The Ideal State 281 



allowed to develop his higher faculties, and who is to 

 adjudicate in this important matter ? Such difficulties 

 as these will in the course of time settle themselves ; 

 they will doubtless be dealt with by bodies of men of 

 ability and sound judgment specially selected. In 

 many cases it would be wise to relieve the exceptional 

 man of his ordinary duties altogether, so as to devote 

 his entire energies to the intellectual, artistic, or 

 spiritual betterment of society, and so contribute in a 

 greater degree to the further happiness of the race. 



Bellamy deserves our gratitude for his delightful 

 book " Looking Backward," and we shall always 

 honour him as one of the pioneers of the ideal state. 

 All endeavouring to help on the higher trend of 

 things must acknowledge their indebtedness to him for 

 the thinking out of many details which but for his in- 

 sight might have appeared insuperable. One of the 

 great difficulties has always been the performance of 

 menial and disagreeable duties, and the conduct of 

 trades of specially severe effort or noxious conditions. 

 Bellamy points out that there is only one way in which 

 this difficulty can be solved, and that is by all young 

 men and young women for a certain number of years 

 (three is the limit suggested) giving their time and 

 effort to the performance of such duties. Only a 

 limited portion of each day would be required for this 

 with such an army of workers. It does not need to be 

 pointed out that this would be most carefully super- 

 vised, and that young women would be spared the very 

 disagreeable duties, or those to which they objected 

 or were unfitted, and that they would never be asked 

 to undertake severe labour or that in which the condi- 

 tions were unsuitable. Such duties would not be under- 

 taken until maturity had been attained ; and as only 

 a limited portion of each day would be required for 

 this with such an army of workers, everyone would 



