We may not be priests and Levites,but we can at least play the part of the Good Samaritan.The man who went down to Jericho and fell among thieves was probably a very improvident,reckless individual,who ought to have known better than to go roaming alone through defiles haunted by banditti,whom he even led into temptation by the careless way in which he exposed himself and his goods to their avaricious gaze.
It was,no doubt,largely his own fault that he lay there bruised and senseless,and ready to perish,just as it is largely the fault of those whom we seek to help that they lie in the helpless plight in which we find them.But for all that,let us bind up their wounds with such balm as we can procure,and,setting them on our ass,let us take them to our Colony,where they may have time to recover,and once more set forth on the journey of life.
And now,having said this much by way of reply to some of my critics,I will recapitulate the salient features of the Scheme.I laid down at the beginning certain points to be kept in view as embodying those invariable laws or principles of political economy,without due regard to which no Scheme can hope for even a chance of success.
Subject to these conditions,I think my Scheme will pass muster.
It is large enough to cope with the evils that will confront us;it is practicable,for it is already in course of application,and it is capable of indefinite expansion.But it would be better to pass the whole Scheme in its more salient features in review once more.
The Scheme will seek to convey benefit to the destitute classes in various ways altogether apart from their entering the Colonies.
Men and women maybe very poor and in very great sorrow,nay,on the verge of actual starvation,and yet be so circumstanced as to be unable to enrol themselves in the Colonial ranks.To these our cheap Food Depots,our Advice Bureau,Labour Shops,and other agencies will prove an unspeakable boon,and will be likely by such temporary assistance to help them out of the deep gulf in which they are struggling.