^^;-i::^^i-='!'';r-'--' :i ^BTOSFS?iis-M-^Hi-yiimr- Jitfaca, Sfem f mk BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUESTOF WILLARD FISKE LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY 1866-1883 1905 DATE DUE 4ML3- &^6t-^— rs 1 GAVLORD PRINTCOINU.e.A Cornell University Library HD7333.A3 D52 The housing problem in England, olln 3 1924 030 084 929 The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030084929 PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER ECONOMIC SERIES.— No. VII The Housing Problem in England Sherratt & Hughes Publishers to the Victoria University of Manchester Manchester : 34 Cross Street London : 6(), Chandos Street W.C. The Housing Problem in England Its Statistics, Legislation and Policy BY ERNEST RITSON DEWSNUP, M.A. Professor of Railway Economics in the University of Chicago MANCHESTER At the University Press 1907 -(r^'t -^Vh^j A ■i5"«f goo University of Manchester Publications No. XXV. PREFACE. The present essay is an attempt to consider tlie housing problem in England with regard to three definite points, (1) the condition of the housing of the poor, as indicated by the statistics of the last two censuses, (2) the attitude of the legislature towards the amelioration of the evils connected with that housing and the extent to which the statutory facilities afforded by it have been made use of, and (3) some criticism of the policy involved in such attitude. The essay does not profess to be complete. It has been written in fragments as the too brief intervals of a busy life have given opportunity. In many places, lack of time for further investigation has compelled my treatment to be merely suggestive in nature. Still, I feel that in so far as the book constrains its reader to view the housing problem of England from a broader standpoint than is customary, the time spent upon its preparation will be more than repaid. It may be my good fortune at some time in the future, when leisure is more abundant, to amplify and strengthen both the statements of fact and the arguments advanced in the present volume. The statistical work of Chapter 3 places in a convenient form for the first time the actiial condition of overcrowd- ing in England. I say actual condition because by such an arrangement of facts alone is it possible to comprehend satisfactorily the real extent and present tendency of overcrowding. A favourite method of " writing-up " the housing problem (made use of not only by the general press but by more formal writers) is to pick out extreme cases of insanitation and overcrowding, dwelling upon the •3 ii- PREFACE evils sucli conditions are capable of exerting upon the physical welfare of the community. This treatment is justifiable to a certain degree and serves the purpose of presenting a vivid moral lesson to the public, but, neverthe- less, the impression conveyed is naturally an exaggerated one, and, in a scientific treatment of the subject, this is not permissible. Part II. lacks something of the interest attaching to either of the other Parts, but is no less important to the serious student of the housing question. In different writings something has been done informally and inci- dentally to indicate the course of legislation. The Report of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes (1885) gave some attention to this matter, as also did Mr. Stewart's Report made on behalf of the Housing Committee of the London County Council (1891), and there are less important references in a number of books dealing with the housing of the poor in one way or another. The legal handbooks, commenting upon the Housing Act of 1890, contain cursory notes upon previous legislation. But, in the present volume, a much more thorough treat- ment, though still brief, has been attempted. The entire series of housing legislation has been reviewed in such a way as to indicate clearly the relation borne by present legislation to that which preceded it. The policy of reform outlined in Part III. may not be a very popular one : it is not so heroic as many would have it, but a