2
They must take upon themselves the responsibility, not
merely of sending members to the House of Commons, but of
sending members to local governing authorities who would
give a maximum chance to any legislation that the House of
Commons should see fit to pass. This was particularly the
case regarding those semi-representative, semi-nominated
bodies like the Care Committees, and those Sub-Committees
formed by Education Authorities. It was of the greatest im
portance that labour in all its aspects should be directly and
adequately represented on all those nominated sub-committees
of elected authorities. Unless they faced their responsibili
ties in that respect the legislation passed could never be so
effective as it otherwise would be.
There were one or two general principles which he would
like to bring before them for their careful consideration.
In dealing with the problem of Poor Law administration, his
first proposition was that treatment must not be palliative
only, but it must be reconstructive, and it must contain in
itself the germs of a wider and more far-reaching scheme of
social co-operation. Unless it did that it was bound to fail.
He thought they could divide the poverty problem into three
aspects.
THE MACHINERY QUESTION.
First of all they had the men and women who had become
stranded, wrecks on the present industrial sea. One great
reason why this happened was the substitution of machinery
for hand work, and of new forms of machinery for old forms of
machine work. That sort of thing had happened in Leicester.
People tallvld about the industrial revolution as having been
accomplished one hundred years ago. That was a mistake.
The industrial revolution was still going on to-day. In
Leicester during the last twenty years there had been an enor
mous development of machinery. Machines of the most
delicate construction and the most complicated movement
had been applied to the making of boots and shoes and hosiery.
The result had been a very considerable displacement of
labour. Men were discharged from factories, not because
trade was bad, for it was good, but because by the application
of machinery human labour had become more productive, and
under the present system of industry a large percentage of
human labour that used to be necessary had therefore come
to be necessary no longer. These men had to go upon the
street, and they were never going to be invited inside a factory
gate again.
There was also the displacement of labour on account of
age. “Too old at forty” was only too true. He himself was
already over forty, and he had no doubt as to his working
efficiency, whatever might be thought of him as a Member of