Mr. Forster, on Saturday, delivered a long speech at Bradford,
to a meeting of Odd Fellows upon thrift, in the course of which, while defending the Poor-law as a defence against revolution, he sug- gested that means might yet be found by which a man, contri- buting some 2s. 9d, a week from the time of his earning wages, should at sixty-five become entitled to £62 a year, while retaining the right of drawing out his accumulated money, if he wanted it. We have little doubt that insurance could be so managed as to. remove most of the defects inherent in poor-relief, but Mr. Forster concedes too much when he retains the right of reclaim- ing the money. He makes the payments too large. If the system is ever to be worked, the labourer as well as the educated man must give up the notion that he can eat his cake and have it too, and buy security for his old age by a direct sacrifice. Mr. Walter, we see, perceives this, and in a speech, on Wednesday, to the Wokingharo Agricultural Association, suggested a still stronger measure, the application of the Civil Service pension rules to labourers. This would compel all men to purchase a retiring allowance by a contribution proportioned to income, a very philanthropic plan, and perhaps a just one, but one which would be met by strenuous resistance. The rich do not now pay poor- rate in proportion to income, but only to rental.
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