Evening star., 1941-07-28
1900, 900 Acres Plaughed Up.

Meanwhile, much more land is be-
ing titled. Nearly 100000 acres of
grass have been ploughed up and
seeded. 1t took the Italian govern
ment 13 years to drain the Pontine
marshes; the British government
reclaimed an equal area of marsh
land in seven months.
The second great fact which is
likely to strike a traveller in Britain
is the immensity of the recent shifts
in population The British people
used to be static-at least by Ameri-
can standards; but the war has
caused tremendous displacements.
While no figures are given by the
government, it is clear that great
part of the 100000 people have
changed their homes. Part of the
movement is military. Vast army
camps are scattered over the land
and the soldiers are frequently
shifted from one area to another.
The trains are crowded with these
troops, and with multitudes of SOL
diers on short leaves back home, all
wearing full equipment-tin hat,
gas mask, blanket, knapsack and
arms. Women in the various serv-
ices-WAAFS, WRENS. VADS, ATS
are similarly moved from post to
post. So are many civilians IN gov
ernment offices, for departments
formerly in London are now scat
tered far and wide in provincial
cities.
A large part of the population
movement is a result of the bomb
ing. The evacuation of highly dan
gerous areas has been as far as
possible kept on voluntary basis,
but it has involved prodigious shifts.
The semi-desterted look of great
areas of western London-Mayfalr
Kensington, Bayswater, Chelsea-is
as depressing as the actual destruc-
ton. Newspapermen told me that
at least a million people, possibly
two millions, had left the city.
London May Remain Smaller.
The result has been a huge ex-
pansion of the population OF safer
places like Winchester, Reading,
Salisbury, Bath, Exeter, Gloucester
oxford, York and Durham. Some
times the worried people of these
towns exaggerate it, but frequently
it causes painful congestion.
The social effects of this dlsper-
sion and resettlement of the popu-
lation will be enormous. Many
people never will go back to their
old homes. London may we'll be per-
manently smaller. AS Lord Horder
says, the scattering OF slum chill
dren throughout the country has
raised the level of their health
their manners and their ambitions
Regional lines and class lines are
being broken down as never before;
the people are being better UNIFIED
The government demands that
everybody give his efforts to the
utmost. Food rationing offers the
rich and poor much the same fare
A millionaire can get no more RED
meat, butter or jam than a work.
ing man, and cannot get as much
cheese as the farmer or miner
Clothes rationing gives every one
much the same wardrobe. A farm
cottage in Cumberland is better
than a mansion in Park Lane; ir
fact, the Park Lane houses are
mere shells through whose ruined
windows the passerby can see trees
waving in their gardens. Base
ments flats are at a premium while
penthouses go begging.
Nearly everybody except young
children and old people does some
socially valuable work. Many boys
of Is and is pay income tax or
their munitions plant wages and
have seen a grandmother bicycle
away to her daily job in a maternity