My admission evidently created a most favorable impression, for Manfreda, stilling the chorus of surprised interjections, said in a more cordial voice: “Bogardus, you are so clearly a man of intelligence and observation, that I feel it is only a recognition of your manifested open-mindedness to inform you of the underlying purpose of this inquiry. There has risen lately among certain of the younger group, a school of radicals which is urging the social and political re-establishment of man. I, myself, have no part in such sentimentalism, but in this council, this new issue is represented by Germa, Stella and Dulcina.” “I thank you for the warning,” I replied instantly, “and though my male instinct will naturally desire to do full justice to a departed society, I assure you that everything I have seen here has filled me with such amazement and admiration that I would be incapable of distorting the facts as I have known them.” Dulcina and Stella smiled on me with a personal pride as though I were an excellent exponent of their political opinions, and Manfreda, after a moment’s deliberation, said: “We, of course, are anxious to have your personal testimony as to the success or failure of the institutions you knew. You were a democracy. You believed that all men were free and equal. The phrase of Lincoln was government of the people, by the people and for the people! High ideals if sentimental ones. Actually how were you governed?” I had intended to be an honest witness, but this first question threw me into perplexity. I found myself seeking in my imagination for ingenuous excuses. “At that time,” I said by way of preface, “it is only fair to state that a large part of the population was of recent immigration, that there were no fixed classes and that the object of everyone was to rise in the social scale by prospering financially. Also,” I added shrewdly, “you must remember that women shared the suffrage.” “Shared, yes, but they did not control it,” put in Candora. “To be honest, I must confess that we were badly governed, but no worse than the people deserved.” “Why, Bogardus?” “Because--well, because a large proportion of the people were indifferent to how they were governed. In many cases only a small fraction of the electorate took the trouble to vote. In our big cities despite occasional revolts, we were in the hands of political machines who fattened on their opportunities of selling offices and privileges. In some cases, they were in direct alliance with criminals.” “Was this state of affairs generally known?” “So well known that the public was quite indifferent as to which side robbed them.” “But what maintained such organizations?” “A sentiment called party loyalty.” “The traditional way of looking at things, Bogardus?” interrupted Doctrina. I realized the purpose of the remark but I could not deny it.