CHAPTER XXVI

BUILDINGS AND CUSTOMS Racial Characteristics
In appearance the community is still like the sixth sub-race from which it sprang — that is to say, it is a white Race, although there are among it people with darker hair and eyes and a Spanish or Italian complexion. The stature of the Race has distinctly increased, for none of the men are under six feet, and even the women are but little short of this. The people are all muscular and well- proportioned, and much attention is paid to exercise and the equal development of the muscles. It is noteworthy that they preserve a free and graceful carriage even to extreme old age.
Public Buildings
It was mentioned in the beginning that when the community was founded a vast block of central buildings was erected, and that the houses of the first settlers were grouped round that, though always with ample space between them for beautiful gardens. By this time many subordinate towns have sprung up in the district — though perhaps the word town may
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mislead a twentieth-century reader, since there is nothing in the least resembling the sort of town to which he is accustomed. The settlements may rather be called groups of villas thinly scattered amidst love¬ ly parks and gardens ; but at least all such settle¬ ments have their Temples, so that every inhabitant is always within easy reach of a Temple of the variety which he happens to prefer. The inhabited part of the estate is not of great size, some forty or fifty miles in diameter, so that even the great central buildings are, after all, quite easily available for anyone who wishes to visit them. Each Temple has usually in its neighbourhood a block of other public buildings — a sort of public hall, an extensive library, and also a set of school- buildings.
Houses
The houses built for the community before its foundation were all on the same general plan and, though a good deal of individual taste has been shown in those erected since, the broad principle is still the same. The two great features of their architecture which much differentiate it from almost all that preceded it, are the absence of walls and of corners. Houses, temples, schools, factories, all of them are nothing but roofs supported upon pillars — pillars in most cases as lofty as those of the Egyptian Temples, though far lighter and more graceful. There is, however, provision for closing the spaces between the pillars when necessary — something distantly resembling the patent automatic
422 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
rolling shop -blinds of earlier centuries, but they can be made transparent at will. These devices, however, are rarely employed, and the whole of the life of the people, night and day, is in reality spent in the open air.
Domes of many shapes and sizes are promi¬ nent features. Some of them are of the shape of that of S. Peter’s, though smaller ; some are low and broad, like those of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, in Palermo ; some with the lotus-bud shape of those of a Muhammadan mosque. These domes are full of windows, or are often themselves built of some transparent substance of various colours. Every Temple has a great central dome, and every house has one at least. The general scheme of the house is to have a sort of great circular or oval hall under the dome, which is the general living room. Fully three-fourths of its circumference is quite open, but behind the fourth part are often built rooms and offices of various kinds, which usually rise to only half the height of the columns, having above them other small rooms which are used as bed¬ rooms. All those rooms, though separated from one another by partitions, have no outside walls, so that in them also people are still practically in the open air. There are no corners anywhere, every room being circular or oval. There is always some part of the roof upon which it is possible to walk. Every house is full of flowers and statues, and another striking feature is the abund¬ ance of water everywhere ; there are fountains, artificial cascades, miniature lakes and pools in all directions.
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The houses are always lighted from the roof. No lamps or lanterns are seen, but the dome is made to glow out in a mass of light, the colour of which can be changed at will, and in the smaller rooms a section of the ceiling is arranged to glow in the same way. All the parks and streets are thoroughly lighted at night with a soft and moon¬ like but penetrating light — a far nearer approach to daylight than anything previously secured.
Furnishing
Furniture is principally conspicuous by its ab¬ sence. There are scarcely any chairs in the houses, and there are no seats of any sort in the Tem¬ ples or public halls. The people recline upon cushions somewhat in the oriental style, or rather perhaps like the ancient Romans, for they do not sit cross-legged. The cushions, however, are curious ; they are always either air-cushions or entirely vegetable products stuffed with some especially soft fibrous material, not altogether un¬ like cocoanut fibre. These things are washable, and indeed are constantly being washed. When going to the Temple, to the library or to any public meeting each person usually carries his own air-cushion with him, but in the houses large num¬ bers are seen lying about which may be used by anybody. There are small low tables — or per¬ haps they are rather to be described as book-rests, which can be so arranged as to be flat like a table. All the floors are of marble, or of stone polished like marble — often a rich crimson hue.
424 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
Beds, filled either with air or water, or made of the same vegetable material as that used for the cushions, are laid upon the floor, or some¬ times suspended like hammocks, but no bedsteads are used. In the few cases where there are com¬ paratively permanent walls, as for example between the bed-rooms and offices and the great hall, they are always beautifully painted with landscapes and historic scenes. Curiously, all these things are interchangeable, and there is a department which is always prepared to arrange exchanges — a kind of circulating library for decorations, through the medium of which any person can change the wall-panels or statues which decorate his house, whenever he wishes to do so.
