Classes and Masses or Wealth, Wages, and Welfare in the United Kingdom: A Handbook of Social Facts for Political, Thinkers and Speakers (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Classes and Masses or Wealth, Wages, and Welfare in the United Kingdom: A Handbook of Social Facts for Political, Thinkers and SpeakersIs to confine the benefits of progress more and more strictly to the few, and to push down the masses of the people into ever-deepening poverty and servitude, rendering their chances of making even a bare living more and more uncertain. Hence, it is argued, arises the obvious necessity of arbitrarily interfering by law with existing social institutions. There has been hardly a single social agitator, during the past twenty years in England, who has not put forward the above statements with regard to society as obvious and incontrovertible truths. It is therefore, before all things, necessary to inquire how far such a hideous picture is correct and of the two groups of facts and principles with which this volume deals, one has reference to the character of society as it is - to the natural tendency of the forces embodied in it, and the actual results of their working, as shown by an examination of the general condition of the people at the present moment, and a comparison of it with their condition at former periods. The conclusions to which such an inquiry and comparison lead are in the highest degree striking, and are absolutely unequivocal; and it is essential to every political speaker that he.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.