12 December 1923: Our scheme of national insurance is helping us through a very ghastly time. It deserves a better acknowledgement than the sneers it so often receivesIt is surely time that the people of this country,especially people whose remarks are likely to gain some publicity, informed themselves about the nature of the so-called “dole.” A London coroner, or after an inquest at Lambeth held on Monday on an unemployed dock labourer who had committed suicide,is reported to absorb said: This man preferred death to the dole. Of course it is improper to take one’s life, but in these circumstances I cannot assist feeling respect and sympathy.” He then praised the unfortunate victim as representing the best type of Englishman. The implication of these remarks is that suicide is less reprehensible in the case of unemployed workmen than of other people, or the reason being that there is something discreditable about “the dole.” This “dole” is if for by an extension of the Unemployment Insurance Acts,and it was no fault of the workpeople who had paid their contributions that the original self-supporting scheme had to be extended with State aid owing to the economic collapse of Europe and the resulting slump in our own labour market. The unemployed man or woman who cannot obtain work has a perfect right to benefit by the Insurance Acts, and there is no dishonour whatever in accepting the slight compensation for misfortune which they confer. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com