\\\ (o U 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 SOCIAL 
 AMELIORATION; 
 
 A TREATISE UPON 
 
 Mr. Alexander Atkinson's 
 NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME. 
 
 &c. 
 
 By JOSEPH SHACKLETON. 
 
 PREFACE BY 
 
 JAMES LESLIE WANKLYN, M.P 
 
 (central BRADFORD.) 
 
 Edited and Revised by "THEODORE.' 
 
 BRADFORD: 
 Printed by J. S. Toothill, 71, Godwin Street. 
 
 1 897.
 
 20 HODm 

 
 SS23 
 
 TO 
 
 w THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND REVEREND 
 
 >- 
 
 I MANDELL CREIGHTON, D.D.,L.L.D , 
 
 -J 
 
 O LORD BISHOP OF LONDON, 
 
 ^ THIS BOOK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED IN 
 
 o 
 
 ^ SINCERE APPRECIATION OF HIS LIFE-LONG 
 
 LABOURS FOR THE 
 § INTELLECTUAL and SOCIAL WELFARE 
 OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 412740
 
 " Man's inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands 
 mourn." — Burns. 
 
 " Everywhere there is a class of men who cling with^fondness 
 to whatever is ancient, and who, even when convinced by over- 
 powering reason that innovation would be beneficial, consent to it 
 with many misgivings and forebodings. 
 
 We find, also, another class of men, sanguine in hope, bold in 
 speculation, always pressing forward, quick to discern the imper- 
 fections of whatever exists, disposed to think lightly of the risks and 
 inconveniences which attend improvements, and to give every 
 change credit for being an improvement. 
 
 In the sentiments of both classes there is something to approve- 
 but of both, the best specimens will be found not far from the 
 common frontier The extreme section of one class consists of 
 bigoted dotards, the extreme section of the other consists of shallow 
 and reckless empirics." — Macaulay.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT is with much pleasure that, after a perusal of this 
 * work, I redeem a provisional promise made some 
 eighteen months ago — a short time after the General 
 Election — to write a Preface to it. 
 
 From my personal knowledg"e of the author 
 and of his friend the originator of the scheme 
 expounded therein, I can vouch for the fact that few men 
 are better qualified than are these two to give expression 
 to the wants and wishes of the Democracy of the West 
 Riding, and I would suggest that the opinions expressed 
 in the following pages are well worthy of consideration; 
 for the experience of history shows the truth of the saying, 
 "What Yorkshire and Lancashire think to-day, the rest 
 of England thinks to-morrow." 
 
 I regard this book as an important contribution to 
 the literature of the subject ; it will afford me much 
 gratification to bring it before the notice of the Members 
 of the Royal Commission which is now sitting ; and 
 without presuming to anticipate the decision of that 
 body, I feel confident that they will endorse the 
 view of the author that " State aid and intervention . . . 
 " in doing the truly Christian work of caring for and 
 "succouring the aged, the sick, the dying, and the 
 " destitute ... is absolutely essential." 
 
 It is probable that these words will give a shock to 
 the Individualists — the persons with whom we shall have 
 most difficulty when we come to deal with the subject of
 
 old-ag-e pensions — the men whose one reply to every 
 proposal of "Social Amelioration" is, "Why should 
 I do for a man that which he can do for himself" ; but, 
 for myself, I frankly recognize that with the decay of the 
 Feudal System, we have entered upon an era of State 
 Socialism, i.e. the State is assuming to-day the place 
 of the head of the Clan, — in fact, of the benevolent 
 despot. It is argued that State Socialism will sap the 
 energy, the enterprise, and the self-reliance of the race, 
 but as these characteristics did not disappear under the 
 former system, I do not see why they should suffer under 
 the latter. " If property has its pleasures and its 
 privileges, it has its duties and its responsibilities," and 
 in these days of profit sharing systems, of co-operation, 
 and of limited liability companies, the State says to the 
 owners of property in its ' Factory Acts ' for instance — 
 " If you have not already made provision for the health 
 and for the comfort of your workers, I order you to 
 do so." 
 
 I sug-gest therefore to the individualist, that, in face 
 of our Factory Acts, our Employers Liability Act, and 
 our Education Act, it is idle to denounce the " State aid 
 and intervention " which our author asks for. 
 
 We shall hear a good deal no doubt about the cost 
 of such a scheme to the ratepayers or to the taxpayers, 
 or to both, and I admit that I think the author is over 
 sanguine in his estimate of the amount he can raise by 
 the levy of a compulsory poll-tax — assuming that this can 
 be made compulsory. Well, I would remind readers 
 that it is impossible to arrive at an estimate of the loss, 
 direct and indirect, under the present Poor Law system,
 
 and I for, for one, should not be frightened by a proposal 
 for a graduated income-tax to meet the additional 
 amount required. 
 
 If lOO years ago, nay, even 50 years ag'o, we had 
 been told that, whether we liked it or not, we should be 
 compelled to pay for the education of other people's 
 children, most of us would have been rather incredulous; 
 but to-day I would compel people of all ranks and 
 stations to be thrifty from their youth upwards as a 
 simple matter of duty to the State, the State at the same 
 time giving them every encouragement to become so. 
 
 The problem to be solved is "By what agency shall 
 we compel thrift ? " and here is the problem our author 
 sets himself to solve with the assistance of the originator 
 of the scheme propounded. 
 
 Bradford having been the birthplace of the great 
 Education Act, the act of 1S70, thanks to my illustrious 
 predecessor Mr. W. E. Forster, "To whose wisdom 
 and to whose courage England owes the establishment 
 throughout the land of a national system of elementary 
 education," it seems to me peculiarly appropriate that 
 in this work our author should institute a comparison 
 between the operations of our great Friendly Societies 
 and the work done by our Voluntary Schools. 
 
 Mr. Forster's policy in the Education Act of 1870 — 
 a policy adopted in the teeth of a most virulent opposition 
 — was to supplement the work being done by these 
 voluntary agencies rather than to stipplatit thdii. Mr. 
 Forster recognized that although they might not be in 
 all respects perfect institutions, yet they had done 
 splendid work for the nation; and he further established 
 the principle of statutory equality.
 
 So we must all recognize to-day that we owe a 
 deep debt of gratitude to our great Friendly Societies; 
 for, althoug-h in common with other human institutions 
 they may not be perfect in all respects, still they have 
 been the pioneers in the cause of thrift, and I was glad 
 to find that our author does not propose to supplant 
 them in any way, but to supplement the work being 
 done by them, and to seek for their co-operation and 
 assistance in our efforts. 
 
 Bradford was the birthplace of the Education Act 
 of 1870, and as member for the Central Division of that 
 great Borough, 1 should rejoice exceedingly if, by the 
 acceptance of this scheme or of some modification of it. 
 Bradford could boast of being the birthplace also of a 
 national scheme of Old Age Pensions ; so that while I 
 cannot undertake to vouch for the accuracy of all the 
 facts and figures within this work, the proposals it 
 contains are in my opinion deserving of careful con- 
 sideration and discussion. 
 
 Finally, a tribute is due to the accomplished lady, 
 who, under circumstances of considerable difficulty, has 
 given the author and originator of this scheme her 
 advice and assistance as editor, and I am glad to see 
 it is suggested in the scheme that the proposed "Pension 
 Boards" shall be composed of women and men in equal 
 numbers. 
 
 JAMES LESLIE WANKLYN. 
 
 House of Commons, 
 
 rSth May, iSg-j.
 
 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 As the orlg-inator and formulator of The National 
 Pension Scheme which will be found explained in detail 
 in this book, I wish to recog"nize the most valuable 
 services rendered by the author, Mr. Joseph Shackleton. 
 
 He has taken a very active interest in ventilating^ 
 the scheme, and by his untiring zeal and energy has 
 materially assisted me in bringing- it before the public. 
 
 I sincerely trust that his book may prove in every 
 way successful, so that he may receive some reward for 
 his heretofore arduous and unrequited labours. 
 
 I am also under a very great obligation to Miss H. 
 Dora T. Turnbull, a lady of exceptional ability, who 
 has spared neither time nor trouble in order to promote 
 the adoption of this scheme. 
 
 Without her invaluable co-operation, it would not 
 have been possible to publish this book in its present 
 form, and, as I consider that the public are deeply 
 indebted to her, I am glad to have this opportunity of 
 testifying to my own sincere appreciation of her 
 assistance. 
 
 The present Lord Chief Justice of England, and 
 Mr. Justice Grantham, merit the nation's gratitude for 
 directing attention to the thousands of people suffering
 
 under the present Poor Law system, a remedywhich has 
 become a matter of momentus necessity. 
 
 No scheme whose benefits accrue forty years hence 
 will be entertained, and it is claimed that this one of 
 which I am the originator, solves every cjuestion raised. 
 
 In 1890 it was submitted to the Queen in Council, 
 in anticipation of School Pence being abolished. In 
 1891 to the Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, and 
 West Riding County Councils, besides many others, 
 and in 1894 to the Bradford Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 C. S. RouNDELL, Esq., M.P., laid the scheme before 
 the late Royal Commission on the Aged Poor, and 
 the Marquis of Lorne when in Bradford also spoke 
 most strongly in its favour. 
 
 The Right Honorable W. E. Forster, M.P., a 
 man whose sterling worth is too well known to need 
 comment, and whose death has caused deep grief to 
 many, was also a warm supporter of the scheme, and I 
 may also add the names of The Right Rev. Lord Bishop 
 of Ripon, The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Durham, 
 The Right Honorable J. W. Mellor, Esq., Q.C, M.P., 
 and Theo. Peel, Esq. Chairmaji of the West Riding 
 Magistrates, Bradford, as among those to whom I owe a 
 sincere tribute of thanks for their unfailing support. 
 
 In conclusion let me mention one who is well known 
 to all for his uprightness and warm-hearted generosity, 
 and to whose practical help and sympathy I owe much — 
 Colonel Brooke, J. P., of Hiiddcrsfield.
 
 There are many others to whom it would be a 
 pleasure to refer, did space permit, but I can only add 
 my very hearty thanks to all, and once more wish every 
 success to those connected i?i any ivay with this book. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 ALEXANDER ATKINSON. 
 Bradford, March, iSg"]. 
 
 ->'?^^V5:5<^
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 Facts and Ideas 
 
 The Poor Law at Work in 1895 ... 
 
 Other Schemes ... 
 
 The Scheme 
 
 The Pension Board 
 
 The Family 
 
 The Individual ... 
 
 Unity i\ the Co:mmunity ... 
 
 The Real and the Ideal . 
 
 Ad.-\iissio.ns and Explanations 
 
 CoJiMON Objections 
 
 Artisan's Dwellings 
 
 Hire and Purchase 
 
 Insurance 
 
 Sujimary OF Advantages ... 
 
 Alternatives 
 
 Suggestions for the Army and Navy 
 
 conch'sion 
 
 Appendix 
 
 PAGES. 
 17-20 
 21-29 
 
 30-37 
 3S-43 
 44-76 
 
 77-91 
 
 92-106 
 
 107-1 I I 
 
 I I2-I 19 
 
 I 20-131 
 
 132-153 
 154-182 
 1S3-1S7 
 lSS-197 
 I9S-209 
 210-213 
 214-216 
 217-225 
 226-229 
 230-240
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ^Ill'; Mcirquis of Salishurx', on the cva of tlic 
 *■ une.\i)ected dii^^solution of the last Parliament, 
 when his Lordship was "in a position of g'reater freedom 
 and less responsibility," said : — " Parliament exists for 
 the Social Amelioration of the condition of the people," 
 a sentiment which was cheered to the echo by the 
 crowded and enthusiastic audience in St. (ieor^'e's Hall, 
 Bradford. 
 
 On the platform were the three candidates lor the 
 three divisions of the County Borough of Bradford, and 
 also the candidate for the Shipley Division. Those 
 four candidates were not then members, and three of the 
 four had never been in Parliimient. They all applauded 
 the sentiment of the noble Martjuis, imd, in their 
 addresses at the last g-eneral election, advocated "Social 
 Amelioration," especially the (luestion of "Uld-Ag-e 
 Pensions."' 
 
 They were all returned to Parliament, a fact whi( ii 
 made a deep impression upon constituencies throughout 
 the United Kingdom, and no doubt influrnrcd other
 
 i8 
 
 clcc lions yenerally. There is now a very large number 
 of Members of Parliament pledged to some solution of 
 the great question of Old-Age Pensions, or reform of 
 the Poor Laws. Many of these members have schemes 
 of their own, and the importance and urgency of the 
 subject has so taken hold of the public mind, that the 
 Right Honokai3lk John Mokley, M.P., in one of his 
 speeches, said: " he would rather be the man to solve the 
 question of Old-Age Pensions, than be the greatest 
 general that ever won the greatest battle." Canon 
 Blackley has studied the question for nearly twenty 
 years. Charles Booth has compiled valuable statistics, 
 etc. The Right Honorable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., 
 devised a scheme, and was most active on the "Royal 
 Commission on the Aged Poor," and, in the minority 
 report, said : '• It is advisable that Parliament should 
 appoint another and smaller Commission, whose duty it 
 should be to report in favour of some scheme." 
 
 The whole of the Press throughout the country 
 reviewed the reports, and universally lamented the 
 iibortive conclusions arrived at. 
 
 For some years previously, I had given my best 
 attention to this tjuestion. I have lectured upon it at 
 Labour, Liberal, and Unionist Clubs, and have also 
 explained the scheme of my friend Mr. Alexander 
 Atkinson, at Debating Societies, Parish Councils, and 
 other corporate bodies, besides the Chamber of 
 Commerce, where, generally sjjeaking, unanimous 
 resolutions in favour of it have been passed. The reader 
 is entitled to some explanation on my part as to whether 
 my (jualitications and experience justify me in attempting 
 a solution of a problem which has baffled the most
 
 19 
 eminent men hitherto. The first point is age. Then a 
 most varied experience, combined with much hard work, 
 for o\er fifty years, in many capacities ; — as employed 
 and em[)loyer ; as elector and elected ; on Her Majesty's 
 Service for many years as Postmaster; as Churchwarden, 
 Day School Manager, and Sunday School Teacher; as 
 Trustee, and distributer of doles, &c. ; and also both as 
 Tenant and Landlord, as well as Estate Ag-ent. 
 
 I have considerable experience of the '" Law of 
 Distress Amendment Act," and in all matters herein 
 explained, and proposed, there is nothing" advanced that 
 is not the result of practical knowledg'e, and close 
 personal acquaintance with the matter referred to. My 
 reading' and study of the various schemes and proposals 
 hitherto made public, convince me that the cause of their 
 failure to commend themselves to the people (and 
 especially classes), arises from the fact that their authors 
 proceed on principles which, whilst sound from an 
 actuary's standpoint, are useless when dealing- with the 
 poorest, whom they most desire to benefit. They proceed 
 on the principle of voluntary assurance, with annuity 
 tables, forgetting- that there are already ample facilties 
 in existence in the noble Friendly Societies, and Post 
 Office Annuities, &c. 
 
 What is wanted is some scheme that will embrace 
 all alike, and that it shall be as satisfactory to the 
 poorest as to the richest, thus sec-uring- their co-operation, 
 and the reg'ular payment of a moderate i)remium, to be 
 collected at the briefest inter\als, and at the least cost, 
 and which shall insure the g-reatest benefits. 
 
 It only remains for me to say, that there is no 
 condition of life alluded to, or facts or ideas embraced.
 
 in the following pages, that 1 have not felt and do not 
 thoroughly realize. The subject of Old-Age Pensions 
 (or National Assurance, as I prefer to call it and treat it 
 in this publication), is a vast and far-reaching one, 
 embracing as it does, the welfare of every one of the 
 40,000,000 i:)eoi)le (j^robably), now living in the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ; and I crave the 
 indulgence and patience of the reader for introducing 
 masses of figures, well aware as I am, that to some 
 they are distasteful and wearisome, as I confess 
 they were to me when I first became enamoured with 
 this subject, since which, however, I have found them 
 most instructive and interesting to audiences, when, 
 exhibited as Charts, the various groups were explained 
 in detail. 
 
 To give a clear idea of our scheme, as it would 
 apply to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland; or to London, and coming down gradually, to 
 Cities, County Councils, County Boroughs, Unions or 
 Parish Councils ; and even as it would apply to, and 
 affect families and individuals, I have found figures are 
 indispensable: and when carefully studied and compared, 
 they give the student a new and most interesting insight 
 into a subject to which he may have seen frequent refer- 
 ence without e\er fully going into it for himself. 
 
 -:>^^>^V'?:5<^
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Facts and Ideas. 
 
 T^HE Royal Commission on the Ag'ed Poor agTeed 
 that: — "As regfards the great I ulk of the working" 
 classes, during- their working' lives, they are fairly 
 provident, fairly thrifty, fairly industrious, and fairly 
 temperate. The statement that pauperism is largely due 
 to drink, idleness, improvidence, and the like causes, has 
 in truth mainly had reference to that portion of the aged 
 l)Oor who are in workhouses, and who are there for other 
 reasons than sickness or great infirmity. When it is 
 seen according to the yearly count, that under nine per 
 cent of the Aged Poor over sixty-five are in Poor Law 
 establishments ; and according to the one day count, 
 under five per cent, and that this number includes all the 
 sick and infirm persons who cannot be relieved at their 
 own homes, it is apparent that the imputation applies to 
 but a very small proportion of the workings-class 
 population." 
 
 Regarding those who m'od, but are reluctant to 
 seek. Parish Relief, and are ])robably the most numerous 
 and deserving class, the Commissioners <-ay : — "The 
 ordinary condition of such persons must be only just 
 removed from ])auperism, and calls for sympathy and 
 consideration. There are also many Aged l^^or\\ho are 
 destitute so far as their own resources are concerned, but 
 are kept off the rates bv the assistance of friends, and 
 by private charit}'. Such persons must sometimes
 
 22 
 
 endure great jirivation in their efforts to avoid application 
 for official relief, and they form a class quite as deserving- 
 of consideration as others who are actually numbered in 
 the return as paupers." 
 
 Statistics prove that pauperism increases rapidly 
 with age, as shewn in a return issued to the House of 
 Commons in 1894, that, whereas the proportion of 
 pauperism under sixteen years of age is twenty-one to 
 every 1000 of the population of that age, if you take 
 those over sixty years of age, they are fifty-three out of 
 every looo, in the next five years they are 109, and in the 
 following five years they are 185, in the next fi\'e 221. 
 and at eighty years of age the average is 300. 
 
 In the fourth wtek of August, 1891, there were 
 638,976 paupers in England and Wales : whilst for the 
 corresponding week in 1S95, the number increased to 
 
 704,857- 
 
 There are a great many thousands more women 
 than men, and no wonder, as the Friendly Societies 
 would never admit them to their lodges. It is remarkable 
 that more than one fourth of the total number of 
 paupers in one year are aged. Is it possible for a 
 working-man to make adequate provision for his own 
 old age, as well as to maintain his family, and enjoy the 
 reasonable comforts of life.'' Granted constant good 
 health and employment, and barring accidents, with the 
 same good fortune for his wife and children, with 
 ordinary care, he can : but in case of sickness, loss of 
 employment, and many other misfortunes that he is 
 powerless to prevent, his savings disappear, the life 
 policies of every member of his family have to lapse, 
 and thus his care, and the necessary self-denial exercised
 
 23 
 
 by all to pay the premium hitherto, is rendered useless, 
 and the money so much needed, tfoes to fill the coffers 
 of wealthy Insurance Companies. Tin's scheme saves 
 any such injustice. 
 
 That the j^resent facilities are not popular is proved 
 h\ the Post < Office deferred annuities, purchase money 
 returnable: from June, 18S4, to June, 1893, a period of 
 nine years, only 820 were agreed for, — less than lOO 
 cases in each year — out of a population of nearly forty 
 millions, whilst there were only 360 cases (purchase 
 money not returnable), and this is government securit}', 
 well advertised at Post Offices everywhere. The Pruden- 
 tial Assurance Company (I rememljer its commencement, 
 and like our own scheme, it began in a small way), 
 which has now over eleven million policies, has a table 
 of whole life and deferred annuity as a provision for old 
 age ; yet, out of those eleven millions, there are 
 comparatively few deferred annuity contracts. 
 
 The Friendly Societies have done better, the 
 Manchester Unity of Oddfellows having- some 500 of 
 their members entered for an old-age pension. The 
 difficulty being, in each case, to get young men at 
 eighteen years of age to pay anything weekly or 
 otherwise, to secure a pittance that would not keep them 
 alive decently at sixty-five years of age (as most schemes 
 do no more than offer them five shillings per week at 
 sixty-five) — with forty to forty-seven years to wait, and 
 the small proportion of people who live to sixty-fi\'e 
 years — it is no surprise to a thinking man to know that 
 they fail to attract support. (It will be seen that the 
 benefits of this scheme are imuitdiati ) 
 
 At the Church Congress at Norwich last year, the
 
 2 + 
 
 workini^ men's meeting-, held on the last evening' of 
 Congress week, was, on the initiative of the Bishop of 
 Norwich, devoted to the work of Frienrllv Societies, 
 when Mr. C. (jkaiiam, i>f Burlou-on-TrinL Past (irand 
 Master of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, spoke 
 on the sul)ject of '' Old Age Pensions from the State for 
 members of Benefit Societies.'' He beg^an by alluding 
 to the difficulty above referred to, that '"The Societies 
 have so far failed to induce their members to make old 
 age provisions, though the members are only too ready 
 to strain the sickness pro\ision to cover old age infirmities. 
 In spite of warnings from actuaries and the high officers 
 of the .Societies ; in spite of the danger to the very' 
 sta1)ility itself of all the districts and courts and lodges ; 
 and, in defiance of all appeals, the fact remains, that 
 the Manchester Unity, out of a membership of nearly 
 900,000 can count only some 500 or 600 members whose 
 contributions are made to include a pension of five 
 shillings a week, should they reach sixty-five years of 
 age: whilst in the Ancient Order of Foresters, whose 
 total membership is about the same as the Manchester 
 Unity, the result is quite as dispiriting^, and there is great 
 reason to conclude that the remaining benefit societies 
 are even worse off than either of these in this respect. 
 Indeed, it may be boldly asserted that, so far as reliable 
 data can be ol^tained, there do not exist 5000 members 
 j)aying' for pensions, amongst the whole of the affiliated 
 Friendly .Societies, having- an united membership of 
 2,000,000, with o\-er 60.000 members upwards of sixty-five 
 years of age." Mr. Graham pointed out the disastrous 
 financial effect of paying permanent pensions in the form 
 of sickness benefit to their aged members. The Official
 
 2.S 
 
 Actuary of the Manchester Unity refers to the prevalence 
 of this throughout the country as follows: — 
 
 " ((/) Fearful increase of deficiency mainly 
 
 from indiscriminate ])ensioninLi- ; 
 (/•) AllowiniL;- sickness benefits to take the pension 
 
 form bringfs serious deficiency ; 
 (f) The brethren seem to try to convince themselves 
 that decrepitude in any form may have ])er- 
 manent allowance as sick pay ; 
 (//} Pensions, or other adverse causes, keep the 
 
 progress down ; 
 (c-) Alarming- deficiences frequently increased l)y 
 excess of sickness, and too liberaV pension- 
 like allowances ; 
 {/) Some are evidently allowing the sickness 
 to assume the annuity form, and serious 
 results must follow, if the warnings are 
 disregarded." 
 These facts clearly shew, that state aid and inter- 
 vention to assist them in doing the truly Christian work 
 of caring for and succouring the aged, the sick, the dying- 
 and the destitute, and thus preventing the collapse of 
 these most praiseworthy voluntary institutions, which 
 have done so much good in the past, and are calculated 
 to be immeasurably more successful in the future if 
 relie\ed of the difficulties referred to l)y the above 
 official authorities, is absolutely essential. At the present 
 time, an appalling proportion of the lodg^es are insolvent 
 and our scheme comes to their rescue by forthwith 
 taking off their hands these old members, 60,000 being 
 over sixty-five years of age ; and, as we commence to 
 pension all at sixty years of age. the number who would
 
 26 
 
 thus relieve these insolvent lorlg^es, coupled with our sick 
 pay, and the free doctors everywhere, would enable the 
 worthy Grand Treasurers, at their very next annual 
 meeting's and conferences, to submit balance sheets 
 indicating that, in the near future, there would not Ije 
 one insolvent lodg"e. 
 
 Some of their chief official leaders have publicly 
 expressed some fear ot Government inspection or 
 interference if a Government Grant was given ; and the 
 ancient sophistry about sapping' the independence of the 
 bold Briton is repeated, reg"ardless of the fact that 
 Government Grants and this country's advancement in 
 material and moral welfare are convertible terms and 
 ideas : to wit, Elementary Education, &c., which are 
 matters of English History up-to-date. To say that 
 State aid orpensions would be degrading" to the recipient 
 when the highest in the realm receive pensions, besides 
 all our Military and Naval Officers, Civil Sen'ants, 
 Police, &c., while now even School Teachers, and 
 also Poor Law Officers are arrang'ing a scheme and a 
 bill in Parliament for the next session, for Pensions, 
 seems too absurd. 
 
 The deplorable fact (I had almost written scandal ) 
 still remains, that this, the g'reatest and the richest 
 Empire in the World, or that the world has ever seen, has 
 done absolutely nothing to relieve the condition of its 
 Aged Poor; whilst every other nation, with very few 
 exceptions, either has recognised Benefit Societies or 
 takes the business in hand by Government, as for 
 example, France, Austria, Italy, Germany, Denmark, 
 Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, and Russia, &c. 
 
 Another most important fact and arg'ument in favour
 
 27 
 
 of our scheme is, that these most excellent Friendly 
 Societies do not admit women as members of their 
 Lodg"es, although out of e\"ery four paupers three are 
 women. Again, men are not admitted if over forty-five 
 years of age. It will be seen, when the reader dissects 
 the scheme further, that we have made provision for this, 
 and claim that these difficulties are overcome and entirely 
 vanish, as we include both sexes and all ages. 
 
 It may never have struck the reader that our 
 present Poor Law system will not bear examination in 
 the lig"ht of justice and righteousness; and that a savage, 
 or a missionary from some inhabited Planet, where they 
 have an ideal or perfect state of society, — witnessing for 
 the first time a nation of rational beings who prof-^ss 
 to be Christians, or, at least honest people, living 
 supinely indifferent to, or ignorant of, the fact that, 
 if a man puts his weekly or yearly earnings into a 
 bank, and does this for ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years, 
 drawing- nothing out, not even interest, till, when unable 
 to work any longer, or in case of sickness, he applies for 
 sufficient for his needs of his own money, only to l)e told 
 that there is no money of his in that bank, — would surely 
 think our professions hollow, and the whole system a 
 most extraordinary one, lo say the least of it! Would 
 this stranger not have a right to wonder why our 
 Government prosecuted Jabez Balfour.^ Pecausethe same 
 Government compels every occupier of premises to put 
 into their bank (through overseers) annually a sum of 
 money proportionate to the value of such premises, and, 
 as a corollary in some measure indicative of the impor- 
 tance of the man ; and yet, when he needs the whole, or 
 any portion of the total sum he has confided to this
 
 28 
 
 Government Bank, he is told there is no money due to 
 him I It has all been paid away to other people, or for 
 some other purpose; anythin.g- rather than to insure hiyn 
 against poverty in sickness, incapacity, old a^s^e, or for 
 funeral money. Was there ever heard of such legfalised, 
 absolute fraud ? Every Banking- Account, every Insurance 
 Policy, or Pi'operty of any kind, is treated by the Law of 
 the Land as beings almost as sacred to him as a man's 
 own life ; whilst under the Poor Law you are com- 
 pelled to pay annual premiums for your neig'hbour, or any 
 strang-er, who has no claim upon you and may be utterly 
 unworthy; the only difference being-, that when you are 
 no long-er able to pay anything- at all (throug-h misfortune 
 or the fault of others), the kind-hearted State will see 
 that you do not die from actual want of food, unless the 
 deep sense of the wrong- and robbery of the .system, 
 coupled with the condition that your acceptance of that 
 food brands you as a pauper, and deprives you of your 
 civil rights and franchises, besides bringing- a stig-ma 
 upon you, and all who are near and dear to you, makes 
 you resolve to die in the street, or commit suicide, 
 rather than allow this disg-race and wrong- to be any 
 longer countenanced by your meek acquiescence. 
 
 Instances of such deaths and suicides appear in the 
 papers from time to time, and who can tell the amount 
 of crime, lunacy, and other evils, arising from contempt 
 of such laws and their administrators. 
 
 I quite agree with the Commissioners of 1834 about 
 lax, lenient, or liberal out-door relief — especially to able- 
 bodied men — having- been most injurious, and that many 
 found themselves better off with Poor Law relief, than 
 when at their regular work; and if Parliament had
 
 2<) 
 
 then resolved that every one should pay for himself or 
 herself, into a fund, for times of sickness, want ot 
 emi:)loyment, old aye, or death, we should have had a 
 happier United King'dom; 
 
 -^-^i^-^^^^^^^^^
 
 30 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Poor Law at Work in 1895. 
 
 IT would 1j(j unfair to select for an illustration ot the 
 great diversity of interpretation and administration 
 of the Poor Law, what might be called typical Unions 
 throughout the country, as London will shew, in i/s 
 great aggregate, every class of population, and the most 
 varied policies of the different unions as exhibited in the 
 followinii' tables : — 
 
 
 SOUTH 
 
 DISTRICT. 
 
 
 Union. 
 
 Paupers. 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. 
 
 Camberwell 
 
 7,321 
 
 2,934 
 
 4,387 
 
 Lambeth . . 
 
 6,761 
 
 3.498 
 
 3.263 
 
 St. Saviour's 
 
 5,872 
 
 4.378 
 
 1.494 
 
 St. Olave '.. 
 
 5.639 
 
 2,293 
 
 3,346 
 
 Wandsworth 
 
 5,206 
 
 2,528 
 
 2,678 
 
 Greenwich 
 
 4.558 
 
 2,919 
 
 1,639 
 
 Lewisham 
 
 2,733 
 
 1,056 
 
 1,677 
 
 Woolwich 
 
 2 526 
 
 1,324 
 
 1,202 
 
 Totals . 
 
 40,616 
 
 2,0930 
 
 12,474 Adults 
 7,212 Childr'n 
 
 
 NORTH 
 
 DISTRICT. 
 
 
 Union. 
 
 Paufer. 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. 
 
 Islington . . 
 
 6,6So 
 
 2,996 
 
 3,684 
 
 St. Pancras 
 
 6,500 
 
 4,687 
 
 1,813 
 
 Hackney . . 
 
 5,808 
 
 2,701 
 
 3.107 
 
 St. Marylebone . . 
 
 3-695 
 
 3,445 
 
 250 
 
 Hampstead 
 
 619 
 
 403 
 
 216 
 
 Totals . . 
 
 23.302 
 
 14,232 
 
 5,567 Adults 
 3,503 Children
 
 
 EAST 
 
 31 
 DISTRICT. 
 
 
 Union. 
 
 Paupers. 
 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. ■ 
 
 Poplar 
 
 4.902 
 
 
 3,050 
 
 1,852 
 
 Bethnal Green . 
 
 3,S20 
 
 
 2,902 
 
 91S 
 
 Mile End.. 
 
 2,591 
 
 
 1,679 
 
 912 
 
 Shoreditch 
 
 2,348 
 
 
 1,888 
 
 460 
 
 Whitechapel 
 
 1,514 
 
 
 1,483 
 
 ■ 31 
 
 Stepney . . 
 
 1,418 
 
 
 1,392 
 
 26 
 
 St. George's in the 
 
 East 1,093 
 
 
 i,oSo 
 
 13 
 
 Totals . 
 
 i7,GS6 
 
 13,474 
 
 3,049 Adults 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,163 Children 
 
 
 WEST 
 
 DISTRICT. 
 
 
 Union. 
 
 Paupers. 
 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. 
 
 St. George's 
 
 3,289 
 
 
 2.774 
 
 515 
 
 Fulham . . 
 
 2,987 
 
 
 2,041 
 
 946 
 
 Kensington 
 
 2,691 
 
 
 2,318 
 
 373 
 
 Chelsea . . 
 
 2,196 
 
 
 1,766 
 
 430 
 
 Paddington 
 
 1,272 
 
 
 1,091 
 
 iSi 
 
 Westminster 
 
 962 
 
 
 872 
 
 gr 
 
 Totals . 
 
 13,397 
 
 10,862 
 
 1,754 Adults 
 
 
 
 
 
 7S1 Children 
 
 
 CENTRAL 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 
 Union. 
 
 Paupers. 
 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. 
 
 Holborn . . 
 
 5,501 
 
 
 3,729 
 
 1,832 
 
 City of London . 
 
 2,200 
 
 
 1,362 
 
 83S 
 
 Strand 
 
 2,013 
 
 
 1,535 
 
 478 
 
 St. Giles' & St. George 1,330 
 
 
 930 
 
 400 
 
 Totals . 
 
 11,104 
 
 7,556 
 
 2,261 Adults 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,287 Children 
 
 
 SUMM 
 
 ARY. 
 
 
 District. 
 
 Paupers. 
 
 
 Indoor. 
 
 Outdoor. 
 
 South 
 
 40,616 
 
 
 20,930 
 
 19,686 
 
 North 
 
 23,3"2 
 
 
 14,232 
 
 9,070 
 
 East 
 
 17,686 
 
 
 13,474 
 
 4,212 
 
 West 
 
 13,397 
 
 
 10,862 
 
 2,535 
 
 Central 
 
 11,104 
 
 
 7,556 
 
 3,548 
 
 Total 
 
 s 106,105 
 
 67,034 
 
 39,051
 
 32 
 
 At the end of the year 1894, with a pupulation 
 estimated at 4.394,166, there was a total numl)er of 
 paupers 104,820, which was a shade below that of 
 Christmas, 1893 (0'5) ; whilst in one week (the third 
 week in February), there were in London 150,142 leg"al 
 poor (70,916 indoor and 79,226 outdoor) being" 32 
 to the 1000 of the population, and therefore hig'her 
 than in any year since 1874, and only exceeded five 
 times in thirty-eig"ht years. In that month ot P'ebruary, 
 the distress being' chiefly caused by the se\ere weather 
 and the consequent suspension of out-door work, the 
 increase upon the corresponding" period for the preceding" 
 year was 39,356 for out-door and 4. 305 who were obliged 
 to go into workhouses. 
 
 In Eng"land and Wales there was also an increase 
 during' the same periods, being" — London twenty-five per 
 cent, in the first week of February, and forty-one percent, 
 in the third week ; whilst the rest of the country shewed 
 nine per cent, in the first week and sixteen per cent, in 
 the third. It is instructive to compare the fluctuations of 
 these statistics and facts, always keeping" in mind that 
 they do not refer to bales of g"oods or heads of cattle, but 
 to human being's, who have feelings as deep and sensitive 
 as those living" in luxury : in fact, many of them having" 
 been reared and educated as tenderly ^lnd intelligently as 
 those who are set over them and sit in judgement upon 
 them as their guardians, but who, it is to be feared, from 
 the great diversity and disparity of the aljove annual 
 returns of the London Unions, are more entitled to be 
 called the guardians of the ratejiayers. In May the 
 returns shew 97,908 paupers, of whom 61,748 were 
 in-door and 36,160 out-door; the latter figures giving a
 
 ^3 
 proportion of 22 to the 1000 of population. It 
 is of importance to bear these fii>-ures in mind, or to note 
 them and compare them with the fig-ures and provisions 
 of our scTieme when I come to deal with them. Xo 
 thoughtful or reasonable mind can resist the conviction 
 that the amount of wrong' anrl injustice done, as disclosed 
 in these figures, must be enormous. Kither cases of 
 deserving' and needy poor are licing refused out -door 
 relief or compelled to submit to practically permanent 
 pauperism, or some Unions are recklessly squandering- 
 the rate-payers' money and demoralising- the recipients 
 of out-door relief. A g-lance at the above summary — 
 for brevity taking- the thousands only — and the disparity 
 in proportion is 20 to 19 in the South, 14 to 9 in the 
 North, 13 to 4 in the East, 10 to 2 in the West, and 7 to 
 3 in the Central ; whilst one Union (Wandsworth), with 
 5,206 paupers, allows out door relief to 2,678 ; Holborn, 
 with 5561 paupers, only allows out-door relief to 1S32 ; 
 whilst Camberwell, with 7321, has indoor 2934, yet g'ives 
 relief to 4,387 outside ; Paddington, with its 1272 
 paupers, has 181 out-door poor; and St. George's in the 
 East, with 1093 paupers, has only 13 out-door! It 
 should be borne in mind that those comprised in the 
 50,000 — who came upon the rate in February, through 
 lack of employment, &c., and g-radually came off. till 
 they disappeared in May — were enabled by the 
 temporary relief as out-door poor, to tide over the 
 enforced idle time and resume their independent 
 position, who otherwise, if compelled to go inside, 
 would in many cases have stayed there permanently, 
 with the further and greater evil consequence, that their 
 families would also have then broken the last link of
 
 34 
 their self-respect, and become indifferent or disheartened 
 about making" any further efforts at self-support. In the 
 case of their children, the seeds of pauperism are sown, 
 and, as anyone who has been closely connected 
 with the Poor Law, either officially or as representative 
 g'uardian, knows, pauperism is larg-ely hereditary: "their 
 father g'ot relief nionev, and his father before him, and 
 why should not they ? '" 
 
 Comparing" the astounding disproportion of the 
 results, and conscMjuent irregularity of administrative 
 economy, involving' the enforced payment of millions of 
 money in Poor Rates and its haphazard distribution, 
 one is tempted to ask if there exists any controlling- 
 authority or government supervision in these matters ? I 
 have heard of a Poor Law Board in London, and the Local 
 Government Board at Whitehall, and from time to time 
 read of reports made by their inspectors which have 
 been in existence over sixty years. Surely one might 
 have expected that a more reliable, systematic, and 
 uniform mode of control should have been established. 
 Schools, for instance, under the control of the Education 
 Department and its inspectors, are so managed that 
 every one of the 20,000 schools, and every one of the 
 five millions of children therein, are accurately accounted 
 for, and every penny of the Government Grant disbursed 
 in just proportion to their varied merits. The question 
 of the unemployed is the chief factor in these unions, 
 and the most enlightened and patriotic guardians are of 
 opinion that, although it does not come within their 
 province as Administrators of the Poor Law, it is the 
 duty of the Imperial Parliament to see that, through 
 local agencies, something effective and permanent shall
 
 35 
 bo done to solve this question. A jj^reat Nation and 
 B'.mpire, which has risen by the industry of its inhabitants 
 and become rich by its traders, should realise the terrible 
 loss that arises to all its members from the enforced 
 idleness of those who are able and willing^ to contribute 
 their quota of productions to swell that wealth, if 
 the opi)ortunity offers; ^md how that loss is doubled by 
 their maintenance as useless beingfs, "eating their heads 
 off, " as the horsedealer would say of his valuable 
 animals. The treatment is absurd and antiquated, 
 thouofh common, which sets those who are seeking work 
 tramping the country without funds, and oblig'^d to resoit 
 to the workhouse for their night's lodgings, to break a 
 certain quantity of stone to pay for their bed and board, 
 utterly regardless of their fitness for the work; while 
 generally, the best part of the day being- taken up in 
 this way, it becomes next to impossible to see the number 
 of employers in business hours, who might be likely 10 
 give them employment. The cruelty of this custom is 
 all the greater, when ihe man happens to be a watch- 
 maker, engraver, artist, or artizan, whose work depends 
 upon the steadiness and condition of his hands, and who 
 finds them blistered and shaky, through the unusual exercise 
 ot handling a heavy hammer. There are, I venture to 
 guess, more ratepayers than there are men of this class, 
 who are actually paying money annually, to keep these 
 men in their intolerable idleness, and who have neither 
 piano, good pictures, or any other valuable articles of 
 usefulness and luxury, all or any of which articles these 
 poor beggars could and would gladly produce for this 
 same money. It will be seen how these, together with 
 the sick and incapacitated, are dealt with under our 
 scheme.
 
 36 
 
 The Royal Commission on Labour took the view 
 that the employment bv public authorities of surplus 
 labour, or of services for which there is no existing' 
 demand, is closely connected v.'ith the Poor Law and its 
 administration : and that an investis^ation of the prac- 
 tical)ilitv of municipal workshops, or agfricultural home 
 colonies, with this end in view, mig-ht be undertaken 
 in (connection with the subject of the reform of the Poor 
 Law. The fact of the universal interest, manifested in 
 the whole of the Newspaper Press of the country in 
 criticising- the " Report of the Royal Commission on the 
 Ag-ed Poor ' ; the very general promises made by 
 Candidates in their addresses at the last General Election 
 to support some scheme of Old Age Pensions, and their 
 conseciuent success at the polls ; coupled with the fact 
 that Mr. Chamberlain champions the i^rinciple of state 
 aid for Old Age Pensions, and that he is a most 
 prominent member of the strongest government of our 
 time, which has every prospect of a long tenure of oflhce, 
 and of opportunity, therefore, to solve these great 
 cjuestions, seems to give an assurance that we may 
 confidently rely upon it, that greater reforms and 
 advancement in the welfare of all classes of the British 
 people will be accomplished during the last four years 
 of the present century than has ever been witnessed by 
 any generation of past ages, great and noble as some of 
 these previous reforms have been. 
 
 It is pleasant, in connection with this sentiment, to 
 give honour to whom honour is due, especially to such 
 noble guardians as Canon Blackley, the founder of this 
 movement, who, for twenty years, has made it his sacred 
 duty to study how best to carry out "the Social
 
 37 
 Amelioration of the condition of the People," especially 
 of the aged poor. Also of the Rev. Brooke Lambert, 
 one of the guardians for Greenwich Union, who is 
 interesting- himself in the (juestion of how best to solve 
 the question of the able-bodied poor on farm colonies, 
 etc., and also for the formation of a Central Board for 
 the whole of London, to secure proper classification and 
 uniformity of administrative treatment for all paupers. 
 The various charitable agencies, whose motives are the 
 noblest traits of our common humanity, and embody the 
 teaching and preaching of Him Whose Name we take 
 at our baptism, are all trying in their various spheres to 
 carry out in daily life the practice inculcated in the 
 Beatitudes. Unfortunately, however, some of these 
 advocates of armies, shelters, &c., have not hitherto 
 realised the danger of herding- together in these shelters 
 all sorts and conditions of men, both old and young, 
 criminal and innocent; and the probable, or rather 
 certain, consequent results that must ensue — infectious 
 and contagious diseases spread, — children contaminated 
 in mind and body, — for, unfortunately, vice and weeds 
 grow most luxuriantly wherever they are not held in 
 check. The Whilechapel School Board report that 
 there were 1,448 homeless children in their district who 
 sle|)t at these shelters, and some Hft}' more who slept in 
 common lodging houses. l'ro\ision is matle in our 
 scheme to meet this difficulty also. 
 
 412740
 
 38 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Other Schemes. 
 
 npHE premier position for honorable mention in the 
 following" list of a few, out of a very larg"e number, 
 of other schemes brought before the public by all classes 
 of philanthropists, who are anxious in their day and 
 generation to elevate and benefit the poor, and especially 
 the aged, is assuredly that of Caxon Blackley, whose name 
 will go clown to posterit) as a worthy successor of those other 
 dignitaries of the church who secured Magna Charta at 
 Runnymede for all the people in this land. His proposal 
 in i87Swas to establish a compulsory National Insurance. 
 Every person between eighteen and twenty-one vears of 
 ag-e, whether male or female, was to provide £10 to 
 secure 8- per week in sickness, and 4- per week at 
 seventy; or for the latter, the Canon was prepared to fix 
 the age at sixty-five for the pension. A Select Committee 
 considered the scheme in 1885-1887, and their oj^inion 
 was " that many of the poorest class would be unable to 
 provide £10 between the ag-es of eighteen and twenty-one 
 without g'reat difficulty ; that many who mig"ht be able, 
 would be unwilling ; and that the collection of the 
 money from those whose work was fitful and uncertain, 
 would be almost impossible. That the financial objections 
 to be urged against Canon Blackley's proposals for 
 National Insurance, do not press with such force 
 against the deferred Annuity part, as against the 
 sick pay [lart of his scheme."" A society, called the
 
 39 
 National Providence League, was to support the 
 Canon, who still holds to his opinion that "if the 
 young will not contribute voluntarily for a State 
 Aided Pension Assurance, a compulsory measure will be 
 desirable." 
 
 The scheme embodying the view of Canon Blackley 
 has been revised by the National Provident League, 
 and i)rovides that each contributor shall secure a 
 pension of £6 los. od. per annum at sixty-five years of 
 age, the State providing another £6 los. od , making 
 5'- per week to the assured, the Post Office to be the 
 medium for collection and payments. In case of death 
 before sixty-five, the assured to appoint a nominee, who 
 shall be paid back the sum of £5: but cannot otherwise 
 assign or transfer it or any part of it. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain's scheme is based upon the 
 melancholy facts alluded to in regard to pauperism, and 
 is the result of a Voluntary Committee of Members of 
 Parliament, who have taken an interest in this subject, 
 and met precisely the same facts and conditions, involving 
 the same difficulties and dangers, which we hope and 
 believe are solved in the scheme now brought more 
 prominently before the public for their criticism. Mr. 
 Chamberlain believes that a large proi^ortion of the 
 workers could make some provision for old age, w ithont 
 denying themselves reasonable comforts, and that they 
 should be encouraged to do so. Stated briefly, to secure 
 a pension of 5 - per week at sixt)-fi\e, he or she must 
 deposit £2 los. od. before they are twenty-five years of 
 age, and when they have done so, the .State to add £10, 
 and the assured to pay 10- every }ear till they are 
 sixty-five. Should fleath intM-\ene. the i)ayments are
 
 40 
 forfeited, and apitlied to the benefit of those who H\e to 
 sixty-five. In another class, or schedule, the assured 
 niu^-t deposit £5 before he is twenty-five, and pay £1 per 
 annum for forty years ; if he dies before the third 
 yearly payment, the deposit to be returned. If he die 
 after the third yearly payment, but before reaching sixty- 
 five, his widow to have 5 - a week for six months, and 2 - 
 per week for each child till they are twelve, but the 
 total weekly allowance not to exceed 12/- for the first six 
 months, or 8 - afterwards. If without children, the 
 widow to receive 5 - per week for six months, and such 
 further sum as will equal the amount of his contributions 
 with interest If he die leaving" neither widow nor 
 children, his representatives to receive £5 for tuneral 
 expenses. If he live to sixty-five, he will have a pension 
 of 5 - per week for life. There are separate schedules 
 for women, in which it is stated that no contributions are 
 returnable, nor benefit, if the woman die before sixty-five. 
 Another part of Mr. Chamberlain's scheme states that 
 every man who deposits a specified sum {£^ for a man 
 under 30, but varying- with ag^e) in the Post Office 
 Savings' Bank, and who is insured in the Post Office, or 
 Friendly Society, or other agency for a pension of not 
 less than £6 los. od. per annum, or 26 per week, shall 
 be entitled to claim from the State another pension of 
 equal amount at the age of sixty-five : /.<.. that the State 
 shall make his pension of 2 6 per week into 5 - per 
 week. rro\ision is made for payment of arrears, and 
 the Post Office is the medium of collection and pa}ment. 
 The P'riendly Societies object to this, as they fear State 
 intervention. The greatest drawback to it is, that no 
 benefits can accrue, till forty years have elapsed ; and,
 
 +' 
 
 considering the uncertainty of life, and especially of 
 reaching the age of sixty-five, being- merely a voluntary 
 scheme, few would care to avail themselves of its advan- 
 tages. A further point I would mention is, that amongst 
 the very poorest, how few indeed there are who ever 
 have even a few shillings to part with ; and how 
 many even marry and commence house-keeping with all 
 their furniture obtained on the hire system. Mr. 
 Chamberlain makes reasonable estimates of cost. 
 
