THE HOUSING QUESTION 
107 
"The housing problem in the villages is aggravated rather 
than eased by anything which has been done. [He was writing 
two years after tie passing of the Housing Act, 1919. j Insanitary 
and ruinous cottages have gone further to decay. Overcrowding 
is insufferable. Public opinion has been roused and when the 
truth is known it will be exasperated.” 
Colonel Saltmarshe, a well-known Chairman of a 
Rural Council in Yorkshire, has said very much the 
same thing. So have hundreds of other Councillors in 
Rural Districts. 
As 1920 drew to a close the public began to distrust 
the Government’s intentions. They knew the malig 
nant forces at work to kill the housing schemes. But 
the Government continued to protest that it was not 
changing its policy. For instance, on December 9th, 
1920, Mr. Chamberlain was speaking in the National 
Expenditure Debate. He stated that many reforms, in 
themselves desirable, would have to be stopped for 
lack of money, and that spending departments had been 
instructed that schemes involving expenditure were to 
be stopped. 
Mr. Pemberton Billing : " Does that mean that the municipal 
housing schemes are to be stopped ? " 
Mr. Chamberlain : " No, Sir.” 
On 6th April, 1921, Dr. Addison stated that in ac 
cepting another office (Minister without Portfolio 
instead of Minister of Health) he had been assured that 
there would be no change of policy pursued by the 
Ministry.