Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-05-24
Cupid Will be Busy Little
God in Great Britain After
War; Many Houses Needed
More Than 100000 Weddings Expected, and Govern
ment May Provide the Homes-To Invest
$4,000 in Houses.
lnx. 1rdaon q. Wanvor.A

lBy, hudson G. Weliiycr.)
over and Tommy comes back from
the front there is going to be an
epidemic Of matrimony in this coun-
try. It IL calculated that there will
be about three-quarters of a million
weddings just as fast as the preachers
can get around to them.
Hayes Fisher, parliamentary secre-
tary to the local government board,
told a conference on the Housing
Problem the other day that Great
Britain would not have houses enough
lions. by a round half million.
The local government authorities
are planning the most ambitious
housing scheme that vas ever con-
templated. They propose to invest
$780, 900, 900 In building houses in va
rious parts Of the country. just as a
starter. OF course $150.000, 900 will
not be much more than a start and
the problem Of financing such a task,
to say nothing of the feature of ply
steal construction. is going to tax
every resource that can be mustered.
The greatest of all wonders Of this
war. 1t has seemed to me. Is the ca
pacity Of a people to think under pres
sure. The British public mind is in
q perfect ferment today about a thou
sand questions. 1t is not only fer
menting. but it is producing conclu-
sions. This housing question is just
one of the problems which the new
England must deal with. There is the
problem also of restoring agriculture.
of establishing minimum wages, Of
rehabilitating and rapidly expanding
foreign trade. OF rebuilding the mer-
chant marine. of planning cities and
towns and rural communities scientific
ally, Of better care for children, of
pensions and other forms Of tate aid
for the disabled soldiers and sailors
and their families Of educational re-
form, on which hundreds Of millions
will unquestionably be spent within
the next few years-in short, there
are 80 many problems that an enun
ertion of them might occupy columns
and yet be hopelessly incomplete.
Problem of. Housing.
Take this n Of housing. London
has done more than any other city in
the world toward the Systematic rip
ping out of Sums and the substitution
Of respectable and desirable homes
suited to the needs and incomes of
the poor people. For a long time it
was hard to got the people to appre-
ciate what was offered to them. Stories
are still familiar of families who were
moved into four roomed apartments
with bath, and promptly turned the
bathtub into a coal repository. But
things are changing very fast now
England is discovering that the way
to make bathtuhs popular and sani-
tary c~onveniences necessary. is to pay
the people wages enough to Justify
them in a taste for better modes of
living
| IL hao 1~Aao ao;rJ - ,o11 xa~.o,
but 1t will not be said too often he
cause it Is more than any other one
thing the real explanation Of what Is
happening in the British public mind
today, that during the war nobody has
been poor except the rich. while the
poor have been better off than they
We're ever before. That is absolutely
true and 1t explains why. millions OF
families are now in a frame of mind
to insist upon a chance to live better
broader. cleaner, healthier and more
self-respecting lives.
At the bottom of this problem Of re.
housing England is the question OF
agricultural wages. Incomes in the
country have been so small that for
two generations the agricultural
lahoring classes have been constantly
drawn away to the cities, attracted by
the lure of high wages and supposed
~ better opportunity. This conges-
ton in the cities tended to bring wages
there down to a level just as bad as
1t had been in the country. if not
worse: hut the people once taker
away from the country almost never
returned to it.
Spectators Hard Hit.
About a decade ago when moderr
intramural transportation was gener.
ally introduced into English cities
London and sosme Of the other large
towns were overhnilt by spectators
just as mas happened in q good man.
American cities. Millions and mil
rows were put up in the suburban
areas and presently the Spectator.
found Themselves holding a sack: tht
houses were not occupied and didh'
sell and SO building suddenly stopped
Then London BEGAN to grow rapidly
ana presently had filled up these hous
es and demanded n,ore: they were
not supplied fast enough. and ever
when the war broke out the question
Of houses was becoming serious. Fec.
pie don't agree as to why London con,
probably ever did before in it's exis.
tence. But 1t is a fact. It is almos'
impossible to got a house of the type
which the family of the working mar
requires, although palatial residence.
are plentiful enough. If rents have
not increased as rapidly as some 9th
err ~necessaries they have nevertheless
Increased very considerably as to thi
type Of establishment.
Everybody wonders what will hap
pen to London when the war is over
whether the population that has beef
gathered into the metropolis will dis
solve back to the provinces again O
whether 1t will to a considerable ex
tent want to stay here. The genera
belief Is that London is going to hav'
q tremendous boom when the war /
over; always assuming, as everybod.
in England does. that the wars enc
will he favorable to the Allies.
What is said here about London i
true. though to a less extent of tn,
provincial centers. England in goin,
to have more big houses that it can
use and more demand for small hous
es that 1t will want to use than eve
confronted a community. The first eff
fort to cope with this situation will b.
through plans for inducing the PEG
pie to 60 back to rural life. Thi