The Condition of the Working Class in England

In the final chapter Engels focuses on the upper-middle class and aristocracy, or the property holders. He openly condemns the English bourgeoise as selfish and immoral, hypocritical and short-sighted. He highlights and builds up the separation between the two classes, implying that there can be no reconciliation without a fundamental change.

As an illustration of the property holders’ lack of decency as a class, Engels discusses in detail the Corn Laws of 1815. These regulations on the importation of cheaper corn, or grain, intended to alleviate the poverty of agricultural workers by keeping the price of bread higher than in other parts of the world, leading to higher wages. The bourgeoisie fought to repeal the law so that it could export to international markets. As Engels points out, while in the short term the increased demand for production would drive wages up, in the long term there would be a point of saturation that would lead to an economic crisis, affecting everyone negatively. However, the English manufacturers are obsessed with immediate profit and lack a long-term vision.

Additionally, the way the law works privileges those with money and property. Since the position of Justice of the Peace is held by a member of the bourgeoisie and the local police imitate the behavior of their superiors, if a rich man commits a crime, he is treated respectfully and usually simply fined. A member of the proletariat, in contrast, would be held in jail overnight, treated violently, and arrested without ceremony.

Another example of the systematic war waged against the proletariat is Thomas Robert Malthus’s theory of surplus population. According to Malthus, the natural order of things results in overpopulation, so there will always be rich and poor people. It is not necessary to attempt to make the extra people useful but to try to limit their reproduction. According to Engels, “Malthus characterizes poverty, or rather the want of employment, as a crime under the title ‘superfluity’, and recommends for it punishment of starvation” (283). This social theory shaped the New Poor Law of 1834, according to which every person deemed a “pauper,” whether man, woman or child, was to be sent to a workhouse, which was a type of jail. Workers are given tasks and are not fed until completing them; additionally, they cannot go out without permission. Children sleep six or eight in one bed. Sick workers are tied to their beds at night. As a punishment, several people might be shut up naked in small dark holes in the ground. To escape the workhouse, poor people often commit crimes to be sent to prison, where conditions, including the food, are considered better.

Engels concludes that the proletariat, driven to utter despair by its conditions and the new laws, will revolt against the bourgeoise. He predicts that there will be a revolution, as it would be impossible to change the entire system peacefully. One way to avoid extreme violence would be for a large part of the working force to become communist and avoid a repeat of the extremes of the French Revolution.