The scheme which the Committee presents is not to be
put into force until the Fund has been made sol- vent by special measures. The coal dispute added £14,000,000 to the debt of the Fund. The total debt now amounts to £21,000,000, but when we consider the vast sums which are administered by the Fund it must be admitted that the Fund has pretty well paid its way and that with caution it will soon be once more out of debt. , This is a most welcome fact which deserves to be widely advertised. The theory of the Fund is the theory of insurance almost in the ordinary sense of the word. The benefit cannot be justly compared With Poor Law relief. The question-begging nick-name dole " ought to be dropped. The Committee proposes that agriculture and domestic service, in which occupa- tions there is virtually no unemployment, should continue to be excluded from the scheme.
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