[TO THZ EDITOZ OF TILE " Sricrwros.°9 SIR,—In reading the
article on "Socialists and the Poor Law" which appeared in last Saturday's Spectator, I began to wonder whether the writer of that article could have carefully studied the proposals of the Minority Report, for, apart from the personal references to Mr. Sidney Webb, which I do not wish to discuss, the article seems to do a little less than justice to those proposals. It says that the essence of the Minority Report is that "different kinds of relief are to be given by different bodies, with the result that one household would be able to draw relief from various sources, and there- fore to evade the conditions which ought to be attached to any grant of public assistance." This quite ignores the proposal which the Report makes to set up new machinery for the express purpose of co-ordinating public assistance. and to appoint Registrars over different areas whose chief duties will also lie in this direction ; this seems to me to be an essential part of the scheme. Further, some of the very recommendations made in the Circular issued by the Local Government Board, which seem so excellent to the writer of your article, are in one form or another embodied in the Minority Report and strongly advocated ; for example, co- operation with charitable agencies, and adoption of the "Case Paper" system. I feel that it is only fair to point this out, because your article would give to the ordinary reader a false impression of the Minority Report. I shall therefore be grateful if you can insert this letter in your next number.—
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