of labour unrest; the prices charged for any kind
of shelter have been enormous; in some cases the same
bed is occupied by one set of people immediately the
prior occupants have gone to work, and “the
bed is never even cold.” The overcrowding
of agricultural labourers and their families in miserable
cottages, often out of repair and letting in the rain,
has long been a scandal. Something has been done
by benevolent landowners, who build cottages which
they let on terms which bring little return for the
money spent on them; but it is quite impossible to
rely either on the working of the law of supply and
demand or on private benevolence for meeting the difficulty.
Strong and immediate action by the State is needed.
Adequate powers should be given to local authorities,
and pressure put upon them, if needed, to ensure that
such powers are exercised. Such action is already
being taken, and compulsory powers to acquire land
will be given. In assessing compensation, the
great urban landowner who has done nothing to contribute
to the growth of the town or to promote its industries,
ought not to receive the full value of the land, as
enhanced by the necessary expansion of the town and
thereby converted into building land, with an added
amount for compulsory purchase. The manner in
which the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act has been
worked has added enormously to the burden of most
great public undertakings. The compensation awarded
has often been outrageous, and the expense incurred
in assessing it one of the grossest scandals.
It would be easy to give numerous instances from actual
experience.
But there is not only need for more accommodation,
but also for more attractive accommodation. There
is no reason why the home of a human family should
as a rule be, as it is in most of the towns in England
at present, a hideous object. What has been done
at Port Sunlight, at Bournville and other places shows
that, by proper forethought and wise expenditure,
small houses which it is a pleasure instead of a pain
to look upon, can be provided. Another good example
of what can be done may be seen in the change effected
in the residences for the poorer classes made on the
property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Walworth
in South London. What is now a pleasant exception
ought to be a regular rule. Means ought also
to be taken to ensure that urban workers should have
the opportunity of obtaining an allotment, if not adjoining,
at least within reasonable distance of their homes,
where they may grow fruit and vegetables and enjoy
what is, after all, one of the greatest of the quiet
pleasures of life, watching the growth of the plants
which they have cultivated, and enjoying the products.