THE HOUSING QUESTION 
45 
houses was being hopelessly retarded through rich 
clients and contractors luring away labour for their 
private work, by offering higher wages, and by other 
methods of cold-shouldering housing schemes (not 
least of which was the influence of builders and their 
friends elected on Local Authorities). An Act known 
as the Housing (Additional Powers) Act was passed 
later in 1919, a section (No. 5) of which empowered 
Local Authorities to prohibit private building if it 
could be shewn to be interfering with their housing 
scheme. This section was a total failure, for three 
reasons :— 
(1) Local Authorities were unwilling to work it. 
Anyone who knew how local interests are favoured by 
local Councillors could have foreseen how impossible 
it would be to expect men to take the bread out of the 
mouths of their friends whom they met every day in 
the street. 
(2) The Act only allowed Authorities to move 
against private building within their own area. But 
the common trouble was that a big firm in a neighbouring 
area lured labour away. The Law forgot this—or 
intended to forget it. 
(3) The Section allowed an appeal to the Ministry 
if a prohibition order were made by a Local Authority, 
but the wording of the Section was so badly drawn 
that these appeals were practically always successful. 
Why the Section was so worded that a coach and six 
could be drawn through it, it would be interesting to 
know. Perhaps the big business interests in the present 
House of Commons could say.