 Another scheme is that of Mr. Charles Booth, who 
 has clone good service by the publication of his book, 
 and the statistics embodying- his great research and 
 practical knowledge. He simply says that, on proof of age 
 being sixty-five, everyone to be entitled to 5/- per week 
 from the State, unless long- resident abroad in other than 
 a military capacity, or in the service of the State. 
 According to the last census, there were in England and 
 Wales 1,372,601 persons over sixty-five ; to pay them 5 '- 
 per week each, would cost £18,000,000, and with Scotland 
 and Ireland added about £25,000,000. Of course, in 
 every scheme, however, allowance must be made for the 
 saving in the Poor Rates, &c. 
 
 Mr. Booth contends that " the current generation 
 while young should |)ro\ide for the old, on the theory 
 that it will, as it grows old, have the benefit of the 
 system"; ''Besides reducing the existing- amount of 
 pauperism and lightening much p()\'erty outside, it would 
 have no adverse effect on work, wages, thrift, self- 
 respect, or energy." The Commissioners had no doubt 
 that it would be popular, but considered it unpriictical. As 
 the difficulty is great of doing justice to even a few other 
 schemes, such as those of Mr. Hardy, Actuary to the
 
 42 
 " Hearts of Oak Society" ; Mr. Fletcher Moulton, O.C: 
 Mr. Valance, Clerk to the Whitechapel Guardians ; Mr. 
 Rartley, M.P., many Actuaries, .Societies, and Leagues, &c., 
 and lest I should bewilder the reader, I will proceed to 
 state and explain the scheme of Mr. Alexaxder Atkinsox, 
 of Bradford, who was the author and successful 
 negotiator of the system of "Workman's Railway 
 Tickets," in which he received the support of Sir Henry 
 Mitchell, who at that time was President of the Chamber 
 of Commerce. Bradford, and which has proved highly 
 successful in Yorkshire, besides being- a great ^boon to 
 working-men, and convenience to employers requiring^ 
 hands. Mr. Atkinson was also the originator of the 
 Parcels Post, receiving support and acknowledgment 
 from the then Member for Bradford, the Right 
 Honorable W. E. Forster, who had a high opinion of 
 Mr. Atkinson's abilities and judgment. Since makings 
 the acquaintance of Mr. Atkinson, a few years ago, I 
 have learned to distinguish between a designing and 
 selfish leader of men and one who thinks more of the 
 welfare of the people than his own vain glory. The little 
 I have been able to do in helping Mr. Atkinson to place 
 his scheme before the public, has been mainly by availing 
 myself of the correspondence columns of the Yorkshire 
 newspapers, and l)y sjjeaking upon it at Labour, Liberal, 
 and Unionist Clubs. Debating Societies, Councils, 
 Chamber of Commerce, &c., where resolutions have 
 generally been carried in support of its adoption as 
 an Act of Parliament, and of gi\ing local authorities 
 power to carry it out. 
 
 A great many |)etilions to Parliament in favour of it, 
 have been ]}resented from the various flistricts throughout
 
 43 
 the West Riding- of Yorkshire, by the late Chairmen of 
 Committees, The Right Hoxorablk J. W. Mkllor, Q.C., 
 M.P.. and the Right Honorable G. J. Shaw-le-Fevre, late 
 President of the Local Goverment Board, Mr. Shaw, 
 M.P., for Halifax. &c. 
 
 ->'^t^J^¥?:5<^ 
 
 30 |iOV.19^^^ 
 
 //
 
 4+ 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Scheine. 
 
 VW^ERE our scheme to be universally adopted, on the 
 ' first day of every quarter in each year, the owner, 
 or others responsible for each of the inhabited dwellings 
 throughout the United Kingdom i meaning thereby any 
 place where a person sleeps, and including ships, boats, 
 caravans, tents, hospitals, and institutions) must, under 
 penalty, take a census of aU persons on their premises, 
 by means of a form on which shall appear the name and 
 age of every occupant of their premises, and to the 
 validity of which the owner must be able to swear or give 
 evidence in court. This census would be for the Local 
 Authority wherein the property was situate. Every 
 Quarter day, the owner would become liable to his Local 
 Authority for 7/7 for each jjerson on his list over sixteen 
 years of age, and for half that sum for all between the 
 ages often and sixteen years. He would forthwith begin 
 to collect this cfuarterly premium with the rent, if the rent 
 was payable ((uarterly, or by instalments weekly or 
 monthly as the rent was due. The Local Authority, on 
 receipt of the census, woukl make a demand upon the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer for a (iovernment Grant of 
 25 for all persons over ten years of age. The deficiency 
 arising from those between ten and sixteen years of age, 
 in making the income equal to 10/- [ler head for that 
 ([uarter, to be made good from the local rates. A fund 
 is thus established in every district, amounting to £2 per
 
 45 
 head per annum. Applied universally in Great Britain 
 and Ireland, the scheme works out as follows, on the 
 basis shewn in the Reg^istrar General's census returns, 
 that there are living;, of the total population, three in 
 every four over ten years of a^e. 
 
 The population of the United Kin,2fdom, then. 
 Ijeing" 38,600,000, takinj"- 3 in 4, is 29,000,000 at: — 
 yd. weekly=7''7 quarterly, or £1 lOs. ^d. 
 
 yearly ... ... ... ... ... ;^44, 000,000 
 
 29,000,000 Goverment Grant=2/5 ((uarterly 
 
 or 9/8 yearly ... ... ... ... ;^ 14,000,000 
 
 {Sec Fdi^c 47). 
 
 ;^58,ooo,ooo 
 
 PAYMENTS OUT BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. 
 
 1,200,000 Pensions at 60 years of age .. 
 
 800,000 Cases in Sickness, &c., below 60 and over 10 
 
 580,000 Deaths over 10 years of age 
 
 250,000 Deaths below 10 years of age . . 
 
 500,000 Orphans and Fatherless below 13 
 
 500,000 Out-door Poor 
 
 200,000 In-door Poor 
 
 20,000 District Managers 
 
 20,000 Doctors free to all 
 
 400 Physicians consulting (with private practice) 
 Drugs and Appliances, &c. 
 
 ;^20,000,OOO 
 
 ;/^i6,ooo,ooo 
 
 ^"5,800, 000 
 
 ;^5oo,ooo 
 
 ;^5,ooo,ooo 
 
 ;^2,000,000 
 /2, 000, 000 
 ;^2,000,000 
 
 ;f4,ooo,ooo 
 
 ;^200,000 
 
 ;/^50o,ooo 
 
 /'58,ooo,ooo 
 
 The owners of property are thus asked to take a 
 further share of responsibility, and to co-operate with the 
 Government and with their tenants in solving" a Cjuestion, 
 which to them is of g"reat importance and advantag'e, in
 
 4" 
 as much as that, in return for their little extra troul)le in 
 collecting- the premiums, &c., their property is relieved of 
 the Poor Rate, which in cottage property is g-enerally a 
 serious item, and is like a mortg-ag-e that cannot be 
 boug-ht off, under the present system of Poor Law. (At 
 present they collect g-as, water, tithes, &c , with the rent). 
 It is also to their advantage to have solvent tenants, as in 
 cases of sickness or want of work they suffer from 
 losses in arrears of rent, arising from these causes, and 
 we propose to insure them a greater certainty of income. 
 We propose to g-ive them time to collect the premiums 
 (say six weeks) before actually insisting- upon payment 
 of the amount due, as is done g-enerally in rates now. 
 The Government Grant would be remitted to the local 
 authority in advance, on receipt of the census return and 
 demand. (Incidentally, the census returns each Cjuarter 
 would be valuable information for a great many purposes 
 and useful datafor'Parliament,&c.,downtotracing' criminals 
 or others in lodging houses where they would be obliged 
 to pay id. with their bed money). After much discussion, 
 we are convinced that the owners of property will find, 
 on careful consideration, that it is not unreasonable 
 they should be asked to give assistance, in return for 
 which, we are eciually convinced that, after the first two 
 or three f|uarters' experience of its working with, by its 
 means, a more certain and better income, in the case, 
 especially of low class cottages, and the consecjuent and 
 corresponding increased value of the property, they will 
 find this to be, like many other reforms a friend in 
 disguise. It will be seen that the income of £44,000,000 
 is raised by the people themselves, who are all alike 
 interested in the matter, as everj'body mas/ pay, and if in
 
 47 
 need can draw. Thus the rich and the poor meet 
 together, and in this respett are eciual and pay alike. 
 The rich pay, and probably would not draw, or take any 
 of the advantages ; but the man rich to-day may be poor 
 to-morrow, and would be giad to know that he need not 
 therefore become a pauper,- that, having- lost all else, he 
 was not to lose his self-respect also, ]:)y being' degraded as 
 a pauper and obliged to ask for charity. On the other 
 hand, the poor man, who now pays for himsilf (under our 
 scheme) is cniitlcd to draw, and is not a pauper, but 
 insured. He may be rich another day, and have then 
 no need to accept these benefits to which he can now 
 lay claim. They are all alike and equally assured with 
 the State. The chairman of a Parish Council and a 
 magistrate, suggested to me that his bringing up and 
 style of living had been such, that in case he ever needed 
 it, 8,'- per^week at sixty would be too little for him to live 
 on. I explained that it would be better than nothing, and 
 would keep him alive, while it was more than double what 
 old men get now. as out-door poor ; also that, if the well-to- 
 do wanted £2 per week, they might pay their five-pence 
 per day instead of one penny, but that we were not 
 disposed to overload our ship with cargo, and should be 
 content to get our scheme through Parliament as it is, 
 leaving the rich to take it up in the House, and get their 
 amendments to suit themselves. 
 
 The Government Grant ot ;^ 14,000,000 has been 
 discussed, and g-eneral enquiries made as to where that 
 money is to come from. In the first place, the Poor 
 Rate of the United Kingdom is about £11,000,000, 
 and that being abolished, there remains some ;^3,00O,O0O 
 to raise. Innumerable suggestions have been made as
 
 48 
 to mining- royalties, ground rents, licenses of clubs, 
 eyries, mineral waters, incomes of larofe amounts, 
 customs and excise, stamps, champag-ne, &c., &c. ; but I 
 think the Chancellor of the Exchecjuer, who is appointed 
 for the express purpose of seein.g that the income of the 
 country is equitably administered, should be able to settle 
 the matter, especially as we give him £5,000 a year to 
 do it for us. The far more important question on the 
 face of it is, can the people perform their part of the 
 contract and find the £44,000,000 ? Roug'hly calculated, 
 it means rather over £1 per head per annum (less than 
 a penny per day) : the jjresent cost per head, of the 
 total population of London, for Poor Rate purposes, 
 amounts to 13s. 5fd., so that without clouding the matter 
 by further figures, in detail, but even assuming- that it 
 would cost the difference of 6 6 per head per annum, 
 it is ridiculous to ask the question '' What Society or 
 Insurance company could, for 6/6 per annum, guarantee 
 to pay £2 for each under ten years, at death (although no 
 payment whatever has been made by them, so far); £10 
 at death for those over ten years of ag-e : 12/- per week 
 in sickness, incapacity, or want of employment, 
 (involuntary), with a pension for life, at sixty years of 
 ag-e of 8 - per week ? " 
 
 It may be well here to point out what savings or 
 unnecessary payments would arise under this scheme. 
 In addition to the Poor Rates, there are abolished 
 doctors' bills, donations and subscriptions to hospitals 
 and other charitable institutions, and also gifts to poor 
 relations or aged people, as they are all herein provided 
 for systematically. Hospitals would receive their 12,- 
 per week on their cases, or beds occupied, and pay out
 
 40 
 of that the sevenpence weekly premium, and the same 
 would be the case with asylums. One great difficulty 
 has been how to meet the case of larg^e families of very 
 poor people, and that is the reason we propose that the 
 half premium l)et\veen ten and sixteen years of ag'e, 
 should apply, and the balance on the local rates. We 
 consider that a man with a larg^e family of young" 
 children has provided the nation with, and is nobly 
 strug-giing- to rear, the most valuable and indispensable 
 workers, without which, both the national wealth and the 
 nation itself would quickly disappear: and by which, and 
 its constant increase, we have not only been made the 
 workshop of the world, but the colonisers and dominating' 
 factors of the world : while in France, for instance, 
 bounties have been ])roposed on account of the decreasing; 
 population. The parents of these families of young- 
 children are deserving; of great consideration, the 
 chances being- that some, if not all. may pro\e of 
 the greatest importance to the State, in their day and 
 g"eneration ; and, at all events, they, in their turn, 
 pay rates and taxes, and the more there are of these, the 
 less chance there probably is of the father or mother 
 becoming- a charg-e upon the funds. We propose that, 
 below the ag-e of twenty-one, not more than four in one 
 family, at half premium, shall be charged for: /.<.. that 
 payments shall not exceed the sum of one shilling" and 
 twopence per week from one family for those under 
 twenty-one. We have been pleased to find that Industrial 
 Insurance has been so g;eneral, in i)rool of which, one 
 company alone has over 1 1,000,000 policies (The 
 Prudential) and we soon found out that unless we took 
 that fact into consideration, there were two very serious
 
 5© 
 alternatives to i)e avoided : —either they must allow 
 their policies to lapse, and thus throw away, or rather 
 make a present to the company, of all their premium ; or 
 otherwise they will not be able to pay under our scheme. 
 It has been such a generally expressed opinion and 
 desire, that they \\ould prefer an assurance with Govern- 
 ment security behind it, and more especially has it been 
 frequently stated that this scheme meets their require- 
 ments so much better, besides giving greater advantages, 
 that we propose to meet the difficulty by the local authori- 
 ties taking over all policies of assurance, where the holder 
 is unable to continue the premiums, and desires such 
 local authority to accept his policy and pay the premiums 
 on his behalf till the policy becomes a claim, when the 
 local authority receives the assured sum, and, after de- 
 ducting- the premiums paid, with the; interest and charges, 
 to hand over the balance as the testator has directed. 
 By this means, all who are now paying to companies 
 for themselves, their children, or both, would practically 
 ha\e no more to pay, under our scheme, than they are 
 paying now ; and in case of death, the family have the 
 advantage ofboth sums due. (Judge Grantham at the Leeds' 
 Assizes, made some very plain remarks on the cjuestion 
 of Industrial Insurance and lapsed policies.) Having 
 endeavoured to explain how the fund would be raised to 
 /'58,ooo,OO0 annually, I propose to take each line of the 
 question of "Payments out by local authorities," and 
 briefly give details or fuller information, where needed. 
 
 1,200,000 Pensions to those over Sixty 
 Years of Age. 
 
 I ought to say, at the outset, that I have repeatedly
 
 expressed my opinion, that, as a rule, the numbers of 
 cases estimated to come ujjon the funds, are greatly in 
 excess of those which will claim the benefits. We make 
 provision, under this heading- for Ihnc linus the actual 
 number of agfed paupers, and g^ive them each, probably, 
 more than double the present amount for out-door relief, 
 thus helping' some 200,000 jioor old people, who are unfit 
 or unal)le to work, and enabling^ them to live. Probably 
 more than half of these are workings and an opening' 
 would thus be made for half a-million who are at j)resent 
 unemployed, thus solving', to that extent, the labour 
 (juestion. There are few old fathers or mothers now livings 
 in workhouses, who would not be welcome to live with the 
 poorest of their children with their 8/- weekly pension, 
 and little paternal or maternal assistance to the family in 
 other ways, besides the joys of g'randfather's and g'rand- 
 mother's tales of long ag'o. The funds are jjrotccted by 
 the fact that larg'e numbers who might be considered 
 justly entitled to the pension, would never apply for it 
 (especially in the early period of its adoption) from a 
 feeling; that it was a kind of pauperism in another form. 
 I have often heard members of Friendly Societies and 
 Sick Clubs say : — " I have paid into my club (some) 
 twenty years or more, and I never drew a penny out of it in 
 my life, and I hope I shall never need to do so;"" }-et they 
 do not consider their brother members in sickness to be 
 paupers when they draw out the money to which they are 
 entitled, and for which they have paid. We maintain 
 that those over sixty years of age, who have been thrifty, 
 and made provision for themselves, as well as paying 
 their quota to keep those who have not, should be 
 entitled to the 8/- weekly if their income do not exceed 1 2/-
 
 per week ; that is to say, we would make the income into 
 £i per week, provided the allowance did not exceed the 
 8/-, otherwise you fine the person for being- thrifty ! A 
 large proportion of those over sixty years of age are 
 retired from business with a competency, annuitants, 
 pensioners already, or otherwise comfortably provided 
 for, for life. 
 
 800,000 Gases below Sixty Years of Age, and 
 above Ten Years of Age. 
 
 In this category are included those sick or incapaci- 
 tated from any cause, and for reasonably short periods, 
 besides those out of employment through no fault of 
 their own ; there are, as we all know, many such cases, 
 when a man or woman can no more help being out of 
 work than being- sick ; in fact, the distress of mind may 
 be greater from the strain of daily disappointment at not 
 being able to find employment, and feeling-- the odium of 
 being thought too idle to work, when nothing would 
 make him or her more supremely happy than to be able 
 to do anything- of any kind that would keei^ them, and 
 may be their families, from the disgrace of pauperism. 
 Every local authority would be amply protected against 
 imposters by their own doctors and managers, as well as 
 by their own personal knowledge of the condition of the 
 people in their own ward or district, and the state of the 
 labour market. 
 
 [Later on, I propose to explain the meaning of local 
 authority, its jiower, composition, and g-eneral mode of 
 procedure. I 
 
 The cjuestion of the unemployed, or as it is more 
 generally styled, the " Labour Problem," has, for the
 
 53 
 last dozen years compelled public attention, greatly modi- 
 fied the views of public men, and altered the position 
 of political parties, besides havin.t^' had much to do with 
 the entire chang'e in the position of men in Parliament, 
 besides Munici|)al Corporations, i^c. : but although much 
 has been said and written, little has been done. Like 
 the question of Old Age Pensions, great expectations 
 have been raised, and the public now look for "deeds 
 not words " from those in power. They cannot shirk it 
 or shrink from it if they would, and surely they would 
 not if they could. Under this heading- of our scheme, 
 we give a practical plan for meeting" the difficulty to a very 
 larg-e extent, and, as experience in carrying- out the Act 
 was gained, it would be possible ultimately to solve the 
 question of the unemployed entirely. 
 
 There are many men and women of position and 
 education, whose zeal and ambition to do the public 
 some service, would unite their practical and business 
 abilities in a combination of common sense to solve this 
 difficulty, which, like the stinging- nettle, only requires 
 the grasp of firm hands. The g'reat failing' in all our 
 religous and philanthropic movements is procrastination- 
 Millions of sermons and articles are read, and people 
 heave a sigh and say "something ought to be done, it 
 7v/il come some time, but not in my day ! " Why not .•' 
 P>ery great reform and movement in the right direction 
 has had the same difficulty to contend with. Th(> men 
 who inspired others by their enthusiasm to assist in 
 surmounting obstacles have always been either actively 
 opposed by those who had other momentary interests to 
 serve, or by others who ignorantly or indolently refused 
 and neglected to give their hearty co-operation. Men
 
 54 
 rij^htly characterise theories that are not capable of 
 immediate and practical operation and adoption, as 
 ■"Utopian, Socialistic, Communisti(\ A-c. : hut any practical 
 man or woman, who takes the trouble to pursue the 
 points herein laid down throug"hout theirvarious bearing's 
 upon the condition of the working-class population 
 (/.('., artisans, &c ) will be driven to the conclusion that 
 above all things ////s sc/nine is ci/iinin/lv practical, and 
 could be adopted immcdiattly hy any locali/y as soon as 
 Parliament gave the re({uisite power to do so. It is 
 useless to ask sensible men to acquiesce in or support 
 some scheme by which they ?nay receive some benefit in 
 the dim and distant future. They know that men are out 
 of work jtoiv, who cannot help being so ; that men, 
 women, and children are starving to-day, or comj^elled to 
 become paupers, and that, under more humane or better 
 economical conditions of society, they would not be in 
 that deplorable position. Most of, if not all, the schemes 
 hitherto formulated, make provision for the thrifty only, 
 who are, of course, both able and willing to take care 
 of themselves, and, in the sense of rewarding industry, 
 economy, and forethought, it is a most laudable policy ; 
 but it ignores and neglects the very class that most need 
 pity and help, because of their ignorance and incapacity. 
 The sarcastic term of grandmotherly legislation may be 
 applied to the former class, but all legislation for the 
 latter class has been proved to be wise, statesmanlike* 
 and of incalculable benefit to the state. Compulsory 
 education, hours of labour, and other laws to regulate 
 the conditions of society, as it has existed from lime to 
 time have been stigmatised and ridiculed under this 
 opprolirious epithet, when it was first proposed that they
 
 55 
 should be made part of the law of the land. It seems 
 as absurd to ridicule the Queen of England for her 
 solicitude for the general welfare of the Royal Family, 
 as to make a mock of Parliament when it is trying- to do 
 the very duty its members are expected and elected to 
 perform. We must begin with this general social 
 sickness ; start at the very root of the matter, and take 
 in hand those who most need help, raising those who are 
 already down: "They that are whole, need not a 
 physician, but they that are sick." You must begin with 
 the very lowest men or women, and assist them to help 
 themselves and to stand on their feet, till they are able to 
 walk alone, in order that they, in their turn, may 
 ultimately assist others who may need their help. We 
 are simply one great family, each member dependent on 
 the rest, with varying capacities, desires, hopes and 
 fears, as the great apostle puts it: — "The eye cannot say 
 of the hand, I have no need of thee : nor again the head 
 of the feet, I have no need of you;" "And whether one 
 member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or if one 
 member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." 
 We must see to it that we so order our laws and customs, 
 that each member is secure of his own just rights, and 
 also contributes his share to maintain the general welfare 
 of the whole. If the whole can express its wishes 
 through the ballot box, by a majority, we must see to it 
 that the minority has justice done to it also, and is not 
 subjected to tyranny. We boast of our civilization, 
 and great increase in material prosperit\-, through 
 increased production of commodities, by in\entions in 
 machinery, discoveries in science, and of new, fertile 
 countries, all of which should ha\e made want impossible
 
 56 
 among" the natives of our land. Instead of our advance- 
 ment in meclianical contrivances lifting the load of toil 
 and drudgery from the worker, or at least making" life 
 easier for him, however, the increased speed and worry 
 make his lot more trying, and only tend to wear him out, 
 mentally and physically, sooner. Hence, in some trades, 
 the terribly low average of longevity, with loss of vitality 
 to men and women who should be in the prime of life, 
 and then follows the conseciuent loss of situation. Many 
 employers make a rule not to take on their books 
 anyone over forty-five years of age; and those out of 
 work at that age, however deserving they may be, will 
 find the universal reply on applying for a situation to be, 
 " we must have someone young^er than you." Thus the 
 very means taken to make the worker's lot easier, has 
 only made it ten times harder ; while the struggle for 
 life, or labour to sustain it, becomes a horrible com- 
 petition (among-st those too, who should be brothers and 
 sisters) to take the very daily bread each from the other. 
 The appalling number of these cases can only be 
 gathered from the Poor Law Returns, the Government 
 Labour Statistics, Prison Reports, Asylums, and the ten 
 thousand tramps outside all these authorities. Our 
 stupendous folly in continuing a system, whereby this 
 momentous motive power, for the production of at least 
 the means of its own maintenance, is allowed to be 
 idle and a burden on the rest of the world, would lead 
 one to think that, instead of advancing, we have gone 
 back beyond the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the first 
 Parochial Assessment Act was passed over three hundred 
 years ago, and when it was the duty of the guardians, not 
 only to relieve destitution, but to find work for the
 
 unemployed also. I am no Communist, or Physical Force 
 advocate, but my reading- and observation convince me 
 that negflect to consider the just claims of the worker — 
 who i)roduces the wealth -to a fair share of it, to more 
 reasonable treatment and to more of the comforts of life, 
 has been, and is, the cause of revolution and disaster both 
 in our own and foreign countries. The greatest security 
 for the stability of our institutions and common good, 
 lies in the development and ele\'ation of all those who 
 are now a menace to them. It is a remarkable paradox 
 that the reasons given, as the cause of our having the 
 unemployed question always before us, are over-production 
 and over-population. How r*?;/ there be "over-production" 
 when we have an '-over-jjopulation '" in need of com- 
 modities.^ Too much food and clothing, with starvation 
 and rag's on all hands ! How can we reconcile such 
 conditions .^ Savages seem to fathom the problem better 
 than we do. They, of course, understand 7is better when 
 we yoke them to our great car of civilisation, and they 
 have to provide for both themselves and for us who ride 
 in that car. They, no doubt, wonder why all the white 
 men and white women are not riding-; but learn that we 
 are much like savag"e people and animals, where there 
 are lions and lion i)roviders ! Ever since King John 
 reigned an absolute monarch, till compelled by the 
 Bishops and Barons of England to sign the Magna 
 Charta at Runnymede (and to their everlasting honour 
 be it said, they got it, not only for themselves but for 
 the peasants too), the tendency has been to give powei- 
 to the people. They have thrir destiny in their own 
 hands. Each and every class have ever since had to 
 work out their own salvation. Taxation and representa-
 
 5« 
 tion have gfone together. To grant any man a pension 
 for nothing, would be universal charity or pauperism 
 We consider, in this scheme, that those who have already 
 paid their Poor Rates, have paid their premium for the 
 benefits that we shall give, and which are therefore of 
 right theirs ; Poor Rates being abolished, they pay as a 
 right, and draw as a right. Gradually the present 
 feeling of antipathy between ratepayers and paupers 
 would cease under this system ; and, in a few years, the 
 law of compulsory insurance against destitution would 
 prove, by its beneficial results, even to the most sceptical, 
 that the benefits so far exceeded in value the triflng cost, 
 as to make the measure universally popular. 
 
 Those who are so ready to condemn any scheme, 
 generally betray their ignorance or prejudice by 
 advancing statements which prove that they have never 
 taken the trouble to think out for themselves " whether 
 these things are so." Unlike the Bereans of old, they 
 seem to lose sight of the most elementary principles 
 of social life till we seem in danger of fulfilling the 
 prophecy of the poet, 
 
 " 111 fares the land to ravening woes a ptey, 
 Where riches increase, and men decay." 
 
 Wealth has increased during the century a thousand- 
 fold, and at a rapidly accelerating rate continues to 
 advance through improved means of production and 
 facilities for trade and transport ; yet the great l)ulk of 
 the labourers are living from hand to mouth, whilst the 
 terrible mass of miserable humanity mentioned, like the 
 old man of the sea, bestrides the back of the workers 
 and producers, and hampers them at every turn. The 
 drones live l)ut produce nothing, and we cannot shoot
 
 59 
 them or shunt them. They have hands and heads, and 
 are often better aljle to work than those who are now 
 compelled to supi:)ort them : yet no attempt is made to 
 utilize their power for their own and their country's good. 
 There must have been a reason for this difference in 
 disposition and character, and probably the fault is not 
 entirely on one side. Neglect or injudicious treatment 
 in early life, injustice or harshness from others, and in 
 many cases, \indictive persecution by the law and its 
 officers, tend to harden and embitter their hearts, until at 
 last, their hand is against every man, and every man"s 
 hand against them. We are obliged to find them food 
 and shelter and clothing, at great cost in management of 
 palatial buildings, with e\tensi\e and expensive staffs of 
 officials, while making little or no attempt to reclaim 
 them. We have them to keep as paupers, prisoners, 
 vagrants, beggars or thieves. Why not shew them that 
 we are ready and willing to receive them back like the 
 prodigal son, even if it be in rags and disgrace, and say, 
 like the father of old : ' Let us be merry, for this my 
 son was dead, and is ali\e again, was lost and is found."' 
 Human nature is not changed, it is the same now as 
 then ; given a word of kindness, and these sullen wrecks 
 of manhood are trans'^ormed from being the enemies of 
 society to become its most useful members, instead of being 
 a burden themselves, they become bearers of the burden ; 
 while instead of consuming all and producing nothing, 
 they add to and share in the incrt-asefl prosperity of their 
 country, and surround themselves with comforts and 
 luxuries which they and such as they take pleasure and 
 pride in creating-. We cry out for new markets, when all 
 the time we have splendid markets at our very doors. Our
 
 bo 
 nearest neig^hbours, our own people, our brothers and 
 sisters, whom we daily see in rags and destitution — who 
 would only be too glad to ha\e new clothes, and comfort- 
 able homes to live in, and to lead respectable lives if only 
 they had the means — are practically denied the oppor- 
 tunity of becoming' possessed of such means, throug'h 
 enforced, unwished for, involuntary idleness. Quite 
 apart from any humane feeling-s of sympathy or charity, 
 is it not the g-reatest ioWy fnancially to see this enormous 
 waste of power in the state, by those in authority, and to 
 be called upon to find the means to maintain these 
 perpetual dead weig"hts ? Surely it is as absurd as, or 
 even worse than, the proverbial burning' of the candle at 
 both ends, in daylight. Our ratio of 40 to the lOOO, is 
 based upon the Registrar General's last census returns, 
 shewing that there were 80 persons living at sixty years 
 of age out of every 1000 of the population. We take 
 half the number as being likely to require the pension, 
 the other half being' composed of the rich or of those who 
 have retired with a compctenc}-, or who are already 
 pensioners, annuitants, property owners, shareholders, &c. 
 Another way of arriving at a reliable figure is to compare 
 the total number of those in any village or town of a few 
 thousand inhabitants, who have accepted invitations to a 
 Christmas or charitable dinner for all over sixty years of 
 age in that special district, and then ascertain the 
 projiortion they bear to the total ]Dopulation. 
 
 580,000 Cases of Deaths over Ten Years 
 of Age. 
 
 For several reasons we fix the age of ten years, in 
 order to make a distinguishing limit from those under 
 that age.
 
 6f 
 
 In the first place, the Census Returns shewed that, 
 out of the total population living- in the United Kihg-dom, 
 three in every four were over ten \ears of age, and 
 therefore all our calculations and estimates are based 
 upon that fact. At that age, the child has had a 
 considerable amount of education, free, and we have 
 iilways contended that that was a most favorable time to 
 take their school pence as a Premium for their Insurance; 
 it is, therefore, a pleasing- fact to notice that many 
 parents Iiavc placed these weekly sums in the Penny 
 Savings' Bank, &c. The child begins, then, to take 
 an interest in its future welfare, this beg'inning to pay a 
 half-i)enny daily, marking an epoch in its life, and 
 emphasizing a primary and important object lesson in 
 thrift, economy, and prudence. Gradually it has become 
 more endeared to its parents, with their constantly 
 increased anxiety for its welfare, usefulness, health, 
 happiness and future life. Should death inter\ene, the 
 actual loss involved in the expenditure necessar}^ for its 
 bringing up to that age, is far greater than could be 
 covered by the sum we fix ; but, in many cases, it would 
 tend to relieve the anxiety and mitig'"ate the grief of the 
 parents. Supposing, on the other hand, that it lives to 
 the ag-e of fifty years, and is blessed with health and con- 
 tinuous employment, able to pay the weekly premium, 
 and continuing- to do so, so that at sixty years of age no 
 pension is needed or recjuired : surely on looking back- 
 ward to the time when payment first began, and reflecting 
 upon all the intervening time and incidents, no feelings 
 could arise other than one of thankfulness, that no help has 
 been necessary, and of gladness thiit the money which 
 has scarcely been missed, should prove useful to those
 
 62 
 
 less fortunate in the strug-gle for life. In case of the 
 man who has a large family of small children, the 
 assurance of sufficient money to cover all expenses at 
 death, is a very important matter, especially when we 
 take into consideration how uncertain and sudden that 
 death may be. In London alone, lOOO deaths occur 
 annually on railways, more than 5000 people are injured, 
 and over 100 killed by accidents in the streets; and, as 
 proving" how diversified are the causes of these sudden and 
 unexpected deaths, I need only mention briefly the colliery 
 explosions at Dewsbury, Londu, Bedminster, Morfa, 
 Llanerch, Marsfield, Penicuick, Ac. ; the fall of Temple- 
 ton's Mills, Glasgow; the loss of H.M.S. "Serpent," 
 " Victoria,'' and numerous other vessels of all classes ; 
 while as still better illustrating the point I am aiming at, 
 take the great storm two years ago, which proved so 
 disastrous on land and sea, and caused such terrible 
 havoc among the fishing fleet in the North Sea, and on 
 the East Coast. The Mayor uf Hull then called the 
 attention of the Lord Mayor of London to the fact that 
 the storm had made more w idovvs and orphans of sailors, 
 than were made among colliers, &c.,bythe great colliery 
 accident in the Midlands, for which the Lord Mayor had 
 started a Mansion House Fund, though he had refused 
 to do so for the sailors ; - another instance of the erratic 
 conduct of men in the highest positions in their treatment 
 of their suffering fellow creatures, even in matters such 
 as this of life and death, when acting on spasmodic or 
 conventional lines, and not on a system uniformly founded 
 on justice and e(iuity. It may seem like labouring the 
 subject, or attempting to prove a position universally 
 admitted, that some provision for at least the cost
 
 63 
 of a decent funeral should be made, and if necessary 
 enforced, because that is fully proved by the fact that 
 the main feature of all Friendly Societies and Insurance 
 Companies is to assure the payment of a sum of money 
 £it death, and yet it is a deplorable fact that in the 
 majority of cases, people are not insured. 
 
 Under this scheme, when made huv and universally 
 adopted, every one, male and female, no matter what- 
 their age, position, or condition, would be insured 
 compulsorily, the premiums being" collected at brief 
 intervals, in small sums, and without any cost. 
 
 Where the £io at death was needed, it would 
 prevent distress; where it was not urgently required, it 
 would find its way to the tradespeople, drapers, &c., and 
 in this way support the manufacturing industry of the 
 country, by which working-men earn wag"es to enable 
 them to live, and to pay, amongst other thing's, the 
 premiums for National Assurance. 
 
 250,000 Deaths under Ten Years of Age. 
 
 We allow £2 each to these, although nothing has 
 been paid by or for them as premium; the reason being, 
 as previously alluded to, that, generally speaking, there 
 is, at that period, plenty of work for the parents, and the 
 State should not handica{) the man who is rearing- its 
 future props. The basis of our calculations is the 
 Registrar General's Annual Return of the Death Rate, 
 and we take it at 20 to the lOOO. It may, therefore, be 
 12 in Harrogate, 20 in Bradford, and 28 in Preston, the 
 average being 20 ; and the Harrogate people would be 
 fully entitled to enquire into the cause of the high death
 
 64 
 
 rate at Preston, much to the advantag'e, probaljly, of the 
 health of the Preston people. In colliery, shipping, and 
 all other great disasters, such lamentable or partial 
 incidents as 1 have mentioned in regard to the Mansion 
 House Fund, would be obviated ; and in reading every 
 day of accidental and sudden deaths, we should always 
 ha\-e the satisfaction of knowing that there was the 
 death money at once available, and in that respect, at 
 least, some practical comfort and relief assured to the 
 relatives. Regarding Infant Insurance, some people 
 contend that it leads to child murder, from mercenary 
 motives. They might, with eijual truth and charit}', say 
 that because some parents are cruel to their children, all 
 parents are lirutal ; besides which, £2 would not e\'en 
 pay for the funeral expenses. 
 
 500,000 Cases of Orphans, &c., under Thirteen 
 Years of Rge. 
 
 Included under this heading are also the fatherless 
 and incapacitated children, whether inside or outside any 
 institution, allowing 4/- per week till they are thirteen 
 years of age. 
 
 We estimate that there are 500,000 in i 3,000.000, or 
 I case to every 26 under th'rteen, costing £5,000,000. 
 Next to Old Age and Death Money, we place the claims 
 of these poor little ones who are not responsible for 
 their position ; and, as they have hitherto committed no 
 offence against society, it is decidedly to the interest of 
 society that they should be brought up carefully, and 
 taught their duty in life, rather than be allowed to drift 
 and become juvenile criminals, i)eri)etuating a pestilent 
 and depraved danger and menace to the peace of that
 
 »5 
 same society. As they grow up to take their jjart in 
 the nation's welfare, the recollection of, and reflection on 
 the nation's care for them, will induce a feeliny of 
 g-ratitude, and stimulate them to repay their foster parent 
 by striving', still further to improve the benefits to be 
 bestowed upon the orphan and fatherless little ones who 
 come after them. As to the numbers who may come on 
 in this class, we can only estimate them from such data 
 as we can obtain, as we do in all cases. Only 
 "Experientia Docet.'' 
 
 500,000 Gases of Out-door Poor. 
 
 I rather imagine the reader will say, " I have been 
 under the impression all th's time that there would be 
 no more pauperism, or in-door or out-door poor, and no 
 more need for g^uardians or workhouses ! '' In the next 
 chapter I propose to explain the composition, duties, 
 election, and administrative powers of the officers of the 
 proi)osed Pension Board. Suffice it, however, that our 
 object is the total abolition of paiipirism as it is now 
 understood, and that it would fordiwith assuredly cease 
 to exist in all districts where the scheme was adopted, 
 with the exception of that part of the jiopulation termed 
 by the late John Bright, "the residuum/' and which the 
 late Mr. Forster desig^ned as '• the wastrels." Those 
 would be still stigmiitised as paupers, but compelled, 
 nevertheless, to pay the daily or weekly premium : that 
 sum, ui:der all circumstances, must be paid by them, or 
 by some one on their behalf, wherever they are, and 
 under whatever circumstances, to make jjerfect the 
 returns in each Census, and to secure uniformity in the 
 Government Grant, and also because, if a persim oaiuiit
 
 66 
 paj, then he should draw, or someone should for him. 
 The Guardians would continue as at present, as reg-ards 
 paupers, whilst they would deal with those who refuse 
 to work or be otherwise than paupers, and all those 
 who were anxious and willing^ to do their duty to 
 themselves and their families, would no longer be classed 
 with the worthless. The Poor Rate being abolished, it 
 becomes our duty to provide for the in-door and out-door 
 poor, sufficient money, and for a sufficient number, in 
 addition to all the other claims upon the funds. It must 
 be remembered that we have already provided for 
 1,200000 of those over sixty years of age, including 
 both in-door and out-door Poor ; for 800,000 in sickness 
 or want of employment, &c , and for 500,000 orphans, 
 all of which facts would completely change the annual 
 returns of pauperism. As I have previously remarked, 
 however, our estimates are founded on such documents 
 as are available, and if I did not adhere to them, a 
 hostile critic might sieze upon the weak link, and sever 
 the chain, — at least he would catch the unwary and 
 incompetent student. In a return issued by the Local 
 Government Board on the 23rd October, 1895, of the 
 pauperism of England and Wales for each week, from 
 the first week in January, 1S95, to the end of the fourth 
 week in August, 1S95, the figures shew clearly, and, 
 broadly speaking, coincide and co-operate with the 
 number and proportion given in this scheme ; i.e., 500,000 
 out-door and 200,000 in-door. 
 
 From the first week in April to the last week in 
 August, the figures hovered between 546,969 and 513,885 
 for out-door; and 205,174 and 186,503 for indoor. 
 Actual proof of our estimates and contentions can only
 
 67 
 be had when the scheme is adopted, but that would be 
 soon discovered, for, at the end of the first quarirr the 
 complete working" would be seen of the scheme 
 in all its parts. We provide the Guardians with the 
 money which, generally speaking, is equal in amount to 
 the sum now spent in relief of the poor, and we 
 anticipate their responsibility becoming' enormously 
 lig'hter by the great reduction of pauperism, and its 
 gradual extinction. Those in the workhouses over sixty 
 years of age, whether married or single, could go and 
 live with their families or friends, having their pension, 
 whilst those under sixty, suffering from illness, &c., 
 — besides orphans, — would also be then welcomed by 
 their relatives, We have thus made a distinct classifica- 
 tion of the deserving poor, who are cared for by the 
 new system of a " Pension Board," and the rest of the 
 paupers who are looked after by their present guardians 
 in the w'orkhouses. The returns or year books of Unions 
 are most interesting to us, and confirm our faith in the 
 soundness of this scheme. The North Bierley Union, 
 Yorkshire, with a population of 138,906, shews the 
 total number of paupers relieved Jan. ist, 1894, to have 
 been 2,063 ; our scale for both in-door and out-door poor — 
 after taking off hands those over sixty, those suffering 
 from sickness, the orphans, and those in asylums, at 13 
 to the 1000, — would be 1806; thus shewing that, out of 
 nearly 140,000 people of all ages, there would only be 
 257 of them (over sixty years of agfe. or orphans, 
 fatherless, sick, out of employment, or in asylums) to 
 provide for. The broad and simple fact which the reader 
 can easily grasp and remember is, that paupers both 
 in-door and out-door comi)rise a large number of i)eople
 
 6§ 
 
 over sixty years of age, sick and incapacitated, and 
 orphans ; that they are all amply provided under their 
 three classes, thus enormously reducin,^ the number : 
 yet we allow for 700,000 paupers whilst, in the return 
 of pauperism referred to, the actual number in the first 
 week of July was 700,426, while it has been considerably 
 less, and has only exceeded 800,000 six times during the 
 whole period. 
 
 200,000 Cases In-door Poor. 
 
 In reviewing the great inequality and disproportion 
 between the different Unions in London, and the increase 
 of pauperism in the Metropolitan Unions enumerated, it 
 might have been well to compare the whole country, 
 especially as many prominent men and Members of 
 Parliament, in discussing the question, repeat a misleading 
 argument, that pauperism is decreasing, because the 
 proportion of paupers to population has been reduced 
 as shewn in the return quoted, which embraces every 
 year since 1857. It will be found on com{)aring the 
 figures there given, that the total number to every loco 
 of the inhabitants was as high last year, as in any year 
 during thr preceding twenty years, and higher than in 
 any of the i)revious years in that i)eriod, except one, 
 when the difference was 22'3 against 22-6. 
 
 Further illustrating the bearings of this (question, as 
 applied to London, the cost per head of the population 
 is 13/51 ^o** Poo'* Law purposes; add to that, on the 
 same basis, the Government Grant under this scheme^ 
 and the sum extra required for all purposes of the 
 scheme would be about threepence per week for each
 
 69 
 person over ten years of ag;e ; in consideration of which, 
 I cannot refrain from a.yain pointing out, that each and 
 every one of the 4,349,166 are assured of (i) death 
 money at every age ; (2) the choice of 1000 free doctors, 
 and twenty physicians, with drugs and appliances all 
 free ; (3) 12/- per week in illness, S/- between the ages 
 of ten and sixteen, 4/- per week for orphans, and S/- per 
 week for life at sixty years of age. The cost of manage- 
 ment of the Poor Law now is 4'- in every £; ours is 
 strictly limited to 8d. in the £, so that for every £ 
 collected, the poor receive 19/4 against the 16/- now. 
 As I have observed at meetings, there is an analogy 
 between this scheme and that of the Elementary 
 Education Act up to a certain point, viz.: — that Voluntary 
 Schools, like the Friendly Societies, have done most 
 praiseworthy work for those who availed themselves of 
 their privileges, and only failed because they had no 
 compulsory powers. When the Act of 1S70 was adopted, 
 the School Board was obliged to borrow large sums of 
 money to build New Schools to meet the cost of an extra 
 teaching staff, books, &c., whereas rvc need no loan, and 
 only pay out what funds allow, while every quarter 
 balances itself. 
 
 20,000 District Managers. 
 
 This is the first and only item in the cost of manage- 
 ment that has arisen, except the printing of the Census 
 papers for each quarter. 
 
 These managers are necessary, and their duties 
 would be similar to those of, — and, generally, they 
 would be the same persons as — the present assistant 
 overseers, relieving officers, clerks, &c., who are now
 
 70 
 
 acting- under the y^uardians, while preference might be 
 given, also, to officers of Friendly Societies. When 
 appointed liy the Pension Board, they would report upon 
 all applications for sick money, death assurance, old ag^e 
 pensions, and of the unemployed. They would receive 
 reports from owners of property of all those who neg^lected 
 or refused to pay the weekly or other premiums with their 
 rent or lodg-in<f j^ayment. They would then call upon 
 those defaulters, and, if necessary, summon them before 
 the magistrates, each having his separate district 
 proportionate to the population, generally speaking; but 
 in large areas, with small or scattered populations, there 
 would be exceptions to this rule. In that case, other 
 offices might be held in addition, such as Sub-Postmaster, 
 Free Library Manager, &c., in places where such facilities 
 are not yet adopted, thus greatly increasing the advantage 
 to the people in those districts. The cost of these 
 administrators is limited to £i in £30, as already stated, 
 8d. in the £, and on the average, one officer to every 
 3,000 population. In Bradford Union, with a population 
 of 94,222, there are only four relieving officers, four 
 assistant overseers, and four vaccination officers. Under 
 this scheme, which would include the whole of the 
 borough, embracing 18,000 burgesses, who, for the 
 Census returns, were then in the North Bierley Union, 
 thus raising the population of Bradford to 220,000, — we 
 should require forty- five managers. It will strike the 
 reader that there wouldjbe proportion atelyjbetter attention 
 to, and closer acquaintance with, every case or applicant, 
 where one officer has only a population of 3000 to 
 look after, instead of the four relieving officers who, at 
 present, have each their 50,000. The cost is about the
 
 7' 
 same as that of the present administration of the Poor 
 Law in Eng"Ian(l and Wales alone, whilst we embraee 
 the whole of the United King'dom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland. England and Wales cost £5 per hundred 
 inhabitants, or i,'- per head on the population ; and, as 
 the population is probably now 40,000,000, we have 
 £2,000,000 as the cost of administration. Thus it will be 
 seen that the present system of the Poor Law takes 
 £2,000,000 for manag-ement, out ot £1 1,000,000 collected; 
 whilst we manage £58,000,000, at the same cost. 
 These managers could also be instructed to act as the 
 Labour Bureau, registering applications for hands by 
 employers, and vice versa ; thus materially assisting all in 
 want of work to find it, besides being of the greatest 
 use and benefit to those requiring workers. 
 
 20,000 Doctors Free to AH. 
 
 The principle of providing" free doctors in every 
 district is most important, and is practised by all Friendly 
 Societies, Guardians, &c. ; it being then as much to the 
 interest of the doctor as to his patient, that those under 
 his charge should be kept well, or cured rapidly, and 
 trouble him as little as possible. 
 
