Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell (fiction novels to read .txt) 📕

is really of no more use than so much dirt. They would speedily

perish, not from lack of money, but from lack of wealth - that is,

from lack of things that are made by work. And further, it is quite

true that if all the money were distributed equally amongst all the

people tomorrow, it would all be up in heaps again in a very short

time. But that only proves that while the present Money System

remains, it will be impossible to do away with poverty, for heaps in

some places mean little or nothing in other places. Therefore while

the money system lasts we are bound to have poverty and all the evils

it brings in its train.’

`Oh, of course everybody’s an idjit except you,’ sneered Crass, who

was beginning to feel rather fogged.

`I rise to a pint of order,’ said Easton.

`And I rise to order a pint,’ cried Philpot.

`Order what the bloody ‘ell you like,’ remarked Harlow, `so long as I

‘aven’t got to pay for it.’

`Mine’s a pint of porter,’ observed the man on the pail.

`The pint is,’ proceeded Easton, `when does the lecturer intend to

explain to us what is the real cause of poverty.’

`‘Ear, ‘ear,’ cried Harlow. `That’s what I want to know, too.’

`And what I should like to know is, who is supposed to be givin’ this

‘ere lecture?’ inquired the man on the pail.

`Why, Owen, of course,’ replied Harlow.

`Well, why don’t you try to keep quiet for a few minutes and let ‘im

get on with it?’

`The next B—r wot interrupts,’ cried Philpot, rolling up his

shirt-sleeves and glaring threateningly round upon the meeting. `The

next b—r wot interrupts goes out through the bloody winder!’

At this, everybody pretended to be very frightened, and edged away as

far as possible from Philpot. Easton, who was sitting next to him,

got up and crossed over to Owen’s vacant seat. The man on the pail

was the only one who did not seem nervous; perhaps he felt safer

because he was, as usual, surrounded by a moat.

`Poverty,’ resumed the lecturer, consists in a shortage of the

necessaries of life - or rather, of the benefits of civilization.’

`You’ve said that about a ‘undred times before,’ snarled Crass.

`I know I have; and I have no doubt I shall have to say it about five

hundred times more before you understand what it means.’

`Get on with the bloody lecture,’ shouted the man on the pail. `Never

mind arguin’ the point.’

`Well, keep horder, can’t you?’ cried Philpot, fiercely, `and give the

man a chance.’

`All these things are produced in the same way,’ proceeded Owen.

`They are made from the Raw materials by those who work - aided by

machinery. When we inquire into the cause of the present shortage of

these things, the first question we should ask is - Are there not

sufficient of the raw materials in existence to enable us to produce

enough to satisfy the needs of all?

`The answer to this question is - There are undoubtedly more than

sufficient of all the raw materials.

`Insufficiency of raw material is therefore not the cause. We must

look in another direction.

`The next question is - Are we short of labour? Is there not a

sufficient number of people able and willing to work? Or is there not

enough machinery?

`The answers to these questions are - There are plenty of people able

and willing to work, and there is plenty of machinery!

`These things being so, how comes this extraordinary result? How is

it that the benefits of civilization are not produced in sufficient

quantity to satisfy the needs of all? How is it that the majority of

the people always have to go without most of the refinements,

comforts, and pleasures of life, and very often without even the bare

necessaries of existence?

`Plenty of materials - Plenty of Labour - Plenty of Machinery - and,

nearly everybody going short of nearly everything!

`The cause of this extraordinary state of affairs is that although we

possess the means of producing more than abundance for all, we also

have an imbecile system of managing our affairs.

`The present Money System prevents us from doing the necessary work,

and consequently causes the majority of the population to go short of

the things that can be made by work. They suffer want in the midst of

the means of producing abundance. They remain idle because they are

bound and fettered with a chain of gold.

`Let us examine the details of this insane, idiotic, imbecile system.’

Owen now asked Philpot to pass him a piece of charred wood from under

the grate, and having obtained what he wanted, he drew upon the wall a

quadrangular figure about four feet in length and one foot deep. The

walls of the kitchen had not yet been cleaned off, so it did not

matter about disfiguring them.

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| This represents the whole of the adult population of the country |

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`To find out the cause of the shortage in this country of the things

that can be made by work it is first of all necessary to find out how

people spend their time. Now this square represents the whole of the

adult population of this country. There are many different classes of

people, engaged in a great number of different occupations. Some of

them are helping to produce the benefits of civilization, and some are

not. All these people help to consume these things, but when we

inquire into their occupations we shall find that although the

majority are workers, only a comparatively small number are engaged in

actually producing either the benefits of civilization or the

necessaries of life.’ …

Order being once more restored, the lecturer turned again to the

drawing on the wall and stretched out his hand, evidently with the

intention of making some addition to it, but instead of doing so lie

paused irresolutely, and faltering, let his arm drop down again by his

side.