Dress
The dress of the people is simple and grace¬ ful, but at the same time strictly utilitarian. Most of it is not unlike that of India, though we some¬ times see an approach to the ancient Greek dress. There is no uniformity about it, and people wear all sorts of different things. But there is nothing inharmonious; all is in perfect taste. Colours both brilliant and delicate are worn by both men and women alike, for there seems to be no distinction between the clothing of the sexes. Not a single article is made of wool ; it is never worn. The substance employed is exclusively linen or cotton, but it is steeped in some chemical which pre¬ serves its fibres so that the garments last for a long time, even though all are washed daily.
/
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The chemical process imparts a glossy satin-like surface, but does not interfere in the least with the softness or flexibility of the material. No shoes or sandals or any other foot-coverings are worn by the members of the community, and scarcely any people wear hats, though there are a few some¬ thing like the panama, and one or two small linen caps were seen. The idea of distinctive clothes for certain offices has disappeared ; no uniforms of any sort are worn, except that the officiating Deva always materialises round himself robes of the colour of his Temple, while conducting a service ; and the children, as before described, dress them¬ selves in certain colours when they are about to take part in the religious festivals.
Food
The community is entirely vegetarian, because it is one of the standing rules that nothing must be killed. Even the outer world is by this time largely vegetarian, because it has begun to be recognised that the eating of flesh is coarse, vulgar, and above all unfashionable ! Comparatively few people take the trouble of preparing their own meals, or eat in their own houses, though they are perfectly free to do so if they wish. Most go to what may be called restaurants, although, as they are practically entirely in the open air, they may be supposed rather to re¬ semble tea-gardens. Fruit enters largely into the diet of the period. We have a bewildering variety of fruits, and centuries of care have been
56
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devoted to scientific crossing of fruits, so as to produce the most perfect forms of nourishment and to give them at the same time remarkable flavours.
If we look in at a fruit-farm we see that the section devoted to each kind of fruit is always divided into smaller sections, and each section is labelled as having a particular flavour. We may have, for example, grapes or apples, let us say, with a strawberry flavour, a clove flavour, a vanilla flavour, and so on — mixtures which would seem curious from the point of view of those who are not accustomed to them. This is a country where there is almost no rain, so that all cultiva¬ tion is managed by means of irrigation, and as they irrigate these different sections they throw into the water what is called 6 plant-food 5 and by variations in this they succeed in imparting dif¬ ferent flavours. By varying the food, growth can be intensified or retarded, and the size of the fruits can also be regulated. The estate of the community runs up into the hills, so they have the opportunity at different levels of cultivating almost all possible kinds of fruit.
The food which is most eaten is a sort of substance somewhat resembling blanc-mange. It is to be had in all kinds of colourings, and the colouring indicates the flavour, just as it used to do in ancient Peru. There is a large selection. Perhaps the choice of different flavours in the food may to some extent take the place of many habits which have now disappeared, such as smok¬ ing, wine-drinking, or the eating of sweets. There
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is also a substance which looks like cheese, but is sweet. It is certainly not cheese, for no animal products are used, and no animals are kept in the colony except as pets. Milk is used, but it is ex¬ clusively the vegetable milk obtained from what is sometimes called the cow-tree, or an exact imitation made from some kind of bean. Knives and forks do not appear, but spoons are still used, and most people bring their own with them. The attendant has a sort of weapon like a hatchet with which he opens fruits and nuts. It is made of an alloy which has all the qualities of gold but has a hard edge, which apparently does not need resharpening. It is possibly made of one of the rarer metals, such as iridium. In these restaurant gardens also there are no chairs, but each person half-reclines in a marble depression in the ground, and there is a marble slab which can be turned round in front of him so that he can put his food upon it, and when he has finished he turns this up and water flows over it.
On the whole people eat distinctly less than in the twentieth century. The usual custom is to have one regular meal in the middle of the day, and to take a light refection of fruit in the morning and evening. Everybody is at breakfast just after sunrise, for people are always up then or a little before. The light evening meal is at about five o’clock, for most people go to bed fairly early. So far as has been seen, no one sits down to a heavy meal in the evening ; but there is complete individual freedom with regard to all these matters, so that people follow their own taste. The drinking of tea or coffee has not been observed ; indeed there
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seems to be but little drinking of any sort, possibly because so much fruit is eaten.