 No reflection whatever is intended on the medical pro- 
 fession as a class — the noblest profession in the world, with 
 one exception as we consider it. We give every person 
 the right to send for the best publicly appointed doctor 
 within five miles of his domicile, and, if necessary, for 
 the superintending physician of the district. Thus in 
 large towns anyone could ci\\\ in the doctor he preferred, 
 be he specialist or otherwise; and by this means there is 
 secured to the poorest inhabitant, medical aid of the
 
 72 
 hiu^hest order, in case of illness or accident, such as they 
 could never afford to i)rocure in any other way. It will be 
 conceded that this of itself is a blessing most desirable, 
 and one which would reconcile most people to the small 
 weekly payments. Imagine a district miles away from a 
 resident medical practitioner, having neither telegraph 
 or telephone office near, and perhaps far from e\-en a 
 railway station ; suppose husband, wife, or child to l)e 
 taken suddenly ill, or that some accident happens ; a 
 messenger has to be sent miles, perhaps in the night, to 
 find a doctor, and then, very possibly he is away from 
 home at the time. There are many such districts 
 amongst the 20,000 (into which we have roughly divided 
 the country) as anyone knows who has travelled through 
 them, and few of these find it possible to have a doctor 
 resident among them, because the population would not 
 warrant a medical man venturing there, with the idea 
 ot making a living by his profession. How many 
 infectious and contagious diseases are endured, and even 
 spread amongst the pure and innocent by their victims, 
 because they cannot afford to pay, or neglect to send for, 
 a doctor.' The training and knowledge of Sanitary 
 Science, also of Water Pollution, and other causes of 
 high death rates possessed by scientific men, would be 
 most valuable to their employers, the local authorities ; 
 and, by reducing the death rate, would increase our 
 funds. The five mile circuit would give overlapping of 
 doctors, which would be beneficial to the public. As an 
 illustration of one of the evils of the present system, I 
 noticed in one of our local newspapers the following 
 letter, which I have no doubt the editor inserted as 
 hona-fid(\ though signed "Eye-witness," and the usual
 
 73 
 i^ondition was doubtless observed, that the writer's name 
 and address be given privately, though he did not wish 
 to incur any risk by publishing it : — 
 
 CORRESrONDENCE. 
 
 Compulsory Medical Attendance. 
 
 To the Editor of the Bradford Daily Telegraph. 
 Sir. 
 
 I shall thank you to allow me a little space in your paper 
 
 to ventilate a serious grievance. I refer to the case of a lady who 
 
 was taken suddenly ill by an appopletic seizure on Saturday night, at 
 
 a very late hour, in Otley Road. The policeman in attendance sent 
 
 for no less than three medical men, all of whom refused to come. 
 
 The poor woman was in a most critical condition over an hour, 
 
 after which the constable sent for the ambulance. This is what I 
 
 consider a disgrace, and a scandalous shame that there is no law to 
 
 enforce doctors to attend in such emergent cases. 
 
 EYE-WITNESS. 
 
 There was a reply from someone (I have not the 
 paper) to the effect that they did not get their fees, and 
 that the Corporation should make proper regulations 
 where the police sent for a doctor, and sanction 
 the payment. I can only ag'ain repeat that iJus sc/hdic 
 meets these cases and every case. 
 
 Another great defect or rather misfortune in the 
 present system (as doctors know) is in cases where it is 
 necessary to supply medecine for a protracted period ; 
 poor people get their ordinary size bottle of medecine, 
 and feel a little better, so do not consult their doctor 
 again ; or else say and think that there is no need for 
 him to repeat his visit as they " feel better," and 
 so, through fear of contracting too much expense for 
 their limited means to meet, they are never satisfactorily 
 cured. Those who go to the infirmary and get a large 
 bottle free, do not suffer from this unfortunate state of
 
 74 
 thing's to the same extent, but even they are affected by 
 it to a certain degree. If only doctors could be free 
 from the carking care about fees, &c., they could and 
 would give more thought to the cases in hand, besides 
 having more time and inclination to study thoroughly and 
 deeply everything connected with the many and varied 
 new discoveries and treatments which are continually 
 brought under their notice ; while there would also be a 
 keener friendly emulation both in kindness and efficiency. 
 
 400 Physicians. 
 
 Granted that doctors are desirable, it follows that 
 the best doctors are the vinst desirable, and as we 
 compel the poorest to pay the same premiums as 
 the richest, they may all have equal benefits We 
 propose, therefore, to pay a yearly retaining fee of £500 
 (if fifty doctors, or £10 per doctor) so that they may still 
 retain their private practice, if wishful. We appoint one 
 physician to fifty doctors, and he would be recjuired to 
 consult with any appointed doctor when necessary, and 
 to advise and co-operate with his Pension Board on all 
 matters of medical appointment and management. 
 The state would derive incalculable advantages by these 
 arrangements. There w^ould be a greater confidence in 
 their doctors on the part of the patients and their relatives, 
 and also on the part of the Pensions Board and the 
 public, when it came to be felt that their doctors were 
 under the supervision of these consulting physicians. 
 We believe the best talent of the country would have 
 greater opportunities of distinction and reward, and that 
 the whole of the medical profession would benefit, as 
 many doctors would then have a more settled and secure
 
 75 
 income, and, not being worried about defaulting patients, 
 would have their minds free to concentrate their best 
 energies and skill upon their profession ; whilst those 
 who are anxious to start practice, but can find no opening 
 for one, and who are unable to purchase one, would, in 
 the vacant districts, find in these appointments a chance 
 they could not otherwise have fonnd. The fact of a 
 physician being always available to everyone, where the 
 doctor thinks it necessary, or the patient desires it, 
 would relieve the public conscience from the fear of 
 guilty connivance or neglect, touching the death of their 
 neighbour. 
 
 Drugs. 
 
 The reason of this j^rovision may not, at first sight, 
 appear a necessary one; but, — when we are reminded of 
 the fact that adulteration has even been carried into 
 drugs, and when, owing- to enquiries which have been 
 made as to the management of public dispensaries, it 
 has been found, such is the corrupting' influence of 
 money, that just in order to save some miserable profit, 
 the medecines made up have not l)ecn i)ure, or ecjual to 
 the prescription, and therefore, that poor humanity, in its 
 direst need and last extremity, is robbed of its rights, in 
 order to put an extra coin into the pockets of some greedy, 
 grasping, murderous brute, — we find that it is inrleed a 
 most essential necessity. We will, therefore, give no 
 opportunity for this state of things to be even possible, 
 and our purpose includes that the best appliance, and 
 the purest medecines shall be provided free, to tht" 
 appointed doctors, to the entire satisfaction of the 
 superintending physician. I have now come to the end
 
 76 
 of the details of the scheme of social amelioration so 
 far as it is aflfected by our system of Neitional Assurance 
 ag-ainst sickness, death, old ag'e, want of employment, etc., 
 and I am afraid that the subject has been dealt with 
 in a disjointed manner. My experience at public 
 meeting-s, however, has been that if I endeavoured 
 to make a symmetrical or eloquent speech, which 
 mig-ht, perhaps, l)e passable in the newspaper 
 report, I should fail to make the matter clear 
 to my hearers ; so, in this my first effort at literary 
 publication in book form, I have been anxious only to 
 enlist the attention and secure the interest of the reader 
 in my subject, in a homely way, feeling' every confidence 
 in its attractiveness and deep importance to every rig"ht- 
 minded man or woman, and that it will therefore secure 
 their co-operation and assistance in the devising" of a 
 scheme which will comply with the conditions stipulated 
 for by the most prominent philosophers, philanthropists, 
 and politicians of the day, and so commend itself to 
 Parliament, and ultimately become the law of the land. 
 
 -^^:^¥^^
 
 77 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Pension Board. 
 
 npO carry out effectually and completely all the ideas 
 * herein detailed so minutely, it would recjuire the 
 best abilities of the best men and women in the district to 
 loyally support the spirit and intention of the act ; and 
 it is gratifying' to know, from the report of the " Royal 
 Commission on the Aged Poor," that there is such a 
 general anxiety throughout the country to see some 
 scheme of "Old Age Pensions" adopted; and the 
 Minority Report, signed by Mr. Chamberlain and others, 
 distinctly laid it down that another Commission, smaller 
 in number, should be appointed to recommend some 
 scheme ; so that we are confident, when such a scheme 
 has become law, that the district adopting the act will 
 have no lack of candidates for the new Pension Board 
 from the very best members of society in that district. 
 
 We are fortified in this opinion by the fact of the 
 very natural desire universally evinced, among the 
 educated and rich, to give their time and to help in the 
 formation of charitable societies of all kinds, even in 
 cases when they know that the organizations are not ^Ul 
 that could be desired, and where the costs are greiiter 
 than the amount given. 
 
 The daily literature, the church, and all religious 
 sects, as well as socialists, preach and teach our duly to 
 our neighbour, and an opportunity to put their principles 
 into priictice in this combined and orgiinized manner.
 
 78 
 
 would be hailed with joy and adopted with enthusiasm. 
 Immediately the act became law, and applicable to the 
 United Kingdom, it would be optional for any district to 
 ado])t it, as in the case of the Education Act. That 
 district would then be protected by b>e-laws for a 
 number of years, — or until every other district had 
 adopted the same system, — in order to prevent old 
 people or others coming' within the prescribed radius 
 merely to obtain the benefits of the scheme They could 
 come, but inns/ par and no/, (/ra-w, otherwise the Pension 
 Board would be delug-ed with applications from new- 
 comers sixty years of age, or vagrants, &c. When they 
 found out that they mus/ pay and could no/ dratu, however, 
 they would give that district a wide berth, and, returning 
 to their own settlement, would become advocates of the 
 scheme. The returning officer would prepare and carry 
 out an election, on the lines of a municipal election, the 
 nominations including both sexes, and the Board 
 consisting of an equal number of each sex. Indeed, I 
 see no reason why the elections should not be carried 
 on at the same time, with the same machinery and 
 presiding officers, — two sets of voting papers being 
 issued, and one of each given to every voter'to mark and 
 to deposit in separate ballot boxes, — so saving the 
 multiplying of elections and costs. The Pension Board 
 duly constituted, with an equal number of men and 
 women, meet in the Council Chamber and arrange for 
 their quarterly meetings to be held there, at a time or 
 day when the Corporation or Council do not sit ; they 
 then proceed to elect their lady or gentleman president. 
 They would have a ward committee, consisting of the
 
 79 
 six elected ward representatives, three of each sex, who 
 would have the management of their ward, controlling' 
 the managers and doctors of that ward, and deciding 
 all applications under the various headings of the 
 scheme. 
 
 Important business would arise the first day the act 
 came into force, and everyday ; — some-one dies in their 
 ward, others are sick, or out of work, besides the aged 
 people must be looked after, those who have done the 
 State some service and paid rates for a life-time without 
 accepting pauper relief ; — and these cases coming before 
 them, the manager, the doctor, and the ward committee 
 are forthwith supplied with work. The people in the 
 ward who have, perhaps reluctantly, paid their first 
 week's premium, hear of the death money, the pension 
 of the aged, the out-of-work and sick allowance, and the 
 doctor in attendance without charge, and their eyes are 
 opened. They begin to realise what a penny per day 
 will do for them, and the payment of that money will, in 
 future, be tendered to their landlord or agent, with 
 their next rent, more cheerfully than the rent itself, 
 probably ! The new and unheard of advantages being 
 more appreciated than the slums they live in. From the 
 first w^eek, the gradually extending and increasing 
 knowledge of the detailed working of the scheme, with 
 its great advantages (to the poor tspcctalh, but also to all 
 classes individually and as a whole) would assure the 
 success of its working and popularity. It may illustrate 
 more clearly still, the modus operandi, if I give a table of 
 figures shewing exactly how it would apply to Bradford 
 (Yorkshirei, with which i)lace I am familiar. 
 
 Taking the census at. in round numbers, 220,000,
 
 8o 
 
 of whom 3 in every 4 are over 10 years of age, there 
 would be a total number paying" weekly, of 
 165,000 at yd. weekly, or £[ los. 4d. yearly = ^"^50,250 
 165,000 Government Grant, 9.S. Sd. „ = £ 79,750 
 
 Total Income ... ... £330,000 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 7,000 Pensions at sixty years of age .. .. ^'132,000 
 
 4,500 Cases in Sickness or Incapacity . . . . 90,200 
 
 2,860 Cases, Orphan and Fatherless Children .. 28,600 
 
 3,300 Deaths over ten years of age . . . . 33.000 
 
 2,200 Deatlis under ten years of age .. .. 4.400 
 1,100 Cases of In-door Poor 
 2,750 Cases of Out-door Poor 
 
 45 Managers . . 
 45 Doctors 
 
 Physicians, Drugs, &c. 
 
 11,000 
 11,000 
 
 4.400 
 11,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 Total . . . . . . . . ^■330,000 
 
 I am presuming', now, that this scheme has been 
 read and approved of by the Cabinet, and a bill drafted 
 in conformity with it, which is carried through Parliament 
 and receives the Royal assent before the ne,\t pro- 
 rogation, so as to come into force on the Jirs/ iifjauuary, 
 iSgS. Ever since the 1st January, 1S97, the discussions 
 in newspapers, mag"azines, reviews, kc . have thoroughly 
 informed all whom it may concern [i.e. ivcryhody), what 
 are the objects aimed at, and what the measures and 
 means to Ije used for their accomplishment are ; also, the 
 terms and conditions laid down by Parliament to ensure 
 their attainment. First, the 670 Members of the House 
 of Commons must inform themselves of every clause of 
 the bill, and will have the chance of im|)roving it. if the
 
 «1 
 
 majority of the House can be con\iiiced that such 
 amendment is any improvement. Then comes the House 
 of Lords, comprising men who have the most at stake in 
 the country, and whose interests are as intimately bound 
 up with the national woal or woe, as are those of their 
 tenants and labourers: and also comprising", as it most 
 assuredly does, the cream of the various jjarliamentary 
 representatives, who have Ijeen, as a rule, elevated to the 
 Ui)i)er House for distinguished services to their country. 
 I have already alluded to the Rishoi)s and Harons in the 
 days of King John, and to those who so ably fill their 
 places to-day I confidently submit every detail of this 
 scheme, knowing that the vast changes implied and 
 proposed herein, are in reality so great and imperial in 
 their operation and effect, that this is a more 
 stupendous measure, and calculated to exert a more 
 beneficial influence, than an)thing that has received 
 Royal assent since Magna Charta was granted 
 to the peoi)le of England. The question has demanded 
 attention, and gTadually secured it, till the country at length 
 insisted upon some scheme for Old Age Pensions being 
 considered before giving votes or influence at the last 
 general election, — as the success at the polls of those 
 who promised to vote for and su])[)ort some such measure, 
 amply testified. Representatives of e\er}- class, whether 
 of County Council, Corporations, (iuardians, Parish and 
 District Councils, School Boards. Charitable and 
 Benevolent Institutions, Hospitals, or Asylums, will all 
 be deeply interested and affected by the ado])tion of the 
 Act in their various localities. ( )ther\\ ise, they will be 
 required to shewsome g-ood reason for not a(loi)ting it. and 
 thus depriving tlie ilistrictof the benefits accruing, i'hosc
 
 82 
 
 j)eoi)le, who are most anxious to improve their special 
 district, will send a requisition, in that case, to the Mayor, 
 or other Returning" Officer, to call a meeting- of electors. 
 We will suppose, then, that the Town Clerk of Bradford 
 has complied with all the provisions of the scheme as to 
 public meeting's, resolutions adopting- the Act for 
 Bradford, etc , or by a poll taking- and a majority having- 
 voted for it. The Pension Board, after the election on 
 the 1st of November, have met ninety members 
 (forty-five men and forty-five women), — being three men 
 and three women to each of the fifteen wards into which 
 Bradford is now divided for municipal purposes. At 
 this first meeting- the Pension Board have ag-reed to rules 
 and standing orders, and to advertise for fort}--five 
 doctors, three for each ward, and forty-five managers, 
 also three for each ward. At the next meeting-, before the 
 1 st of December, they make these appointments of doctors 
 and manag-ers, whose duties commence on the first day 
 of January, 1898. The Town Clerk then prepares and has 
 I)rinted 100,000 forms of census papers for the 40,000 
 or 50,000 houses in Bradford, one copy to be left by every 
 owner, etc., at each tenant's place of abode, one clear 
 week before the end of the year, 1897 ; the other copy 
 for the owner's use, to g-uide him in collecting- the 
 premiums from all on his premises over ten years of age. 
 The owners would deliver these census papers when filled 
 in l)y their tenants to one of the managers of the 
 ward committee, according- to instructions, who would 
 within a day or two, as ordered Ijy the Pension Board, 
 deliver all the census papers at the Town Clerk's office. 
 The Town Clerk must then tabulate the census, and notify 
 the Chancellor of the Excheijuer of the total number of
 
 ^3 
 
 J)erson.s in Br^idford over ten years of age. When the 
 census papers have been summarised and entered in the 
 Corporation books, they are to be forwarded to the 
 Reo-istrar General,— in the same way as are births, 
 deaths, and marriages now, — thus formulating each 
 and every quarter the exact population of Bradford, 
 (and, when universally adopted, that of the whole of the 
 United Kingdom), instead of taking it for ten year 
 periods as is the present system. The Chancellor of 
 the Excheciuer, on receipt of the Town Clerk's certifi- 
 cate of the census return, forwards a draft for £19,937, 
 being the Government Grant for the cjuarter commencing 
 on the 1st January, 1898, and ending on the 31st March, 
 1898. this sum being based on the figures I ha\e given. 
 This draft would be paid into the bank in Bradford, and 
 placed to an account to be opened with the Bradford 
 Pension Board. Notices have, by this time, been 
 published and served, and everyone is supposed 
 to know the law and their own duty. (Neglect to 
 take the census or collect the premiums is to incur a 
 penalty : and, it necessary, a receiver of rents to be 
 appointed till compliance be secured.) If tenants 
 neglect to pay the premiums, they render themselves 
 liable to a summons ; and, if necessary, to summary 
 ejectment, special provision having l^een made in the 
 Act, to supersede the law of landlord and tenant, as to 
 notice or proceedings before magistrates, or summary 
 ejectment of tenants unwilling to l)ay. P^ach ward 
 manager enters all applications for Old Age Pensions, 
 sickness, the unemployed, death, etc., money, and visits 
 the homes of the applicants, thoroughly satisfying 
 himself of the hi>na-fuhs of every case. The ward
 
 committee, on g'oing' through thu lists of their tliree 
 managers, make orders according-ly. These managers 
 must in reality be paymasters. The doctors who, it is 
 assumed are living in the ward when appointed, are attend- 
 ing the sick, not only in their own ward, but anywhere in the 
 Borough of Bradford, thus giving every person resident 
 in the borough a choice of forty-five doctors. We do 
 this so that doctors, who are specialists, may be able 
 and available to attend any case recjuiring special 
 treatment. The ward committee would make every 
 allowance for variation of doctors" lists of visits, etc. 
 The first few weeks, and jtrobably for the first (|uarter, 
 the meetings and work of the ward committees will be 
 frecjuent and heavy. Before the end of the quarter, it 
 can Ije seen how accuratel)' or the re\erse these 
 figures for Bradford coincide with those produced at 
 the general meeting of the Pension Board the last week 
 in March. During those thirteen weeks, a problem will 
 have been solved, or an attem|)t made to solve it, that 
 has puzzled great and good men for the last twenty 
 years. Everyone will have become interested in it, as 
 payer or pa}'ee, and it will have been an object lesson 
 for every householder in the borough. Town Councils 
 and Parish Councils all round Bradford, who have not 
 yet adopted the Act, ha\e been watching the experiment, 
 and particulars of its working are commented upon by 
 the local newspapers, and copied into other newspapers 
 far and wide. The tenants have become accustomed to 
 the scheme, and having seen and enjoyed the benefits in 
 some of its various forms, approve of it and cheerfully 
 pav and comply with the conditions. The landlords and 
 ajrents have found out thiit the difficulties were greater
 
 85 
 in anticipation than in realization, and they have been 
 able to adapt their rent books to meet the thirteeen 
 weeks, with columns for those over ten years, and under 
 sixteen, and another for those over sixteen. (The 
 manag'ers rendering- assistance with the awkward 
 tenants and taking- out summonses, etc., if necessary.) 
 The landlords have become reconciled to their duty, 
 and find their property yielding a better and more 
 regular income, while they have now solvent tenants 
 instead of insolvent ones, as, in poor districts, has 
 generall}- })een the case hitherto. The doctors, physician, 
 and manager, receive their first quarter's salaries; all 
 the liabilities of the I^ension Board are discharged, and 
 a balance sheet made out at the end of the quarter. 
 The Board has no power to pay more than is registered 
 on the scale laid down, or to borrow money, or for any 
 reason to pay more away, in any one rjuarter, than the 
 total amount of the actual cash received during that quarter. 
 The statements made out for the United Kingdom, and 
 this one for Brarltord, arc both based on the averages 
 and proportions laid down, and, as before mentioned, 
 are gathered from the most reliable returns, etc., we can 
 obtain. The first item of payments out, viz. : pensions for 
 those over sixty years of age, is the most diflficult, 
 because we allow S/- per week foi- single persons, and 
 12/- for couples, i.i\, man and wife, and it is impossible 
 to arrive at a reliable number ; we have, therefore, 
 allowed in this, as in all cases, a most liberal margin. 
 We allow for over 1000 paupers more than there are on 
 the books at the Bradford Union. In addition to that 
 difference, there would be both in-door and out-door 
 poor over sixty entitled to this pension, who come off
 
 86 
 
 this list, and we still further reduce the pauper list, by 
 makinsf provision for the orphans and fatherless. A 
 District Council in the Bradford District, is prepared to 
 aditpi tilt scheme fort/nvit/i, if Diipmvered to do so. 
 
 The Pension Board, on rompletion of their first 
 quarter, have become familiar with their duties, and ac- 
 quainted with their doctors and manag-ers, and their 
 various ward committees; and all of them, in their separate 
 wards, know now which are the settled cases, such as those 
 who are over sixty years of age, who have applied for, and 
 are receiving their pension, and who, therefore, will not 
 be any further trouble to the committee in future. In fact, 
 considering" that there are in every ward, twelve people who 
 are appointed or elected to look after that ward, — three 
 doctors, three manag"ers, three women and three men, — it 
 would be strange indeed, if any deserving poor were 
 neglected or unjustly treated, or that any imposition 
 could prove successful. The experience gained by them 
 and their officers would be a most valuable guide in the 
 second cjuarter, and this would also apply to all the 
 landlords and tenants ; the worst tenants finding 
 that if they fail to pay, their goods are i^ut into 
 the street, and the key given to the landlord, without 
 notice or action for trespass, Ac, and also that 
 other landlords re((uire to see how their rent book 
 stands, or apply to the manager, before accepting them 
 as tenants. Landlords with whom I have discussed the 
 question, say that, in their opinion, out of the whole 
 town, 95 per cent, would pay readilj . I am confident that 
 the Pension Board, at the end of the first quarter, would 
 find there was a large balance in hand: and the question 
 then arises, ' what is to be don^ with it ?" Some have pro-
 
 8? 
 posed using- it by giving- more liberal allowance, or 
 reducing' the premiums. Others would loM'er the age ot 
 exemption, by reducing' the sixty years limit to iifty-fi\t', 
 &c. In my opinion, no alteration whatever, with regard 
 to any of these should be allowed. The balance from 
 Bradford and every other place adoi)ting' the scheme, 
 should lie paid over every ([uarter to some general 
 Union of Pension Boards, and should be used for such 
 emerg'encies as colliery explosions, &c., instead of 
 ai)peals for charity being' made at such times, until tlie 
 whole country saw the great advantag'es to be derived from 
 the adoption of the Act and it became universal, when bye- 
 laws would no longer be necessary and pauperism woulfl 
 be abolished. Another reason is, that the whole nation 
 contributes to the Government Grant, and should, 
 therefore, have some consideration and relief in cases of 
 epidemics and other disasters. 
 
 7V.^.— The guardians, of course, would not administer 
 
 relief fio7v. 
 
 Addenda. 
 
 The reader will doubtless, as the writer has himself 
 done, try to realise the meaning of the figures and facts 
 mentioned under the various headings, and to picture for 
 himself the pathetic and even tragic conditions of life of 
 millions of men, women, and children in their flaily 
 and hourly struggles against adversity, and the utter 
 despair that takes possession of them when they feel 
 powerless and hopeless in the cruel grasp of misfortune, 
 disappointment, and ruin ; especially of those whose 
 sensitive feelings and life-long' labours have ended in 
 disaster, and what the ivorld calls disgrace, and who ha\-(> 
 hoped for. looked for, nnd stri\-en to desen'o a bettiT
 
 88 
 
 fato. Surely no one who has one spark of divine 
 sympathy, reading-, as he must do rlaily, of suieides, 
 erucl wrong" and injustice to the weak and poor,— who are 
 so often knocked down in the rush and crush for wealth 
 and position, trodden underfoot, or ground beneath the 
 wheels of our so-called civilization, — but must either be 
 driven to despair and doubt of the existence of a God, 
 or else, in the streng-th of that God as did Moses in Egypt, 
 endeavour to deliver his brethren from their cruel 
 bondage. The old have had a long- hard life of 
 making bricks without straw, and to them the great 
 deliverer, death, is welcome. But to the orphan and 
 fatherless, what a prospect 1 
 
 Dr. Stkphknsox, Medical Officer of Health for the 
 Central London Ophthalmic Hosj^ital. says:~-'It was 
 pointed out long-ag'o by Mr. Nettleship. that a majority of 
 the young adults coming' under treatment for chronic 
 ophthalmia at the London Hospitals had formerly lieen 
 inmates of the Metropolitan Pauper Schools. From mv 
 own experience, 1 am in a position to testify to the accurac^y 
 of that statement. I possess, furthermore, certain returns 
 obtained from a number of ophthalmic surgeons, which 
 shew that a large proportion of such cases have (^ome 
 from the sc^hools in ([uestion. i^he fact may Ije added, 
 that the Metropolitan Assoi^ation for befriending young 
 servants, has sent me thirteen girls with chronic 
 ophthalmia during- the last two years. They had all 
 passed through one or other of our paj'ochial schools. 
 Most of these ])atients have sustained more or less 
 damage to sight, while ])ractically all have lost place 
 after place on account of the condition of their eyes.'" 
 
 ]3r, LiTTLKjOH.N, Medical Offtcer to the Hansvvelj
 
 8q 
 
 Schools, says their treatment makes them " morose, 
 sullen, and obstinate." Another authority ('a lady), 
 speaking- of the aggregation of large numbers, and the 
 infringement of the child's liberty, says: — "It has no 
 means of doing anything it likes ; it has to do everything 
 by rule, and becomes a mere machine, and can, therefore, 
 never develoi) any sense of personal responsibility. 
 Again, it is deprived of a most important element in the 
 bringing up of children, and that is, contact with the 
 animal world : children in large schools cannot have 
 pets — dogs, cats, birds, or anything of tliat kind.'" 
 Girls broug-ht up in such schools are noted for 
 "rudeness, sullenness. violence, destructiveness, care- 
 lessness, idleness, obstinacy, and a curious ignorance 
 of common things.'' The well-known Dr. Barxardo 
 told a committee that: — " Evil habits are much more 
 prevalent than the public have any conception of 
 in all Poor Law establishments of a barrack class. 
 in which girls are ag'gregated. I do not know why 
 it is, but when a number of females are massed 
 together, girls or women, they seem to re-act 
 upon each other in a degrading way; the standard 
 gets lower." The nurse or woman called Gillespie at 
 the Brentwood Infant School, constantly caned the little 
 ones, and otherwise treated them with fiendish cruelty : 
 as Sir John Gorst said, they were ''reduced to such 
 straits for want of drinking-water, that they drank from 
 puddles and water-closets." True the wretch got 
 '' five years," but this treatment had been carried on for 
 years, without a word of complaint from the other 
 members of the staff, though all were aware of the facts. 
 Th« I-f ''^n ''^vernnicnt Pio.ird held an cnf|uiry into the
 
 90 
 
 management of the Forest Gate School, where 148 
 rhiUlren were poisoned V)y bad meat. The officer (a 
 subordinate) who ventured to say he had seen 
 maggots in the meat, was suspended, although it was 
 proved that the meat was fly-blown and maggoty, and 
 that a good deal of bad meat had been buried. Individual 
 cases of infantile depravity of orphans, fatherless, and 
 neglected children, could be quoted ad ifiji/iihtm, the 
 details of which arc too shocking to record, and the 
 Government Committee recommend that "additional 
 powers be vested in local authorities, to enable them to 
 retain in their custody the children who are habitually to 
 be found in that class.'" The report says : — "The testi- 
 mony received from our witnesses, is emphatically in favour 
 of the boarding-out of pauper children as the best system, 
 one which secures to them the healthiest and most 
 natural life, and gi\cs them the best chance of escaping 
 pauper associations, and becoming absorbed into the 
 respectable working population." 
 
 Probably three out of every four children left alone 
 in the world on the death of the mother, and certainly if 
 left orphans, would be adopted by relatives, or even kind 
 neighbours, if the 4/- per week were allowed, as herein 
 provided; and what a contrast in the condition of that 
 child's life under such favorable circumstances, in com- 
 parison with those above described. The matter seems 
 as simple as the Penny Post would doubtless do to 
 Rowland Hill, or a Railway to Stephenson ; and still we 
 groan and growl, and grumble at what are removable 
 evils, like the shilling letter postage, and coaching days 
 of old. To read reports of Royal Commissions, Select 
 Committees, «S:c., and find nofhinL^r attempted, noihing
 
 91 
 
 done, makes one almost rlespair of our representatives 
 and rulers. The most obvious and simple axioms, 
 such as " Prevention is better than cure," are utterly 
 disregfarded in such vital matters as the treatment ot 
 unfortunate orphan children. Parliament is over-crowded 
 with detail leg-islation, to escape which, Commissions 
 and Committees are constantly being- appointed, who 
 collect masses of evidence and facts, and issue elaborate 
 and valuable reports ; and the lamentable conclusion and 
 result is, that nothing- comes of it further, or will come, 
 unless the people arise disgusted, and absolutely 
 determine that something" shall be done. 
 
 ':^'5^^*^^i?i7«^
 
 92 
 
 CHAPTER y\. 
 
 The Family. 
 
 UAYIXG treated the United Kin,o-dom as a British 
 * ■* family, each member ready to do his or her duty to 
 all the rest, and anxious that those sick or incapacitated, 
 unfortunate, or ag"cd, shall no longer be neglected and 
 left to become a disgrace, I will now give a few cases, 
 by way of illustration, of families of the working classes 
 as they frequently come under our observation in 
 discussing this scheme, and point out how it would apply 
 to them. It will be conceded on reflection, that it is of 
 the very highest importance to the successful working of 
 any scheme, that it should not only commend itself to 
 the judgment of all classes and individuals, as being both 
 theoretically sound, and practically perfect (so far as a 
 scheme can be proved perfect which has not yet been 
 tried) but that it should also secure the cheerful 
 co-operation of the individual family, however poor or 
 rich that family may be. I have again and again had 
 the case of the family brought under discussion at 
 meetings of all classes, and have been greatly assisted 
 in my arguments by people from all quarters, rjuoting 
 instances of the various kinds and conditions of families, 
 who would be benefited all round by the adoption of 
 this scheme. In one simple instance, a man had brought 
 up a family and had paid Poor Rates for over fifty 
 years ; cirnimstances occurred, owing to which he was
 
 93 
 left iilone in the world, without means, every fibre of his 
 nature revolting, naturally, at the idea of either being" 
 called a pauper, or becoming one in reality by going to 
 the workhouse, and being buried from therein a pauper's 
 grave. His three sons, and the rest of his family, could 
 not agree upon a plan of payment for his maintenance. 
 In order to solve this difficulty, he was obliged to go 
 inside the workhouse, in order to enable the Guardians 
 to get an order from the magistrates to compel those 
 three sons to pay each i 8 per week, thus securing their 
 old father 5/- per week, to prevent his being disfranchised 
 and reduced to the level of a pauper in his old age. 
 Under this scluim\ this old man would not have had to 
 undergo this painful experience. He could not resist 
 the plain conviction that the system of the Poor Law is 
 radically wrong and unjust, if not actually dishonest, 
 when he had thus proved in such a practical manner 
 that that law had forced him to pay money every year, 
 for fifty years, for the benefit of anybody and everybody 
 except himself. He had been compelled to provide 
 money for the insurance of his neighbours, and man\' 
 undeserving people he knew nothing about: but he 
 himself was not insured against actual starvation, even, 
 except at a still further cost of his last and most \aluc(l 
 treasure, his self-respect. The reader may say, " Shame 
 on his three sons,"' till they hear that those sons had each 
 as much as they could manage to do. to provide for 
 their own families. It is no unusual circumstance, that 
 much bitterness and division arises from cases of this 
 kind. One son perhaps, is a little better off than another, 
 their wives i)ossiI)ly interfere also, till the poor old lather, 
 self-denying to the last, succumbs in the end to the cruel
 
 94 
 humiliations of p^iuperisni in order to prevent a feud in 
 the fiimily. A cursory reader might sa\', "this scheme 
 thus relie\es those three sons of a reasonable and small 
 sum weekly which they ought to pay." I would remind 
 him that these three sons, and their three wives, would 
 be each, under this scheme, paying their sevenpence per 
 week, or 3/6 weekly together, />/ ativ rase, and if there Avere 
 in each of their families, one child over sixteen years of 
 age, or two between ten and sixteen, thiit would l)ring 
 the total weekly sum paid by the old man's family to 5/3 
 per week, being »iorc than they give him under the 
 present system. This case is a good illustration of the 
 whole scheme. Had our scheme been adopted in 1834, 
 instead of the present Poor I.aw system, the old man 
 would have paid for himself, and each of his sons, as 
 they passed the age of ten, would have contributed their 
 own share : it would, therefore, have been impossible for 
 any scandal or ill-feeling to have arisen in that family. 
 How much more agreeable this wouUl surely have 
 been to all concerned, especially to the old man himself. 
 In that case, the father would all the time have been 
 assured of 12/- per week in sickness, <S/- per week at 
 sixty yetirs of age, and £10 at death : while, under the 
 present system, if he dies, the sons must be at the cost 
 of his funeral. If our scheme was in operation, the 
 old man would receive his 8 - for life, and £10 at death, 
 towards which his three sons would contribute 53; as a 
 general rule, it would be more than this, as, taking the 
 average of five to a family, they would at least pay 
 2/7.^, thus father, mother, and i)ossibly two children o-i'cr 
 sixteen, all paying "d. each, and one iifuhr sixteen 
 paying 3id., would make a sum of 8/'- within three half-
 
 Q5 
 
 pence. To adhere strictly to lliis case, and sui)|)Oi^e 
 there were no g-randchildren paying- their weekly 
 premiums to the fund, there remain still seven persons 
 paying- sevenpence each, weekly, thus contributing' 4/1 
 per week; and it ought to betaken into consideration 
 that the old man has paid his Poor Rate reg^ularly for 
 fifty years, and that it is next to an impossibility that he 
 will receive it back ag-ain ; also that he has contributed 
 the children, and trained them for the service of the 
 State, and the State honestly owes him much more than 
 the difference. Taking", however, families on an averag^e, 
 they would be paying- weekly a sum equal to the Old 
 Age Pension of their parents ; and further than this, the 
 old man, his three sons, their wives, and families, are 
 each and all assured of medical attendance free, 
 besides sickness and Death Money and their own Old 
 Age Pension. 
 
 Another Case : A Couple married Ten Years, having 
 Six Children under Ten Years of Age. 
 
 Under our scheme they would be paying weekly, 
 the father and mother each 7d. ... ... ... is. 2d. 
 
 For that money the family are assured in death 
 money ^32 ; i.e., £10 each for the parents, and 
 I 2 each for the six children. The parents for 
 12/- each per week in sickness, and the family 
 provid d constantly w ith free doctors. There 
 is no father or mother to help in old age, or 
 anv contributions needed ft)r other i)Oor 
 relatives, friends, or for such institutions as In- 
 firmaries, &c.
 
 i)6 
 Under the I'uur Law, ihey have the Poor Rate 
 to pay, directly or indirectly, and that, of course, 
 entirely depends on the class of house and its 
 rateable value, say weekly ... ... ... o 6 
 
 It is customary in Yorkshire to have Sick Clubs, 
 
 paying- per house weekly for doctor ... ... o 6 
 
 Sui)pose father and mother to be both insured, 
 
 and each paying therefore 6d. weekly i o 
 
 The si.\ children are all insured, probably, at a 
 
 penny each, weekly ... ... ... ... 06 
 
 Of course the policies represent a larger sum at 
 death, but then those policies provide nothing whatever 
 for any of the eight persons in case of sickness, or if 
 crippled for life, or out of employment, in old age, or 
 for medical attendance. The 1/2 gi\es him all these 
 extra benefits, besides relieving him of the Poor Rate, 
 the doctor s bill, and even of his own and his wife's life 
 policy ; if it becomes a burden too heavy for him. as in 
 that case, the local authority accepts them, and relieves 
 him of the premiums in future, and, if desired, his 
 children's jjolicies too. Thus, for a weekly payment of 
 less than half what he now pays, he secures all these 
 extra benefits, and, in addition, the balance due on each 
 policy when it becomes a claim, thus (loubly assuring him 
 in the event of death to any member of his family. Our 
 idea is to provide for the widow, in event of hL'r husband's 
 death, 4/- weekly for each child in the family till the 
 youngest is able to work. Let the reader take the
 
 97 
 position of the abo\'e family, all survi\in<4", ten years 
 hence. May be the parents have been ill, more or less, 
 during" those ten years, and. in the case of a working 
 man with 30- per week or less, and all his family to 
 proN'ide for out of it, this is a serious matter. During 
 sickness, his wag-es cease, and, under the i^resent system, 
 there would be nothing" for him, unless t)y means of a 
 club, except the Poor Law and disfranchisement : whilst 
 we give him the 12/- per week for himself, and i 6 per 
 head for each child not working, or 21/- per week. He 
 would, of course, receive his club money also, therefore 
 his affliction would not be aggravated by uneasiness 
 about money matters, and his mind would be at rest 
 about his family if the worst did come. 
 
 The same Case Ten Years later. 
 
 This man has t)een married to his i)resent wife now 
 tw cnty years, and their six children are all living, ranging 
 in ag-e from eight \ears to eig-hteen. They would be 
 then contributing 3 2}, per week to the Pension Fund: 
 the two over sixteen, earning perhaps £1 per week 
 between them, and one of the three over ten years, also 
 earning a lew shilling-s weekly, and thus not only paying 
 their own premiums, Ijut also those for all the others. The 
 reatler can, if he likes, jnu'sue the probable career and 
 results in decades to each member of that famil}', and 
 find that they haxe prosperefl and "lived happilv c\er 
 after," re({uiring no assistance in sic]<.ness. want of 
 employment, or old age, and are proud and thankful 
 that this is so. Or take the reverse picture, with, 
 perhaps, sickness, bad trade, and no work, or other 
 circumstances o\er which they ha\e no control. in
 
 98 
 
 such a case, the benefit of this scheme is still more 
 striking'ly evinced ; they have paid, and are therefore fully 
 entitled to all the advantag'es of the scheme, just as 
 memhers of Friendly Societies are, and cannot be 
 considered, or in any way feel themselves to be, 
 paupers, when they draw the money thus provided for 
 such emerg-encies. 
 
 I am reminded here, that Friendly Societies' 
 members would all pay and draw just the same 
 as every one else, thus being" doubly assured in 
 their sickness, or at death : and if they desired, the local 
 authority would pay their club money in the same way 
 that they pay the premiums for insurance policies, thus 
 preventing" the hardship of having- to pay more for their 
 assurance premiums than they are able to do with 
 comfort. 
 
 I had thought of g'iving a few other illustrations 
 of families, larg-e and small, but the reader will now be 
 able to compare any case that may come under his 
 notice, and see what the effects would be if our scheme 
 was in operation, and out-door relief abolished, for 
 himself. 
 
 In the schedule of income and pa}ments, we 
 make allowance for a number of out-door poor, based on 
 I^oor Law Returns as they ap])ly under that system, but 
 which, under this scheme, would be far in excess of those 
 relie\ed as out-door poor; as I have Ijefore stated, all 
 over sixty years of ag'e would be otherwise provided for, 
 as would also orphans, fatherless children, widows and 
 all sick or incapacitated. We are, however, bound to 
 provide the money, and to estimate the number, and the 
 amount requisite to relieve them ; but they would not be
 
 9^ 
 
 paupcM's^ the newly elected Pension Board being' obliged 
 to investigate every application thoroughly, and to allow 
 to all deser\ing cases, according to the scale herein laid 
 down. None but the least deserving or worst characters 
 under sixty should go into the Workhouse, which should still 
 be under the Poor Law Guardians' control, till pauperism 
 died out, as we are confident it would do, in a generation 
 or less. 
 
 I have alluded to the husband and father as 
 head of the family, Ijut in m\" fifty years" experience I 
 have found that, as a rule, in all these matters of domestic 
 management, the husband wisely leax'es them to his 
 wife, well knowing that she can manage them betier 
 than he can, if he only provides her with the means. 
 There are exceptions, of course, in this as in everything 
 else, and a wife may prove unw'orthy of such trust ; but 
 on the other hand, the old proverb very often holds good, 
 and in domestic matters "the grey mare is the betterhorse." 
 Women, when they hear this scheme explained,andsee how 
 it would apply to them personally, are invariablyin favour 
 of it, and say that it would pre\ent an enormous amount 
 of suffering and distress in e\ery working man's home, 
 providing, as it does, relief for every emergency that 
 can possibly arise. They could and w^ould gladly 
 arrange the income of the house to meet the weekly 
 payments, without needing to exercise any undue amount 
 of self-denial ; whereas, in many cases, the money is at 
 present frittered away in needless frivolity, betting, or 
 folly, so that when the slack time or illness comes, 
 destitution stares them in the face, and they only wish 
 the wasted money had been demanded from them, as we 
 propose to do, for their own benefit, and then thcv would
 
 f oo 
 never ha\e missed it. In discussing- the scheme at a 
 private house, a lady from the South of England grasped 
 every bearing of the scheme instantly, anrl was better 
 able, and used words more concisely and convincingly to 
 prove its advantages, than I myself was able to do. 
 The j)resent Poor Law tends to perpetuate family 
 paupers. Guardians and Relieving Officers find that it 
 is no unusual thing for paupers to Vje descendants of 
 paupers, and to hear applicants make it a plea that their 
 father got out-door relief, and their grandfather, uncles 
 and aunts, &c., in fact it is instilled into their minds from 
 childhood. Now and again we read of some enlightened 
 Board of Guardians deciding- to place the children now 
 in the Workhouses, in Cottage Homes; having realised 
 the fact that children who are brought into daih' contact 
 with adults hardened in vice, &c., are sure to return to 
 the workhouses in after years, if not in a few weeks. It 
 is unfortunately, a well-known fact that domestics, &c.,who 
 are obtained from Unions, are not ecjual to the ordinary 
 standard of capacity or morality, if tainted at a Work- 
 house ; and I am firml\- ot opinion, from observation, 
 reading, hearing and taking part in discussions, that the 
 present .system and administration of the Poor Law, 
 tends to the breeding and perpetuation of pauperism ; 
 whilst the system I am trying to explain would, in 
 every family, and from childhood, tend to inculcate 
 self-respect, self-reliance, and thrift. With universal 
 and free education, with an Act of Parliament offering 
 such facilities and securities as I have sketched out, it 
 is not unreasonable to expect that, in a few years' time, 
 our children would be able to look back upon the 
 present era, much as we ourselves do upon the dark 
 ages.
 
 101 
 
 Addenda. 
 
 We devoutly trust that the end of this nineteenth 
 century mav not only prove to us the wickedness 
 of war, but that a universal longing- for, and resolute 
 determination to bring al)0ut, such great and beneficial 
 changes in our social and family life, may cause 
 the awful cjuestion "Where is Abel thy brother?" 
 no longer to lie, as it must at present do, heavy 
 on our consciences. The menacing and momentous 
 opening of the >ear 1896, with its threatenings of 
 trouble to the British family in all parts of the world, 
 prompt these thoughts, and also the cjuery, "Are we 
 doing our duty to our neighbour ? '' or have the rapidly 
 increasing riches of this nation so corrupted and corroded 
 its best and noblest natures, that we have arrived at the 
 time when the handwriting on the wall of the British 
 empire may be, " Thou art weighed in the balance and 
 found wanting." Ought it not rather to prove a trumpet 
 call to us to do our duty, and obey those commandments 
 read out daily in our i-hurches (which sometimes seem 
 as if their only purpose was to be a theme for musical 
 kyries) that we should " feel the Deity within," and, like 
 Joshua, drive out the cruel and tyrannical Hittites and 
 parasites from our midst; then, when our children cry to 
 us for bread, we will not be so ready to give them a 
 stone, or a serpent, when they ask for a fish I am 
 tempted to digress, and express my thoughts and feelings 
 in this manner, from the knowledge of the large figures 
 I have been obliged to put down as the official returns of 
 pauperism, and of what that last awful word implies, 
 /.('., the indescribable and appallingly gigantic sum total of 
 misery and wretchedness, silently suffered by those who,
 
 102 
 
 in their day and g-eneration, have assisted in rearing- this 
 great empire, and who now are reaping- as their reward, 
 at the hands of their guardians or their stepmother the 
 State, disfranchisement and confinement worse than a 
 criminal's prison. What wonder, if when that parent is 
 in difficulties from foes al)road, if their subdued, sullen 
 silence should break out into anarchy, at the very moment 
 when that thoug-htless parent most needs their willing- 
 help and co-operation to save, perhaps, not only their 
 homes, but the State itself? "The Decline and Fall of 
 the Roman Empire," the History of Revolutions in 
 France and other countries, are " written for our 
 learning-;" may we, indeed, "hear them, read, mark, 
 learn, and inwardly- digest them," to such purpose, that 
 the sum of Britain's greatness and prosperity set not in 
 the reign of our " Most Gracious Queen and Governor." 
 
 I have a vivid remembrance of my own boyhood's days, 
 and of the thrilling tales told by my grandfather, who 
 went through the whole of the Peninsular War, fighting 
 in almost every battle up to W^aterloo; and also of the 
 experience and sufferings of my fathci- and mother, who 
 had ten of us to feed and clothe from the produce of a 
 few acres of bleak and barren land, eked out by night and 
 day hand-loom labour, and with flourat sixtimes its present 
 price. 
 
 Our present sy.stem is not calculated to satisfy the 
 longings or just demands of the great mass of workers, on 
 whose co-operation the stability of the State depends, as 
 does also the prosperity of the nation on their labour. The 
 study ot this scheme, and its bearings upon all the varied 
 ramifications of family life, and the discussions upon it 
 by working men, have led me to work out examples of
 
 103 
 its effects on the varying" conditions of family life. The 
 reader will pardon me, I trust, if I consider briefly, 
 calculations already made in sli^^htly different form. 
 The following' are examples of actual cases of families 
 living under the present system of Poor Law, Wjluntary 
 Sick Clubs, and Insurance, as it would affect them 
 weekly, 
 
 A. A family of ten persons over ten years of 
 age, of whom five are over sixteen years 
 of age, and five below sixteen, but over ten; 
 /.(, five paying jd. weekly ... ... ... 2 ii 
 
 S P'lying" 3^c^- weekly i 5| 
 
 4 4h 
 Less Insurance (paid to them) and Sick Club 2 5 
 
 la 
 
 Insured ten at ;^io each at death, also for sickness 
 income, medical attendance, old age pension, etc., the 
 family being jointly insured for £100, and each in £10, 
 with all other advantages. 
 
