decreases, upon the strength oi which certain writers in the Press and certain prominent politicians have shown a tendency towards complacency, and even towards exultation. But, as has been already stated, the official statistics no longer cover the ground. When we say that pauperism has decreased we are juggling with words, because the actual burden of pauperism and the actual number of de facto paupers is far larger than it has ever been before in the history of the country.
Such being the existing conditions, what is the remedy? Some of us would consider that the best and most obvious remedy is to be found in the recommendation of the Majority Report of the Royal Commission that all public assistance should be brought under one authority. But if this is impossible in the present state of public opinion, then we must look elsewhere for a remedy. Hitherto the course of legislation has followed the lines of the Minority Report rather than those of the Majority. It has extended public relief in most of the directions indicated by the Minority, and has carried into effect many of their recommendations. But one of these recommendations—the only one for introducing some sort of co-ordination and control into this chaos—namely, the suggested registration of all forms of public relief, has been ignored altogether. It is rather significant that no one of the signatories of that report has, as we might have been entitled to expect, raised any sort of protest against the omission. If we are to have the policy of the Minority, we must have it as a whole and not in part. It is always an easy and a popular step to extend public relief. It is quite otherwise when it is proposed to establish any sort of control. Mr Charles Booth recognised this long ago when he proposed a scheme of universal pensions, because he recognised the impracticability of the then proposed limitations. But under the guidance of the authors of the Minority Report we have travelled far beyond old age pensions, and now practically anyone who comes within the income-tax limit is qualified
