“And so,” the Altrurian continued, “when the labor of the was

emancipated from the of the false to the free service of the true,

it was also, by an implication, to and rescued

from the old to the ugly, the stupid, and the trivial. The thing

that was and useful became, by the operation of a natural law, a

beautiful thing.

“Once we had not time to make beautiful, we were so

overworked in making false and to sell; but now we had all

the time there was, and a among the and

occupations to the end that done should be done as well

as done honestly. The artist, the man of genius, who from the love

of his work, the normal man, and in the measure of his ability and

of his calling each in the of the artist. We got the

pleasure of doing a thing beautifully, which was God’s blessing

upon all His children, but which we had in the days

of our need and greed. There is not a working-man the of my

voice but has this delight, and would know it always

if he only had the time. Well, now we had the time, the Evolution had

given us the time, and in all Altruria there was not a or a

swath mown, not a on house or on ship, not a or

a laid, not a line or a printed, not a temple raised

or an engine built, but it was done with an to as well as to

use.

“As soon as we were from the of upon one another,

we that there was no hurry. The good work would wait to be well

done; and one of the of the Evolution was the of

the which had the continent, night and day, that

one man might another, or make to his rival, or

seize some of him, or plot some profit to his loss. Nine-tenths

of the railroads, which in the old times had competed, and then,

in the hands of the Accumulation, had been to and

oppress the people, into disuse. The the few

lines that were necessary for the of materials and the

distribution of manufactures, and for travel and the of

state; but the that had been to capital, or parallel

other roads, or ‘make work,’ as it was called, or to resources,

or localities, were to into ruin; the rails were

stripped from the landscape, which they had as with shackles, and

the road-beds for the use of neighborhoods, or

nature them and the memory of their in

grass and flowers and wild vines. The that they had into

being, as Frankenstein was fashioned, from the materials of the charnel,

and that had no life in or from the good of the community, soon tumbled

into decay. The administration used parts of them in the of

the villages in which the Altrurians now mostly live; but these

towns were of materials so fraudulent, in so vile, that it was

judged best to them. In this way their were at once purified

and obliterated.

“We had, of course, a great many large under the old egoistic

conditions, which and upon the country, and their

cancerous life with fresh of its blood. We had of

half a million, and one of more than a million; we had a score of them

with a population of a hundred thousand or more. We were very proud of

them, and them as a proof of our prosperity, though

really they were anything but of and the

wretched who them and them. Of course, there was

everywhere the of enterprise and activity, but it meant final

loss for the great of the men, large and small, and final

gain for the millionaires. These and their together, the

rich the and the and the rich;

and it was the in the that hastened

the of the old Accumulation and the of the commonwealth.

“Almost from the moment of the Evolution the and monopolistic

centres of population to decline. In the clear light of the new

order it was that they were not fit dwelling-places for men, either

in the and where the rich themselves

from their kind, or in the tenements, upon height,

ten and twelve up, where the in and

sickness and famine. If I were to tell you of the fashion of those cities

of our epoch, how the was one error from the first,

and every of an error a new defect, I should make you

laugh, I should make you weep. We let them to as as they

would, and their are still so pestilential, after the of

centuries, that travelers are publicly against them. Ravening

beasts and in those of the and the

poverty that are no longer to our life. A part of one of the less

malarial of the old cities, however, is by the in

the of its prosperity, and is by for the

instruction, and by for the admonition, it affords. A of

a is exposed, and you see the of the houses; you see

the that into the common sewers, and

retrapped to keep the down; you see the that rolled

their under the streets, a of gas-pipes,

steam-pipes, water-pipes, telegraph-wires, electric lighting-wires,

electric motor-wires, and grip-cables--all without a plan, but makeshifts,

expedients, devices, to repair and the mistake of having

any such at all.