 Included in the five p(>rsons of this family who are 
 over sixteen years of age, are the father and mother, 
 who are or ought to be insured; and unless their policies 
 have been in forre for twenty to thirty years, their 
 premiums will be at least yd. per week each; /.t., 
 12 per week for the parents to pay regularly. 
 
 If they married at nineteen years of age, and 
 each insured themselves for a whole life policy for £50 
 the Premium would be sixpence for each policy weekly. 
 
 There remain eight in that family, and reckoning each 
 one as insured in the minimum premium of one penn\'
 
 104- 
 Weekly, the weekly payments in that family for insurance 
 would amount to i/io. 
 
 Vou must then make an estimate of the average 
 cost of their doctors" bills. In some districts it is 
 customary for each householder to pay a weekly 
 contribution of sixpence i:)er house for medical attend- 
 ance. That would raise the weekly ]>ayments of this 
 family to 2/4. 
 
 It would be reasonable now, to add to this the 
 averag"e loss of wages during' sickness or want of 
 employment ; and seeing' there are four over sixteen 
 years of age, viz. : the father and three of his 
 children, and that possibly two of these are between 
 fourteen and sixteen years of ag'e, reckoning the average 
 of sickness at twelve days in the year for each, or seventy 
 two days, that means even at I - per day wages, a 
 further sum of i 4J weekly to the family. It is fair to 
 assume also, that there are aged relatives to whom they 
 make some weekly allowance ; perhaps the father and 
 mother of one ot the parents, or may be of both 
 husband and wife, which may mean all four of the 
 grandparents of these eight children requiring help : 
 but suppose, however, that there is only one of these old 
 people surviving, and even that that one has other 
 children living, still sowt//i/fi<^- must be added to the 
 amount already arrived at or indicated. 
 
 If I put down one shilling per week, it will be 
 ridiculed as absurd, because if those six workers do 
 not value their grandfather or grandmother at more than 
 twopence a-piece, they are no better than savages or 
 brutes. Then we must take into consideration the 
 pence given in charity at the door, to destitute or
 
 105 
 poor people in the neighbourhood, at collections for 
 Infirmaries, disastrous accidents, Ac, all of which 
 would be saved to that family, under our scheme, 
 as beg'ging' is rendered quite unnecessary in any form. 
 
 Provisions are made which meet all these cases : 
 therefore not only would much money be actually saved, but 
 there would be an end to the worry and annoyance to 
 which people are at present subjected, of incessant 
 applications for help in one way or another, and of 
 canvassing. 
 
 Coming" back to calculations and figures, the 
 account stands thus: — Dr. to National Pension Fund 
 4/11^; Cr., amount relieved 48.^, thus leaving out ot 
 account everything in the shape of charity or other claim 
 of any kind not connected with the family. There is, in 
 this case, a deficit of threepence per week to be made 
 good by six persons earning wages, four of whom are 
 over sixteen years of age, and probably averaging 
 sixteen shillings per week each. 
 
 Lest they should think our scheme a great hardship 
 in compelling' them to pay this very serious sum of 
 money, consisting of one halfpenny per week each, I 
 may again point out that they are insured for £10 
 at death, 12 - per week in sickness, or when out ol 
 work (unavoidably) and 8/- at sixty years of age, if 
 they need it. If they think they can secure ecjual or 
 better advantages for the same money in any other 
 way, I advise thi^m to let the public know how it is to 
 be done. 
 
 The case of large families is broug'ht forward at 
 all meetings, and I might give instances of smaller 
 families where the hardshij) seems even greater to a
 
 io6 
 
 casual obsen'er, — such as a widow with a larg-e number 
 of young children, and no settled income. She, of 
 course, would receive under our scheme, 12/- per week 
 for herself, and 1/6 per week for each child till it was 
 earning" money. 
 
 If only I can induce my readers to take a practical 
 interest in the workings of the scheme, and to examine 
 for themselves the figures and statistics mentioned, and 
 the possible, probable, and also ihe rertain immediate 
 results that must accrue to every member of the social 
 world, individually, and as a whole, then I have no fear 
 but that success will be sure and permanent. 
 
 •-><' 
 
 >-^^^<^ 
 
 i
 
 10- 
 
 CHAPTER VI IT. 
 The Individual. 
 
 IT is a deplorable fact that we have in Eno-land, 
 * constantly moving- about the country, io,OGO vacirants 
 visiting- Workhouses, besides those who do not, or dare 
 not go there, and some 3000 who are in London Prisons. 
 One is tempted to ask, how this sad state of things 
 can have come about, in a Christian country full of 
 Churches and Chapels, supporting over 20,000 Clergy- 
 men, and Ministers of all denominations. It behoves 
 every man to do his best to learn the cause of such a 
 curious stiite of things, and to find, if possible, the 
 remedy for it. 
 
 These vagrants were all innocent children once, 
 what then is it that has brought them to ruin ? May 
 we not ask whether our social system is not mainly 
 responsible for it ? The greed of gain, the constant 
 spectacle of might over-ruling right, the over-reaching" 
 and undermining of successful scoundrels, — are not 
 these, and such as these, the true reasons for our 
 national misery and degradation ? 
 
 The innocent victim develops into a crimin^il, 
 having no visible means of subsistence: while, for 
 all that is known to the contrary, the presidmg 
 magistrate himself may be the very successful 
 rogue who has robbed the jirisoner of this " means 
 of subsistence." This may be scouted as a most 
 far-fetched and extreme case, by those who have 
 never been cruelly robbed themselves by men in high
 
 io8 
 positions, and who cannot, therefore, understand the 
 feeling-s of those who have; but to hear these poor men 
 relate their experiences, and give their opinions of the 
 lav.' and its administrations, and know well that there is 
 only too much truth in their statements, is calculated to 
 move one to try to do so/uelhiiiiji, at any rate, towards 
 remedying- this deplorable state of affairs. 
 
 There ought to be no tramps or beggars, 
 it is the plain duty of every local authority to look 
 after their own poor. For those able to work, to find 
 them something to do, and jmy them for it, till they 
 can find a better place for themselves; and if they 
 conduct themselves well, to give them a character, that 
 they may have a fair chance to regain their self-respect 
 and position in life. Let the District Managers assist in 
 this, and see that it is done. 
 
 As for the incorrigible, let them go to the work- 
 house, and be set to constant test work. 
 
 This question of tramps has been brought under 
 our notice so frequently, that I have been tempted to 
 moralize over it. Under our scheme, in districts where 
 there is a Pension Board, these vagrants would par, but 
 nfll draw, and so would soon learn to avoid sleeping in 
 that particular District. Till it becomes law universally, 
 we could not treat them otherwise, as, if we did, they 
 would swarm into the Districts which had adopted the Act. 
 When the Pension Board has done its duty to all its 
 own resident poor, it should not be called upon to do 
 anything for aliens. As other Districts realized the 
 advantages of the Act, and adopted it, all these poor 
 people would be treated in their own District, and 
 tramping and begging would, perforce, cease.
 
 IO() 
 
 These poor individuals are alone in the world, from a 
 variety of causes, sometimes because of their own fault, but 
 more often their misfortune. Our duty is to prevent others 
 in the future from also "coming- into this place of torment." 
 It is like the pollution of a river, which, at its source, is 
 pure water, till some first offender at the head of the 
 stream defiles it, and then another follows and con- 
 taminates it still more, till, as it passes through populous 
 places, it becomes reeking- filth ; while the authorities can 
 only adopt purifying measures to lessen the evil, when 
 Parliament passes a Rivers' Pollution Bill, and Inspectors 
 at last proceed on the only sensible plan, by going to 
 the head of the stream, and preventing the offenders 
 from defiling the water ai its source. 
 
 For sixty years, this country has proceeded on 
 the antiquated plan of g'oing to the outfall of the 
 polluted river of pauperism, of taking the living 
 wreckage and refuse, and dividing them into in-door 
 and out-door poor, with the same yearly results for the 
 last twenty years, so that this moral river is just as 
 polluted as ever, and reeking with all the evil con- 
 sequences of a socially sick system. Take the aggregate 
 of these individuals, for the fourth week in August, for 
 each year since 1875, from the last Parliamentary Return 
 of: — " Pauperism (England and Wales)." 
 
 Yeav. 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 
 
 Paupers. 677,790 645,383 647,006 656,136 707,044 
 
 Yeay. 1880 188 1 1882 1883 1884 
 
 Paupers. 697,987 699,781 694,704 681,397 678,529
 
 ii6 
 
 Yeay. 18S5 1SS6 1SS7 18S8 1889 
 
 Paupers. 681,397 694,954 697,181 697,451 680,928 
 
 Yeay. 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 ^^95 
 
 Paupers. 657,477 638,976 639,303 669,124 682,377 704,857 
 
 I have g-iven these figures, because it is so often 
 glibly repeated and argued by Members of Parliament, 
 and by speakers and writers, who take each other's 
 statements for facts without taking" the trouble to verify 
 them, that Pauperism is (hcnasing ; and this is brought 
 forward from time to time by them, as an argument for 
 doing nothing, just as the local authorities and those 
 offenders I have referred to, have argued that the river 
 has abvays been so, and they do inish meddlesome people 
 would be cjuiet, and let things go on as they always have 
 done ! They say you cannot alter it, and they won't even 
 allow you to try, if they can have their way. 
 
 What we ask for, is an Act of Parliament, giving any 
 local authority power to adopt the Act for their own 
 district, and then it can be proved whether we can or can 
 not purify and sweeten the atmosphere of social life. 
 We should begin like the River Inspector, at the spring 
 of the river, — start with the children at ten years of age, 
 and go down the whole course of the stream of life, 
 teaching all classes how to prevent the pollution of their 
 district by Pauperism. The poor, weak, pessimistic 
 fossils, who, like Thomas of old, say they will not 
 belie\'e. contend that the idea is an impossibility, 
 seem afraid of its proving successful, and conjure up 
 all kinds of bogies, such lis that "no one would work 
 if they could get 12/- per week in sickness, etc." 
 
 It is about as reasonable to say that all the
 
 1 1 1 
 
 inhabitants of a town are criminals, because one in a 
 thousiind is brought before the Magistrates ; or that all 
 ]jarents object to their children going to school, because 
 tv\o or three out of many thousands, neglect or refuse to 
 send theirs, and are consequently summoned. 
 
 Coming- again to the single units of the 700,000 cases 
 of individual misery, our scheme to them would be the 
 beginning of a new life : those able to work, making the 
 joyful discovery that, at last, some practical attempt has 
 been made to solve the question of the unemployed. In- 
 local authorities; and those unable to work, incapacitated 
 or sick, widows, orphans, and fatherless children, realizing 
 that after all, there is some humanity left in the country, 
 and that their cruel fate is now more adequately relieved. 
 
 The individual feels the .heavy burden of cankering 
 care removed so far as his future fate in this life is 
 concerned, whatever its changes and chances may Ijring 
 him. If he is entirely alone, having lost all near and 
 dear to him, the sense of independence gives him 
 strength to fight the battle of life, and he is enabled to 
 manage for himself, without requiring any help. 
 
 ^>^>ii%VSr5^i£^
 
 Hi 
 
 ciiapi"i<:r IX. 
 
 Unity in the Com m unity. 
 
 T\L'RIX(t the last half century, I have witnessed great 
 *^ changfes in our social system, resulting" from the 
 increased wealth and higher position of the employers of 
 labour. 
 
 In my youthful fla}s, the master of the mill lived 
 near the works, and amongst his people. He knew 
 them well, and saw them all in their daily life, being in 
 touch with their history, relationships, and pursuits. He 
 noted their character, and apportioned, in some measure, 
 promotion to the most i)romising and deserving, among 
 young people especially. In sickness or other trouble, 
 his wife or family were ever ready to comfort and 
 help the distressed. His sons assisted and taught in 
 evening classes or Mechanics' Institutes, and there was 
 mutual respect and consideration on all sides. 
 
 Now, with Limited Liability Companies, and the 
 general scramble for wealth, all this is changed. The 
 employer lives miles away, and knows no one at the works 
 except the manager and cashier ; the one thing that 
 concerns him, being the balance sheet. The glamour of 
 what is called " Society" has fascinated him, and a name 
 there is of far more importance to him than the opinion of 
 his "hands." This example infects the Managers, and 
 so on until the pursuits and condition of these ''hands" 
 Ijecome of no concern whatever to their master, beyond
 
 1 1.1 
 
 so many hours expected in return for so many penCe 
 per hour. 
 
 If they fail to appear to work the machine — no matter 
 — set another on ; of what consequence is it that they are 
 sick or sorry, so long" as the work that fills their master's 
 pockets, g'oes on without interruption ? This indifference, 
 call it independence if you like, has become mutual, and 
 the result has been Trades Unions and strikes. The 
 employer has railed at these Unions, and foug-ht them, 
 with disaster and suffering" to both,- -oblivious of the 
 fact that his own short-sigfhted policy has in the first 
 instance led to it, and that he is l)ut payin^^ the penalty 
 of his past folly and neg"lect. 
 
 The Trades Unions have benefitted the country; 
 and if they secure by their International Unions, equal 
 benefits as to hours, payment, and conditions of labour 
 for the foreig"n artisan to those enjoyed by themselves, 
 the world will l)enefit accordingly. The more the 
 labourer earns, the more he can take of the productions 
 of the world, and thus increase the trade of the country. 
 The chang"e in the condition of the worker, in my time, 
 is miraculous. Not so very many years ag"o, pianos and 
 pictures, carpets and curtains were unknown luxuries in 
 villag"e homes, and reg"arded as treasures even ot "The 
 Hall " ; while lamps were unheard of for general use, 
 candles, of very poor quality, being" commonly used. 
 Logically, I may be told, these fa<ts upset my 
 argument, and prove that the condition of the country is 
 prog"ressive and satisfactory, standing in no need <)( any 
 new legislation to assist it I need, howc\cr. only ask 
 the objector to turn to those statistics which 1 have 
 already given, shewing" the chronic condition of England
 
 114 
 iind Wales as reg'anls j)aLHJurism for the last twenty 
 years, and to point out the extreme probabiHty that, 
 unless some new form of leg'islation is speedily 
 adopted, this same condition wilt continue for another 
 twenty, or any number of years ; while there \\\\\ be 
 every possibility of a decided increase, caused by .still 
 keener stress and competition, more frecjuent cases of 
 lunacy, and the shorter period in which men are accepted 
 as fit for employment, — in order to convince him that 
 the (juestion is of too serious a nature to be so easily 
 settled and laid aside. 
 
 This scheme insists upon men, women, and children 
 making proxision for the future when they are able, and 
 we maintain that they would soon appreciate the 
 advantag'es it secures to them ; while, if universally 
 adopted, it solves the question of the unemployed, 
 by taking" [jrobably half-a-million of old people out of 
 the labour market, and the Pension Boiird Managers, 
 acting" as a Labour Bureau, j)rove an additional help 
 to those in want of work. 
 
 The deser\ing poor, whether out-door jjaupers 
 (which ought not to be), or those referred to by the 
 R( yal Commission as living — "in a chronic state of 
 destitution, yet they have in the great majority of cases, 
 been reasonably temperate, industrious, and thrifty, so 
 far as their oi)portunities have allowed," — would be 
 ljro\ided for. The undeserving, /.c, the idle and 
 dissolute, should hii\c //" out-door relief, but l)e set to 
 test work in the Workhouse, till they chose to reform ; 
 and thus all classes would be adequately dealt with, and 
 disposed of. 
 
 The Friendl}' Societies would have, in a sense, to
 
 meet a competitor, authorized by the State ; but, 
 on the other hand, they would be considerably assisted 
 by being" relieved of their doctors' salaries, and also of 
 their old members, who now receive sick pay contrary 
 to their constitution, and the burden of which, as I have 
 before shewn, has caused the orders to become, in so 
 many cases, insolvent. They have done good work, and 
 should not be allowed to suffer by any scheme that 
 Parliament sanctions ; and, as I have already proved, 
 they can either have the advantages of both, or else wind 
 up and divide their funds suitably amongst their members. 
 
 As to Insurance Companies, it would affect them 
 seriously, with regard to lapsed policies. The large sums 
 now made as clear profit to them annually would dis- 
 appear, but the poor policy owner would gain to that 
 extent. 
 
 A further result would be that both Local Authorities, 
 and the Government would see that unsound Insurance 
 Companies were not allowed to carry on business till 
 proved solvent. The Government, which is to find the 
 Grant, and the Local Authority, which is to pay the 
 Premium, being Ijoth interested on behalf of the life 
 insured. 
 
 The Owner of Property, the Lodging-house Keeper, 
 Hospitals, Asylums, Convalescent Homes, Aim-houses 
 and Institutions would all be affected, and to their great 
 advantage; the Property Owner, by being relieved of 
 the Poor Rates and of insolvent tenants, a ijiiid pro 
 quo for his collecting the Premiums and taking the 
 Census; and the Institutions I have mentioned, by 
 receiving 12/- weekly, while paying yd. per week, for 
 each inmate. There is no possible risk of any Ciitastrophe,
 
 il6 
 
 01* failure involving- loss, and as there is no borrowing' 
 money for any pur])Ose, no rate can be laid down, and 
 the management expenses will be restricted to 8d. in the 
 £ collected. 
 
 There would be six times as many elected rejj- 
 resentatives (as many women as men), and three times 
 as many Doctors, besides the Physician, as comj^ared 
 with what is at present the case under the Poor Law ; 
 therefore the poor and the old would be the better 
 looked after. The glaring" irregularities and mis- 
 management shewn to exist under our present system 
 by the Report of the Royal Commission, should convince 
 anyone who reads it, that it is high time an effort was 
 made to reform such abuses. 
 
 As soon as a District has adopted our scheme, the 
 duties of every person will commence at once, and the 
 benefits accrue ijiimcdialcly. There is no waiting forty 
 years (a length of time which does not suit anybody, 
 so far as I have seen), and on this account alone, the 
 new system is bound to prove popular, as, under it, 
 advantages are gained forthwith, and every one is 
 treated alike, from the richest to the poorest. 
 
 All experience proves the proverb true, that "Unity 
 is strength," and the Co-operators are proud of their 
 motto. A society in Bradford (in the outskirts) started 
 in 1859 ^^''*^h a capital of 19 6, contributed by fourteen 
 members. Their sales last half year amounted 
 to £39,000. The Prudential Assurance Company 
 started in 1848, has over 11,000,000 policies. In fact, 
 anyone knows who has to deal with the working classes 
 in populous districts, that a small weekly payment is 
 acknowledged to be the only system which can succeed,
 
 117 
 for any purpose. T think it was at Oldham, in Lancashire, 
 where a striking proof of this fact occurred, in reg^ard to 
 people paying- their rates direct, instead of with their 
 rent; the result being that some 6000 summonses had to 
 be taken out, and the Magistrates dared not sign Distress 
 Warrants, as, had they done so, there would have been 
 rioting throughout the town. 
 
 I feel I have perhaps laboured these points, but I 
 find in speaking at meetings, etc., that the principle of 
 "line upon line, and precept upon precept,'' does more 
 to enlist attention and interest than any attempt at 
 eloquence. 
 
 F.very j)erson who has fully grasped the subject, up 
 to this time, is most anxious to have the scheme universally 
 adopted as law ; in fact, many District Councils in the 
 neighbourhoods of Bradford, as before mentioned, have 
 already passed resolutions in favour of its adoption in 
 their districts. Those who oppose it are mainly 
 small owners of low-class cottages, who fear it will 
 cause them some extra trouble in collecting the Premiums 
 and the Census Papers. They would be enthusiastic 
 in favour of it if we would consent to find salaried 
 servants to do that, thus letting them have the Poor 
 Rate taken off their property, and their present insolvent 
 tenants replaced by solvent ones (as we prove to them 
 would be the case), and enhancing the value of their 
 property at the public expense, without their needing to 
 lend a helping hand ! 
 
 Probably experience would satisfy them that the 
 result would well repay them for any trouble. The 
 best, and by far the majority, would co-operate willingly, 
 though there would doubtless be among them, as
 
 ii8 
 
 among'st their tenants, a "residuum'' which we are 
 anxious to elevate and assist even against their will. 
 
 Progress is apparent in all directions, except 
 in this question of Poor Law. At first sight, we 
 own, it sit7/is to be a great undertaking ; but when we 
 consider that the State, with the assistance of duly elected 
 bodies, can see that the name of every child born, 
 every person married, and every one who dies, is duly 
 recorded, that even the school age and regular attendance, 
 are all matters of accomplished fact, and also that 
 there is, throughout the country, great ambition to 
 serve the public g'ood, we feel fully justified in formulating 
 our contention that the curse of pauperism not only 
 shotild, but could be abolished, and that in a compara- 
 tively short space of time. It is the greatest blot on 
 the fair fame of our rich and great empire, and ought 
 to be finally erased and expunged from our system 
 before the end of this century. Teaching, preaching, 
 and praying, good as each and all of them are, will 
 prove of little use unless they make us determine to put 
 our shoulders to the wheel, — "God helps those who 
 help themselves," — not those who idly look on while 
 others suffer and toil. 
 
 I am most anxious that this amateur attempt at 
 authorship should arrest the attention of men and women 
 of influence in all parts of the United Kingdom, so 
 that they may study the scheme for themselves, and 
 improve upon it ; that they may become missionaries 
 of this cause in their own district ; speaking upon it, 
 advocating it publicly and privately, using their influence 
 with their local authorities and representatives, and 
 rombining as one man, hke St. Patrick amidst the serpents
 
 119 
 
 of old, in driving- out this veritable serpent, which exists 
 in our midst, of polluting", pestilent Pauperism, which, 
 like a neg^lected, infectious, contag-ious and hereditary 
 plag-ue, is seiziny in its poisonous fang's its million 
 \ictinis annually, whose piteous cries have hitherto been 
 unheard or stifled. Now, with the strong'est Government 
 in ofihce that any one living' has ever known, pledged (as 
 it is) by its supporters at the last election to carry through. 
 among-st other measures of " Social Amelioration,' some 
 scheme of "Old Ag;e Pensions,"' it is for us to urge them 
 on, and to so encouragfe and back them uj) in their 
 efforts, that, before the dawn of the twentieth century, 
 we may see this g^reat country in truth "blossom as the 
 rose. " 
 
 '^^^i;!^^^r^^f<^
 
 120 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Real and the Ideal. 
 
 npHAT the Poor Law and its administration has 
 * resulted in general dissatisfaction, is evident from 
 the fact that it was found necessary to appoint the 
 " Royal Commission on the Aged Poor." The com- 
 position of the Commission, and its mode of procedure, 
 have both been disappointing-. Charlks Dickkxs happily 
 hits off the well known hostility of the official mind to 
 reform of any kind, in describing the Circumlocution 
 Office, and the Barnacles family, with Lord Tite 
 Barnacles at their head I The proceedings of the Royal 
 Commission were private, and the witnesses called were 
 not fairly representative : while the official report is the 
 most unsatisfactory and contradictory document I ever 
 read. No wonder His Royal Highness the Prince of 
 Wales declined to sign either the Majority or Minority 
 Reports. 
 
 There was one universal and united howl of dis- 
 appointment throughout the length and breath of the 
 country, expressed by the Press, when the Report was 
 first published. On this question five of the most able 
 and earnest men ga\e vent, in plain terms, to their 
 dissent and disapprobation, using language as strong as 
 official courtesy allows. 
 
 The following quotations amply prove this : — 
 "That it does not proportionately represent public 
 opinion on the subjects remitted to us.'' — "The dis-
 
 121 
 
 satisfaction so largely felt and expressed in the 
 country, has been brought to our notice by selected 
 representatives, whose limited number gives no adequate 
 impression of the popular sentiment on the cjuestion : if 
 we deduct from the calculation, the proportion of paupers 
 over sixty-five to the total population of that ag'e, and 
 below, among the well-to-do, will be not less than three 
 out of seven, or nearly one in two (paupers)." — "We must 
 express our strong conviction that, even under the most 
 favourable circumstances, Poor Law Relief will be a 
 most unsatisfactory method of dealing with the deserving 
 poor in their declining years. " — "At the present time, the 
 objection to this form of assistance, prevailing among 
 the poor is very strong, and, in the case of in-door relief, 
 amounts to absolute loathing. The sentiment is credital:)le 
 to their sense of independence, and is due, largely, to 
 the feeling of degradation which is now associated with 
 the condition of a pauper." — " The Commission having 
 decided not to continue the present enquiry, we venture 
 to recommend that the further consideration of the best 
 means for giving effect to the ' widespread expectation ' 
 above referred to, should be at once undertaken by the 
 Government, or should immediately be remitted to a 
 Special Commission, less numerous than ours, and better 
 able to deal with the complicated technical details of the 
 subject in an impartial and scientific sjjirit." — "And that 
 it should lay down the jirinciples to which any scheme 
 shall conform, especially in relation to its financial aspect, 
 the amount of the funds recjuired, and the sources from 
 which they may be obtained, and its having bearing on 
 the encouragement of thrift and self-reliance," 
 
 The idial system of Poor Law, levies a rate on all
 
 122 
 
 occupiers of premises, to raise a g^eneral fund for the old 
 and incapacitated, those who are sick, out of work, 
 widows, fatherless, or orphans, and this is most com- 
 mendable. The nal system tells these unfortunate 
 people that they are ?i(i/ entitled to any such thinj^-, and 
 surely this is most detestable. If they ask for anythinfj' 
 out of the fund (however much they may have contributed 
 to it) they must, perforce, be punished for their mis- 
 fortune, and disfranchised, abjectly surrendering" all 
 self-respect. 
 
 The ideal says, out-door relief should be adequate ; 
 what the reality says, let the reader jud.g-e for himself 
 trom the London statistics : — St. Georg-e's in the East, 
 with 1093 paupers, would only allow relief outside the 
 Workhouse to 13 people; Stepney, with 1-118 allowed 
 26 : and Whitechai)el, with 1514 allowed 31. 
 
 The Commissioners had evidence, and state: — "It 
 has been admitted by witnesses of all shades of opinion 
 having- knowledg^e of the suliject, that the Application and 
 Report Rooks are in general, imperfectly kept." 
 " Some Relieving- Officers," says Mr. Knollys, "will take 
 half a pag-e of the Application and Report Rook, in 
 dealing- with the antecedents of every case ; and if you 
 look at the book of another officer, you will find the 
 columns nearly all empty,'' "and this latter, we fear, is 
 the more usual experience." Accordingly, when the 
 case comes before the Guardians, they " are therefore 
 c|uite unable to form a proper estimate in granting- 
 out-door relief, of the amount which should be given " 
 
 Moreover, the time given by Guardians to the con- 
 sideration of relief application, is often very inadequate. 
 One witness had asked a friend to time his Roard, and
 
 123 
 
 he sairl : — "We did 177 cases in one hour and eleven 
 minutes, and our Clerk informs me that our averag"e is 
 about 200, under the two hours." 
 
 Speaking- of due enquir}' as to applicants, the 
 Report says that the relievinof officers are too busy, 
 and the Guardians not disposed, to devote to this 
 question the requisite time, "and it has accordingly 
 come to the practice of many Boards of Guardians, 
 to give relief, in almost all cases, on a scale which 
 is clearly inadequate of itself for proper maintenance. 
 Thus we have heard, for example, that at St. 
 Pancras 4/- per week is the maximum ever given ; 
 at Birmingham, 3'-; in some Norfolk Unions, 26; 
 and it is rare to find a Union, in which it is not tin 
 exception to give sums which would suffice alone, to 
 provide even the barest necessaries ot life." 
 
 One humane inspector of the Local Government 
 Board, put the case concisely, when he said that the 
 Guardians were '' rtspotis/hlc, after accepting a person as a 
 pauper, for his being properly housed, clothed and fed. 
 They have no business to send him 2/- a week, and then 
 wash their hands of him. Half-a-crown a week is about 
 the out-side relief that is given to old people, and if 
 they have to pay i/- per week for rent, it cannot be 
 enough for them to live uj^on." 
 
 One witness, a clergyman, said he had known cases 
 of persons whose lives had, been actually shortened 
 through insufficiency of relief. 
 
 Thus indiscriminate, unequal, or arbitrary relief, only 
 tends to increase the growing discontent of the recipients 
 and of all others who understand their circumstances, 
 while it too generally leads to deception, dissatisfa'tion.
 
 124 
 
 and de^-radation among'st the poor of the country. We 
 propose to abolish out-door relief altog'ether, and so to 
 relieve the Guardians of duties, for the fulfilment of 
 which they seem to be unef|ual, or in which they have, at 
 all events, hitherto failed. They will have the entire 
 managfement of the Workhouse, and of everything- 
 connected with pauperism. 
 
 Everyone now in receipt of out-door relief could 
 and therefore would apply to the Pension Board, who, 
 with their larg-ely increased numbers, and higher 
 duties, the performance of which is not affected 
 by the question of Ratepayers (seeing- that there 
 is no rate levied) will fully consider every application, 
 and pay out to the deserving- the sums due to them, 
 under the scale legally laid down ; while those proved 
 undeserving must go to the Workhouse and become 
 paupers, this punishment being only their just due, as it 
 is also the just due of those who merit it, to lie pensioned. 
 The residuum- -who are such a stumbling-block — are 
 thus reduced in number and importance to their proper 
 position. There is no out-door pauperism, and the only 
 refuge, therefore, is the Workhouse, where they can 
 reflect on their position, and, like the Prodigal son of 
 old, repent, arise, and go out into the world again, 
 strengthened and resolved to do their duty. 
 
 The Poor I.aw was instituted for the purpose of pre- 
 venting starvation, and all in that condition will still be 
 cared for inside the workhouse ; but they will not be 
 allowed, in future, to disgrace, degrade, and defile, 
 innocent, honest, and industrious, but unfortunate people, 
 by enforced residence among them. To read the reports 
 of Poor Law Management, is enough to drive one wild.
 
 Ji5 
 The facts disclosed and admiltnJ, are more than enough 
 to prove a solid foundation for a charge of criminal 
 negligence and manslaughter. 
 
 Let us turn now to the in-door poor, and thf Work- 
 house. As has been pointed out, in some Unions, the 
 poor of every class and age can at present only be 
 relieved inside the Workhouse, no matter what may 
 be their misfortunes, or their condition, and with 
 no consideration whatever, as to how much they may 
 have paid in Poor Rates. The ideal Workhouse 
 looks well on paper, and on visiting days. The cleanli- 
 ness is all that one could wish; officers seem, generally, 
 humane ; the food is sufficient, according to the certified 
 dietary tables ; suitable clothing and bedding is provided; 
 and it appears as though, to use the ordinary phrase of 
 visitors, " the inmates are very comfortable." That is 
 the ideal. The reality is, the herding- together of people, 
 amongst whom are those whose bringing up, and 
 sensitive nature, will make them recoil from the enforced 
 companionship and contact with others of vicious and 
 repulsive temperaments. Their probable previous history 
 of loss, trouble, and disappointment is, to a respectable 
 man or woman, quite bad enough to bear, without this 
 addition to it ; and I have even heard people say, who 
 have tried both, that a prison is, in many cases, infinitely 
 l)referable to live in. 
 
 Sir Hugh Owen, the permanent Secretary to the 
 Local Government Board, says it is " essential that 
 <here should be such discipline and order, that a 
 person would not desire to go into the Workhouse, 
 if he could avoid it." Let us just consider a few of the 
 {)oints which make life so hard for those whose only
 
 126 
 
 crime is Poverty. Nursing- by other paupers; strict rules 
 to which old people have never been accustomed ; early 
 hours of rising, and long' intervals between meals ; large 
 rooms, where in winter few can get near the fire; old 
 people, who cannot masticate in equal degree or time, 
 treated in these respects as those younger; weight of the 
 food being no guarantee of its uniform cjuality, condition, 
 or cookery ; restraint in conversation in the presence ot 
 officers, whilst on the other hand, the horrible talk, &c., 
 at night, in their absence : dulness and monotony, 
 uncongenial associations and rude manners : besides, in 
 addition to all this, the deprivation of gratifying one's 
 own taste in the selection and cookery of the simplest 
 food. Surely it is little wonder if, to those subject to 
 such indifferent treatment, life seems scarcely worth the 
 living. 
 
 Our scheme would immediately rectify all these 
 anomalies and hardships. The relatives or friends of 
 these poor deserving creatures, would gladly, when 
 enabled by this means to afford it, take them out of the 
 dreaded workhouse, and receive them into homes more 
 consonant with their past habits and feelings. 
 
 It would not be difficult to give instances of cruelty 
 and hardship in connection with Poor Law administra- 
 tion : — '"Many witnesses representingtheworking"classes, 
 have expressed themselves strongly against the kiw and its 
 administration.'' Mr. Edwards stated a case of "two 
 men being summoned for not contributing to their 
 parents' maintenance, and though totally unable to pay, 
 they were sent to prison in default."' In regard to 
 settlement, an old man may have lived the greater part 
 of a lifetime, in one Union, possibly paying heavy Poor
 
 127 
 kates there, all the time ; but if from eausbs over which 
 he has no control, he is obliged to break his settlement, 
 he is then liable to be taken to his birth-])]ace, and made 
 a scandal to all his relatives, no matter how innocent he 
 may be of real wrong doing. Here also appears another 
 absurdity, in the way different Unions act. Whitechapel 
 does ii'H enforce it, whilst in Birmingham the law of 
 settlement is akviivs enforced, without reg'ard to age. 
 
 The Summary Report of the Majority, was signed 
 by ten members, ^\■ho all either made separate cjualifying 
 reports of their own. or did so jointly, in the Minority 
 Report. The Majority Report is inconsistent with the facts 
 adduced, and fails to comply with the terms of reference, 
 under which the Royal Commission was appointed: viz., 
 " Whether any alterations in the system of Poor Law 
 Relief are desirable, in the case of persons whose 
 destitution is occasioned by incapacity for work resulting 
 from Old Age, or whether assistance could otherwise be 
 afforded in those cases." 
 
 The Minority Report, signed by The Right Honor- 
 able J. Chamberlain, M P., Messrs. C. T. Ritchie, 
 H. Ma.wvell, W. A. Hunter, and Charles Booth, very 
 plainly points out the inaccuracies and incon- 
 sistencies of the Majority Report, which they did 
 not sign. They speak strongly against the evils of the 
 present system, and in regard to the puny i)roposals of 
 advising Boards of Guardians on certain points, they siiy, 
 "Assuming, however, that all the recommendations made 
 in reference to this head of our enquiry, were adopted 
 universally, by the authorities administering the Poor 
 Law, and that everything in reason were done to improve 
 the position of the Aged Pauper, we must express our
 
 128 
 
 strony conviction that, even under the most favourable 
 circumstances, Poor Law Relief will be a most un- 
 satisfactory method of dealing with the deserx'ingf poor 
 in their declining years."' Mr. Ritchie says: — "I do 
 not consider that any efficient means are suggested in 
 the report, by which it will be made operative. It is to 
 be left to Boards of Guardians to carry out or not, 
 as they think fit, and any interference with their dis- 
 cretion is expressly negatived, while at the same time 
 the report points out, that not unfretjuently Guardians 
 deal with cases that come before them, without sufficient 
 consideration, and without having before them the 
 material facts which should guide them in their decisions. 
 The report also expresses the opinion that relief given 
 is often inadecjuate. Under such circumstances, I fear 
 the recommendations in question will in many cases 
 remain a dead letter." 
 
 Henry Broadhurst, M.P., in a long separate report, 
 says : — "I believe that the time has now come for great 
 and fundamental changes in the provision for the Aged 
 Poor. The fact that 'a very large number of people 
 who have led ordinary, respectable lives, are in their old 
 age forced to go upon the Poor Rates,' is I feel, rightly 
 characterised 'as a scandal upon our civilization" 
 (quoting Mr. Chamberlain). " I gather from the 
 statistics placed before us, that throughout the United 
 Kingdom, probably 400,000 persons over sixty-five years 
 of age, have no l)etter provision for their old age than 
 the Workhouse, or the scanty dole of out-door relief, 
 both coupled with the stigma of pauperism." 
 
 I quote Mr. Broadhl rst, as he is the representative 
 of the Trade Unionists, who, I am sorry to sa}', are not
 
 iig 
 
 in favour of any scheme where the worker oi" recipient 
 has to contribute anything', while to my mind, the. failure 
 to pay the Premium would justify refusal of benefits. Of 
 course, confined to Old Age alone, there is some 
 justification, as I have before pointed out, because //lO' 
 have all along" J)a/d Poor Rates, and contributed to the 
 wealth and prosperity of the nation, both by their 
 industry and by rearing' families. There seems such a 
 g"eneral desire for a chang-e in the Poor Law, yet so 
 many important points causing' difference of opinion, 
 among-st the most experienced and capable public men, 
 that it seems to me a matter of simple common sense 
 that a law should be passed, applicable to the United 
 Kingfdom, but optional for Local Authorities to adopt or 
 not, as they choose ; such authorities would then be able 
 to proiY by practical experience, the soundness or reverse of 
 the scheme. 
 
 There would be no risk or liability, as the authorities 
 could only disburse such monies as they received. 
 Every quarter being- an epoch in itself, it would not 
 re(]uire more than a complete year to shew how the 
 people appreciated it, and, if successful, the system 
 would soon spread. The fre(iuent objection raised, 
 that the working' classes could not afford to pay. is 
 hardly crediljle, seeing' that they have over £200,000,000 
 invested in Co-operation and Building' Societies, Penny 
 Banks, etc. As to the lowest class, or the poorest, they 
 are to kee}) now, as paupers, be.gg'ars, burg'lars, or 
 prisoners, who are doing- nothing- in the shape ot 
 honoraljle work for themselves, and we mean to comptJ 
 them to do something'. Who knows but that Society, 
 having" first made them victims, has also made them
 
 130 
 
 vicious and revengeful, and that, in an ideal society, where 
 justice and etiuity ruled, they might not be entitled lo 
 claim damages, and get compensation for the treatment 
 that has made them what they are. Give them at least 
 a thana to redeem themselves, even though at present 
 they are a drag on society, and the plague of the land. 
 They may be the Prodigals, or we may have driven them 
 from home, but in any case it will be as much to our 
 interest as to our honour to take them in and feed and 
 clothe them. Christ, during His life on earth, was 
 constantly teaching these doctrines, and then as now, 
 those in authority could not or would not believe, 
 notwithstanding the simplicity and clearness of His words 
 and meaning. Officialism has had a long innings, and 
 made a poor score. 
 
 Sixty years' experience of Poor Law adminis- 
 tration has shewn that the system is not cheap, but, 
 nevertheless, very emphatically nasty. It offends the 
 moral sense of every right thinking man or woman : 
 it is not even a deterent or reforming influence; 
 it is, in short, the greatest blot on Britain's fair fame 
 amongst other nations. Britons, themselves, detest it, 
 and their indignation has smouldered long. The feeling, 
 though dormant, has always been there, and they have 
 awakened now to a sense of their duty and responsibility, 
 as the appointment of this Royal Commission proves. 
 Hence the almost universal adoption of "Old Age 
 Pensions " by Candidates of all shades of politics, at 
 the last General Election ; in Bradford and the district 
 we sent them to Parliament to carry out their pledges, 
 and now look to them as honest and sincere men (three 
 out of the four being new members) to pr"ve tluir sincerity
 
 ly bringing" in a bill, or otherwise supporting- one, on 
 the lines herein laid down, which will give to Bradford 
 and to every other District, the power to work out their 
 own salvation. 
 
 ^^W^
 
 "32 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Admissions and Explanations. 
 
 IT cannot be reasonably expected, that the reader 
 should id once accept every proposition advanced in 
 any one of these schemes herein explained. In reg'ard 
 to the Pension Scheme, every probable or principal 
 objection has, — so far as the main features of the 
 scheme are concerned, — been anticipated. During" the 
 present session of Parliament, it has been seen that 
 there is a g"eneral feeling- on both sides of the House 
 of Commons in favour of decentralisation, and in some 
 quarters, ag-ainst Government Grants or subventions of 
 any kind, from Imperial Funds. A^i passatil, it may be 
 pointed out what Government Grants have done, during- 
 the last half century, in Educational Grants, and the 
 g-reat development of local zeal throughout the country, 
 in covering" the land with schools, at a cost of some 
 £25,000,000, raised by voluntary effort, in addition to 
 voluntary contributions for management. 
 
 Whilst maintaining the sound doctrine that Parlia- 
 ment exists for the purpose of promoting the welfare of the 
 people as a whole, we hold that, as in Education, Sanitary, 
 Police, and other Grants, soespeciallyin aPension Scheme 
 for Old Age, Sickness, &c., such as this is, should the 
 nation in its collective treasury, give encouragement and 
 assistance, at least till the experiment has been tried, 
 wherever a District, County Council, Poor Law Union or 
 Borough, is prepared to adopt it.
 
 '33 
 
 Some superlatively sensitive and high-minded 
 working men, have expressed a most laudable sentiment 
 of independence and respect, by objecting- to 
 Government Grants of every kind, as being Pauperism 
 under another guise. If all men, and especially 
 working-men, were animated by such lofty ideas 
 of honour and duty, there would be no need for 
 writing this essay. As an alternative to the Government 
 Grant or a modification of its amount and incidence, it 
 might be dispensed with, altogether, and the Government 
 have no more to do with any district adopting it, or in 
 fixing the capitation levy, — either its amount, or the age 
 at which it shall commence, or the scale or other 
 conditions of payments to its beneficiaries, — then it has 
 to do with a Corporation, in its gas, water, streets, 
 salaries, &c., at the present time. To maintain and 
 coincide with the scheme herein worked out, it might be 
 advisable to retain the Poor Rate, and, in addition, 
 charge any further deficiency on local rates. It may be 
 pointed out that, in the case of banks, mills, warehouses, 
 shops, mansions, &c , the unconditional abrogation of 
 the Poor Rate would be actually making their owners or 
 occupiers, a present of large sums annually. They 
 could hardly object to be left in s/d/it quo, so far as their 
 total contributions to Public Rates are concerned, 
 especially as they are the people who subscribe to 
 Hospitals and Charities, which are made self-supporting 
 under this scheme. 
 
 It is admitted that the ideas embraced, and the 
 probable results and consequences, are far reaching, 
 and beyond the ken of casual thinkers or even 
 ordinary minds : but as, in constructing a new machine,
 
 '34 
 
 every proved principle of mechanics should be 
 observed and adhered to, and every bearing-, wheel and 
 spring-, to the very washer and pin be adequate and 
 exact in its place and working-, — so here, this Pension 
 Scheme must be complete and perfect in every detail. 
 Otherwise, there must assuredly come a break-down, and 
 the enemies of the scheme, like the Ludites of old, 
 would rejoice and say " I told you so," even if they were 
 not, like their prototypes, themselves the actual smashers 
 of the machinery. 
 
 It cannot be too often and clearly pointed out, 
 that the first great feature of the scheme is, that, under 
 ativ circumslances I he funds are raised by the people ivho 
 are to reap the benefits. The present Poor Rate is raised 
 by people who do not reap the benefits. They do 
 not desire the benefits, in fact, they dread being 
 obliged to accept them. They would pay the Premium 
 under this Scheme, under the same conditions as those 
 under which they now pay Insurance Premiums, or 
 Contributions to Friendly Societies, viz : for their own 
 advantage, and not for strangers, or for the man idly 
 standing at the street corner or lounging in the bar of the 
 public house. They must pay for themselves and draw 
 for themselves, every one alike, be he rich or poor. 
 
 If it be urged, as it constantly is, that "some 
 would who could not," and ■' some could who ivould 
 not" ; it seems a work of supererogation to point out 
 again, that those who could not pay the sevenpence per 
 week by reason of sickness or enforced idleness, would, 
 for that very reason, be draiving ; while those who either 
 refused or neglected to pay, when able to do so, would 
 be compelled io pay, as such as they are entitled neither to
 
 '35 
 leniency or sympathy, — in fact, to accord it. would be to 
 give a premium to roguery and idleness. 
 
 As all history tells us, the sun has shone and the 
 rain descended, upon the just and upon the unjust; 
 Pharoah and Herod slaying wholesale the first l)orn, 
 and the last born in every unoffending household ; 
 Jezebel and Ahab on the throne of David and 
 Solomon ; Nero at Rome ; and at our own door, in 
 our own day, Jabez Balfour in a Mansion, and 
 Bill Sykes at the Mill. The scum at the top, and the 
 dregs at the bottom, — it is for the Chef to skim and seive, 
 salt and season the simmering soup, and place before 
 John Bull a dish fit to be " set before a king," or other- 
 wise take his discharge ! His meals (John's) must surely 
 have been spoiled, and his stomach upset, on reading 
 reports in the daily papers of the abominations of Poor 
 Law administration and cruelty. I read the weekly return 
 of indoor and outdoor paupers in our Union ; and to think 
 that there are, in England and Wales 700,000 of these 
 miserable and degraded people, who need never have 
 been in their present condition — and it could not have 
 been had this scheme only been in operation in their 
 early life, — to read the horrible reports of the Barrack 
 Schools, and the cruel torture practised on innocent 
 children, — to see the mansions that have cost millions, 
 called Workhouses, where no work (worth calling work) 
 is done, — and finally to see a Royal Commission of the 
 most notable Lords and Commoners sitting /riv) ivv7/t, and 
 then taking- another year to issue a report in which they 
 abjectly confess themselves incojHpifcnl, and that they 
 have failed entirely to carry out the plain instructions re- 
 mitted to them in the terms of reference laid down on
 
 136 
 
 their appointment, — is, to say the least of it, dishearten- 
 ing*. The Commission was like the other g-ood man, who 
 went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among" 
 thieves ! — in this case, the Official Class thief. 
 
 I know it is foolish to yoke a Derby winner with 
 dray horses, which was the position of Mr. Chamberlain 
 and Mr. Ritchie on that Commission : but fairlv 
 handicapped, they will win on "Old Age Pensions" 
 and '■ Social Legislation,'" yet. 
 