careful study of the situation has forced me to regard it as the only sure and ultimately satisfactory treatment. If the local authorities will work along the lines of the policy suggested, they will find that they have as much as ever they can do adequately, satisfactorily, and usefully in housing reform. Over-anxiousness to add to their already too-numerous responsibilities is the be- PREFACE iii. setting sin of tlie adnainistrators of our local governments of to-day. In the preparation of tlie book I have been aided by- many, only some of whom I can mention here. From Professors S. J. Chapman and T. F. Tout, of Manchester, I have received much helpful advice and criticism. For advice or information I have also to thank most sincerely Sir Shirley F. Murphy, Medical Officer of Health of the County of London ; Mr. Gr. L. Gomme, Clerk of the London County Council; Professors Smart of Grlasgow, and Cum- mings of Chicago. In endeavouring to gain a proper understanding of the temperament and habits of the poorer classes of the cities, I have been fortunate in being able to draw upon the extensive experience of my father. In the collection of material my wife has given me con- siderable aid. The essay was awarded, in 1903, the Warburton Essay Prize, in the University of Manchester; a prize established for the encouragement of research work in local government and awarded every four years. It has since undergone some revision and has been brought up to date so far as possible. EENEST R. DEWSNUP. The University of Chicago, May, 1907. CONTENTS. PART I. The Development and Present State of the Housing Problem in England. Chapter Page I. The English Housing Problem and its Development 3 II. Overhousing 35 III. The Facts of Overcrowding as evidenced by the Census Returns, 1891—1901 45 PART II. The CoimsE of Housing Legislation and its Utilisation in England. Chapter Page IV. The Developmenfi of Legislative Action 87 V. The History of English Legislation bearing upon the Ex- tension of Housing Accommodation for the Working Classes 91 VI. The History of English Legislation bearing upon House Improvement, Dishousing and Rehousing 113 VII. The Utilisation of Housing Legislation in England 137 VIII. The Extent of the Financial Assistance granted by the Central Government to Local Authorities and others in connection with the Housing of the Working Classes in England 195 PART III. Housing Policy in England. Chapter Page IX. Housing Reform and the Doctrine of Laissez-Faire 211 X. The Primary Process of Housing Reform and the Relation of the Municipality thereto 217 XI. Slum Clearances 227 XII. The Municipality as Landlord 239 XIII. Some further Consideration of Municipal Housing Policy 253 XIV. Housing Reform and Taxation 263 XV. The Municipality and the Supervision of Urban Building Extension 273 XVI. Some special Aspects of Housing by Voluntary Enterprise. Transportation Facilities and the Housing Problem ... 281 XVII. The Rural Housing Problem in England.— Conclusion ... 297 Appendix A. Report upon the Relation between the Demolition of House Property and the Living Conditions of the Poorer Classes in the Township of Manchester 309 Appendix B. Schedule with reference to dishousing under local and special Acts— 3 Ed. vii. c. 39 313 Reference List ^17 vi. CONTENTS LIST OP STATISTICAL TABLES. Page I. The Movement of Population in England and Wales, 1891—1901 5 II. Growth of Population in the Greographical Counties of England and Wales, 1891—1901 6 III. Decrease of Population in the Rural Areas of the Adminis- trative Counties of England and Wales, 1891—1901 ... 