r stimulate a desire for improvement. The demand has existed for years,
but after the War will be more imperative than ever. Somehow or other it
must be supplied more fully. Attempts have been made again and again to
deal with the question. Its importance is recognised and special
inquiries are now being made as to the best means to be adopted. It is
stated that at the present time half a million additional houses for
working people are required, and that 100,000 more should be provided
annually to meet the normal increase of population and to replace houses
which have to be demolished.

It will be necessary to consider, first, the provision to be made to
meet the existing shortage of house accommodation both in urban and
rural districts. At present a large portion of the population cannot
find a home or even any kind of accommodation that affords reasonable
comfort and decency. Since the War, in some places, such as Barrow, the
conditions have been absolutely intolerable, and when those who are
engaged in the army abroad return, the state of things in some districts
may be worse. The President of the Local Government Board recently
stated that 1,103 local authorities in England and Wales had reported
that houses for the working classes were required in their areas, and
that the number of houses they needed probably exceeded 300,000. As
above stated, the total requirement is much greater. The deficiency of
accommodation has been one of the prime causes of labour unrest; the
prices charged for any kind of shelter have been enormous; in some cases
the same bed is occupied by one set of people immediately the prior
occupants have gone to work, and "the bed is never even cold." The
overcrowding of agricultural labourers and their families in miserable
cottages, often out of repair and letting in the rain, has long been a
scandal. Something has been done by benevolent landowners, who build
cottages which they let on terms which bring little return for the money
spent on them; but it is quite impossible to rely either on the working
of the law of supply and demand or on private benevolence for meeting
the difficulty. Strong and immediate action by the State is needed.
Adequate powers should be given to local authorities, and pressure put
upon them, if needed, to ensure that such powers are exercised. Such
action is already being taken, and compulsory powers to acquire land
will be given. In assessing compensation, the great ur