is right that their children should be allowed
to continue to prey upon our children for ever! The thousands of
people on those estates work and live in poverty in order that these
three men and their families may enjoy leisure and luxury. Just think
of the absurdity of it!' continued Owen, pointing to the drawings.
'All those people allowing themselves to be overworked and bullied and
starved and robbed by this little crowd here!'

Observing signs of a renewal of the storm of protests, Owen hurriedly
concluded:

'Whether it's right or wrong, you can't deny that the fact that this
small minority possesses nearly all the land of the country is one of
the principal causes of the poverty of the majority.'

'Well, that seems true enough,' said Easton, slowly. 'The rent's the
biggest item a workin' man's got to pay. When you're out of work and
you can't afford other things, you goes without 'em, but the rent 'as
to be paid whether you're workin' or not.'

'Yes, that's enough,' said Harlow impatiently; 'but you gets value for
yer money: you can't expect to get a 'ouse for nothing.'

'Suppose we admits as it's wrong, just for the sake of argyment,' said
Crass in a jeering tone. 'Wot then? Wot about it? 'Ow's it agoin' to
be altered.'

'Yes!' cried Harlow triumphantly. 'That's the bloody question! 'Ow's
it goin' to be altered? It can't be done!'

There was a general murmur of satisfaction. Nearly everyone seemed
very pleased to think that the existing state of things could not
possibly be altered.

'Whether it can be altered or not, whether it's right or wrong,
landlordism is one of the causes of poverty,' Owen repeated. 'Poverty
is not caused by men and women getting married; it's not caused by
machinery; it's not caused by "over-production"; it's not caused by
drink or laziness; and it's not caused by "over-population". It's
caused by Private Monopoly. That is the present system. They have
monopolized everything that it is possible to monopolize; they have got
the whole earth, the minerals in the earth and the streams that water
the earth. The only reason they have not monopolized the daylight and
the air is that it is not possible to do it. If it were possible to
construct huge gasometers and to draw together and compress within them
the whole of the atmosphere, it would have been done long ago, and we
should have been compelled to work for them in order to get money to
buy air to breathe. And if