8 IV. Dishousing by Eailway Companies and Local Authorities under Private and Local Acts, 1885-1902 23 V. Overcrovrding and the Death Eates — Administrative County of London 26 VI. Annual Death Rate per 1,000 during Five Years in Back- to-Back Houses, Manchester 29 VII. County of London Registration Districts, showing Decrease of Population, 1891—1901 37 VIII. Urban Areas with a Density of Population, in 1901, exceeding 25 Persons per Acre 41 IX. Metropolitan Overhousing, 1901 44 X. Census (1901) Overcrowding in the County Boroughs of England and Wales, including also other Urban Dis- tricts having a population of more than 50,000 47 XI. Census (1901) Overcrowding — Rearrangement of the Urban Districts, named in the previous Table, according to Intensity of Crowding 49 XII. Census (1901) Overcrowding in the Metropolitan Boroughs and in the Administrative County of London 60 XIII. The Distribution of Overcrowding among the various Classes of small Tenements in certain County Boroughs, 1901 62 XIV. The Proportion of Overcrowded Tenements in each class of small Dwellings (one to four rooms), 1901 63 XV. A Comparison of the Extent of Overcrowding in certain important Towns for the years 1891 and 1901 66 XVI. Summary Table of Urban Housing and Overcrowding in England and Wales, 1891 and 1901 to face p. 67 XVII. Census (1901) Overcrowding in the Rural Districts of certain Counties of England and Wales 72 XVIII. Summary Table of Rural Housing and Overcrowding in England and Wales, 1891 and 1901 77 XIX. General Surmnary of Housing and Overcrowding in Eng- land and Wales, 1891 and 1901 79 XX. List of Housing and related Acts, 1851—1903 89 XXI. List of Urban Sanitary Districts with a Population of not less than 100,000, and of Parishes or Districts in the Metropolis, where proceedings were taken under the Torrens Acts during the period 1883—1888 145 CONTENTS vii. Page XXII. Activity of the Metropolitan Board of Works — Cross Acts 151 XXIII. Improvement Schemes of Provincial Urban Sanitary Authorities under the Cross Acts, 1875 — 1885 153 XXIV. The Housing Work of the London Local Government ... 163 XXV. The Housing Work of Organised Private Effort in London to face p. 166 XXVI. Loans sanctioned by the Local Government Board for the purposes of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890 172 XXVII. Proceedings outside London taken (under Section 44 — Part II. of 1890 Act) in regard to Buildings unfit for human Habitation during the Years specified, and the Number of Cases in which such Proceedings were taken 186 XXVIII. Summary of House-building by the Co-operative Societies of Great Britain, up to and including 1902 190 XXIX. Loans sanctioned by the Local Government Board to Urban Authorities imder the Small Dwellings Acquisi- tion Act, 1899 192 XXX. Advances to private interests by the Public Works Loan Commissions under the Labouring Classes Dwellings Acts and Housing of the Working Classes Act (1890) 198 XXXI. Advances to Local Authorities by the Public Works Loan Commissioners under the Cross Acts and the Housing of the Working Classes Act (1890) 204 XXXII. Summary Statement of Advances made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners, 1867 — 1905, under the Housing Acts and Small Dwellings Acquisition Act ... 206 yx) PART I. THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENT STATE OF THE HOUSING PROBLEM OF ENGLAND. CHAPTEE I. The English Housing Problem and its Development. In 1750, just prior tO' tlie commencement of that period generally known as the Industrial Revolution, the popula- tion of England and Wales was a trifle over sis millions ;^ by 1901, it had increased to thirty two and a half millions. ^ At the earlier date probably more than one half of the population was rural; at the beginning of the twentieth century less than one quarter, a proportion continually diminishing. Thus the past hundred and fifty years have witnessed not only an enormous growth in numbers but also an extensive redistribution of the people from country into town. The statistics of 1901 revealed that forty- four per cent, of the people lived in towns and cities of more than fifty thousand inhabitants; and that of the fourteen and a half millions thus domiciled, more than one half, forming twenty-four per cent, of the whole population, lived in large cities of two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants and upwards. The statistics of the last censal decade still further emphasize this tendency 1. Preface to Census Returns, 1831. 2. Census Returns, 1901. 