They
work for the government, as do many other people, until they are of age,
when they become free to act as they please."

"You spoke about women being different than we knew them; how are they
different?" the Very Young Man asked. "If they're all like Lylda I think
they're great," he added enthusiastically, flushing a little at his own
temerity.

The Chemist smiled his acknowledgment of the compliment. "The status of
women--and their character--is I think one of the most remarkable things
about this race. You will remember, when I returned from here the first
time, that I was much impressed by the kindliness of these people.
Because of their history and their government they seem to have become
imbued with the milk of human kindness to a degree approaching the
Utopian.

"Crime here is practically non-existent; there is nothing over which
contention can arise. What crimes are committed are punished with a
severity seemingly out of all proportion to what you would call justice.
A persistent offender even of fairly trivial wrongdoing is put to death
without compunction. There is no imprisonment, except for those awaiting
trial. Punishment is a reprimand with the threat of death if the offense
is committed again, or death itself immediately. Probably this very
severity and the swiftness with which punishment is meted out, to a
large extent discourages wrongdoing. But, fundamentally, the capacity
for doing wrong is lacking in these people.

"I have said practically nothing exists over which contention can arise.
That is not strictly true. No race of people can develop without some
individual contention over the possession of their women. The passions
of love, hate and jealousy, centering around sex and its problems, are
as necessarily present in human beings as life itself.

"Love here is deep, strong and generally lasting; it lacks fire,
intensity--perhaps. I should say it is rather of a placid quality.
Hatred seldom exists; jealousy is rare, because both sexes, in their
actions towards the other, are guided by a spirit of honesty and
fairness that is really extraordinary. This is true particularly of the
women; they are absolutely honest--square, through and through.

"Crimes against women are few, yet in general they are the most
prevalent type we have. They are punishable by death--even those that
you would characterize as comparatively slight offenses. It is
significant too, that, in judging these crimes, but