Page:The Slippery Slope.djvu/237

 system of co-operation with the Poor Law, and yet in 1911 no less than 111,000 outdoor medical orders were issued in London, many of which were undoubtedly for children of school age. Is it not time that the matter should be considered from this point of view?

The Education Officer commences his report thus:—"Formerly (he says) education was in the main confined to (1) the growth of character; (2) the growth of the mind. Now education looks increasingly at the social problems that present themselves for solution in the case of the individual child, the problem of physical deterioration, of under-feeding, of impoverished homes and unsuitable employment. The State has come to see that it is not enough to impart knowledge, but that it must also see that the child is capable of assimilating that knowledge and that his environment is such that it will not entirely undo the effect of the school training." This is a startling definition of the scope of education as coming from a body such as the L. C. C.; the new development is referred to euphemistically as the "widening" of education; in fact, it may easily be made to cover the entire State maintenance of children.

The Old Age Pensions Act, 1908, and its Effect upon the Poor Law.

The Old Age Pensions Act came into force on 1st January 1909, and the pauper disqualification was removed on 1st January 1911. The Local Government Board have published a return (Cd. 5612) showing the number of paupers transferred to the pension list in the month of January, 191 1. The transfer was practically complete by the end of the third week. The table on the next page shows the number of indoor and outdoor paupers remaining in each London Union on 21st January 1911, and the number of these who were transferred to the pension list during the month. This will enable us to form some opinion as to the situation at that time.