4 THE HOUSING PROBLEM towards town concentration/ for while tlie population of tlie icrban sanitary districts increased 15"22 per cent, from 1891 to 1901, that of the rural sanitary districts increased only 2'94 per cent.^ A comprehensive idea of the present distrihution of the population of England and Wales and its movements during the decade ending with the census of 1901 may be obtained from the following table : 1. For some general observations upon this movement in the decade 1881 — 91, see Professor Flux's article on " Internal Migration in England and Wales, 1881 — 91," Economic Journal, June, 1900. The following is extracted therefrom : — ". . . the registration districts showing absorption are relatively few. In number they are only about one-fifth of the registration districts of the country. In point of population they include some 10,000,000 out of a total mean population of approximately 27,500,000. It is clear, therefore, that they include a considerable proportion of the districts of large population. Thus the crowding into the cities is illustrated. " The 94 districts in which, for one or both sexes, the emigration exceeded 17'5 per cent, of the mean population, included a population of only about 2,000,000, and over one-fourth of these were in seven London districts. Besides these seven, only ten of this group had a mean population in excess of 25,000, while 26 of them fell short of 10,000. Clearly, we are here dealing very largely with country dis- tricts, and moreover with the vexed question of rural depopulation." 2. However, many of the technically urban districts are rural in character, and if all urban districts, with population below 5,000 in 1901, be grouped with the rural districts, the percentage of increase for the latter shows a little better — viz., 15'7 per cent, for urban and 3'5 per cent, for rural. See 1901 Census Returns, General Report, page 24. 00 C^ Ci o t^ 00 ^H r-( CM -^ CNl CM lO CO i-T co" CO OS 02 Oi I- I O OS 10 O C3i 5.— lOcJOO ^ ^ 1— I 5jg CM r-<^ CM^ CM CO CM O O ^ c^^ ^gS.^lOCKitM C2 cm 9 ■-§ |o . ^ ft sss 02 1^:) 05 O CO I— 1 ^ + CM T— 1 ,— c ^ ^ Jr- CO cq 00 r— I »0 O i:^ 00 CJ5 10 ^ OS OS O 5.C. _,. ,. _ Sz; 00 ^ 05 to OS CM ^ CM O 1 — I y-~i 1 — 1 O ^ " " ^ "^ 12; o PL, O Q H O ■0 . C to Oi cjs 00 ^ , 1 o-S rt'g ) — 1 t- -* ^ 10 - V 00" cm" CM -* 4iJ CX) t- 1 — 1 CM IM kI if^ (M OS 00 + t! OT t- CO CM t~ CM , ]— 1 os CM CM CJS P 9 fl -«§ M 1 — 1 co" -jH" 10 4h t^ -<^ 10 r-t t^ Jr- != IM 10 CM CM + Is n ^ -!*< ^ CO 00 * -t- "(3 1 — 1 . s s-a ^ a ^3 B ^ u ^a iS ^a 1 mbe pie rcro eme B ffl- g 3 "B a § lis § asi m £' ^tis S3 g-P ? Ph P.3 0. 2 B.SS lis £ll 684,958 54,390 7-94 138,845 8,983 6-47 543,872 34,147 6-28 112,854 4,516 400 522,204 53,936 10-33 109,942 6,991 6-35 428,968 43,239 10-08 95,406 6,086 6-37 380,793 36,159 9-50 80,341 4,789 5-96 328,945 11,687 3-55 71,215 1,817 2-55 279,767 40,896 14-62 64,616 5,930 9-17 267,358 24,790 9-27 56,390 3,658 6-48 240,259 14,709 612 53,057 1,903 3-58 239,743 8,761 3-65 53,389 1,160 2-17 220,957 16,653 7-54 45,541 2,278 5-00 215,328 65,605 30-47 44,600 10,196 22-86 211,579 2,217 1-04 46,162 332 0-71 188,133 2,241 119 41,489 378 0-91 168,215 10,927 6-50 36,177 1,328 3-67 164,333 4,802 2-92 33,824 720 2-12 146,077 43,976 30-10 30,833 6,658 21-59 137,246 10,191 7-43 30,058 1,224 4-07 133,895 3,673 2-74 28,807 568 1-97 127,626 5,007 3-92 27,566 557 2-02 123,478 3,793 3-07 28,846 695 2-40 114,811 13,312 11-59 25,657 2,057 8-01 113,735 5,660 4-98 21,619 777 3-59 112,989 2,980 2-64 24,341 335 1-37 111,733 3,732 3-34 25,585 507 1-98 110,915 5,564 5-02 22,167 830 3-74 109,888 37,957 34-54 22,835 5,668 24-82 107,636 21,735 20-19 25,369 3,809 15-01 105,912 1,252 1-18 23,230 173 0-77 104,936 15,201 14-49 25,030 2,382 9-51 48 THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE X. — continued. Southampton C.B. Tottenham U.D. Leyton U.D. South Shields C.B. Burnley C.B. East Ham U.D. Walthamstow U.D. Huddersfield C.B. Swansea C.B. Wolverhampton C.B. Middlesbrough C.B. Northampton C.B. Walsall C.B. St. Helens C.B. Eochdale C.B. Stockport C.B. York, City