XVI. The Future 138 INDEX 142 CHAPTER I THE WHEEL AND THE PUBLIC One of the greatest of unknown men of genius was the inventor of the wheel. Probably--as in the case of most inventions--he shares the credit with others who prepared the way for him by discovering that heavy weights could be more easily rolled than dragged. But, whatever the origin of the wheel and axle, the combination was so admirable that it remained unchanged in its essential features for centuries and still forms the primary element in locomotion. Some of the earliest forms of vehicle can be found co-existing with the very latest. In Oporto, for instance, there are electric tramways, but there are also ox wagons which seem to belong to the childhood of the world. The wheels are rigidly fixed to rotating axles (the oldest known arrangement) and the supports of both the front and the back axles are rigidly fixed to the wagon. The result is that the vehicle cannot 'steer' and must be dragged round corners. Some time ago the authorities, realising at last that this dragging was ruinous to the road surfaces, made a regulation that all wagons should have their front axles pivoted. This attempt at improvement caused more agitation than the Revolution itself. The owners of wagons argued--with perfect justice--that the rigid wagon had served for innumerable generations; and they refused, in the face of fines, to make the change. Their resistance was so general and so dogged that the law became a dead letter, and the people reverted with great content to the ancient system which divided the business of local transport between yoked oxen and women who had been trained from girlhood to carry heavy loads upon their heads.