"
"But come, now," said the banker, while he laid a caressing touch on the
Altrurian's shoulder, "you don't mean to say honestly that everybody works
with his hands in Altruria?"
"Yes, certainly. We are mindful, as a whole people, of the divine law--'In
the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread.'"
"But the capitalists? I'm anxious about Number One, you see."
"We have none."
"I forgot, of course. But the lawyers, the doctors, the parsons, the
novelists?"
"They all do their share of hand-work."
The lawyer said: "That seems to dispose of the question of the working-man
in society. But how about your minds? When do you cultivate your minds?
When do the ladies of Altruria cultivate their minds, if they have to do
their own work, as I suppose they do? Or is it only the men who work, if
they happen to be the husbands and fathers of the upper classes?"
The Altrurian seemed to be sensible of the kindly scepticism which
persisted in our reception of his statements, after all we had read of
Altruria. He smiled indulgently, and said: "You mustn't imagine that work
in Altruria is the same as it is here. As we all work, the amount that
each one need do is very little, a few hours each day at the most, so that
every man and woman has abundant leisure and perfect spirits for the
higher pleasures which the education of their whole youth has fitted them
to enjoy.
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