Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell (read novel full TXT) 📖

else like to be flattened Out?’ inquired Philpot.

 

`What would you do with them what spends all their money in drink?’

asked Slyme.

 

`I might reasonably ask you, “What’s done with them or what you

propose to do with them now?” There are many men and women whose

lives are so full of toil and sorrow and the misery caused by abject

poverty, who are so shut out from all that makes life worth living,

that the time they spend in the public house is the only ray of

sunshine in their cheerless lives. Their mental and material poverty

is so great that they are deprived of and incapable of understanding

the intellectual and social pleasures of civilization… Under

Socialism there will be no such class as this. Everyone will be

educated, and social life and rational pleasure will be within the

reach of all. Therefore we do not believe that there will be such a

class. Any individuals who abandoned themselves to such a course

would be avoided by their fellows; but if they became very degraded,

we should still remember that they were our brother men and women, and

we should regard them as suffering from a disease inherited from their

uncivilized forefathers and try to cure them by placing them under

some restraint: in an institute for instance.’

 

`Another good way to deal with ‘em,’ said Harlow, `would be to allow

them double pay, so as they could drink themselves to death. We could

do without the likes of them.’

 

`Call the next case,’ said Philpot.

 

`This ‘ere abundance that you’re always talking about,’ said Crass,

you can’t be sure that it would be possible to produce all that.

You’re only assoomin’ that it could be done.’

 

Barrington pointed to the still visible outlines of the `Hoblong’ that

Owen had drawn on the wall to illustrate a previous lecture.

 

`Even under the present silly system of restricted production, with

the majority of the population engaged in useless, unproductive,

unnecessary work, and large numbers never doing any work at all, there

is enough produced to go all round after a fashion. More than enough,

for in consequence of what they call “Over-Production”, the markets

are periodically glutted with commodities of all kinds, and then for a

time the factories are closed and production ceases. And yet we can

all manage to exist - after a fashion. This proves that if productive

industry were organized on the lines advocated by Socialists there

could be produced such a prodigious quantity of everything, that

everyone could live in plenty and comfort. The problem of how to

produce sufficient for all to enjoy abundance is already solved: the

problem that then remains is - How to get rid of those whose greed and

callous indifference to the sufferings of others, prevents it being

done.’

 

`Yes! and you’ll never be able to get rid of ‘em, mate,’ cried Crass,

triumphantly - and the man with the copper wire stitches in his boot

said that it couldn’t be done.

 

`Well, we mean to have a good try, anyhow,’ said Barrington.

 

Crass and most of the others tried hard to think of something to say

in defence of the existing state of affairs, or against the proposals

put forward by the lecturer; but finding nothing, they maintained a

sullen and gloomy silence. The man with the copper wire stitches in

his boot in particular appeared to be very much upset; perhaps he was

afraid that if the things advocated by the speaker ever came to pass

he would not have any boots at all. To assume that he had some such

thought as this, is the only rational way to account for his

hostility, for in his case no change could have been for the worse

unless it reduced him to almost absolute nakedness and starvation.

 

To judge by their unwillingness to consider any proposals to alter the

present system, one might have supposed that they were afraid of

losing something, instead of having nothing to lose - except their

poverty.

 

It was not till the chairman had made several urgent appeals for more

questions that Crass brightened up: a glad smile slowly spread over

and illuminated his greasy visage: he had at last thought of a most

serious and insurmountable obstacle to the establishment of the

Co-operative Commonwealth.

 

`What,’ he demanded, in a loud voice, `what are you goin’ to do, in

this ‘ere Socialist Republic of yours, with them wot WON’T WORK’!”

 

As Crass flung this bombshell into the Socialist camp, the miserable,

ragged-trousered crew around him could scarce forbear a cheer; but the

more intelligent part of the audience only laughed.

 

`We don’t believe that there will be any such people as that,’ said

Barrington.

 

`There’s plenty of ‘em about now, anyway,’ sneered Crass.

 

`You can’t change ‘uman nature, you know,’ cried the man behind the

moat, and the one who had the copper wire stitches in his boot laughed

scornfully.

