The annual Central Poor-Law Conference was held in Exeter Hall
on Wednesday, and attended by three hundred delegates from Boards of Guardians and others connected with the work of providing for the poor. They unanimously passed a resolu- tion stating that, in their opinion, "there is throughout the country no distress which can be called exceptional,—that is, distress which calls for any immediate or exceptional measures." All the speakers were decidedly of this opinion except the Secretary to the Charity Organisation Society, who expected considerable distress in the winter in the building trade. All were opposed to the raising of a Mansion House Fend, and most believed that any distress could be met by the action of the Poor-Law. The mischief done by indiscriminate charity is so great that even the benevolent, when once they become expe- rienced, grow a little hard ; and while agreeing in the main with the Conference, we do not see why the Poor-Law agents should not have help in their work from private charity. They really know the people, and they are not imposed on by the people who "have got no work to do," and would not do it if they had.
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