ban landowner who
has done nothing to contribute to the growth of the town or to promote
its industries, ought not to receive the full value of the land, as
enhanced by the necessary expansion of the town and thereby converted
into building land, with an added amount for compulsory purchase. The
manner in which the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act has been worked has
added enormously to the burden of most great public undertakings. The
compensation awarded has often been outrageous, and the expense incurred
in assessing it one of the grossest scandals. It would be easy to give
numerous instances from actual experience.

But there is not only need for more accommodation, but also for more
attractive accommodation. There is no reason why the home of a human
family should as a rule be, as it is in most of the towns in England at
present, a hideous object. What has been done at Port Sunlight, at
Bournville and other places shows that, by proper forethought and wise
expenditure, small houses which it is a pleasure instead of a pain to
look upon, can be provided. Another good example of what can be done may
be seen in the change effected in the residences for the poorer classes
made on the property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Walworth in
South London. What is now a pleasant exception ought to be a regular
rule. Means ought also to be taken to ensure that urban workers should
have the opportunity of obtaining an allotment, if not adjoining, at
least within reasonable distance of their homes, where they may grow
fruit and vegetables and enjoy what is, after all, one of the greatest
of the quiet pleasures of life, watching the growth of the plants which
they have cultivated, and enjoying the products.

Round some towns, the estates of great landowners form a ring fence
barring any growth of the town until, when trade is good and the town is
expanding, extravagant prices can be obtained for the land of which they
have the monopoly. High ground rents are fixed when trade is inflated,
jerry-builders then start erecting houses, borrowing sometimes from
building societies the whole amount required to enable them to build,
and the houses are either sold or let at very high rents. The cottages
are put up in the cheapest possible way consistent with the by-laws of
the local authorities. When a cycle of bad trade occurs the property
falls in value, it goes out of repair, tenants have no interest whatever
in keeping it decent,