in darkest england and the way out-第23章
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ere there are colonists； and where there are not； how are you to feed； clothe； and employ your emigrants in the uninhabited wilderness？ Immigration； no doubt； is the making of a colony； just as bread is the staff of life。 But if you were to cram a stomach with wheat by a force…pump you would bring on such a fit of indigestion that unless your victim threw up the indigestible mass of unground； uncooked； unmasticated grain he would never want another meal。 So it is with the new colonies and the surplus labour of other countries。
Emigration is in itself not a panacea。 Is Education？ In one sense it may be； for Education； the developing in a man of all his latent capacities for improvement； may cure anything and everything。 But the Education of which men speak when they use the term； is mere schooling。 No one but a fool would say a word against school teaching。 By all means let us have our children educated。 But when we have passed them through the Board School Mill we have enough experience to see that they do not emerge the renovated and regenerated beings whose advent was expected by those who passed the Education Act。 The 〃scuttlers〃 who knife inoffensive persons in Lancashire； the fighting gangs of the West of London； belong to the generation that has enjoyed the advantage of Compulsory Education。 Education； book…learning and schooling will not solve the difficulty。 It helps； no doubt。 But in some ways it aggravates it。 The common school to which the children of thieves and harlots and drunkards are driven； to sit side by side with our little ones； is often by no means a temple of all the virtues。 It is sometimes a university of all the vices。 The bad infect the good； and your boy and girl come back reeking with the contamination of bad associates； and familiar with the coarsest obscenity of the slum。 Another great evil is the extent to which our Education tends to overstock the labour market with material for quill…drivers and shopmen； and gives our youth a distaste for sturdy labour。 Many of the most hopeless cases in our Shelters are men of considerable education。 Our schools help to enable a starving man to tell his story in more grammatical language than that which his father could have employed； but they do not feed him； or teach him where to go to get fed。 So far from doing this they increase the tendency to drift into those channels where food is least secure； because employment is most uncertain； and the market most overstocked。
〃Try Trades Unionism；〃 say some； and their advice is being widely followed。 There are many and great advantages in Trades Unionism。 The fable of the bundle of sticks is good for all time。 The more the working people can be banded together in voluntary organisations； created and administered by themselves for the protection of their own interests； the betterat any rate for this worldand not only for their own interests； but for those of every other section of the community。 But can we rely upon this agency as a means of solving the problems which confront us？ Trades Unionism has had the field to itself for a generation。 It is twenty years since it was set free from all the legal disabilities under which it laboured。 But it has not covered the land。 It has not organised all skilled labour。 Unskilled labour is almost untouched。 At the Congress at Liverpool only one and a half million workmen were represented。 Women are almost entirely outside the pale。 Trade Unions not only represent a fraction of the labouring classes； but they are； by their constitution； unable to deal with those who do not belong to their body。 What ground can there be； then； for hoping that Trades Unionism will by itself solve the difficulty？ The most experienced Trades Unionists will be the first to admit that any scheme which could deal adequately with the out…of…works and others who hang on to their skirts and form the recruiting ground of blacklegs and embarrass them in ever way； would be； of all others that which would be most beneficial to Trades Unionism。 The same may be said about Co…operation。 Personally； I am a strong believer in Co…operation； but it must be Co…operation based on the spirit of benevolence。 I don't see how any pacific re…adjustment of the social and economic relations between classes in this country can be effected except by the gradual substitution of cooperative associations for the present wages system。 As you will see in subsequent chapters； so far from there being anything in my proposals that would militate in any way against the ultimate adoption of the co…operative solution of the question； I look to Co…operation as one of the chief elements of hope in the future。 But we have not to deal with the ultimate future； but with the immediate present； and for the evils with which we are dealing the existing cooperative organisations do not and cannot give us much help。
AnotherI do not like to call it specific； it is only a name； a mere mockery of a specificso let me call it another suggestion made when discussing this evil； is Thrift。 Thrift is a great virtue no doubt。 But how is Thrift to benefit those who have nothing？ What is the use of the gospel of Thrift to a man who had nothing to eat yesterday； and has not threepence to…day to pay for his lodging to…night？ To live on nothing a day is difficult enough； but to save on it would beat the cleverest political economist that ever lived。 I admit without hesitation that any Scheme which weakened the incentive to Thrift would do harm。 But it is a mistake to imagine that social damnation is an incentive to Thrift。 It operates least where its force ought to be most felt。 There is no fear that any Scheme that we can devise will appreciably diminish the deterrent influences which dispose a man to save。 But it is idle wasting time upon a plea that is only brought forward as an excuse for inaction。 Thrift is a great virtue； the inculcation of which must be constantly kept in view by all those who are attempting to 〃educate and save the people。 It is not in any sense a specific for the salvation of the lapsed and the lost。 Even among the most wretched of the very poor； a man must have an object and a hope before he will save a halfpenny。 〃Let us eat and drink； for to…morrow we perish；〃 sums up the philosophy of those who have no hope。 In the thriftiness of the French peasant we see that the temptation of eating and drinking is capable of being resolutely subordinated to the superior claims of the accumulation of a dowry for the daughter； or for the acquisition of a little more land for the son。
Of the schemes of those who propose to bring in a new heaven and a new earth by a more scientific distribution of the pieces of gold and silver in the trouser pockets of mankind； I need not say anything here。 They may be good or they may not。 I say nothing against any short cut to the Millennium that is compatible with the Ten Commandments。 I intensely sympathise with the aspirations that lie behind all these Socialist dreams。 But whether it is Henry George's Single Tax on Land Values； or Edward Bellamy's Nationalism； or the more elaborate schemes of the Collectivists； my attitude towards them all is the same。 What these good people want to do； I also want to do。 But I am a practical man； dealing with the actualities of to…day。 I have no preconceived theories； and I flatter myself I am singularly free from prejudices。 I am ready to sit at the feet of any who will show me any good。 I keep my mind open on all these subjects； and am quite prepared to hail with open arms any Utopia that is offered me。 But it must be within range of my finger…tips。 It is of no use to me if it is in the clouds。 Cheques on the Bank of Futurity I accept gladly enough as a free gift； but I can hardly be expected to take them as if they were current coin； or to try to cash them at the Bank of England。
It may be that nothing will be put permanently right until everything has been turned upside down。 There are certainly so many things that need transforming； beginning with the heart of each individual man and woman； that I do not quarrel with any Visionary when in his intense longing for the amelioration of the condition of mankind he l
