Wherever I saw workmen, they worked swiftly, with eager interest. Nowhere did I see the sagging slouch, the slow drag of foot and dull swing of arm which I had always associated with day laborers. We saw men working in the fields--and women, too; but I had learned not to lay my neck on the block too frequently. I knew that my protest would only bring out explanations of the advantage of field work over house work--and that women were as strong as men--or thereabouts. But I was surprised at their eagerness. "They look as busy as a lot of ants on an ant heap," I said. "It's their heap, you see," Owen answered. "And they are not tired--that makes a great difference." "They seem phenomenally well dressed--looks like a scene in an opera. Sort of agricultural uniform?" "Why not?" Owen was always asking me "why not"--and there wasn't any answer to it. "We used to have hunting suits and fishing suits and plumbing suits, and so on. It isn't really a uniform, just the natural working out of the best appointed dress for the trade." Again I held my tongue; not asking how they could afford it, but remembering the shorter hours, the larger incomes, the more universal education. We got back to Yonkers, put up the car--these things could be hired, I found, for twenty-five cents an hour--and had lunch in a little eating place which bore out Hallie's statement as to the high standard of food everywhere. Our meal was twenty-five cents for each of us. I saw Owen smile at me, but I refused to be surprised. We settled down in our boat again, and pushed smoothly up the river. "I wish you'd get one thing clear in my mind," I said at last. "Just how did you tackle the liquor question. I haven't seen a saloon--or a drunken man. Nellie said something about people's not wanting to drink any more--but there were several millions who did want to, thirty years ago, and plenty of people who wanted them to. What were your steps?" "The first step was to eliminate the self-interest of the dealer--the big business pressure that had to make drunkards. That was done in state after state, within a few years, by introducing government ownership and management. With that went an absolute government guarantee of purity. In five or six years there was no bad liquor sold, and no public drinking places except government ones. "But that wasn't enough--not by a long way. It wasn't the love of liquor that supported the public house--it was the need of the public house itself." I stared rather uncertainly. "The meeting place," he went on. "Men have to get together. We have had public houses as long as we have had private ones, almost. It is a social need." "A social need with a pretty bad result, it seems to me," I said. "Taking men away from their families, leading to all manner of vicious indulgence."