost effusively and +bowed to me, with the usual Meccanian attitudes, as I was introduced. + +"So you have brought your friend to see our system of treatment," +he said, smiling. "It is very unusual for us to receive visits at +all,"--here he turned to me,--"but Mr. Kwang is quite a privileged +person in Meccania. If only there were more people like Mr. Kwang we +should not be so much misunderstood, and the victims of so much envy, +malice and uncharitableness. Still, it is a sad experience for you." + +"Do many of the patients suffer acutely?" I asked, hardly knowing what +was the right cue. + +"Oh, I did not mean that. No, no, _they_ don't suffer much. But it is +sad to think that men who might have been worthy citizens, some of +them as writers, some as teachers, some even as doctors--men who might +have served the State in a hundred ways--are wasting their talents and +hindering the spread of our Culture." + +"It must be a terrible affliction," I said. "Do they not sometimes feel +it themselves in their moments of clearness of mind?" + +He looked at me, a little in doubt as to my meaning, but my face must +have reassured him. "The strange thing about this disease," he said, +"is that the patients suffer no pain directly from it; and you must +remember that in practically all cases--just as in alcoholism--it is +self-induced. There may be some little hereditary tendency, but the +disease itself is certainly not inherited, and can be counteracted +in its early stages by prophylactic treatment, as we have now fully +demonstrated. As I say, it is self-induced, and it is therefore very +difficult, even for a Christian minister who realises his duties to the +State as well as to the Church, always to feel charitably towards these +patients. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact of moral responsibility, +and when I think of the obstinacy of these men I am tempted to lose +patience. And their conceit! To presume that they--a few hundreds of +them at most--know better than all the wise and loyal statesmen of +Meccania, better than all the experts, better than all the millions of +loyal citizens. But it is when I see what a poor miserable handful of +men they are after all that I can find in my heart to pity them." + +"And how is my special case?" asked Kwang, when he could get a word in. + +"Just the same," said Canting--"just the same. You will find him +perhaps a little weaker. I will not go with you. You seem to succeed +best with him by yourself; and no doubt you have instructed your friend +as to the peculiar nature of his malady." + +"Yes," said Kwang; "my friend has read my little monograph, and he +thought the case so remarkable that with the consent and approval of +Dr. Narrowman I brought him to see Patient Stillman in the flesh. I +shall get him to talk a little." + +"Good," replied Canting; "but you will never cure him. You were quite +right in what you once said--Prevention is the only cure. If we had +developed our prophylactic system earlier it might have saved him, but +he is too old now." + +After some preliminary formalities we were taken by one of the warders, +who was evidently acquainted with Kwang through his many previous +visits, to a room at the end of a long corridor, where we found Mr. +Stillman, who greeted us cordially but with old-fashioned dignity. +His manner struck me as being very different from that of the modern +Meccanians. Clearly he belonged to another generation. The room, which +was about twenty feet by ten, was a bed-sitting-room, furnished with +one of those contrivances which becomes a bed by night and a false +cupboard by day. There was an easy chair with the usual mechanical +adjustments, a table, two bedroom chairs, a small sideboard and +cupboard, a few other articles of necessity and a shelf of books. +There were no bolts or bars or chains--the room suggested a hospital +rather than a prison. Mr. Stillman was a fine old man, and, although +growing feeble in body, was still vigorous in mind. When seated he held +his head erect, and looked us frankly in the face, but with a wistful +expression. He had evidently been a good-looking man, but his face +bore traces of long suffering. Except that he did not pace about his +cell, he reminded me of a caged lion. One of the orderlies brought in a +tray of tea for the three of us. Mr. Stillman said what a pleasure it +was to see a human being now and then, and, turning to me, explained +that, except to Mr. Kwang and the officials and the doctors, he had +not spoken to anyone for five years. "Until five years ago," he said, +"I was able to do a little work in the gardens, and could converse +with my fellow-prisoners--patients, I mean--but only about our work, +and in the presence of a warder. Still, that was some relief. Indeed, +it was a great relief, for every one of the patients is a kind of +brother--otherwise he would not be here. There are only a few hundreds +of us left--perhaps a couple of thousands altogether--I don't know. We +have about two hundred here, and this is one of the largest hospitals, +or prisons, in the country--so at least I was told." + +"But why is conversation not permitted?" I said. "To be deprived of +conversation must surely aggravate any tendency to mental instability." + +"The theory is that communication with our fellow-patients would hinder +our recovery," he replied, with a significant smile. + +"But what are you supposed to be suffering from?" I said. + +"A mental disease