The Wages of Sin 175 



a year or more by which I have increased my 

 honest production ; and I am to throw away the 

 honest eighty pounds for the four guineas in 

 blood money merely in order that the peasants 

 may continue to believe in the professional 

 politician as their sole saviour. Because I dare to 

 refuse, the professional politician gets control of 

 the Agriculture Department, and makes it the 

 instrument of his revenge against me, again 

 assisted by the British. Has history another 

 such illustration of crime as folly ? The 

 vicious fallacy is still abroad and still dominant 

 in districts, though slowly yielding to sanity. 

 Let me drive this little pen for more light through 

 a few additional holes in it. 



In addition to the loss of increased production, 

 we have half destroyed the farm labourers, whose 

 numbers are now less than half what they were 

 when we started the Land League in 1879, with 

 the Department officially confessing the increased 

 inefficiency of the survivors ; and we have much 

 more than half destroyed the educated class, 

 whose position in the country was the mainstay 

 of the wage earner, and afforded the sole prospect 

 of any farther investment for industrial pro- 

 duction generally. For my share in the shame 

 and ruin and blood, I get 4 45. 2d., but on the 

 condition that I throw away .80 of my own 

 honest money to save the face of the professional 

 politician. Has the world anything so despicable 

 imposed for "national policy" on a civilised people? 



Put aside the value of special improvements in 



