Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, December 13, 1890Various
General
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, December 13, 1890
Various
English wit and humor -- Periodicals
PARS ABOUT PICTURES (_by Old Par_).--At the Fine Art Society's Gallery
I gazed upon the pictures of "Many-sided Nature" with great content,
and came to the conclusion that Mr. ALBERT GOODWIN was a many-sided
artist. "Now," said I, quoting SHAKSPEARE--_Old Par's Improved
Edition_--"is the GOODWIN of our great content made glorious." O.P.,
who knows every inch of Abingdon, who has gazed upon Hastings from
High Wickham, who is intimate with every brick in Dorchester, who
loves every reed and ripple on the Thames, and has a considerable
knowledge of the Rigi and Venice, can bear witness to the truth of the
painter. There are over seventy pictures--every one worth looking at.
* * * * *
"BUSINESS!"
[Illustration: _Sweater_ (_to Mr. Punch_). "NO USE YOUR INTERFERING.
BUSINESS IS BUSINESS!"
_Mr. P._ "YES, AND UNCOMMONLY BAD BUSINESS, TOO, FOR _THEM_. COULDN'T
THE LARGE FIRMS TAKE A TRIFLE LESS PROFIT, AND PUT A LITTLE PLEASURE
INTO THE BUSINESS OF THESE POOR STARVING WORKERS?"]
["Business!" cries the Sweater, when remonstrated with
for paying the poor Match-box makers twopence-farthing or
twopence-half-penny a gross, whilst his own profits reach
22-1/2 to 25 per cent.--_Daily News_.]
_PUNCH TO THE SWEATING SHYLOCK._
Eh? "Business is business"? Sheer cant, Sir! Pure gammon?
Of all the inhuman, sham Maxims of Mammon,
This one is the worst,
For under its cover lurks cruelty callous,
With murderous meanness that merits the gallows,
And avarice accurst.
Oh, well, I'm aware, Sir, how ruthless rapacity
Loves to take shelter, with cunning mendacity
'Neath an old saw;
But well says the scribe that such "business" is crime, Sir,
And such would be but for gaps half the time, Sir,
'Twixt justice and law.
Bah! Many a man who's sheer rogue in reality,
Hides the harsh knave in the mask of "legality."
When 'tis too gross,
Robbery's rash, but austere orthodoxies
Countenance such things as modern match-boxes
Nine-farthings a gross!
From seven till ten, and sometimes to eleven,
For "six bob" a week. Ah! such life _must_ be heaven;
Whilst as for your "profit,"
That's bound to approach five-and-twenty per cent.,
That Sweaters shall thrive, let their tools be content
With starvation in Tophet.
To starve's bad enough, but to starve and to work
(Mrs. LABOUCHERE hints), the most patient may irk;
And the lady is right--
Business? On brutes who dare mouth such base trash,
_Mr. Punch_, who loves justice and sense, lays his lash,
With the greatest delight.
He knows the excuses advanced for the Sweater,
But bad is the best, and, until you find better,
'Tis useless to cant
Of freedom of contract, supply and demand,
And all the cold sophistries ever on hand
Sound sense to supplant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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