"Robert A. Heinlein - The Man who sold the Moon (collected sto" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

court, I insist, 'It still moves!'"
10
 "Once before I offered such proof to this same body of self-styled
experts, and they rejected it. I renew my offer; let me measure the life lengths
of the members of the Academy of Science. Let them appoint a committee to
judge the results. I will seal my findings in two sets of envelopes; on the
outside of each envelope in one set will appear the name of a member, on
the inside the date of his death. In the other envelopes I will place names, on
the outside I will place dates. Let the committee place the envelopes in a
vault, then meet from time to time to open the appropriate envelopes. In such
a large body of men some deaths may be expected, if Amalgamated
actuaries can be trusted, every week or two. In such a fashion they will
accumulate data very rapidly to prove that Pinero is a liar, or no."
He stopped, and pushed out his little chest until it almost caught up with
his little round belly. He glared at the sweating savants. "Well?"
The judge raised his eyebrows, and caught Mr. Weems' eye. "Do you
accept?"
"Your Honor, I think the proposal highly improper-"
The judge cut him short. "I warn you that I shall rule against you if you
do not accept, or propose an equally reasonable method of arriving at the
truth."
Weems opened his mouth, changed his mind, looked up and down the
faces of learned witnesses, and faced the bench. "We accept, Your Honor."
"Very well. Arrange the details between you. The temporary injunction
is lifted, and Dr. Pinero must not be molested in the pursuit of his business.
Decision on the petition for permanent injunction is reserved without
prejudice pending the accumulation of evidence. Before we leave this matter
I wish to comment on the theory implied by you, Mr. Weems, when you
claimed damage to your client. There has grown up in the minds of certain
groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has
made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the
courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future,
even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This
strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither
individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that
the clock of history be stopped, or turned back, for their private benefit. That
is all."
Bidwell grunted in annoyance. "Weems, if you can't think up anything
better than that, Amalgamated is going to need a new chief attorney. It's
been ten weeks since you lost the injunction, and that little wart is coining
money hand over fist. Meantime every insurance firm in the country is going
broke. Hoskins, what's our loss ratio?"
"It's hard to say, Mr. Bidwell. It gets worse every day. We've paid off
thirteen big policies this week; all of them taken out since Pinero started
operations."


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 A spare little man spoke up. "I say, Bidwell, we aren't accepting any
new applications for United until we have time to check and be sure that they