 

`Yes, I know there are plenty such now,’ rejoined Barrington. `It’s

only what is to be expected, considering that practically all workers

live in poverty, and are regarded with contempt. The conditions under

which most of the work is done at present are so unpleasant and

degrading that everyone refuses to do any unless they are compelled;

none of us here, for instance, would continue to work for Rushton if

it were not for the fact that we have either to do so or starve; and

when we do work we only just earn enough to keep body and soul

together. Under the present system everybody who can possibly manage

to do so avoids doing any work, the only difference being that some

people do their loafing better than others. The aristocracy are too

lazy to work, but they seem to get on all right; they have their

tenants to work for them. Rushton is too lazy to work, so he has

arranged that we and Nimrod shall work instead, and he fares much

better than any of us who do work. Then there is another kind of

loafers who go about begging and occasionally starving rather than

submit to such abominable conditions as are offered to them. These

last are generally not much worse off than we are and they are often

better off. At present, people have everything to gain and but little

to lose by refusing to work. Under Socialism it would be just the

reverse; the conditions of labour would be so pleasant, the hours of

obligatory work so few, and the reward so great, that it is absurd to

imagine that any one would be so foolish as to incur the contempt of

his fellows and make himself a social outcast by refusing to do the

small share of work demanded of him by the community of which he was a

member.

 

`As for what we should do to such individuals if there did happen to

be some, I can assure you that we would not treat them as you treat

them now. We would not dress them up in silk and satin and broadcloth

and fine linen: we would not embellish them, as you do, with jewels of

gold and jewels of silver and with precious stones; neither should we

allow them to fare sumptuously every day. Our method of dealing with

them would be quite different from yours. In the Co-operative

Commonwealth there will be no place for loafers; whether they call

themselves aristocrats or tramps, those who are too lazy to work shall

have no share in the things that are produced by the labour of others.

Those who do nothing shall have nothing. If any man will not work,

neither shall he eat. Under the present system a man who is really

too lazy to work may stop you in the street and tell you that he

cannot get employment. For all you know, he may be telling the truth,

and if you have any feeling and are able, you will help him. But in

the Socialist State no one would have such an excuse, because everyone

that was willing would be welcome to come and help in the work of

producing wealth and happiness for all, and afterwards he would also

be welcome to his full share of the results.’

 

`Any more complaints?’ inquired the chairman, breaking the gloomy

silence that followed.

 

`I don’t want anyone to think that I am blaming any of these

present-day loafers,’ Barrington added. `The wealthy ones cannot be

expected voluntarily to come and work under existing conditions and if

they were to do so they would be doing more harm than good - they

would be doing some poor wretches out of employment. They are not to

be blamed; the people who are to blame are the working classes

themselves, who demand and vote for the continuance of the present

system. As for the other class of loafers - those at the bottom, the

tramps and people of that sort, if they were to become sober and

industrious tomorrow, they also would be doing more harm than good to

the other workers; it would increase the competition for work. If all

the loafers in Mugsborough could suddenly be transformed into decent

house painters next week, Nimrod might be able to cut down the wages

another penny an hour. I don’t wish to speak disrespectfully of these

tramps at all. Some of them are such simply because they would rather

starve than submit to the degrading conditions that we submit to, they

do not see the force of being bullied and chased, and driven about in

order to gain semi-starvation and rags. They are able to get those

without working; and I sometimes think that they are more worthy of

respect and are altogether a nobler type of beings than a lot of

broken-spirited wretches like ourselves, who are always at the mercy

of our masters, and always in dread of the sack.’

 

`Any more questions?’ said the chairman.

 

`Do you mean to say as the time will ever come when the gentry will

mix up on equal terms with the likes of us?’ demanded the man behind

the moat, scornfully.

 

`Oh, no,’ replied the lecturer. When we get Socialism there won’t be

any people like us. Everybody will be civilized.’

 

The man behind the moat did not seem very satisfied with this answer,

and told the others that he could not see anything to laugh at.

 

`Is there any more questions?’ cried Philpot. `Now is your chance to

get some of your own back, but don’t hall speak at once.’

 

`I should like to know who’s goin’ to do all the dirty work?’ said

Slyme. `If everyone is to be allowed to choose ‘is own trade, who’d

be fool enough to choose to be a scavenger, a sweep, a dustman or a

sewer man? nobody wouldn’t want to do such jobs as them and everyone

would be after the soft jobs.’

 

`Of course,’ cried Crass, eagerly clutching at this last straw. `The

thing sounds all right till you comes to look into it, but it wouldn’t

never work!’

 

`It would be very easy to deal with any difficulty of that sort,’

replied Barrington, `if it were found that too many people were

desirous of pursuing certain callings, it would be known that the

conditions attached to those kinds of work were unfairly easy, as

compared with other lines, so the conditions in those trades would be

made more severe. A higher degree of skill would be required. If we

found that too many persons wished to be doctors, architects,

engineers and so forth, we would increase the severity of the

examinations. This would scare away all but the most gifted and

enthusiastic. We should thus at