thrift and foresight. In such a case the almoner should require that the instalment be paid weekly on a fixed day, and he should call for it himself, or arrange that it be called for on his behalf, or received at the rooms of some society. The former is the better plan, as it will thus be easier for him to induce the borrower to lay by in the savings bank the instalment, which, until his loan was repaid, he continued to pay to the lender. Of course this, like other good methods, requires constant personal care on the part of the almoner—a condition not always fulfilled. Success in most instances depends rather on such care as this, than on the actual form of the loan, for instance-with surety, or by I.O.U., or as 'a returnable grant.' In special cases, at least, the loan with surety is advisable. surety. To ensure that the surety is satisfactory and that the payments are Loans with made punctually, the almoner would do well to employ such a society as the Charity Organisation Society. These loans must be treated as business, and on non-payment the borrower or his surety should, after dne warning, be proceeded against by a summons to the County Court. It should be required that the instalment be paid on a fixed day in the week; and immediately on its non-payment a letter should be sent to the borrower. Subsequently if the payment is not made, he should be at once visited. The surety should be as nearly as possible in the same rank of life as the borrower. The borrower is then reluctant to let the security pay on his behalf. A surety in a better position in life than the borrower is inclined to think it a grievance if he has to make good his obligation. Loans, of course, should not be given except in cases where there is a thoroughly reasonable prospect of repayment. Sometimes what may be termed a returnable grant may be a substitute, especially where there is a possibility rather than a prospect of repayment; and where care has been taken, these have been usually repaid as promptly and fully as loans. In such a case the applicant may be told that he is expected to pay; when the character of applicants has been ascertained by inquiry, it is often found that they readily make good this obligation. Sometimes part of the assistance may be by way of loan. machines, In a few cases assistance by way of the loan of a machine is Loans of desirable. It is usual in these instances to mark the machine as the &c. property of the Society until the loan is paid. Cases have occurred in which the question of the exemption of the machine has been raised, when there has been subsequently a distress levied on the borrower. The following note on this point has been kindly furnished, and may well be inserted here. 1. Certain things are absolutely privileged. Among these are Goods privicomprised inter alia (For benefit of trade)-Goods delivered to a person in the way leged against levy of distress. materials delivered by a manufacturer to a weaver to work up, while a frame or other machinery delivered with such materials to work them up with is only privileged sub modo (vid. infra): Wood v. Clarke, 1 C. & J. 484. (On account of danger to the public peace)-Things in actual use so tools and implements of a man's trade in actual use Simpson v. Hartopp, Willes, 512; 1 Smith L. C. 439, ed. 7. But if not in actual use they are only privileged sub modo (vid. infra): Nargett v. Nias, 1 E. & E. 439. But the distrainer is a trespasser ab initio only as to those particular goods which were not distrainable; the distress may be valid as to the residue. (For protection of lodgers)-Lodgers' goods under 34 & 35 Vict. c. 79. (If the Agricultural Holdings Act applies)—Hired machinery and breeding stock. Ledgers, day-books, vouchers, and other business papers seem not to be distrainable, and in one case 40s. damages in trespass were recovered against a landlord and his broker for illegal seizure: Woodfall, p. 451. 2. Certain things are privileged sub modo or conditionally, that is, are privileged only if there be other sufficient distress on the premises. Among these are comprised inter alia Tools and implements of a man's trade (not in actual use): Subject to the above-mentioned and other exceptions, all cattle, goods and chattels which are found upon the demised premises may be distrained for rent, whether they be the effects of a tenant or a stranger-the reason being that the landlord has a lien on them in respect of the place in which they are found, and not in respect of the person to whom they belong. So a threshing machine (unless otherwise protected, e.g. under the Agricultural Holdings Act, or as a fixture if such it be in the particular case), is liable to distress unless in actual use at the time, or there be other sufficient distress: Fenton v. Logan, 9 Bing. 676. And if a man has two millstones, and one only is in use, and the other lies by not used, it may be distrained for rent: Yr. Bk. cited in Simpson v. Hartopp, sup. Horses and carriages standing at livery may be distrained, but a carriage sent to a coachmaker or commission agent for sale may not, nor goods warehoused in the ordinary course of business at a furniture depository: See Woodfall, p. 440. It has been said that articles sent to a place to remain are distrainable, but if sent for a particular object, and the remaining be an incident necessary for the completion of that object, they are not: Parsons v. Gingell, 4 C.B. 545; but the exemption (see Woodfall, And it seems that as the goods of third parties have never been exempted, generally the burden of proof is upon each third party to bring himself within the benefit of the exemption he sets up: Woodfall, ed. 13, p. 441, note (i). LXIV. PENSIONS. Charity has to use the most determined efforts to replace the distressed in independence. There is one class of cases in which such efforts would be thrown away, but in which, notwithstanding, assistance must be found. They are chronic or pension cases, in which misfortune has reduced a poor person to want, in spite of their provision for the future and their continued thrift, or when some special cause, such as the care of an aged or afflicted relation, has diminished the means of saving; or, again, when confirmed illhealth has made it impossible that the patient should earn a living, and it is not a case that should be left to the infirmary. A power recently granted to the Guardians of subscribing, with the consent of the Local Government Board, 'towards any asylum or institution for persons suffering from any permanent or natural infirmity or towards any association or society for aiding such persons '* is important. There is a great temptation to give pensions to respectable old people, without reference to any special conditions or qualifications. When there is a plain, private, and personal responsibility on the part of the donor to relieve such persons by a pension, no objection can be raised to it; but when there is no such responsibility, and the onus of decision and relief rests upon those who have associated themselves together for charitable purposes, some limitations are necessary, otherwise the pensions will tend to weaken providence and family ties, and to become an ill-regulated system of allowances, not unlike outdoor relief. The difficulty of procuring the necessary assistance and of providing sufficient personal supervision, must in any case, however, put a great check on the granting of pensions, but the need of scrutiny tłus enforced is beneficial. The following general conditions may be suggested: 1. That the pensioner should be of good general character. : 2. That he should be over 60 years of age, except in cases in which he has been incapacitated by some serious accident or severe affliction. In every instance a medical certificate should be obtained. 