| Title | The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists |
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| Page | 976 |
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| Chapter | A Brilliant Epigram |
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| Text |
All through the winter, the wise, practical, philanthropic, fat persons whom the people of Mugsborough had elected to manage their affairs - or whom they permitted to manage them without being elected - continued to grapple, or to pretend to grapple, with the `problem' of unemployment and poverty. They continued to hold meetings, rummage and jumble sales, entertainments and special services. They continued to distribute the rotten cast-off clothing and boots, and the ourishment tickets. They were all so sorry for the poor, especially for the `dear little children'. They did all sorts of things to help the children. In fact, there was nothing that they would not do for them except levy a halfpenny rate. It would never do to do that. It might pauperize the parents and destroy parental responsibility. They evidently thought that it would be better to destroy the health or even the lives of the `dear little children' than to pauperize the parents or undermine parental responsibility. These people seemed to think that the children were the property of their parents. They did not have sense enough to |
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