THE  HOUSING  QUESTION  121
What  the  Government  are  going  to  do  is  pretty  clear.
To  bring  in  a  new  Housing  Bills  or  new  financial
regulations  which  will  throw  so  much  extra  burden  on
the  ratepayer  and  on  the  Local  Council  as  to  ensure
that  very  little  more  will  be  done.  Before  the  war
Local  Authorities  could  always  build  houses.  Although
the  burden  on  the  rates  was  then  negligible,  few
Councils  did  it.  Will  they  do  it  in  future  if  it  means  an
increased  rate  ?  The  Government  knows  well  that
every  such  proposal—put  forward  as  an  alternative
to  their  explicit  national  undertaking  of  1919—will
kill  housing.  That  is  why  they  will  propose  it.
What  they  could  have  done  from  the  start  and  what
a  Government  which  meant  business  would  do  to-day
is  this  :—

(1)  Re-affirm  the  housing  undertakings  of  1919,  viz.,  to  ensure
with  or  without  the  backing  of  each  separate  Local  Authority—
the  building  of  a  sufficient  number  of  working-class  houses  in
every  district  in  Britain  to  give  every  man,  woman,  and  child
a  decent  home  ;  and  to  clear  the  slums.
(2)  Take  as  a  basis  the  needs  submitted  by  the  Authorities  in
October,  1919,  viz.,  911,000  for  Britain  ;  800,000  for  England  and
Wales,  adjusting  these  figures  as  needed  for  houses  built  since
then,  and  for  any  subsequent  restrictions  or  additions  which  a
further  investigation  may  show  to  be  necessary.
(3)  Let  the  Local  Authorities  choose  the  sites  for  the  new
houses  and—subject  to  proof  of  need  shewn—the  number  on
each  site.
t  For  example,  the  unhappy  "Economy"  Bill  introduced  to
Parliament,  July,  1922.