Plenty of water is available everywhere, even though there is almost no rain. They have enormous works for the distillation of sea-water,
which is raised to a great height and then sent out on a most liberal scale. It is worthy of note, however, that the water specially sent out for drinking is not the pure result of the distilla¬ tion, but they add to it a small proportion of certain chemicals — the theory being that pure distilled water is not the most healthy for drink¬ ing purposes. The manager of the distillation-works explains that they use natural spring water as far as it will go, but they cannot get nearly enough of it, and so it has to be supplemented by the distilled water ; but then it is necessary to add the chemicals to this in order to make it fresh and
sparkling and really thirst-quenching.
Libraries
The literary arrangements are curious but
perfect. Every house is provided, gratis and as part of its permanent fittings, with a sort of encyclopaedia of the most comprehensive nature, containing an epitome of practically all that is known, put as tersely as possible and yet with great wealth of detail, so as to contain all the information that an ordinary man is ever likely to want on any subject. If, however, for some reason he needs to know more, he has only to go to the
nearest district-library, of which there is one
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connected with each Temple. There he finds a far fuller encyclopaedia, in which the article on any given subject contains a careful epitome of every book that has ever been written upon it — a most colossal work. If he wants to know still more, or if he wants to consult original books printed in the old languages or the ancient Roman type now disused, he has to go to the central library of the community, which is on a scale commensurate with that of the British Museum. Translations into the English of the day printed in this shorthand-like script, are always appended to these originals.
Thus it is possible for a man to study to the fullest any subject in which he is interested, for all instruments of research and books are provided free in this way. New books are being written all the time on all conceivable subjects. The fiction of the day is almost entirely based upon reincarnation, the characters always passing from life to life and exemplifying the working of karma; but a novelist in these days writes not with a view to fame or money, but always to the good of the community. Some people are writing short articles, and these are always on view at their own district Temple hall. Anyone may go and read them there, and anyone who is interested has only to go and ask for a copy and it is given to him. If a man is writing a book it is exhibited in this way, chapter by chapter ; the whole life is in this way communal ; the people share with their neighbours what they are doing while they are doing it.
430 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
Newspapers
The daily newspaper has disappeared — or per* haps we may rather say that it survives in a much amended form. To make it comprehensible it must be premised that in each house there is a machine which is a kind of combination of a telephone and recording tape-machine. This is in connection with a central office in the capital city, and is so arranged that not only can one speak through it as through a telephone, but that any¬ thing written or drawn upon a specially prepared plate and put into the box of the large machine at the central office will reproduce itself automatically upon slips which fall into the box of the machine in each of the houses. What takes the place of the morning newspaper is managed in this way. It may be said that each person has his news¬ paper printed in his own house. When any news of importance arrives at any time it is instantly forwarded in this way to every house in the community ; but a special collection of such news is sent early each morning and is commonly called the Community Breakfast Chat . It is a comparatively small affair and has a certain re¬ semblance to a table of contents and an index, for it gives the briefest epitome of the news, but attaches a number to each item, the different depart¬ ments being printed upon different colours. If any person wants full information as to any of the items, he has only to ring up the central office and ask for details of number so-and-so, and all that is avail¬ able is at once sent along his wire and dropped
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before him. But the newspaper differs greatly from those of older times. There is hardly any political news, for even the outer world has changed in many ways. There is a great deal of information upon scientific subjects, and as to new theories. There are still notes of the private doings of royal people, but they are quite brief. There is a department for community news, but even that is chiefly concerned with scientific papers, inventions and discoveries, although it also records marriages and births.
The same instrument is also used for adding to the household encyclopaedias whenever it is neces¬ sary. Extra slips are sent out daily whenever there is anything to say, so that just as the newspaper is being delivered in slices all day, so now and then come little slips to be added to the various departments of the encyclopaedia.
Public Meetings
In connection with each Temple there is a defin¬ ite scheme of educational buildings, so that broadly speaking the school-work of each district is done under the aegis of its Temple. The great central Temple has in connection with it the huge open- air places of assembly, where, when necessary, almost the entire community can be gathered to¬ gether. More usually, when the Manu desires to pro¬ mulgate some edict or information to all His people He Himself speaks in the great central Temple, and what He says is simultaneously produced by a sort of altogether improved phonographic system in
432 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
all the other Temples. It would seem that each of the district Temples has a sort of representative phonograph in the central Temple, which records at the other end of the line all that takes place there, so that all particulars are in this way imme¬ diately reproduced.
Science Departments
Mention has already been made of the great central library in connection with the central Temple. In addition to that, as another part of the same great mass of buildings, there is a com¬ plete and well-appointed museum, and also what may be called a university. Many branches of study are taken up here, but they are pursued by methods different from those of old. The study of animals and plants, for example, is entirely and only done by means of clairvoyance, and never by destruction of any kind, only those being professors and students of these arts who have developed sufficient sight to work in this manner. There is a department of what we may call physical geography, which has already mapped out the entire earth in a vast number of large-scale models, which show by coloured signs and inscriptions not only the nature of the surface soil, but alscf what is to be found in the way of minerals and fossils down to a considerable depth.
