esmen, and advertising agents, and
real estate agents to work," said Goliah; and by hundreds of thousands
the erstwhile useless middlemen and parasites went into useful
occupations. The four hundred thousand idle gentlemen of the country who
had lived upon incomes were likewise put to work. Then there were a lot
of helpless men in high places who were cleared out, the remarkable thing
about this being that they were cleared out by their own fellows. Of
this class were the professional politicians, whose wisdom and power
consisted of manipulating machine politics and of grafting. There was no
longer any graft. Since there were no private interests to purchase
special privileges, no bribes were offered to legislators, and
legislators for the first time legislated for the people. The result was
that men who were efficient, not in corruption, but in direction, found
their way into the legislatures.

With this rational organization of society amazing results were brought
about. The national day's work was eight hours, and yet production
increased. In spite of the great permanent improvements and of the
immense amount of energy consumed in systematizing the competitive chaos
of society, production doubled and tripled upon itself. The standard of
living increased, and still consumption could not keep up with
production. The maximum working age was decreased to fifty years, to
forty-nine years, and to forty-eight years. The minimum working age went
up from sixteen years to eighteen years. The eight-hour day became a
seven-hour day, and in a few months the national working day was reduced
to five hours.

In the meantime glimmerings were being caught, not of the identity of
Goliah, but of how he had worked and prepared for his assuming control of
the world. Little things leaked out, clues were followed up, apparently
unrelated things were pieced together. Strange stories of blacks stolen
from Africa were remembered, of Chinese and Japanese contract coolies who
had mysteriously disappeared, of lonely South Sea Islands raided and
their inhabitants carried away; stories of yachts and merchant steamers,
mysteriously purchased, that had disappeared and the descriptions of
which remotely tallied with the crafts that had carried the Orientals and
Africans and islanders away. Where had Goliah got the sinews of war? was
the question. And the surmised answer was: By exploiting these stolen
labourers. It was they that live