known only to the Government of Meccania," he +answered. "You must have heard of it. Mr. Kwang knows all about it. +The real name for it is 'heresy,' but they call it _Znednettlapseiwz_. +I suffer very badly from it and am incurable--at least I hope so," he +added bitterly. + +At this point Kwang announced that he wished to visit another patient, +and that he would leave us together so that I might have a long talk +undisturbed. It was evident that he occupied a privileged position, or +he would never have been able to have such access to these patients. +When he had left the room I did my best to get Mr. Stillman to talk, +but I hardly knew how to induce him to tell me his story. I said, "I +suppose you are not treated badly, apart from this prohibition about +conversing with your fellow-sufferers?" + +"We are fed with the exact amount of food we require," he replied; "we +are clothed--and thank God we do not wear any of the seven uniforms; +and we are decently warm, except sometimes in winter when, I suppose, +something goes wrong with the apparatus." + +"What?" I said. "Can any apparatus go wrong in Meccania?" + +"Well," he said, "perhaps the fact is that I want to be warmer than the +experts think is necessary. Yes; that is probably the explanation." + +"And for the rest," I said. "Have you no occupation? How do you spend +the time?" + +"In trying to preserve the last remains of my sanity," he answered. + +"And by what means?" I asked gently. + +"Chiefly by prayer and meditation," he replied after a short pause. + +He used the old-fashioned expressions which I had not heard from the +lips of any Meccanian before. "But it is difficult," he went on, "to +keep one's faith, cut off from one's fellow-believers." + +"But they allow you to attend religious services surely?" I said. + +"The Meccanian State Church keeps a chaplain here, and holds a service +every day which is attended by all the officials and a few of the +patients; but you have heard the maxim _Cujus regio ejus religio_, +have you not?" I nodded. "It has acquired a new significance during the +last fifty years. I have not attended any of the services since they +ceased to be compulsory about ten years ago." + +"That sounds very remarkable," I said. + +"What does?" + +"It is the first time I have heard of anything _ceasing_ to be +compulsory in Meccania," I said. + +"The fact was that they discovered it had a very bad effect upon the +disease. My chief relief now is reading, which is permitted for three +hours a day." + +"And you are allowed to choose your own books?" + +"As a concession to our mental infirmity," he said, "we have been +granted the privilege of reading some of the old authors. It came about +in this way. Dr. Weakling, who is in charge of this hospital, is the +son of one of my oldest friends--a man who spent several years in this +place as a patient. He came in about the same time as I did, but his +health gave way and he 'recanted,' or, as they say, he 'recovered.' +But while he was here he begged to have a few of the old books to save +him from going mad. The authorities refused to let him have any books +except those specially provided, and I believe it was this that made +him give way. Anyhow he used his influence with his son afterwards, +for his son had become one of the leading medical specialists, to +obtain for the older patients at any rate a number of the books of +the old literature which nobody else wanted to read. He only got +the concession through on the ground that it was a psychological +experiment. He has had to write a report on the experiment every year +since its introduction. That is our greatest positive privilege, but we +have a few negative privileges." + +"What do you mean exactly?" I said. + +"We have no compulsory attendances; we have no forms to fill up; we are +not required to keep a diary; we are not required to read the _Monthly +Gazette of Instructions_, nor play any part in State ceremonies. +Indeed, if I could talk to my friends who are here I should have little +to complain of on the score of personal comfort." + +"Then why do you speak of the difficulty of preserving your sanity?" I +said, rather thoughtlessly, I am afraid. + +"Why do you think I am here at all?" he replied, for the first time +speaking fiercely. "I could have my liberty to-day if I chose, could +I not?" Then he went on, not angrily but more bitterly, "Did I say I +could have my liberty? No; that is not true. I could go out of here +tomorrow, but I should not be at liberty. I stay here, because here I +am only a prisoner--outside I should be a slave. How long have you been +in Meccania did you say?" + +"About five months," I said. + +"And you are free to go back to your own country?" + +"Certainly," I said--"at least, I hope so." + +"Then go as soon as you can. This is no fit place for human beings. +It is a community of slaves, who do not even know they are slaves +because they have never tasted liberty, ruled over by a caste of +super-criminals who have turned crime into a science." + +"I have not heard the ruling classes called criminals before," I said. +"I am not sure that I understand what you mean." + +"Then you must have been woefully taken in by all this hocus-pocus of +law and constitution and patriotism. The whole place is one gigantic +prison, and either the people themselves are criminals, or those who +put them there must be. There is such a thing as legalised crime. Crime +is not merely the breaking of a