Since there were no newspapers in Atlantis, at least one agency of political excitement was lacking. But there were other agencies in abundance. Never--with the exception of those dreadful days following the discovery of the crack--had I seen the Atlanteans so agitated. In all the houses and meetings that I visited, the chief topic of conversation was the proposed “Emergence Act”; every one was anxious to deliver his opinion, and every one----man and woman alike,----seemed to have an opinion, which he was capable of expressing in apt and pointed terms. But the desire for discussion was particularly in evidence at the great assemblies held daily at the Hall of Public Enlightenment; and it was there that Xanocles and his fellow “Debating Delegates” of the Emergence Party made some of the most forceful and eloquent pleas I had ever heard; and their rivals of the Submergence group were scarcely less fervid in appealing for the time-honored policies. These activities, I need hardly point out, were not confined to one city, but were participated in by all the eighteen cities of Atlantis; and numerous speakers from outside points would arrive to address the gatherings in Archeon, while occasionally Xanocles or some other leader would leave to speak in neighboring towns. Not least eager among the fighters for Emergence were the thirty-nine members of the Upper World Club. Indeed, it is certain that none of the older members could have outdone us in enthusiasm or determination. For we had more than an abstract principle at stake--our entire future lay in the balance. And while I personally was not eager to return to earth just now (being detained by thought of a certain fair-haired, blue-eyed woman), yet most of my comrades were almost passionately anxious to escape, for as time went by they found themselves more and more out of place in this too-perfect land, and increasingly unable to perform the duties required of them as citizens of Atlantis.