“There are now no in Altruria, in your meaning, but there are

capitals, one for each of the regions of our country and one for the whole

commonwealth. These are for the of public affairs, in

which every citizen of Altruria is schooled, and they are the residences

of the officials, who are every year, from the

highest to the lowest. A public with us is of no honor

or profit than any other, for with our economic there

can be no ambition, and there is no opportunity for one citizen to

outshine another. But as the are the of all the arts,

which we the of our public affairs, they are oftenest

frequented by poets, actors, painters, sculptors, musicians, and

architects. We all artists, who are in a creators, as the

human type which is the divine, and we try to our whole

industrial life to the temperament. Even in the labors of the

field and shop, which are upon all, we study the of

this temperament, and in the we allow it full control.

Each, in these, his as to what he shall do, and when he

shall do it, or he shall do anything at all. In the are

the universities, theatres, galleries, museums, cathedrals, laboratories

and conservatories, and the of every art and science, as well

as the administration buildings; and as well as use is in

every edifice. Our are as clean and and as the

country, and these are by the of the

horse, an animal which we should be as much to in the

streets of a town as the plesiosaurus or the pterodactyl. All

transportation in the capitals, for or business, is by

electricity, and the of each

region with the villages which from it to the points.

These at the of a hundred and fifty miles an hour, and

they the artist, the scientist, the man, of the remotest

hamlet, to visit the (when he is not actually there in

some public use) every day, after the hours of the industries;

or, if he likes, he may there a whole week or fortnight, six

hours a day of three to the obligatories, until the time is made

up. In case of very merit, or for the purpose of him to

complete some work application, a vote of the local

agents may him from the indefinitely. Generally,

however, our not to ask this, but themselves of the

stated means we have of them to work at the obligatories, and get

the needed and of in the of

the capital.

“We do not think it well to the on the different lines of

radiation from the capital, by the good country which

traverse each region in every direction. The villages are mainly inhabited

by those who a life; they are villages; but in

Altruria it can be said that one man is more a farmer than another.

We do not like to men by their callings; we do not speak of

the This or the That, for the may very likely be a

shoemaker in the obligatories, and the a in the

voluntaries. If it can be said that one is above

another with us, it is that which we all share, and that is the

cultivation of the earth. We that this, when not followed

slavishly, or for gain, man into the relations to the

Deity, through a of the bounty, and that it not only

awakens a natural in him, but that it to the that

piece of which he tills, and so his love of home. The

home is the very of the Altrurian system, and we do not think it

well that people should be away from their homes very long or very often.

In the and times men their days in

racing and across our continent; families were by the

chase for fortune, and there was a paying and of

visits. One-half the of those which we let into

disuse came from the unrest. Now a man is and and

dies among his own kindred, and the sweet of neighborhood, of

brotherhood, which the age of the Christian republic

is ours again. Every year the people of each region meet one another on

Evolution day, in the capital; once in four years they all visit

the national capital. There is no of the of among

us; our country is our mother, and we love her as it is to love

the step-mother that a or nation must be to its

citizens.

“I can only touch upon this and that of our as I to

think of it. If any of you are about others, I shall be to

answer questions as well as I can. We have, of course,” the Altrurian

proceeded, after a little pause, to let any speak who liked,

“no money in your sense. As the whole people affairs, no man works

for another, and no man pays another. Every one his of labor,

and his of food, clothing, and shelter, which is neither

more less than another’s. If you can the and

impartiality of a well-ordered family, you can of the social and

economic life of Altruria. We are, properly speaking, a family than

a nation like yours.

“Of course, we are by our insular, or continental,

position; but I do not know that we are more so than you are. Certainly,

however, we are self-sufficing in a unknown to most European

countries; and we have our borders the materials of every comfort

and the of every need. We have no with the egoistic

world, as we call that outside, and I that I am the first

Altrurian to visit in my national character,

though we have always had incognito. I that

I may say without that they it a exile, and that

the reports of the world, with its wars, its bankruptcies, its

civic commotions, and its social unhappiness, do not make us discontented

with our own condition. Before the Evolution we had the of

your and discoveries, by the that you on;

and we have since most of them as and unfit. But we profit,

now and then, by the you make in science, for we are passionately

devoted to the study of the natural laws, open or occult, under which all

men have their being. Occasionally an returns with a of

money, and to the students of the national the

processes by which it is and won; and at a time there was a

movement for its among us, not for its use as you know it,

but for a of in of chance. It was considered,

however, to an of danger, and the was discouraged.