statute. Murder and rape are crimes, +statute or no statute." + +"But what are the crimes these rulers of Meccania have committed?" I +said. + +"In all civilised countries," he replied passionately, "if you steal +from a man, if you violate his wife or his daughters, if you kidnap +his children, you are a criminal and outlawed from all decent society. +These rulers of ours have done worse than that. They have robbed us of +everything; we have nothing of our own. They feed us, clothe us, house +us--oh no, there is no poverty--every beast of burden in the country is +provided with stall and fodder--ay, and harness too; they measure us, +weigh us, doctor us, instruct us, drill us, breed from us, experiment +on us, protect us, pension us and bury us. Nay, that is not the end; +they dissect us and analyse us and use our carcasses for the benefit +of Science and the Super-State. I called them a nation. They are not +a nation; they are an 'organism.' You have been here five months, +you say. You have seen a lot of spectacles, no doubt. You have seen +buildings, institutions, organisations, systems, machinery for this and +machinery for that, but you have not seen a single human being--unless +you have visited our prisons and asylums. You have not been allowed to +talk to anybody except 'authorised persons.' You have been instructed +by officials. You have read books selected by the Super-State, and +written by the Super-State. You have seen plays selected by the +Super-State, and heard music selected by the Super-State, and seen +pictures selected by the Super-State, and no doubt heard sermons +preached by the Super-State." + +"Your friend tells me other nations are still free. What drives me +to the verge of madness is to think that we, who once were free, are +enslaved by bonds of our own making. Can you wonder, after what you +have seen--a whole nation consenting to be slaves if only they may make +other nations slaves too--that I ask myself sometimes whether this is +a real lunatic asylum; whether I am here because I have these terrible +hallucinations; whether all that I think has happened this last fifty +years is just a figment of my brain, and that really, if I could only +see it, the world is just as it used to be when I was a boy?" + +Presently he became calmer and began to tell me something of his life +story. + +"Until I was about twelve," he said, "I lived with my parents in one +of the old-fashioned parts of Meccania. My father was a well-to-do +merchant who had travelled a good deal. He was something of a scholar +too, and took interest in art and archæology, and as I, who was his +youngest son, gave signs of similar tastes, he took me abroad with +him several times. This made a break in my schooling, and although +I probably learnt more from these travels, especially as I had the +companionship of my father, it was not easy to fit me into the regular +system again. So my father decided to send me to some relatives who had +settled in Luniland, and a few years after, when I was ready to go to +the University of Bridgeford, he and my mother came to live for a few +years in Luniland." + +"Up to that time I had taken no interest in politics, but I can +distinctly recall now how my father used to lament over the way things +were tending. He said it was becoming almost impossible to remain a +good citizen. He had always thought himself a sane and sober person, +not given to quarrelling, but he found it impossible to attach himself +to any of the political parties or cliques in Meccania. He was not a +follower of Spotts, who, he said, was a kind of inverted Bludiron, +but he disliked still more the politicians and so-called statesmen +who were preaching the Meccanian spirit as a new gospel. I think it +was his growing uneasiness with politics that caused him to drift +gradually into the position of a voluntary exile. But we were very +happy. Every year or so I used to go over to Meccania, and in spite +of my cosmopolitan education I retained a strong affection for the +land of my birth. I was full of its old traditions, and not even the +peaceful charms of Bridgeford--an island that seemed like a vision of +Utopia--could stifle my passion for the pine forests of Bergerland, our +old home in Meccania. When I had finished my course at Bridgeford I had +to decide whether I would return to serve my two years in the army. It +was a great worry to my mother that I had not, like my brothers, passed +the Meccanian examination which reduced the time of service to one +year, but I made light of the matter; and although, after my life in +Luniland, it was very distasteful to me, I went through my two years as +cheerfully as I could. I learnt a great deal from it. I was nicknamed +'the Lunilander,' and was unpopular because I did not share the silly +enthusiasm and boasting which at that time was prevalent. I had got out +of touch with the youthful life of Meccania, and these two years opened +my eyes. But I will not dwell on that time. At the end of it I joined +my father, who had remained in Luniland when he was not travelling. It +was time to choose a career. I had little taste for business and I was +determined that I would not become an official of any kind, and when I +proposed to devote some years to following up the work that my father +had planned for himself, but had never been able to carry out, he gave +his consent. We had just planned a long archæological tour in Francaria +when the great war broke out." + +"I