 Let us now consider the question of the bad 
 tenant who refuses to pay his premium to his landlord. 
 The latter is entitled to every reasonable consideration, 
 seeing that we are asking' him also to make sacrifices and 
 render assistance in solving our present difficulties by 
 taking a census every quarter, collecting- the premiums 
 every week, month, or (juarter, and accounting for them 
 quarterly, to the Local Authority. As has been explained, 
 this has to be done without salary or commission, so he is 
 entitled to assistance from the Local Authority in the 
 discharge of his duties, in case of their becoming dis- 
 agreeable to him by reason of the behaviour of bad 
 tenants. As every Owner of Property knows, — who has 
 had niuch experience with Cottagers, — at present the 
 great difficulty with defaulting Tenants lies in the getting 
 rid of them. The writer knows of numerous instances 
 where the Bailiff has had a sovereign given to him to get 
 the key of a cottage ! It is proposed that the local 
 authority should step in, and give him possession of his 
 own premises. A Corporation, or Overseers, do not 
 hesitate to take out Distress Warrants for rates, whilst a 
 private owner hesitates and suffers loss, for fear of odium. 
 The ratepayers would justh' l^lame the Corporation or
 
 '37 
 Overseers if they did not do so ; otherwise a certain 
 section would always be in the list of irrecoverable 
 arrears, and escape payment, in which case others would 
 have to bear their neighbour's burden besides their own. 
 Speaking" from experience, there is no injustice in bring- 
 ing pressure to bear on a bad Tenant — quite the 
 contrary. It is suggested that, wherever the scheme is 
 adopted, either by a County Council, Corporation, or Poor 
 Law Union, the Authority should appoint a Public 
 Prosecutor to take proceeding's against defaulters among 
 Tenants, and also against Landlords in default. In that 
 case, the Landlord would demand the weekly or quarterly 
 premium for all on his premises who were liable, and if 
 any neglected or refused to pay, he would report to the 
 local authority full particulars, and pay the amount due, 
 when the local authority should be bound to take legal 
 proceedings through the Public Prosecutor, and to give 
 the Landlord possession of his premises by summary 
 ejectment. The Landlord is then relieved of a duty 
 which, under the present law is both costly, dilatory, most 
 disagreeable and irritating to all concerned, leading in 
 many cases to assault and riot, life-long animosity and 
 ill feeling between Landlord and. Tenant whose interests 
 ought to be identical and mutually beneficial. This 
 official is not down in the list of paid officers, as the 
 Local Authority could arrange for his salary, and he 
 could also have other duties and employment outside the 
 Pension Board, the costs received by the Board being 
 retained. This arrangement should commend the 
 scheme to all Property Owners, who otherwise might 
 hesitate to co-operate, or to support it. It would prove 
 of great advantage to them in so manv wavs, if thev
 
 1,38 
 would only study the subject thoroug-hly, besides assuring- 
 them of a more certain income from more solvent 
 tenants, i.e., in their sickness, in event of their being" out 
 of work, or in case of death, &c. The deserving hut 
 unfitrlunaie teiumt would not suffer, as he would be 
 assured ag^ainst all such calamities, while the really had 
 tejiants would be taken in hand by the Public Prosecutor. 
 
 Asked, as we frequently are, "What would become of 
 the Workhouses ? " we reply that they would be the 
 voluntary prisons for this class of bad tenants and 
 vag"abonds. The present Master and his Assistants 
 acting as Governor and Wardens, the Guardians 
 acting- as visiting- justices, and the inmates being set to 
 suitable work. They would thus be compelled to earn, 
 not only their own food and lodging-s, but also the cost 
 of the g'aol, until such time as they chose to reform 
 when they could leave and start life afresh. 
 
 As to the funds needed for the scheme specified, if 
 they are raised on the lines laid down, every item is 
 based on so much monev being raised for so 7?ianv lhousa7id 
 inhabitants. Whether a Government Grant is or is not 
 approved of by Parliament, the scheme could still be 
 carried out in the same way, if instead of a Grant, a 
 Rate be substituted, or else the present Poor Rate be 
 allowed to remain, aug-mented by a smaller Grant. 
 
 If a Grant were made, Parliament would retain 
 many important rights, such as that of enquiry into the 
 stability of Insurance Companies, and the hearing- of 
 complaints from localities, in Parliament, or at the Local 
 Government Board, &c. If Rates are decided upon, and 
 no Grant, then Parliament will have practically nothing 
 whatever to do with the management in any locality.
 
 It will be seen that the scheme as a whole has been 
 most carefully thought out with a view to the solution ot 
 many cruel and chronic difficulties and troubles, without 
 injustice or wrong being" done to anyone. It is meant 
 rather o assist everyone to secure the greatest good b\- 
 the least self-sacrifice, for the mutual advantage of each 
 individual, and greater blessing for all. Opposition and 
 objections to new ideas and propositions, in order to be 
 permanent should be pertinent, to be commendable, 
 reasonable, and to be logical, founded on facts not 
 fiction. As a rule the very opposite obtains ! Assump- 
 tions and prophecies which never come true, based on 
 ignorance and prejudice, too often prevail at least for a 
 time ; and the Pessimism which exists now, as it has 
 done throughout the ages, proves a sad stumbling block 
 in the path of all Social Reform. 
 
 Selfishness, entailing as it does a reckless indifference 
 to, and utter disregard for the welfare of others, brings 
 terrible attendant evils upon the whole community; and 
 yet it seems fo increase amongst us, instead of being, as 
 it ought to be, steadily and surely rooted out. 
 
 Most undoubtedly it is one of the chief sources from 
 which has sprung the awful state of affairs now in 
 existence — a depth of misery amongst our fellow 
 creatures, which we are scarcely able to fathom, much 
 less do away with. We want to realise our individual 
 respo?isihili(y towards each other, and towards every 
 human being with whom we may be brought ever so 
 remotely in contact ; and to make it our fixed rule to act, 
 under all circumstances to them, as we would wish them 
 to act towards us were our positions reversed. 
 Our action as a nation would then be united, and in
 
 1+0 
 
 questions great or small, political or social, individual or 
 collective, the force of Right over Wrong- would be 
 assured, ackno\vledg"ed, and proved to Ije for each and 
 all Policy of the soundest. 
 
 Mr. Atkinson, the orig-inator of this scheme, is a man 
 of g'reat ability and foresig-ht, and has for the last quarter 
 of a century concentrated his thoug;hts upon ways and 
 means to advance the general welfare of the nation. 
 For years his advocacy of a system of Parcel Post was 
 received with indifference and scepticism by the very men 
 he was trying to benefit, until at last he was fortunate 
 enough to secure the support of the then Member of 
 Parliament for Bradford, the Right Honorable W. E. 
 Forster. 
 
 Mr. Atkinson has also originated the present system 
 of Workmen's Tickets (Railway) ; and it may not, 
 perhaps, be considered out of place here, to draw attention 
 to the fact that, though far from well off in this world's 
 goods, he has received from Government no acknowledg- 
 ment or reward for his efforts on behalf of the general 
 public on these two occasions, though each measure has 
 proved itself to be an unbounded success. 
 
 The scheme herein explained in detail, which he 
 has orig-inated after much arduous labour, to meet and 
 solve the problem of Old Age Pensions, proves that he 
 is not easily discouraged, and one cannot but hope that, 
 whether successful in this further effort or not, his 
 name will be brought more prominently before the 
 public, and their appreciation of his work proved in a 
 practical and generous manner ; so that his cnvn old age 
 may be passed in peace and plenty, at least. 
 
 Every class, from highest to lowest, has largely
 
 141 
 benefitted by the Parcel's Post, while workmen benefit 
 daily, by their cheaper Railway Tickets. There- 
 fore, for these two benefits alone some rewiird is surely 
 due to the man who originated and broug^ht them into 
 use. In connection with the latter movement, Mr. 
 Alexander Atkinson was indebted to the kindness of Sir 
 Henry Mitchell, without whose assistance he would not 
 have been able to brings the matter forward in a 
 sufficiently forcible manner. And it is from him, and 
 from Eng'lish and Foreign Merchants, that all necessary 
 support and encouragement has been received by Mr. 
 Atkinson. 
 
 It is too much the custom to set down all men and 
 women of one class as being- stereotyped in two divisions 
 " g'ood '' or " bad." The Tory thinks the views of all 
 Radicals bad, while the Radical is certain that those of 
 all Tories are worse ! As has been already said, one 
 example, and that the worst, is g-enerally taken, and the 
 whole class degraded to that level. A Clergyman 
 commits some disgraceful act of immorality, and 26,000 
 clergymen are held up to opprobrium in infidel papers ; 
 so throughout the whole g-amut of society, ivc/r note in 
 the scale fails apparently to harmonise with the keynote 
 because one false 710 Ic has been introduced. 
 
 There is no class uniformly good or bad, whether 
 they happen to be prisoners, beggars, paupers, labourers, 
 traders, professional men, Commoners or Peers. Why 
 should we harp so persistently upon well-known and 
 admitted facts } Because they are deiily denied by 
 opponents of this Pension Scheme, — unconsciously or 
 ignorantly, perhaps, yet in practice denied. They con- 
 tend that if a man who is industrious and likes his work.
 
 Hi 
 
 and can earn 25/- per week to live in comfort, could 
 have his 12/- per week in sickness, he would always be 
 sick, or wishing- that he was sixty years of age to get 8/- 
 per week for life ! According to their theory, Friendly 
 Societies could never have existed, as every member 
 would in that case " throw on '' his Club, and exhaust 
 its funds. A small per centage of the members may 
 endeavour to do so, but no lodge is dissolved on that 
 account. Railway Companies do not cease running their 
 trains, because now and again they find a passenger 
 travelling without a ticket. The marriage festivities 
 were not suspended because one man had not on a 
 wedding garment. 
 
 The argument may seem superfluous or ridiculous, 
 but it is no more so than is this constantly reiterated 
 objection to the Pension Scheme. The Railway Company, 
 the Friendly Society, and the Host, enforce their law. rule, 
 or custom on the defaulter, just as we propose to do with 
 the obstinate and recalcitrant members of the community 
 who refuse to comply with the conditions laid down in 
 this scheme. 
 
 All that is asked for is, that any district which would 
 like to try it, shall have powers to do so granted by 
 Parliament. We have absolute confidence that the 
 results would pro\e satisfactory, and that the fame of 
 it spreading to other districts would cause it to become 
 first general, and finally universal, within a short space 
 of time. 
 
 In the awful colliery accident at Micklefield, a few 
 miles away, another lesson is given, as I write. Had our 
 scheme only been in operation, those poor fellows who 
 lost their li\es there, would have been assured of £iO
 
 H3 
 each, with which to help their distressed families ; and it 
 need scarcely be mentioned that the knowledgfe of this 
 fact would have at least mitigated in some measure the 
 anxieties of the entombed miners, and those of their 
 families, when the real position of affairs became known 
 to them. Trouble as to their immediate and prospective 
 needs, and how to provide for them, would have been at 
 once alleviated, while cciiainlv of present aid would have 
 been some slig-ht consolation in the midst of their grief 
 and distress. 
 
 The survivers number 138 women and children, of 
 whom thirty-eight are widows. The list of the Orphan 
 and the Fatherless Children, so far as I can gather at 
 the time of writing, is as follows : — 
 
 Age. 
 
 N 
 
 iiiiber. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Numbey. 
 
 Age. 
 
 Nuiiibi 
 
 I year 
 
 •• 
 
 14 
 
 6 years 
 
 •• 5 
 
 II years 
 
 •• 4 
 
 2 years 
 
 
 4 
 
 7 years 
 
 .. 8 
 
 12 years 
 
 •• 5 
 
 3 years 
 
 
 7 
 
 8 years 
 
 •• 7 
 
 13 years 
 
 .. 8 
 
 4 years 
 
 
 5 
 
 9 years 
 
 •• 7 
 
 14 years 
 
 •• 5 
 
 5 years 
 
 
 9 
 
 10 years 
 
 •• 'J 
 
 15 years 
 
 •• 5 
 
 Total Number of Fatherless Children, 102. 
 
 .Under this scheme, as already shewn. Orphan and 
 Fatherless Children are allowed 4/- per week till they 
 are thirteen years of ag'e, and the widows are also 
 provided for, so that out of the 138 cases for 120 of 
 them a provision would have been available a/ once, and 
 as a ri'^lil. Doubtless also, in such cases, the Local 
 Authority would not have scrupled to include the 
 remaining eighteen, or at least the eight over thirteen 
 who are supposed to be then able to earn their own 
 living (under the new Education Bill, fifteen is the age 
 for school, and this scheme would, of course, be modified
 
 144 
 to meet it). It is estimated that £20,000 will be required 
 to make the moderate weekly allowances which the 
 Trustees of the Fund raised for them propose to make, 
 (I) duriii',^ widowhood to the bereaved wives, (2) up to 
 the age of fifteen to the children, (3) during life to aged 
 parents or other infirm relatives dependent on deceased 
 miners, (4) during disablement to three men severely 
 injured and now in the Leeds Infirmary, and their 
 families. The objects aimed at in this are the same as 
 those we ourselves have proposed. 
 
 According to the Leeds newspapers, which are most 
 actively and nobly exerting themselves to provide the 
 funds, it is not proposed to ask the Lord Mayor of 
 London to open a Mansion House Fund, but to raise 
 what is recjuired in Yorkshire. Here, again, is the 
 proper feeling in the aggregate, which we claim for the 
 area, the district, and even the individual, viz. : sdf-hdp, 
 sdf-nliancc, and an indepcndeticc of spirit, which will 
 not stoop to appeal for outside assistance and is 
 ashamed to beg. 
 
 The very foundation of this scheme is laid, and the 
 structure reared upon that principle. Everyone of these 
 unfortunate people in their various categories would, 
 under it, have been reasonably provided for, out of a 
 fund to ivhich they had all equally cutitrihiitcd, and ta ivhich 
 provision all 7vcrc equally and alike erititled. Their feeling 
 in the matter would be the laudable one manifested by 
 the Yorkshire Committee and the contributors to the 
 fund, and that feeling is surely the proper one to be 
 cultivated and encourag'ed. It is the one insisted upon 
 throughout this entire scheme, as herein explained. 
 
 If these inhabitants of Micklefield had been spread
 
 over Yorkshire, in other Colliery Districts, and these 
 colliers had been killed separately, what would the 
 consequence have been then ? If no subscriptions had 
 been forthcomin.y for the Iiidi-oidual Fainily\x\ the various 
 districts to which they belong^ed, the position ot the 
 whole would have been precisely the same as if in this 
 case, no subscription had been started for the Micklefield 
 fund. The loss, suffering, and distress would have been 
 equally as great, though not concentrated in one place. 
 This terrible catastrophe has evoked universal sympathy, 
 because of its being' brought so prouiinmllv and i)istanfh 
 before the public, but, in all probability, little or no 
 interest in it would have been aroused had it been 
 dispensed in units, although the total sum of sorrow 
 must have been identically the same both in amount and 
 incidence. 
 
 The reader will comprehend that this Colliery 
 Disaster illustrates very forcil)ly what is proposed by 
 Mr. Atkinson in his Old Age Pension Scheme, which, if 
 adopted in the area of a County Council, Poor Law 
 Union, or Borough, would make provision for all living 
 within that area, each one individually assuring himself 
 or herself against any such calamity as this, as also 
 against trouble in all its forms, — children left orphans or 
 fatherless, sickness, old age, or death, thus rendering 
 alijccl appeals for charily unnecessary. 
 
 Yet, in spite of this, many are to be founfl even 
 among men who ought to know better and deeide 
 otherwise, who say the scheme is impractic^iblc ! When 
 asked "In what respect," they give the "omnilius"" answer, 
 '' In every respect ! " and when driven into each particular 
 corner of it, they invariably eiwA up by sa)ing, "people
 
 146 
 
 cvoiild not pay, or could not pay the sevenpence." They 
 do admit that it is hig-h time s"i>iclliifig should be done, 
 and that Poor Law Administration is bad, pauperism a 
 disgrace, and that doubtless some scheme of " Old Age 
 Pensions'' must and will be adopted! Do they then 
 expect the funds to drop from the clouds, like the manna 
 of old to the Israelites ? Or do they want a practical 
 scheme that explains itself in every detail, and would 
 prove its efficiency, or the reverse, by a sitigh Lxpcriiiunl 
 forthwith, and ivi thin a vay brief period r 
 
 Actuaries are apt to begin with the assumption 
 that the only thing recfuisite for them to work uul is how 
 to [jrovide 5/- per week as a Pension for those over 
 sixty years o( age. If that was all, the Annuity and 
 Insurance Tables would amply suffice. Statesmen and 
 Philosophers have found, however, that this comprises 
 a very small proportion of the matters they have to 
 take into consideration, and they are brought most 
 jirominently before the public notice in this Micklelield 
 ilisaster. 
 
 I cannot seiy if any of the thirty-eight widows are 
 sixty years of age, but whether they are or not, Mr. 
 Atkinson's scheme deals with them every one, on lines 
 analagous to those proposed by the Trustees of the 
 Micklefield P^und. 
 
 It is impossible at present to say what success or 
 general satisfaction may be given by the administration 
 of the £20,000 jjroposed to be raised during the (.oming- 
 Nears. or what is to be done with the surplus : and this 
 i-cuses another ijuestion. There are, at this moment, 
 sufficient unclaimed funds to meet every emergency of
 
 U7 
 this kind, were it so arrany^ed, and yet no effort is made 
 to do it. 
 
 A scheme is laid down to do the very work everyone 
 sees wants doing", and yet they Hstlessly sit still, and 
 " wish " it could be carried out ! It is as though 
 banquets were laid out for hungry guests (who say, at 
 least, that they are hungry), and they refuse even to 
 taste of them. 
 
 Under our scheme, surpluses in one district would 
 be applicable to districts deficient, therefore, when 
 adoi)ted universally and the whole of the United 
 Kingdom contributing", the surpluses in some parts would 
 cover the needs of others, and thus balance matters 
 equally. The Controller of Her Majesty's Household 
 would pay a minimum of 7/7 each quarter, not only for 
 Her Majesty herself, but also for every inmate of the 
 Palace, according to age, in the same way that each 
 individual in England must do, without distinction of 
 rank or class. 
 
 I cannot go into figures and facts fully regarding 
 Micklefield, not being sure if it be in Selby Union or 
 not, but I will give further illustrations to shew how the 
 scheme applies to all such scattered districts, by giving 
 a somewhat similar area, of whicn 1 have full details in 
 the Year Book of the North Bierley Union, Yorkshire, 
 which includes the scattered villages, hamlets and towns 
 surrounding Bradford. It is manufacturing, mining, 
 artisan, and agricultural, comprising 33,292 acres, and a 
 population of 138,906, the latter being now estimated 
 at 140,000 in round numbers, for my purpose. 
 
 Included are twenty townshijjs : — Pudsey on the 
 East, Denholme on the West, Itlle on the North, and
 
 14^ 
 Cleckheaton on the South. The distance across is some 
 twelve miles from point to point, having- the County 
 Boroug-h of Bradford in the centre, with its separate 
 Union. For several years I have pointed out to 
 Bradfordians, the great advantages that would accrue to 
 both authorities if they were amalgamated and formed 
 a city, by this means making- Bradford the most 
 important centre in Yorkshire, as to area, population, 
 and rateable value, and also, as it already is, for the 
 woollen trade. 
 
 There would thus be a more equitable and equal 
 system of taxation for local purposes, as, from the 
 position of Bradford (which provides these townships 
 with a marketj, it is dependent on some of them for its 
 water supply, the result being that in one (Denholme) 
 which has four large reservoirs, Bradford Ratepayers pay 
 a sufficient amount to meet the rates of that toivnship, thus 
 enabling large works, &c., to escape rates, or very 
 nearly so. 
 
 I merely point this out by the way, to shew how 
 inefficiently so-called Local Government is often in reality 
 carried out. Under this scheme, as I have (I think) 
 previously mentioned, the West Riding of Yorkshire 
 County Coitneil would be the authority (under the Imperial 
 Government), to deal with the North Bierley Union ; the 
 latter being divided, as it is now, into Townships or 
 Wards, and each electing a Pension Board consisting of 
 an equal number of men and women, in proportion to 
 the population of the whole, having- due regard to 
 acreage and value. 
 
 When the Pension Board was duly constituted, it 
 would take o\er the present outside Officers, i.e., the
 
 149 
 Doctors, Relieving Officers, Clerks, Assistant Overseers, 
 Registrars, Vaccination Officers, and School Attendance 
 Officers; and the additional Officers required might be 
 nominated by the Sick Clubs or Friendly Societies 
 situate within that area. 
 
 On the basis previously explained in the Statement, 
 as applied to the United Kingdom, and also as applied 
 to Bradford, the working is as follows : — 
 
 5,600 Pensions of 8/- per week for Single, or 12/- for Couples at 
 
 Sixty. 
 i.gGo Allowances of 12/- per week in Sickness, under Sixty Years of 
 
 age. 
 1,820 Allowances of 4/- per week for Orphans and Fatherless under 
 
 Thirteen Years of Age. 
 1,820 Cases of Out-door Tlelief below Sixty Years of Age (Paupers). 
 700 Cases of In-door Paupers (at present there are 2063 Paupers 
 
 in the Union, and it will be seen we provide for 2520.) 
 2,100 Deaths over Ten Years of age. Allowance £10 each. 
 1,400 Deaths below Ten Years of Age, Allowance ;^io each. 
 ^■7,000 Management Expenses. 
 /i,400 Medical Attendance. 
 ;^2,Soo Drugs and Appliances, Physicians Fees, &c. 
 
 Let the reader reflect on these figures and realise 
 their meaning; who are the people, and how many are to 
 have the benefits ? Take the first line — the aged, who 
 have borne the toil and heat of the day, and who ha\'e 
 paid Poor Rates for thirty or forty years for anybody's 
 benefit except their own. The second is a Sick Allowance 
 of 12/- per week tor all over sixteen years of age, thus 
 providing them against loss of wages, and giving them 
 extra comforts, as needful. The Out-door and In-door 
 Poor are the <»i/v people who deri\e any benefit from 
 the present system, 1 may be thought sarcastic in
 
 ISO 
 using" the term " benefit," because it is something" which 
 nobody is supposed to want ! If so, why is it that 
 everybody placidly pays without protest for something" 
 they do not want ! The Deaths, Manag"ement Expenses, 
 and cost of Doctors, Drujifs, &c., have been referred to, 
 and the reader can draw his own conclusions as to the 
 incalculable amount ot g"ood that would be done under 
 our system as compared with existing- circumstances, 
 under the present most inefficient one. There would be 
 in this area 15,400 persons deriving advantages that 
 could and would be appreciated, instead of the 2063 
 paupers who are such against their wish. 
 
 In the North Bierley Year Book 1894 — 1S96, there 
 are items of repaid relief; that for 1894 amounting to 
 £674 9s. 5d., and that for 1895 being £621 17s. 3d. 
 To the average Ratepayer, the full significance of 
 this may not be apparent, and he may wish to know the 
 meaning- of it. In plain English then it means this: — 
 If your father or mother, grandmother or grandfather 
 accepts relief, no matter however much they may have 
 previously paid in " Poor Rates " during a long- life, 
 these " Guardians of the Poor " -vould cotnpel you to refund 
 if, and the above figures shew to what extent they have 
 done so to those in the North Bierley Union. 
 
 You naturally ask (or a foreigner would under the 
 circumstances), " What do we pay Poor Rates for, if 
 not for the Poor?" — and the paupers 7)iusi be poor indeed 
 if they do manage to get relief. All these repayments 
 represent just so many cases of legal cruelty to descen- 
 dants and Ratepayers, and may prove in many cases 
 almost sufficient to pauperise them also, — at any rate, it 
 is one of the many causes of disloyalty and dissatisfaction,
 
 15' 
 
 It has otten been a puzzle to me, why working- men 
 should be so morose and bitter ag-ainst their superiors 
 (as they are called) or the powers that be. But when 
 you brin^ yourself into daily contact with them, and 
 know them thoroug-hly, you find out that they not only 
 know, but remember their wrong's. They have all their 
 lives put faith in votes, parties, and promises, and yet, 
 scandals such as the one alluded to, remain. Tiny 
 cannot see how such things can be altered themseh'es, 
 but they keep on hopefully sending- men to Parliament, 
 to Councils, School Boards, Board of Guardians, &c., 
 imagining- that they do sec and understand all this, and 
 will therefore be able to remedy the e\'il for them ; l)ut 
 no, there is always the same old product — nothing-, — till 
 their patience is well nigh worn out. 
 
 The reader who has tried to thoroughly understand 
 this scheme, and is inclined to appreciate and support it, 
 may perhai)s see better how it works out, if stated in 
 another way. For each person there is to be raised 10/4 
 or £9 Is. 3d. for each hundred inhabitants, (luarterl)-. 
 
 In proof of the absolute inefficiency of the Royal 
 Commission, the Rig-ht Honorable J. Chamberlain, M.P., 
 Charles T. Ritchie, Herbert Maxwell, W. A. Hunter, and 
 Charles Booth speak very strong-ly on the subject. They 
 say in the opening- sentence of their separate Rei)ort : — 
 "We are of opinion that the recommendations in the 
 preceding' report are inadec[uatc, and do not go so far as 
 the evidence before the Commission would warrant 
 While recog-nizing" that the Report contains a full 
 summary of this evidence, we must express our conviction 
 that it does not proportionately represent public opinion 
 on the subjects remitted to us in round figures.
 
 '52 
 
 three in ten of the total population above sixty-five are 
 compelled to apply for Parish Relief during the twelve 
 months. The significance of these figures is increased 
 when we remember that probably one-third of the 
 population belong to well-to-do classes, which do 
 not furnish many additions to the list of paupers. If we 
 deduct them from the calculation, the proportion of 
 paupers over sixty-five to the total population o\'er that 
 age, and below the \\ ell-to-do, will be not less than three 
 out of seven, or nearly one in two." We emphatically 
 agree ^^•ith the paragraph in the Report which says ; — 
 "Making every allowance for the cjualifications which 
 we have enumerated, we cannot but regard it as an 
 unsatisfactory and deplorable fact that so large a pro- 
 portion of the working-classes are, in old age, in receipt 
 of poor relief,"' 
 
 One satisfactory item has been gained, however, 
 from the labours of the Royal Commission on the Aged 
 Poor, and that is the appointment of a " Committee of 
 Experts to devise or recommend some scheme of Old 
 Age Pensions for adoption by Parliament." Let us hope 
 that their efforts will receive every support and encourage- 
 ment, and that before long they may be in a position to 
 solve the difficulty in a way that will meet all exigencies 
 of the case and give general satisfaction. 
 
 May I be allowed once more to suggest that Mr. 
 Alexander Atkinson, if given the authority to do so, 
 would solve the difficulty as Rowland Hill did that of the 
 Penny Postage. 
 
 In a case of this kind, it is necessary to consider 
 every detail that may concern the public as a whole ; to 
 have a mind strong, unbiassed, and free from prejudice ;
 
 153 
 and to be able to gfrasp and face the possibility of great 
 changes in existing laws and regulations, if requisite for 
 the improvement and advantage of the peo[)le. 
 
 All great social problems have been matters of 
 great difficulty, and their successful solution has depended 
 and always will depend larg'ely upon the earnest 
 co-operation and sympathetic assistance of nrry class 
 affected thereby. 
 
 Once let class distinctions be laid aside, and each 
 individual, in his or her own particular sphere, do his or 
 her utmost to understand and solve the ciuestion, and 
 take some practical interest in it, and we shall not hear 
 so much as we unfortunately do at present, of mismanage- 
 ment, incompetency, or delay in dealing with mattters of 
 moment and importance. 
 
 ->-^^^^
 
 154 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Common Objections. 
 
 npO fathom the depth and measure the extent of this 
 *■ vast subject of Social Amelioration, and to g'ain 
 the best education and training on the subject, one must 
 stand before mixed audiences and invite cjuestions and 
 discussion, after having spoken for any length of time, 
 from one to three hours, making every effort to be clear, 
 concise, logical, and above all, to use the plainest and 
 most simple language. 
 
 This, which to some people would prove the greatest 
 test of patience, ought to be, in reality, the greatest 
 encourag-ement ; the larger the number of ciuestions 
 asked and opinions expressed, the greater the proof that 
 a general interest, and that of a practical character, has 
 been created in the subject. Also, a splendid opportunity 
 is then given to the speaker for converting unbelievers, 
 and making missionaries of the converts, so that they 
 may spread this new gospel of goodness far and wide. 
 
 Naturally, the most trying questions and contentions 
 come from the most ignorant or most prejudiced people. 
 As illustrating this, a man once sent up to me the 
 following query: — "Can the speaker point out one 
 single Insurance Company that is solvent.^" After 
 explanation of the Table of Mortality for life risks, 
 compiled by the Institute of Actuaries ; Mr. Finlayson's 
 Government Annuity Table, 18S4; and Dr. Farrs 
 English Life Table, &c. ; besides pointing out the rare
 
 '55 
 instances of failure, or winding" up in liquidation, the 
 questioner rose up ag"ain smiling", and said he meant " if 
 all the Policy Holders died off at once — immediately ? '" 
 My reply was that, presuming this strange event should 
 happen, it would certainly be the Last Day ; it would, 
 therefore, be of no consequence whether Insurance 
 Companies were solvent or insolvent, and the only anxiety 
 about the matter which would trouble me personally, 
 would be as to whether or not I was fully insured 
 against fire hereafter ! 
 
 Irritated by the laughter of the audience, the querist 
 maintained that he had " not got a proper answer to his 
 question.'" It was, therefore, pointedouttohimthat, solong 
 as the British race continued to fulfil the first command, 
 " Be fruitful and multiply,'' and that the birth rate was 
 higher than the death rate, and that Insurance maintained 
 its popularity, there was no need to fear failure, either by 
 shareholders or policy holders, and the cjuestioner then 
 expressed his satisfaction and gratitude. 
 
 A more difficult question arises when asked. "What 
 is to become of Friendly Society Lodges with old 
 members, and no young members entering." The only 
 solution to this problem is dissolution and division of 
 assets pro rata amongst the members, as this scheme 
 would not only answer their purpose better, but give 
 greater advantages on easier terms. 
 
 I can only repeat that this scheme is not intended and 
 ought not to injure Friendly Societies in an}- way. On 
 the contrary, it assists them in various ways — relieves^ 
 them of their old members at sixty years of age, who 
 are dragging them down ; also of their sick members, 
 by giving them 12- a week; and of their jiresent rinli
 
 156 
 Doctors' Salaries, besides giving- every member £10 at 
 Death. It does more, — it releases them from the necessity 
 of paying Poor Rates, as they do now, for the very class 
 of men who refused or negiected to join their Lodges 
 and who, therefore, have become paupers, — because 
 under this scheme they will in future be all adequately 
 provided for. 
 
 The only equitable alternative would be that 
 members should be either kept in benefit at their 
 respective lodges by the Local Authority, in the same 
 way that Policy Holders are to be kept insured, or that 
 both should receive the surrender value ot their interest 
 in the society or company. 
 
 If it be urged that this means a vast amount of 
 official investigation and labour, it should be remembered 
 that there are a vast number of people to do it, and that 
 a subdivision of labour by the Ward Committees and 
 Managers, could easily be arranged, and also that every 
 case once settled is done with, thus reducing the work to 
 small dimensions nltimately. 
 
 Another asks : — " Why not make the scheme 
 voluntary-, like Mr. Chamberlain's scheme?" Because 
 though there are already established many excellent 
 facilities, such as Friendly Societies, Post Office Annuities, 
 Savings Banks, &c., the people ivho are most in need of some 
 provision tor their Old Age, Sickness, or Death, 7cill not 
 join these, or avail themseh'es of their advantages; there 
 remains, therefore, no alternative but compulsion. 
 
 If these people would adopt some voluntary system, 
 there would be no need of compulsion, or scheme of any 
 kind. It is in order to bring the negligent, idle, and 
 improvident people to a sense of their duty, that we ask
 
 i5? 
 for this scheme to be estabhshed as an Act of Parliament, 
 so that they may be compelled to make some proper 
 provision tor times ot misfortue, old age or death. 
 
 Then agfain, it is asked, "Where are people like 
 these to get their sevenpence per week from ? " May it 
 not well be asked in answer, "Where do they get their 
 money for beer and tobacco, kc. ? " Have not authors, 
 as amateur casuals, told how men live in common lodging 
 houses and thieves' kitchens, where a breakfast of ham 
 and eggs is no uncommon meal ? 
 
 Not only this class, but the deplorable yet nevertheless 
 pestilent idle youth, who loafs about the streets and 
 alleys, — how is he g'oing to pay sevenpence per week 
 where he sleeps ? Again we ask in answer, where does 
 he get his shilling per week to put on a horse race ? 
 Nay, are we at present even frving to make them do 
 anything, or suggesting- to them to do so? Is there any 
 one officer of the state or municipality possessing any 
 power to demand aiiyfhing from them for their own 
 support ? 
 
 What is the use of talking to them, when they 
 neither will hear nor care so long as we tacitly allow 
 them to drive their parents to the relieving officer or the 
 Workhouse ? Just as such youths make good soldiers 
 when drilled and disciplined, and impressed with the 
 fact that they have their duty to perform, so it is only 
 reasonable to expect that, when brought into line with 
 decent people who take an interest in them, and are 
 anxious to give them a chance, and who will take the 
 trouble to see that they get fair play,- -/.c, work if they 
 can find it, they may then become a help instead of a 
 hindrance.
 
 158 
 
 Another common objection is that, " If people could 
 hdve 12 '- per week in sickness, they would never work." 
 Leaving- out the fact that the average men and women — 
 aye, three out of every four or more of Engdish people — 
 are proverbially good workers, and miserable when they 
 are out of work or even on short time, it may be pointed 
 out that imposters could not but be easily detected, and, 
 in that case, no allowance would be granted excepting- 
 inside the Workhouse, where they would be made to 
 work. 
 
 This objection would, therefore, not hold g"ood, even 
 for a small percentage of the working-- class population. 
 For the rest, assistance may be absolutely necessary for 
 some people at all times (such as cripples, &c.), and for 
 all people sometimes; but certainly //"/ for all people all 
 the time. 
 
 Accidents, epidemics, and other adverse circum- 
 stances which are beyond our control often happen, and 
 those who have the good fortune to escape, have too 
 often little care or thought for the feelings and sufferings 
 of those who are victims of misfortune. 
 
 The man who has never fallen down a hoist and 
 been ])icked up for dead, for instance, cannot realise the 
 feelings of the man who has. A man may spend a 
 lifetime in any honourable calling, doing his duty to 
 everyone, — his family, his neighbours, his parish and its 
 cliurch or chapel, the school, an 1 in e\ery other 
 most praiseworthy manner, — yet circumstances he can 
 neither avoid nor control, may combine to ruin him. 
 Those he trusted may prove worthless, and then his 
 (so-called) dearest friends, for whom he has probably 
 made great sacrifices, in whom he had perfect confidence. 
 
 I
 
 159 
 and whose friendship he has hij^hly valued, too often 
 refuse to know him as soon as he can do no more for 
 them. 
 
 Men exist for the g"ood of one another; therefore, 
 those who are our judges, teachers, preachers, writers, 
 and rulers, ought not only to be great students, but to 
 have an actual and intimate acquaintance with the 
 complex problems of every day life, and with the great 
 movements of society. They should have a clear and 
 keen insight into human nature, with its varied pro- 
 pensities, passions, and powers ; always bearing in mind 
 the effect upon it of the restraints of the laws and customs 
 made and created by fallible men ; also that many of 
 these were intended for quite different conditions of life 
 in past times, so that compliance may, in some cases, 
 now mean injustice and cruelty to others. 
 
 The chief aims in the administration of the affairs of 
 a nation, and those which have been kept most con- 
 stantly in view throughout this scheme are, (i) The 
 prevention of injustice and wrong to, and (2) the 
 advancement and imj)rovement of, each individual in 
 cvcQ' class of society. 
 
 Can the British nation conscientiously say to all the 
 fathers and mothers w ho are in the Workhouse or on the 
 Relieving Officers' Books, to its Crimean, and its t ivil or 
 industrial veterans, who are either there also, or otherwise 
 suffering" great [privations, that it //ds fulfilled its duty to 
 ihem ? 
 
 'l"hc EnglishnitUi has this curse of pauperism cast in 
 his tceih in America, on the Continent of Europe, and 
 ihe w hole world over. 
 
 Righteous laws, and, what is mure important still.
 
 t6o 
 
 their rig-hteous administration, coupled with the social 
 amelioration of the condition of the unfortunate portion 
 of the people, are the safest, surest, and only guarantees 
 for the peace, prosperity, and honour of the empire. 
 Reminiscences and reflections stir up feelings which 
 dominate the pen, whether the sentences be opportune 
 or otherwise, but let it not be thought that any impassioned 
 appeal for mercy, forbearance, or charity, is intended 
 here. We contend only for justice to those so long' denied 
 it, and for the prevention of the possibility of any 
 recurrence of such misery in the future history of the 
 English people. 
 
 The manliness and independence which characterise 
 the spirit of the British nation, are aptly c^uoted in all 
 the reports of the Royal Commission on the Aged Poor; 
 and the object of the present proposals is to evoke it, to 
 encourage, and to develop it. 
 
 Surely no better way to accomplish this end can be 
 imagined than to ask all to practise it, individually, for 
 themselves, and to contribute as much as they can while 
 able to do so, in order to realise and secure their own 
 independence, thus preventing any possibility of their 
 being eventually obliged to rely upon charity. What 
 better means can be adopted than that of teaching the 
 children of ten years of age the first lessons of thrift 
 and forethought by making them pay their half-penny, 
 and those of sixteen their penny, for thtir oioi support in 
 case of need, and by this means preventing the possibility 
 of their ever being degraded as paupers ? Every year's 
 return of pauperism must under our conditions shew a 
 decrease, and there can be no doubt that, in the very
 
 i6i 
 
 next generation, the nation would see wiped tiway for 
 ever this dark spot on Eng"land's fair fame. 
 
 Another very general objection raised is, " That if 
 people are insured in this way against sickness, old age, 
 want of employment, and death, they will be indifferent 
 and improvident." 
 
 There is a story told, that I remember reading fifty 
 years ago, of a table cloth that cost a fortune. When 
 bought and put on the table, it made everything- in the 
 room look shabby, so new furniture of all kinds had to 
 be bought to correspond with it, till at last a new mansion 
 to match the whole became necessary ! 
 
 The moral applies. Evoy step i?i advance, from the 
 first rung of the social ladder, can only lead upwards and 
 onwards ; the fact is patent everywhere, and not least in 
 the houses and furnishings of the thrifty and industrious 
 working men. 
 
 The too common mistake of judging any class of 
 men by the standard of its loivcst members, and fixing 
 and declaring it to be the average or general standard 
 of the whole, is, it will be readily admitted, most unjust 
 and unfair. Conscientious men of education or even 
 common sense, may say that this objection is too trivial 
 to be worth mentioning, but it has nevertheless been urged 
 by men whose position in business or society would lead 
 one to hope for and expect from them better judgment. 
 
 If there is a percentage of the population, whose 
 neglected education, or perhaps a natural indifference to 
 any improvement, be it moral or material, makes them 
 contmt to remain mere drudges, — " hewers of wood and 
 drawers of water " — for the rest, let them at least feel 
 that they have justice done them. Let them have laws
 
 l62 
 
 and regulations for their daily life, which commend 
 themselves to their judgment and enlist their cheerful 
 acquiescence, whereby their independence and self- 
 respect is secured, and for which they will pay their 
 just contributions. 
 
 If this scheme was in universal operation, it could 
 be seen immediately how far the objections to it could be 
 maintained, or else proved worthless. 
 
 First, by the universal census and the variations of 
 that census, not only as a whole, but in every district ; 
 a matter which is of far more importance to politicians 
 and sociologists than it would at first sight seem to be, 
 as they are all hampered in their efforts to prove their 
 theories, for want of such reliable statistics. 
 
 Many matters affecting the condition of the poor, 
 etc., can only be guessed at, as there is no reliable or 
 recognised authority, even as to the standard rates of 
 wages. In London, 21/- per week is taken as a fairly 
 regular family income among'st the jioorer classes, and it 
 is estimated that there is 31 per cent., or, including- those 
 in institutions, one third of the population living at this 
 rate. 
 
 This is the only data economists have, on 
 which to base their calculations and measurements of 
 the poverty of the Metropolis, or for the county at large, 
 and the regret is constant and universal that there is 
 such a lack of substantiated facts, estimated figures being 
 so very often misleading. 
 
 The cjuestions of the unemployed, strikes, depressed 
 local industries, colliery explosions, and other great 
 calamities, epidemics, &c., are Poor Law Returns and
 
 i63 
 
 and orgiinisud trades statistics, inevitably of course, 
 leaving" out vast numbers that are never accounted for. 
 
 The Pension Board now proposed, would supply 
 full and reliable particulars, each and every quarter. 
 
 It is commonly held by educated and well-to-do 
 people, that there is a great decrease in pauperism and 
 poverty at the present time, and has been since the 
 beginning of the last half century. I have elsewhere 
 given the exact figures in regard to pauperism. The 
 contention is, that increased wages and the enhanced 
 purchasing power of those wages, have effected this 
 (supposed) improved state of affairs. As to the decrease 
 in pauperism, that, I fear, is what the Guardians make it^ 
 just as some maintain that crime is what the policeman 
 makes it. 
 
 As was pointed out in the list of London Unions, 
 St. George"s-in-the-East (so far as out-door relief is 
 concerned) tries to abolish pauperism by refusing to 
 grant any relief, but that fact does not prove that poverty 
 is abolished ! Nor does it give any account as to what 
 has become of those poor people who have refused to 
 go into the Workhouse. Many of them have denied 
 themselves actual necessaries, and hoarded every copper 
 they could get in order to prevent death coming in the 
 near future through actual lack of food. 
 
 The manufacturer complains of no market being 
 available for his productions, whilst at his very door 
 there are 100,000 people in desperate need of food, 
 clothing, and household g-oods of all kinds, if only they 
 could find work which would enable them to earn the 
 money to buy them. 
 
 To lead Parliamentary debates and proceedings.
 
 Jb4- 
 daily Newspapers, Periodicals, and gener^il Litereiture ; 
 to know that there are Sermons, Addresses, and Lectures 
 by the million regularly delivered ; and then to see the 
 deplorable state ot the poor, makes one doubt if there 
 be any sincerity in the land at all, and whether it is not 
 all just the veriest hypocrisy. 
 
 Why do not the Members of Parliament who made 
 so much use in their election addresses of '' Old Age 
 Pensions," bring in a Bill ? People constantly and 
 persistently aver that Parliament ought to do so. Again 
 and again it has to be pointed out that Parliament is the 
 servant of the nation, or, as Lord Salisbury said, and as 
 I have quoted at the beginning of this book, it "exists 
 for the social amelioration of the people." 
 
 The people are, or ought to be, adequately repre- 
 sented by the members they return to Parliament, and 
 the Government of the d^iy and the officials are engaged 
 in their service. In Municipal affairs, however, this 
 order is too often reversed, and also, I fear, in Imperial 
 affairs. 
 
 Another objection urged against anything being 
 done, is the great increase in charitable societies and 
 institutions such as Charity Organisation Societies, 
 Cinderella Clubs, Orphanages, Almshouses, Tradesmen's 
 Homes, &c. ; in fact, the sum total of these is said to be 
 eleven millions, or equal to the entire amount of the Poor 
 Rate. In addition to all this, there is the great and 
 unknown amount of private charity, which is only 
 recorded in the sealed books of the great hereafter, by 
 One Who says, " Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the 
 least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me." 
 
 Politicians and optimists point out to us all of these,
 
 165 
 and say that the questions are '-rig-hiing- themselves." 
 Yet are not the terrible spectres of Pauperism, Poverty, 
 and the Unemployed here with us still ? 
 
 The "General Report on the Wages of the Manual 
 Labour Classes in the United Kingdom," recently issued 
 by the Board of Trade, gives an interesting table of 
 wages as follows : — 
 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women. 
 
 Lt 
 
 ids and 
 
 Boys. 
 
 Girls. 
 
 Half-timers 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 iig 
 
 
 27-2 
 
 Under lo/- 
 
 . . O'l 
 
 260 
 
 
 497 
 
 
 62-5 
 
 lo/- to 15/- 
 
 .. 24 
 
 500 
 
 
 325 
 
 
 8-9 
 
 15/- to 20/- 
 
 .. 21-5 
 
 i8-5 
 
 
 5-8 
 
 
 1-4 
 
 25/- to 30/- 
 
 .. 242 
 
 01 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 30/- to 35/- 
 
 .. iiG 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 35/- to 40/- 
 
 .. 4.2 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 Above 40/- 
 
 .. 24 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 The above are sa?iiplfs only, i.e., voluntary returns from 
 organised trades. 
 
 The R<)}al Commission takes these figures as if 
 they applied to all trades, and draws various conclusions 
 from them that do not apply to the Icnvest <^rade of 
 occupations —out workers, small workshops, and casual 
 labourers, who receive the lowest rate of payment — as 
 Sir R. GiFFEN says, "The people who do not come into 
 regular employment, the casual people, would hardly 
 come into returns of this kind." 
 
 There are probably more than a million shopmen and 
 women not included, and the low wages they now work for, 
 as compared with those of former times, is most 
 remarkable. This is chiefly accounted for by the in- 
 creasing preference given to females, and the wages 
 range from ^,1 down to 29 per week.
 
 i66 
 
 The returns quoted Ix-ino- voluntary were, of course, 
 given only by the best class of employers who were 
 paying the best wages, as those paying at the lowest rate 
 would naturally be ashamed to own it. 
 
 Sir R. Giffen was asked the question, " You have 
 reason to believe that the 143,000 respecting whom you 
 have returns (cotton manufacturers) are a fair average of 
 the 504,000 enumerated in the factory returns?" Answer, 
 "That is so, there being no selection in the matter." 
 Whilst there was no selection in sending out the forms to 
 the cotton manufacturers, there seems to have been a 
 decided selectioti in the returns, as nearly three-fourths mad<. 
 no return at all ! 
 
 Royal Commissions and their proceedings and 
 reports are very trying ; the plain issues become con- 
 fused, and the reports misleading and contradictory. 
 They are a most excellent contrivance for Governments 
 of procrastination. Take that of the " Royal Commission 
 on the Aged Poor," already referred to and quoted from. 
 The Commission sat from February 7th, 1S93, till 
 February 26th, 1895, with the result that there was a 
 Majority Report, with which five of the most prominent 
 members disagreed, and these issued a Minority Report, 
 regretting the lame and impotent conclusions arrived at, 
 as did several other members in their own separate 
 reports. 
 
 Much discussion arises over decrease in prices of 
 food and commodities and the great increase in rates of 
 wages. V? 
 
 Tables of prices are not to be relied upon, when ^ 
 quoted as wholesale or first cost, as this makes no relative 
 difference in price to poor people ; in fact, in some cases, 
 
 I
 
 i67 
 quotations for the raw material are utterly fallacious, 
 even in goods required by all classes. 
 
 Take the price of wool in the fleece. The same 
 class of wool has, for long' periods, been quoted at lod. 
 per lb., whilst at others it has been 2/-; and a Royal 
 Commission or Board of Trade Clerk would therefore 
 imagine that he ought to get a pair of 15 - Blankets 
 made from the 2/- per lb. wool, and when that wool was 
 quoted at lod., for less than 7/- per pair! In reality, 
 however, as every housewife knows, the rates of payment 
 for blankets, flannels, shirtings, stockings, &c , have 
 never varied to anything like the same extent as has the 
 price of wool. 
 
 Whilst on this subject of the economic conditions of 
 labour and poverty, and the conclusions arrived at by 
 officials and others who are not intimately accjuainted 
 with a poor working-man's position, let us just take 
 Bradford as being the centre of the world for dress 
 goods made from wool, worsted, mohair, alj^aca, &c. 
 
 The price per yard on the average of goods sold, is 
 more than double what the price was twenty years ago, 
 reckoning the raw material at the same price. Thus the 
 increase of wages does //o^ mean a corresponding 
 purchasing power. 
 
