MrSmith and MrSchmidt . eir resources are limited;they do not enjoy all the reasonable comforts of life, andcertainly not the luxuries. A considerable proportion ofthem know poverty at first hand; they risk the worries of r^^^lig W: -tw V ^^ unemployment; they do not enjoy that complete socialsecurity which I believe should be the reward of honest toiland which I believe to be possible, given the wise organisationof the nations economic resources. That is the black part of the picture, and I will be no partyto under-estimating its shame and its reality. The problemswhich I have summarised affe
MrSmith and MrSchmidt . eir resources are limited;they do not enjoy all the reasonable comforts of life, andcertainly not the luxuries. A considerable proportion ofthem know poverty at first hand; they risk the worries of r^^^lig W: -tw V ^^ unemployment; they do not enjoy that complete socialsecurity which I believe should be the reward of honest toiland which I believe to be possible, given the wise organisationof the nations economic resources. That is the black part of the picture, and I will be no partyto under-estimating its shame and its reality. The problemswhich I have summarised affect the workmans wife no lessthan the workman—indeed, the workmans wife has, in someways, to face the most worrying end of these problems. Butwhen all that is taken into account and fully estimated, it isthe fact that Mr. and Mrs. John Smith of Great Britain enjoycertain priceless possessions which are denied to the workingpeople of Nazi Germany. They are better off. Their standard of life is higher—decidedly Mr. Smith and Mr. Schmidt Mr. and Mrs. John Smith are inheritors of certain rightsand freedoms. They enjoy many of the advantages of a longperiod of social progress. If Mrs. John Smith experiences difficulty in getting coal;if, in her judgment, there is legitimate complaint about foodsupplies or prices; if she has a complaint about health oreducational services, or about housing conditions—well, shecan start a row through her local Co-operative organisa-tion, political Womens Section, or other organisation; orshe can write direct to her Member of Parliament and demandattention to her grievances. These things she can do without fear; in some way oranother her complaints will receive attention. She need not be afraid of being reported to the Govern-ment as a dangerous agitator and of being arrested andsubjected to physical restraint; she need not fear that herneighbour or her children will report her to a secret , acting as a good citizen, possesses a
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