There is also an elaborate ethnographical department in which there are life-size statues of all races of men which have ever existed on the earth, and also models of those existing on other
(
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planets of this chain. There is even a department with reference to the other chains of the solar system. For each of the statues there is an ex¬ haustive description with diagrams showing in what way his higher vehicles differ. The whole is tabulated and arranged from the point of view of the Manu, to show what the development of mankind has been in the various Races and sub¬ races. A good deal is also shown of the future, and models with detailed explanations are given for them also. In addition to this there is also the anatomical department, dealing with the whole detailed anatomy of the human and animal bodies in the past, the present and the future. There is not exactly any medical department, for illness no longer exists ; it has been eliminated. There is still, however, surgery for cases of accident, though even that has been much improved. Few professors of that art are needed, for naturally accidents are rare. There is nothing corresponding to the great hospitals of former times, but only a few light and airy rooms, in which the victims of accidents can be temporarily laid if necessary.
Connected with the centre of learning is also an elaborate museum of all sorts of arts and crafts which have existed in the world from the beginning on¬ wards. There are also models of all kinds of machinery, most of which is new to us, since it has been invented between the twentieth century and the twenty-eighth. There is also much Atlantean machinery which had long been forgotten, so that there is a complete arrangement for any kind of
study along these lines.
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434 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
History is still being written, and it has been in process of production for more than a hundred years ; but it is being written from a reading of the records. It is illustrated by a method which is quite new to us — a method which precipitates a scene from the records when it is considered important. We have in addition a series of models illustrating the history of the world at all periods. In the cen¬ tral library there are certain small rooms somewhat like telephone-cabinets, into which students can take the record of any prominent event in history, and by putting it into a machine and setting that in motion they can have the whole scene reproduced audibly and visibly, with the exact presentment of the ap¬ pearance of the actors, and their words in the very tones in which they were spoken.
There is also an astronomical department, with most interesting machinery indicating the exact posi¬ tion at any moment of everything visible in the sky. There is a great mass of information about all these worlds. There are two departments, one for direct observation by various means and another for the tabulation of information acquired by testimony. Much of this information has been given by Devas connected with various planets and stars ; but this is always kept entirely apart from the results of direct observation. Chemistry has been carried to a wonderful height and depth. All possible combin¬ ations are now fully understood, and the science has an extension in connection with elemental essence, which leads on to the whole question of nature- spirits and Devas as a definite department of science, studied with illustrative models. There is also a
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department of talismans, so that any sensitive person can by psychometry go behind the mere models, and see the things in themselves.

Arts
It does not seem that lecturing holds at all a prominent place. Sometimes a man who is studying a subject may talk to a few friends about it, but beyond that, if he has anything to say he submits it to the officials and it gets into the daily news. If anybody writes poetry or an essay he communi¬ cates it to his own family, and perhaps puts it up in the district hall. People still paint, but only as a kind of recreation. No one now devotes the whole of his time to that. Art, however, permeates life to a far greater extent than ever before, for everything, even the simplest object for daily use, is artistically made, and the people put something of themselves into their work and are always trying new experiments.
There is nothing corresponding to a theatre, and on bringing the idea to the notice of an inhabitant, a definition of it comes into his mind as a place in which people used to run about and declaim, pretending to be other than they were, and taking the parts of great people. They consider it as archaic and childish. The great choric dances and processions may be considered as theat¬ rical, but to them these appear as religious exercises.
Games and athletics are prominent in this new life. There are gymnasiums, and much attention is given to physical development in women as well
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as in men. A game much like lawn-tennis is one of the principal favourites. The children play about just as of old, and enjoy great freedom.
Will-Power
The force of will is universally recognised in the community and many things are performed by its direct action. Nature-spirits are well-known, and take a prominent part in the daily life of the people, most of whom can see them. Almost all children are able to see them and to use them in various ways, but they often lose some of this power as they grow up. The use of such methods, and also of telepathy, is a kind of game among the children, and the grown-up people recognise their superiority in this respect, so that if they want to convey a message to some friend at a distance they often call the nearest child and ask him to send it rather than attempt to do it them¬ selves. He can send the message telepathically to some child at the other end, who then immediately conveys it to the person for whom it is intended, and this is a quite reliable and usual method of communication. Adults often lose the power at the time of their marriage, but some few of them retain it, though it needs a far greater effort for them than it does for the child.