An absolute, disconcerting silence reigned. His embarrassment and

nervousness increased. He knew that they were unwilling to hear or

talk or think about such subjects as the cause of poverty at all.

They preferred to make fun of and ridicule them. He knew they would

refuse to try to see the meaning of what he wished to say if it were

at all difficult or obscure. How was he to put it to them so that

they would HAVE to understand it whether they wished to or not. It

was almost impossible.

It would be easy enough to convince them if they would only take a

LITTLE trouble and try to understand, but he knew that they certainly

would not `worry’ themselves about such a subject as this; it was not

as if it were some really important matter, such as a smutty story, a

game of hooks and rings or shove-ha’penny, something concerning

football or cricket, horse-racing or the doings of some Royal

personage or aristocrat.

The problem of the cause of poverty was only something that concerned

their own and their children’s future welfare. Such an unimportant

matter, being undeserving of any earnest attention, must be put before

them so clearly and plainly that they would be compelled to understand

it at a glance; and it was almost impossible to do it.

Observing his hesitation, some of the men began to snigger. `‘E seems

to ‘ave got ‘isself into a bit of a fog,’ remarked Crass in a loud

whisper to Slyme, who laughed.

The sound roused Owen, who resumed:

`All these people help to consume the things produced by labour. We

will now divide them into separate classes. Those who help to

produce; those who do nothing, those who do harm, and those who are

engaged in unnecessary work.’

`And,’ sneered Crass, `those who are engaged in unnecessary talk.’

`First we will separate those who not only do nothing, but do not even

pretend to be of any use; people who would consider themselves

disgraced if they by any chance did any useful work. This class

includes tramps, beggars, the “Aristocracy”, “Society” people, great

landowners, and generally all those possessed of hereditary wealth.’

As he spoke he drew a vertical line across one end of the oblong.

+––––+–––––––––––––––––—+

| Tramps | |

| Beggars | |

| Society | |

| People | |

| Aristoc- | |

| racy | |

| Great | |

| Landowners | |

| All those | |

| possessed | |

| of | |

| hereditary | |

| wealth | |

+––––+–––––––––––––––––—+

`These people do absolutely nothing except devour or enjoy the things

produced by the labours of others.

`Our next division represents those who do work of a kind - “mental”

work if you like to call it so - work that benefits themselves and

harms other people. Employers - or rather Exploiters of Labour;

Thieves, Swindlers, Pickpockets; profit seeking shareholders;

burglars; Bishops; Financiers; Capitalists, and those persons

humorously called “Ministers” of religion. If you remember that the

word “minister” means “servant” you will be able to see the joke.

1 2

+––––+––––-+–––––––––––––+

| Tramps | Exploiters | |

| Beggars | of Labour | |

| Society | Thieves | |

| People | Swindlers | |

| Aristoc- | Pickpockets | |

| racy | Burglars | |

| Great | Bishops | |

| Landowners | Financiers | |

| All those | Capitalists | |

| possessed | Share- | |

| of | holders | |

| hereditary | Ministers | |

| wealth | of religion | |

+––––+––––-+–––––––––––––+

`None of these people produce anything themselves, but by means of

cunning and scheming they contrive between them to obtain possession

of a very large portion of the things produced by the labour of others.

`Number three stands for those who work for wages or salaries, doing

unnecessary work. That is, producing things or doing things which -

though useful and necessary to the Imbecile System - cannot be

described as the necessaries of life or the benefits of civilization.

This is the largest section of all. It comprises Commercial

Travellers, Canvassers, Insurance agents, commission agents, the great

number of Shop Assistants, the majority of clerks, workmen employed in

the construction and adornment of business premises, people occupied

with what they call “Business”, which means being very busy without

producing anything. Then there is a vast army of people engaged in

designing, composing, painting or printing advertisements, things

which are for the most part of no utility whatever, the object of most

advertisements is merely to persuade people to buy from one firm

rather than from another. If you want some butter it doesn’t matter

whether you buy it from Brown or Jones or Robinson.’

1 2 3

+––––+––––-+––––-+––––––––-+

| Tramps | Exploiters | All those | |

| Beggars | of Labour | engaged in | |

| Society | Thieves | unnecessary | |

| People | Swindlers | work | |

| Aristoc- | Pickpockets | | |

| racy | Burglars | | |

| Great | Bishops | | |

| Landowners | Financiers | | |

| All those | Capitalists | | |

| possessed | Share- | | |

| of | holders | | |

| hereditary | Ministers | | |

| wealth | of religion