Page:Life in a thousand worlds.djvu/141

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LIFE IN A THOUSAND WORLDS.

not only where the individual was born, but they can also obtain an official record of his life by applying officially to the clerk and paying a nominal fee.

Any stranger making a serious effort to cover his forehead is looked upon with suspicion. It is a current phrase of honor among the Tor-tuites: "I am not ashamed to show my forehead."

A few hundred years after this "Human Seal Law" went into operation, no one, except the criminally inclined, would think of returning to the old reckless way, although the system was scorned and ridiculed by many Tor-tuites for about fifty years after its advent.

In considering the character of an individual, the courts and the people place tremendous stress upon the township record. Each son and daughter early learns the value of a stainless page and strives to keep his record clean.

The township, through the state, gives to each child at maturity a civil inheritance, provided his record meets the requirements of the law.