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we got thereā ā€”in those baseless speculations of ours.

ā€œSuppose there is a country of women only,ā€ Jeff had put it, over and over. ā€œWhatā€™ll they be like?ā€

And we had been cocksure as to the inevitable limitations, the faults and vices, of a lot of women. We had expected them to be given over to what we called ā€œfeminine vanityā€ā ā€”ā€œfrills and furbelows,ā€ and we found they had evolved a costume more perfect than the Chinese dress, richly beautiful when so desired, always useful, of unfailing dignity and good taste.

We had expected a dull submissive monotony, and found a daring social inventiveness far beyond our own, and a mechanical and scientific development fully equal to ours.

We had expected pettiness, and found a social consciousness besides which our nations looked like quarreling childrenā ā€”feebleminded ones at that.

We had expected jealousy, and found a broad sisterly affection, a fair-minded intelligence, to which we could produce no parallel.

We had expected hysteria, and found a standard of health and vigor, a calmness of temper, to which the habit of profanity, for instance, was impossible to explainā ā€”we tried it.

All these things even Terry had to admit, but he still insisted that we should find out the other side pretty soon.

ā€œIt stands to reason, doesnā€™t it?ā€ he argued. ā€œThe whole thingā€™s deuced unnaturalā ā€”Iā€™d say impossible if we werenā€™t in it. And an unnatural conditionā€™s sure to have unnatural results. Youā€™ll find some awful characteristicsā ā€”see if you donā€™t! For instanceā ā€”we donā€™t know yet what they do with their criminalsā ā€”their defectivesā ā€”their aged. You notice we havenā€™t seen any! Thereā€™s got to be something!ā€

I was inclined to believe that there had to be something, so I took the bull by the hornsā ā€”the cow, I should say!ā ā€”and asked Somel.

ā€œI want to find some flaw in all this perfection,ā€ I told her flatly. ā€œIt simply isnā€™t possible that three million people have no faults. We are trying our best to understand and learnā ā€”would you mind helping us by saying what, to your minds, are the worst qualities of this unique civilization of yours?ā€

We were sitting together in a shaded arbor, in one of those eating-gardens of theirs. The delicious food had been eaten, a plate of fruit still before us. We could look out on one side over a stretch of open country, quietly rich and lovely; on the other, the garden, with tables here and there, far apart enough for privacy. Let me say right here that with all their careful ā€œbalance of populationā€ there was no crowding in this country. There was room, space, a sunny breezy freedom everywhere.

Somel set her chin upon her hand, her elbow on the low wall beside her, and looked off over the fair land.

ā€œOf course we have faultsā ā€”all of us,ā€ she said. ā€œIn one way you might say that we have more than we used toā ā€”that is, our standard of perfection seems to get farther and farther away. But we are not discouraged, because our records do show gainā ā€”considerable gain.

ā€œWhen we beganā ā€”even with the start of one particularly noble motherā ā€”we inherited the characteristics of a long race-record behind her. And they cropped out from time to timeā ā€”alarmingly. But it isā ā€”yes, quite six hundred years since we have had what you call a ā€˜criminal.ā€™

ā€œWe have, of course, made it our first business to train out, to breed out, when possible, the lowest types.ā€

ā€œBreed out?ā€ I asked. ā€œHow could youā ā€”with parthenogenesis?ā€

ā€œIf the girl showing the bad qualities had still the power to appreciate social duty, we appealed to her, by that, to renounce motherhood. Some of the few worst types were, fortunately, unable to reproduce. But if the fault was in a disproportionate egotismā ā€”then the girl was sure she had the right to have children, even that hers would be better than others.ā€

ā€œI can see that,ā€ I said. ā€œAnd then she would be likely to rear them in the same spirit.ā€

ā€œThat we never allowed,ā€ answered Somel quietly.

ā€œAllowed?ā€ I queried. ā€œAllowed a mother to rear her own children?ā€

ā€œCertainly not,ā€ said Somel, ā€œunless she was fit for that supreme task.ā€

This was rather a blow to my previous convictions.

ā€œBut I thought motherhood was for each of youā ā€”ā€

ā€œMotherhoodā ā€”yes, that is, maternity, to bear a child. But education is our highest art, only allowed to our highest artists.ā€

ā€œEducation?ā€ I was puzzled again. ā€œI donā€™t mean education. I mean by motherhood not only childbearing, but the care of babies.ā€

ā€œThe care of babies involves education, and is entrusted only to the most fit,ā€ she repeated.

ā€œThen you separate mother and child!ā€ I cried in cold horror, something of Terryā€™s feeling creeping over me, that there must be something wrong among these many virtues.

ā€œNot usually,ā€ she patiently explained. ā€œYou see, almost every woman values her maternity above everything else. Each girl holds it close and dear, an exquisite joy, a crowning honor, the most intimate, most personal, most precious thing. That is, the child-rearing has come to be with us a culture so profoundly studied, practiced with such subtlety and skill, that the more we love our children the less we are willing to trust that process to unskilled handsā ā€”even our own.ā€

ā€œBut a motherā€™s loveā ā€”ā€ I ventured.

She studied my face, trying to work out a means of clear explanation.

ā€œYou told us about your dentists,ā€ she said, at length, ā€œthose quaintly specialized persons who spend their lives filling little holes in other personsā€™ teethā ā€”even in childrenā€™s teeth sometimes.ā€

ā€œYes?ā€ I said, not getting her drift.

ā€œDoes mother-love urge mothersā ā€”with youā ā€”to fill their own childrenā€™s teeth? Or to wish to?ā€

ā€œWhy noā ā€”of course not,ā€ I protested. ā€œBut that is a highly specialized craft. Surely the care of babies is open to any womanā ā€”any mother!ā€

ā€œWe do not think so,ā€ she gently replied. ā€œThose of us who are the most highly competent fulfill that office; and a majority of our girls eagerly try for itā ā€”I assure you we have the very best.ā€

ā€œBut the poor motherā ā€”bereaved of her babyā ā€”ā€

ā€œOh no!ā€ she earnestly assured me. ā€œNot in the least bereaved. It is her baby stillā ā€”it is with herā ā€”she has not lost it. But she is not the

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