CHAPTER XVIII
WAGES
Some sell their lives for bread;
Some sell their souls for gold;
Some seek the river bed;
Some seek the workhouse mold.
Such is proud England's sway,
Where wealth may work its will;
White flesh is cheap to-day,
White souls are cheaper still.
When I learned that in Lesser London there were 1,292,737 people who received 21 shillings or less a week per family, I became interested as to how the wages could best be spent in order to maintain the physical efficiency of such families. Families of six, seven, eight, or ten being beyond consideration, I have based the following table upon a family of five, a father, mother, and three children; while I have made 21 shillings equivalent to $5.25, though actually, 21 shillings are equivalent to about $5.11.
202
