Know your roots: The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

Elaine Smith MSP

"All through the summer the crowd of ragged-trousered philanthropists continued to toil and sweat at their noble and unselfish task of making money for Mr Rushton."

The themes of Robert Tressel's seminal book are both difficult and at times heart-wrenching. As such, the novel does not make for easy reading. However, the contribution The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists made to the struggle for improvements in the life of the working class has ensured its place in history as a work of unflinching social commentary and political didacticism. Its continuing popularity is in no small part due to the pervading and poignant theme of injustice.

The novel was written at a time when the printed socialist message was otherwise being spread by literature that was highly complex and generally incomprehensible. The author therefore elected to spread the message of socialism to a mass audience via the far more accessible form of a novel. Of his book Tressell said: "My main object was to write a readable story full of human interest and based on the happenings of everyday life, the subject of Socialism being treated incidentally."

This was undoubtedly a smart move as socialism was viewed by many at that time as a 'bad thing' portrayed in the book by the comments from the main character, Frank Owen's, fellow workers; "then they all began speaking at once, vying with each other in ridiculing the foolishness of 'them there Socialists' whom they called 'The Sharers Out'."

Tressel employs his character, Frank Owen, to try to help develop an understanding of class consciousness amongst his fellows by giving talks to raise awareness of the injustice and cruelty of capitalism and their own role in underpinning the system. The author also employs a mixture of dark humour, scathing commentary on the hypocrisy of rich benefactors and an obvious commitment to his cause to produce an excellent, thought provoking and somewhat successful attack on the inequality and brutality of a capitalist society where selfishness is all-encompassing.

'The Great Money Trick' was Frank Owen's explanation as to what sustained inequalities and was loosely based on Marx's theory of surplus value.

"They spend -or give back-ALL their wages; but as the money they got as wages is not equal in value to the things they produced, they find that they are only able to buy back a very small part. So you see that these little discs of metal -this Money-is a device for enabling those who do not work to rob the workers of the greater part of the fruits of their toil."

Given that Owen's comrades had some difficulty understanding this he goes on to explain further:

"The producing class….. are supposed to be paid for their work. Their wages are supposed to be equal in value to their work. But it's not so. If it were, by spending all their wages the producing class would be able to buy back ALL they had produced."

Finally, he tries putting it in simple financial terms; "The total value of the wealth produced in this country during the last year was £1,800,000,000 and the total amount paid in wages during the same period was only £600,000,000. In other words, by means of the Money Trick, the workers were robbed of two-thirds of the value of their labour."

He goes on to deliver a passionate attack on the "rich people. "These are the wretches who cause poverty: they not only devour or waste or hoard the things made by the worker, but as soon as their own wants are supplied - they compel the workers to cease working and prevent them producing the things they need. Most of these people!' cried Owen, his usually pale face flushing red and his eyes shining with sudden anger, 'most of these people do not deserve to be called human beings at all! They're devils! They know that whilst they are indulging in pleasures of every kind - all around them men and women and little children are existing in want or dying of hunger."

This book had a major impact on the political left in Britain which still resonates today. Many current Labour politicians (and even, incongruously, some current new Labourites) cite it as their favourite book and/or the biggest influencing factor on their political views.
Writers such as George Orwell, Chris Mullen and Allan Sillitoe were also influenced by the book with the latter commenting that it was given to him by a wireless operator from Glasgow who said "You ought to read this. Among other things it is the book that won the '45 election for Labour"

Certainly, the Government led by Clement Attlee, (incidentally, in my opinion, the most successful Labour prime minister and government to date) made massive inroads in the struggle for equality and in the fight against poverty by their introduction of a welfare state, the National Health Service and the nationalisation of much of the means of production. This, alongside the efforts of the trade unions in changing the conditions of the working class and fighting for health and safety standards, was the major turning point in the fortunes of the wage slaves of Britain.

It is difficult to write anything new about a book that has been read by so many over the years and has influenced not only individuals but also governments. It is, however, still extremely relevant today as rampant capitalism and it's "I'm all right Jack" philosophy continues to flourish in a world where the very few have more and more and the great many have less and less. It is particularly germane in our own country where persistence down the road of privatising our public services will set us back decades; where the low wage, low skill economy, with anti trade union legislation benefits the fat cat bosses and does nothing for the working class; and where the gap between rich and poor just keeps on widening.

Socialists should continue to encourage future generations to read "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" until we reach the happy state where poverty and inequality are displaced by "The Golden Light that will be diffused throughout all the happy world from the rays of the risen sun of Socialism"