At the present there is no central institution,either governmental or otherwise,in this country or any other,which charges itself with the duty of collecting and collating the ideas and conclusions on Social Economy,so far as they are likely to help the solution of the problem we have in hand.The British Home Office has only begun to index its own papers.The Local Government Board is in a similar condition,and,although each particular Blue Book may be admirably indexed,there is no classified index of the whole series.If this is the case with the Government,it is not likely that the innumerable private organisations which are pecking here and there at the social question should possess any systematised method for the purpose of comparing notes and storing information.This Intelligence Department,which I propose to found on a small scale at first,will have in it the germ of vast extension which will,if adequately supported become a kind of University,in which the accumulated experiences of the human race will be massed,digested,and rendered available to the humblest toiler in the great work of social reform.At the present moment,who is there that can produce in any of our museums and universities as much as a classified index of publications relating to one of the many heads under which Ihave dealt with this subject?Who is there among all our wise men and social reformers that can send me a list of all the best tracts upon--say,the establishment of agricultural colonies or the experiments that have been made in dealing with inebriates;or the best plans for the construction of a working man's cottage?
For the development of this Scheme I want an Office to begin with,in which,under the head of the varied subjects treated of in this volume,I may have arranged the condensed essence of all the best books that have been written,and the names and addresses of those whose opinions are worth having upon them,together with a note of what those opinions are,and the results of experiments which have been made in relation to them.I want to establish a system which will enable me to use,not only the eyes and hands of Salvation Officers,but of sympathetic friends in all parts of the world,for purposes of noticing and reporting at once every social experiment of importance,any words of wisdom on the social question,whether it may be the breeding of rabbits,the organisation of an emigration service,the best method of conducting a Cottage Farm,or the best way of cooking potatoes.