ii4  THE  HOUSING  QUESTION
authorities  now  find  that  they  are  refused  leave  to
build  further  houses,  while  their  less  provident  neighbours ­
  are  allowed  to  complete  houses  at  the  high
contract  prices  which  obtained  many  months  before.
No  wonder  Councils  are  suspicious  of  Whitehall.
Similarly  with  regard  to  the  treatment  of  England
and  Wales,  Scotland  is  to  be  allowed  Z  years  to  complete ­
  ;  even  the  Dagenham  scheme  in  London  has  been
given  5  years.  But  the  rest  of  England  and  Wales
has  been  stopped  dead.  And  on  nth  August,  1921,
in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Minister  refused  definitely
to  allow  to  England  and  Wales  the  same  privileges  of
extension  as  had  been  secured  by  Scotland.
It  is  constantly  stated  that  the  Nation  cannot
afford  the  money  for  these  houses.  This  fallacy  has
been  dealt  with  on  page  36,  but  it  is  worth  while
contrasting  the  amount  spent  on  housing  last  year
with  that  spent  on  armaments  and  on  our  new  Oriental
lands  ( and  militant  policy.  Dr.  Addison,  the  late
Minister  of  Health,  said  in  August,  1921  :—
"  As  an  Englishman,  I  am  ashamed  that  it  should  be  necessary
to  give  addresses  of  this  kind  in  order  to  stir  up  the  British  Government ­
  to  keep  its  promises.
"  Is  the  Government  of  this  country  to  be  based  on  principle
and  on  the  fulfilment  of  its  pledges  solemnly  given  to  the  people  ?  '
he  asked.
"  This  is  the  third  year  of  a  victorious  peace.  And  the  Government ­
  are  proposing  to  spend  in  the  year  1921-1922  £204,000,000
on  war  services  and  £200,000  on  the  reduction  of  slums.
"  in  other  words,  they  are  proposing  to  spend  a  thousand
times  more  on  war  services  than  on  the  improvement  of  slums.