18 SEPTEMBER 1909, Page 3

The Archbishop of Canterbury drew attention to the question of

the reform of the Poor Law in a long and interesting speech in the Lords on Wednesday. After an historical review of the subject, in which he described the changes in the treatment of the poor during several centuries, the Archbishop pointed to the Report of the Poor Law Com- mission as indicating the general unanimity of expert opinion in favour of some reform, and asked for a statement of the Government's intentions. Lord Crewe's answer was sympathetic, but vague; be found in the " somewhat varied and exciting Parliamentary possibilities of the situation " an excuse for declining to discuss the question. It will be interesting to see whether Mr. Asquith will be equally reticent at Birmingham. In this context we may briefly note the remarkable figures relating to old-age pensions given by Mr. Lloyd George on Thursday night. From these it appears that the outlay from January 1st to September 2nd amounted to £5,404,000, or at the rate of over £8,000,000 a year, and that the number of pensioners for Ireland exceeded by eleven

thousand the official estimate in 1907 of the total number of persons aged seventy and over in Ireland. Mr. Asquith's original'eatimate, it should be mentioned, was £6,000,000 for the year.