British Socialism: An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals — John Shaqi
British Socialism: An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical ProposalsBarker, J. Ellis
History
British Socialism: An Examination of Its Doctrines, Policy, Aims and Practical Proposals
Barker, J. Ellis
Socialism; Socialism -- Great Britain
Giving as authority an ancient Board of Trade Return, and wishing to
magnify the difference in the earnings of the idle rich and the
industrious poor, the average yearly income of "those of the manual
labour class who are best off" is given at _48l._ per adult. This
means _18s._ per week. In view of the fact that most British workers
earn between _1l._ and _2l._ per week, that in many Trade-Unions the
_average_ wage is about _35s._ per week, the figures given are
palpably wrong unless the female workers are included. Whether this is
the case or no is not stated, but even if the wages of both sexes
should be joined together they appear to be very considerably
understated. This is dishonesty number seven.
There are many more unfair, misleading, and dishonest statements in
this pamphlet which it would lead too far to enumerate.
Most of the important pamphlets issued by the Fabian Society are
signed by their authors. The fact that the most effective, "Facts for
Socialists," is unsigned seems to indicate that the author--apparently
a well-known leader of the Fabians--had some sense of shame, and it is
to be hoped that the Fabian Society will immediately, and publicly,
repudiate this dishonest pamphlet.
The statements contained in the pamphlet "Facts for Socialists," may
be misleading and utterly dishonest, but they are very useful for
propaganda purposes. Nothing is more likely to inflame the masses than
to be told that the "idle rich" take more than two-thirds of the
national income. The practical effect of this pamphlet may be seen in
utterances such as the following: "It has been estimated that in our
country of the wealth produced, one-third is enjoyed by those who earn
it and two-thirds by those who have not laboured for it. To put it in
other words, of every three pounds earned by labour, one pound goes to
him who earned it and two pounds to others who have done nothing
towards its production."[143] "For two-thirds of his time the worker
is a slave, labouring not for himself but for others."[144] "On the
average at the present time the workers produce nearly four times as
much as they consume."[145] "Nearly two-thirds of the wealth produced
is retained by an eighth of the population."[146] "The great mass of
the people, the weekly wage-earners, four out of five of the whole
population, toil perpetually for less than a third of the aggregate
product of labour, at an annual wage averaging at most _40l._ per
adult, and are hurried into unnecessarily early graves by the severity
of their lives."[147] "Out of the wealth which his labour creates, the
worker receives but one-third. He is paid one-third the value of his
labour, and when he seeks to lay it out he is robbed of one-half its
purchasing power, and all this is done by a Christian people."[148]
"Q. How does the capitalist act? A. He extorts from those labourers
who are excluded from the land a share of all that they produce, under
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