The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists [145]
right through - inside and out, for the money it cost to gild one of them.'
`It seems that nearly everybody is more or less 'ard up nowadays,' said Philpot. `I'm jiggered if I can understand it, but there it is.'
`You should ast Owen to explain it to yer,' remarked Crass with a jeering laugh. `'E knows all about wot's the cause of poverty, but 'e won't tell nobody. 'E's been GOIN' to tell us wot it is for a long time past, but it don't seem to come orf.'
Crass had not yet had an opportunity of producing the Obscurer cutting, and he made this remark in the hope of turning the conversation into a channel that would enable him to do so. But Owen did not respond, and went on reading his newspaper.
`We ain't 'ad no lectures at all lately, 'ave we?' said Harlow in an injured tone. `I think it's about time Owen explained what the real cause of poverty is. I'm beginning to get anxious about it.'
The others laughed.
When Philpot had finished eating his dinner he went out of the kitchen and presently returned with a small pair of steps, which he opened and placed in a corner of the room, with the back of the steps facing the audience.
`There you are, me son!' he exclaimed to Owen. `There's a pulpit for yer.'
`Yes! come on 'ere!' cried Crass, feeling in his waistcoat pocket for the cutting. `Tell us wot's the real cause of poverty.'
`'Ear, 'ear,' shouted the man on the pail. `Git up into the bloody pulpit and give us a sermon.'
As Owen made no response to the invitations, the crowd began to hoot and groan.
`Come on, man,' whispered Philpot, winking his goggle eye persuasively at Owen. `Come on, just for a bit of turn, to pass the time away.'
Owen accordingly ascended the steps - much to the secret delight of Crass - and was immediately greeted with a round of enthusiastic applause.
`There you are, you see,' said Philpot, addressing the meeting. `It's no use booin' and threatenin', because 'e's one of them lecturers wot can honly be managed with kindness. If it 'adn't a bin for me, 'e wouldn't 'ave agreed to speak at all.'
Philpot having been unanimously elected chairman, proposed by Harlow and seconded by the man on the pail, Owen commenced:
`Mr Chairman and gentlemen:
`Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, it is with some degree of hesitation that I venture to address myself to such a large, distinguished, fashionable, and intelligent looking audience as that which I have the honour of seeing before me on the present occasion.' (Applause.)
`One of the finest speakers I've ever 'eard!' remarked the man on the pail in a loud whisper to the chairman, who motioned him to be silent.
Owen continued:
`In some of my previous lectures I have endeavoured to convince you that money is in itself of no value and of no real use whatever. In this I am afraid I have been rather unsuccessful.'
`Not a bit of it, mate,' cried Crass, sarcastically. `We all agrees with it.'
`'Ear, 'ear,' shouted Easton. `If a bloke was to come in 'ere now and orfer to give me a quid - I'd refuse it!'
`So would I,' said Philpot.
`Well, whether you agree or not, the fact remains. A man might possess so much money that, in England, he would be comparatively rich, and yet if he went to some country where the cost of living is very high he would find himself in a condition of poverty. Or one might conceivably be in a place where the necessaries of life could not be bought for money at all. Therefore it is more conducive to an intelligent understanding of the subject if we say that to be rich consists not necessarily in having much money, but in being able to enjoy an abundance of the things that are made by work; and that poverty consists not merely in being without money, but in being short of the necessaries and comforts of life - or in other words in being short of the Benefits of Civilization, the things that are all, without exception, produced by work. Whether you agree or not with anything else that I say, you will all admit that that is our condition at the present time.
`It seems that nearly everybody is more or less 'ard up nowadays,' said Philpot. `I'm jiggered if I can understand it, but there it is.'
`You should ast Owen to explain it to yer,' remarked Crass with a jeering laugh. `'E knows all about wot's the cause of poverty, but 'e won't tell nobody. 'E's been GOIN' to tell us wot it is for a long time past, but it don't seem to come orf.'
Crass had not yet had an opportunity of producing the Obscurer cutting, and he made this remark in the hope of turning the conversation into a channel that would enable him to do so. But Owen did not respond, and went on reading his newspaper.
`We ain't 'ad no lectures at all lately, 'ave we?' said Harlow in an injured tone. `I think it's about time Owen explained what the real cause of poverty is. I'm beginning to get anxious about it.'
The others laughed.
When Philpot had finished eating his dinner he went out of the kitchen and presently returned with a small pair of steps, which he opened and placed in a corner of the room, with the back of the steps facing the audience.
`There you are, me son!' he exclaimed to Owen. `There's a pulpit for yer.'
`Yes! come on 'ere!' cried Crass, feeling in his waistcoat pocket for the cutting. `Tell us wot's the real cause of poverty.'
`'Ear, 'ear,' shouted the man on the pail. `Git up into the bloody pulpit and give us a sermon.'
As Owen made no response to the invitations, the crowd began to hoot and groan.
`Come on, man,' whispered Philpot, winking his goggle eye persuasively at Owen. `Come on, just for a bit of turn, to pass the time away.'
Owen accordingly ascended the steps - much to the secret delight of Crass - and was immediately greeted with a round of enthusiastic applause.
`There you are, you see,' said Philpot, addressing the meeting. `It's no use booin' and threatenin', because 'e's one of them lecturers wot can honly be managed with kindness. If it 'adn't a bin for me, 'e wouldn't 'ave agreed to speak at all.'
Philpot having been unanimously elected chairman, proposed by Harlow and seconded by the man on the pail, Owen commenced:
`Mr Chairman and gentlemen:
`Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, it is with some degree of hesitation that I venture to address myself to such a large, distinguished, fashionable, and intelligent looking audience as that which I have the honour of seeing before me on the present occasion.' (Applause.)
`One of the finest speakers I've ever 'eard!' remarked the man on the pail in a loud whisper to the chairman, who motioned him to be silent.
Owen continued:
`In some of my previous lectures I have endeavoured to convince you that money is in itself of no value and of no real use whatever. In this I am afraid I have been rather unsuccessful.'
`Not a bit of it, mate,' cried Crass, sarcastically. `We all agrees with it.'
`'Ear, 'ear,' shouted Easton. `If a bloke was to come in 'ere now and orfer to give me a quid - I'd refuse it!'
`So would I,' said Philpot.
`Well, whether you agree or not, the fact remains. A man might possess so much money that, in England, he would be comparatively rich, and yet if he went to some country where the cost of living is very high he would find himself in a condition of poverty. Or one might conceivably be in a place where the necessaries of life could not be bought for money at all. Therefore it is more conducive to an intelligent understanding of the subject if we say that to be rich consists not necessarily in having much money, but in being able to enjoy an abundance of the things that are made by work; and that poverty consists not merely in being without money, but in being short of the necessaries and comforts of life - or in other words in being short of the Benefits of Civilization, the things that are all, without exception, produced by work. Whether you agree or not with anything else that I say, you will all admit that that is our condition at the present time.