employed" by public bodies other than Boards of Guardians, and gave the first official sanction to the relief of any class of the poor outside the Poor Law. The Circular was specifically stated to be only intended for times of exceptional distress, but "exceptional distress" was not defined, and the Circular was issued again and again by successive Presidents and its operation became continuous. This was followed in 1905 by the Unemployed Workmen Act, which like the Circular was intended for times of exceptional distress, but the provision of State relief work became thenceforward a normal feature of the winter months. We see, therefore, the accelerative forces in regard to the relief of the able-bodied which began by taking them outside the limitations of the Poor Law, and which have since carried us on from a Local Government Circular issued for a special occasion to a permanent system of public relief embodied in an Act of Parliament. But the process of acceleration has continued since the Act itself came into force. For it was originally intended that public money should be used for machinery only and that the actual work should be provided by voluntary subscription, a "safeguard" which disarmed much opposition. Mr Long indeed, when he promulgated his scheme upon which the Act was based, assured us that under no conditions could a Treasury grant be made. But voluntary funds disappeared after the first year; Mr Burns was compelled to promise a Treasury grant within a few months of his accession to office, and since then all work has been provided by public money. The checks and safeguards originally inserted in the Act have been abandoned one by one. So far from being reserved for an exceptional class of workmen, it has been almost monopolised by the casual labourer. It has done much to aggravate the evils of casual labour
