we are opposed to that theory. socialism, which is perfectly clear and unmistakable, says the thing you have got to take care of is your distribution. we have to begin with that, and private property, if it stands in the way of good distribution, has got to go.
a man who holds public property must hold it on the pub1ic condition on which, for instance, i carry my walking stick. i am not al1owed to do what i like with it. i must not knock you on the head with it. we say that if distribution goes wrong, everything else goes wrong-religion, morals - government. and we say, therefore (this is the whole meaning of our socialism}, we must begin with distribution and take all the necessary steps.
i think we are keeping it in our minds because our business is to take care of the distribution of wealth in the worid1 and i tell you, as i have told you be fore, that i don't think there are two men, or perhaps one man, in our 47,000,000 who approves of the existing distribution of wealth. i will go even further and say that you will not find a single person in the whole of the civilized world who agrees with the existing system of the distribution of wealth. it has been reduced to a blank absurdity.
i think the day will come when we will be able to make the distinction between us and the capitalists. we must get certain leading ideas before the people. we should announce that we are not going in for what was the old-fashioned idea of redistribution, but the redistribution of income. let it always be a question of income.
i have been very happy here to night. i entirely understand the distinction made by our chairman to night when he said you hold me in social esteem and a certain amount of personal affection. i am not a sentimental man, but l am not 1nsensible to all that. i know the value of all tl1at, and it gives me, now that 1 have come to the age of seventy (it will not occur again and i am saying it for the first time), a great fee1ing of pleasure that l can say what a good many people can't say.
在七十壽辰宴會上的講話
近幾年來，公眾輿論想方設法對我發難，在一無所獲之後，又轉而把我捧為偉人。不管誰碰上這種事都是可怕的災難。現在，顯然又有人想故伎重演。因此，對於慶祝我70壽辰的活動，我完全拒絕發表任何意見。不過，當我的工黨老朋友們請我到這裡來時，我知道不會有麻煩。
不管怎樣，我們現在已經建立了一個立憲黨，我們已經把它建立在社會主義的基礎之上。我和我的朋友西德尼?韋布先生及麥克唐納先生一開始就明確說過，我們必須做的就是把社會黨變成一個擁護憲法的黨，使任何可敬的、虔誠的人都能在個人尊嚴絲毫不受侵犯的情況下加入這個黨。我們革除了陳規陋習，這就是為什麼比起任何持激進觀點的人來，政府目前更怕我們。