of C.B. Aston Manor U.D. Heading C.B. Hornsey U.D. Devonport C.B. Coventry, City of C.B. Merthyr Tydfil U.D. Newport (Mon.) C.B. Ipswich C.B. Hastings C.B. West Bromwich C.B. Warrington C.B. Grimsby C.B. West Hartlepool M.B. Hanley C.B. Wigan C.B. Bootle C.B. Bury C.B. Barrow-in-Furness C.B. King's Norton & North- field U.D. Smethwick M.B. Rotherham M.B. Wallasey U.D. Handsworth U.D. Stockton-upon-Tees M.B. Tynemouth M.B. Great Yarmouth C.B. Burton-upon-Trent C.B. Bath, City of C.B. Oxford, City of C.B. Lincoln, City of C.B. Dudley C.B. Gloucester, City of C.B. Exeter, City of C.B. Bournemouth C.B. Worcester, City of C.B. Chester, City of C.B. Canterbury, City of C.B. 104,824 2,213 2-11 23,048 370 1-60 102,541 5,835 5-69 21,910 941 4-29 98,912 2,548 2-58 20,659 373 1805 97,263 31,529 32-42 21,252 4,783 22-60 97,043 6,931 7-14 21,279 928 4-36 96,018 2,480 2-58 20,189 373 1-84 95,131 3,173 3-33 19,830 458 2-30 95,047 12,245 12-88 22,409 1,914 8-54 94,537 5,261 5-57 19,455 694 3-56 94,187 4,398 4-67 19,495 578 2-96 91,302 9,939 10-89 17,942 1,242 6-92 87,021 845 0-97 13,846 112 0-81 86,430 4,485 5-19 17,308 542 3-13 84,410 9,166 10-86 15,390 1,076 6-99 83,114 6,057 7-29 20,233 848 4-19 78,897 3,929 4-98 18,090 509 2-81 77,914 4,239 5-44 16,862 598 3-54 77,326 3,921 5-07 16,539 503 3-04 72,217 886 1-23 15,074 121 0-80 72,056 1,438 2-00 15,571 232 1-49 70,437 12,243 17-38 15,530 2,183 14-06 69,978 3,338 4-77 15,743 466 2-96 69,228 8,414 12-15 13,317 1,074 8-06 67,270 1,946 2-89 13,487 285 2-11 66,630 758 1-14 14,729 107 0-07 65,528 1,886 2-88 14,600 306 209 65,175 6,645 10-20 13,030 866 6-64 64,242 2,438 3-80 12,381 294 2-37 63,138 1,204 1-91 13,574 162 1-19 62,627 6,950 11-10 12,459 908 7-28 61,599 2,331 3-78 12,272 273 2-22 60,764 8,124 13-38 11,421 996 8-72 58,556 3,529 6-03 11,247 578 5-13 68,029 3,319 5-72 12,800 404 3-15 57,586 5,825 10-12 10,313 810 7-85 57,122 869 1-52 11,591 108 0-93 54,539 1,702 3-12 11,139 217 1-94 54,349 4,578 8-42 10,894 541 4-96 53,579 817 1-52 11,245 107 0-95 52,921 767 1-45 11,294 101 0-89 51,478 5,175 10-05 10,212 664 6-60 51,366 15,777 30-71 11,000 2,641 23-10 51,316 936 1-82 11,882 111 0-93 50,386 862 1-71 10,519 102 0-97 49,839 2,228 4-47 11,733 353 3-00 49,336 678 1-37 10,955 96 0-87 48,784 763 1-56 11,016 98 0-89 48,733 8,519 17-48 10,077 1,092 10-83 47,955 1,135 2-37 10,342 151 1-46 47,185 2,279 4-83 10,806 368 3-40 47,003 290 0-62 9,398 50 0-53 46,624 1,973 4-23 10,718 273 2-54 38,309 2,205 5-76 8,108 288 3-55 24,899 541 2-17 5,283 81 1-63 OVERCROWDING 49 To facilitate the study of the foregoing, another table follows in which the eighty-four urban districts are ar- ranged accordingly to the intensity of overcrowding within their areas, the number of the population of each district being again added, so that constant cross-reference to the former table may not be necessary. TABLE XI. Census (1901) Oveeceowding. Rbaeeangement of the Urban Districts, named in the Peeviotjs Table, according to intensity of overcrowding. Over 10 per Gateshead South Shields... Tynemouth Newcastle upon Tyne . Sunderland Plymouth Dudley Devonport Bradf drd Halifax Wigan ... Huddersfield ... Merthyr Tydfil... Willesden "West Hartlepool Middlesbrough St. Helens Birmingham . . . West Bromwich Barrow-in-Furness Leeds ... Stockton-upon-Tees Per. Cent. Population 34-54 .. . 109,888 32-42 . . 97,263 30-71 . . 51,366 30-47 . . 215,328 30-10 . . 146,077 20-19 . . 107,636 17-48 . . 48,733 17-38 . . 70,437 14-61 . . 279,767 14-49 . . 104,936 13-38 . . 60,764 12-88 . . 95,047 12-15 . . 69,228 11-59 . .. 114,811 11-10 . . 62,627 10-89 . . 91,302 10-86 . . 84,410 10-32 . .. 522,204 10-20 . .. 65,175 1012 . . 57,586 10-08 . .. 428,968 10-05 . . 51,478 so THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABL E XI. — continued. Between 5 and 10 per cent. Per. Cent. Population Sheffield 9-50 . .. 380,793 West Ham 9-27 . . 267,358 Rotherham 8-42 . . 54,349 Liverpool 7-94 . . 684,958 Salford 7-54 . . 220,957 Oldham 7-42 . . 137,246 Rochdale 7-29 .. . 83,114 Burnley 7-14 . . 97,043 Bolton ... 6-50 . . 