Monday's Times contained details of a memorial presented to Mr.
Burns from over one hundred and twenty guardians and ex-guardians on the subject of Poor Law reform. The memorial recognizes that the Commission has shown that reforms are imperative and urgent, but does not admit the necessity for the change in areas and destruction of existing authorities advocated in both Majority and Minority Reports. It is maintained that the administrative failure cannot be attributed to the guardians or to any incurable defect in their constitution, but is ultimately duo to confusion in the public mind as to the principles of the Poor Law. The signatories therefore ask that in the process of reform auestions of principle shall be allowed to take precedence of questions of machinery. They are satisfied that if once the principles are established the guardians are at least as com- petent to apply them' as any alternative authority that could be propdsed. In the meantime the advantages claimed for large areas could be easily secured by the co-operation of existing unions, and it would be worse than useless for the sake of such advantages to incur the risks which would attend the break-up of the existing machinery.
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