 Under ^the old conditions, when Bradford Manu- 
 facturers were all entered for a race of low priced g'oods, 
 and were actually selling goods at a penny per yard, 
 while the winning- post was, as a rule, the Bankruptcy- 
 Court, a poor man could dress his wife and several 
 daughters for the same cost as is now necessary to dress 
 ovf daughter. The average price per yard of Bradford
 
 i68 
 
 floods then, would be less than i/-, to-day it is 2/- or 
 more. 
 
 It is surely more to the interest of Bradford 
 Manufacturers that the poor should be enal)led to buy 
 their surplus dress g^oods, than that they (the Manufac- 
 turers and Merchants) should themselves be compelled 
 by the Overseers to pay Poor Rates in order to maintain 
 those who, under our scheme, would be enabled to 
 become purchasers. 
 
 Another factor in the purchasing- power of wag^es in 
 large towns is the house rent, which is generally double 
 or treble that of county districts. (In another chapter 
 
 1 propose sketching an Artisan's Dwelling's Bill which 
 would meet the difficulties of the poorest cottager.) 
 
 The well-to-do on the whole get most of the benefits 
 of low prices, as luxuries are certainly cheaper, though 
 necessaries, such as rent, coal, &c., remain dear. 
 
 Previously, in this book, it has been contended that 
 the great sums deposited in Building Societies, Co- 
 operative Societies, Post Offices, and Penny Banks, 
 amounting to £200,000,000, prove that the people as a 
 general rule could well afford to pay sevenpence per 
 week for a National Pension Fund, in which they could 
 insure themselves against sickness, want of employment, 
 old age and death, and that there would only be a very 
 small percentage who might find it a hardship. It is also 
 estimated that the large sum mentioned, only represents 
 
 2 per ce?iL of the accumulated wealth of the nation. 
 This certainly shews the enormous advancement which 
 has been made, whilst at the same time paying- off such 
 a large portion of the National Debt since the Peninsular 
 War, but it at the same time brings to mind an ever
 
 169 
 present ghastly contrast, in our pauperism and poverty. 
 
 The lowest classes require raising", and must be 
 given increased chances of doing as their more fortunate 
 brothers 'and sisters have done, and gaining a footing 
 upon the highroad to prosperity. As Sir R Giffen 
 says, "There is a residuum that does not improve much, 
 and hardly, by comparison, seems to improve at all; but 
 this residuum certainly diminishes in proportion, and 
 probably diminishes in absolute amount, from century to 
 century, and from period to period." 
 
 According to one of the Blue Books (The Select 
 Committee on Local Relief Measures), replies were 
 received from 1574 districts, representing a population 
 of 26,591,394 persons, and it was found that in 920 
 districts, representing 10,291,600 persons, there was, at 
 the time, no exceptional distress. In 475 districts, with 
 a population of 11,792,527 persons, there rvas exceptional 
 distress, due solely to the severity of the winter; and in 
 179 districts, with a population of 4,507,267 persons, 
 there was, apart from the want of employment due to 
 the weather, an exceptional want of employment owing 
 to slackness of trade, depression of agriculture, and to 
 particular local and industrial causes. 
 
 The Committee point out that there exist statutory- 
 powers, under which Boards of Guardians might set 
 poor persons to work at certain usages, but such powers 
 cannot be used until rules are made by the Local 
 Government Board. 
 
 Oh ! that I had the pen and the power of that noble 
 English writer, Charles Dickens, to once more put in the 
 pillory the Officials of the Circumlocution Office ! Over 
 three hundred years since, our good Queen Elizabeth
 
 170 
 
 signed those statutory powers, that Guardians were not 
 only to relieve destitution, hut also to find employment for 
 the poor ; and here we have a Select Committee in 
 Parliament saying- that nothing* can yet be done, as 
 Parliament has not been able to find time even to make 
 rules for the Guardians of the poor ! 
 
 Mention ot Queen Elizabeth reminds us ot three 
 of the g-reatest men mentioned in English History, 
 who lived in that reign, i.e., Shakespeare, Milton and 
 Admiral Drake : aud then of our own dearly beloved 
 Queen Victoria, and her glorious reign — a record in 
 years and beneficence — and of the great names asso- 
 ciated with Her Majesty in extending her just and 
 christian rule, to every part of the known world. 
 
 Among many such, those of Salisbury, Palmerston, 
 D'Israeli, and Gladstone stand pre-eminent as statesmen 
 whose ability and high standard of honour has rarely 
 been equalled and never surpassed. Such thoughts 
 as these prompt the heartfelt prayer that it may be 
 vouchsafed to Her Gracious Majesty to live to sign the 
 death warrant of pauperism, and that before the present 
 century expires, she may witness such a transformation 
 of society, that poverty and destitution will be unknown 
 in her Dominions. 
 
 The hour has arrived ! what we now want is the 
 man, and I have every confidence in The Right 
 Honorable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., who knows as 
 much about this subject as any man living, and that he 
 will immortjvlize his name and career, by carrying a bill 
 through parliament on these lines, thus adding to his 
 fame, and increasing- the debt of gratitude which is
 
 171 
 
 already owinsf to him by the nation for his disting-uished 
 services on behalf of his country. 
 
 With 100,000 unemployed, it is ver)' clearly evident 
 that so/iKo/iL must investigate the matter, and find a 
 remedy for the e\il. The guardians ought to, but do 
 they? We are forced to fall back upon parliament, 
 and who is to persuade Parliament ? Surely our chief 
 members there ought to do so ; and if through neglect 
 or indifference llwv fail, then wo are brought back again 
 to the people themselves, who must ins/si upon some 
 adequate action being taken. 
 
 It has been admitted that there has been a great 
 improvement in the condition and comforts of the 
 people generally : but the very lowest class still urgently 
 demands attention, and as society cannot escape the 
 charge of having' used that class for its own benefit, 
 it has therefore no right to shirk the obligations laid 
 upon it. 
 
 The abject condition of these miserable individuals, 
 is mainly due to the fact that they are compelled to live 
 in slums and unsanitary dwellings, society having- 
 provided nothing- better for them. The result is a 
 decided deterioration in physical, moral, and mental 
 power, a consequent degeneracy of progeny, and 
 immense increase of vice and crime. 
 
 Our civilization, as we call it, has had some most 
 remarkable, and at the same time, most baneful in- 
 fluences upon this particular class of people. The 
 temperance reformer, with the best intentions in the 
 world, has unwitting'ly brought about, consolidated, and 
 confirmed, some of the worst features of the drinking 
 habits of the people.
 
 172 
 
 The brewers, who had enormous wealth invested 
 in breweries and public houses, were startled by the 
 agitation for a Permissive Rill, and in consequence of 
 this, made their concerns into Limited Liability Com- 
 panies, thus rendering" their position more secure and 
 impregnable than ever in just the same way that any 
 other shareholders would take action against those 
 who threatened to interfere with their property. 
 
 But this is not all. The tied-house becomes a 
 pur\'eyor of pernicious beverages, with the result that 
 a large proportion of the dwellers in these slums have 
 their constitutions still more enfeebled and undermined 
 by the deleterious drinks made from anything and 
 everything except malt and hops ; or by a fiery and 
 dangerous stuff called "blends" direct from the dis- 
 tiller}' (I would prohibit whiskey being taken out of 
 bond for three years, giving notice, say six months, 
 grace). 
 
 The man working in a mill or other workshop, in 
 an atmosphere of obnoxious smells, and a temperature 
 of probably 70 to 100 degrees, almost deafened with 
 the noise of whirling machinery, constantly on his feet, 
 goes home at the end of the day, for food, rest and 
 comfort. 
 
 Nine months out of the twelve, it would be folly for 
 him to be out of doors in a large town in the evening. 
 The sulphur and smoke choke him, while the night air 
 is most injurious (Bradford deserves all praise for its 
 Public Parks, which in summer are crowded by the best 
 dressed and best behaved female workers I ever came 
 across). 
 
 This working man is as much a social being as his
 
 '73 
 employer; if he is living' alone, or his home is not made 
 a pleasant resting place, he feels the need of society, 
 so off he goes to the public house, comparatively in- 
 different, as a rule, to what is set before him to drink — 
 and sits trying to drown his troubles in licjuor till closing 
 time. 
 
 Billiards have no special charm for him, and public 
 house politics appear to be good enough. Now comes 
 the double difficulty and danger of his social surround- 
 ings. Enervated by the nature of his employment, the 
 slow poison (for it is nothing less) which he ignorantly 
 and thoughtlessly pours down his throat, does its deadly 
 work sooner or later (generally sooner), and he becomes 
 more or less a wreck before he reaches what ought to 
 be the prime of his life. 
 
 The percentage or duration of life in large towns 
 is 15 percent, less than it is in the country. It must 
 also be remembered that the increased speed and stress 
 of life in this present century, tends to wear a man out 
 sooner, and thus, at a comparatively early age, he 
 becomes one of the old " out of works," whom nobody 
 will employ. 
 
 During his working years, he has, as a general 
 rule, made no provision for this, but has gone on week 
 by week, carelessly spending- his surplus shilling or two, 
 and only when too late realizes the awful conseciuences 
 to himself, his wife and children. His employer, his 
 clergyman, and those set in authority over him, have 
 allowed this state of things to exist, and now, when the 
 certain consecjuences follow, reprove him for his want 
 of forethought. It is in this way that paupers are made. 
 
 Compulsory self denial, and the requisite insight
 
 into the realities of life, would have taught that man the 
 necessity of providing for a rainy day, and would also 
 have shown him that the greater the sacrifice of personal 
 and present indulgence, the greater will be the future 
 comfort and lasting enjoyment. 
 
 Wealth and want, in all their antagonism, abound 
 everywhere, but more especially in large towns. The 
 latter term has another meaning, besides that of need 
 or destitution — it also implies desire, which, if for good^ 
 is commendable, and should be encouraged and granted 
 facilities for attaining its refjuirements. This typical 
 working man has, for instance, in all probability, daily 
 longed for better surroundings, and a properly organized 
 state of society would see that it was to its interest to 
 provide them, and in this way and others to give him 
 every inducement to become a better workman, a better 
 customer, and a better citizen. 
 
 The most general, and I might say the universal 
 objection, or rather cjuery, raised is, "What is to be 
 done about the vagrant, the tramp, the idle, those who 
 never did, and never will work ? " E\en magistrates 
 and men of position, employers and educated men, 
 stumble over this (to them) permanent block to this 
 scheme. Again and again the question is asked, " How 
 are they to raise the sevenpence per week, or penny 
 a day .'' " 
 
 To answer these people in the hackneyed style, 
 by asking them another question, i.e., "What are von 
 doing now, wider the present system, with this unfortunate 
 or vicious and burdensome class ? " is not sufficient. 
 Everyone is only too well aware of the existence of such
 
 [ 
 
 t75 
 a class of men, women and children; and the first i-on- 
 sideration is to ascertain the full extent of the trouble, 
 as a doctor first diag'noses his case before giving' 
 medicine or applying" remedies. 
 
 It is most astonishing- to find intellig'ent men thinking, 
 speaking-, and acting- as if crcrv poor man, woman and 
 child in the United Kingdom, was a vagrant, idle, vicious 
 person, who never did, and never will either work or 
 a' tempt to live a decent, respectable life. 
 
 To prove that the mere suggestion of this idea is 
 absurd, it may be jiointed out that it would be an equal 
 absurdity to take Judas Iscariot, and classify the other 
 eleven disciples with him as equal traitors, who had each 
 got thirty pieces of silver for doing the meanest action 
 ever recorded. 
 
 In the case of magistrates it is excusable, in the 
 sense that /hcv have so constantly brought before them 
 the very dregs of humanity, and that, therefore, the 
 habitual close contact with such specimens of vice and 
 wickedness, may tend to create a pessimistic feeling, like 
 that of King David, who, in his haste, classed "all men" 
 alike. This would be reversing the actual state of 
 affairs entirely. The illustration of the Twelve Apostles, 
 like the teachings of the Four Evangelists, is an apt 
 example of humanity in every age, and especially as it is 
 to-day. There were eleven g-ood men to one bad ! and 
 yet Judas Iscariot is oftener mentioned by unbelievers, 
 than all the remaining eleven. 
 
 Here in Bradford, out of 230,000 population, there 
 are only 2,300 paupers. There are 39,493 children of 
 school age, including a few over fourteen, and in 1S89,
 
 176 
 only 198 children were not attending school. Twenty- 
 five years ago, out of a population of 146,987, there 
 were, in 1871, only 14,204 children attending school; 
 now there are 31,936 children in average attendance. 
 
 It was urged twenty-five years ago, that it would be 
 impossible to secure universal attendance, and all sorts 
 of trouble was prognosticated, such as that the magistrates 
 would be overwhelmed with work in hearing summonses, 
 &c. Instead of this, the result has proved that though at 
 first there was a small percentage of such cases, they 
 have gradually decreased almost to the vanishing point, 
 and people have found by experience that it has been a 
 great advantage, both to themselves and their children. 
 
 So it would be under this scheme. In perspective 
 it looks a hardship to compel a large family to pay 
 sevenpence per head weekly for all over sixteen years ot 
 age. Analysing the conditions, however, it will be found 
 that, as a rule, in all cases of working-class families, at 
 sixteen years of age they have been earning- weekly 
 wages for two on three years, and are receiving tar more 
 money in this way than they cost in food and clothing. 
 
 If sevenpence per week should in exceptional cases 
 prove to be a hardship, then it becomes a question of being 
 entitled to, and asking for an advance of sixpence per 
 week in their wages, as they must, in that case, assuredly 
 be working on the sweating system. If any girl or lad 
 of sixteen years of age, cannot make their wages worth 
 more, by a penny per day, either by increasing the 
 cjuality or else the cjuantity of their work, they are not 
 worth any wages at all. 
 
 " Oh ! " says the employer, " your sevenpence per 
 week has to come out of my pocket, I see!" Setting
 
 '?7 
 aside the sug"o^estion in the preceding" sentence, it may 
 be assumed, " Your mill and your mansion already cost 
 that amount probably in Poor Rates, and in addition to beinji^ 
 relieved of this, you are also relieved of all contributions 
 to Hospitals and Charities, besides which you can charge 
 any deficiency upon the goods you sell, by increasing the 
 price. 
 
 Then again, the retort of the consumer, and 
 especially of the wage earner, is: — ."So in the end it 
 comes back to us after all," and as this scheme has been 
 thought out for their benefit, and this book written from 
 the same motive, the reply is plain and clear. When, as 
 we trust will be the case, Parliament passed the scheme, 
 and it becomes law, and with the co-operation and 
 assistance of all it is carried into effect, then it can be 
 confidently and proudly answered tc^all such objections, 
 '•All this has been done for your welfare, benefit, and 
 advantagfe."' 
 
 All this mighty mountain of difficulty is like the 
 proverbial mountain in labour. The mountain consists 
 of the £44,00,000, and the mouse is the insignificant 
 penny. It shews what the penny would do when 
 29,000,000 were daily added tog'ether for a year. If wi; 
 consider that, reduced to hourly wages, it means the 
 tenth part of a i)enny in a days" labour of ten hours. 
 
 Disputes as to wages, which have often led to 
 strikes for an advance of a /artJii7ii^ an hour, which 
 means 2.',d. per day, have occured, certainly; but such a 
 probability can surely scarcely be imag'ined as likely to 
 happen in the case of Id. per day. 
 
 Then as to the (iovernment Grant. Ihis comes 
 from all the community in one way or another, and as
 
 178 
 the community at large is to be the recipient of the 
 ])resent advantag-es, it has a right to contribute towards 
 them. 
 
 Further than this, the community has already reaped 
 many advantages contributed by the old, through services 
 rendered by them in the past ; it is, therefore high time 
 that some acknowledgment was made of those services, 
 and that the obligations of them were suitably discharged 
 by it. 
 
 Many a long neglected veteran, and present day 
 martyr, would then come to their own, or would feel at 
 least that the nation was at last displaying some little 
 evidence, however late in the day, that it is not totally 
 destitute of honesty and gratitude. 
 
 The accuracy (or reverse) of all the propositions 
 herein laid down, and their success or failure when put 
 into practical ojjeration, ivotiUl he dcinonstralcd fortJnvith, 
 wherever the experiment was made. They would Ije 
 no long'er matters of opinion, prophecy, or doubt, but 
 actual demonstrations of matters of fact and public policy. 
 
 The control and management would be in the 
 hands of the Local Authority, who could delegate the 
 actual work to elected Ward or District Committees. 
 By this means, all danger of imposition, neglect, or 
 partiality would be avoided, as every member of the 
 community would be daily cognizant of any irregularity, 
 and with the Argus eye of the public press upon them, 
 and the prospect of re-election or rejection at the next 
 poll, the faithful performance of public duty would be 
 sufficiently assured 
 
 If it be urged that a person hiuing' paid se\'enpence 
 I)er week, would be entitled to claim, demand, and even 
 
 i
 
 170 
 enforce the payment of 12/- per week sick money, 
 although only shamming sickness, or by refusing to 
 work, and pretending that work could not be obtained ; 
 it may be answered as to the first case, that the doctor's 
 decision would in all such cases be final ; and as to the 
 second, that the Ward Committee, acting as a labour 
 bureau, would quickly test a man's intention to work by 
 finding him suitable employment. 
 
 If it be possible, however, to conceive that a Ward 
 Committee could be so inhuman as to commit any act of 
 cruel injustice, then an appeal should be made to the 
 Home Secretary or the Local Government Board. 
 
 All estimates of the number of cases to be provided 
 for, under their separate headings, are based upon 
 recognised returns, such as those issued by the Registrar 
 General, Poor Law, Friendly Societies, Trades' Unions, 
 etc., for the numbers at ten years of age, and of deaths, 
 paupers, days of sickness, &c. 
 
 These are all calculated upon scales settled and 
 adopted by these societies, and in every item the number 
 consists ot a per centage of the 1000 inhabitants, not 
 only in these particular cases, but also as to the cost of 
 Doctors, Managers, Physicians, Drugs and Appliances. 
 
 In fact every care has been taken to devise a 
 ivorkabk plan, which will prove to be a successful solution 
 of this most important and difficult problem. Every 
 detail has been so minutely examined and worked out, 
 that all who run may read, and none need err therein. 
 
 It is often the case that people who have never 
 taken the trouble to seriously study the sul)ject for ten 
 minutes, will dictate and dogmatise about it to those 
 who have carefully devoted all their attention [ox years to it.
 
 and being', as it is, optional in its adoption, Locat 
 Authorities are sure to be cautious till it is adopted 
 by some enterprising- and public spirited district. 
 
 The experience then gained, however, would be of 
 immense value to all other districts. It would also prove con- 
 clusively that — instead of having to wait for another forty 
 years to derive advantages for the Aged Poor, and being 
 oijliged to leave those who are mnv grown old in poverty 
 to suffer on in silence, waiting for help in some far 
 away, indefinite time, — there is, in this scheme, a pro- 
 vision assuring to them and to all, immediate advantages, 
 which will do more than cure many of these " ills that 
 flesh is heir to,"' because it will prevent them : and is not 
 "prevention" proverbially "better than cure?'' 
 
 The question of the unemployed is always before 
 us. Why are these men and women unemployed ? To 
 accuse any portion of ivillitig 7vor/cers of voluntary idleness, 
 is the most cruel of mockeries, and in very many cases 
 people are ahsolidely jinable to procure work of any kind, 
 for various reasons. 
 
 Let those who are so apt to formulate outrageous 
 charges such as this, at least make some effort to 
 substantiate them, by either finding work for those who 
 have none, or by agitating for, and assisting by all 
 means in their power, to secure the adoption of some 
 scheme, whereby this terrible evil may be remedied in 
 the present, and averted for the future. Otherwise the}' 
 are guilty of a cowardly injustice to and scandalous libel 
 on honest working people. 
 
 Surely it is an anomaly if Britain — the workshop of 
 the world — possessing the most industrious and willing of 
 all workers, every one of whom is in misery w hen uniible
 
 i8i 
 
 to obtain employment, and whose constant thoug-ht and 
 anxiety is to better their position by still greater effort — 
 is to be stigmatised as a nation of Drofies ! 
 
 To say that men able to assure themselves of a 
 pittance of 12/- per week, by paying" sevenpence per 
 week premium, would not be only too g^lad to accept 
 work offered at 24/- per week, is a rcdiictio ad ahsuidum. 
 The exceptions only prove the rule. " The poor ye have 
 always with you,'' — aye, and the pessimist too; the 
 unbelieving" Thomas has existed in all ag"es. In the 
 lifetime of the writer, Stephenson had him to contend 
 with in the first Railway Bill, in the form rf the historical 
 query as to what would happen to the " Coo ! " 
 
 The introduction of Steam Power Machinery, the 
 Spinning" Frames and Looms which led to the Ludite 
 Riots, are all instances of ig"norance, prejudice, or class 
 opposition to movements that have revolutionised the 
 conditions of labour, and which brought about increased 
 wag"es and shorter hours, with cheaper productions and 
 greater comforts and opportunities, for the very class 
 that so bitterly opposed their adoption in the first 
 instance. 
 
 Fifty years ago, mill masters" sons sorted the wool, 
 carried bags of it to the washhouse, and w ith their own 
 hands and a primitive wringer, scoured it, afterwards 
 taking it to what should be the bedroom of a cottage, 
 where a comb pot and hand-combs were used to prepare 
 and draw the sliver for spinning. 
 
 If the man who attends a combing machine to-day, 
 was set to the same work under the conditions then 
 obtaining, — lifting a heavy hand-comb to the height of 
 his face, forty or fifty times a minute, and going on day and
 
 l82 
 
 night in the latter part of the week ; often carrying- the 
 heavy pack at the week end for miles to receive wages 
 that would not go half so far as they do to-day,— he 
 would not do it, in fact he cotdd not. 
 
 On the other hand, to describe the conditions that 
 machinery was calculated to bring about to those 
 hand-combers fifty years ago, would have been to lay 
 yourself open to a charge of lunacy or great ridicule, if 
 not that of a designing capitalist wanting to take the 
 bread out of their mouths, and to do without their 
 labour. 
 
 The same with Hand-looms v. Power-looms. Any 
 one living who has watched the hand-comber, without 
 clothing, except slippers and trousers, tearing away at a 
 pad-post till broiled with the heat caused by such exertion 
 day and often night through ; and who to-day walks 
 through a combing or weaving shed, can plainly see 
 that there is no comparison, as to the actual manual 
 labour, except to the infinite advantage of the comber 
 and weaver at the present date. 
 
 I cannot resist here giving honour to whom honour 
 is due, by calling attention to the fact that the man above 
 all others who has been the "making" of Bradford, and 
 the other great towns which have risen in Yorkshire 
 from the introduction of the Combing Machine, kc, is 
 the present Lord Masham, then Mr. Samuel Cunliffe 
 Lister, of Manniiv^ham ISIiUs, Bradford.
 
 i83 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Artisans' Dwelling's. 
 
 /\NE of the most fruitful sources of misery and mischief 
 ^^ in the lower parts of large towns, — and more 
 especially as regards the wretched condition of those 
 who fhvell in the slums, courts, alleys, and yards, — is the 
 bad feeling" which too generally exists between the 
 Landlord and some, at least, of his Tenants. 
 
 The Landlord may be a most reasonable and humane 
 man, quite willing' to do his duty to the Tenants, and for 
 his own interest, to keep his property in good repair and 
 sanitary condition, or even *to spend money on improve- 
 ments. Suppose him to have a dozen cottages, human 
 nature being what it is there will be varying degrees ot 
 goodness or badness amongst his different Tenants and 
 their dozen wives. 
 
 One incorrigible amongst every twenty-four would 
 be a very moderate estimate. That one, male or female, 
 probably takes an unreasonable dislike to the Landlord, 
 for something he has said or done, or left unsaid or 
 undone, with the result that all kinds of spite and malice 
 are engendered. Then follows the natural corollary 
 revenge, which usually takes the form of poisoning the 
 minds of the rest against him, and in many other wa\s 
 also much damage is done to him and to his property. 
 
 Gradually "bad blood" is created, which manifests 
 itself in various ways, not only to the injury of the 
 Landlord's property but also to his name, while there is
 
 184 
 
 no (Corresponding' benefit or advantage to the Tenants, 
 hut, on the contrary, increased illfeelincr and consequent 
 loss to all concerned. The bad Tenant makes himself 
 the leader of a plan of campaign, setting- the example in 
 non-payment of rent, and doing, secretly, as much damage 
 as he dare, in the matter of choking up drains or closets, 
 etc., when he can do so unnoticed. Not only does he 
 pay no rent, but he also keeps the door locked constantly 
 between sunrise and sunset, and snaps his fingers at the 
 Bailiff's until dark, when he hold an " At Home "' or 
 reception for the neig'hbourhood, and treats everybody 
 to drinks, &c., with the money which should have gone to 
 his Landlord for rent due. 
 
 In desperation and self-defence, the latter takes out 
 a summons; the Tenant then sends his wife, who is 
 ec|ually astute, to the Court, and the Magistrates listen to 
 the woman's pitiful tale that they "cannot find a house 
 anywhere to suit their means, &c., &c,,"' till the more 
 tenderhearted among them decide that "they must get 
 out in 21 days ! " At the end of which period, needless 
 to say, they still remain in the house, and have in this 
 way saved another three weeks' rent ! 
 
 The Landlord is determined not to be beaten, so 
 once more repairs to the Court, and gets an ejectment : 
 sends his Bailiffs with the Police, and sets the few things 
 on his premises into the street, which the Tenant's wife 
 gets wheeled away in triumph. All this time, the 
 Landlord has been losing- his rent, paying costs, and 
 Bailiff''s charges, besides wasting his time and temper, 
 and cursing both Property and Tenants. This is no 
 imaginar3'or isolated incident, but one of most ordinary.
 
 iR5 
 common occurence in all large towns in the lowest 
 districts. 
 
 As bearing- on this C[uestion, it is calculated that in 
 London there are 188,000 people who live four or jiiort 
 m one room, and of these, three thousand are packed to 
 the extent of cii^hl or more in one room. In the last 
 Parliament, Mr. Wrig^htson (then a member) introduced 
 an Artisan's Dwellings' Bill, which has been taken up in 
 the present Session, by Sir Richard Hickman, and read 
 a second time. Unfortunately that Bill makes no 
 provision for the Poorest Tenants, — in fact, it is a Bill to 
 help those who can help themselves. The main point in 
 it is, that to a Tenant who can put down £50, Govern- 
 ment shall lend £150 to enable him to buy or build 
 a house costing £200. Now the Tenant who is in a 
 position to put down £50, can easily get £150 without 
 any Government interference at all, either from a Building 
 Society, or from any Solicitor, or Private Mortgagee ; 
 and Government should not be called upon to prevent 
 the employment of Private Capital. 
 
 There is no analogy between this Scheme of 
 Pensions and Friendly Societies ; on the contrary, it, 
 together with the plan now about to be explained, applies 
 to those classes of people who elo nol avail themselves 
 either of Friendly Societies or Building Societies, 
 and who stand most in need of elevation, but cannot be 
 reached under present conditions, by these most excellent 
 Institutions. 
 
 It is proposed that a Cottager whose annual rent is 
 £8, shall, if his Landlord agree, purchase his house say 
 for £100. when an agreement between them shall l)e 
 signed, and also an undertaking to convey (free from
 
 i86 
 
 incumbrances) on completion. The Tenant thus at once 
 becomes the owner of his holding, and in future pays his 
 3/1 per week, or £2 per quarter, to the Local Authority 
 (Town, District, or County Council, &c.) ; his late 
 Landlord to draw ciuarterly £1 from that Authority, and 
 the other £1 to be retained by it towards a fund which, 
 in twenty-five years' time, amounts to the purchase money, 
 and which is then to be handed overto him, while the Deeds 
 must be handed to the former Tenant, who becomes his 
 own Landlord, his house being absolutely his own, and 
 free from all claims. 
 
 Now take that bad Tenant before referred to, 
 and his eleven neighbours, and assume that they were 
 paying 3/1 per week each. They would surely all 
 prefer to live in houses of their own ; they have, therefore, 
 all agreed to buy at £100 each, and to pay the rent to the 
 Corporation, at the same rate as hitherto. They now 
 have an interest in the houses, and probably an emulation 
 for improvements, cleanliness, &c. They pay their own 
 rates, taxes, insurance, &c., and will become better 
 citizens, taking more interest in the town's affairs, and 
 generally, in the nation's welfare, /« 7a/i/c/t they have now 
 a stake. Probably those cottages would, in a year or 
 two, be so much improved, that their value would be 
 enhanced by £20 to £30 each house. If any one of the new 
 owners wished to leave, through working elsewhere, or 
 from other causes, he would easily be able to find a 
 purchaser, who would pay him the amount contributed 
 to the sinking fund, and a fair valuation for all his 
 improvements. 
 
 The late Landlord has been drawing quarterly the 
 £1, being four per cent, on his Capital, whilst the
 
 i87 
 Property has become a better security, through its 
 improved condition. His worries and losses have ceased, 
 and his mind and time are free for other enterprises. 
 He is in a sense the Mortgagee, or Debenture Holder- 
 and should be allowed to sell his interest as ordinary 
 Stock or Scrip, the Corporation holding- the deeds in the 
 interests of all parties. 
 
 Under the present system, these unfriendly Tenants 
 and Landlords are in the position of the Irish Tenant 
 Farmers, during the deplorable Plan of Campaign 
 before Lord Ashbourne's Land Bill was passed on lines 
 even more lenient than those I have sketched above, and 
 the result has proved it to be a great blessing to the 
 Irish people, bringing peace and prosperity where 
 previously there had been anarchy and ruin. 
 
 The principle here laid down might apply to any 
 kind of Property, or to any amount. In that case, what is 
 called the ' unearned increment," would be increment 
 that would go into the pockets of the people who created 
 it. Not only so, but tradesmen and every class would 
 have a greater incentive to effort and enterprise, from 
 which the whole country would derive advantages. 
 
 '>'%t^Vt1i<^
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Hire and Purchase. 
 
 npHE question of A.^^Ticulture as affectinji' the labourer 
 has been prominently before the public mind for 
 years; and the importance of keeping" the labourer on 
 the land, and also of inducing" those who have already 
 crowded into larg-c towns to g^o back to the land, if they 
 have any desire to do so, is admittedly a most difficult, 
 yet most pressing" question. The wag"es for ag"ricultural 
 labour are so low, that it has been impossible for men to 
 maintain a family, and at the same time save sufficient 
 capital to stock a farm. The result has been that the 
 man, realising" the fact that his children's wag"es will be 
 increased if they work in a mill, and also that in towns, 
 teamsters, grcoms, &c. receive better wag"es, naturally 
 thinks it best to leave the land, and g"o to some such 
 larg"e town. 
 
 The contrast between his rosy- cheeked children 
 with their fine forms, and those who are town-bred and 
 born, with their sallow faces and diminutive fig"ures, 
 clearly demonstrates the effect of Town versus 
 Country. It is, however, too much the case that but 
 little is thoug;ht of the effect upon the British race, 
 although it is considered a necessity that civilization and 
 commerce must thrive, even if wealth has to be considered 
 before health. Land may ^o out of cultivation, and the 
 people suffer deterioration, but the race for present 
 advantag"e (ajiparent) and wealth must at all costs g-o on 
 unchecked !
 
 in reality, the interests of the town and the country 
 are one, and it is the duty of their representatives in 
 Parliament to devise means for their Social Amelioration 
 and Mutual Benefit. There never was a time in the 
 history of the nation, when there was so much capital 
 seeking investment, and at the same time, the land was 
 never so impoverished for lack of capital and labour to 
 develop its producutive power. Land Banks may be 
 useful, but it should not be forgotten how slow the 
 Agricultural Labourer is and how diffident in enterprise. 
 It is proposed to assist him by empowering the Local 
 Authority to loan out on ' ;the hire and purchase system,'' 
 Stock, Implements, Seed, &c., to labourers or the 
 poorest farmers, so that they may be enabled to improve 
 and develop allotments and small farms. The principle 
 of this is the same as the Artisans' Dwellings Bill, and 
 also of Lord Ashbourne's Irish Land Act. 
 
 One of the most g'ratifying features connected with 
 this problem of Town v. Country, as regards the com- 
 petition for cheap labour, has been the establishment of 
 manufacturing concerns in out of the way places, which 
 have proved of inestimable advantage to both the 
 employers and employed. 
 
 As an illustration of this movement, take the great 
 firm of Messrs. John Foster & Sox, Limited, <>/' 
 Qiucusbury, ticar BradfunL The situation of these colossal 
 works was thought, at the time when the first modest 
 mill was built, to be a most unfa\ourable one, as it was 
 said to be " five miles from anywhere ! "' Perched on 
 the summit of the high range of hills which separates 
 Bradford from Halifax, whilst in the parishes of both, 
 and i\\. an elevation of one to two thousand feet, with a
 
 consequent hig-h gradient and difficult roads for heavy 
 goods traffic, I yet know of no firm which has had a 
 more prosperous career, or that has conferred greater 
 advantages on the district in every sense of the word. 
 
 Morally and intellectually,— in material, in health, 
 by the acquisition of good roads and sanitary arrange- 
 ments, church, chapel and schools, one of the finest 
 Institutes and the Champion of England Brass Band, — 
 in all these ways have the people been benefitted for a 
 generation past. It is doubtful if there be another Firm 
 in Yorkshire, — rich as the county is in prosperous 
 manufacturers, — which has turned out so many working- 
 men who have themselves become heads of great 
 manufacturing and wealthy firms, as has that of Messrs. 
 John Foster & Son. 
 
 If trade and manufactures (particularly the latter) 
 had been widely spread over the country in this way, 
 the nation would have been so much the healthier, 
 wealthier, and wiser. The terrible and sickening subject 
 of slums would not then have become the plague and 
 despair of large towns, as it has done. Like Lot we 
 are but paying the penalty for avarice and selfishness. 
 
 The question of the development and improvement 
 in jjhysique and stamina of the nation's children is a 
 vital one in every sense, and as the military records 
 prove that the rates of measurement, both in height and 
 chest, have had to be lowered in order to retain the 
 numerical strength of the Army, every possible facility 
 and encouragement ought to be given, to retain the 
 growing children in the country districts. Those who 
 commence Industrial concerns in out of the way districts 
 are patriots of the highest type, and not only do they
 
 igi 
 
 deserve to succeed, but the gratitude of the entire nation 
 is due to them. 
 
 Any one who has hved a long" hfe in such a district, 
 can bear witness to the inestimable blessings they have 
 proved in the past. Tlie people brought up amidst 
 nature's pure and glorious works, are themselves more 
 pure than the denizens of over-crowded towns, and their 
 physical, moral, and mental condition is healthier. 
 
 These apparent digressions may not be soothing or 
 agreeable to the matter-of-fact reader, who may have 
 been tempted to wade throug-h this book by seeing 
 masses of figures and business proposals mentioned. 
 I fancy I hear him asking what has all this high faluting 
 language — as he will doubtless term it — got to do with 
 the title of the chapter, " Hire and Purchase," and he 
 wants to know, " How is it to be done ? " 
 
 Well knowing that there is a superabundance of 
 practical business men who are thoroughly capable of 
 doing justice to such details as would be necessary in 
 successfully carrying out the idea herein suggested, we 
 think that it could not be left in better hands than in 
 those of the Local Authority elected for such like 
 purposes. That great statesman, William Pitt, in 1796, 
 brought a Bill before Parliament with this object in view, 
 which was sacrificed wilh many other useful measures, 
 owing to the terrible Najjoleonic War troubles. 
 
 In reply to the query, "How is it to be done?"' it is 
 proposed that Local Authorities shall have jjower to 
 borrow money at tlircc per cciiL, and to lend it to labourers 
 or tenant farmers on the security of the stock or 
 other commodities, and for every £10 advanced at the 
 rate oi/oiir />< rani, interest, the borrower will have to repay
 
 c^uarteriy lo - in addition to the hisurancc Pninium on the 
 cattle or other stock or goods purchased by the loan. 
 
 The Local Authority will have discretionary power 
 to make or refuse the advance, or to g^raduate it according- 
 to the character and trustworthiness of the applicant, 
 and the stock and other effects will remain the property 
 of the Local Authority, till all is paid for. By this means 
 labourers would be able to take advantage of vacant 
 lands or farms as opportunity presented, and might be 
 thus enabled to utilise the time and knowledge of their 
 wives and also of their children, who, as they grow up, 
 need employment, and in most cases are unable to find 
 any in the locality. There would then be every motive 
 and inducement in such cases, tor the family to make 
 g'ood use of the assistance provided, because every 
 quarter-day the stock or g-oods would become so much 
 more their own property, and consequently would be 
 well cared for and used to the best advantage. 
 
 The principle is the same as that of the Irish Land 
 Acts of Lord AsHBOiRNE passed in 1S85, the Amendment 
 Acts of 1887, and of the Irish Land Act of Mr. Gerald 
 Balfour, 1896. These have all proved most beneficial 
 to Irish Tenants, and have very largely helped to do 
 away with the grievances of Irish tenant farmers, and 
 to rectify the former deplorable state of affairs in Ireland 
 during the regime of the Land League and the Plan of 
 Campaign. 
 
 To any one who gives the matter a moment's 
 thought, the advantages and identity of interests of all 
 workers, both in large towns and in country or agricul- 
 tural districts, must be" apparent. The country worker 
 provides meat, poultry, eggs, milk, butter, fruit, vegetables,
 
 Wool, hay, straw, and corn, all of which the town 
 worker wants. The town worker produces cloth, 
 underclothing', household effects, machines, and all those 
 articles of necessity and luxury which the country 
 worker wants. To set one class in antagonism to the 
 other, therefore, is the work of an enemy to both classes. 
 The more each produces and exchanges with the other, 
 the more prosperous they both become, and the greater 
 the comfort and luxury they can enjoy. 
 
 Parliament, which exists for their social ameliora- 
 tion, should assuredly see to it that every encouragement 
 in the shape of good laws is given, to enable Local 
 Authorities to act upon these elementary principles of 
 economy and g'ood g"overnment. 
 
 The Irish Land Acts referred to have shewn the 
 soundness of the principle advocated, and the beneficial 
 results accruing to all concerned have been greater than 
 even the most sanguine had hoped for. Whv the Irish 
 tenants have been better treated, and had better land 
 laws given to them, has always been a mystery in 
 political history, unless for the same reason as that of 
 the Judg"e who said, "Though I fear not God, nor regard 
 man; yet because the widow troubleth me, I will avenge 
 her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'" 
 
 All the years during' which Irish Tenants have been 
 reaping the great advantages of those Land Acts, their 
 English confreres have been suffering' patiently, meekly, 
 and resignedly, and it says little for their representatives 
 hitherto, that nothing to relieve them has been attempted 
 or done. These long suffering agriculturists in England 
 must have lost all faith in such proverbs as, "Virtue is
 
 194 
 its own reward," unless they construe it in another sense, 
 i c, that it is all the reward it ever does receive ! 
 
 By way of illustration, we may take the following 
 reports from the Bradford Newspapers of two inquests 
 lately held: — "The father and mother of Lavinia 
 Sawdon, who met death under such distressing circum- 
 stances at Idle, the other day, have not had to seek 
 trouble for the last eighteen months. During that time, 
 out of about eight children, the parents have had to 
 attend Coroner's inquests on three of them. (3ne was 
 drowned, one was burnt to death, and the circumstances 
 of the death of the other are too well known to need 
 repetition here. The father and mother were stranded 
 at Idle on Saturday night, with only eighteen pence to 
 face the world with. This came to the ears of a 
 gentleman in Idle, who started with such energy a 
 collection for the poor people, that he realised on 
 Saturday and Sunday £12."' 
 
 Another Newspaper had the following : — " There 
 are many sad circumstances surrounding- the case. It 
 appears that Thomas Sawdon, the father of the unfortunate 
 
 girl, is a farm labourer working on Sir 's estate 
 
 among the Yorkshire Wolds, and with a full week's 
 employment he is able to earn the princely salary of ten 
 shillings a week ! Upon this he has been compelled, up 
 to a recent period, to maintain a wife and eight little ones. 
 An added element of pathos is to be found in the fact that 
 he has lost three children during the last eighteen 
 months. One was run over and killed, another was 
 burnt to death, and the fate of the third, a bright and 
 intelligent girl of fourteen, was decided last Friday 
 afternoon. The only consideration upon which she was
 
 i95 
 permitted to accept an engagement so far from home, 
 was that her parents were well acciuainted with her 
 mistress, who was formerly a schoolmistress at Weaver- 
 thorpe where the deceased was one of her scholars." 
 
 "An Inquest was held at the Bradford Town Hall 
 
 yesterday, touching the death of , fifty-five years of 
 
 age, of . The deceased was found to have hanged 
 
 himself by a piece of clothes-cord to a gate in a field 
 about fifty yards from his house, about two o'clock yesterday 
 
 afternoon. Evidence was given to the effect that was 
 
 formerly employed as a shunter on the railway, but had 
 been incapacitated from following his occupation during 
 the last five months on account of ill-health. His son, a 
 -combsetter, had also been out of work. The deceased 
 had been able to live on some small savings which he 
 had accumulated, but the money was nearly exhausted, 
 and latterly he had suffered considerably from depression. 
 The jury found that the deceased committed suicide 
 whilst in a state of temporary insanity." 
 
 The unfortunate girl in the first case died whilst 
 having a tooth pulled under the influence of chloroform, 
 which was being done by a respectable man who had 
 practised for seven years as a dentist, but was not 
 certified either as dentist or druggist, and who was 
 acting without medical supervision or assistance. 
 
 If we consider how our scheme would apply to the 
 above cases, it will be seen that the girl would have been 
 insured for £10 at her death, and would have had no 
 need to go to an uncertified man to have her tooth 
 extracted, as there would have been a free Doctor 
 available ; and that the poor despairing old man who 
 hanged himself when his savings were exhausted, would
 
 196 
 
 have been treated under the provision for those sick or 
 out of work, and 12/- per week would have been 
 provided for him, while for his son who was also out of 
 employment, work would have been found, or relief 
 g-iven. The father had saved all that he could, and had 
 also been paying his Poor Rate for thirty or forty years, 
 and when in the end he realised that nothing' lay before 
 him but the Workhouse, he hang-ed himself rather than 
 become a pauper. 
 
 If men who feel strong'ly for their fellow-men, see 
 that these thing-s are a part and parcel of our social 
 system, laws, and regulations, and do not become 
 downrig-ht Anarchists, it is only due to the fact well 
 known to all, that it is not because we have a despot on 
 the throne, or that we are prevented from speaking- 
 and writing, and doing all we can to organise a refor- 
 mation ; but that it is because all have such perfect 
 confidence that Parliament will obey the voice of the 
 people when once it is heard in earnest, and that that 
 voice is crying and will cry aloud for action to be taken 
 in this matter. 
 
 This question of keeping people out of large towns 
 and spreading them more over the country districts, is 
 of vital and Imperial concern to a much greater extent 
 than at first sight appears. John Bull must have for his 
 Army and Navy not men who are mere feeble dwarfs or 
 puny enervated boys, bred in slums and fed on slops, 
 but men of strength and stamina, whose mental and 
 physical powers are sound. The recent scares from 
 Germany, America, the Transvaal, and Egypt, have shewn 
 the dangers of a weak army and navy. 
 
 I propose in another chapter on Army Reform, to
 
 197 
 shew how some of the difficulties of the unemployed, 
 able-bodied paupers and prisoners might be overcome, 
 and these dangerous and difficult classes be made a 
 source of strensfth instead of weakness. 
 
 -^'^^i^s^j^^t*;^^
 
 iq8 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Insurance. 
 
 npHK references to Insurance in the chapter, "Common 
 Objections," and the answers to querists therein 
 mentioned, should not be understood as implying" appro- 
 bation and admiration of all Insurance Companies, or 
 their mode of dealing with their Policy Holders. The 
 Life Insurance question confronts us constantly and 
 continuously, as being interwoven with the objects of 
 this scheme, and their bearing" upon each other is the 
 cause of much discussion at all meetings. 
 
 A brief resimt of the history and present position 
 of Life Insurance may be of interest and service. As is 
 generally known, the system of Life Insurance as it is 
 now understood, was inaugurated in America, in i759, 
 and was confined to the Insurance of Presbyterian 
 ministers. The English Parliament actually prohibited 
 it, in the case of natural death, in the matter of ransom 
 from Brigandage. The first Mutual Insurance Office in 
 Great Britain,— which is still flourishing-, — was founded 
 in 1762. Its growth has been marvellous. Under 
 proper management and Parliamentary supervision, 
 Insurance is the most equitable, profitable, and the 
 safest investment that has hitherto existed. Immediately 
 the policy is received, the person is assured of being able 
 to make some provision for his family, which he might 
 not have otherwise been able to accomplish, even at the 
 end of a long life and with hard struggling.
 
 199 
 
 The Policy Holder is admitted to a partnership in 
 a concern that realises enormous profits in which he 
 shares, and so lofig as he manages to pay the Premium, the 
 system is most admirable. The ancient superstitution 
 that Life Insurance was gambling, — and that on the 
 most solemn subject, — has vanished with other ridiculous 
 prejudices of the good old days. Education and 
 intelligence have shewn the wonderful power of com- 
 bination for a common good, and, in the matter of 
 Insurance, the gambler was rather the man who risked 
 the welfare of his family, against the possibility of 
 immediate death, leaving them to pay the stake when he 
 lost. 
 
 America was not only in advance of England in 
 founding the system of Insurance, but has always been 
 and is to-day, a long way ahead of us in the management 
 or Parliamentary control of our Insurance Companies. 
 The Americans have been long cognisant of the value of 
 the compound interest and percentages of lapsed policies, 
 which have largely contributed to the great wealth of 
 those citizens who have invested in Endowment Policies, 
 and the resulting great profits to those who kept up their 
 premiums, and thus enjoyed the forfeited advantages of 
 those who did not. In some instances the assured 
 receive back their principal with interest and other profit 
 added. 
 
 As shewing the enterprise of America, there are 
 ninety-seven British Insurance Companies incorporated, 
 and while the premium income of Life Insurance 
 businesses in Great Britain was £16,573,686, three 
 American Companies doing Life Insurance business in 
 Great Britain had for the same year (1893) £18,179,565.
 
 200 
 
 When we come to examine the bearing" of their 
 laws, and to compare them with our own, we find, 
 unfortunately, that at present the comparison is assuredly 
 not favourable to English law upon this subject. 
 
 In America there is a duly appointed Superintendent 
 of Insurance, with explicit rules and instructions from 
 the State Governor and the State Senate, who appoint him. 
 He is required to give security for a sum considerably in 
 excess of his three years' salary, — the term of his 
 appointment, — and also to have two other good securities, 
 nor may he be interested directly or indirectly 
 with any Insurance Corporation, except as a Policy 
 Holder. All the fees, &c., collected by him, or by his 
 authority, must be paid into the State Treasury, and if 
 they do not amount to the cost of his department, a levy 
 is made on Insurance Offices pro rata, so that Insurance 
 Companies pay for being kept in order by the State. 
 
 Proprietary Companies are especially looked after, 
 as to their required capital having been paid, and that all 
 investments and valuations are in order. Security must 
 be deposited, before a Company commences business, 
 and if any Company has not sufficient to re-insure all its 
 outstanding liabilities and risks, in a solvent Insurance 
 Company, it is deemed insolvent, and proceeded against 
 accordingly. 
 
