The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists [151]
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 | | | +------------+-------------+-------------+-------------------------+
During the delivery of this pert of the lecture, the audience began to manifest symptoms of impatience and dissent. Perceiving this, Owen, speaking very rapidly, continued:
`If you go down town, you will see half a dozen drapers' shops within a stone's-throw of each other - often even next door to each other - all selling the same things. You can't possibly think that all those shops are really necessary? You know that one of them would serve the purpose for which they are all intended - to store and serve as a centre for the distribution of the things that are made by work. If you will admit that five out of the six shops are not really necessary, you must also admit that the men who built them, and the salesmen and women or other assistants engaged in them, and the men who design and write and print their advertisements are all doing unnecessary work; all really wasting their time and labour, time and labour that might be employed in helping to produce these things that we are at present short of. You must admit that none of these people are engaged in producing either the necessaries of life or the benefits of civilization. They buy them, and sell them, and handle them, and haggle over, them, and display them, in the plate glass windows of "Stores" and "Emporiums" and make profit out of them, and use them, but these people themselves produce nothing that is necessary to life or happiness, and the things that some of them do produce are only necessary to the present imbecile system.'
`What the 'ell sort of a bloody system do you think we ought to 'ave, then?' interrupted the man on the pail.
`Yes: you're very good at finding fault,' sneered Slyme, `but why don't you tell us 'ow it's all going to be put right?'
`Well, that's not what we're talking about now, is it?' replied Owen. `At present we're only trying to find out how it is that there is not sufficient produced for everyone to have enough of the things that are made by work. Although most of the people in number three work very hard, they produce Nothing.'
`This is a lot of bloody rot!' exclaimed Crass, impatiently.
`Even if there is more shops than what's actually necessary,' cried Harlow, `it all helps people to get a livin'! If half of
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 | | | +------------+-------------+-------------+-------------------------+
During the delivery of this pert of the lecture, the audience began to manifest symptoms of impatience and dissent. Perceiving this, Owen, speaking very rapidly, continued:
`If you go down town, you will see half a dozen drapers' shops within a stone's-throw of each other - often even next door to each other - all selling the same things. You can't possibly think that all those shops are really necessary? You know that one of them would serve the purpose for which they are all intended - to store and serve as a centre for the distribution of the things that are made by work. If you will admit that five out of the six shops are not really necessary, you must also admit that the men who built them, and the salesmen and women or other assistants engaged in them, and the men who design and write and print their advertisements are all doing unnecessary work; all really wasting their time and labour, time and labour that might be employed in helping to produce these things that we are at present short of. You must admit that none of these people are engaged in producing either the necessaries of life or the benefits of civilization. They buy them, and sell them, and handle them, and haggle over, them, and display them, in the plate glass windows of "Stores" and "Emporiums" and make profit out of them, and use them, but these people themselves produce nothing that is necessary to life or happiness, and the things that some of them do produce are only necessary to the present imbecile system.'
`What the 'ell sort of a bloody system do you think we ought to 'ave, then?' interrupted the man on the pail.
`Yes: you're very good at finding fault,' sneered Slyme, `but why don't you tell us 'ow it's all going to be put right?'
`Well, that's not what we're talking about now, is it?' replied Owen. `At present we're only trying to find out how it is that there is not sufficient produced for everyone to have enough of the things that are made by work. Although most of the people in number three work very hard, they produce Nothing.'
`This is a lot of bloody rot!' exclaimed Crass, impatiently.
`Even if there is more shops than what's actually necessary,' cried Harlow, `it all helps people to get a livin'! If half of