“Nothing and puzzles our people more than the our

emissaries give of the of fashion in the world, and of the

ruin of and which the love of dress often works. Our own dress,

for men and for women, is studied, in one of use and beauty, from

the antique; and in it would be an of vulgar

vanity. Nothing is that is not and in texture; we do

not know a thing is or dear, as it is easy or hard to

come by, and that which is hard to come by is as and

foolish. The the of the community, and these,

too, are of a simplicity, though always and fit in form;

the of the are upon the public edifices, which we

all in common.”

“Isn’t this the of ‘Utopia,’ ‘New Atlantis,’ and ‘City of

the Sun’ that you imagined?” the across me to the

banker. “The man is a fraud, and a very at that.”

“Well, you must him, when he through,” the banker whispered

back.

But the not wait. He got upon his and called out:

“May I ask the from Altruria a question?”

“Certainly,” the Altrurian assented.

“Make it short!” Reuben Camp’s voice in, impatiently. “We didn’t

come here to to your questions.”

The him. “I you occasionally

receive from, as well as send them to, the world outside?”

“Yes, now and then land on our coasts, and ships out of their

reckonings put in at our for water or provision.”

“And how are they pleased with your system?”

“Why, I cannot answer than by saying that they mostly to

leave us.”

“Ah, just as Bacon reports!” the professor.

“You in the _New Atlantis_?” returned the Altrurian. “Yes; it is

astonishing how well Bacon in that book, and Sir Thomas More in his

_Utopia_, have phases of our and polity.”

“I think he _has_ you, professor,” the banker whispered, with a

laugh.

“But all those visionaries,” the Altrurian continued, while the

professor sat silent, for another chance, “who have borne

testimony of us in their dreams, of perfect without the

discipline of a previous condition. What I thought, however,

might you Americans in Altruria is the that our

economy was from one so like that in which you actually have your

being. I had you might that, in all these points of

resemblance, America another Altruria. I know that to some of

you all that I have told of my country will a fabric, with

no more foundation, in fact, than More’s fairy-tale of another land where

men and by one another, and dwelt, a whole nation, in

the and of a family. But why should not a part of that

fable have come true in our polity, as another part of it has come true in

yours? When Sir Thomas More that book, he noted with the

monstrous of the that men were for small in

England; and in the its he

denounced the killing of men for any of thefts. Now you no longer put

men to death for theft; you look upon that of your mother

England with an as great as his own. We, for our part, who have

realized the Utopian of equality, look with the same

abhorrence upon a where some were rich and some poor, some taught

and some untaught, some high and some low, and the often

failed to supply a of the food which luxury in its

riots. That as to us as the which a man

for a of to you.

“But we do not the of and monopoly. They

taught us some in the operation of the industries. The labor-saving

inventions which the Accumulation to money-making we have

restored to the use by their and the Creator of their

inventors. After the of the which

the Accumulation for its own purposes, we the work in

large and shops, in the of the workers, we to

guard against the of solitude. But our and shops are

beautiful as well as useful. They look like temples, and they are temples,

dedicated to that the and which expresses

itself in and workmanship. They boscages

beside the streams, which their only power; for we have steam

altogether, with all the to the and ear which its use brought

into the world. Our life is so and our needs are so that the

hand-work of the easily supply our wants; but

machinery so much more and that we have in

great measure it. Only, the that were once the workmen’s

enemies and masters are now their friends and servants; and, if any man

chooses to work alone with his own hands, the will what he makes

at the same price that it sells the collectively. This secures

every right of individuality.

