Mr. Geoffrey Drage drew attention in the Times of Friday,
October 14th, to the fact that the amount spent on " public assistance " last year was £257,500,000, according to a Govern. ment return. He himself estimates the total for 1920-21 at £332,000,000. This included pensions of all kinds, poor relief, the cost of national education, housing subsidies, insurance benefits, and doles. For similar purposes the nation spent £25,000,000 in 1891, £39,000,000 in 1901, and £69,000,000 in 1911. The increase in the last ten years has thus been fourfold, and the end is not yet. Mr. Drage pointed out that many families derive illicit benefits from the many overlapping forms of " public assistance." In the East End the other day a person applying for relief on the ground of unemployment had to admit that his family received an income of £8 12s. 6d. a week. Mr. Drage pleaded for an executive Royal Commission to deal with these abuses and to reorganize the system of State relief.
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