Snt,—It is possible that the estimated cost of about £250,000,000
of Sir William Beveridge's plan will work out as gain.
His plan should bring about a great decrease in maternal and infant mortality and in ill-health in general. It is not possible to assess the loss of human lives in terms of money but we do at least know what ill-health costs us. Sir William's plan is likely to reduce that burden and at the same time preserve lives whose value cannot be assessed in cash.
In considering this great piece of planning, as in all social planning, it is as important to estimate the future and immediate gain, as to count the cost. Money represents raw materials and hours of labour. Whether or not there is the money to materialise an idea is never the real question. The real question is always whether there is sufficient labour of mind and muscle and sufficient raw materials.
The answer in this case, is most certainly yes. We have only touched the fringe of material well-being so far as the majority of our people is .concerned, but not because there has been a lack of labour or materials. The barrier to progress in this direction has been a small crust of egoism and a mass of ignorance and resignation. Ignorance and resigna- tion are slowly disappearing, and with them the apparent power of a small, indifferent minority.
It is not a matter of whether or not this country can afford Sir William • 'Beveridge's plan, but whether it has the intelligence to accept it. We can only hope that it may have, and that the Press will continue to give its invaluable support in elucidating it—Yours faithfully,
Grimstone Manor, Gilling East, York. JOAN BROOKE.
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