THE HOUSING QUESTION 115
“ That," said Dr. Addison, with indignation, “is why I
resigned."
" On the basis of the last Census returns, I calculated that our
expenditure during the present year, on Army services alone,
excluding Mesopotamia and Palestine, is costing each man,
woman, and child in the country £i 19s. yd. ; the Navy services
are costing £1 19s. zd. per head, and the Air Service 8s. 3d.
“ These three together represent a contribution from the
taxpayers, if the taxation were equally distributed, of £4 7s. 3d.
Mesopotamia and Palestine add another ns. 2d. The subsidy
on oats, all of which was used for animal food, represents a taxation
per head of 5s.
“ But the expenditure on new houses is 5s. 3d.—just 3d. more
than horse oats—and the expenditure on slums works out at
i£d. per head.”
In the latest Housing debate in the House of
Commons, on March 13th, 1922, the Minister, assailed
by critics from both sides of the House, took refuge
in a statement that the Government had never
promised the houses !
Sir Alfred Mond : “ One of the largest parts of this Debate
has been occupied with the question of housing. We have had
many discussions on this subject since I have had the honour
of holding my present position, and they have all run on somewhat
similar lines, and to some extent have been subject to the same
misconception. My attention has been called to what was stated
in His Majesty’s Speech from the Throne upon the housing
question. I have looked up that speech. It had been stated
that the Government recommended that there was a need for
500,000 houses, but the Government did not pledge themselves
in that Speech to build that number of houses under the present
scheme or under any other scheme. When the Hon. Member
argues that the Government said that they would build 500,000
houses at the taxpayers’ expense, I say that there is nothing in
