SIR, — Your interesting leader of November 25th on the unem- ployed
ended with a suggestion concerning the equalisation
Already, as you are aware, the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund, on which all Boards of Guardians draw for a largo propor- tion of their permanent expenditure, such as salaries and the indoor maintenance of paupers, goes some way towards the equalisation of the burden of Poor Law relief, the richer parishes' contributing through it to the poorer. The drawback to the system lies in the tendency of Boards of Guardians to be ex- travagant concerning everything that can be charged to the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund, and economical only in regard to such expenditure as falls directly on the local rates. Finance, as every one knows, is the weak spot in the administration of popularly elected bodies, and taxation at one remove seems beyond the comprehension of many Poor Law Guardians. It is within my own personal knowledge that suggested expenditure is frequently decided upon, not on its merits, but simply and solely on the question whether or no it can be made a charge on the Metropolitan Common Poor Fund. Many Guardians seem to regard the Fund as an inexhaustible gold-mine that costs the community nothing. It is true all claims made upon it are carefully scrutinised by the Local Government Board, and not infrequently refused ; but a central supervision can never be either as effectual or as intelligent as good local control based upon a knowledge of local needs and resources. Were all Poor Law expenditure to be charged on a common Metropolitan Fund, we should have the disedifying financial spectacle of Boards of Guardians vying with one another in extravagance, each one striving to obtain for itself a larger slice of the common cake.
Although a firm believer in out-relief for the aged and respectable poor, I should dread the sudden increase in out-relief that would ensue were the maintenance of out-paupers to become a charge on any central fund. The only effectual cheek on reck- less local expenditure is the knowledge that the local rates are rising year by year. For my part, I should like to see some reform carried by which every municipal voter would pay his rates direct. At present the ever-growing population that inhabits flats, chambers, and lodgings has no immediate interest in economical administration, the rates being included in the rent, and remaining for the most part an unknown quantity. What: ever Poor Law reforms may be in store for us, they should be in the direction of strengthening, not weakening, the sense of local responsibility, or we may find that we have blundered badly. .
—I am, Sir, &c., VIRGINIA M. CRAWFORD.
105 Marylebone Road, N. W.
[No doubt if equalisation of rates were to take place there must be a central administration of the Poor Law in London. We realise to the full the danger of one body raising and another spending public money.—En. Spectator.]
A STORES SCANDAL.
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