Economic Conditions
Some effort was made to comprehend the economic conditions of the colony, but it was not
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found easy to understand them. The community is self-supporting, making for itself everything which it needs. The only importations from outside are curiosities such as ancient manuscripts, books and objects of art. These are always paid for by the
officials of the community, who have a certain
amount of the money of the outside world, which has been brought in by tourists or visitors. Also they have learnt the secret of making gold and jewels of various kinds by alchemical means, and these are often used for payment for the few goods imported from the outside. If a private member wishes for something which can only be bought from the outer world, he gives notice of his desire to the nearest official, and work of some sort is
assigned to him in addition to the daily work which he is normally doing, so that by that he may earn the value of whatever he desires.
Everybody undertakes some work for the good of the community, but it is usually left entirely to each to choose what it is to be. No one kind of work is esteemed nobler than any other kind, and there is no idea of caste of any sort. The
child at a certain age chooses what he will do, and it is always open to him to change from
one kind of work to another by giving due notice.
Education is free, but the free tuition of the cen¬ tral university is given only to those who have
already shown themselves specially proficient in the branches which they wish to pursue. Food and clothing are given freely to all — or rather, to each person is distributed periodically a number of tokens in exchange for one of which he can obtain a meal
438 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
at any of the great restaurant-gardens anywhere all over the colony. Or if he prefers it he can go to certain great stores and there obtain food-materials, which he can take home and prepare as he wishes. The arrangement appears complicated to an outsider, but it works perfectly simply among those who thoroughly understand it.
All the people are working for the community, and among the work done is the production of food and clothing, which it then proceeds to hand round. Take, for example, the case of a cloth factory. It is the Government’s factory, and it is turning out on an average so much cloth, but the output can be increased or decreased at will. The work is chiefly in the hands of girls, who join the factory voluntarily ; indeed, there is a competition to get in, for only a certain number are needed. If things are not wanted they are not made. If cloth is wanted the factory is there to produce it ; if not, it simply waits. The superintendent in charge of the cloth- store of the Government calculates that in a certain time he will need so much cloth, that he has in stock so much, and therefore requires for renewal so much, and he asks for it accordingly ; if he does not want any, he says he has enough. The factory never closes, though the hours vary considerably.
In this cloth factory the workers are mostly women, quite young, and they are doing little but superintending certain machines and seeing that they do not go wrong. Each of them is managing a kind of loom into which she has put a number of patterns. Imagine something like a large clock-face
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with a number of movable studs on it. When a girl starts her machine she arranges these studs according to her own ideas, and as the machine goes on its movements produce a certain design. She can set it to turn out fifty cloths, each of dif¬ ferent pattern, and then leave it. Each girl sets her machine differently — that is where their art comes in ; every piece is different from every other piece, unless she allows the machine to run through its list over again after it has finished the fifty. In the meantime, after having started the machines the girls need only to glance at them occasionally, and the machinery is so perfect that practically nothing ever goes wrong with it. It is arranged to run almost silently, so that while they are wait¬ ing one of the girls reads from a book to the rest.
The New Power
One feature which makes an enormous difference is the way in which power is supplied. There are no longer any fires anywhere, and therefore no heat, no grime, no smoke, and hardly any dust. The whole world has evolved by this time beyond the use of steam, or any other form of power which needs heat to generate it. There seems to have been an intermediate period when some method was discovered of transferring electrical power without loss for enormous distances, and at that time all the available water-power of the earth was collected and syndicated ; falls in Central Africa and in all sorts of out-of-the-way places were made to contribute their share, and all this was gathered
440 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
together at great central stations and internationally distributed. Tremendous as was the power available in that way, it has now been altogether transcend¬ ed, and all that elaborate arrangement has been rendered useless by the discovery of the best method to utilise what the late Mr. Keely called dynaspheric force — the force concealed in every atom of physical matter.
It will be remembered that as long ago as 1907, Sir Oliver Lodge remarked that 4 4 the total output of a million-kilowatt station for thirty million years exists permanently and at present inaccessibly in every cubic millimetre of space”. ( Philosophical Magazine , April, 1907, p. 493.) At the period which we are now describing, this power is no longer inaccessible, and consequently unlimited power is supplied free to everyone all over the world. It is on tap, like gas or water, in every house and every factory in this community, as well as every¬ where else where it is needed, and it can be utilised for all possible purposes to which power can be turned. Every kind of work all over the world is now done in this way. Heating and lighting are simply manifestations of it. For ex¬ ample, whenever heat is required, no one in any civilised country dreams of going through the clumsy and wasteful process of lighting a fire. He simply turns on the force and, by a tiny little instru¬ ment which can be carried in the pocket, converts it into heat at exactly the point required. A tem¬ perature of many thousands of degrees can be produced instantly wherever needed, even in an area as small as a pin’s head.
