The Great Oration
materials; and others will be set to work building, on State land, beautiful houses, which will be let to those employed in the service of the State. The rent will be paid with paper money.
'State fishing fleets will be established, and the quantities of commodities of all kinds produced will be so great that the State employees and officials will not be able to use them all. With their paper money they will be able to buy enough and more than enough to satisfy all their needs abundantly, but there will still be a great and continuously increasing surplus stock in the possession of the State.
'The Socialist Administration will now acquire or build fleets of steam trading vessels, which will of course be manned and officered by State employees the same as the Royal Navy is now; these fleets of National trading vessels will carry the surplus stocks I have mentioned to foreign countries, and will there sell or exchange them for some of the products of those countries, things that we do not produce ourselves. These things will be brought to England and sold at the National Service Stores, at the lowest possible price, for paper money, to those in the service of the State. This of course will only have the effect of introducing greater variety into the stocks, it will not diminish the surplus; and as there would be no sense in continuing to produce more of these things than necessary, it would then be the duty of the Administration to curtail or restrict the production of the necessaries of life. This could be done by reducing the hours of the workers without reducing their wages, so as to enable them to continue to purchase as much as before.
'Another way of preventing over-production of mere necessaries and comforts will be to employ a larger number of workers producing the refinements and pleasures of life, more artistic houses, furniture, pictures, musical instruments and so forth.
'In the centre of every district a large Institute or pleasure house could be erected, containing a magnificently appointed and decorated Theatre, Concert Hall, Lecture Hall, Gymnasium, Billiard Rooms, Reading Rooms, Refreshment Rooms, and so on. A detachment of the Industrial Army would be employed as actors, artists, musicians, singers and entertainers. In fact everyone that could be spared from the most important work of all, that of producing the necessaries of life,
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