The rich obtain wealth beyond their need, and beyond their deserving; the workers are, for the most part, condemned to lead laborious, anxious, and penurious lives. Nearly all the wealth of the nation is produced by the workers; most of it is consumed by the rich, who squander it in useless or harmful luxury, leaving the majority of those who produced it, not enough for human comfort, decency, and health. If you wish for a plain and clear statement of the unequal distribution of wealth in this country, get Fabian Tract No. 5, price one penny, and study it well. According to that tract, the total value of the wealth produced in this country is L1,700,000,000. Of this total L275,000,000 is paid in rent, L340,000,000 is paid in interest, L435,000,000 is paid in profits and salaries. That makes a total of L1,050,000,000 in rent, interest, profits, and salaries, nearly the whole of which goes to about 5,000,000 of people comprising the middle and upper classes. The balance of L650,000,000 is paid in wages to the remaining 35,000,000 of people comprising the working classes. Roughly, then, two-thirds of the national wealth goes to 5,000,000 of persons, quite half of whom are idle, and one-third is _shared_ by seven times as many people, nearly half of whom are workers. These figures have been before the public for many years, and so far as I know have never been questioned. There are, say the Fabian tracts, more than 2,000,000 of men, women, and children living without any kind of occupation: that is, they live without working. Ten-elevenths of all the land in the British Islands belong to 176,520 persons. The rest of the 40,000,000 own the other eleventh. Or, dividing Britain into eleven parts, you may say that one two-hundredth part of the population owns ten-elevenths of Britain, while the other one hundred and ninety-nine two-hundredths of the population own one-eleventh of Britain. That is as though a cake were divided amongst 200 persons by giving to one person ten slices, and dividing one slice amongst 199 persons. I told you just now that Britain does not belong to the British, but only to a few of the British. In Fabian Tract No. 7 I read-- One-half of the _wealth_ of the kingdom is held by persons who leave at death at least L20,000, exclusive of land and houses. _These persons form a class somewhat over 25,000 in number._ Half the wealth of Britain, then, is held by one fifteen-hundredth part of the population. It is as if a cake were cut in half, one half being given to one man and the other half being divided amongst 1499 men. How much cake does a working mechanic get? In 1898 the estates of seven persons were proved at over L45,000,000. That is to say, those seven left L45,000,000 when they died. Putting a workman's wages at L75 a year, and his working life at twenty years, it would take 30,000 workmen all their lives to _earn_ (not to _save_) the money left by those seven rich men.