In February, 1807, Mr. Whitbread introduced his Poor Laws Amendment Bill into the House of Commons, and went over the whole ground of the condition and the wants and requirements of the working population in an eloquent manner. That speech--which must have been of several hours' duration--dealt with the past legislation on the subject, and commented on the various steps which ought to be taken, over and above the mere collection of poor-rates, to alleviate the condition of the poor. After dwelling on the subject of national education, and hinting at a mode such as was eventually brought into operation many years afterwards, Mr. Whitbread went on to describe the want felt by the poor of some safe and profitable investment for their earnings; "that so few are found to make any saving may in a great degree be accounted for by the difficulty of putting out the little they can raise at a time." He described the action of Friendly Societies, and showed that at that early period they were open to the same objections that are now being continually raised against them. "Mr. Malthus,"[13] said Mr. Whitbread, "had just proposed the establishment of county banks, but he would go farther than Mr. Malthus, and extend his principle." It seemed to him that there would be less trouble in his proposals than in the less extensive proposals of Mr. Malthus. Mr. Whitbread then went into the matter of his proposals under this head, and we give his own words:[14] "I beg gentlemen not to start at what I am about to suggest, which to many who hear me may be quite new, but to afford it their cool and deliberate consideration. I would propose the establishment of one great national institution, in the nature of a bank, for the use and advantage of the labouring classes alone; that it should be placed in the metropolis, and be under the control and management of proper persons; that every man who shall be certified by one Justice of the Peace to subsist on the wages of his own labour shall be at liberty to remit to the Accountant of the Poor's Fund (as I would designate it) any sum from 20_s._ upwards, but not exceeding 20_l._ in any one year, and not more than 200_l._ in the whole." He then proceeded to show how the money might be invested in Government Stock, in the name of commissioners to be appointed, and by this means interest would be allowed to depositors at the highest rate possible. "The plan," added Mr. Whitbread, "will be more amply detailed in the Bill itself, and such regulations are provided as will, _with the intervention of the Post-office_, give ample facilities to its execution. Gentlemen need not to be told that the perfection attained in the management of that great machine is such as to give the most easy and rapid means of communication with the metropolis, much greater, indeed, than usually subsists between the remote parts of any county and its capital town." Mr. Whitbread then went on to say, that in addition to this form of investment, the same