"Thus you see, every individual has his financial standing--all in relation to the government. He can let his balance pile up if he is able, or he can keep it low." "Suppose he goes into debt?" suggested the Very Young Man. "In the case of obvious, verified necessity, the government will allow him a limited credit. Persistent--shall I say willful--debt is a crime." "I thought at first," said the Big Business Man, "that everybody in this nation was on the same financial footing--that there was no premium put upon skill or industriousness. Now I see that one can accumulate, if not money, at least an inordinate amount of the world's goods." "Not such an inordinate amount," said the Chemist smiling. "Because there is no inheritance. A man and woman, combining their worldly wealth, may by industry acquire more than others, but they are welcome to enjoy it. And they cannot, in one lifetime, get such a preponderance of wealth as to cause much envy from those lacking it." "What happens to this house when you and Lylda die, if Loto cannot have it?" the Big Business Man asked. "It is kept in repair by the government and held until some one with a sufficiently large balance wants to buy it." "Are all workers paid at the same rate?" asked the Doctor. "No, but their wages are much nearer equal than in your world." "You have to hire people to work for you, how do you pay them?" the Doctor inquired. "The rate is determined by governmental standard. I pay them by having the amount deducted from my balance and added to theirs." "When you built this house, how did you go about doing it?" asked the Big Business Man. "I simply went to the government, and they built it for me according to my own ideas and wishes, deducting its cost from my balance." "What about the public work to be done?" asked the Big Business Man. "Caring for the city streets, the making of roads and all that. Do you have taxes?" "No," answered the Chemist smiling, "we do not have taxes. Quite the reverse, we sometimes have dividends. "The government, you must understand, not only conducts a business account with each of its citizens, but one with itself also. The value of articles produced is computed with a profit allowance, so that by a successful business administration, the government is enabled not only to meet its public obligations, but to acquire a surplus to its own credit in the form of accumulated merchandise. This surplus is divided among the people every five years--a sort of dividend." "I should think some cities might have much more than others," said the Big Business Man. "That would cause discontent, wouldn't it?" "It would probably cause a rush of people to the more successful cities. But it doesn't happen, because each city reports to the National government and the whole thing is averaged up. You see it is all quite simple," the Chemist finished. "And it makes life here very easy to live, and very worth the living."