*

THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

in

class—that  the  houses  should  be  sold  to  the  highest
bidder.  The  Coalition  Government  has  accepted  this
proposal,  the  inevitable  result  of  which  would  be
the  ejection  of  the  present  working-class  tenants  and
their  replacement  by  better-off  people.  It  is  true  that
on  13th  March,  1922,  Sir  Alfred  Mond  told  the  House
of  Commons  that  he  would  never  be  responsible  for
allowing  their  sale  under  conditions  which  would
involve  turning  the  tenants  out.  But  how  comes  it
that  the  Geddes  Committee  a  month  before  reported
as  follows:—
"  The  Minister  of  Health  is  in  agreement  with  us  as  to  the
desirability  of  selling  as  many  houses  as  possible'’  .  .  .  but
points  out  that  the  Minister  has  no  power  to  make  the  sales
effective.”
When  the  Minister  said  this  he  knew  well  that  no  one
would  buy  a  house  if  the  tenant  was  to  be  kept  on  at
an  uneconomic  rent,  and  the  payment  of  an  economic
rent  for  such  houses  is  of  course  out  of  the  question
for  the  working  classes.  All  he  seemed  to  want  was
power  to  compel  sale.
It  is  fairly  clear  that  by  March  13th  Sir  Alfred  Mond
had  realised  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing,  and  had
set  his  sails  accordingly,  a  fact  which  does  more  credit
to  his  wisdom  than  to  his  courage.
It  is  notable  that  on  the  8th  August,  1921,  Sir  Alfred
Mond  had  told  the  House  of  Commons  that  he  was
giving  every  encouragement  to  Local  Authorities  to
sell  their  houses.  He  added  that  this  was  subject  to
their  maintenance  as  houses  for  the  working  classes.