“Am I to understand from this, that you do not hold the condition of motherhood in honour?”
“By no means. If you will take careful note of your surroundings ere you leave us, you will see that as much public homage is paid to married women as to single ones. But we believe that perfect clearness of brain, and the ability to devote oneself exclusively to intellectual topics, are inseparable from the celibate state, and we adhere rigidly to the rules established in connection with this subject.”
“It must, I suppose, be impossible even here to escape some taint of immorality. For instance, it must be a great temptation to many people to keep themselves eligible for election by remaining single, and yet to indulge secretly in carnal propensities. How do you act in the case of illegitimate children?”
“Illegitimate children are an almost unheard of phenomenon here. We do not tolerate vice, and our punishments usually prove adequate deterrents. A woman found guilty of adultery is at once degraded, and never attains to any other position than that of the lowest menial in one of our public institutions.”
“And what of the man? He is allowed to go scot-free with us. Is it so with you?”
“No man who has once offended in that direction ever has the opportunity of repeating his crime in New Amazonia, for he is at once bereft of all he possesses, and banished from the country. Not only does he lose all present possessions, but forfeits the pension he would otherwise enjoy in his old age. He is not permitted to return to the country.”
“Then your punishment of the man is infinitely the most severe?”
“Yes. It is long since we recognised the necessity of repressing vice by other methods than our forerunners adopted.”
“And what are your laws in relation to the legal and moral rights of illegitimates?”
“We have no laws on the subject, simply because the offspring of vice is not permitted to live. We New Amazonians pride ourselves upon being of none but honourable parentage.”