The Oblong
'This represents the total amount of the benefits of civilisation and necessaries of life produced by the people in number four. We now proceed to "share out" the things in the same way as they are actually divided amongst the different classes of the population under the present imbecile system.
'As the people in divisions one and two are universally considered to be the most worthy and deserving, we give them two thirds of the whole.
'The remainder we give to be 'shared out' amongst the people represented by divisions three and four.
'Now, you musn't run away with the idea that the people in three and four take their share quietly and divide the things equally between them. Some get more than their fair share, some get very little, some none at all. It is in these two divisions that "the battle of life," rages most fiercely.
'And all these people in numbers three and four are so fully occupied in this dreadful struggle to secure a little that but few of them pause to enquire why there are not more of the things they are fighting for, or why it is necessary to fight like this at all! The best of everything is reserved exclusively for the enjoyment of the people in divisions one and two, while the workers subsist on block ornaments, margarine, adulterated tea, mysterious beer, and are content, only grumbling when they are unable to obtain even such fare as this.'
Owen paused, and a gloomy silence followed, but suddenly Crass brightened up. He had detected a serious flaw in the lecturer's argument.
'You say the people in one and two gets all the best of everything, but what about the Tramps and Beggars? You've got them in division one!'
'Yes; I know. You see, that's the proper place for them. They belong to the loafer class. They are no better mentally or morally than any of the other loafers in that division, neither are they of any more use. Of course, when we consider them in relation to the amount they consume of the things produced by others they are not so harmful as the other loafers, because they consume comparatively little. But all the same they are in their right place in that division. All those people in division one don't get the same share. The section represents not individuals but the Loafer Class.'
'But I thought you said you was goin' to prove that money was the cause of poverty,' said Easton.
'So it is,' said Owen. 'Can't you see that it's money that's caused all these people to lose sight of the true purpose of
229
