Sir Stafford Northcote made a speech at Ilfracombe on Monday,
in which he laboured very hard to show that the worst featura in his Friendly Societies' Act was a beauty, and not a disfigure- ment. To the main thread of his argument we persuade ourselves that we have done justice elsewhere. But we may reply here to his allegation that his Act cannot be a " milk-and-water " affair, because it issues a certain amount of information to the people to teach them what a sound Friendly Society should be, and also imposes a certain number of penalties for frauds which it does not stir a hand to help the victims to discover. But can anything be more milk-and-water than to accord official registration to a thief with one hand, while you distribute with the other to the more active- minded among his victims, who are in the habit of losing their pocket-handkerchiefs, accurate descriptions, for their better in- formation, of the habits and bearing of honest people, and pro- mulgate threats against those, whoever they may. be, who turn out to be the contrary ? The attenuation of official responsibility can hardly go further than to certificate a man who has complied with a form, without attempting to discover whether he has com- plied with it honestly or not. You might as well offer to certificate a rogue for being dressed in the clothes of a gentleman.
