the sick, and the dying. All our bedchambers have a telephone
attachment at the head of the bed by which any person who may be sleepless can
command music at pleasure, of the sort suited to the mood.«
    »Is there such an arrangement in the room assigned to me?«
    »Why, certainly; and how stupid, how very stupid, of me not to think to tell
you of that last night! Father will show you about the adjustment before you go
to bed to-night, however; and with the receiver at your ear, I am quite sure you
will be able to snap your fingers at all sorts of uncanny feelings if they
trouble you again.«
    That evening Dr. Leete asked us about our visit to the store, and in the
course of the desultory comparison of the ways of the nineteenth century and the
twentieth, which followed, something raised the question of inheritance. »I
suppose,« I said, »the inheritance of property is not now allowed.«
    »On the contrary,« replied Dr. Leete, »there is no interference with it. In
fact, you will find, Mr. West, as you come to know us, that there is far less
interference of any sort with personal liberty nowadays than you were accustomed
to. We require, indeed, by law that every man shall serve the nation for a fixed
period, instead of leaving him his choice, as you did, between working,
stealing, or starving. With the exception of this fundamental law, which is,
indeed, merely a codification of the law of nature - the edict of Eden - by
which it is made equal in its pressure on men, our system depends in no
particular upon legislation, but is entirely voluntary, the logical outcome of
the operation of human nature under rational conditions. This question of
inheritance illustrates just that point. The fact that the nation is the sole
capitalist and land-owner of course restricts the individual's possessions to
his annual credit, and what personal and household belongings he may have
procured with it. His credit, like an annuity in your day, ceases on his death,
with the allowance of a fixed sum for funeral expenses. His other possessions he
leaves as he pleases.«
    »What is to prevent, in course of time, such accumulations of valuable goods
and chattels in the hands of individuals as might seriously interfere with
equality in the circumstances of citizens?« I asked.
    »That matter arranges itself very simply,« was the reply. »Under the present
organization of society,