Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11
derstood il il had; 90 said: eyes, meant


further on, and noticed that he only had one
arm. / had noticed two or three rather big
LOOKING men with only one arm in the course
OF the morning. and it struck me as curious.
| remarked about ii to my guide.
He said: Eyes, when q man il much above
the average size aud strength we cut one Of his
legs or arms OF SO as to make things more
equal; We lop him down n bit, rs ii were. Ma
ture. you see. is somewhat behind the times,
Dut We 90 what We can to put her straight.
said: II suppose you can't abolish herr"
We'll. not altogether" he replied. I'VE
only wish we could. But" he added afterward
with pardonable pride, we've done good
said: How. about an exceptionally clever
man; what do You do with him?"
We'll, We are not much troubled in that way
now, he answered. I'VE have not come across
anything dangerous in the shape of brain powor
for some very considerable time now. When
We do we perform surgical operation upon
the head. which softens the brain down to the
average level"
~ have sometimes thought" unused the old
gentleman. that il was pity We could not
level up sometimes instead of always leveling
down; but Of course that is impossible"
said: do you think it right of you to cut
these people up and tone them down in this
Manner
He said: "Of course it is right"
You seem very cock-sure about the matter, -"
retorted. "Why is it of course right?'
because it is done by the Majority"
| now docs tDat MAKE IL ". ASKED
"a Majority can do no wrong" he answered
"Oh! and is that what the people who are
Eth, u" he replied evidently astonished at
the question. "Oh, they are in the minority,
you know"
Eyes, but even the minority has right to its
arms and legs and heads, hasn't it?''
"A minority has no rights" he answered,
after pause.
said: Its just as we'll to belong to the
| Maiortv ipkh M of iv;p hor
| isn't itY'
He said: eyes, most OF our people do They
seem to find 1t more convenient"
| I was finding the town some what uninterest-
ing, and l asked if We could not so out into the
| country FOR change.
My guide said: "Oh, yes certainly;" but did
not think should care much for it.
"Oh. but it used to be beautiful in the
country" 1 urged, "before / went to bed.
There were great green trees and grassy, wind
waved meadows and little roso-decked cottages
| and"
..Oh. wo've changed all that" interrupted
| the old gentleman; III is all one huge market
garden now, divided by roads and canals, cut
| at right angles to each other. There is no
| beauty in the country now whatever. We have
| abolished beauty; it interfered with our equal
| ity. 1t was not fair that some people should
live amid lovely scenery and others upon bar
| rem moors. So we have made 1t all pretty
much alike everywhere now and no place can
| lord it over another"
Can a man emigrate into any other coun-
try2' 1 asked; lit doesn't matter what coun-
try-any other country would do"
.Oh. yes.n he likes" replied my companion:
but why should he? All lands are exactly the
same. The whole world is all one people now
one language, one law, one life"
| lis there no variety, no change anywhere?"
I asked what do you do for pleasure, for
| recreation. Are there any theaters?'
| No." responded my guide. I'VE had to
| abolish theaters. The histrionic temperament
seemed utterly unable to accept the principles
| of equality. Each actor thought himself the
best actor in the world and superior, in fact, to
most other people altogether. don't know
| whether 1t was the same i'll your day?'
Exactly the same" answered, "but we
| did not take any notice of it,"
"Ah, We did," he replied, "and in conse-
| quence shut the theaters up. Besides, our
White Ribbon Vigilance Society said that all
places of amusement were vicious and degrad-
| ing, and. being all energetic and stout-winded
| band, they soon won the Majority over to their
views, and SO all amusements are prohibited
| now"
| said: "Are you allowed to read books?"
| "Well," he answered, there are not many
| written. You see. owing to our living such per-
| feet lives and there being no wrong or sorrow
| or JOY, or hope, or love- or grief IN the world
and everything going SO regular and SO proper,
| there is really nothing much to write about
except, of course the destiny of humanity"
"True!' said, Il see that. But wha: of the
l Oid WOfhs, the ciaSSicS! lou Ea0 Shakespeare,
| and Scott. and Thackeray, and there were ono
| or two little things of my own that were not
| half bad. What have you done with all those?'
| ''Oh. We have burned all those old works."
| he said. "They were full Of the old wrong
notions Of the old wrong. wicked times when
men were merely slaves and beasts of burden"
He said all the old paintings and sculptures
had been likewise destroyed, partly for that
same reason and partly because they were con-
sidered improper by the White Ribbon Vigil
xpht
while all new art and literature was forbidden
as such things tended to undermine the prin-
ciples Of equality. They made men think, and
the men that thought grew clevercr than those
that did not want to think. and those that did
not want to think naturally objected to this,
and being in the Majority, objected to some
purpose.
He said that, from like considerations, there
were no sports or games permitted. Sport and
games caused competition, and competition led
to inequality.
said: How long do your citizens work each
day?"
Three hours" he answered. "After that
all the remainder Of tho day belongs to our
"Ah! that is just what I was coming TO-"
remarked. Now, what do you do with your
selves during these other twenty-one hours?"
"Oh, We rest"
"What! For the whole twenty-one hous?"
well, rest, and think and talk"
What do you think and talk about?"
ooh! oh, about how wretched life must
have been in the old times and about how
happy We are now. and-and-oh, and the des-
| tiny OF humanity"
Don't you ever get sick Of the destiny Of
humanityY'
mo. not much"
And what do you understand BY it? What
| Is the destiny OF humanity, do you think?"
| "Oh-why to-to 60 on being like we are
now, only more so-everybody more equal,
and more things done by electricity and eyery-
body to have two votes instead Of one, and
THAT will do; don't want to hear any more
about that. Is there anything olse that you
think of? Have you got rehgion?"
! "Oh, yes"
and you worship God?"
ooh, yes"
"what do you call him2"
"1he Majority"
"One question more. You don't mind nv
asking you all these questions, by-ths-bye, do
your"
oh: no. This is all part Of my three hours
labor for the state"
'0h, I'm glad OF that. should not like to
feel that was encroachiLg on your time for
rest, but what wanted to ask was, do many of
the people here commit suicide?'
| NO; such thing never occurs to them"
| looked at the faces Of tho mon and women
that were passing. There was q patient, al
most pathetic expression upon them all
wondered where had seen that look before: il
seemed familiar to me.
| All at once remembered Il was fust the
quiet, troubled. wandering expression that
had always noticed upon the faces of the horses
and oxen that We used to breed and keep in tho