第55章

Inanotherpartoftheyardwasaricketylittlewoodenhouse，andwhenweopenedthedoorofit，wefounditfilledwithmenwhowerehuddledtogethershouldertoshoulderforthewarmthofoneanother’sbodiesandbreath。Theywerepickingoakumanddisputingthewhileastowhichcouldworkthelongestonagivenquantityoffood？forendurancewasthepointofhonour。Seventhousand……inthisoneworkhouse……wererecipientsofrelief……manyhundredsofthem……itappeared，were，sixoreightmonthsago，earningthehighestwagespaidtoartisans……Theirnumberwouldbemorethandoubledbythecountofthosewho，havingexhaustedalltheirsavings，stillrefusetoapplytotheparish，becausetheyhavealittlelefttopawn。Leavingtheworkhouse，Itookawalkthroughthestreets，mostlyoflittleone—storeyhouses，thataboundintheneighbourhoodofPoplar。MyguidewasamemberoftheCommitteeoftheUnemployed……

Myfirstcallwasonanironworkerwhohadbeensevenandtwentyweeksoutofemployment。Ifoundthemanwithhisfamilysittinginalittlebackroom。Theroomwasnotbareoffurniture，andtherewasafireinit。Thiswasnecessarytokeepthenakedfeetoftheyoungchildrenfromgettingfrostbitten，foritwasabitterlycoldday。Onatrayinfrontofthefirelayaquantityofoakum，whichthewifeandchildrenwerepickinginreturnfortheirallowancefromtheparish。Themanworkedinthestoneyardoftheworkhouseforacertainrationoffood，andthreepenceperday。Hehadnowcomehometodinnerquitehungry，ashetolduswithamelancholysmile，andhisdinnerconsistedofacoupleofslicesofbreadanddripping，andacupofmilklesstea……Thenextdooratwhichweknockedwasopenedbyamiddle—agedwoman，who，withoutsayingaword，ledusintoalittlebackparlour，inwhichsatallherfamily，silentandfixedlystaringatarapidlydyingfire。Suchdesolation，suchhopelessnesswasaboutthesepeopleandtheirlittleroom，asIshouldnotcaretowitnessagain。’Nothinghavetheydone，sir，’saidthewoman，pointingtoherboys，’forsixandtwentyweeks;andallourmoneygone？allthetwentypoundsthatmeandfathersavedwhentimeswerebetter，thinkingitwouldyieldalittletokeepuswhenwegotpastwork。Lookatit，’shesaid，almostfiercely，bringingoutabank—bookwithallitswellkeptentriesofmoneypaidin，andmoneytakenout，sothatwecouldseehowthelittlefortunehadbegunwiththefirstfiveshillingdeposit，andhadgrownbylittleandlittletobetwentypounds，andhowithadmelteddownagaintillthesuminhandgotfrompoundstoshillings，andthelastentrymadethebookasworthlessasablanksheet。Thisfamilyreceivedrelieffromtheworkhouse，anditfurnishedthemwithjustonescantymealperday……Ournextvisitwastoanironlabourer’swife，whosehusbandhadworkedintheyards。

Wefoundherillfromwantoffood，lyingonamattressinherclothes，andjustcoveredwithastripofcarpet，forallthebeddinghadbeenpawned。

Twowretchedchildrenweretendingher，themselveslookingasmuchinneedofnursingastheirmother。Nineteenweeksofenforcedidlenesshadbroughtthemtothispass，andwhilethemothertoldthehistoryofthatbitterpast，shemoanedasifallherfaithinafuturethatshouldatoneforitweredead……Ongettingoutsideayoungfellowcamerunningafterus，andaskedustostepinsidehishouseandseeifanythingcouldbedoneforhim。Ayoungwife，twoprettychildren，aclusterofpawn—tickets，andabareroomwereallhehadtoshow。"

Ontheafterpainsofthecrisisof1866，thefollowingextractfromaTorynewspaper。ItmustnotbeforgottenthattheEast—endofLondon，whichisheredealtwith，isnotonlytheseatoftheironshipbuildingmentionedabove，。butalsoofaso—called"home—industry"alwaysunderpaid。

"Afrightfulspectaclewastobeseenyesterdayinonepartofthemetropolis。

AlthoughtheunemployedthousandsoftheEast—enddidnotparadewiththeirblackflagsenmasse，thehumantorrentwasimposingenough。Letusrememberwhatthesepeoplesuffer。Theyaredyingofhunger。Thatisthesimpleandterriblefact。Thereare40，000ofthem……Inourpresence，inonequarterofthiswonderfulmetropolis，arepacked？nextdoortothemostenormousaccumulationofwealththeworldeversaw？cheekbyjowlwiththisare40，000helpless，starvingpeople。Thesethousandsarenowbreakinginupontheotherquarters;alwayshalf—starving，theycrytheirmiseryinourears，theycrytoHeaven，theytellusfromtheirmiserabledwellings，thatitisimpossibleforthemtofindwork，anduselessforthemtobeg。Thelocalratepayersthemselvesaredrivenbytheparochialchargestothevergeofpauperism。"？（Standard，5thApril，1867。）

AsitisthefashionamongstEnglishcapitaliststoquoteBelgiumastheParadiseofthelabourerbecause"freedomoflabour，"orwhatisthesamething，"freedomofcapital，"istherelimitedneitherbythedespotismofTrades’Unions，norbyFactoryActs，awordortwoonthe"happiness’

oftheBelgianlabourer。AssuredlynoonewasmorethoroughlyinitiatedinthemysteriesofthishappinessthanthelateM。Ducpétiaux，inspector—generalofBelgianprisonsandcharitableinstitutions，andmemberofthecentralcommissionofBelgianstatistics。Letustakehiswork:

