Dispauperisatiom By the Rev. J. R. Pretyman. (Longmans.)—Mr. Pretyman's argument
is, to put the matter plainly, directed against the Poor Laws. The improvident should not, he thinks, have a secure provision against want. From a purely economical point of view his reasoning is difficult to meet. It would be an incalculable stimulus to frugality and prudence, could a man be made to feel that if he will waste he must want. But the politician has something to say as well as the economist in this matter. The passion of wrath and fear that the prospect of starvation stirs in the hearts of men is a sort of moral dynamite, that it Is well to get out of the way at almost any coat. A man will submit to much if he knows that in the last resource he is sure of food. If a doubt on this essential point harasses him, his eager- ness for political changes that will rearrange society and, as he thinks, better his own chances and prospects, will become intensely eager. It would be unfair to Mr. Pretyman to let our readers suppose that he is an advocate of sweeping and ill-considered measures. He is, on the contrary, very strong in advocating a gradual and prudent advance, but the direction to which his theories and argument point is clear enough. After all, the great question is, "Has a man an absolute right to be kept alive at the expense of the community ?" Mr. Pretyman would, we suppose, answer "No." We cannot help thinking that a prudent politi- cian must answer, "If not a right, at least a claim, which is practically as good."
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