ng of the
colonial forces. The Mercenaries constituted a race apart. They dwelt in
cities of their own which were practically self-governed, and they
were granted many privileges. By them a large portion of the perplexing
surplus was consumed. They were losing all touch and sympathy with
the rest of the people, and, in fact, were developing their own class
morality and consciousness. And yet we had thousands of our agents among
them.*

* The Mercenaries, in the last days of the Iron Heel, played
an important role. They constituted the balance of power in
the struggles between the labor castes and the oligarchs,
and now to one side and now to the other, threw their
strength according to the play of intrigue and conspiracy.

The oligarchs themselves were going through a remarkable and, it must
be confessed, unexpected development. As a class, they disciplined
themselves. Every member had his work to do in the world, and this work
he was compelled to do. There were no more idle-rich young men. Their
strength was used to give united strength to the Oligarchy. They served
as leaders of troops and as lieutenants and captains of industry.
They found careers in applied science, and many of them became great
engineers. They went into the multitudinous divisions of the government,
took service in the colonial possessions, and by tens of thousands went
into the various secret services. They were, I may say, apprenticed
to education, to art, to the church, to science, to literature; and
in those fields they served the important function of moulding the
thought-processes of the nation in the direction of the perpetuity of
the Oligarchy.

They were taught, and later they in turn taught, that what they were
doing was right. They assimilated the aristocratic idea from the moment
they began, as children, to receive impressions of the world. The
aristocratic idea was woven into the making of them until it became bone
of them and flesh of them. They looked upon themselves as wild-animal
trainers, rulers of beasts. From beneath their feet rose always the
subterranean rumbles of revolt. Violent death ever stalked in their
midst; bomb and knife and bullet were looked upon as so many fangs
of the roaring abysmal beast they must dominate if humanity were
to persist. They were the saviours of humanity, and they regarded
themselves as heroic and sacrificing laborers for the highest good.

They, as a class, believed