THE Parochial Church Council at Barking has hit upon a capital idea. Perceiving that the widespread unemployment in the parish called for some co-operation between all concerned with the welfare of the people, the Council invited the representatives of the Urban District Council, the employers of the neighbourhood, the Guardians, the unemployed, with the Clerk to the Urban District Council, to meet two members of the Parochial Church Council under the presidency of the vicar. As will be seen from a paragraph we print elsewhere, a friendly talk resulted in a real measure of good will being established. The employers were asked to put forward proposals in a definite form, and altogether there seems to have been more unanimity than might have been expected. We congratulate the Barking Parochial Church Council on its taking the initiative, and commend its example to other Councils. These newly formed bodies, from the very fact of their independence from local social conflict, have it in their power to exercise a valuable mediating influence. They must, however, be scrupulously careful to preserve that independence, for it is the strength of their position. Further, we may add, without in the least disparaging what has been done at Barking, that the work must not stop at passing resolutions. In particular, members of the Council might well be assigned to particular pieces of investigation, in order that first-hand evidence may be available for their consideration of local problems.