 Directors and Officers are strictly dealt with, in 
 regard to receiving any commission or benefit for 
 negociating, procuring", or recommending" any loan, or 
 for selling any Stock or Securities, or for aiding or 
 abetting in so doing; and these are held to be disqualifica- 
 tions for holding any office hereafter in an Insurance 
 Corporation or Company. If a Company has a deficiency
 
 in any respect, the Superintendent calls upon the 
 Company to make g"ood the deficiency within ninety 
 days, and if this order is not complied with, the Company 
 is declared insolvent, and may be proceeded against by 
 the Attorney General. Each Shareholder has also to 
 make good his share. The Directors of a Mutual 
 Company are not allowed to take any fresh Insurance, 
 until any deficiency discovered has been made good. If 
 they should do so, they are jointly and severally liable. 
 Should their deficiency continue at the time fixed for it to 
 be made good, they are proceeded against as insolvent. 
 Insurance without the consent of the Insured, is pro- 
 hihited. 
 
 It is not necessary here to go into more. detail as to 
 the wise provisions in the American laws and regulations 
 for Life Insurance, but it is of the utmost importance to 
 Policy Holders and to the whole community, that British 
 Insurance Companies should be brought into line on 
 these matters. 
 
 Every reader who can go back thirty years will 
 remember thewholesale collapse of Insurance Companies, 
 on the passing of a small Act of Parliament in 1870, 
 when some fifty Companies wound up. In connection 
 with the Government Annuities Bill of 1S64, the then 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer made a remarkable speech 
 on the subject of Insurance, on the second reading of 
 that Bill, pointing out that agents receive twenty-five per 
 cent, of the Premiums, that Policy Holders who felt 
 dissatisfied were helpless, having no claim till death 
 occurred ; that for the same reason they were helpless 
 even in combinations, and that it would be folly to throw 
 good money away after bad in litigation. Alluding to
 
 202 
 
 the " European " Office taking- over the "Professional " 
 one, he said, "That is an illustration of what you will 
 probably say is no better than wholesale robbery. Nay 
 more, I will go a step further, and say that a great many 
 of those proceedings are ivorse than absolute robbery, 
 and there are many persons who have never seen the 
 inside of a gaol, and yet who are better qualified to be 
 in one than many a rogue who has been convicted ten 
 times over at the Old Bailey." Alluding to the "Friend 
 in Need Society," and their rule that in all disputes the 
 arbitration proceedings must be held in London, for a 
 £20 Policy held by a person in Scotland, Ireland, &c , he 
 said, " It is confiscation united with concealment." 
 Speaking of Friendly Societies at the same time, the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer said, "That it was estimated 
 there were 30,000, but only 20,000 registered, and 
 since the Friendly Societies' Act was passed 8,ooo to 
 9,000 had failed." "When I add," he continued, "that 
 each of those 8,ooo or 9,000 Societies had its members 
 in scores, hundreds, even in thousands, and that those 
 numbers are almost exclusively of the labouring class, I 
 leave the House to judge what is the real mea7u'ng of the 
 formula 'unable to meet their engagements.' " About 
 lapsed Insurance Policies, he said, "The covenant made 
 with them is of the most severe description. You preach 
 to them about prudence, and about the duty of providing 
 for those they leave behind, and yet a covenant is made 
 with them by which an intermission of a few weeks in 
 their payment, even after they have paid regularly for 
 ten, twenty, or thirty years, deprives them of their 
 Policy." 
 
 What is implied here ? Probably every reader can
 
 203 
 
 understand and supply instances of cruel injustice to 
 widows, fatherless children, and orphans. 
 
 No harm to sound Insurance Companies or Friendly 
 Societies is either intended or expected to follow from 
 the adoption of this scheme; on the contrary, it will 
 supphvicnt but not siipphml than. It is with this object in 
 view, and also to enable present policy holders to pay the 
 premiums under this scheme, that the proposal is made 
 for Local Authorities to take over all policies that 
 mig'ht otherwise lapse. By this arrangement, the Local 
 Authority with its legal advisers (or else the Town Clerk) 
 becomes interested in the position of sound condition of 
 every Insurance Company, the Local Authority then 
 standing' in the position of loco parentis to all its con- 
 stituents ; and, as in future, the Premiums are paid by it, 
 the right to know exactly how the Insurance stands 
 before handing over the Premium, belongs to it also. 
 The poor policy holder had neither sense nor influence 
 enough to insist upon this, but a Corporation is supposed 
 to have both. 
 
 Parliament is also interested in a double capacity, 
 seeing that it contributes a Government Grant to carry 
 out all the details of the scheme, of which Life Insurance 
 forms a part. There will thus be a State Insurance for 
 those not insured at present, which will be compulsory, 
 and the duty of the State will be to see that all those 
 who are insured already, do not suffer any loss through 
 unsound companies, but that they are assisted, and 
 guaranteed a double benefit of Life Insurance. 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer in the speech 
 previously referred to also said : — " Now, is the lapsing 
 of a Policy a token of improvidence ? How can any
 
 204 
 
 labouring man answer for payment throug-hout every 
 week or every quarter of his life ? He has no guarantee 
 against want of employment, sickness, the duty of pro- 
 viding for an aged or decrepit parent, or extending 
 generous aid to a friend, or any other of the ten thousand 
 inevitable calamities to which they are subject. If the 
 poor man fails in any such case to pay over the Premium, 
 the Policy drops, and he thus loses everything he has 
 paid. Has the House the smallest idea of the number 
 of lapsed policies ? In the Friend i 71 Need Society, out of 
 86,000 policies, 18,000 lapsed. The Royal Liver issued 
 135,000 last year (before this speech), and there were in 
 the same term 70,000 lapsed. The Royal Liver's income, 
 fourteen years old, from premiums is £77,000, cost of 
 management £36,000, and after these fourteen years 
 business the accumulated capital is £39,000. " The speech 
 wound up with these words: -"I have attempted to 
 prove that Parliament by legislation, — not by the mere 
 fact that it has assented to Life Assurance, but by its 
 legislation in respect to Friendly Societies, and the many 
 boons it has conferred upon them, — is seriously com- 
 promised, and responsible for the present state of things. 
 I have endeavoured to shew that the wide field of the 
 labouring classes is not occupied by sound institutions, 
 such is the enormous breadth of the subject. I have 
 thus, I think, shewn that the present condition of many 
 of these societies,- — indeed I might go further, and 
 speaking generally, might say that the present condition 
 of these societies is more or less unsatisfactory. 
 Some of them we cannot merely call unsatisfactory, but 
 must term them rotten or fraudulent. It is impossible 
 for the State to assume the direction of these societies.
 
 205 
 
 i recollect the sacred trust we have in hand without party 
 feeling-, that Government should determine in its own 
 mind how it can acquit itself of the obligation to the 
 people of Eng'land." 
 
 Although these words were uttered many years 
 ago, yet they were used by a great statesman, then in the 
 zenith of his power, in his place in Parliament. They 
 are, unfortunately, only too true and applicable to the 
 circumstances of to-day. Many facts may be safely 
 stated in Parliament, as to Insurance or other Companies, 
 names being given, and specific charges made, which 
 less privileged people or outsiders are wise to leave 
 unsaid. 
 
 As bearing upon the speech quoted, and its appli- 
 cation to the circumstances of to-day, take the remarks 
 of Mr. William Schooling, the critical insurance 
 reviewer for the Banker's Magazine, in a recent issue : — 
 " We do not for one moment imply that the assets of 
 British offices are not fully worth all that is claimed for 
 them, but we do say most emphatically that no outsider 
 ij in the least able to form an opinion as to whether they 
 are so or not. The most conspicuous difference between 
 the returns recjuired in this country and in America, is to 
 be found in a statement of a Company's Assets. In 
 England they are given in a most incomplete and 
 unsatisfactory manner. It is impossible for a policy 
 holder to form an adecjuate idea of the security 
 possessed by the company in which he is interested. 
 The assets may be good, bad or indifferent. His only 
 security for believing them to be of the value, is the 
 integrity of the officials, who are responsible for the 
 statement. It is a radically wrong principle to work
 
 206 
 
 upDn, and the list of investments that is retjuired by the 
 State Departments in America, and the still more ample 
 list that is published by the Xecu Fork Life Office are 
 examples of what might advantageously be done in 
 this country. The difference between the meagre returns 
 to the Board of Trade, and the full returns of the New 
 York Life Office are in the strongest possible contrast, 
 and we cannot but feel that any company which makes 
 public the exact details of all its investments, so that it 
 is open to any policy holder and any competitor to find 
 fault with any of its investments, is an immeasurably 
 sounder and stronger position than another company that 
 for practical purposes simply asserts, ' we have assets,' 
 which the directors and officials state to be so much." 
 
 With the remembrance of Jabez Balfour fresh in 
 the recollection of every one, and especially of the 
 thousands of ruined homes, members of which execrate 
 that name, and will hand it down to their descendants as 
 the very incarnation of infamy — should not these warnings 
 impel and compel the prompt attention of Parliament to 
 prevent the possible recurrence of such national disasters. 
 Building Societies are and have been grand institutions 
 for the savings and investments of the working classes, 
 and have enabled them to become possessed of houses 
 of their own. They are generally — and were at the 
 time of the collapse of the " Balfour" group -sound, the 
 exception proving the rule; and indirectly that exception 
 did good, by making the others more careful, and thus 
 conducing to their greater safety and stability, whilst on 
 the other hand it probably deterred many timid people 
 from becoming shareholders. How can new Insurance 
 Companies, although trading on the glowing reports and
 
 2o7 
 balance sheets of old established and sound prosperous 
 companies, enter into competition with them at much 
 lower rates, when we find that the Economic Office which 
 was established 73 years ag^o as a purely mutual one, 
 with no interests to protect but those of its policy 
 holders, is unable to issue a non-profit Policy for 
 £100 at 30 years for less than £1 19s. 9d., at 40 for 
 £2 13s. lOd., at 50 for £3 19s. id., and at 60 for 
 £6 Is. 9d., and whose death payments exceeds the 
 yearly premiums, yet the new companies' rates for £100 
 are at 30 only £1 8s. 8d., at iO £1 15 6d., at 50 
 £2 lOs. 7d., and at 60 £4 Ts. 2d. ? 
 
 If the British Government were to copy the American 
 system, and insist on the appointment of Insurance 
 Superintendents who were experts, and responsible to 
 Parliament for accurate reports on every company 
 accepting- premiums from the general public, it would 
 prevent the possibility of a repetition of these "Jabez 
 Balfour '' impostures. 
 
 It need hardly be pointed out, that the ideas advanced 
 in this scheme, are clearly allied to this subject, and if 
 adopted and carried out, w^ould largely contribute to 
 a satisfactory solution of these dang-erous difficulties, 
 inasmuch as that the Local Authorities which took over 
 policies and kept the assured in benefit, would insist 
 upon perfect solvency and soundness before continuing^ 
 the premiums, to the greater security and satisfaction of 
 the assured. The competition — if it can be so called — 
 with Industrial Insurance Companies, is more of a 
 supplcnunt than a competition, as theirs is voliiti/arv, 
 whilst this is compulsory, and embraces all those who 
 neglect or refuse to insure in any company, and those
 
 268 
 
 already holding" policies in Industrial Companies, would 
 then be doubly insured, and only liable for a similar 
 weekly premium as hitherto. 
 
 The repetition of the main features of the scheme 
 may be excused when the importance of g'rasping' and 
 rememberintf the outlines and bearing^ of the whole is 
 considered. It will be seen that this scheme is based 
 upon a great many facts and circumstances most 
 intimately connected with — and affecting' in a vital 
 manner — the social condition of the people. 
 
 Whilst g'iving all praise and credit for the inestim- 
 able good that has been done by sound Friendly 
 Societies, Insurance Companies, and the improved 
 administration of the Poor Law, there remains a vast 
 field uncultivated, or producing" only noxious weeds. 
 As in education, so in Friendly and Insurance Societies, 
 incalculable good has been done by voluntary organis- 
 ations, which only failed to occupy the field mentioned 
 because they possessed no compulsory powers, and have 
 thus been unable to achieve the complete and universal 
 success they so much desired and deserved. The 
 intention of this scheme is to enter into co-operation 
 with them in the worthy objects they have in view, to 
 strengthen their position, and to relieve them of the 
 heavy load under which they are at present handi- 
 capped, — of old and sick members, doctors' salaries, 
 &c., — and by this means to enable the struggling and 
 insolvent lodges to become sound and flourishing 
 societies. 
 
 To stimulate and revive the present dormant spirit 
 of thrift and independence amongst the lowest class of 
 people, who have hitherto been a burden upon the
 
 209 
 
 thrifty, — the latter not only denying- themselves to make 
 provision ag'ainst adversity, hut ha\iny to provide for 
 those wlio do not, in the payment of Poor Rates — 
 is one of the objects of this Scheme. In this way the 
 very lowest will be taught their duty to themselves and 
 their families, and compelled by law to do it. Just as 
 Insurance has been beneficent to those insured, so under 
 this Scheme it will become universally lieneficial, and 
 the lowest class, instead of being as now, the despair of 
 Parliament, Philosophers, and Philanthropists, will rise 
 to a sense of its own interests and advance to a higher 
 status and condition of life ; while the whole nation will 
 be elevated and strengthened by the prosperity and 
 contentment of its inhabitants, who will thus respect the 
 laws of the land they live in and become its patriots and 
 staunch defenders in all dansfers and difficulties. 
 
 ^^^iV
 
 210 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Summary of Advantag^es. 
 
 IN all respects this scheme complies with the conditions 
 laid down by the Royal CoiiiDiissioji on the Aged Poor, 
 " in relation to its financial aspect, including- the amount 
 of the funds rec(uired, and the sources from which they 
 may be obtained, and its bearing- on the encouragement 
 of thrift and habits of self-reliance.'" 
 
 More than three-fourths of the amount recjuired is 
 raised by the people themselves, directly and individually, 
 for their own individual benefits. The ba'ance is raised 
 either entirely by the Government, or partly by the 
 Government, and partly by a Poor Rate, as may be 
 decided upon. Unlike the schemes brought before the 
 Royal Commission, which are described in the report as 
 " more sketches than absolute detail " — this scheme, it 
 will be admitted, is full of details. "We wish that it 
 had been possible for the Commission to have under- 
 taken this more general enquiry, but it has been brought 
 home to us only too plainly, during- the course of our 
 cn(iuiry that, while this Commission has been well 
 constituted for the purpose of investigation and criticism, 
 its composition has been far from favourable to the 
 work of construction." 
 
 This scheme is '-tentative," because it would be 
 optional for any local authority to adopt it, so that if it 
 was adopted by Bradford people, for instance, and by 
 iiu other district, then the cost to the nation would only be
 
 at 
 
 £79,750. This sum is probably less than the cost of the 
 Royal Commission on the Aged Poor with its abortive 
 conclusions, and it is probable that the nation would 
 consider the experience g"ained by this experiment to be 
 much more valuable than that of many of the experi- 
 ments which they indulg'e in, and which cost many times 
 that sum. The Chancellor of the Exchequer could not 
 be alarmed at such a Bill, as the Legacy Duty of some 
 fortunate man, would, by his unfortunate death, liquidate 
 it. 
 
 The extension of the system would assuredly be 
 gradual, and if we may judge by the Education Act of 
 1870, would be slow, as the thousands of districts where 
 as yet no school boards exist testify, although they have 
 had the power to adopt the act for over a cjuarter of a 
 century. Should any district choose to act in the same 
 way with this scheme, and think they can better provide 
 for themselves voluntarily through PViendly Societies, or 
 by any other means, they could do so. 
 
 Bradford, or any other district having adopted the 
 Act would find the benefits immediately. Those persons 
 over 60 years of age, applying for pensions, would receive 
 them from the funds already provided, and their title to 
 receive them would consist of the payments they had 
 made for others during their long lives, as payers of 
 Poor Rates. 
 
 /;/ all eases of siekness, death, &e., they would draw 
 for the same reason, while under this new Act, 
 Infirmaries, &e., would be self-supporting by means ot 
 the payments made on each bed weekly. 
 
 Charity Orifanisatio7is and similar societies would be 
 unnecessary, houselioUiers would be relieved of the
 
 212 
 
 nuisance of beg'g'ars, and vagrancr would be stamped 
 out. 
 
 Fn'ciidiv Soc/c/ns would be enabled to regain their 
 solvency by being" relieved of old and sick members' 
 pay, and also doctor's salaries. 
 
 Doctors would find permanent positions, and more 
 assured incomes, without the distraction of mind, and 
 loss of fees, caused throug-h defaulting patients. 
 
 Districts at present unable to maintain a resident 
 doctor would secure desirable medical services. 
 
 Policy Holders of Life Insurance would be secured 
 ag'ainst loss of the premiums, and also of the sum 
 assured at death. 
 
 Property oivners would be relieved of Poor Rates, 
 and consequently secure an enhanced value lor their 
 property, and a more certain income, throug-h having- 
 solvent tenants instead of insolvent ones as now. This 
 would be their commission for rendering- assistance in 
 carrying out the Act, and it is believed that this closer 
 relationship of landlords and tenants would be beneficial 
 to both. 
 
 Guardians would be rid of some of their present 
 difficulties, such as classification of paupers, as under 
 this scheme there will only be one class, and that the 
 lowest, i.e., the idle and the vicious, for whom one 
 uniform, strict discipline, and compulsory labour, would 
 be the only just treatment. 
 
 The question of the unemployed would be largely 
 sol\ ed, by pensioning those who were 60 years of age, 
 thus making* room for younger men, at present out of 
 work.
 
 213 
 
 Local Taxatio7i would, to some considerable extent, 
 be removed or considerably reduced by the abolition of 
 the Poor Rates. 
 
 Bcggmg cuid J'ag/dfirj would cease, as householders 
 and benevolent people would know it was not necessary, 
 the scheme providing proper treatment for everyone, 
 and every Local Authority Ijeing held responsible for, 
 and looking well after their own poor and unemployed. 
 
 <^A:?^^iV^
 
 214 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Alternatives. 
 
 IT is scarcely necessary to say that neither Mr. 
 Alexandkr Atkinson, the orig-inator of the scheme, 
 nor the writer of this detailed explanation of it, are 
 eg-otistical enoug-h to maintain that it is absolutely 
 perfect, or incapable of improvement, in any of its many 
 and varied phases. But, after much reading' and 
 research, united with intense enthusiasm for the subject. 
 I have carefully compared the scheme with others ; and, 
 — bearing" in mind the evidence adduced before the 
 " Royal Commission on the Aged Poor,"' the Reports of 
 the various sections of that Commission, and the terms 
 laid down by them, to which any scheme must conform 
 if it is to enlist Parliamentary favour, — I am convinced, 
 the more I hear the subject discussed among great 
 " Friendly Societies,"" and eminent authorities, that this 
 comes nearer to the fulfilment of all the conditions laid 
 down than any scheme I have yet seen or heard of. 
 
 Any Prime Minister, or even the whole Cabinet, may 
 think out a Bill most carefully and thoroughly, with the 
 assistance of the most expert and clever draughtsman, 
 until it seems to them to be absolutely perfect Yet 
 when it comes before Parliament, is it not wonderful to 
 witness, in all parts of the House, members continually 
 rising to point out objections to or improvements in the 
 measure, till the Minister in charge of the Bill, and his
 
 ?'5 
 
 colleagues, becfin to find out that all the sense in the 
 world is not confined to themselves, and that there are 
 a very great number of quite different views upon the 
 subject, to any of those which had been considered by 
 them at their Cabinet meeting. 
 
 The greatest care and consideration have been 
 given to the main outlines of this scheme so as to 
 provide that while certain undoubted and existing evils, 
 which public opinion imperatively demands must cease, 
 shall be promptly, certainly, effectually, and permanently 
 removed, lit the same time no hardship, wrong or 
 needless inconvenience will be inflicted upon any 
 institution, class or person in the community. 
 
 In the case of institutions, it will be seen that 
 Friendly Societies, far from being ignored or injured, 
 would greatly benefit. Their funds would be increased 
 {(j) by cessation of doctors' bills or salaries, as //rr 
 doctors would be appointed and paid out of these general 
 levies; (i) their members in sickness would receive 12/- 
 per week from the same source ; (r) their members at 
 sixty years of age would have the Old Age Pension of 
 8/- per week for life, and would thus save to the Societies 
 i/- per week which at present they allow. Sound 
 Insurance Companies would be sure of their premium 
 income being permanent. Lapsed Policies would 
 certainly not figure so largely in their profits, but 
 that would be all the better for the Policy Holder, and 
 the Companies would be able to revise their scale 
 or schedules, thus putting insurance business on a just 
 and more equitable basis than that on whic h it is at 
 present conducted, to the mutual advanta,ge of all.
 
 2 l6 
 
 Many improvements are possible, in the varied 
 details of this scheme, and we earnestly ask our readers 
 to study and vveig'h each one with care and thoroughness, 
 and to make public their opinions and views, be they 
 favourable or the reverse. 
 
 '^'^^:i^^fitf^^^
 
 217 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Sugrgrestions for the Army and Navy. 
 
 SUCH a subject as this may, at first sight, appear 
 to be ([uite outside and utterly foreign to the 
 scheme which we have been discussing in this work ; a 
 little consideration, however, will soon show that it is 
 very closely related to, and bound up with, those other 
 questions already explained. The chief object in view is 
 to find some practical solution for the great problems of 
 social sickness, and to provide or suggest such remedies 
 as will secure a sound state of society. 
 
 Several sections of that society, as it at present exists, 
 have been brought under notice, and these are anything 
 but sound under the i)resent system of dealing with 
 them. One section has been referred to as that of those 
 youths who infest the streets and alleys, and who never 
 do anything in the shape of honest work to support 
 either themselves or their parents. These I would lay 
 hold of and have trained and disciplined until rendered 
 fit for service in the Army or Navy as a reserve force. 
 Their very nature, as a rule, qualifies them for making 
 good soldiers or sailors, but they first must be tested and 
 tried by a three year's course of strict training and 
 discipline, to which the many of them (in whom there is 
 much latent power for good) would readily submit. 
 The experiment is, at least, worth trying, and might 
 prove of inestimable advantage not only to them but to 
 society at large.
 
 2l8 
 
 I would do the same with all youthful criminals — 
 sending" them first to a reformatory instead oftoprison-- 
 a proceeding which only makes them a charg'e upon the 
 country, wasting" their energies in useless confinement, 
 and with the prospect of their becoming a life-long 
 burden to the taxpayers or a terror and a plague as 
 thieves and vagabonds. The same treatment might 
 (with modifications) be applied to all vagrants and ^d:)le- 
 bodied paupers whose age, ability, and physical condition 
 satisfied the doctors and the authorities. 
 
 The first Lord of the Admiralty, in explaining his 
 scheme for the increase of the Navy, admitted that there 
 was a serious deficiency in men to mann our ships, and 
 one which would become still more serious when the 
 new vessels were completed, the only resource being that 
 boys might be tempted to join the Navy. Lord Charles 
 Beresford, so well-known and highly valued as a naval 
 critic and authority, is still more emphatic in 
 emphasizing the great danger incurred by the country 
 by this under-manning' and deficiency in the strength of 
 the fleet in case of any emerg'ency occurring. 
 
 At present the idea obtains, of sending boys to 
 reformatory schools, who are thence to be transferred to 
 training ships. 
 
 These suggestions are thrown out as being likely to 
 make useful a class of men who at present are worse 
 than useless and hinder greatly our work of social 
 amelioration, and we are bound to look at the question 
 from every standpoint in order to study every existing 
 possibility of perfecting' this scheme. 
 
 There is another, and happily a far more intelligent 
 and deserving class of men, whose physical condition
 
 2 ig 
 
 and financial position would be greatly improved by the 
 following" plan. I refer to that vast class of men 
 employed in offices, shops, warehouses, mills, work- 
 shops, schools, and in other sedentary occupations. 
 
 With the requisite assistance and encouragement a 
 strong" reserve could readily be formed from these, and 
 we propose that they should, — after certain regulated 
 training, which could be arranged to occupy part of their 
 spare time, and during which they should be paid 2 - per 
 week for not less than three separate attendances, — be 
 drafted into a special reserve for active service in case of 
 need. The payment of this sum would be an incentive 
 to regular attendance, while the exercise and discipline 
 would be of the greatest advantage to themselves 
 physically, and their military knowledge would prove of 
 infinite value to the nation should need arise. 
 
 It is proposed to divide the whole country into lOO 
 sub-districts, each contributing a brigade of 5,000 men. 
 Each brigade may consist of 3,500 Infantry, 1,000 
 Artillery, and 500 Cavalry, thus constituting a reserve 
 force of 500,000 officers and men, comprising 350,000 
 Infantry, 100,000 Artillery, and 50,000 Cavalry. 
 
 Except in time of war the maximun time of service 
 out of the country could be restricted to the term of 
 three years, and the 2/- per week would, of course, be 
 supplemented by necessary clothing and expenses while 
 on duty at home or abroad. The following' statement is 
 based upon a scale of £20 per man, the rate for the 
 Army being at present £60 per man, and for the 
 Volunteers £4 : —
 
 Cost 
 
 Cost 
 
 Cost 
 
 of 5000. 
 
 of 50,000. 
 
 of 500,000. 
 
 /30,ooo 
 
 ;^30o,ooo 
 
 ;^3,ooo,ooo 
 
 ;f25,000 
 
 ^250,000 
 
 ;^2,500,000 
 
 ;^I5,000 
 
 ;^I50,000 
 
 ;r I, 500, 000 
 
 ;f5.0OO 
 
 ^^50,000 
 
 ;^500,ooo 
 
 /I5.000 
 
 ;^I50,000 
 
 /■l, 500, 000 
 
 ;^I0,000 
 
 ;^I00,000 
 
 ;^ I, 000, 000 
 
 ;^IOO,000 
 
 ^f 1,000,000 
 
 ;^I0,000,000 
 
 Per Brigade. 
 
 200 Half-pay Officers, at 
 
 £150 each 
 Attendances 
 Clothing 
 
 500 Sergeants and Corporals 
 500 Cavalry, at £30 each 
 Other items 
 
 Leavin.y out the Indian Army, with it.s 75,000 men, 
 the cost of which is borne b\' India, we have at present 
 an available force of 144,000, the cost of which is 
 £18,000,000, and some £2,000,000 for pensions. Under 
 this three years system there would be available at all 
 times 150,000 men under arms, and 150,000 reserve men 
 for service abroad, while 200,000 would remain for 
 garrison or home defence, or to fill up vacancies on the 
 three years system. 
 
 It is suggested that part of the reserve force should 
 live abroad, being secured suitable employment in the 
 Colonies, and subsidized by the Home Government, so 
 that in any emergency, wherever it occurred, they would 
 be 071 the spot, armed and with an accurate knowledge of 
 the country and of the customs of the inhabitants. 
 
 In order to secure more safe and rapid com- 
 munication with India, it is proposed that a railway 
 should be constructed from Port Said to Kurachee, 
 some 2,400 miles. In this case Government could raise 
 the money at a low rate of interest, and limit the cost to 
 twenty-five millions, and the time for completion to four 
 years. When this was completed all troops to and from 
 India, as well as all mails, would be carried y/vc.
 
 221 
 
 Such Government Works might absorb a large 
 l)roportion of the reserve men, and all employed should 
 be subject to military- discipline. We would then have 
 an alternative route to that of the Suez Canal, besides a 
 Penny Postage to India, and many increased facilities 
 for trade and for carriag'e of goods. 
 
 It is also suggested that this Army Scheme be 
 applied to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South 
 Africa, 100,0[)0 soldiers being thus raised there, and one 
 half of the cost being borne by the Colonies, and the 
 other half by the Home Government. 
 
 The British nation and the British race stand pre- 
 eminently in the van of civilization, and our permanent 
 prosperity at present depends upon our fighting power, 
 for this same civilization can only be maintained and 
 increased by means of powerful forces on land and sea. 
 To prevent war we must be in a position to diciak peace. 
 
 Any nation or emi)ire that has not a sufficient 
 military power to defend itself, is at the mercy of its 
 enemies, and must in the end succumb to a stronger 
 power. Once its policv becomes "Peace at any price," 
 its days of independence are numbered, and it will 
 become absorbed by a stronger, though perhaps much 
 less civilised race, or it will sink in the scale of nations 
 to the level of an unrecognised Power. 
 
 In the siege of Paris in 1S70 — 1 871, the city was too 
 strongly fortified to be captured by assault, neither could 
 it be shelled into surrender — but surrender, aye, and 
 defeat and disaster too were brought about by famine. 
 In any great war, our coasts are not our only weakness. 
 Forts, Militia, Regulars, and Volunteers, would all,
 
 222 
 
 doubtless, fulfil our expectations, but still defeat mig"ht 
 await us. 
 
 Once let our Fled fail us and our colonies one by 
 one would be captured, our communications cut off, and 
 our food supplies and commerce entirely stopped, 
 without the enemy needing to land a single trooper. Like 
 France, after a few months of plague, pestilence, and 
 famine, over the glorious traditions of England with its 
 proud boast of freedom for centuries from any hostile 
 foot, there would be written by our enemies "Ichabod." 
 
 The increase of the Navy, and the promptitude 
 with which the flying scjuadron was equipped when 
 necessity arose awhile ago, showed the wisdom of our 
 rulers, and the calm which has followed preaches an 
 eloquent sermon. We depend upon our wheat, wool, 
 wood, cotton, and other raw materials, for our food and 
 manufiictures, and as these are largely imported from 
 other countries, unless our Navy has absolute and complete 
 command of the seas, our position is far from secure. 
 
 Were our supplies cut off, national industries would 
 be paralyzed, whilst every port would be at the mercy 
 of any ships which passed the fortifications, and damage 
 to the extent of millions of pounds could be done in a 
 day, to say nothing of the loss of life involved. 
 
 In Canada we are open to land forces from the 
 United States, in India from Russia, in Guiana from 
 France, whilst in South Africa we have Germany and 
 Portugal. The Jameson raid shows how easily we may 
 be brought into a dispute with Foreign Powers, and 
 there is always the possibility of our duty obliging us to 
 hasten to the rescue of any in real distress. Under the 
 present system it is more than probable that our assistance
 
 223 
 
 would arrive too late to prove effective, hence the idea 
 of reserve men settling- and remaining' in our colonies 
 and dependencies and being at once available if called 
 upon. 
 
 The extent of the British empire, its wealth, and the 
 importance of each separate portion of it to the whole, 
 ought to convince us that it is our duty to evolve some 
 scheme by which the force and energy at present con- 
 centrated in our vagrants, youthful criminals, and 
 unemployed men may be utilised for the defence, instead 
 of their being left to cause the deslruciion of that empire. 
 To reclaim, to drill and discipline these men, and turn 
 them out loyal soldiers for their country, and afkr testing 
 their ivorth and fighting pozcers, to keep them as a reserve 
 force, working for us, buying from us, and selling to us, 
 would be to make good British subjects of a class that is 
 at present only a disgrare and a burden to us. 
 
 We should then be in a position to defend Scotland, 
 Ireland, the North East Coasts, the Mersey, the Severn, 
 Plymouth, and the West Coast, Portsmouth, Dover, and 
 the Thames, with also ample means of defence for 
 London. With our railways, good roads, telegraj^hs, 
 telephones, cycles, and motor cars, in constant use 
 everywhere, our system of communication throug^h all 
 parts of Great Britain ought to be so perfect, that the 
 country would, under this si:heme, be almost if not 
 absolutely invincible, as concentration of forces at any 
 given point could be effected before any foreign invasion 
 could land. 
 
 The recent increase in the Navy has already proved 
 of effectual use in the interests of pe^ice, let us complete 
 our national defence by increasing the Army in power
 
 124 
 
 and efficiency also. British interests at home and 
 abroad are bound up in trade and commerce, to secure 
 which we must have peace, and the surest way to ensure 
 peace is to be fully prepared for war. For this purpose it 
 is essential to have a dominant navy and a powerful army 
 ready at all times for all emergencies and combinations. 
 Economists put before us comparative tables in 
 pamphlets, such as '' Empire, Trade, and Armaments." 
 They quote the cost of the Na\y in our grandfather's 
 days, in comparison with its i)osition in our own, 
 oblivious of the changed conditions of the world, and 
 surely this is as reasonable as it would be to abolish 
 police, locks, bolts and bars in the City because the 
 farmer living miles away in the fjuiet country finds that 
 he can do without them. 
 
 Lord Charles Rkresford contends — and I know no 
 better authority — that at present we are 16,362 men 
 short for the Navy, and that the 46 new ships will 
 i-equire 11,200 men, thus making a total of 27,562 short- 
 age. The first Lord of the Admiralty admitted in his 
 last estimates that there was a deficiency ; and his 
 proposal, which was to take 11,000 men from the reserve 
 forces, would have left a deficiency still of 16,562. His 
 Lordship proposes to fix a definite standard for tax- 
 payers to agree to, and thinks loo.ooo men for the Fleet 
 would meet all requirements, with a reser\'e of 70,000. 
 He also points out that, at the beginning of the century, 
 there were 147,000 men on the active list. 
 
 Lord Charlks RKRKSFORn institutes a damaging 
 comparison with other countries, l)oth in i)oint of number 
 and training, and combats the first Lord's proposals to 
 take men from the mercantile marine because the large
 
 I 
 
 225 
 
 proportion of foreig'n seamen now employed in the 
 merchant service would hamper that service in time of 
 war, dislocate commerce, and endanger, or, as his 
 Lordship very forcibly puts it, '' put an end to the 
 Empire." He would prefer to start by joining 5,000 
 men for short service, and 5,000 second-class men each 
 year for five years, who shall pass through two months 
 training. At the end of five years there would thus be 
 50,000 men, of whom 5,000 would be first-class men 
 and 25,000 men who had served one month in each 
 year in the Fleet on active service and one month's drill 
 elsewhere. 
 
 He estimates the cost of this for the first five years 
 at £600,000. Extending the system over eleven years, 
 Lord Charles reckons that a reserve would be produced 
 of 70,000 men, at a total cost of £3,740,000. Adding 
 the cost of the month's training necessary to keep these 
 men in a proper state of efficiency, the total would be 
 £1,440,000 a year, which is actually less than the 
 cost of the Army Reserve as it now stands — namely 
 £1,964,000. 
 
 -^^^i^^^^^r^^^
 
 226 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 TN taking- leave of the reader, the author craves indulg- 
 ^^ ence for any faults of composition or redundancy of 
 words, and sincerely trusts that the discussion and 
 decision upon this great question, which is daily com- 
 manding the attention of the public, the press, and of 
 parliament with constantly increasing force and urgency, 
 may indeed be wise, equitable, and economical ; such, in 
 fact, as may enlist the hearty co-operation of all classes. 
 
 To ensure the success of this scheme, it must be 
 first of all thoroughly mastered in all its details, and not 
 hurriedly read and then thoughtlessly laid aside, either 
 with indifference or with the mental ejaculation, "It 
 sounds all right, and no doubt something or other will 
 be done in Parliament, in all probability before long, 
 too, but really there are so many ot these schemes, it 
 is hard to tell which is the best."' I know the average man 
 of business is so engrossed with his own afifars, that he 
 feels he cannot give the time and attention he would 
 like to it— but when all the facts and propositions arc 
 clearly understood, I ask him then to form an opinion, 
 and if it is favourable, to advocate the adoption of the 
 scheme whenever and wherever possible, with all the 
 zeal and influence he can bring to bear. 
 
 Let him clearly fix in his own mind the main 
 features of the scheme. The Poor Law, as now ad- 
 ministered, is universally condemned. There has always
 
 I 
 
 227 
 been distress and destitution, often most undesen'ed. 
 Friendly societies have done what they could, and done 
 it well, but are totally unable to do all that is necessar)', 
 having" no compulsory powers, and the majority ot the 
 population not choosing" to join them voluntarily. The 
 thoughtless and thriftless scjuander good wages, and then 
 when severe money losses come upon them, they are 
 obliged to live anyhow, at the expense of the thrifty. 
 With compulsory powers, the local authority impounds 
 a small percentage of these wages weekly, as explained, 
 and in consideration of this provides all necessary 
 comforts in time of need, for orphans or fatherless 
 children, for all in sickness or other incapacity, for 
 the unemployed, and for old age, besides free doctors, 
 and a guarantee for the continuance of present life 
 policies. 
 
 These Benefits could not be obtained by any other 
 means, for double or treble the money. The money is 
 so easily collected free of cost, at short intervals, in 
 small sums, and is scarcely missed or felt under the 
 circumstances. The Benefits are immediate and enjo)ed 
 by all. No one can be out of Benefit. If unable to pay, 
 they can at least draw. No deserving person can be a 
 Pauper. Those who are not deserving, or who refuse 
 to comply with the conditions laid down, are the only 
 Paupers, and deserve to be treated as such and set to 
 test work constantly in the Workhouse. The present 
 Pauper class gradually becomes extinct. The rising 
 generation, with increased education, and universal 
 inculcation of thrift and independence, will develop into 
 higher types of citizens, and the general welfare and 
 prosperity of the people become assured, while in this
 
 228 
 
 will be found the surest guarantee of the stability of the 
 Institutions of the Empires 
 
 It is of the highest importance that any scheme 
 which Parliament adopts, should be as nearly perfect as 
 possible in all its details, and give entire satisfaction in 
 its operation, to every class. Otherwise the disappoint- 
 ment would delay and possibly defeat the accomplishment 
 of the noble object in view. Every proposition suggested 
 herein, should be tested and tried, by comparison with 
 the existing circumstances of life, as we find them, and 
 iis we would like them to be. The spirit in which they 
 are approached should be unprejudiced and sympathetic, 
 the eflfect calculated pecuniarily and personally, also how 
 it would reflect on the lives and homes of others, and on 
 the district or the country as a whole, so that we may be 
 enabled to secure equality and justice for our race, and 
 ensure for it an opportunity to develop its highest 
 powers. 
 
 This scheme will be brought under the notice of the 
 Committee of Experts appointed by Government, there- 
 fore it is hoiked that every member of Parliament in both 
 houses, will feel it his duty to study it, and that is the 
 main reason for the publication of this book. 
 
 If we bear in mind the power of the pence contri- 
 buted by some 30,000,009 people, and what combina- 
 tion can do and has done in other ways ; also that the 
 need for the reform herein advocated is urgent, and that it 
 inculcates both i7uhpindnicea7idsdf-rcspcct hesAdes pro??ioting 
 thrift, so as to raise all, even the lowest, to a higher level 
 of social life, and by this means contribute to the still 
 greater advancement of the British race as the control- 
 ling power in the civilisation of the world, it will be seen
 
 229 
 
 that this scheme is well worthy of adoption and support. 
 
 Let me take this opportunity of most heartily and 
 sincerely thanking all subscribers of every class and 
 every creed, for the kind words and encouragement they 
 have so liberally given to me. 
 
 To them, and to the public generally, I commend 
 this scheme which I have endeavoured to make clear in 
 this book, feeling- assured that the result may be left in 
 their hands with perfect confidence. 
 
 THE END.
 
 230 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The National Pension Scheme 
 
 WHEN AUTHORISED BY PARLIAMENT, 
 
 APPLIED TO THE LONDON COUNTY 
 COUNCIL. 
 
 Every district to be protected with a hye-law till the scheme is 
 made universal by law. 
 
 The following is a Statement of Receipts and Payments 
 as applied to the London County Council. 
 
 POPULATION 4,500,000. 
 
 INCOME. 
 
 Income at I4d. weekly, 15/- quarterly, for 
 2,446,000 Adults, paid with rent or 
 lodg"ings and paid over by the landlords 
 of every inhabited dwelling^house to 
 the London County Council on a 
 quarterly census ... ... ... ;^7. 338,000 
 
 Grant by the Treasurery quarterly to the 
 London County Council at 1/3 for each 
 of 2,446,000 ... ... ... ... £611.500 
 
 Poor Rate at 1/3 quarterly to the London 
 
 County Council for 2,446,000 ... . £611,500 
 
 ;^8,56i,ooo
 
 231 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Payments out weekly to the London County 
 Council : — 
 
 To those who are 60 and above when out 
 of work or when unable to work at 
 14/- weekly for slng^le, 20/- for couples, 
 any income beings made up into 14/- 
 or 20/- for a couple. 
 
 Hospitals and Asylums will draw for each 
 patient one case to every 25 inhabitants. 
 
 180,000 Cases costing- ... ... ... £4,320,000 
 
 One case of sickness or incapacity for life 
 
 to every 50 inhabitants at 14/- weekly 
 
 (below 60). 
 Hospitals and Asylums will draw for each 
 
 patient. 
 41,000 Cases costing-... ... £1,435,000 
 
 41,000 Cases of Out of Work below 60 at 
 
 7/- weekly without loss of vote ... £738,000 
 
 48,000 Deaths at £20 each ... ... . . £960,000 
 
 12,000 Cases of In-door Poor at £20 each, 
 out of which the I4d. weekly must be 
 paid for each to the London County 
 Council ... ... ... ... ... £240000 
 
 Manag-ement at 2/- yearly per inhabitant... £244,600 
 
 1,500 Districts of 3,000 each the same scale 
 is allowed to those below 21.
 
 2^2 
 
 Medical Attendance anywhere five miles 
 
 free at 4/- per inhabitant ... ... £489,200 
 
 One district in each 12 districts to be in 
 charg"e of a Physician and Surg^eon at 
 £1000 a year. 
 
 Drugs, Rents of Offices, Fires, etc. ... £134,200 
 
 £8,561,000 
 
 This scheme takes tor granted that London is one 
 Poor Law Union. The I4d. weekly at first sight 
 appears rather heavy, but this compares more favourably 
 when it is seen how a voluntary scheme works out, as 
 for instance Mr. Burdett's scheme in the Lo7ido?i Times of 
 December loth, i8g6, or taking an agricultural labourer 
 now paying £2 a year for 14/- weekly in sickness, and 
 £12 at death, but when the insurance and doctor's bills 
 and sick benefits are considered, then each I4d. will 
 represent 6d. over the present. 
 
 In each Poor Law Area, it is contemplated to 
 appoint a public officer, who will take up the following 
 cases and apply to the magistrates for possession, and 
 an order to go inside the workhouse on test : — where any 
 tenant or lodger refuses or neglects to pay, or removes 
 off premises to avoid payment. All cases of begging 
 over the age of si.xty, or when in receipt of the benefits 
 of this scheme obtaining any house by fraud or any 
 lodgings. Those now in the Workhouse over sixty on 
 coming out will be required to satisfy the authorities that 
 they are able to take charge of themselves or that some 
 person will guarantee their supervision before their 
 names are put upon the list, and where any names are
 
 I 
 
 233 
 
 struck off an application to the magistrates must be 
 made to be put on again, and, if necessary, security will 
 be required to be given. 
 
 Where any Local Authority refuse or neglect to put 
 any person on the register of persons entitled to draw 
 the benefits of this scheme, application must be made to 
 the magistrates to put their names on, who, before 
 granting such, will require proper guarantees. 
 
 The quarterly census under this scheme follows the 
 plan now adopted of quarterly returns of deaths, 
 marriages, and births — the tenant will be required to 
 assist the landlord — the latter will only be liable for the 
 tenant and his wife and the children below 21, for every 
 lodger or adult of the family the Tenant must take out a 
 15/- quarterly license tor each bed so occupied ; this will 
 remove the difficulty of too large families under the 
 same roof 
 
 The National Pension Scheme further extended to 
 those below 21 and above 16. 
 
 INCOME. 
 
 Income at 3id. weekly, 15/- yearly, for 450,000 
 
 taken at 16 and under 2 1 ... ... ... £337,500 
 
 Grant by the Treasury at 3/4 yearly for 
 
 450,000 £75,000 
 
 Poor Rate at 3/4 yearly for 450,000 ... ... ;^75,000 
 
 £487,500
 
 234 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Payments out weekly by the London County 
 Council throuo^h its 1500 officers. 
 
 9,000 Cases of sickness or of incapacity for 
 
 life at 8/- weekly, costing .. ... ;^i8o,ooo 
 
 9,000 Cases out of work at 4'- weekly ... £90,000 
 
 9,000 Death at £5 each ... £45,000 
 
 2,250 In-door poor at 4/- weekly ... ... £22,500 
 
 Management at 2'- per inhabitants ... ... £45,000 
 
 Medical attendance free anywhere five miles 
 
 at 4/- per inhabitant £90,000 
 
 Drugs, Office Rents, Fires, &c £15,000 
 
 £487,500 
 
 The Scheme further extended to those below 16. 
 
 INCOME. 
 
 Income at i^d. weekly, 6/8 yearly for 
 
 1,604,000 £534,666 13 4 
 
 Grant by the Treasury at 3/4 yearly 
 
 for 1,604,000 £^^7,3^3 n 4 
 
 Poor Rate at 3 '4 yearly for 1.604,000 £267.333 13 4 
 
 ^1,069,334 o o
 
 235 
 
 PAYMENTS. 
 
 Payments out weekly by the London County 
 Council : — 
 
 60,000 Deaths at £}, each ... ... ... £iSo.ooo 
 
 30,000 Cases of out of work where parents 
 
 are out of work or sick at 4/- weekly ... £300,000 
 
 8,000 In-door poor at 4/- ... ... ... £80,000 
 
 Management at 2/- per inhabitant ... ... £160,000 
 
 Medical attendance free ... ... ... £320,000 
 
 Dru§:s, &c £29,334 
 
 ;^i,o69,334 
 
 What is meant by out ot work relief to children 
 under sixteen is where the parents are out of work. A 
 man would not draw more than his average wages for 
 the whole of his family. All able-bodied persons under 
 sixty in any workhouse are to be all on test. The salary 
 of any officer or doctor under this scheme would be, 
 with 3000 to a district, £300 and ;^6oo each without any 
 practice beyond the duties under the scheme. The 
 duties are to include collection of rates in district, 
 registry of births, deaths and marriages. The j^ayment 
 at 2/- per inhabitant will represent about four per cent, 
 on the income as compared with twenty-five per cent, by 
 the Poor Law.
 
 236 
 
 NOTES 
 
 I. — Hospitals, &C. In cases such as Hospitals, Asylums 
 and other Institutions, the sum of yd. or I4d. weekly 
 (as agreed upon) is paid on each bed ; while for 
 each patient or inmate the sum (according' to 
 premium agreed upon) is drawn weekly from the 
 County Council. They are thus rendered per- 
 manently self-supporting-. 
 
 2.— Lodging Houses, &c. Lodg-ing- houses, private 
 houses having lodgers, and every private house 
 having adults in the family, together with all classes 
 of shelters, will be recjuired to take out a cjuarterly 
 license for each bed, or space used as a bed, and to 
 reimburse themselves each night, by the requisite 
 fee of id. (or yd. weekly) or 2d. (i4d. weekly) as 
 may be agreed upon. 
 
 3. — Landlords. The landlord of every inhabited 
 dwelling will be liable only for the tenant, his wife, 
 and those children under the age of twenty-one, to 
 the Local Authority, quarterly. 
 
 4.- — Licenses. In granting licenses for beds, care to be 
 taken that the accommodation is sufficient, and not 
 detrimental to the inmates or the neighbourhood. 
 
