40

THE  HOUSING  QUESTION

Now  for  the  ninth  excuse.  It  is  true  that  for  some
time  after  the  war,  working  men,  not  only  in  the
building  trade  but  in  all  trades,  were  giving  a  reduced
output.  That  is  one  of  the  results  of  a  five  years'
war.  It  tires  men.  It  demoralises  men.  It  often  kills
men  or  reduces  their  efficiency  through  wounds  and
disease.  Were  working  men  the  only  portion  of  this
community  who  felt  the  reaction  after  the  war  ?  Did
the  upper  and  middle  classes  pull  their  full  weight  in
1919  and  1920  ?  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the
building  trade  operatives  were  not  a  protected  occupation ­
  in  the  war.  They  went  to  fight  in  large  numbers.
There  was  even  a  time  when  we  were  thankful  to  them
for  fighting  for  their  Country.  To  a  large  number  of
people,  however,  including  the  present  Minister  of
Health,  they  are  merely  an  object  of  criticism,  as  for
instance,  on  July  21st,  1921,  the  Minister  said  in  reply
to  Mr.  Clynes  :—
“  I  feel  in  duty  bound  to  point  out  that  the  reason  we  have
made  so  little  progress  with  housing  has  been  the  extraordinary
low  output  of  the  building  industry.”
Well,  if  that  is  so,  what  has  brought  the  price  of
houses  down  from  £950  to  £500  in  a  year  ?
The  reason  is  two-fold.  Firstly,  builders  have  had
to  cease  profiteering.  Secondly,  workmen  have  immensely ­
  increased  their  output.
With  regard  to  the  former,  it  is  a  most  significant
fact  that,  on  a  certain  occasion,  builders  throughout
the  kingdom,  dropped  their  prices  by  more  than  £150
in  a  fortnight.  The  occasion  was  this  :  In  February,