Then there is the perennial and apparently impenetrable problem of the Unemployed. This is one of the problems which in all probability cannot be finally solved except by a complete reorganization of society. But, wisely handled, it can be palliated and reduced to more manageable proportions. In discussing this question a distinction must always be made between the temporary unemployment to which all workmen are liable, and the permanent or chronic unemployment of the great masses of the unfit which our social system is always throwing off. These poor wretches are no more to be blamed for their idleness and worthlessness (from the social standpoint) than the rich shareholder is to be blamed for his. But their presence unquestionably complicates the problem and their treatment must inevitably be different. The first thing to do is to get at the facts. For this purpose there should be a Labour Bureau in connection with every considerable local authority which should keep a record of the state of the labour market from time to time. These bureaus should be in constant communication with a Department of Labour at Westminster, which is one of the most pressing needs of the hour. As to relief works, Mr. Long’s farm colonies are good so far as they go; schemes for re-afforestation and the reclamation of fore-shores are perhaps even better. But it is well to keep in mind that the great aim of all social reformers should be to eliminate the “unemployable” class altogether. Mr. Webb’s “national minimum” policy if carried out in all its branches would practically do this. The question of employment is closely connected with the whole question of our Poor Law, which badly wants re-modelling. Such a process should include the abolition of the Poor Law Guardians (the last relic of the _ad hoc_ principle and a far more indefensible one than the School Boards) and the transfer of their powers to the local authority best fitted to deal with them,--probably the County and Borough Councils. It should also of course include the establishment of universal Old Age Pensions, a measure whose popularity is as manifest as its justice, as was proved in 1895, when it contributed enormously to swell the Tory majority. The fact is that our present Poor Law was the first product of middle class Liberalism, flushed with its stupendous victory of 1832. It is founded unmistakeably on the principles of that creed, which, believing in the eternal justice of “economic harmonies,” regarded the fact of a poor man being out of work as convincing proof of his worthlessness and criminality. It is as impossible for us, as the old Poor Law was for them.