THE PROBLEM OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
[To THE EDITOR Or THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—The scene in the South Lincolnshire cottage depicted by " Subscriber " in your issue of August 21st is a pleasant and satisfactory one, and one which I apprehend most public assistance authorities would aim at producing. But I cannot see why such a scene should be possible only as the result of Old-Age Pensions—with the accompanying abuses which "Subscriber" admits—and not equally as the result of a thoughtful and discriminating system of outdoor relief. In my last letter I said that Old-Age Pensions were in London synonymous with inadequate and indiscriminate outdoor relief. If the "old Fenland couple" are just able to make themselves comfortable upon their pension (and I presume they do not save much of it), then it is obvious that the same pension is totally inadequate for an old couple in London. Admittedly, the pensions are granted quite indiscriminately, and with no consideration of the various circumstances and requirements of the individual pensioners, whereas wisely administered outdoor relief is accurately graduated to suit each individual case.—I am, Sir, &c.,
POOR LAW OFFICIAL.
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