"What year was the _Two-Thirds Majority Bill_ passed?" asked Percy.

"Oh! long before--within a year or two of the fall of the House of
Lords. It was necessary, I think, or the Individualists would have gone
raving mad.... Well, the _Necessary Trades Bill_ was inevitable: people
had begun to see that even so far back as the time when the railways
were municipalised. For a while there was a burst of art; because all
the Individualists who could went in for it (it was then that the Toller
school was founded); but they soon drifted back into Government
employment; after all, the six-per-cent limit for all individual
enterprise was not much of a temptation; and Government paid well."

Percy shook his head.

"Yes; but I cannot understand the present state of affairs. You said
just now that things went slowly?"

"Yes," said the old man, "but you must remember the Poor Laws. That
established the Communists for ever. Certainly Braithwaite knew his
business."

The younger priest looked up inquiringly.

"The abolition of the old workhouse system," said Mr. Templeton. "It is
all ancient history to you, of course; but I remember as if it was
yesterday. It was that which brought down what was still called the
Monarchy and the Universities."

"Ah," said Percy. "I should like to hear you talk about that, sir."