"It was this way, Mr. Grant. What with the strikes, and the work going out of the country, to Germany and America, and never coming back, in consequence of the strikes, things have been cruel hard in East London this winter, and when a big firm of ship-builders closed their yards, and went North, that meant starvation to thousands of us. Then the Dumpling turned up, and used to address meetings of the unemployed. 'Law!' he says to them as was agitating to have the law altered, 'while you are asking for law, your wives and children are starving. The law won't do nothing for you unless you force it; and the rate you're going on, you won't force it--not an inch in ten years; and where will you be then? Starved, and in your graves, you and your wives and children. You can send a score or two of your Labour leaders to Parliament, and much good that will do you. They can't make laws; there aren't enough of them in Parliament to do it. They get voted down, and then where are you? Look here, boys,' he says; 'it's Parliament as makes the laws, and Parliament, even this Parliament, a big part of it, is made up of landowners, and landlords, and company promoters, and capitalists, and big employers, and sweaters. They aren't going to make laws against themselves--'tain't likely. For one poor man in Parliament there's fifty rich, and you haven't got no chance there. But, boys,' he says, a-wagging his finger at us, 'for every rich man in Parliament there's hundreds and thousands out o' Parliament as is poor and starving. You're in a minority in Parliament, and minorities always get crushed. We have got it on the authority of a Cabinet Minister--and _he_ ought to know. But it's _them_ as is in a minority outside. If you have men's blood in your veins, you'll up and crush them. You're a thousand to one, you poor, what sweat and slave and starve to make money for the rich folk to spend. What I say to you is: Don't plead for your rights no more. You take 'em, as you can if you like, and let the rich people have a turn at the pleading. It's you who hold the whip--not them. If the down-trodden people of the country was only to rise up and assert their rights, the landlords and landowners and grabbers and sweaters couldn't hold out for one hour. Come out of it, boys! Come out of it, all of you who are men and not monkeys. Monkeys!' he says. 'Yes, you are monkeys. You are like monkeys chained to a piano-organ, and the piano-organ that's what they call Parliament. The poor man he has to do the dancing and get the whip, same as the monkey does, and the rich man gets the money and chooses the tune. But, boys,' he says, 'do you think if there was a million o' monkeys for every man as kept a monkey and an organ--do you think the monkeys would go on letting themselves be kept like slaves upon a chain? Not they! They'd be up and fight for their lives and liberty with nails and teeth.'"