He believed it true to say that, man for man and woman for we: man, in this Island we provided two or three times as much, and might be four or five times as much as any other country, ineluding the most wealthy and most socialistic countries, upon the care of the weak and poor. Before the year 1911 the relief of unemployment was left entirely to trade unionism which, however, rendered it only to the higher ranks of labour and mainly only to males. The world all round had grown much bigger and all sorts of countries which were quite ready before the War to buy our basic manufactures, were able to make things themselves. New and more vigorous competitors met us in every foreign market and old customers in increasing numbers closed their dours upon our wares. We were loaded beyond all other producing countries with debt and taxation, Women and Miners Mr, Churchill pointed out tha besides the great masses of persons. under the unemployment insurance scheme there were at present 224, 000° women upon unemployed lists. who were searcely ever included in any pre-War total, There was a fourth class for whose industries any improvement in trade carried no strong hope of alleviation. These were coal miners. Until three years ago 1,200,000 persons were engaged in coal mining. Now there were only 920,000, so that 280,000 had been discarded by the coal industry. This was a grave misfortune for the miners, but not for the coal industry. On' the contrary, the coal industry, its reduced stof, was now capable of supplying the whole demand for home and foreign coal and could, need be, quite easily, without taking on another man, produce 30,000,000 tons more than it was Table to sell at present. The numbers of miners unemployed might even be increased by every improvement in the efficiency of the coal industry, by of well-conceived amalgamation and by every step towards that nationalization which the Labour and Liberal parties advocated, The coal industry had cast off its heavy burdens, but had east them on to society' and the State, Practical Steps to a Cure the practical steps, Mr. Churchill said in conclusion, which the Gi ernment recommended to Pai ment to remedy or mitigate the industrial situation were, firstly and mainly, comprehensive relief of in-Jdustry from local taxation and, secondly, a policy of Empire settlement. 'To quicken the' flow of migration to Canada there would he an additional grant of £1,000.
ing to £1,500,000 in future to reduce the cost of pas-
Another form of help was coming. into operation through new schemes for improving the electricity supply. The Government were opposed gei erally to enlarged schemes of public relief works owing to their meagre results in relieving employment, but proposed certain extensions of land drainage and a scheme to prevent. [coast erosion.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.