MECCANISATION
When I came to reflect that night upon the experience of the last few
days, I was much impressed by three things which somehow seemed to
hang together. There was first my conversation with Lickrod. If all
Meccanians, or even a majority, took the same view of the State that
he did, there could be no limit to the functions of the State. He
seemed to claim for it all the moral authority of the Mediæval Church,
and although in other countries theories are put forward for academic
discussion without having much influence upon practical politics, in
Meccania the powers that be are able to carry out their ideas without
the obstruction which necessarily arises in countries where public
opinion is more spontaneous. He had evaded the question as to the
control of the Government, and had maintained that such a question
had no meaning in a country where the people were not conscious of
any difference between the State and themselves. Then there was this
Mechow Festival. Now, it was either a sincere manifestation of a
national admiration of Prince Mechow, and an approval of his work in
creating a Super-State with unlimited powers, or it was a proof that
the ruling class, whatever that was, could manipulate the whole life
of the nation as it pleased. Lastly, there was the idea that Johnson
had thrown out. He was quite confident of the accuracy of his own view
that the Military Class was the power behind everything, and that the
whole elaborate bureaucratic organisation of society had for its motive
and driving force the desire and the will to make Meccania a perfect
instrument of militarism.
Up to this time I had been partly amused and partly annoyed by what
I had seen and heard and experienced. I was amused by the meticulous
regulation and organisation of all the petty details of life, by the
pedantic precision of all the officials I had met, and by the utter
absence of a sense of humour in the mentality of the Meccanian people.
I had been annoyed by the meddlesome interference with my private
habits, but I tried to disregard this, because, as an experienced
traveller, I had sufficient experience to tell me that in every country
one has to accommodate oneself to the customs and prejudices of the
community. But most of all, I felt baffled by my failure to find out
anything about the real life and thought and feeling of the people.
I determined that I would make a more serious attempt to get behind
the screen which all this officialism set up between the people and a
well-intentioned Foreign Observer like myself or Mr. Johnson. I would
find out whether the screen was erected only between the foreigner and
the people, or whether the people themselves were so 'organised' that,
even for them, intercourse was made difficult. I promised myself that
Lickrod, with his genuine enthusiasm for every feature of Meccanian
culture, would be much more likely to enlighten me than any person I
had come in contact with before. We had still some days to spend in
completing our general survey of industry in Mecco. As President of
an important Literary Society, I expressed a desire to see how the
whole business of literary production was conducted in Meccania, for I
understood that several features in the system were quite unlike what
could be found anywhere else in the world. Conductor Lickrod was almost
eager to gratify my curiosity--at any rate up to a certain point.
"The printing industry," said he in answer to my questions, "is a
perfect example of the effect of Prince Mechow's reforms. It would be
impossible in any other country to do what we do, even if they employed
three times the number of men. In other countries the waste of labour,
not only manual labour but brain labour and business enterprise, is
ridiculous. Look at the amount of advertising, the number of rival
newspapers and magazines, the number of rival publishers of all sorts.
It is a perfect chaos. Now we have no advertising, as advertising is
understood abroad. Every commodity can be classified, whether it be a
hair restorer or a mansion for sale. Our system of commerce gets rid
of advertising miscellaneous commodities. The wholesale merchants have
their regular catalogues issued to the trade, and the same system is
extended to retail trade. For example, if you want to buy an article
of clothing, apart from your regular uniform, you consult a directory
of the retail dealers. Then you consult a catalogue of any particular
firm at the bureau for retail trade, where you will find a catalogue
of every shop in the town you happen to be in. There are no hoardings
covered with posters tempting people, out of mere curiosity, to buy
things they don't want. Now look at a typical newspaper in any foreign
country. Half of it is covered with advertisements of concerts,
theatrical performances, other amusements, sales, situations vacant and
wanted, clothing, patent medicines, books--every imaginable thing. With
us that is all unnecessary. The bureaux of employment do away with all
advertisements for employment--but in any case we should require few of
these, because our system of employment is so much better organised.
As to concerts and theatres, everybody knows, through the official
gazettes, what amusements are available for months in advance."
