HOW THE UNEMPLOYED LIVE.
[To TEE EDITOR OF TES "SPECTATOH.'l
Six, Yourexcellent letter No. XI. "to a working man" has recalled to my mind a curious example of the confusion which exists as a result of the several organisations which exist for dealing with poverty. In West Ham recently a man applied to the Distress Committee for work. He heard that the receipt of Poor Law relief after registration did not disqualify a man for work, and so applied to the Guardians, who granted out-relief. Later he went to work for the Distress Committee, and his wife received the customary allowance for herself and her children. The Guardians knew nothing of the man's Distress Committee work, and continued their relief to the family. It might have been thought that a double allowance for each child would have proved sufficient, but this was not the case. They received at the same time free meals at school. Three separate bodies, none of them apparently aware of the assistance given by the others, were dealing with this family at the same time. This instance is certainly not a solitary one, and affords, I think, the strongest
possible argument fora thorough overhaul of the whole system of the dealings of the State and the municipality with
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