 5.— To meet Refusal of Payment. In every Poor Law 
 Area, an officer is to be appointed who will make 
 all applications to the magistrates for possession of
 
 237 
 
 any house or lodgingfs, and for an order compelling 
 all who neglect or refuse payment of the agreed 
 premiums to the landlord, to go into the Workhouse, 
 and for such persons to be then struck off the 
 list of persons entitled to draw the benefits of this 
 scheme. 
 
 6. — Offences. The following are offences which will be 
 followed by the penalty of being struck off the list 
 of those entitled to draw the benefits of this 
 scheme : — 
 
 (a) Begging while in receipt of benefits of 
 
 the scheme. 
 {/>) Obtaining any of its benefits by fraud. 
 ((■) Obtaining any house or lodgings by fraud. 
 (d) Avoiding payment by means of sleeping 
 off premises named, or in any other way, 
 with intent to defraud the authorities. 
 (<;') Refusing to perform test work, when work 
 is found. 
 
 N B. — Hard Labour. These two latter cases to incur 
 the penalty of three months hard labour in addition. 
 
 7. — Friendly Societies. Members of Friendly Societies 
 will not be interfered with in their management or 
 funds. They can pay into this scheme and enjoy 
 do//i benefits. 
 
 8. — Bye-Law. Every district adopting this scheme 
 will be protected with a bye-law to prevent those 
 coming into it who live in areas where the scheme 
 has not been adopted. These will be recjuired /o 
 pay, but not allowed lo draw.
 
 238 
 
 9 — Opinions. Mr. John Morley, M,P., in Newcastle, 
 and Sir John Gorst, M.P., in Halifax, each con- 
 demmed the principle of employers collecting" or 
 stopping" premiums out of men's wages, but advised 
 discussion of how best to solve the question by 
 some Pension Scheme. 
 
 Mr. Chamberlain, speaking" in Liverpool, 
 estimated that 3 in every lOO, of all classes, at 65 
 years of age are in receipt of Poor Law Relief. 
 
 This scheme provides amply, forthwith, for all 
 such cases. 
 
 lo.— Receiver. In case of any landlord refusing to pay 
 over the quarterly premiums, the public officer in 
 each Poor Law Area, will apply for a receiver to be 
 appointed to collect the rents and deduct premiums. 
 
 1 1. — Premiums. The landlord will be required to enter 
 all premiums under this scheme in the tenant's 
 rent book. 
 
 12.— Duties. Where duties in any district are light, the 
 Local Authority can add one or more of the 
 following : — Registrar of Births, Deaths, and 
 Marriages, Postmastership, Free Librarian, &c., 
 — without any extra remuneration. 
 
 13. — Costs. The costs of administration under this 
 scheme are taken roughly at 5 per cent, as com- 
 pared with 25 per cent, required under the present 
 Poor Law system. 
 
 14. — Agents. Every county and borough to act as the 
 agents for the Treasury in the uniform distribution 
 of benefits and to meet the national calamities.
 
 230 
 
 15- — ^Lapsed Policies. Every Local Authority to borrow 
 
 money at 3 per cent, and to charge 4 per cent. 
 
 ' for the purpose of taking" up lapsed policies of 
 
 insurance, and paying the premiums thereon until 
 
 the said policy ends. 
 
 16. — Live Stock. Every Local Authority may under 
 this scheme borrow money at 3 per cent, and 
 charge 4 per cent, for the purpose of loaning out 
 live stock. i-orrower to pay back interest and 
 insurance 10/- per quarter. 
 
 17.— Sales between Landlord and Tenant Any 
 
 landlord is at liberty to sell to his tenant, and to 
 deposit his deeds with the Local Authoriy. The 
 purchasing tenant to pay weekly 3/1, and also the 
 rates for each £100 of purchase money, the landlord 
 drawing not less than £i ciuarterly for each £100 till, 
 the whole is paid off. 
 
 18. — Wages. A man out of work without loss of vote 
 is to be allowed full wages, i c, so much for each 
 child, himself, and his wife. 
 
 19. — Test. All able-bodied persons inside the Work- 
 house are to be put on test. 
 
 20. — Begister. All applications to be placed upon the 
 register must be made to the magistrates. 
 
 21. — Responsibility. When a person comes out of the 
 Workhouse, who is not capable of taking care of 
 himself or herself, application must be made to the 
 magistrates and security given to provide suitably 
 for them.
 
 240 
 
 The Scheme. — The scheme we are advocating requires 
 an Act of Parliament applicable to the United 
 Kingdom, but optional for adoption in Boroughs, 
 Cities, County Councils, or Poor Law Areas. 
 
 When such district has adopted the Act, the 
 Local Authority becomes invested with compulsory 
 powers, and each person at 21 years of age and 
 upwards, must pay to that authority the sum of 7d. 
 weekly with the rent, as arranged, weekly or 
 quarterly, or, in the case of common lodging 
 houses, id. per night. 
 
 Government Grant. — Supplemented by a Government 
 
 Grant of 5/- per capita, and also of 5/- from the 
 present Poor Rate, a fund is at once created equal 
 to £2 for each and every person per annum over 
 21 years of age in that area. 
 
 Balance Sheet. — The balance sheet cjuoted previously 
 will show how it works out for a given area — 
 London being taken in the present instance. Many 
 alterations and modifications are, of course, possible. 
 
 ^^^^^^-^
 
 I 
 
 Index
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abolition of Pauperism . . 65 
 
 Abolition of Poor Rate . . 66 
 Actuary of Manchester 
 
 Unity 25 
 
 Actuaries . . . . . . 146 
 
 Accidents, Colliery . . 62 
 
 Acts, Irish Land . . . . 193 
 
 Acts, Law of Distress 
 
 Amendment . . . . ig 
 
 Advantages .. ..210 
 
 Admissions and Explana- 
 tions .. .. .. 132 
 
 Aged I'oor . . . . . . 21 
 
 Aged Poor, Royal Com- 
 mission on..iS, 21, 114. 15T, 
 
 Agents 
 
 Agriculture 
 
 Alexander Atkinson, Mr., 
 
 I 42, 140, 143, 152 
 Almshouses 
 Alternatives 
 American Insurance 
 Antiquated treatment 
 Appendix . . 
 Army, Suggestions for 
 Army, Statistics of the 
 Artisans' Dwellings 
 Assurance Company, Pru 
 dential 
 
 166, 210 
 38 
 
 18S 
 
 214 
 
 115 
 214 
 lyg 
 
 35 
 
 230 
 217 
 220 
 i«3 
 
 ■^3 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Assurance, National . . 76 
 Ashbourne, Lord .. .. 1S7 
 
 Asylums .. .. ..114 
 
 Attendance, School .. 176 
 
 Austria, Benefit Societies in 26 
 
 B. 
 
 Balance Sheet . . . . 240 
 
 Balfour, Jabez . . . . 206 
 
 Bartley, Mr., IMP. .. 42 
 
 Begging, end of . . ..213 
 
 Belgium, Beneiit Societ'es 
 
 in . . . . . . . . 26 
 
 Benefits . . . . . . 227 
 
 Benefit Societies, Old .\ge 
 
 Pensions for . . . . 24 
 
 Beresford, Lord Charles, 
 
 218, 224 
 IMackley, Canon iS, 36, 38, 39 
 Booth, Charles . . . . 18 
 
 Borrowing Money .. 69 
 
 Bradford, County Borough 
 
 of . . . . • • 17 
 
 Bradford, Death Rate in . . 63 
 Bradford, Scheme applied 
 
 to . . . . 79, T43, 199 
 
 Bradford, Union . . . . 70 
 
 Bradford, Rates . . . . 148 
 
 Brewers . . . . . . 172 
 
 British Insurance.. .. 199 
 
 Broadhurst, Henry, M.P. 81
 
 244 
 
 TAGK 
 
 lirooke, Rev. Lambert .. jy 
 Building Societies . . 185 
 
 Bye-Laws . . . . . . 237 
 
 c 
 
 Calculations .. ..179 
 
 Candidates for Bradford. . 17 
 Canon Blackley's Scheme, 
 
 3«. 36 
 Cases under present system 73 
 Census Returns . . . . 61 
 
 Census Papers . . . . 79 
 
 Central Board for London 37 
 Chamberlain, Right Hon. 
 
 Joseph, M.P. 
 
 18, 36, 77, 127, 170 
 Chamberlain, Right Hon. 
 
 Joseph, M.P., Scheme 
 
 (-^f 39. 40 
 
 Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, The . . 48, 203 
 Character, differences in . . 56 
 Charity, Universal . . 58 
 
 Charities, made self- 
 supporting .. •• 133 
 Charitable Organisations 164 
 Church Congress.. ., 23 
 Children . . . . . .61, 65 
 
 Civilisation, boast of .. 55 
 Classes . . . . . . 141 
 
 Class, help for lowest .. 171 
 Coast Defence . . . . 223 
 
 Colliery Explosions . . 62 
 Commons, House of . . 22 
 Commissioners of 1834 . . 28 
 Commissions, Royal, 
 
 151, 166, 18, 21, 114, 210, 36 
 Common Objections .. 154 
 
 Committee, Ward .. 179 
 
 Compulsory Education . . 54 
 Compulsory Hours of 
 
 Labour . . . . 54 
 
 Compulsory Laws . . 54 
 Compulsory ?^Iedical 
 
 Attendance . . . . 73 
 Companies, Insurance, 
 
 199. 50. ^'3. 114. 154 
 Companies, British . . 201 
 
 Companies, .\merican . . 207 
 Companies, Collapse of . . 201 
 Complete Working of 
 
 Scheme . . . . 67 
 
 Conditions complied with 76 
 Convalescent Homes .. 115 
 Cost, Details of .. 48,238 
 Cottage Property , . . . 136 
 
 Country versus Town . . 1S9 
 
 D. 
 
 Deaths under loyearsof 
 
 age 63 
 
 Deaths, .\ssurance . . 62, 70 
 Defence . . . . . . 223 
 
 Denmark, BenelU Societies 
 in . . . . . . 26 
 
 Discoveries . . . . ^^ 
 
 Disposition, Differences in 59 
 District Managers . . 69 
 
 District Councils . . .. 117 
 
 District, Advanta,!,'es to . . 210 
 Dickens, Charles . . .. 120 
 
 Distress Warrants .. 136 
 
 Drones . . . . • • 59 
 
 Doctors Free .. 69, 71, 84 
 Doctors' Fees . . 74, 75, 21 
 Doctors, Confidence in . . 74
 
 245 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Drugs 
 
 •• 75 
 
 Drudges 
 
 . . i6i 
 
 Duties, General . . 
 
 . 238 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Education Art 
 
 • 7S 
 
 Education Department 
 
 • 34 
 
 Elections 
 
 '7,78 
 
 Elizabeth, Days of (Hieen 
 
 Employment, those out of 
 
 Enemies of Society 
 
 England and Wales, Poor 
 Rate in. . . . . .32 
 
 England and Wales, Pau- 
 perism Returns for 
 
 England and Wales, Poor 
 Law Administration in 
 
 Enforced Idleness 
 
 Excess of cases allowed for 
 
 Explanations 
 
 P. 
 
 Family, The 
 
 Family, illustrations of, 
 
 93, 94, 95. 9^', 
 I'amily, life statistics, 
 
 103, 104, 105, 
 I'aniilies, case of large . . 
 Fatherless Children 
 Features of the Scheme.. 
 
 59 
 33 
 66 
 
 71 
 
 35 
 
 51 
 
 132 
 
 92 
 
 . 97 
 
 106 
 
 49 
 
 143 
 
 226 
 
 . 75 
 
 , 26 
 
 iSi 
 
 60 
 
 Fees, Doctor's . . . . 74 
 
 Free Doctors . . 60, 71 
 Fifty Years ago 
 Financial Folly 
 
 Fleet, The 222 
 
 Foreign Dangers . . . . 222 
 
 Forster, Messrs. John and 
 Sons ., .. .. 189 
 
 PATtE 
 
 Forster, Right ITon.W. E., 
 
 MT' 140, 42 
 
 Forest Gate School . . 90 
 
 Friendly Societies, 19, 23, 24' 
 
 51, 63, 69, 70, 212, 153, 185, 
 
 215. 237 
 Friendly Societies, Mem- 
 bers of .. 98, 114, 32,37 
 France, Benelit Societies in 26 
 France, Bounties offered in 49 
 Funds raised . . . . 134 
 
 G 
 
 General Election Addresses 26 
 Germany, Benefit Societies 
 
 in 26 
 
 Giffen, Sir R. 
 Government Inspection .. 
 Government Grant, 
 
 44, 45, 47, G5, 133, 13S, 
 Government Grant dis- 
 pensed with 
 Government, inefliciency 
 
 of local . . 
 Government Annuities Bill 201 
 Gorst, Sir John . . . . 89 
 
 Graham, Mr. C. .. ••24 
 
 Grandmotherly legislation 54 
 Guardians . . . . 57, 212 
 
 Guardians, Responsi- 
 liilities of 
 
 1 66 
 26 
 
 240 
 
 133 
 
 148 
 
 H. 
 
 Hardy, Mr. 
 Hard Labour 
 Flarrogate, Death Rate 
 Hereditary, Pauperism 
 Hickman, Sir Richard 
 
 123 
 
 42 
 237 
 
 34 
 185
 
 246 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Holland, Benefit Societies 
 
 in . . . . . . 26 
 
 Hospitals . . . . 48, 114 
 
 Hospitals, made sell- 
 
 supportin.<( . . . . 236 
 
 Hull, Mayor r,{ . . . . 62 
 
 Idleness, enforced . . 
 
 35 
 
 Ideal, The . . 
 
 120 
 
 Insolvent Lodges. . 
 
 26 
 
 Income, raised hv the 
 
 
 people 
 
 46 
 
 Individual, The . . 
 
 107 
 
 Incapacity, cases of 
 
 52 
 
 Independence . . 160, 
 
 208 
 
 Insurance, History of 
 
 1 98 
 
 Insurance, American igg, 
 
 207 
 
 Insurance, Britisli 
 
 200 
 
 Insurance, Sound. . 
 
 203 
 
 Insurance, Policy Holders 
 
 210 
 
 Insurance Companies, 
 
 
 63, 114, 154 
 
 . 50 
 
 Insurance, Compulsory . . 
 
 ^'3 
 
 Insurance, Infant. . 
 
 ^'4 
 
 Insurance, Industrial 
 
 49 
 
 Irish Land Acts . . 
 
 193 
 
 Italy, I^enefit Societies in 
 
 26 
 
 K. 
 
 
 Kindness, effect of 
 
 59 
 
 L. 
 
 
 Law of Distress Amend- 
 
 
 ment Act . . . . 19 
 
 Law, London Statistics 
 
 of Poor . . . . 30, 32 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Law, Administration of 
 
 Poor . . . . . . 36 
 
 Labour, Royal Commission 
 
 "n 36 
 
 Labour Problem, The .. 52 
 Labour Bureau .. 71, 114 
 Lambert, Re\-. Broo'\e . . 37 
 Landlords .. 137, 1S3, 236 
 Lapsed Policies . . 239 
 
 Large Families, cases of 49 
 Leader, a . . . . . . 170 
 
 Littlejohn, Dr 88 
 
 Life Insurance .. .. 2r2 
 
 Licenses . . . . . . 236 
 
 Live Stock . . . . . . 239 
 
 Local Authorities, liability 
 
 to 44 
 
 Local Authorities, Pay- 
 ments out by . . 45 
 Local Government Board 
 
 Returns . . . . G6 
 
 Local Government, in- 
 
 efliciency of . . . . 14S 
 
 Lodging Houses . . 23G, 105 
 London, Mayor of .. 62 
 
 London Statistics. . .. 120 
 
 London, Schemeapplied to 230 
 Lowest Classes, help for. . 171 
 
 M. 
 
 Members of Parliament.. 163 
 jMitchell, Sir Henry .. 141 
 Mickletield Disaster 142, 144 
 Minority Report .. .. 120 
 
 Money borrowing. . .. 6g 
 
 Morley, Right Hon. John, 
 MP... .. .. 17, i§
 
 H'j 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Moulton, Mr. Fletcher, 
 
 QC 42 
 
 Marquis of Salisbury .. 17 
 Machinery, Introduction of 181 
 Magna Charta .. 38, 57, Si 
 Manchester Unity of Odd- 
 fellows .. • • 23 
 Manchester Unity of Odd- 
 fellows, Actuary of . . 24 
 Masham, Lord .. .. 182 
 
 Managers . . . . . . 70 
 
 Manufacturers' Complaints 163 
 Manliness . . . . . . 160 
 
 Majority Report . . . . 120 
 
 Mansion House Funds G2, 64 
 Markets, New . . . . 59, 60 
 
 Mellor, Right Hon. JAV., 
 
 gC 43 
 
 Mechanical Contrivances 5G 
 Metropolitan Unions .. 68 
 Medical Attendance . . 72 
 Millr, Fall of Templeton's G2 
 Mills, Country . . . . 190 
 
 N. 
 
 National Assurance, 20, 7G, 230 
 National I'rovidence 
 
 League . . • • 39 
 
 National Assurance Pre- 
 miums . . . . . . G3 
 
 Navy, Suggestions for .. 217 
 Newspaper Press, opinions 
 
 of 3^> 
 
 North Bierley Union, 
 
 Yorks. . . . . . .67, 70 
 
 North Bierley Statistics G7, GS 
 Notes on Pension Scheme 23G 
 Norwich, Church Congress 23 
 
 Objections to Scheme . . 154 
 
 Offences . . . . . . 237 
 
 Oddfellows, Manchester 
 
 Unity ol . . . . 23 
 
 Opinions . . . . . . 238 
 
 Optimists .. .. .. 164 
 
 Orphans . . . . . . 143 
 
 Old Age Pensions, 
 
 17, iS, 20, 36, 53,70, 77 
 
 Out-door Relief . . . . 28 
 
 Out-door Poor . . . . 65 
 
 Overcrowding .. ..185 
 
 Owners of Property .. 114 
 
 P. 
 
 Parliament, why it exists. . 17 
 Parliament, Members of, 
 
 130, 164 
 Parish Relief .. ..21, 152 
 
 Parliamentary Legislation, 
 
 34. 35 
 Parochial x-\ssessment Act 56 
 Pauperism a curse . . 159 
 
 Pauperism inherited roo, 34 
 Pauperism, Parliamentar)- 
 
 Returns of.. .. 109, no 
 
 Pauperism, not decreasing no 
 Pauperism, Total Abolition 
 
 of G5 
 
 Pauperism, Statistics of. . 22 
 Pauperism, permanent . . 33 
 Paupers and Ratepayers. . 58 
 Payments, unnecessary . . 48 
 Payments, optional 
 
 additional . . • • 47 
 
 Payments by Local 
 
 Authorities . . . . 50
 
 248 
 
 1'A(;k 
 Pensions. . 17, i(S, 24, 36, 50, 70 
 I'ensions, alrc'ad\- received. -jG 
 Pension Board, 
 
 .57. 70. 74.77.7-''. S5. 148. if''3 
 Pen.sion Scheme . . . . 230 
 
 People's Payments . . 4S 
 
 Philanthropic Movements 53 
 Poor Law . . . . . . 18 
 
 Poor Law Establishments 2r 
 l^oor Law, Administration 
 
 '>f 3G, 71 
 
 Pcx.u' Law System.. 27, 2S, 120 
 Poor Law Poard . . . . 34 
 
 Poor La\v, Tables of 
 
 London .. ..30, ^^, 68 
 
 I'oor Law Reform . . 36 
 
 Poor La\v Returns . . 98 
 
 Poor Law, Tendency of, 
 
 100, 102 
 Poor, Out-door . . . . 63 
 
 Poor Rates, . . 32, 33, 177, 34, 
 46. 47, 48, 149 
 Poor Rates abolished . . 66 
 Post Office Annuitants .. 19 
 Political Parties, views of^ 
 
 53, ^c^ 
 
 Petitions to Parliament .. 42 
 
 Present Go\ernment . . 37 
 I'rudential Assurance 
 
 Company . . . . 23, 49 
 Property, Owners of, 
 
 45, 47, 70, 115 
 
 Practical Scheme, a • • 54 
 
 Preston Death Rate . . 63 
 Premiums . . . . . . 65 
 
 Provisions, various . . 66 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Physicians . . . . . . 74 
 
 Progress . . . . ..118 
 
 I'rices, tables of .. .. 166 
 
 Pence, Power of the 177, 228 
 
 Policy Holders .. ..212 
 
 Property Owners . . . . 212 
 
 Premiums . . . . . . 228 
 
 Q 
 
 (Quarterly Premiums . . 44 
 (Hieen Elizabeth .. .. 171 
 
 R. 
 
 Rates of Wages . . . . 162 
 Registrar General's Cen- 
 sus Returns . . 46, 60 
 
 Religious Movements . . ^^ 
 Reform in the right 
 
 direction. . . . ■ ■ 53 
 Remedy for Social Sickness 55 
 
 Reliable Statistics . . 60 
 
 Residuum, The . . . . 65 
 Resolutions, District 
 
 Councils . . . . 117 
 
 Refusal of Payment .. 236 
 
 Receiver . . . . . . 238 
 
 Register 239 
 
 Responsibility . . . . 239 
 
 Real and the Ideal . . 120 
 Report Books, extracts 
 
 from . . . . . . 122 
 
 Report, Majority . . .. 120 
 
 Report, Minority.. .. 120 
 
 Risks and Liabilities, 
 
 129, 115, 116 
 
 Rich and Poor . . • ■ 47 
 Royal Commission and 
 
 Wages . . . . . . 1 65
 
 249 
 
 PACK 
 
 Royal Commission on the 
 
 Aged Poor, i8, 21, 114, 151. 
 166, 210, 214 
 Royal Commission on 
 
 Labour . . . . . . 36 
 
 Royal Commission, Report 
 
 upon . . . . . . 36 
 
 Royal Family, The . . 34 
 
 I'^oyal Household, The . . 147 
 Royal Household, Scheme 
 
 applied to . . . . 147 
 
 s. 
 
 Salisbury, Marquis of . . 17 
 Savings . . . . . . 48 
 
 Sanitary Science . . . . 72 
 
 Sales between Landlord 
 
 and Tenant . . . . 239 
 
 Scheme, Effect of. . . . 20 
 
 Scheme of Canon Blackle)', 
 
 38, 39 
 Scheme of Right Hon J. 
 
 Chamberlain . . 39, 40, 156 
 Scheme of Mr. Chas. Booth 41 
 Scheme of Mr. Hard\" .. 41 
 Scheme of Mr. Fletcher 
 
 Moulton, O.C 42 
 
 Scheme of Mr. Valance.. 42 
 Scheme of Mr. Hartley, M. P. 42 
 Scheme of Mr. Alexander 
 
 Atkinson . . . . 42, 240 
 
 Scheme, a practical . . 34 
 
 Scheme, applied to Brad- 
 ford, 79, 80, 81, 83, 143, 149 
 Scheme applied to Her 
 
 Majesty's Household .. 147 
 Scheme, Test of soundness 
 
 of 178 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 Scheme, applied to London 230 
 
 Scheme, Notes on th 
 
 e 
 
 236 
 
 Scheme, Army 
 
 
 221 
 
 Scheme, Summary of ad- 
 
 
 \-antages of 
 
 
 210 
 
 Scheme, Principle of 
 
 the 
 
 192 
 
 Schooling, Mr. William . . 
 
 205 
 
 School .\ttendance 
 
 
 176 
 
 School Board 
 
 
 69 
 
 Sick Pay 
 
 . . 26, 70 
 
 Sick Clubs . 
 
 
 51 
 
 Sickness, Cases of 
 
 
 52 
 
 Social Sickness 
 
 
 55 
 
 Social Sickness, remedy for 
 
 55 
 
 Social Reform 
 
 
 139 
 
 Selfishness 
 
 
 139 
 
 Siege of Paris 
 
 
 221 
 
 Social System, chan^ 
 
 esin 
 
 112 
 
 System for free Doctors . . 
 
 7^ 
 
 Statistics, London 
 
 120, 3 
 
 .32 
 
 Statistics of Pauperism . . 
 
 22 
 
 State Aid 
 
 2C 
 
 .36 
 
 Sha\v-le-fevre, Right 
 
 Hon. 
 
 
 G.J 
 
 
 43 
 
 Shaw, i\Ir., MP. .. 
 
 
 43 
 
 Shelters, dangers of 
 
 
 37 
 
 Struggle for life . . 
 
 
 5f3 
 
 Serpent, H.M.S. . . 
 
 
 62 
 
 Stephenson, Dr. . . 
 
 
 88 
 
 Switzerland, Benefi 
 
 
 
 Societies in 
 
 
 26 
 
 T. 
 
 
 
 Taxation 
 
 
 57 
 
 Table of Wages . . 
 
 
 if.5 
 
 Table of Prices . . 
 
 
 I Of) 
 
 Taxation, Local . . 
 
 
 213 
 
 Tests of Propositions, 239, 178
 
 250 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tickets, Workmen's 
 
 . 140 
 
 Tenants and Landlords . 
 
 . 183 
 
 Thrift 
 
 . 208 
 
 Town and Country 
 
 . 1S9 
 
 Trades' Unions . . 
 
 • 113 
 
 Trades' Unionists 
 
 . 120 
 
 u 
 
 
 United Kingdom, Popula 
 
 
 tion of . . 
 
 • 45 
 
 United Kingdom, Poor 
 
 
 Law Administration of 
 
 71 
 
 Unemployed, The 52, 180, 212 
 
 Unity in the Community. 
 
 . 112 
 
 Union, North Bierley, 
 
 
 Yorks. . . 67, 68, 70 
 
 Union, London 
 
 . 68 
 
 Union, Metropolitan 
 
 . 68 
 
 V. 
 
 
 Voluntary Assurance 
 
 • 19 
 
 Valance, Mr. 
 
 . 42 
 
 Vagrants, number of 
 
 . 107 
 
 Vagrancy, cessation of . 
 
 • 213 
 
 w. 
 
 
 Wages 
 
 • 239 
 
 Wages, Rates of . . 
 
 162 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wages, Table of . , . . 165 
 Ward Committee. . .. 179 
 
 Wastrels, the . . . . 65 
 
 Wealth, advancement in, 
 
 168, 58 
 West Riding of Yorkshire 
 
 County Council .. 148 
 
 Welfare of the people . . 20 
 Whitehall I^ocal Govern- 
 ment Board . . • • 34 
 Whitechapel School Board 
 
 Report . . . . • • 37 
 
 Working-men's lives .. 172 
 Workmen's tickets . . 140 
 
 Working Classes . . . , 21 
 
 Workhouse Treatment . . 35 
 Workhouse, use for 108 138 
 Workhouse, present effect 120 
 Worker, the . . . . 56 
 
 Worker, effect of 
 machinery on . . 
 Worker, claims of 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 56 
 
 57 
 
 67 
 
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 25? 
 
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 Solicitor 
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 Bentley & Shaw Ltd. 
 ,, Barclay & Co. 
 
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 259 
 
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 George Averdieck, Esq. 
 
 ]. Appleyard, Esq. 
 
 George Atkins, Esq. 
 
 J. R. S. Atchinson, Esq. 
 
 R. Altenburgh, Esq. 
 
 R. Atkinson, Esq. 
 
 Herbert Aked, Esq. 
 
 Walter Binks, Esq , Birks. 
 
 John Bacchus, Esq. 
 
 ICdgar Barraclough, Esq. 
 
 George H. Beaumont, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Booth, Esq. 
 
 J. M. Briggs, Esq. 
 
 Walter Booth, Esq. 
 
 H. Behrens, Esq. 
 
 F. W. Brown, Esq. 
 
 y. H. Bottomley, Esq. 
 
 John Bower, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Beanland, Esq. 
 
 Allan Bowcock, Esq. 
 
 Alfred Bottomley, Esq. 
 
 J. R. Barker, Esq. 
 
 John Astin D. Bows, Esq. 
 
 James Butler, Esq. 
 
 J. C, Esq. 
 J. A Clapham, Esq. 
 J. W. Collinson, Esq 
 T. Craig, Esq. 
 John Carter, Esq. 
 J. T. Clarke, Esq. 
 Thomas Crowther, Esq. 
 I). Clayton, Esq. 
 James Casson, Esq. 
 
 E. W. Coates, Esq. 
 \V. H. Cook, Esq. 
 James Croft, Esq. 
 T. H. Carter, Esq. 
 Hugh Campbell, Esq. 
 Abm. Clay, Esq. 
 Simon Croper, Esq. 
 Frank Clay, Esq. 
 Edward Crossley, Esq. 
 James Campbell, Esq. 
 Thomas Crossland, Esq. 
 J. H. Craik, Esq. 
 Charles E Co.xon, Esq. 
 Joshua Chapman, Esq. 
 L. W. Deighton, Esq. 
 
 J Daniel, Esq. 
 Jn. Davis, Esq. 
 
 F. W. Dearden, Esq. 
 John Drake, Esq. 
 Herbert M. Dewhurst, Esq 
 R. Delius, Esq. 
 
 John F. Dyson, Esq , C.A 
 P. Dracup, Esq. 
 Walter Dunhill, Esq. 
 J. Drummond, Esq. 
 Edgar Depledge, Esq. 
 James H. Dickenson, Esq. 
 John Dewhurst, Esq. 
 B. Dobson, Esq.
 
 2bO 
 
 Jn. Booth, Esq. 
 
 J. C. Broadbent, Esq. 
 
 H. Beardsell, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Blamires, Esq. 
 
 J. A. Busfield, Esq. 
 
 T. E. Barker, Esq.. 
 
 G. C. Burton, Esq. 
 
 J. H. Bates, Esq. 
 
 A. Beckett, Esq. 
 
 E. E. Broadbent, Escj. 
 
 Armitage Booth, Esq. 
 
 — Brooks, Esq. 
 
 Henry Brown, Esq. 
 
 J. H. Bentham, Esq. 
 
 Alfred Booth, Esq. 
 
 John Benn, Esq. 
 
 A. Brierfield, Esq. 
 
 A. E. Bunney, Esq. 
 
 W. Perrin Brown, Esq. 
 
 WilHam Booth, Esq., 
 
 Joseph Brearley, Esq. 
 
 A. A. Barrett, Esq. 
 
 H. Bennett, Esq. 
 
 George Bedforth, Es(i 
 
 G. H. Burras, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Barraclough, Esq. 
 
 J. Cawthra, Esq. 
 
 Benjamin Garnett, Esq. 
 
 — . Gibson. Esq. 
 
 W. H. Greenwood, Esq. 
 
 Alfred W. Gott, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Garston, Esfj. 
 
 Thomas Greene, Esq. 
 
 T. A. Guy, Esq. 
 
 \Vm. M. Grey, Esq. 
 
 G. Gunston, Esq. 
 
 Christopher Greenwood, Esq. 
 
 James H. Greenwood. Esq. 
 
 K. A. Drake, Esq. 
 Chamberlin Donner, Esq. 
 J. H. Dyson, Esq. 
 C. H. Ellis, Esq. 
 J. Eggleston, Esq. 
 J. H. Earnshaw, Esq. 
 Christopher Fo.\, Esq. 
 M. H. Ford, Esq. 
 H. Fearnside, Esq. 
 Robert Fisher, Esq. 
 Henry Farrar, Esq. 
 Emil Friedly, Esq. 
 F. G. Fleming, Esq. 
 C. Fowler, Esq. 
 E. Finlinson, Es(i. 
 H. K. Fearnside, Esq. 
 Mrs. Fielden 
 Wm. Fison, Esq. 
 Clement Fielding, Esq. 
 W. Fletcher, Esq. 
 Edmund Fox, Esq. 
 Eli Fletcher, Esq. 
 Francis Fleming, Esq. 
 James Fowler, Esq. 
 John Wm. Foster, Esq. 
 Wm. Glossop, Esq. 
 Wm. Jackson, Esq. 
 John Joseph Jubb, Esq. 
 Sam Jackson, Esq. 
 S. Jennens, Esq. 
 Edmund Jowett, Esq. 
 James Jackson, Esq. 
 A. Johnstone, Esq. 
 J. H. Kaye, Esq. 
 Wesley Knight, Esq. 
 P. Kershaw, Esq, 
 Richard Kershaw, Esq.
 
 26l 
 
 John Granger, Esq. 
 H. G. le Groue, Esq. 
 George Gibbs, Esq. 
 Charles Gowden, Esq. 
 W. Grandage, Esq. 
 J. M. Gibson, Esq. 
 Wm. Gledhill, Esq. 
 John Gro.th, Esq. 
 J. A. Godwin, Esq. 
 John fiarside, Esq. 
 John Wm. Ciannt, Esq. 
 W. M, Gaite, Esq. 
 Wm. Holdsworth, Esq. 
 W. Hale}-, Esq. 
 Wm. Hodgson, E.sq. 
 A. C. Hudson, Elsq. 
 George Holt, Esq. 
 W. Helliwell, Esq. 
 H. Hodgson, Esq. 
 A. Hanson, Esq. 
 James Hill, Esq. 
 Alfred C. Haley, Esq. 
 Clement Holdsworth, Esq. 
 T. Horsfall, Esq. 
 Greenwood Howarth, Fisq. 
 r.. Hirst, Esq. 
 Wm. Hirst, Escj. 
 J. Hindle, I^S(i. 
 J. E. Helmsley, Esq. 
 Robert S. Hird, Esq 
 G. E. Hopper, Esq. 
 John Hayes, E.sq. 
 W. Hulme, Esq. 
 Edward Hird, Esq. 
 James Hopwood, Esq. 
 James Hanlon, Esq. 
 Richard Hardaker, E.sq. 
 Wm. H. Hall, Esq. 
 
 J-1' 
 
 James Kilburn, Esq. 
 J. Kershaw, Esq. 
 M. Kendall, Esq. 
 F. Kruckenherg, Esq. 
 Wm Lacy, Esq. 
 Mark Leach, Esq. 
 J. T. Last, Esq. 
 James Lawlinson, Esq. 
 Wm. Lazenby. Esq. 
 — Lee, Esq. 
 Wm. P>. Lee, Esq. 
 
 F. C. Lloyd, Esq. 
 France Littlewood, Esq. 
 Alexander Lockwood, Esq. 
 W. C. Lupton, Esq. 
 Joseph R, Lund, Esq. 
 
 R. Lishman, Esq. 
 H. J. Law, Esq. 
 
 G. W. Lupton, Esq. 
 James Leach, Esq. 
 Fred Lee, Esq. 
 
 John E. Longbotham, Esq. 
 
 Charles Lockwood, Esq. 
 
 John Lee, Esq. 
 
 J. W. Leitch, Esq., B.Sc. 
 
 W. H. Mitchell, Esq. 
 
 E. A. Matthews, Esq. 
 
 Henry Mason, Esq 
 
 D. Mellor, Esq. 
 
 A. Momberts, Esq. 
 
 R. Macmillan, Esq. 
 
 H. 'Mason, Esq,, junr. 
 
 J. H. ALirgatroyd, Esq. 
 
 J. H. Mills, Esq. 
 
 S. Mortimer, Esq. 
 
 A. H. Middlebrook, Esq. 
 
 Thomas Metcalfe, Esq. 
 
 W. Mossman, Esq.
 
 262 
 
 J. M. Holdsworth, Esq. 
 Wm. Hellivvell, Esq. 
 Joseph Hirst, Esq. 
 J. H. Hewitt, Esq. 
 G. H. Haigh. Esq. 
 Edward Hartley, Esq. 
 Wm. Hardy, Esq. 
 James Wilson Hill, Esq. 
 G. Hodgson. Esq. 
 James Hitchen, Esq. 
 Albert Hind, Esq. 
 Lloyd Hargrea\es, Esq, 
 T. Horsfall, Esq. 
 
 F. H. Hadwen, Esq. 
 Wm. Hutchinson, Esq. 
 Frank A. Hopkinson, E.sq. 
 
 G. H. Hodgson, Esq. 
 
 J. H. Haworth, Esq , F.G.S. 
 
 Wm. Horsfall, Esq. 
 
 T. Harper, Esq. 
 
 C. Horner, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Holdsworth, Ksq. 
 
 W. Hemmingway, Esq. 
 
 M.J. Holroyd, Esq 
 
 William Haigh, Esq. 
 
 S. Howard, Esq. 
 
 Oswald Hanson, Esq. 
 
 ]. W. Holdsworth, Esq 
 
 Wm. Illingworth, Es(j. 
 
 G. Iserief, E.sq. 
 
 A.dolph Jacobs, Esq. 
 
 J. Priestley, Esq. 
 
 Th. Priestley, Esq. 
 
 Lewis Pollard, Esq. 
 
 S. J. Pickard, Esq. 
 
 Richard Poole, Esq. 
 
 Thomas Priestley, Esq. 
 
 S C. Potts, Esq. 
 
 David Mitchell, Esq. 
 
 Alfred S. J. Musgrave, Esq . J 
 
 Charles A. Muff. Esq. 
 
 G. A. Mercer, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Margerison, Esq. 
 
 J. W. Mortimer, Esq. 
 
 J Moorhouse, Esq. 
 
 G. Marchetii, Esq. 
 
 Joe Mellor, Esq. 
 
 John Metcalfe, Esq. 
 
 G. A. Mitchell, Esq. 
 
 Moses Milner, Esq. 
 
 A. E. Mitchell, Esq. 
 
 G. H. Marchant, Esq, 
 
 J. Marston, Esq. 
 
 John Newbould, Esq. 
 
 J. Nichol, Esq. 
 
 W. Newall, Esq. 
 
 Charles Nelson, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Narey, Esq. 
 
 Oliver Nicholson, Esq. 
 
 Heaton Naylor, Esq, 
 
 J, B. Naylor, Esq. 
 
 H. Nims, Esq. 
 
 T. O'Keefe, Esq. 
 
 John Patchett, Esq. 
 
 G. Pickering, Esq. 
 
 Mrs. John Pyrah 
 
 J. Peace, Esq. 
 
 Henry Pickard, Esq. 
 
 George S. Parkinson, Esq. 
 
 J. Sunderland, Esq. 
 
 Charles Sowden, Esq. 
 
 William Sewell, Esq. 
 
 A. Schussler, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Slater, Esq. 
 
 A. Sussman, Esq. 
 
 H. K. Sagar, Esq.
 
 J 63 
 
 E^ra Finder, Esq. 
 William Pearson, Esq. 
 A. E. Penny, Esq. 
 W. Lloyd Popple, Esq. 
 W. H. Potter, Esq. 
 Josephus I'epper, Esq. 
 j. Patchett, Esq. 
 James C. Pontefract, Esq. 
 J. Reixach, Esq. 
 j. C. Rowbotham, Esq. 
 Heny Ramsden, Esq. 
 G. Robinson, Esq. 
 George R. Ryley, Esq. 
 A. Robinson, Esq. 
 James Robinson, Esq. 
 M. Reinherz, Esq. 
 Wilson Redshaw, Esq. 
 F. M. Rimming ton, Esq. 
 T. Selwyn Ravvson, Esq. 
 E. Roberts, Esq. 
 John R. Rawnsley, Esq, 
 Frank Robinson, Esq. 
 Lewis Radclifl'e, Esq. 
 Peter Renshaw, Esq. 
 J. E. Rycroft, Esq. 
 George T. Ray, Esq. 
 James A. Riley, Esq. 
 Thomas Robertshaw, Esq. 
 Wright Rhodes, Esq. 
 Wm Ryecroft, E.sq. 
 John Robertshaw, Esq. 
 Harold W. Rogerson, Esq. 
 C. Rawson, Esq. 
 Matthew Riley, Esq. 
 Enoch Robertson, Esq. 
 J. Reixach, Esq. 
 E. A. Rigby, Est]. 
 Mg^rk Scott, Esq. 
 
 Raywood M. Stansfield, Esq. 
 
 H. Siddall, Esq. 
 
 J. H. Senior, Esq. 
 
 Charles Sarsby, Esq. 
 
 F. W. Sykes, Esq., J. P. 
 
 Ezra Sykes, Esq. 
 
 A. Stott, Esq 
 
 S. Sykes, Esq. 
 
 J. P. Turnbull, Esq. 
 
 F. W. Thomas, Esq. 
 
 H. M. Trotter, Esq. 
 
 John Wm. Tillotson, Esq. 
 
 F. Whiteley Thompson, Esq. 
 
 W^ Turnpenn}', Esq. 
 
 T. H. Thompson, Esq. 
 
 Henry Thirskhill, Esq. 
 
 Henry Taylor, Esq. 
 
 John Turner, Esq. 
 
 Joseph Taylor, Esq. 
 
 Walter Tomlinson, Esq. 
 
 T. Townsend, Esq. 
 
 J. T. Tidswell, Esq. 
 
 Albert Vickridge, Esq. 
 
 A. B. Varley, Esq. 
 
 H. Wilson, Esq. 
 
 J. G. Wheelwright, Esq. 
 
 A. Wilkinson, Esq. 
 Joseph Wade, Esq. 
 J. C. Wright, Esq. 
 John S. Wilkinson, Esq. 
 D. Wade, Esq. 
 
 S. Woodhead, Esq. 
 J. W^ Williamson, Esq. 
 Mrs. Wellock 
 
 B. Walsh, Esq. 
 Wheater White, Esq. 
 H. Wakefield, Esq. 
 
 J. B. Whiteley, Esq.
 
 264 
 
 J. Stow, Esq. 
 
 E. Smith, Esq. 
 
 Greenwood Shackleton, Est], 
 
 A. Scott, Esq. 
 
 Henry Shoesmith, Esq. 
 
 C. H. Smithson, Esq. 
 
 Alfred Sykes, Esq. 
 
 S. Sykes, Esq. 
 
 John S. Scott, Esq. 
 
 Francis F. Sniart, Esq. 
 
 Thomas Henry Shaw, Esq. 
 
 C. Sa\oli, Esq. 
 
 G. F. Smith, Esq. 
 
 R. S. Cj. Steege, Esq. 
 
 J. Sunderland, Esq. 
 
 Wm. Schaub, Esq. 
 
 J. K. Skinner, Esq. 
 
 S. Savile, Esq. 
 
 Chas. E. Shackleton, Esq. 
 
 H. P. Swindells, Esq. 
 
 Charles Smithies, Esq. 
 
 C. A. Swaine, Esq. 
 
 Councillor John Sugden 
 
 Edmund Swallow, Esq. 
 
 W. H Smith, Esq. 
 
 J. D. Spink, Esq. 
 
 John Scarr, Esq. 
 
 W. G. Stansfield, Esq. 
 
 James Shackleton, Fsq. 
 
 G. H. Steege, Est]. 
 
 Aquila Sunderland, lisq. 
 
 Frederick Stavart, Esq. 
 
 James Scolefield, Esq. 
 
 George Stones, Esq. 
 
 J. T. Simp.son, Esq. 
 
 W. C. Womersley, Esq. 
 Butler Wood, Esq. 
 Charles Wilkinson, Esq. 
 J. Waugh, Esq.C.E. 
 Walter Wade, Esq. 
 C. Wilson, Esq. 
 R. C. Willey, Esq. 
 A. Watson, Esq. 
 
 F. W. Walsh, E.sq. 
 J. F. Wilkinson, Esq. 
 
 G. C. Waud, Esq. 
 I). A. Wilson, Esq. 
 William Wilson, Esq. 
 William Wade, Esq. 
 J. G. Wood, Esq. 
 
 T. W. Westmorland, Esq. 
 Henry Wilkinson, Esq. 
 R. Willingham, Esq. 
 Edwin White, Esq. 
 Henry Wilson, Esq. 
 Keighley Walton, Esq. 
 Thomas Wood, Esq. 
 Robert Wadsworth, Esq. 
 Thomas Wallinson, Esq. 
 George Walker, Esq. 
 Luther Wright, Esq. 
 R. Wolf, E.sq. 
 Hustler Watson, Esq. 
 C. H. Worsnopp, Esq. 
 R. C. Willey, Esq. 
 John AVilson, Esq. 
 William Wilson, Esq. 
 G. H. Wadsworth, Esq. 
 Fred C. Wyvill, Esq. 
 John H, Wurtzburg, Esq,
 
 265 
 
 Supplementary List. 
 
 Edward Crossley, Es(] , J. P. 
 Mefisrs. John Ingham t'v Sons 
 R. Hirst, Esq. 
 Thomas Mallinson, Esq. 
 Messrs. Thomas Denham & Co. 
 ,, A. Cockroft& Sons, Ltd. 
 Simon Cooper, Esq. 
 Sam Shaw, Esq., C.E. 
 J. Threadgill, Esq. 
 S. Mitchell, Esq. ,F.D.S.,R.C. ST. 
 J. P. Humble, Esq. 
 J. Martin, Esq. 
 J. H. Holdsworth, Esq. 
 Joseph Chapman, Esq. 
 Miss Akroyd 
 Alderman 1\L Booth 
 J. J. Jubb, Esq. 
 J. W. Caunt, Esq. 
 John Hoyle, Esq. 
 R. J. Sugden, Esq., Solicitor 
 E. W. Beckett, Esq,, MP. 
 H, Gaskell Blackburn, Esq. 
 B E. Brayshaw, Esq. 
 J. R. Teale, Esq. 
 Messrs. T. Newley & Sons 
 Henry Jenkinson, Esq. 
 Windsor Thorp, Esq. 
 C. E. Bousfield, Esq. 
 Sir James Kitson, Bart , MP. 
 J. Peate, Esq., J. P. 
 John Dyson, Esq. 
 Dr. H. A. Allbutt, M.R.C.P. 
 Wm. Derry, Esq. 
 
 J. B. Jennings, Esq. 
 Alderman John Patchett 
 Dr. J. Crossley Wright 
 C. H. Ibbetson, Esq. 
 Messrs. Edwin Dawson & Son 
 Edmund Taylor, Esq 
 Councillor T. Shaw 
 D. Wade 
 Messrs. Law, Russell & Co. 
 J. W. Hill, Esq. 
 R. S. Hird, Esq. 
 A. C. Hudson, Esq. 
 S. M. Pickard, Esq. 
 J. Shackleton, Esq. 
 Geo. E. Smith, Esq. 
 Mrs. Wellock. 
 James Yates, Esq. 
 James Fairbank, Esq. 
 James L. Bisbey, Esq. 
 J. L. Booth, Esq. 
 Messrs. Smith & Hartley 
 J. W. Garrett, Esq. 
 J. W. Marshal, Esq. 
 John Wilcock, Esq. 
 The \ery Rev. the Dean of York 
 Alderman Dodsworth 
 Messrs. Samuel Lawson & Sons 
 F. Whallis, Esq. 
 John Craig, Esq. 
 James H. Ford, Esq. 
 Messrs. Walter Albrecht & Co. 
 Thomas Ford, Esq, 
 W. J. Haslam, Esq.
 
 266 
 
 James Ives, Esq. 
 
 Messrs. Nelson, Barr & Nelson, 
 
 Solicitors 
 Arthur H. Kerr, Esq. 
 Sir Joseph Terry, Kt. 
 John M. Denny, Esq , M.P. 
 
 G. H. Saxby, Esq. 
 David S. Blair, Esq. 
 — . Fairbank, Esq. 
 — . Cattle, Esq. 
 R. L. Bogue, Esq. 
 Dr. Haywood
 
 
 BRADFORD: 
 
 J. S TooTHiLL 71, Godwin Street 
 
 1897 

 
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