JANUAR Y 69 



guaranteed by the nation or conducted in the ordinary way by 

 private enterprise, I do not know. Any such insurance, however, 

 necessarily presupposes a steady contribution that the beneficiary 

 can ill afford to the fund which provides it, and it is here that the 

 trouble comes in. It is difficult, if not impossible, to force free men 

 to contribute to such a fund by Act of Parliament ; yet, if they are 

 not forced, would the bulk of them keep up their payments through 

 a long life of penury ? Would they, even if they so desired, be 

 able to keep them up ? Even the strongest man is sometimes sick ; 

 even the most deserving is sometimes out of work. Moreover, it 

 seems to me that it is of the essence of the thing that this pro- 

 vision should not be a mere dole provided by the State or by 

 charities, for such a system could never stand. To be effective, 

 to be appreciated, and to be generally adopted, it must, under the 

 common law of life, be provided by the labour and self-sacrifice of 

 the person benefited. 1 



The problem before society is to discover by what method 

 State-guaranteed or otherwise this can be done without crushing 

 the wage-earner into the dirt during his long years of contribution, 

 and in such a fashion as will assist him without debasing the 

 great principles of self-help and self-reliance. Again I say that 

 however difficult this problem may appear, I do not believe it to 

 be insoluble, indeed I hope to live long enough to see it on the 

 way to solution. 



1 Recently I have insured all the men in my employ, farm and domestic 

 servants together, with a policy under which, in case of death or disablement 

 by illness or accident, they or their representatives obtain certain advantages. 

 This policy, I may explain, has nothing to do with the Employers' Liability 

 Acts, under the provisions of which farmers are not liable, except in the case of 

 misfortunes resulting from the use of steam machinery, although it covers all 

 such possible risks. Yet, although, fatite de mieux, I have adopted it, the 

 system in my opinion is bad. A man ought to insure himself out of his own 

 earnings, or if he will not, then the State should force providence upon him. 

 Other trades (unless the law intervenes) do not provide for their servants in 

 this fashion. For instance, so far as I am aware, my literary employers 

 have not found themselves called upon to insure me against the results of 

 accident, breakdown, or premature imbecility. 