shall never forget the state of agitation into which this +catastrophe threw him. I was about to return to Meccania in obedience +to the instruction I had received, when he begged me not to go back +at any cost. He had spent two sleepless nights, and his agony of mind +was terrible. What he had feared for years had come to pass. He had +thought it would be somehow avoided. He had been watching events very +closely for the few weeks before the crisis. The day that war was +declared between Luniland and Meccania, he declared his intention of +going back to Meccania; but not to join in the madness of his country. +He could not do much; probably he would not be allowed to do anything, +but at any rate he would fight for sanity and right. My mother was +eager to go back, but for other reasons. She burst out into a frenzy +of abuse of Luniland. She repeated all the lies that I had heard in +Meccania about the country in which she had been perfectly happy for +years. She called me a coward for not being with my brothers. She said +she had always been against my having come to Luniland. I knew she +was hysterical, but I could hardly believe my ears. My father stood +firm. He insisted on my staying. He said he should regard himself as +a murderer if he consented to my going to fight for what he knew to +be a monstrous crime. What my mother had said, although of course +it pained me, did more to convince me that my father was right than +anything he could have said. I had seen already the accounts of the +Meccanian crowds shouting for war in a frenzy of martial pride. I had +seen also the streets of Lunopolis, full of serious faces, awed by the +thought of war and yet never wavering a moment. I had heard my own +countrymen jeering at the craven spirit of the Lunilanders. It was a +cruel position to be in, and in the years that followed I was tempted +sometimes to regret that I had not gone back and sought peace of mind +in a soldier's grave. But in my heart I was so revolted by the thought +that all this horror was the work of my countrymen that I grew ashamed +of being a Meccanian. For the first two years my father wrote to me +constantly, and if I had had any doubts of the rightness of my conduct, +what he said would have sustained me. + +"But that is a long story. All I need say is that it was in those years +of suffering and horror that I discovered where my duty lay, and took +a vow to follow it. When the war ended I would go back, and if I were +the only man left in Meccania I would fight for truth and liberty. It +was a quixotic vow, but I was a young man of thirty." + +"Well, I came back. I had to wait three years, even after the war was +over, until there was an amnesty for such as I. And when I did set foot +here again, the cause I had come to fight for was already lost. But I +did not know it." + +"My father had already spent two years in prison, and was only released +in time to die. But through him I knew that there were still some +left who felt as we did. The idea of Liberty had been lost. Although +the war had been over three years, everybody was still under martial +law. The military professed that the country was in danger of a +revolution. The newspapers preached the necessity for everybody to +be organised to repair the ravages of the war. The socialists said +the economic revolution, so long predicted, was accomplishing itself. +For a few years we could make no headway. Then things began to settle +down a little. The fever seemed to be spending itself. That was the +moment when Prince Mechow became Chief Minister of the Interior. Some +semblance of constitutional government was restored, and we began +to hope for better things. We started a newspaper, and established +societies in all the big towns. What we were out for was, first and +foremost, political liberty. We had three or four brilliant writers +and speakers. But the only papers that would take our articles were a +few of the socialist papers which wrote leaders criticising our ideas +as 'unscientific,' and the only people who came to our meetings were +socialists who used them to speechify about the economic revolution. +Then Mechow's reforms began. All education was completely controlled. +The Press was bought up, and gradually suppressed. The right of public +meeting was curtailed, till it disappeared altogether. The censorship +of printing was made complete. New regulations accumulated year by +year, and month by month. The seven classes were established. And all +the time the socialists went on prating about the economic revolution. +Prince Mechow was doing their work, they said. All they would have to +do would be to step into his place when he had completed it. A few +hundreds of us, scattered in various parts of the country, tried to +keep up the struggle. We got into prison several times, but nobody +cared a straw for our 'Luniland' party, as they called it. I fell +ill, and then I tried to go abroad for a rest. I was arrested for an +alleged plot, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment and degradation +to the Fifth Class! After that I was forbidden to communicate with my +children, for fear of infecting them. As they grew up in their teens, +even they grew to look on me as an eccentric. Need I say more? The +time came when I had either to recant from all my convictions, or be +treated as a person of unsound mind. I came here determined to hold +out to the last. What I feared--and I think I feared nothing