24 OCTOBER 1925, Page 2

The Boilermakers' Society have proposed that the Government should subsidize

wages in order to provide work 'for the boilermakers. The proposal is, of course, open to the same objections that were considered decisive against Sir Alfred Mond's recent scheme. The• subsidy, it will be said, would help slack -or new • firms to the detriment of efficient firms. And there would be a danger of subsidized labour being taken on' (because it was• cheaper) and of non-subsidized labour being dispensed with. As in the case of Sir Alfred Mond's plan we do not say that these objections are final, for we live in desperate times when forlorn remedies may be worth trying. Yet we do not suppose that the boiler- makers' request will be seriously considered.