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By this power all the machines are running in the factory which we inspected, and one result of this is that all the workers emerge at the end of the day without having even soiled their hands. Another consequence is that the factory is no longer the ugly and barren horror to which in earlier ages we were painfully accustomed. It is beautifully decorated — all the pillars are carved and wreathed with intricate ornament, and there are statues standing all about, white and rose and purple — the last being made of porphyry beautifully polished. Like all the rest of the buildings, the factory has no walls, but only pillars. The girls wear flowers in their hair, and indeed flowers plentifully decorate the factory in all directions. It is quite as beautiful architecturally as a private house.
Conditions of Work
A visitor who calls to look over the factory obligingly asks some questions from the manageress — a young girl with black hair and a gorgeous garland of scarlet flowers in it. The latter replies :
“ Oh, we are told how much we are to do. The manager of the community cloth-stores considers that he will want so many cloths by such a time. Sometimes few are wanted, sometimes many, but always some, and we work accordingly. I tell my girls to come to-morrow according to this demand — for one hour, or two, or four according to what there is to do. Usually about three hours is a fair average day’s work, but they have worked as long as five hours a day when there was a
442
MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
great festival approaching. Oh, no, not so much because new clothes were required for the festival, but because the girls themselves wanted to be entirely free from work for a week, in order to attend the festival. You see we always know before¬ hand how much we are expected to turn out in a given week or month, and we calculate that we can do it by working, say, two and a half hours each day. But if the girls want a week’s holiday for a festival, we can compress two weeks’ work into one by working five hours a day for that week, and then we can close altogether during the next one, and yet deliver the appointed amount of cloth at the proper time. Of course, we rarely work as much as five hours ; we should more usually spread the work of the holiday-week over some three previous weeks, so that an hour extra each day would provide all that is needed. An individual girl frequently wants such a holiday, and she can always arrange it by asking some one to come and act as a substitute for her, or the other girls will gladly work a few minutes longer so as to make up for the amount which she would have done. They are all good friends and thoroughly happy. When they take a holiday they generally go in to visit the central library or cathedral, to do which comfortably they need a whole day free.”
A visitor from the outside world wonders that anyone should work at all where there is no compulsion, and asks why people do so, but meets with little sympathy or comprehension from the inhabitants :
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“ What do you mean ? ” says one of them, in answer, “we are here to work. If there is work to do, it is done’ for His sake. If there is no work, it is a calamity that it happens so, but He knows best.”
“ It is another world ! ” exclaims the visitor.
“ But what other world is possible ? ” asks the bewildered colonist ; “ for what does man exist ? ”
The visitor gives up the point in despair, and asks :
“ But who tells you to work, and when and where ? 55
“ Every child reaches a certain stage,” replies the colonist. “ He has been carefully watched by teachers and others, to see in what direction his strength moves most easily. Then he chooses accordingly, perfectly freely, but with the advice of others to help him. You say work must begin at this time or at that time, but that is a matter of agreement between the workers, and of arrange¬ ment each day.”
There is a certain difficulty in following this conversation, for though the language is the same a good many new words have been introduced, and the grammar has been much modified. There is, for example, a common-gender pronoun, which signi¬ fies either ‘ he ’ or ‘ she \ It is probable that the invention of this has become a necessity because of the fact that people remember and frequently have to speak of incarnations in both sexes.
At all the various kinds of factories visited the methods of work are of much the same kind. In every place the people work by watching machines doing the work, and occasionally touching adjusting buttons or setting the machine going anew. In all.
444 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
the same short hours of labour are the rule, except that the arrangements at the restaurant gardens are somewhat different. In this case the staff cannot altogether absent itself simultaneously, because food has to be ready at all times, so that there are always some workers on duty, and no one can go away for a whole day without previous arrange¬ ment. In all places where perpetual attendance is necessary, as it is at a restaurant, and at certain repairing shops, and in some other departments, there is an elaborate scheme of substitution. The staff is always greatly in excess of the require¬ ments, so that only a small proportion of it is on duty at any one time. The cooking or arrangement of food, for example, at each of the restaurants is done by one man or one woman for each meal — one for the big meal in the middle of the day, another for morning breakfast, another for tea, each being on duty something like three hours.
