"They are grouped according to classes, of course," he answered. "Each of the seven classes has the same number of representatives, and there is no doubt a tendency for the representatives of each class to consider things somewhat from the point of view of the interests of their class. But the members have no meetings, except in the full assembly and in the committees. Such group-meetings form no part of the Constitution. We do not do things by halves. When the State decided to have nothing to do with party government, it decided also not to have anything to do with group government. There is no room for such trifling in Meccania. So you see there is nothing for you to investigate in this direction." "The classes themselves, then? Is there no body of opinion, no collective political tradition or sentiment cultivated by the various classes?" "You might find something there," said Lickrod, musing a little. "But except in the shape of books I do not know how you would get at it." "But all books are censored, are they not?" I said. "Certainly, but how does that affect the question?" "Books would hardly give me a truthful idea of all the currents of thought." "But surely you cannot suppose that the State would assist you in trying to discover things which, by its deliberate action, it had already thought it desirable to suppress?" he answered. "Besides," he added, "such things belong rather to the pathology of politics. By the way, you would find some useful matter in Doctor Squelcher's great work on Political Pathology." "That is a new term to me," I said. "Doctor Squelcher's researches have proved invaluable to the Special Medical Board in connection with the disease _Znednettlapseiwz_ (Chronic tendency to Dissent) which you also had not heard of." In view of this conversation my attempt to investigate Meccanian politics did not seem likely to meet with much success.