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directions, and which had been so constantly advocated, should have been so rarely adopted. It probably was due to an unwillingness on the part of landowners to take the trouble of collecting the rents of so many holdings when they might deal with one man, and to the difficulty of finding suitable portions both as regards situation and soil, without affecting the letting value of large fields. On the other hand, farmers have not realised that the time is coming when they will get the best service out of the man whom they stigmatise as "an independent sort of chap," and have feared that the men would save themselves while at their work to have more energy to give to their own allotments1: but a man who has the additional prosperity which an allotment secures will be a more vigorous labourer, and better worth his wages. In this case, too, the less calculable (p. 131) advantages of a moral kind undoubtedly exist to a very large extent, and the improved status renders a man a more willing servant, and is an "attractive stimulus to vigorous labour," which acts more strongly than "the compulsion of poverty" (p. 152).

These causes may probably account for the hesitation of private proprietors and the slowness of the Enclosure

1 This fear seems at first sight such a likely forecast of the probable effect on the labourers, that the conflicting evidence which is furnished by Mr. Thomas Estcourt in connexion with his experiment at Long Newnton is worth quoting. "Some persons have conceived that inconveniences would arise out of this very circumstance of their being in a better situation in life than formerly; that it would put them above the necessity of labour, and would render them idle, insolent, and immoral. The farmers of this parish allow that they never had their work better done, their servants more able, willing, civil, and sober, and that their property was never so free from depredations as at present."-An Account of the result of an attempt to better the condition of the poor in a country village (1804), p. 5. The whole pamphlet, with its account of the size of the allotments and conditions under which they were granted, is worth perusal, though circumstances have altered since the beginning of this century.

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and Charity Commissioners in acting on the powers they possessed:1 it was therefore found necessary to bring compulsion to bear on the trustees of charity lands, and Mr. Collings's Bill was intended to serve this purpose : there is, however, some room for fear that it has been so altered in passing through Parliament that this amount of compulsion may fail to force landowners to adopt a course that would often be beneficial to the labourers as well as profitable to themselves; though of course the scheme is no panacea.2

81. The extension3 of the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 so as to include a larger number of employés who had hitherto been excluded, is a measure which is somewhat difficult to class; a holiday had become customary not so much as the result of direct legislation but from the indirect action of public departments, and the promoters merely assumed that holidays were a good thing, and did not argue that either the vigour or status of the population would be favourably affected by the increased opportunities for recreation. It is of course clear that whether a holiday is beneficial or not depends very much on the way in which it is spent, and one of the northern shipowners expressed a fear that the "Bill would be found to act injuriously by giving the working classes increased facilities for drinking," while Mr. Whalley regarded the measure as a Jesuitical attempt to undermine Protestantism, for he condemned it as "re-introducing a system of Saints' days into this country."5

4

But it is a better thing to set ourselves to face the

1 Stubbs, Land and Labourers, 42. 3 38 and 39 Vict. c. 63.

43 Hansard, ccxxii. 800.

2 Debate, 21st April 1884.

5 Ibid. ccxxiii. 663.

problem of providing true recreation for the people than to condemn them to an unceasing round of drudgery: and Parliament seemed to feel that recreation like education is a good thing, though both may be misused. The real difficulty is to provide that recreation shall not interfere with necessary labour, especially with the labour of those who have a hard struggle for daily bread, and who can scarcely afford the luxury of recreation at all. The object of the Act was to extend the existing Bank Holidays to the Custom House officials, but this really implied the practical closing of docks and the non-employment of dock labourers, and thus it enforced idleness of many men who were paid by the day. To this it was answered that so little work was done at many of our ports at presentnotably London and Liverpool—that the want of employment was felt already, and the Bill only enabled the Custom House officials to conform their practice to that of the public. The chief opposition came from the NorthEastern Ports, as it was said that the character of the Baltic trade made a closed day very inconvenient, and that the connexion between the ports and the collieries was so intimate that the compulsory holiday would be forced on many miners as well. The difficulty was overcome in Committee, by altering the wording of a clause so that while the holiday is compulsory in the Customs, Inland Revenue Offices, and Bonded Warehouses, there is only an enabling clause to allow the directors of docks to have the day kept as a holiday on giving due notice. It is of some interest as a piece of legislation which has approved itself and been expanded, while care has been taken to avoid the hampering of trade or the enforcing of idleness on those who would otherwise have had an opportunity for work. In regard to this last matter it is

obvious that the labourer paid by the day is much less likely to ask for holidays than a clerk in receipt of a quarterly or monthly salary.

82. This may be the most suitable connexion in which to say a few words about two measures of great practical importance--the Bills of Sales Acts of 18781 and 1882.2 The measure of 1878 consolidated the existing law on the subject, and was framed more especially with the view of giving protection to the public against secret and fraudulent bills of sale. The experience of a few years however served to show that the facilities afforded were taken advantage of by money-lenders to an alarming extent, and evidence of a very sensational character was given by professional money-lenders before a Select Committee which considered the subject. "One witness, a moneylender, said that for loans under £50 the rate of interest ranged between 70 and 90 per cent., and often exceeded the higher figure, and that 15 times out of 20, where the money was not paid promptly, the borrower's goods were seized and sold, often inflicting great misery and hardship. He said that it would be an advantage to smaller borrowers if they were prevented from borrowing on bills of sale, . . . and that 99 out of every 100 borrowers were insolvent, and many of them did not understand the effect of a bill of sale." "13 At the same time a difficulty was felt in Parliament about limiting even in his own interests the right a man had "to raise money on personal property, while they allowed others to raise money on real property." v."4 Both Mr. Chamberlain and Earl Cairns

1 41 and 42 Vict. c. 31.

3 Mr. Monk, 3 Hansard, cclxvii. 396.

2 44 and 46 Vict. c. 43.

4 Mr. Serjeant Simon, 3 Hansard, cclxvii. 398.

criticised, the clause which prohibited bills of sale under £50, as excluding the working man or the small trader from using them. "If there was any advantage at all in giving bills of sale he could not see why the poor man should be prohibited from availing himself of the advantage." The facts of our time however seem to show that whatever may be the case with the wealthy there is very little advantage to be obtained by the poor man out of facilities for borrowing, and that those prosper best on the whole who adopt a system of cash payments in their purchases and abjure credit in all its forms. Those must be very thorough-going advocates of the principle of laisser faire who object to a measure on the grounds that it limits a man's opportunity to do himself a injury.

2. Measures involving the creation of new administrative machinery.

83. We may now pass to consider a class of social enactments which have aimed like those already discussed at the preservation of the lives or property of the poor, but in which some new machinery has been created for attaining these objects.

The attention of Parliament has been directed over and over again to the terrible risks affecting a seaman's calling, and to the appalling loss of life at sea. Many measures had been introduced from time to time with the view of diminishing these risks, but the evil continued and appeared to increase. At length public feeling was aroused on the subject by the eloquent appeals of Mr. Plimsoll, who called attention to the extent of the 1 Earl Cairns, 3 Hansard, cclxx. 1548. 2 Compare Quarterly Review, cxli. 251.

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