for villages, because each resident may preserve the refuse of his cottage for the benefit of his own garden without injuriously affecting his neighbour; and this being a very desirable object, the problem has to be solved how, by combined action, all the residents of a village may be brought into one common system of proceeding. As the wage-paid labourer cannot of himself do this, it would appear positively necessary that the owners of village property should take the initiative.
Third, the supply of pure wholesome water in quantity sufficient to secure cleanliness and comfort to villages and cottages. I have already addressed the Society upon this important object,[1] and will abstain from repetition. The supply of water to large towns, like their drainage, is an easy matter compared to the provision of villages and small communities. But with our whole water supply undergoing change from causes we cannot control, and our village cottagers called upon to pay as much as a penny per pail for water, the subject must soon receive attention.
And, fourth, the provision of ground for the recreation of those children which it is determined by common consent should be educated.
I will now address myself to those objects in which the upper and middle classes of rural parishes may voluntarily assist the lower class. Foremost amongst them are benefit societies. Of all things which the labouring man most dreads is his condition in his last days. By subscription to local societies (if well managed) a labourer may, under the present state of things, contrive to obtain the means of support if sickness overtakes him while able to work, but a provision for old age and
- ↑ Society of Arts Journal, vol. xiv. p. 17.
