156  THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  UNEMPLOYED
to  do  such  work  are  available.  So  if  drains  have  to  be
cleared  or  repaired,  if  roads  have  to  be  made  or  indoor
repairs  executed,  it  is  reasonable  and  businesslike  to  have
this  work  done  when  plenty  of  suitable  labour  can  be  got,
and  a  public  body  keenly  acting  in  the  public  interest
would  select  such  times.  Since  public  bodies  are  not
always  businesslike,  it  is  legitimate  for  the  Local  Government ­
  Board  to  remind  them  of  the  duty  of  executing
their  business  on  truly  economical  principles.  The  small
attention  paid  by  municipal  authorities  to  the  advice  of
the  central  government  may  be  attributed  to  a  consciousness ­
  that  they  are  already  doing  all  that  could  be
reasonably  done  to  supply  employment  at  slack  times.
§  23.  Theory  of  Public  Relief  Works.
Such  a  businesslike  disposition  of  public  work  must  be
carefully  distinguished  from  all  that  partakes  of  relief
works.  Whenever  it  is  claimed  that  public  bodies  should
“  make  ”  work,  or  should  give  necessary  work  at  times
other  than  the  most  convenient,  or  should  give  it  to
workers  who  are  not  chosen  for  their  competency,  it  is
evident  that  what  is  done  must  be  regarded  as  relief
works  and  not  classed  with  ordinary  public  work.  The
inability  of  large  numbers  of  workers  to  provide  adequately
against  trade  depressions  which  they  cannot  foresee  and
against  seasonal  employment  in  many  low-paid  trades,  is
now  widely  recognised,  and  it  is  urged  by  many  that
considerations  of  public  utility  demand  that  public  relief
works  should  be  organised  which  may  abate  the  misery
and  the  degradation  of  industrial  character  which  is
inseparable  from  long  periods  of  unemployment.