Evening star., 1934-12-16

tus of cheap money and
stable political conditions,
" the wheels of the building
- and contracting industry in
Britain are now turning to give an
annual output of $500 100000. which
makes the industry Britain's biggest,
giving jobs to 100000 and notching
up the supply of new homes from
the 1882 average of 145,000 year
to 100000 for 1884.
Britain interprets this as a boom,
and boom it is On its back Britain
is riding out of the depression, the
spiral of industrial activity it sets up
compensating substantially for the lag
in export trade. How long activity on
this scale will last is anybody's guess.
Economists are divided on whether it
will reach peak in 1885 or continue
undiminished for another four or
five years or an entire decade. But If
the national forces combine to realize
the Prince OF Wales ideal, which gave
the newspapers their headlines and
front-page stories on November %,
this boom will gradually merge into
the biggest construction movement Of
all time.
The prince advanced his plan-not
tentatively, but as a definite, con-
structive call-at the centenary din
ner of the Royal Institute of British
Architects in London. He proposed
wipe-out of the slums, bigger out
look on town and city planning, an
advance in design and equipment of
homes to meet all that science has
now placed at mans disposal. He
asked the 1000 architects assembled
to carry over to architecture and the
building trades the principle of mass
production which has already brought
so many of the other amenities of
life within reach of the masses of
the people, whereas formerly they
were only for the well-to-do."
Folk Housing Conscious"
England's heir talked at psyche
logically propitious moment. The
island folk, now acutely housing con-
scious," are getting educated in this
construction business. They are aware
of good many things which formerly
were hidden. Probably the chief dis
covery they have made is that neither
government nor architecture alone
can solve the housing problem and
rehouse the people in a better way at
a lower cost. The whole complex of
a nations active forces is involved in
these things-politics, finance, labor
have to be fitted into the play along
with the scientists, engineers and ar
chitects. Two years ago the cast for
this national play could not have been
assembled, owing to government
overspending and the lack of conf
dence that engendered. But now
everything has changed.
The story of the change, which Is
also the story of British housing, has
it's phases of drama, comedy, tragedy
and general excitement. It's begin
nings are almost lost in the mists Of
the past. The good builders of Scot
land, for instance, thought they were
doing the sound thing when they con-
structed stone dwellings for the poorer
people to last 1000 years. Many Of
these places are one and two CEN
turies old now and good for another
fUO VI OOV yCd1o, dllO1 DColdCS bC1ll5
absolutely obsolete in every respect,
are the chief reason why the housing
situation is even worse north of the
border than south. One in four per-
sons still lives two to room in Scot
land, against rate of one and a half
to room in England and Wales.
Again, if one begins to probe the
origin of those narrow, twisting streets
which the prince cursed as destructive
of civic pride, one finds ones self
back in Tudor times, and If one wants
to investigate from the outset the
housing of the industrial population
one must make a start any time in
the long reign of Queen Victoria. But
for practical purposes the story in a
nutshell starts in 1914.
Building stopped during the four war
years. Worker-class houses decayed.
They lapsed into new slums or Joined
up with old slums. When the war
ended there was shortage of at least
million houses. Rents scared. The
government had to step in and make
it illegal for owners of worker-class
dwellings to charge more than the 1914
rent. In the courts the magistrates
for years gave priority to housing dis
putes. The politicians looked for the
easy way out and found it in general
housing subsidy. Builders and munich
palities got a government grant for
every house they built. Housing pro-
grams became one of the political
games of the day. They varied with
the political complexion Of the gov.