"You have not only got rid of the advertisements," I remarked, "but
even of the newspapers themselves, I understand. I have certainly seen
none except the local gazettes."
"Exactly; I was coming to that," he continued. "Look at the enormous
waste of effort that goes to the production of forty or fifty big
newspapers. What is the use of them? Every item of information can
be classified. It may be a crime, an accident, an event in foreign
politics, a new law, a trial, a new discovery in some branch of science
or industry, and so on. Now look at all the ingenuity displayed in
getting hold of some sort of account of these things at the earliest
moment, in order to gratify the mere curiosity of crowds of ignorant
people. Then look at the special articles, all or nearly all produced
in haste, and the so-called leading articles, all designed to
influence the mind of the public by giving some particular colour or
interpretation to the alleged facts. Our official gazettes give the
public all they require to know. The _Law Gazette_, issued each week,
gives information about all the breaches of the law committed, all
the important processes before the Law Courts, all the changes in the
Law. All the 'articles' which are necessary to throw light upon legal
matters are written by real experts. As you know, the journalist is
extinct in Meccania. The Industrial Gazettes--one for each of the main
branches of industry, with a general Industrial Gazette for matters
affecting industry generally, contain everything required in a much
more complete form than can be given in a daily newspaper. So you
see that, applying the same principle to the various aspects of our
public life, we are able to substitute one well-organised publication,
dealing completely with all matters and issued with all the authority
of the State, for the miscellaneous jumble of scraps which are called
newspapers in other countries.
"Then look at the number of magazines; they represent a stage of
culture which we have left entirely behind. We have our Literary
Gazettes to keep the public informed about all the recent publications.
We have our Quarterly Records for every department of knowledge. If
you want the latest contributions to history or archæology, philology,
ethnology, or anthropology, you know where to go for them. Everything
is done by experts, and we do not go to the trouble of printing
anything by anyone else on such subjects."
"Then you have no popular magazines such as would interest people who
are not strictly students, but who take an interest in things?" I asked.
"No. As I said a moment ago, we have left that stage of culture behind.
We provide a good education for all those who, we think, are able
to utilise it for the good of the State. After that, every one is
encouraged to pursue that branch of knowledge which will be most useful
to him in his calling. In a certain sense every man is a specialist. We
do not encourage people to dabble in things they only half understand."
"But is there not also a need," I said, "for what I may call general
knowledge on the part of the public? For instance, suppose a new law
is to be introduced which is to affect people's lives, _everybody_ is
concerned, whether he is a specialist or not. Or suppose some question
of public morals, or some question of political interest arises, you
surely want the public to discuss such things. How, indeed, can your
authorities keep in touch with the public mind unless there is some
medium by which the general public can express itself?"
"What you say," answered Lickrod, "only serves to demonstrate the
truth of what I am trying to convey to you, namely, that our Culture
is so differently conceived that you foreigners cannot understand our
attitude. You use the expression 'public opinion.' Our psychologists
will tell you exactly how that public opinion is formed. They made
a careful study of it before we decided to replace it by something
better. It was one of the superstitions of the nineteenth century,
which has not only lingered on but has become a serious hinderance
to the development of scientific government in all countries except
Meccania. They actually allow their fiscal policy to be determined by
'public opinion.' Fiscal policy is entirely a matter for the State,
and the only persons qualified to advise the State are the experts.
You speak of public morals, but the business of guiding the morals
of the nation is the highest function of the State itself. Now the
organs through which every nation or State functions are determined and
developed by the national consciousness: this consciousness expresses
itself just as legitimately through experts as through an uninstructed
public opinion."
"So you would be prepared to say, then," I said, "that your people
fully acquiesce in the suppression or abolition of one of the
institutions which most foreigners consider almost the last safeguard
of liberty? I mean, of course, the daily press."
"The present generation of Meccanians, that is, the young people, say
between twenty and thirty, have never known the Press. The older men
were, I confess, bitterly opposed for some years, or at least a section
of them were; but if anyone proposed to revive the Press nowadays he
would be regarded as one would be who wished to revive steam-trams, or
wigs, or general elections."
"But suppose some people were mad enough to want to publish a
newspaper, could they not do so?" I asked.
