'Never mind about human nature,' shouted Cra.s.s. 'Stick to the point.

Wot's the cause of poverty?'

'Oh, b--r the cause of poverty!' said one of the new hands. 'I've 'ad enough of this b.l.o.o.d.y row.' And he stood up and prepared to go out of the room.

This individual had two patches on the seat of his trousers and the bottoms of the legs of that garment were frayed and ragged. He had been out of work for about six weeks previous to having been taken on by Rushton & Co. During most of that time he and his family had been existing in a condition of semi-starvation on the earnings of his wife as a charwoman and on the sc.r.a.ps of food she brought home from the houses where she worked. But all the same, the question of what is the cause of poverty had no interest for him.

'There are many causes,' answered Owen, 'but they are all part of and inseparable from the system. In order to do away with poverty we must destroy the causes: to do away with the causes we must destroy the whole system.'

'What are the causes, then?'

'Well, money, for one thing.'

This extraordinary a.s.sertion was greeted with a roar of merriment, in the midst of which Philpot was heard to say that to listen to Owen was as good as going to a circus. Money was the cause of poverty!

'I always thought it was the want of it!' said the man with the patches on the seat of his trousers as he pa.s.sed out of the door.

'Other things,' continued Owen, 'are private ownership of land, private ownership of railways, tramways, gasworks, waterworks, private ownership of factories, and the other means of producing the necessaries and comforts of life. Compet.i.tion in business--'

'But 'ow do you make it out?' demanded Cra.s.s, impatiently.

Owen hesitated. To his mind the thing appeared very clear and simple.

The causes of poverty were so glaringly evident that he marvelled that any rational being should fail to perceive them; but at the same time he found it very difficult to define them himself. He could not think of words that would convey his thoughts clearly to these others who seemed so hostile and unwilling to understand, and who appeared to have made up their minds to oppose and reject whatever he said. They did not know what were the causes of poverty and apparently they did not WANT to know.

'Well, I'll try to show you one of the causes,' he said nervously at last.

He picked up a piece of charred wood that had fallen from the fire and knelt down and began to draw upon the floor. Most of the others regarded him, with looks in which an indulgent, contemptuous kind of interest mingled with an air of superiority and patronage. There was no doubt, they thought, that Owen was a clever sort of chap: his work proved that: but he was certainly a little bit mad.

By this time Owen had drawn a circle about two feet in diameter. Inside he had drawn two squares, one much larger than the other. These two squares he filled in solid black with the charcoal.

'Wot's it all about?' asked Cra.s.s with a sneer.

'Why, can't you see?' said Philpot with a wink. ''E's goin' to do some conjurin'! In a minit 'e'll make something pa.s.s out o' one o' them squares into the other and no one won't see 'ow it's done.'

When he had finished drawing, Owen remained for a few minutes awkwardly silent, oppressed by the antic.i.p.ation of ridicule and a sense of his inability to put his thoughts into plain language. He began to wish that he had not undertaken this task. At last, with an effort, he began to speak in a halting, nervous way:

'This circle--or rather the s.p.a.ce inside the circle--is supposed to represent England.'

'Well, I never knowed it was round before,' jeered Cra.s.s. 'I've heard as the WORLD is round--'

'I never said it was the shape--I said it was supposed to REPRESENT England.'

'Oh, I see. I thought we'd very soon begin supposin'.'

'The two black squares,' continued Owen, 'represent the people who live in the country. The small square represents a few thousand people.

The large square stands for the remainder--about forty millions--that is, the majority.'

'We ain't sich b.l.o.o.d.y fools as to think that the largest number is the minority,' interrupted Cra.s.s.

'The greater number of the people represented by the large black square work for their living: and in return for their labour they receive money: some more, some less than others.'

'You don't think they'd be sich b.l.o.o.d.y fools as to work for nothing, do you?' said Newman.

'I suppose you think they ought all to get the same wages!' cried Harlow. 'Do you think it's right that a scavenger should get as much as a painter?'

'I'm not speaking about that at all,' replied Owen. 'I'm trying to show you what I think is one of the causes of poverty.'

'Shut up, can't you, Harlow,' remonstrated Philpot, who began to feel interested. 'We can't all talk at once.'

'I know we can't,' replied Harlow in an aggrieved tone: 'but 'e takes sich a 'ell of a time to say wot 'e's got to say. n.o.body else can't get a word in edgeways.'

'In order that these people may live,' continued Owen, pointing to the large black square, 'it is first necessary that they shall have a PLACE to live in--'

'Well! I should never a thought it!' exclaimed the man on the pail, pretending to be much impressed. The others laughed, and two or three of them went out of the room, contemptuously remarking to each other in an audible undertone as they went:

'b.l.o.o.d.y rot!'

'Wonder wot the b.l.o.o.d.y 'ell 'e thinks 'e is? A sort of schoolmaster?'

Owen's nervousness increased as he continued:

'Now, they can't live in the air or in the sea. These people are land animals, therefore they must live on the land.'

'Wot do yer mean by animals?' demanded Slyme.

'A human bean ain't a animal!' said Cra.s.s indignantly.

'Yes, we are!' cried Harlow. 'Go into any chemist's shop you like and ask the bloke, and 'e'll tell you--'

'Oh, blow that!' interrupted Philpot. 'Let's 'ear wot Owen's sayin'.'

'They must live on the land: and that's the beginning of the trouble; because--under the present system--the majority of the people have really no right to be in the country at all! Under the present system the country belongs to a few--those who are here represented by this small black square. If it would pay them to do so, and if they felt so disposed, these few people have a perfect right--under the present system--to order everyone else to clear out!