else--was +that some of their diabolical medical experiments would undermine my +will. Fortunately I was sent here, where after a time Dr. Weakling--who +is at any rate not a scoundrel--has done his best to protect me. He +represents a type we have in Meccania--perhaps the most common type of +all--a man who conforms to the system because he finds himself in it +and part of it, but who is not actively wicked, and who has some good +nature left. He regards me and those like me as simple-minded fanatics +who are harmless so long as we are only few in number." + +"So you think your cause is lost?" I said. + +"No," he said quickly, "our cause is not lost. It is Meccania that is +lost." + +"But is there no hope even for Meccania?" + +"There is no hope from within: hope can only come from without." + +"That is a hard saying. How can it come from without?" + +"Fifty years ago our neighbours--not our enemies, our neighbours--fought +for liberty: they set themselves free, but they did not set us free. +They said they would make the world safe for democracy." + +"Well, did they not do so?" I asked. + +He was quiet for a minute. "I wonder if they did," he said. "I wonder +if either Liberty or Democracy can be safe so long as there is a +Super-State. If a tragedy like this can happen to one nation it can +happen to the whole world. Meccania will never become free whilst the +Meccanian Spirit remains alive; and Liberty will never be secure until +the whole world is free." + +He sank back in his chair looking very tired after the excitement of +our interview. At this moment a gong sounded. It was the signal for +supper, and he got up mechanically to wash his hands in a bowl by the +side of his bed-cupboard. Kwang then knocked at the door and came to +bid good-bye. We left our 'patient' preparing to cross the quadrangle. +It was growing dark, and we could see the lights in the great hall +of the hospital. We were just about to walk back to the lodge when +Kwang suddenly said, "Come with me." I followed him through a long +corridor, and he led the way to a door which opened into the great +dining-hall. There we saw, seated at long tables, nearly two hundred +old men. They had just begun their evening meal. There was a strange +silence, oppressive and almost sinister. There were no servants to wait +on them, but some of the more active men handed the dishes, while a +couple of warders in green uniforms seemed to be patrolling the room +for the purpose of checking all attempts at conversation. But there +was not even a whisper. The men did not look sullen or rebellious. +Perhaps they had got past that. I could see them interchanging looks +of friendly greeting across the room, and no doubt from long practice +they had learnt to convey some simple messages by a glance or a smile; +but there was an air of quiet courtesy about them, so different from +what I had learnt to know as the typical Meccanian manner. I looked +at the faces of those nearest me. Many of them might have sat for the +portraits of senators, or have served as models for some of those +old-fashioned paintings of assemblies of statesmen and ambassadors +of bygone centuries. The surroundings were not altogether wanting in +dignity. The hall was large and lofty, and although bare--save for +the inevitable Imperial portraits which greet one everywhere--was +not unsightly. Indeed, the absence of ornament was a relief from the +perpetual reminders of the latest phases of Meccanian Art. Governor +Canting had apparently been present at the beginning of the meal and +was going off to his own dinner. He joined us for a moment. "Do you +notice," he said, "how ungracious their expression is? One would think +they had never come under the influence of the Meccanian spirit. +Their whole bearing is characteristic of their attitude of studied +disloyalty. They never even give the salute. It has not been insisted +upon because--you know ..." and he tapped his forehead. "They would not +meet with such consideration in many countries, but we have respect +for age and infirmity, no matter what provocation we receive." + +We left the hall and took our leave of Hospital Governor Canting. As +we started on our journey it was dark, and a cool wind was blowing. We +could see before us the dull glow of light from the great city in the +distance. The road was perfect, and we passed few vehicles of any kind; +but we were stopped three times by the police, to whom Kwang showed his +pass. As we entered the outer ring we slowed down. Although we were +passing along the main roadway only a few persons were to be seen. +Here and there near the outer ring in the Business Quarter we passed +a few groups of workmen marching in step on their way home. The trams +were running, but there was no bustle and no excitement. No boisterous +groups of young people filled the streets. No sound of laughter or +merry-making fell on our ears. Where were the people? Where were those +crowds that make the streets of all cities in the world a spectacle to +move the heart of man? This might have been a plague-stricken town, a +city of the dead. We passed the great station with its lofty dome, and +the towering pile of the Time Department with the great clock above +it. As we slowly swung through the great square, the colossal statue +of Prince Mechow looked down on us like the grim and menacing image of +this city of Power. Was he some evil Genius that had slain the souls of +men, leaving their bodies only to inhabit