1 JUNE 1929, Page 31

We have almost forgotten the days at the beginning of

this century when the working classes first became a new terri- tory of interest, their habits were investigated, and a great impetus was given to social workers. It seemed, then, as if 'liaison officers were needed between the working classes and the rest of their fellow-citizens. Lady Bell's interest was genuine, without a touch of patronage ; and the papers she now republishes in Landmarks (Benn, 10s. 6d.) really help 'is to understand the growth in social conscience. Her essays cover some thirty years. Not all of them are concerned with social investigations. There are also Personal Appreciations of Coquelin, Mrs. Humphry Ward, and Elizabeth Robins, and a dozen old political fables, in French verse "written in very humble imitation of La Fontaine."