“It is these pretended Christians who do not practise what they preach, because, all the time they are singing their songs of Brotherhood and Love, they are fighting with each other, and strangling each other and trampling each other underfoot in their horrible ‘Battle of Life’!
“No Socialist suggests ‘Sharing out’ money or anything else in the manner you say. And another thing: if you only had a little more sense you might be able to perceive that this stock ‘argument’ of yours is really an argument against the present system, inasmuch as it proves that Money is in itself of no use whatever. Supposing all the money was shared out equally; and suppose there was enough of it for everyone to have ten thousand pounds; and suppose they then all thought they were rich and none of them would work. What would they live on? Their money? Could they eat it or drink it or wear it? It wouldn’t take them very long to find out that this wonderful money—which under the present system is the most powerful thing in existence—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.