It is not possible to expect that large class of workers who depend upon irregular earnings of less than 18s.

a week to set by anything for a rainy day.

The essence of thrift is regularity, and regularity is to them impossible.

Even supposing their scant wage was regular, it is questionable whether they would be justified in stinting the bodily necessities of their families by setting aside a portion which could not in the long run suffice to provide even a bare maintenance for old age or disablement.

To say this is not to impugn the value of thrift in maintaining a character of dignity and independence in the worker; it is simply to recognize that valuable as these qualities are, they must be subordinated to the first demands of physical life.