"Well, there is no positive law against it, but it would be impossible,
all the same."
"Why?"
"The expense would be very great, for one thing. There would be no
advertisements, remember. They would not be allowed to publish news
before it had been submitted to the censor, or before it was given to
the public through the official gazettes...."
"You need say no more," I said. "I quite see it would be impossible.
The censorship extends to all printed matter, I gather?"
"Certainly," he replied. "The State would be guilty of a grave neglect
of its function as guardian of the Meccanian spirit if it permitted any
scribbler who wished to seduce the minds of the people to mislead them."
"But," I could not help replying, "I thought that your people were on
the whole so well educated that there would be less danger of their
being misled in Meccania than in any country. Also I have been informed
that all the best writers are already in the employ of the State;
and, further, that the people generally are so completely at one in
sentiment with the spirit and policy of the State that there could be
no real danger from the free expression of opinion."
Conductor Lickrod smiled. It was a benevolent, almost a pitying smile.
"I perceive," he said, "that some of the most commonplace axioms of our
policy seem like abstruse doctrines to people whose culture is less
advanced. But I think I can make all this clear. Your argument is that
our people are well instructed, our writers--the best of them--are
employed by the State, and our common loyalty to the Meccanian ideal
is so firmly established that even a free Press, or at least the free
expression of opinion in books, would give rise to no danger. Now
do you not see that it is only by means of our system--so wisely
conceived by the greatest statesman who ever lived--that we _have_ this
instructed public, that we _have_ all the best writers in the service
of the State, that we _possess_ this common allegiance to the Meccanian
spirit? When we have achieved what no other nation has achieved, should
we not be fools to introduce an entirely contrary principle, and for
the sake of what? In order to provide an opportunity for the few
people who are not loyal to Meccania to attack the very State whose
children they are. For, examine what it is you propose. No one who is
a loyal Meccanian finds the least fault with our present system. It
has the enormous advantage over all the systems of other countries
that, without any waste, it provides the most authentic information
about every conceivable subject, it gives the public the benefit of the
services of such a body of experts as no other country possesses. And
the people who would write such books as _you_ are thinking of; who
would support them? They are already fully employed in some manner, and
in the manner considered by the State to be the most useful. I assure
you this is a purely academic discussion, for no one would dream of
putting into practice such a proposal."
"There must be something in the mentality of the Meccanians very
different from that of other nations, and that is all the more
surprising because, at least according to the ethnologists, they are
not racially different from several of the surrounding nations."
"That is quite true, with some slight reservations. We are not a pure
race by any means. We have racial elements within our nation which are
indeed distinct from those of the surrounding nations, and they have
perhaps contributed to the final result much more than in proportion
to their actual numbers. What you call Latin culture has never done
more than furnish us with the material for such elements of our culture
as we wished to utilise. You see it has hardly affected our language.
No, the Meccanian culture of to-day is the result of education and
scientific statesmanship."
"Excuse my putting the question so bluntly," I said, "but it seems
to me that the principles you have put forward would justify even a
revival of an institution known in mediæval times, and even later, as
the Inquisition. I suppose there is no institution corresponding to
that in Meccania?"
"It is quite unnecessary. And that is one powerful argument in favour
of our system of controlling the Press. That control, together with
our other institutions of which it forms part--our whole polity
is a perfect harmony--makes an 'Inquisition,' as you call it, an
anachronism."
"But," I said, "I was told by one of your own people of something that
seems to a mere outsider to resemble an incipient Inquisition."
"Indeed," he said, "and what is that?"
"Well, I gathered that in certain cases the Special Medical Board
uses its discretionary power to incarcerate persons whose opinions or
convictions make it impossible for them to embrace what I may call the
Meccanian ideals of life."
I felt I was treading on delicate ground, but as Prigge on a previous
occasion had openly approved of putting people into lunatic asylums if
they did not accept the Authority of the Super-State I felt justified
in sounding Lickrod on the point. To my surprise he betrayed no
embarrassment.
