~~ — 7 
TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 647 
show any factor’s line or other certificate, are willing to submit to necessary regu- 
lations as to cleanliness, respectable living, order, and punctual payment of rent, 
with the view of rehabilitating their character, and in time qualifying for a better 
house ; such houses to be of the plainest construction, with indestructible fittings, 
and capable of being quickly and efficiently cleansed.’ 
It is avowedly an experiment. The difficulty is not to provide such houses, 
but to get the proper people to go into them. If any social obloquy is allowed to 
attach to these houses, the proper people will not go into them. But it is an 
experiment to which I think everyone will wish Godspeed. At any rate, it 
removes the last excuse for not going forward systematically, rigorously, and 
continuously with the renovation, closure, demolition, and prevention of over- 
crowding which are the beginnings of any solution of the Housing Problem, 
The following Papers were read :— 
1. Tests of National Progress! By A. lL. Bow ry, M.A. 
In a paper read at Southport the author suggested tests by which the 
national progress in economic well-being might be measured over any defined 
period. The necessary statistics covering the forty years from 1860 are now 
offered. The test measurements are of wages, employment, income, prices, 
and consumption. An index number is formed for average wages, allowing for 
irregularity of work. A new estimate is made for income, subject to income-tax, 
allowing for all the changes in methods of assessment, and including estimates for 
income unduly escaping tax ; and a special method is employed for dealing with 
the changes in the exemption limit. An index number is them formed for 
average income. The two series of index numbers, for wages and income, are 
found to have very many points of resemblance; both show a rapid rise from 
1860 to 1874, a fall to 1878, two fluctuations to 1893, and a rapid rise to 1900, 
The series are then combined, and allowance is made for the fluctuations of prices; 
the resulting index number shows a nearly regular progress throughout the forty 
years, The index number for consumption of common necessaries also shows 
fairly regular progress. It is contended that the series used are consistent with 
and support each other, and that there has been steady progress decade by decade, 
though perhaps less rapid and continuous than the final series suggests, Other 
tests are considered, and rejected because of their incompleteness. 
2. A Moot Point in the Theory of International Trace. 
By Professor F. Y. Eparwortn, D.C.L. 
Whether under circumstances not very extraordinary, with a probability worth 
taking into account, the abandonment of Protection might lead to a permanent 
diminution in the numbers and income of the working class? This question, 
raised by Sidgwick, was discussed with special reference to Professor Bastable’s 
observations on the disputed point in the Appendix to his ‘Theory of Inter- 
national Trade.’ 
3. The Influence of Agricultural Improvements on Rent. 
By Professor A. W. Frux, JA. 
The reprinting of Malthus’ pamphlet on ‘The Nature and Progress of Rent’ 
has suggested the comparison of his conclusions with those suggested by a study 
of rent diagrams. In this paper the integral diagram was employed, that is, the 
abscissse represent outlay on cultivation; the corresponding ordinates represent 
the total return secured. 
' Published in the Heonomic Journal, September 1904, 
