The Ideal State 263 



6d. ; pocket money for children, 2d. ; pin money for 

 the wife, od, ; for breakfast and dinner away from 

 home, 3s. ; total, 16s. 2d. This leaves 13s. iod. for 

 food for the whole family for a week, his own tea and 

 supper for the week, and all his meals on Sunday ; 

 also boots, clothes, fuel, and light and for replenishing 

 the home (for every business man allows for deprecia- 

 tion). What a travesty of life ! And close on his 

 heels, dogging his footsteps at every turn, follows the 

 nemesis of sickness, short time, wet weather, increase 

 of family, and accidents." As regards the woman he 

 says most truthfully : "I venture to say there is 

 no comparison between the alleged anxieties of 

 middle-class women, and the mental tortures per- 

 petually endured by the wife of the average working- 

 man. Their anxieties begin with their life and end 

 with their life." 



It was very necessary to dwell at length upon this 

 subject for the reason that the belief is prevalent in the 

 middle and upper classes that the workers have no 

 call upon their purse, having no position to maintain ; 

 that their wants are few and that therefore livelihood 

 presents no difficulties to them. The investigations of 

 Booth and Rowntree led to the discovery that nearly 

 one-third of the people was below the poverty line, 

 that is to say, were members of families whose bread- 

 winners were earning one pound per week or less ; and 

 the appeal of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman to the 

 nation to take steps to remove this social sore of the 

 body politic, marked an epoch in social evolution. 

 Since then the minimum wage has been granted in 

 one trade and the principle is now established in the 

 minds of all thinking men imbued with the altruistic 

 spirit, so that very soon we have every reason to 

 believe that to the bread-winner of every household, 

 man or woman, a living minimum wage will be 