Cooking has been revolutionised. The lady who does this work sits at a kind of office- table with a regular forest of knobs within her reach. Messages reach her by telephone as to the things that are required ; she presses certain knobs which squirt the required flavour into the blanc-mange, for example, and then it is shot down a kind of tube and is delivered to the attendant waiting in the garden below. In some cases the application of heat is required, but that also she does without moving from her seat, by another arrangement of knobs. A number of little girls hover about her and wait upon her — little girls from eight to fourteen years old. They
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are evidently apprentices, learning the business ; they are seen to pour things out of little bottles, and also to mix other foods in little bowls. But even among these little girls, if one wants a day or a week off, she asks another little girl to take her place, and the request is always granted ; and though of course the substitute is like¬ ly to be unskilled, yet the companions are always so eager to help her that no difficulty ever arises. There is always a large amount of interplay and exchange in all these matters; but perhaps the most striking thing is the eager universal good-will which is displayed — everybody anxious to help everybody else, and no one ever thinking that he is being unfairly treated or ‘ put upon \
It is also pleasant to see, as has been already mentioned, that no class of work is considered as inferior to any other class. But indeed there is no longer any mean or dirty labour left. Mining is no longer undertaken, because all that is need¬ ed can be as a rule alchemically produced with much less trouble. The knowledge of the inner side of chemistry is such that almost anything can be made in this way, but some things are difficult and therefore impracticable for ordinary use. There are many alloys which were not known to the older world.
All agricultural work is now done by machinery, and no person any longer needs to dig or to plough by hand. A man does not even dig his own pri¬ vate garden, but uses instead a curious little machine which looks something like a barrel on legs, which digs holes to any required depth, and
446 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
at any required distance apart, according to the way in which it is set, and shifts itself along a row automatically, needing only to be watched and turned back at the end of the row. There is no manual labour in the old sense of the word, for even the machinery itself is now made by other machinery ; and though machinery still needs oiling, even that appears to be done in a clean manner. There is really no low or dirty labour required. There are not even drains, for everything is chemically converted and eventually emerges as an odourless grey powder, something like ashes, which is used as a manure for the garden. Each house has its own converter.
There are no servants in this scheme of life, because there is practically nothing for them to do ; but there are always plenty of people ready to come and help if necessary. There are times in the life of every lady when she is temporarily incapacitated from managing her household affairs ; but in such a case some one always comes in to help — sometimes a friendly neighbour, and at other times a kind of ladies’ help, who comes be¬ cause she is glad to help, but not for a wage. When any such assistance is required, the person who needs it simply applies through the recognised means of communication, and some one at once volunteers.
Private Property
There is but little idea of private property in anything. The whole colony, for example, be¬ longs to the community. A man lives in a certain
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house, and the gardens are his so that he can alter or arrange them in any way that he chooses, but he does not keep people out of them in any way, nor does he encroach upon his neighbours. The principle in the community is not to own things, but to enjoy them. When a man dies, since he usually does so voluntarily, he takes care to arrange all his business. If he has a wife living, she holds his house until her death or her remarriage. Since all, except in the rarest cases, live to old age, it is scarcely possible that any children can be left unprotected, but if such a thing does happen, there are always many volunteers anxious to adopt them. At the death of both parents, if the children are all married, the house lapses to the community, and is handed over to the next young couple in the neighbourhood who happen to marry. It is usual on marriage for the young couple to take a new house, but there are cases in which one of the sons or daughters is asked by the parents to remain with them and take charge of the house for them. In one case
an extension is built on to a house for a grand¬ child who marries, in order that she may still
remain in close touch with the old people ; but this is exceptional.
There is no restriction to prevent people from gathering portable property, and handing it over before death to the parents selected for the next life. This is always done with the talisman, as has already been said, and not infrequently a few books accompany it, and sometimes perhaps a favourite picture or object of art. A man, as we have
448 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
mentioned, can earn money if he wishes, and can buy things in the ordinary way, but it is not necessary for him to do so, since food, clothing and lodging are provided free, and there is no particular advantage in the private ownership of other objects.
A Park-Like City
Although in this community so large a number of people are gathered together into, one central city and other subordinate centres, there is no effect of crowding. Nothing now exists in the least like what used to be meant by the central part of a city in earlier centuries. The heart of the great central city is the cathedral, with its attendant block of museum, university and library buildings. This has perhaps a certain resemblance to the buildings of the Capitol and Congressional Library at Washington, though on a still larger scale. Just as in that case, a great park surrounds it. The whole city and even the whole community exists in a park — a park abundantly interspersed with fountains, statues and flowers. The remarkable abund¬ ance^ water everywhere is one of the striking features. In every direction one finds splendid fountains, shooting up like those at the Crystal Palace of old. In many cases one recognises with pleasure exact copies of old and familiar beauties ; for example, one fountain is exactly imitated from the Fontana di Trevi at Rome. The roads are not at all streets in the old sense of the word, but more like drives through the park, the houses always standing
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well back from them. It is not permitted to erect them at less than a certain minimum distance one from another.