3. That he should be unable to support himself by his own exertions. 4. That he should have made reasonable efforts to provide for old age. Due * 42 & 43 Vict., c. 54, s. 10 (see p. lxxi.). When pensions should be given. How thrift can be made a condition of help. allowance would, of course, be made for exceptional difficulties against which he may have had to contend. 5. That relatives, employers, or others on whom he has either a legal or a strong moral claim, should join in assisting him. 6. That the pension should be sufficient to enable the recipient to live decently and in moderate comfort. For a couple, one shilling a day may perhaps be taken as a maximum adequate allowance for maintenance; for single men or women, 8d. a day. In each case the rent must be allowed for in addition. 7. That the allowance be taken to the home weekly by an aimoner. 8. That it should be revised every quarter, and any alterations in the condition of the pensioner, his means, and resources, may be ascertained and considered. If granted in the first instance out of a kind of favouritism, and disbursed without constant personal supervision, pensions may entice the poor to manifold small deceits and pretences. Pensioners may, for instance, receive aid from others, even outdoor relief, and hide the fact that they are doing so. It is as with loans and much other relief, friendly watchfulness on the part of the almoner is indispensable. For some cases in which the pensioners are, owing to old age and infirmity, unable to look after themselves, it is very difficult to make provision. An effort has to be made to procure for them admission to some one of the comparatively few suitable homes mentioned in the Register, or to board them out, if possible, with friends and relations. The following cases may be quoted as illustrative: T.-An old woman of good character, disabled by age and infirmity, was in distress in consequence of misfortune not traceable to misconduct. Having failed in a small business by which she had previously lived, she was for many years maintained by a daughter, until the ill-health of the latter deprived her of the power of supporting the family. The case was mentioned to a lady, who kindly promised a small weekly allowance. This, with the help still given by the daughter, and with some trifling contribution from a son, will enable the old woman to end her days in comparative comfort. A PENSION CASE.-A French governess, aged 63, had been unfit for any employment for 11 years, through illness, and had been supported by an elder brother who was an artist, who, through old age and reduced circumstances, could not continue to support her, further than giving her a home; she bore an excellent character, and had assisted to support her mother till her death. She had been engaged in good families, and we communicated with them, with the result that a pension of £40 a year for three years has been promised. And, as an instance of a case of chronic illness, provided for by a pension, the following may be cited: U. V.—The case of a young woman suffering from what is certified to be incurable disease, is taken up zealously by the clergy of the district in which she resides; the Committee is asked to endorse with its approval a special appeal which was to be printed and widely circulated. With the approval of the Central Office, after due inquiry, and under carefully considered conditions of administration, this endorsement was made; money has come to hand, which allows an adequate treatment of the case for a period beyond the probable duration of the young woman's life, and the amount is lodged with us under an agreement prepared in concert with the clergy. LXV. MEANS OF THRIFT. Charity's better work, however, is to induce the people to provide themselves with pensions. This can most readily be done by the friendly and benefit societies, and savings and post-office banks, post-office annuities, &c. Particulars regarding these will be found in the Appendix to the Register.* The almoner can always give relief on his own conditions, and one of the conditions should be that the father of the family and the children, as they grow up, should join a good friendly society. Friendly It must often be the hope of the almoner that the rising gene- Juvenile ration will enjoy a better and completer life than their parents, one Societies. less harassed by the struggle for necessaries, and thus less exposed to mischance. If they begin by receiving the better instruction of the School Board schools, and are accustomed to think of thrift as one of the duties of life, there is a reasonable prospect of their making a step upwards. The boys, when they have left school, may join Juvenile Friendly Societies. The number of these is rapidly increasing. In 1872 the number of members in the Juvenile Courts of the Foresters was 18,651, and the worth of funds, £10,000; by the end of 1886 the membership had reached 67,503, contained in 1,785 branches, and possessing funds to the amount of £79,219. There is a Juvenile Foresters Federation, uniting the separate societies together, and serving as a medium of transfer and interchange of ideas and experience in management. The Manchester Unity comes next with 40,000 members and over £41,000 in funds, while the yearly transfer to adult lodges reaches over 2,500 and in the Foresters to 4,000.'+ The Hearts of Oak have also opened a Juvenile Society, to which candidates under 21 years of age are admitted, on payment of an entrance fee of 1s., and according to their contributions of 2s. 6d., 5s., or 7s. 6d. a quarter, there is payable to them on their behalf 5s., 10s., or 15s. a week sick pay, and £5, £10, or £15 'death money.' Clubs like these might be fed with members from the schools, with members who have acquired the habit of saving when young, and are likely to stick to the society they join. Girls might leave school with a Post Office or Penny Bank banking account. At present, at least, there are not available friendly societies for them. The School Board can, however, open savings banks in connection with the Post Office, and many of the schools have savings banks. LXVI.-POST OFFICE ARRANGEMENTS FOR THRIFT AND SAVING.‡ The following notes of, or rather extracts from the Postal Guide, may be suggestive to almoners. Full particulars will be found in * Particulars respecting existing arrangements will be found in the Post Office Guide. † See The Mutual Friendly and Classes,' by Rev. J. Frome Wilkinson. Particulars regarding, and a list Register. Provident Institutions of the Working |