"
"Oh no! oh no!" I said; "the war put an end to that. We are all free now,
black and white."
"But if they do not wish to serve, and are not held in peculiar honor for
serving--"
"I see that my word 'voluntary' has misled you," I put in. "It isn't the
word exactly. The divisions among us are rather a process of natural
selection. You will see, as you get better acquainted with the workings of
our institutions, that there are no arbitrary distinctions here but the
fitness of the work for the man and the man for the work determines the
social rank that each one holds."
"Ah, that is fine!" cried the Altrurian, with a glow of enthusiasm. "Then
I suppose that these intelligent young people who teach school in winter
and serve at table in the summer are in a sort of provisional state,
waiting for the process of natural selection to determine whether they
shall finally be teachers or waiters."
"Yes, it might be stated in some such terms," I assented, though I was not
altogether easy in my mind. It seemed to me that I was not quite candid
with this most candid spirit. I added: "You know we are a sort of
fatalists here in America.
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