It has sometimes been said that the formation of the district committees took place too hastily, and without sufficient care to ensure that they were capable of doing good work when formed. There is no doubt so much of truth in the suggestion that many, if not all, of the committees were at first swamped with applications and did much relief work of a very elementary kind; and to that extent they merely added another to the many relief agencies already in existence. On the other hand it may be fairly urged that there was at the time no knowledge of case work such as the society has now developed, and that it was only by establishing its committees to work out its principles in practice that the science, with the organisation implied in it, could have been developed. For this development the relation between the council, with its firm grasp of principles and power of initiative, and the district committees with their practical experience, was of fundamental importance; and during the first few years this relation naturally occupied much attention and gave rise to some friction [SW 32-33].