The County Council of London has at all events courage.
It has abolished pensions at a blow. On Tuesday it carried a resolution, moved by Mr. Westacott :—" That in the opinion of the Council, all officers to be appointed by the Council should be appointed on the distinct understanding that no superannuation or pension shall be attached to the office." The wisdom or folly of that resolution depends entirely upon the system of compulsory insurance to be introduced in place of pensions. Deferred annuities purchased by deductions from wages are far preferable to pensions,—first, because employers then know exactly what they are giving ; and secondly, because the odium caused by the " dead weight" is removed from the popular eye. We greatly fear, however, that the Council intend to buy service, as private employers do, for wages alone. In that case, they will find thirty years hence that they are burdened with worn-out servants, who cannot do the work, but who cannot be dismissed to starve.
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