"BudgetséconomiquesdesclassesouvrièresdelaBelgique，"

Bruxelles，1855。Herewefindamongothermatters，anormalBelgianlabourer’sfamily，whoseyearlyincomeandexpenditurehecalculatesonveryexactdata，andwhoseconditionsofnourishmentarethencomparedwiththoseofthesoldier，sailor，andprisoner。Thefamily"consistsoffather，mother，andfourchildren。"Ofthese6persons"fourmaybeusefullyemployedthewholeyearthrough。"Itisassumedthat"thereisnosickpersonnoroneincapableofwork，amongthem，"norarethere"expensesforreligious，moral，andintellectualpurposes，exceptaverysmallsumforchurchsittings，"

nor"contributionstosavingsbanksorbenefitsocieties，"nor"expensesduetoluxuryortheresultofimprovidence。"Thefatherandeldestson，however，allowthemselves"theuseoftobacco，"andonSundays"gotothecabaret，"forwhichawhole86centimesaweekarereckoned。"Fromageneralcompilationofwagesallowedtothelabourersindifferenttrades，itfollowsthatthehighestaverageofdailywageis1franc56c。，formen，89centimesforwomen，56centimesforboys，and55centimesforgirls。

Calculatedatthisrate，theresourcesofthefamilywouldamount，atthemaximum，to1，068francsa—year……Inthefamily……takenastypicalwehavecalculatedallpossibleresources。Butinascribingwagestothemotherofthefamilyweraisethequestionofthedirectionofthehousehold。Howwillitsinternaleconomybecaredfor？Whowilllookaftertheyoungchildren？Whowillgetreadythemeals，dothewashingandmending？

Thisisthedilemmaincessantlypresentedtothelabourers。"

Accordingtothisthebudgetofthefamilyis:

Thefather300working—daysatfr。1。56fr。468

mother300working—daysatfr。0。89fr。267

boy300working—daysatfr。0。56fr。168

girl300working—daysatfr。0。55fr。165

Totalfr。1，068Theannualexpenditureofthefamilywouldcauseadeficituponthehypothesisthatthelabourerhasthefoodof:

Theman—of—war’smanfr。1，828Deficitfr。760

Thesoldierfr。1，473Deficitfr。405

Theprisonerfr。1，112Deficitfr。44"Weseethatfewlabouringfamiliescanreach，wewillnotsaytheaverageofthesailororsoldier，buteventhatoftheprisoner。’Thegeneralaverage（ofthecostofeachprisonerinthedifferentprisonsduringtheperiod1847—1849），hasbeen63centimesforallprisons。Thisfigure，comparedwiththatofthedailymaintenanceofthelabourer，showsadifferenceof13centimes。Itmustberemarkedfurther，thatifintheprisonsitisnecessarytosetdownintheaccounttheexpensesofadministrationandsurveillance，ontheotherhand，theprisonershavenottopayfortheirlodging;thatthepurchasestheymakeatthecanteensarenotincludedintheexpensesofmaintenance，andthattheseexpensesaregreatlyloweredinconsequenceofthelargenumberofpersonsthatmakeuptheestablishments，andofcontractingfororbuyingwholesale，thefoodandotherthingsthatenterintotheirconsumption……Howcomesit，however，thatagreatnumber，wemightsay，agreatmajority，oflabourers，liveinamoreeconomicalway？Itis……byadoptingexpedients，thesecretofwhichonlythelabourerknows;，byreducinghisdailyrations;bysubstitutingrye—breadforwheat;

byeatinglessmeat，orevennoneatall，andthesamewithbutterandcondiments;bycontentingthemselveswithoneortworoomswherethefamilyiscrammedtogether，whereboysandgirlssleepsidebyside，oftenonthesamepallet;byeconomyofclothing，washing，decency:bygivinguptheSundaydiversions;by，inshort，resigningthemselvestothemostpainfulprivations。Oncearrivedatthisextremelimit，theleastriseinthepriceoffood，stoppageofwork，illness，increasesthelabourer’sdistressanddetermineshiscompleteruin;debtsaccumulate，creditfails，themostnecessaryclothesandfurniturearepawned，andfinally，thefamilyaskstobeenrolledonthelistofpaupers。"（Ducpétiaux，l。c。，pp。

151，154，155。）Infact，inthis"Paradiseofcapitalists"therefollows，onthesmallestchangeinthepriceofthemostessentialmeansofsubsistence，achangeinthenumberofdeathsandcrimes！（SeeManifestooftheMaatschappij:

"DeVlamingenVooruit！"Brussels，1860，pp。15，16。）InallBelgiumare930，000families，ofwhom，accordingtotheofficialstatistics，90，000

arewealthyandonthelistofvoters=450，000persons;390，000familiesofthelowermiddle—classintownsandvillages，thegreaterpartofthemconstantlysinkingintotheproletariat，=1，950，000persons，Finally，450，000working—classfamilies=2，250，000persons，ofwhomthemodelonesenjoythehappinessdepictedbyDucpétiaux。Ofthe450，000working—classfamilies，over200，000areonthepauperlist。

E。TheBritishAgriculturalProletariatNowheredoestheantagonisticcharacterofcapitalisticproductandaccumulationassertitselfmorebrutallythanintheprogressofEnglishagriculture（includingcattle—breeding）andtheretrogressiontheEnglishagriculturallabourer。BeforeIturntohispresentsituatearapidretrospect。ModernagriculturedatesinEnglandfromthemiddleofthe18thcentury，althoughtherevolutioninlandedproperty，fromwhichthech