As a. matter of fact, the .two things are essentially
_ . inseparable. Any . satisfactory rearrangement of rating Must involve the Poor LaW, and it instantly becomes clear. that the Poor LaW 'cannot be reformed without an enlargement of the rating areas. Those admissions are the ineluctable foundation of Mr. Chamberlain's Bill. &me of the popular newspapers which are supposed to be supporters of the Unionist Party have turned vehemently against the Government. Whether they have calculated the effects of the poison they are spreading in the constituencies we do not knoEv. If they have, one is left to wonder what their motive can be. Nothing could be more futile and irrelevant than the argument thtif `the 'rates in certain towns or districts may be raised. That might happen, and would be considered justifiable, in the attainment of any one of many great civic objects. No intelligent ratepayer has ever been unready to agree to an increase in rates if he thought that lie would get hip money's worth, or more, in return. A differentiation in the present rates so far from being a blot upon the Government's scheme may, in the fullest sense, be its vindication. In any case the Government have promised that there shall be no loss to any county or county borough taken as a whole.
