§ 17

Pollution of rivers, lakes or ponds is absolutely forbidden; hence there is a constant supply of fresh water fish, which forms an important feature in the food of the city. Rivers, lakes and ponds are stocked with fish and fry every year, and close times are respected. The sale of fresh water fish is the outcome of a recognised trade which is conducted by experts, and woe betide the poacher, or still more the factory owner, who steals or poisons them. Preserves for the private pleasure of fishermen or other sportsmen are not forbidden, but are out of fashion: Fraternity has overcome Egoism to a large extent. Inasmuch as honesty is regarded as a virtue and dishonesty a vice (not the case under Trades Unions) it has spread from large to smaller issues. A factory owner who polluted a river, besides being punished by the Commune for so doing, would be regarded a CAD by the public at large, and would find rough handling unpleasant. For a moment my attention is again called to education, for my spirit has been listening. Truthfulness, absolute and pure, is inculcated from tenderest years at home and at school. It is involved in the duty to the neighbour as to God, it is the foundation of Wisdom, Justice and Fraternity. Faith in the good faith of the neighbour has become a habit. To override, cheat or deceive a neighbour is an unmanly act. The Communes seek to make men, men who are responsible, not only to their own dignity, but to the Commune, and this is the first clause of the creed in which there are but two commands—Duty to the neighbour and to God, the one includes the other. Fringes to this simple creed there are no doubt, but those two clauses are essentials on which all addenda hangs. Besides teaching a craft, scholars are initiated into the works of the great English poets. Young people are taught to recite passages from Shakespeare, Milton and other great poets, and they are encouraged to act the part they recite, because, as we shall presently see, the Drama takes a prominent place in the mental development of the new Communes.