"You are probably not aware," he said, "of the remarkable strides that
have been made by our medical scientists in Meccania during the last
fifty years. The pathological side of psychology has received great
attention, with the consequence that our specialists are able to detect
mental disease in cases where it would not be suspected by less skilled
doctors. I believe I am right in saying that our experts detected the
disease now widely recognised as _Znednettlapseiwz_ (Chronic tendency
to Dissent) long before it was known in other countries that such
a characteristic was in any way connected with brain disease. The
microbe has been fully described in the twenty-seventh volume of the
_Report of the Special Medical Board_. The first clue to the existence
of this disease was discovered during the great war, or perhaps a
little later. A number of people persisted in putting forward views
concerning the origin of the war, which were totally at variance with
the official, and even the Imperial, explanatory statements made for
the enlightenment of the public. At the time, it was regarded as just
mental perversity. But what led to the discovery was that, after ten,
and even fifteen years in some cases, notwithstanding every natural
inducement to desist from such perversity, these people deliberately
and persistently maintained the objectivity of their hallucinations.
Experiments were made; they were under close observation for some
years, and at length Doctor Sikofantis-Sangwin produced his theory and
confidently predicted that the bacillus would be found in a few years.
From that time the path was clear. The disease was most rife some forty
years ago, soon after the beginning of Prince Mechow's premiership; but
since then it has almost disappeared. You see it is not hereditary,
and the normal conditions of Meccanian life are very unfavourable to
its development. But coming back to your point, although no doubt this
is what has given rise to the calumny that the Special Medical Board
uses its powers as an Inquisition, there is not a vestige of truth in
the charge. Each case--and the cases are becoming very rare indeed--is
investigated on strictly psycho-physiological lines. The patients in
all cases are isolated, and placed under observation for some months
before any pronouncement is made."
"Your explanation is as usual most illuminating," I replied, "and the
patience with which you deal with my questions emboldens me to put to
you some further difficulties that have been puzzling me."
"Proceed," replied Lickrod encouragingly.
"Well now," I said, "your whole national culture is so elaborately
perfect, from the standpoint of its basic principles, that it is
certainly well worth studying by any student of sociology or politics
or economics; yet we foreigners find ourselves hampered at many points
whenever we wish to get into contact with certain kinds of facts. For
instance, we may wish to find out what are the ideas, the current
thoughts and feelings, of the various groups, and even individuals, who
make up society. We cannot go and live with people and converse freely
with them. I have not been able to understand why your Government takes
such precautions to keep secret, as it were, facts which in any other
country are as open as the day."
"That is not at all difficult to answer by anyone who really
understands the principles of our Culture, and I am surprised that
none of the conductors who have instructed you have explained it--that
is, if you have asked them," he answered. "You have been hampered,
you say. Yes, but you have been assisted too. You have been shown
things in a way that would be impossible in most other countries
within such a short time. Our Government has paid great attention to
the instruction of foreigners. Instead of leaving them to gather
all sorts of erroneous impressions, it provides them with authentic
information. If, on the other hand, there are things which it does not
wish foreigners to know, it takes care, and quite rightly, that they
shall not obtain the information by any illicit means. For instance,
if you were foolish enough to attempt to obtain information about our
military affairs, you would find yourself against a blank wall; and, if
I may say so, you might hurt your head against the wall. But then there
are matters which, without being secret, cannot well be investigated
by the individual inquirer. Take such a thing as the current thought
of any particular class or group. Only a trained and well-equipped
social-psychologist is capable of making such an inquiry. The liability
to error is tremendous. All the books written by travellers reveal
this. We do not wish to be exploited by casual and irresponsible
travellers. We provide opportunities, under proper conditions, for
expert investigators; but very few are willing to comply with the
conditions. Besides, our Culture, like all the finest products of the
human intellect, is a very delicate thing. When we have carefully
educated our people in the Meccanian spirit we are not prepared to
expose them to the insidious influences of irresponsible busybodies.
Every Meccanian is valuable in our eyes, and just as we protect him
from infection in the shape of physical disease, so we protect him from
the more insidious but not less injurious influence of foreign ideas.
You will find plenty of philosophical justification for that policy in
the writings of Plato and Aristotle--two philosophers who are studied
in all the foreign universities but whose systems of thought are
utterly misunderstood except in Meccania."