Notes

Abstract

THE death of the Rt. Hon. Charles Booth, F.R.S. his seventy-seventh year, is a loss to the community of a munificent and judicious philanthropist, a pioneer in statistical and sociological work, a writer and speaker of force and1 attraction, and a sympathetic and prac tical economist. He published in 1889 the first volume of his series of studies of “Life and Labour of the People,” a work which (as the Times truly says) “for nearly a generation profoundly affected public opinion on social questions.” His method was to employ trained investigators, who should ascertain the precise facts about the means of living and the general con ditions of labour in each part of the district under consideration, and to group the results into classes, graduated according to the resources possessed and the manner in which those resources were applied. The task occupied him seventeen years, and called for an elaborate organisation and a large expenditure of time and money. His services to statistical science were recognised by the award by the Royal Statistical Society of its gold medal in 1892, by his election to the presidency of that society from 1892 to 1894, and by the fellowship of the Royal Society. His services to the public were recognised by the coveted honour of a summons to the Privy Council, and by honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Liverpool. He was an original member of the Sociological Society, and presided at two meetings when Prof. Geddes developed his views on civics. He advocated a scheme of universal non-contributory pen sions, and when he was asked to help Sir Edward Hamilton's Committee on that subject he readily con sented, and attended a meeting of that committee, giving advice which was found of great practical value.