If every worker in England should heed
the preachers of thrift and cut expenditure in half, the condition of
there being more men to work than there is work to do would swiftly cut
wages in half. And then none of the workers of England would be thrifty,
for they would be living up to their diminished incomes. The
short-sighted thrift-preachers would naturally be astounded at the
outcome. The measure of their failure would be precisely the measure of
the success of their propaganda. And, anyway, it is sheer bosh and
nonsense to preach thrift to the 1,800,000 London workers who are divided
into families which have a total income of less than 21s. per week, one
quarter to one half of which must be paid for rent.
Concerning the futility of the people who try to help, I wish to make one
notable, noble exception, namely, the Dr. Barnardo Homes. Dr. Barnardo
is a child-catcher. First, he catches them when they are young, before
they are set, hardened, in the vicious social mould; and then he sends
them away to grow up and be formed in another and better social mould. Up
to date he has sent out of the country 13,340 boys, most of them to
Canada, and not one in fifty has failed.
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