the vast prison-house he had +built for them with their own labour? + +Kwang put me down at the hotel and drove on to his rooms. I found a +letter awaiting me. It was from my father, and contained painful news. +My mother was seriously ill and he urged me to return at once. Early +next morning I hastened to visit Kwang--first obtaining permission from +the manager of the hotel--and found him busy with his preparations +also. "Don't be alarmed," he said, when I told him my news. "Your +mother is not ill. At any rate we do not know that she is. I thought +it was time for you to be getting ready to leave this country and I +had that letter sent. It will be a good reason in the eyes of the +'Authorities.' I go the day after to-morrow. I have a secret mission +for the Government to the Chinese Embassy at Prisa" (the capital of +Francaria). "I may not return. I may fall suddenly ill." + +I expressed some surprise that Kwang, the most privileged stranger in +Meccania, the _persona grata_ with all the official world, should think +it necessary to slip out of the country by a back door, and provide for +my sudden departure as well. + +"You have been here five months," he said. "I have been here fifteen +years. It is always best in this country to take as little risk as +possible--consistent with your objectives. A word to the wise.... If +you have anything that you wish to take out with you, you had better +let me have it. You will be examined when you go out as you were when +you came in. I do not propose to be examined when I leave. That is why +I am going via Prisa on a special mission." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +NEVER AGAIN + + +I did not see Kwang again until we met some weeks after, in Prisa. He +had begun to suspect that one or two persons in the Foreign Department +had guessed the nature of the rôle he had been playing. There was +practically no evidence against him, because all the information he had +obtained, and it was a great deal, had been furnished to him willingly +by the Meccanian Government under the impression that he had become a +sort of missionary of Meccanian Culture. All the same, as he observed +to me, without arresting him as a spy (a course of procedure which for +many reasons would have been inconvenient to the Government) he might +have been made the victim of an 'accident.' He could no longer play his +part in safety. Anyhow, he succeeded in making his exit in a manner +that aroused no suspicion, and he managed to return to his own country +a short time afterwards. Consequently I need say no more about Kwang. + +My own departure was also rather a tame affair. I had an interview, +on the day I received my letter, with Inspector of Foreigners +Bulley. Although I knew that the letter had been censored, and I was +morally certain its contents had been made known to him, he betrayed +no knowledge of the facts. I explained the circumstances and showed +him the letter. I asked if the three days' notice could be dispensed +with, as I wished to leave at the earliest moment. He said I might +possibly leave the day after to-morrow, but not before, as it would +be necessary to see that all my affairs were in order before issuing +the certificate of absolution as it was called--a certificate which +all foreigners must obtain before the issue of the ticket authorising +them to be conveyed across the frontier. There would be a charge of £1 +for the extra trouble involved. One little difficulty had not occurred +to me: there might not be a conveyance to Graves, via Bridgetown, for +several days--perhaps not for a week. Inspector Bulley, who had all +such matters at his finger-ends, told me there was no conveyance for +five days by that route, but that he would arrange for me to travel +by another route, via Primburg and Durven, which lay convenient for a +journey to Prisa. After that I could either return home direct or go +first to Lunopolis. + +He was sorry my visit had been cut short almost before my serious study +had begun, and hoped I should find it possible to return. He arranged +for me to undergo my necessary medical examination on the afternoon +of the same day, and this turned out to be almost a formality. Dr. +Pincher was much more polite, and much less exacting, than on a former +occasion. Clearly the influence of Kwang--for I was now regarded as a +sort of protégé of his--was evident in all this. Altogether my exit was +made quite pleasant, and I almost began to regret my precipitancy, but +when I reflected on what I had to gain by staying longer I saw that +Kwang was right. I turned over in my mind what I had seen and learnt +during five months. I had seen a provincial town (or some aspects of +it), and the capital, under the close supervision of well-informed +warders. I had talked to a score of officials and a few professors, +and received a vast amount of instruction from them. I had seen a +great public ceremony. I had visited a large number of institutions. +But I had only got into contact with a single native Meccanian who was +free from the influence of the all-pervading Super-State, and this +person was in an asylum only accessible by a dangerous ruse. I knew +little more of the people, perhaps less, than I could have got from +reading a few books; but I had at any rate got an impression of the +Meccanian 'System' which no book could have given me. That impression +was the most valuable result of my tour, but it seemed unlikely that +a further stay