168,215 Manchester 6-28 . . 543,872 Hull 612 . . 240,259 Bootle ... 603 . . 58,556 Chester... 5-76 . . 38,309 Bury 5-72 . . 58,029 Tottenham 5-69 . . 102,541 Swansea 5-57 . . 94,537 York 5:-44 .. . 77,914 Walsall 5-19 .. . 86,430 Aston Manor ... 5-07 . . 77,326 Birkenhead ... 5-02 .. . 110,915 Not ( >ver 5 per cent. Per. Cent. Population. Stockport 4-98 . . 78,897 E/hondda 4-98 . . 113,735 Exeter ... 4-83 .. . 47,185 Coventry 4-77 .. . 69,978 Wolverhampton 4-67 .. . 94,187 Bath ... ... 4-47 . . 49,839 Worcester 4-23 .. . 46,624 OVERCROWDING 51 TABLE XI. — continued. Blackburn 3-92 . .. 127,626 Warrington 3-80 . .. 64,242 Hanley. .. 3-78 . .. 61,599 Nottingham ... 3-65 . .. 239,743 Bristol 3-55 . .. 328,945 Norwich 3-34 . .. 111,733 Walthamstow. . . 3-33 . .. 95,131 Smethwick 3-12 . .. 54,539 Brighton 307 . .. 123,478 Cardiff 2-92 . .. 164,333 Newport 2-89 . .. 67,270 Hastings 2-88 . .. 65,528 Croydon 2-74 ., .. 133,895 Preston 2-64 . .. 112,989 East Ham 2-58 . .. 96,018 Leyton 2-58 .. . 98,912 Gloucester 2-37 .. . 47,955 Canterbury 2-17 . .. 24,899 Southampton ... 211 . .. 104,824 Hornsey 2-00 ., .. 72,056 Grrinu^y 1-91 .. . 63,138 Great Yarmouth 1-82 .. . 51,316 Burton upon Trent ... 1-71 .. ,. 50,386 LincQln 1-56 .. . 48,784 King's Norton and Northfield 1-52 .. . 57,122 Wallasey 1-52 .. . 53,579 Handsworth 1-45 .. . 52,921 Oxford 1-37 .. . 49,336 Reading 1-22 .. . 72,217 Portsmouth 1-19 .. . 188,133 Derby ... 118 ■.. . 105,912 Ipswich 1-14 .. . 66,630 Leicester 104 .. . 211,579 Northampton ■97 .., . 87,021 Bournemouth ... •62 .. . 47,003 52 THE HOUSING PROBLEM It is evident from these tables that the percentage of overcrowding in the urban districts of England and Wales varies in a most remarkable manner. From the '62 per cent of Bournemouth to the 34'54 per cent of Gateshead is a far cry. One of the most striking features is the position occupied'by the group of towns comprising Gates- head, South Shields, Tynemouth, Newcastle-upon Tyne, and Sunderland; the extent to which overcrowding is prevalent in these five towns, all situated within compara- tively short distances of one another, far exceeds that of any other urban districts in the country outside London. And it should be noticed that the other more important urban districts of the same area, West Hartlepool, Middles- brough, and Stockton-upon-Tees, all occupy high places in the second table. Contrasts, often surprising, are afforded in abundance, as, for example, Portsmouth with 1'19 and Plymouth with 20'19 per cent. ; Blackburn with 3'92, or Warrington with 3'80, and Wigan with 13'38 per cent. Where overcrowding affects less than five per cent, of the population, it cannot be considered to be very serious, and it is a matter for congratulation that so many towns, forty-two out of the eighty-four named in the table, were in this position in 1901. Of the remaining forty-two, twenty had between five and ten per cent., fourteen between ten and fifteen per cent., two between fifteen and twenty per cent., one between twenty and twenty-five per cent., and five between thirty and thirty-five per cent. The towns with more than five per cent, are, with one or two exceptions, industrial centres ; nearly all places with little industrial development show less than five per cent. But the latter do not monopolise the third division of Table XL to anything like the same extent that industrial towns do the first and second divisions, for quite a number of manu- facturing and shipping towns are included. In spite of OVERCROWDING 53 tlieir large masses of population tlie great provincial cities do not rank among the towns of kigliest percentage. ^ Bir- mixLgliam is eighteentli on tlie list, Leeds twenty-first, Sheffield twenty-third, Liverpool twenty-sixth, and Man- chester thirty-second. On the other hand, some of the small towns occupy high places, as Tynemouth third, Dudley seventh, Wigan eleventh, and so on. An examina- tion of Table X. will reveal a number of instances where towns of considerable size contain far less overcrowding, absolutely and not merely comparatively, than much