THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

27

Now,  Rural  District  Councils  are  composed  very
largely  of  farmers.  And  farmers  have  a  very  sharp
eye  to  their  own  interests.  That  is  why  they  get  elected
on  the  Councils.  The  farmers  did  not  take  kindly
to  Dr.  Addison’s  new-fangled  ideas.  Only  too  often
they  opposed  the  housing  scheme  altogether.  In  parts
of  England  more  than  half  the  Rural  Councils  have
done  practically  nothing  to  house  their  ratepayers,  to
whom  they  are  responsible,  and  whom  by  Act  of
Parliament  they  are  bound  to  see  housed  efficiently—
not  at  the  expense  of  the  local  rates,  but  at  the  expense
of  the  Treasury.  Practically  nowhere  have  they  done
very  much.  And  when  they  were  asked  why  they  did
so  little  they  usually  replied:  "  The  labourers  don’t
want  these  houses  :  they’re  quite  well  enough  off  at
present.”
It  may  be  said:  “  Why  then  do  the  labourers  not
vote  such  councillors  out  of  office  ?  ”  0  Sancta
Simplicitas  !  Those  who  say  that  know  little  of  England ­
  and  less  of  rural  England.  Few  labourers  know
much  about  Council  voting,  even  in  this  year  of  grace.
Nor  is  there  as  a  rule  any  other  candidate  to  vote  for.
A  labouring  man  in  the  country  generally  cannot
afford  the  time  and  money  to  get  elected  and  attend
Council  meetings  in  his  own  working  hours.  He
shakes  his  head  a  bit,  but  accepts  the  situation  as
ordained  by  Providence,  as  his  father  did  before  him.
The  farmer  is  again  returned  in  an  uncontested  election,
and  sets  himself  to  do  little  else  but  keep  down  the
rates.