There is practically no dust, and there are no street sweepers. The road is all in one piece, not made of blocks, for there are no horses now to slip. The surface is a beautiful polished stone with a face like marble and yet an appearance of grain somewhat like granite. The roads are broad, and they have at their sides slight curb-stones ; or rather it would be clearer to say that the road is sunk slightly below the level of the grass at each side, and that the curb-stones rise to the level of the grass. The whole is thus a kind of shallow channel of polished marble, which is flooded with water every morning, so that the roads are thus kept clean and spotless without the necessity of the ordinary army of
cleaners. The stone is of various colours. Most of
the great streets are a lovely pale rose-colour, but some are laid in pale green.
Thus there is really nothing but grass and highly polished stone for the people to walk
upon, which explains the fact that they are always able to go bare-footed, not only without inconvenience but with the maximum of comfort. Even after a long walk the feet are scarcely soiled, but not¬ withstanding, at the door of every house dr factory, there is a depression in the stone — a sort of
shallow trough, through which there is a constant rush of fresh water. The people, before entering the house, step into this and their feet are instantly cooled and cleansed. All the Temples are surrounded
58
450 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
by a ring of shallow flowing water, so that each person before entering must step into this. It is as though one of the steps leading up to the Temple were a kind of shallow trough, so that no one carries into the Temple even a speck of dust.
Locomotion
All this park-like arrangement and the space between the houses make the capital of our com¬ munity emphatically a ‘ city of magnificent distances \ This however does not cause the slightest practical inconvenience, since every house possesses several light running cars of graceful appearance. They are not in the least like any variety of motor-car — they rather resemble bath-chairs made of light metal filigree work, probably aluminium, with tyres of some exceedingly elastic substance, though ap¬ parently not pneumatic. They run with perfect smoothness and can attain a high speed, but are so light that the largest size can be readily pushed with one finger. They are driven by the universal power ; a person wishing to start on a journey charges from the power-tap a sort of flat shallow box which fits under the seat. This gives him sufficient to carry him clear across the community without recharging, and if he wishes for more than that, he simply calls at the nearest house, and asks to be allowed to attach his accumulator to its tap for a few moments. These little cars are per¬ petually used ; they are in fact the ordinary means of locomotion, and the beautiful hollow polished roads are almost entirely for them, as pedestrians mostly
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walk along the little paths among the grass. There is little heavy transport — no huge and clumsy vehicles. Any large amount of goods or material
is carried in a number of small vehicles, and
even large beams and girders are supported on a number of small trolleys which distribute the weight. Flying machines are observed to be com¬ monly in use in the outer world, but are not
fashionable in the community, as the members feel that they ought to be able to get about freely in their astral bodies, and therefore rather despise other means of aerial locomotion. They are taught at school to use astral consciousness, and they have a regular course of lessons in the projection of the astral body.
Sanitation and Irrigation
There is no trouble with regard to sanitation. The method of chemical conversion, mentioned some time ago, includes deodorisation, and the gases thrown off from it are not in any way injurious. They seem to be principally carbon and nitrogen, with some chlorine, but no carbon dioxide. The gases are passed through water, which contains some solution, as it has a sharp acid feeling. All the gases are perfectly harmless, and so is the grey powder, of which only a little is present. All bad smells of every kind are against the law now, even in the outer world. There is not what we should call a special business-quarter in the town, though certain factories are built comparatively near one another, for convenience in interchanging various
452 MAN: WHENCE, HOW AND WHITHER
products. There is, however, so little difference between a factory and private house that it is difficult to know them apart, and as the factory makes no noise or smell it is not in any way an objectionable neighbour.
One great , advantage which these people have is their climate. There is no real winter, and in the season corresponding to it the whole land is still covered with flowers just as at other times. They irrigate even where they do not cul¬ tivate ; the system has been extended in a number of cases into fields and woods and the country in general, even where there is no direct cultivation. They have specialised the eschscholtzia, which was so common in California even centuries ago, and have developed many varieties of it, scarlet as well as brilliant orange, and they have sown them all about and allowed them to run wild. They have evidently in the beginning imported seeds of all sorts extensively from all parts of the world. People sometimes grow in their gardens plants which require additional heat in winter, but this is not obtained by putting them in a green-house, but by surrounding them with little jets of the power in its heat form. They have not yet needed to build anywhere near the boundary line of the community, nor are there any towns or villages for some distance on the other side of that boundary. The whole estate was a kind of huge farm before they bought it, and it is surrounded principally by smaller farms. The laws of the outside world do not trouble or affect the community, and the Government of the continent does not in any way
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interfere with it, as it receives a nominal yearly tribute from it. The people of the community are well-informed as regards the outside world ; even school-children know the names and location of all the principal towns in the world.