“The farm-work, as well as the mill-work and the shop-work, is done by

companies of workers; and there is nothing of that in our woods

and which, I understand, is the of so much among

you. It is not good for man to be alone, was the of his

Creator when he him, and we act upon this truth in everything.

The of the family is in essentials, but the

social is so with us that we like to eat

together in large refectories, and we meet to argue and dispute

on questions of and metaphysics. We do not, perhaps, read so

many books as you do, for most of our reading, when not for special

research, but for and entertainment, is done by public readers, to

large groups of listeners. We have no social which are not free

to all; and we joking and the give and take of witty

encounters.”

“A little hint from Sparta,” the professor.

The banker over to to me: “From what I have of your

friend when offered a piece of American humor, I should the

Altrurian article was different. Upon the whole, I would rather

not be present at one of their encounters, if I were to stay

it out.”

The Altrurian had paused to drink a of water, and now he on:

“But we try, in that not or others,

to let every one live the life he best. If a man to dwell

apart, and have his in private for himself alone or for his family,

it is permitted; only he must not to be as in public,

where service is one of the voluntaries; private service is not permitted;

those to live alone must wait upon themselves, cook their own

food, and for their own tables. Very few, however, wish to withdraw

from the public life, for most of the and take place

at our mid-day meal, which at the end of the labors, and

is indefinitely, or as long as people like to and joke or

listen to the reading of some book.

“In Altruria _there is no hurry_, for no one to another,

or in any wise him. We are all of enough, and are

forbidden any and every of superfluity. If any one, after the

obligatories, to be idle, he may be so, but I cannot now

think of a single person without some occupation; doubtless

there are such persons, but I do not know them. It used to be said, in the

old times, that ‘it was nature’ to and and loaf, but

we have that it is no such thing. We have that it is human

nature to work cheerfully, willingly, eagerly, at the which all

share for the supply of the common necessities. In like manner we have

found out that it is not nature to and grudge, but that when

the fear, and the imagination, of want is taken away, it is human

nature to give and to help generously. We used to say: ‘A man will lie, or

a man will cheat, in his own interest; that is nature’; but that is

no longer nature with us, no man has any to

serve; he has only the of others to serve, while others serve

his. It is in no wise possible for the to his good

from the common good; he is and happy only as all the are

so; and therefore it is not nature with us for any one to in

wait to another or an advantage. That would be ungentlemanly,

and in Altruria every man is a and every woman a lady. If you

will me here for being so frank, I would like to say something by

way of which may be if you take it personally.”

He looked at our little group, as if he were himself more

especially to us, and the banker called out, jollily: “Go on! I we

can it,” and “Go ahead!” came from all sides, from all of

listeners.

“It is this: that as we look at the old conditions

we do not see how any man be a in them, since a gentleman

must think of others, and these _compelled_ every man to

think of himself.”

There was a by some and laughter, while we

each this as we could.

“What are conditions?” Mrs. Makely of me.

“Well, ours are conditions,” I said.

“Very well, then,” she returned, “I don’t think Mr. Homos is much of a

gentleman to say such a thing to an American audience. Or, wait a moment!

Ask him if the same to women.”

I rose, by the I felt, and said: “Do I understand

that in your it was also for a

woman to be a lady?”

The gave me an as I sat down. “I you the

chance of that little dig,” he whispered.

The Altrurian was a moment, and then he answered: “No, I should

not say it was. From what we know of those in our

country, it that the great of were not directly

affected by them. They an of the egoistic

empire, and, as they were by social or ambitions,

it was possible for every woman to be a lady, in competitive

conditions. Her were unselfish, and her were

nearly always of others.”

Mrs. Makely jumped to her and with her on the

palm of her left hand. “Three for Mr. Homos!” she shrieked, and all

the took up the cry, supported by all the and the

construction gang. I these gave their support in a

spirit of burlesque; but they gave it robustly, and from that time on,

Mrs. Makely the applause, and they in after her.