would do anything more than deepen it. For unless I +were prepared to play the rôle that Kwang had played I was not likely +to learn anything the Meccanian Government did not wish me to learn, +and, however much I might be sustained by my curiosity, the actual +experience of living in the atmosphere of the Meccanian Super-State was +not pleasant. + +I said good-bye to my friends at the hotel, and, after an uneventful +journey by express train, reached Primburg. Except that it bore a +general resemblance to Bridgetown, I can say nothing of it, for we were +not permitted to go out of the station whilst waiting for the motor-van +to take us across the frontier. I say 'us,' because there were about +half a dozen other travellers. The fact that not more than half a dozen +persons a week travelled from Mecco to Prisa--for this was the main +route to the capital of Francaria--was in itself astounding. Even of +these, three looked like persons on official business. At Primburg +I was spared the indignity of a further medical examination, as I +had already obtained the necessary certificate from Dr. Pincher, but +nothing could exempt me from the examination which all foreigners had +to submit to in order to ensure that they carried nothing out of the +country except by leave of the chief inspector of Foreign Observers. +My journal had been entrusted to Kwang, and I had nothing else of any +importance. I was thoroughly searched, and my clothes and my baggage +were closely examined by an official called the Registrar of Travellers. + +Although I had spent a considerable time in Francaria I had never +before seen Durven. There was now no reason for hurrying on to Prisa, +so I decided to spend a day there to look round. I had to report myself +to the police, owing to the fact that I had arrived from Meccania, +but my credentials proving perfectly satisfactory I was at liberty to +go where I liked. It was about four o'clock when I stepped out of the +police station, and as it was a bright September afternoon there was +still time to walk about for some hours before dark. At first, for +about an hour, I could hardly help feeling that I was dreaming. Here I +was in the old familiar life of Europe again. The streets of the town +seemed full of people, some sauntering about and gossiping with their +friends, others shop-gazing, others carrying parcels containing their +purchases, some making their way home from business, others standing in +groups near the theatres. There were tram-cars and omnibuses and all +sorts of vehicles jostling in the central part of the town. A little +later I saw people streaming out from a popular _matinée_. There were +old men selling the first issues of the evening papers, and crying some +sensational news which was not of the slightest importance but which +somehow seemed good fun. + +I was delighted with everything I saw. It was a positive joy not to see +any green uniforms, nor any grey uniforms, nor any yellow uniforms. +Green and grey and yellow are beautiful colours, but the plain black +of the civilian dress of the men in the streets of Durven seemed +pleasanter, and the costumes of the women seemed positively beautiful. +There were children walking with their mothers, and little urchins +racing about in the side streets. I could have laughed with joy at the +sight of them: I had seen no children for five months, only little +future-Meccanians. There were old women selling flowers. I wondered if +they were poor; they looked fat and happy at any rate, and they were +free to sell flowers or do anything else they liked. I turned into a +café. A little band was playing some rollicking frivolous music that +I recognised. I remembered some of my former friends making sarcastic +remarks about this kind of music. It was not good music, yet it made +me feel like laughing or dancing. There was such a babel of talk I +could hardly hear the band. Not that I wanted to! I was quite content +to hear the happy voices round me, to watch the simple comedies of +human intercourse, and to feel that I was out of prison. I strolled out +again. This time I looked at the streets themselves, at the buildings +and houses and shops. I dived down a side street or two and found +myself by the river among little wharves and docks, all on the tiniest +scale. The streets were rather untidy and not too clean; the houses +were irregularly built. I was in the old town apparently. As I walked +farther I noticed that by far the greater part of the town had been +built during the last fifty years or so, yet the place looked as if +it were trying to preserve the appearance of age. At another time I +should probably have thought the town rather dull and uninteresting, +for there was nothing noteworthy about it. If there had once been any +genuine mediæval churches or guild halls or places of architectural +interest they must have been destroyed, yet I discovered a strange joy +and delight in everything I saw. + +After dark, when I had dined at the little hotel where I was to sleep +that night, I went off at once to the nearest theatre, which happened +to be a music hall. I laughed at the turns until people looked at me +to see if I were drunk or demented. When they saw I was only a little +excited they made good-humoured remarks. They were rather pleased that +I should be so easily amused. "Perhaps he has just come out of prison," +said one; "no doubt it is rather dull there." "Perhaps he is a friend +of one of the actors," said