“So you have abolished government?”

“A very long time ago.  You on the earth will do the same, as soon as your people have been educated up to the point of trusting each other.”

“You haven’t even a congress, then?”

Myrin shook her head.  “All questions such as a congress would deal with, were settled ages ago.  You must remember that the material features of our civilization have not changed for thousands of generations.  The only questions that come up now are purely personal ones, which each must settle for himself.”

Van Emmon, as before, was not at all satisfied.  “You say that machinery does your work for you.  I presume you do not mean that literally; there must be some duties which cannot be performed without human direction, at least.  How do you get these duties accomplished, if you have no government to compel your people to do them?”

Myrin looked at a loss, either for the answer itself or for the most suitable words.  Estra gave the reply:  “Every device we possess is absolutely automatic.  There is not one item in the materials we use but that was constructed, exactly as you see it now, many thousands of years ago.”

Smith was incredulous.  “Do you mean to say that those little glass pews have been in use all that time?”

Estra nodded, smiling gently at the engineer’s amazement.  “Like everything else, they were built to last.  You must remember that we do not have anything like an ‘investment,’ here; we do not have to consider the question of ‘getting our capital back.’  So, if any further improvements were to be made, they also would be done in a permanent fashion.”

Billie gave an exclamation of bewilderment.  “I don’t understand!  You say that nothing new has been built, or even replaced, for centuries.  How do you take care of your increase in population?” thinking of the great crowd that had just left.

Myrin was the one who answered this.  As she did so, she got slowly to her feet; and speaking with the utmost care, watched to be sure that the four understood her: 

“Ever since the roof was put on, our increase of population has been exactly balanced by our death rate!”

The four followed their guides in silence as they led the way into the plaza.  Now, the space was alive with Venusians.  The little cages were everywhere floating about in the air; some of the people were laboriously shifting themselves into their aircraft; others were guiding their “pews” direct to nearby houses.  The visitors got plenty of curious stares from these quiet miracle-workers, who seemed vastly more at home in the air than on the ground.  “As thick as flies,” Van Emmon commented.

Estra and Myrin, walking very slowly, took them to a side street, where two of the cigar-shaped cars were standing.  Billie and Smith got in with Estra, while Van Emmon and the doctor were given seats beside the Venusian woman.  The two cars were connected by telephone, so that in effect the two parties were one.