IF ALL WERE SOCIALISTS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2644, 13 October 1919, Page 7

IF ALL WERE SOCIALISTS.

YOUR SHARE IN BRITAIN’S WEA LTH. The man who grumbles at his share of the good tilings of life and thinks how much luckier he would be if they wore only equally divided would probably change his tune if his wish were carried into effect. If, for example, the entire income of the United Kingdom were divided among its forty-seven odd millions of people he would find that only eight five-pound notes would fall to his lot ! And his face might grow long if he were asked to exchange his capital for the £336 which represents his share of British wealth. For a man cannot be considered enviable on a little over 15/ a week and the interest on £336. There are in the British Isles nearly 8,000,000 inhabited houses—sufficient to make two streets (four rows) long enough to connect London with Madrid. His stake in these millions of houses would be onesixth of one of them. And similarly his share in British railways would be less than a yard of line and £2B in stock.

Of Britain’s 121,377 square miles of land he would bo entitled to about 1J acres —a nice little plot 90yds. square, from which, if he were an industrious gardener, he could add quite materially to his income.

j Indded, he would require every penjny he could earn ; for, apart from all other demands on bis limited purse, he would be called upon to I contribute a little over £SO a year as his share of the cost of the war. That is, he would actually have to ! pay for this one purpose alone £lO a year more than his share of the national income ! Nor would he derive much consolation from his larder and wine cellar. His allowance of beer for the twelve months in normal times w r ould' be represented by 440 glasses—roughly one and one-fifth a day. Of spirits he would have to be content with four bottles ; and of wine with the equivalent of four tumblerfuls. And for these, at peace prices, he would pay a little over £3 10/. His year’s allowance of tea would be 6tb., which he would probably find ample, with the addition of lib. ; of coacoa and lib of coffee. And to sweeten life for him he would find his sugar ration of 80tb. sufficient for all reasonable purposes. ; Of the year’s fish harvest of the United Kingdom his share w r ould be twenty herrings, three haddocks, one ■ mackerel, half a cod, ten other kinds of sea fish, and an uncertain quantity of fresh-water fish. He would have to be content with the incense from only 21b. of tobacco a year.

The strongest animal exists entirely on vegetable food. An, elephant is a match for several lions, and is a vegetarian. The animals with most speed and endurance—the horse, the reindeer, the antelope, and others—are also vegetarians.