another, "and wants to encourage him." +"Perhaps he has come from the land where jokes are prohibited," said a +third. "Perhaps he is a deaf man who has recovered his hearing," said +another. "Or a blind man who has recovered his sight." "Anyhow, he +knows how to enjoy himself." Such were the remarks they made. + +When I came out I strolled about the streets until after midnight. It +seemed so jolly to be able to go just where one pleased. + +In the morning I looked up the trains to Prisa and found that I +could reach it in a few hours. So I decided to spend the morning in +Durven and go on to Prisa in the afternoon. I strolled into the open +market-place. How strange it seemed! People in all sorts of simple +costumes were going round to the various stalls picking up one thing +here and another there. The usual little comedies of bargaining were +going on. There were all sorts of trifles for sale, including toys for +children--real toys, not disguised mathematical problems, or exercises +in mechanical ingenuity. There were dolls and rattles and hoops and +balls and whistles and fishing-rods and marbles and pegtops and dolls' +houses and furniture and bricks and a hundred things besides. Then +there were gingerbread stalls, ice-cream stalls, cocoa-nut shies, +swings and even a little merry-go-round. I felt I should like to ride +on that merry-go-round, but as it was early in the forenoon there were +only a few children--good heavens! what were children doing here? They +ought to have been at school, or at any rate being instructed in the +use of Stage II. B toys. I turned into the street where the best shops +were. Even the grocers' shops looked interesting. There were goods from +all over the world. There were cheeses packed in dainty little cases, +and dates in little boxes covered with pictures; tea in packets and +canisters representing absurd Chinamen and Hindoo coolies. The clothing +shops were full of the latest fashions, although this was a small +provincial town; and very dainty and charming they looked. Then there +were antique shops and bric-à-brac shops, print shops and jewellers' +shops. I could have spent days wandering about like a child at a fair. +I had never realised before that the meanest European town--outside +Meccania--is a sort of perennial bazaar. + +I tore myself away, and after luncheon took train to Prisa. The +confusion and bustle at the stations was delightful; the chatter of the +passengers was most entertaining. There were people in shabby clothes +and people in smart costumes. There were ticket-collectors and guards +in rather dirty-looking uniforms, and an occasional gendarme who looked +as if he had come off the comic-opera stage. The villages on the route +were like the villages I had seen before in Europe--fragments of bygone +ages mixed up with the latest devices in farm buildings and model +cottages; churches built in the twelfth century and post offices built +in the twentieth; mediæval barns and modern factories. At length we +reached Prisa, which needs no description from me. + +It looked like an old friend, and I lost no time in resuming the habits +I had adopted during my previous stay. I looked up some of my old +acquaintances, and we spent days in endless talk about everything under +the sun. What a delight it was to read the newspapers, no matter how +silly they were! How delightful to hear the latest gossip about the +latest political crisis, the latest dramatic success, the latest social +scandal, the latest literary quarrel! In a week or two I had almost +forgotten the existence of Meccania. I had seen nothing to remind me of +it. I began to understand why the people in Francaria and Luniland were +so ignorant of that country. Why should they bother their heads about +it? It seemed to me now like a bad dream, a nightmare. They were quite +right to ignore it, to forget it. And yet, suppose Meccania should +startle Europe again? And with a chemical war this time! Would they be +able to escape? Or would the Super-Insects finally conquer the human +race? I confess I felt some doubt. It seemed not impossible that the +nightmare I had escaped from was a doom impending over the whole world. +And it is because I could not dismiss this doubt that I have written a +faithful account of what I saw and heard in Meccania, the Super-State. + + + + +Transcriber's note + + +Text in italics was surrounded by _underscores_, and text in all +capitals changed to all capitals. + +The following corrections have been made, on page + + xvii "n" changed to "in" (in the manner of a mere spectator) + + 17 "chocolate- coloured" changed to "chocolate-coloured" (with + chocolate-coloured buttons) + + 40 "t at" changed to "that" (but that the Organising Inspectors) + + 48 "death sand" changed to "deaths and" (births, deaths and + marriages) + + 161 , added (unmeaning to a Meccanian, the Meccanians must have lost) + + 212 " removed (and much more besides.) + + 221 "pr fessions" changed to "professions" (all the functions of + the independent professions) + + 221 "he told" changed to "the old" (That is the old argument) + + 270 "be" changed to "he" (Clearly he belonged to another generation.) + + 278 "this" changed to "these" (these two years opened my eyes). + +Otherwise the original was preserved, including inconsistent spelling +and hyphenation. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Meccania, by Owen Gregory + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44074 *** |