198 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



It would not be possible to exhaust the possibilities of co-operation of 

 voluntary endeavour with the public system, even if my whole paper 

 had been devoted to this subject. I am anxious, however, to carry 

 my suggestions one step further. It is of the essence of voluntary 

 effort that it is constantly evolving new forms. In most large towns 

 within the last ten years Care Committees have been established, some 

 merely to assist the Authorities in carrying out the more social powers 

 and duties conferred on them by the Act; others with the higher 

 ambition of 'building up the homes.' Such Care Committees have 

 rendered a great service to their areas not only in work actually done 

 under the direction of the Authority, but in the fact that they have 

 frequently introduced new and opposite points of view from those of 

 the administration. The Act of 1918 offers wider opportunities, and 

 many social workers are beginning to realise it. During the last 

 twelve months, in connection with the establishment of Day Continua- 

 tion Schools, I have met in consultation, or addressed meetings, of 

 social workers, trades-union representatives, club leaders, employers, 

 clergy of various denominations, and parents ; together and separately. 

 I have met with opposition and criticism and divergent points of view, 

 but what has gratified me most has been the general and eager desire 

 for an increase in educational facilities and an improvement in social 

 conditions. No subject for discussion has been so well received as that 

 of training our young workers to use their leisure wisely. There has 

 been the fullest recognition that all must join up in the common task ; 

 that the greatest opportunity of our time for joint endeavour in a wider 

 educational effort has come ; to miss it would be something in the 

 nature of a betrayal of our several functions. If our continuation 

 schools are to become national, not only in the sense of being universal 

 and comprehensive, but in the generous nature of the spirit which 

 inspires them, all that is best in our trade, social, and sports organisa- 

 tions must be brought to bear on their external and internal activities. 

 On this ground alone I feel sure that there was general satisfaction 

 that the guidance of the Juvenile Organisation Committees, and al! 

 that they stand for, was transferred from the Home Office, which has 

 the great credit of having consolidated them, to the Board of Education, 

 which is the official foster-mother of our educational system. In the 

 London area the Juvenile Organisation Committees have gradually be- 

 come representative in the widest sense of all social organisations, 

 and it is anticipated that before long lines of co-operation with the 

 Authority will be established. The task in all areas is so large that 

 there is ample room for all ; it is so complex that there is need for all 

 and it is of such importance to the future that it w^ould be a national 

 misfortune not to welcome the service of all. 



It is difficult for this generation to estimate with true insight the 

 after-effects of the war. But it would seem as if there had rarely been 

 a time when the minds of men were so much loosened from great 

 principles. Such a condition is no doubt partly a reaction from a 

 period of tense anxiety in which suppression of the individual and 

 sacrifice for the community were the demands of a struggle for existence. 

 But the general mental attitude may also be a reaction, accentuated by the 



