The United Kingdom and Human Rights - College of Social ...

The Evolution of Welfare Rights in States 61
the Australian High Court had insisted on a legal
minimum and reasonable wage for workers. New
Zealand followed shortly.
It must be emphasised that measures of this kind were
being accepted internationally. They were accepted not
merely because they provided models, but because
public opinion in industrialising countries was ready for
them. Indeed, if "National Insurance—A Cheap, Practical
and Popular Way of Protection from Poverty"
proposed by Canon Blackley (1830-1902) had been
accepted, Bismarck's legislation might not have been the
first. Canon Blackley had in 1878 proposed old age and
sickness benefits, with contributions to be made by
workers between the ages of 18 and 21 to fund them.
His suggestion got as far as being investigated in 1885-87
by a Commission.
Before leaving social and economic rights, I should
mention two largely indirect roles of central government
in late Victorian times. These related to improving the
environment and general living conditions. By enacting
permissive legislation, Parliament authorised private
undertakers and local government bodies voluntarily to
provide public services. Local government assumed
many tasks, one of the most significant at a much later
stage being provision of council housing. Beginning in
1875, and later from 1890, state loans became available
for housing of the working class. They were exploited by
builders and local authorities. Local social services were
also significant, especially in the sphere of health
provision, labour exchanges, education and police. Local
government in that period enjoyed an inter-party
tradition, but this unfortunately disappeared in post-
World War II years, with problems about the availability
of resources and the amount of central funding increasingly
leading to central Governments' intervention.
There are no easy answers as to who should pay for