Page:Back to the Republic.djvu/44

 What three wheels or less are to transportation, autocracy is to government; what five wheels or more are to transportation, democracy is to government; what four-wheel vehicles are to transportation, the republic is to government.

You will observe that in the above classifications the golden mean is always an accurate, definite thing, while the extremes are variable, inaccurate things. For example, it is starvation whether an individual is deprived of food for several days or several weeks; the longer the period of time, the more extreme the starvation. It is gluttony whether one eats an overabundance of food or several times the needed amount, and the greater the abundance of food, the more extreme the gluttony; but nourishment, the golden mean, is a definite thing with fixed limitations—just enough. If one is deprived of drink for a day, or several days, it is thirst, and the longer the time, the more extreme the thirst. One may drink too many glasses or too many quarts; the result will be drunkenness in some degree; and the greater the excessive amount, the more extreme the drunkenness: but temperance, the golden mean, is a definite thing with fixed limitations.

Polygamy consists in the marriage of one man to two or more wives. The number may be five,