i8

THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

the  needs  as  statutorily  reported  by  Local  Authorities
in  1919  after  detailed  investigation.
Does  Sir  Alfred  Mond  run  his  own  business  by  calculations ­
  such  as  these,  or  had  he  his  tongue  in  his
cheek  when  he  palmed  off  those  figures  on  to  an
innocent  House  of  Commons  ?
Early  in  1921,  the  Minister,  following  in  this  respect
the  example  of  the  Unjust  Steward,  wrote  down  by
departmental  ukase  the  needs  of  Local  Authorities
(which  had  been  carefully  investigated  by  the  Councils)
to  a  figure  more  convenient  to  the  Treasury.  This
was  done  without  consulting  the  Local  Authorities
themselves.  The  results  were  somewhat  unfortunate
as  it  was  found  that  the  true  needs  could  hardly  be
reduced  at  all.  Indeed,  owing  to  the  lack  of  progress
of  the  building  programme,  they  had  in  many  places
grown  considerably.  The  Minister  therefore  took  the
easy  course  of  wiping  off  the  slate  all  houses  needed
to  replace  unfit  houses  and  insanitary  areas—thus
reducing  the  needs  by  one  half  !
At  the  beginning  of  1921  the  official  newspaper  of  the
Ministry,  Housing,  proclaimed  that  the  needs  had  been
greatly  over-estimated,  citing  as  evidence  the  annual
report  of  the  Registrar  General,  who  had  said  that  :—
"  As  the  estimated  population  for  1919  is  700,000  in  excess
of  that  of  the  last  census,  it  would  only  require  (apart  from
replacement  of  defective  houses)  a  net  addition  of  140,000  houses
for  the  whole  period  1911-19  to  maintain  the  1911  average.”
The  Ministry  carefully  ignored  the  vital  words—
those  in  the  parenthesis —and  the  Registrar-General