smaller towns. Thus, at the 1901 Census, Liverpool, with 685,000 inhabitants, contained 54,390 persons living in overcrowded tenements, while iSTewcastle-upon-Tyne, with less than a third of the population, contained no less than 65,605 persons so situated ; Leicester, with 212,000 inhabi- tants, contained 2,217 as compared with 12,245 in Hudders- field out of a total population of little more than 95,000. These anomalies are reflected, of course, in the percentage figures, and if the latter be carefully compared with the corresponding population statistics, the cases just men- tioned will be found to be supplemented by many others, not always affording such extreme contrasts, but still enough to show clearly that variations in intensity of over- crowding do not coincide with variations in size of popula- tion. Still, though there is not a formal and complete co-incidence of this kind — very far from it — the fact must not be overlooked that a certain statistical relationship does exist between the two. This is indicated by the summary 1. On the contrary, the administrative county of London, taken as a single city, would rank seventh : one of the boroughs composing it (Finsbury) would rank at the head of the table, while seven other boroughs would stand before Plymouth which is sixth on the table now being considered. But London or its boroughs can hardly be treated as on all fours with the other cities, and, to mark my sense of this differ- ence, I have postponed the metropolitan statistics of overcrowding to a subsequent table. 54 THE HOUSING PROBLEM now presented. Tlie urban districts of Table XI. have been arranged in three groups representing large towns, medium-sized towns, and small towns respectively, and in each group is shown the number of towns with more than five per cent, of overcrowding, also of those with less than that proportion, this percentage being taken as roughly marking off the milder from the more serious cases. Number of Urban Districts With more than With less than five per cent. five per cent. Population of Urban Districts. of overcrowding, of overcrowding. 1. 200,000 and upwards .. 11 .. 2 2. 50,000 to 200,000 .. 29 .. . 32 3. Less than 50,000 3 .. 7 The third group includes only county boroughs, neither municipal boroughs nor other urban districts with a popula- tion of less than 50,000 inhabitants having been included in the previous table from which this summary has been laade. If such had been taken into account, the prepon- derance of less serious cases (under 5 per cent) in this group would have been more marked than it is in the foregoing table. In this country, then, overcrowding is more fre- quently serious in large than in medium-sized towns, and in medium-sized than in small towns. This is due to the fact that, generally speaking, the development of the urban factory system was the main cause of the growth in size of the towns. The more fully the system was developed in any locality, the more extensive became the population, the more intense the concentration of industry and of labour, and therefore the more urgent the demand for workshop and house room within the limits of the working area. Moreover, the wider the industrial development, the greater was the immigration of those in search of employ- ment, and the larger became the proportion of unskilled OVERCROWDING 55 and irregularly employed labour to the population. As these movements were directly productive of overcrowding, the evil naturally established itself wherever they took place, and the more effective they were, the more intense did it tend to become : if they had been able to act without being affected by other forces, no doubt there would have resulted a descending gradation of intensity of overcrowding from large to medium and from medium to small-sized towns. However, other powerful influences were at work, disturb- ing such a result, but the evidence of the summary argues the existence of such a tendency. As a matter of fact, the actual amount of overcrowding in any town is not the product of a single cause or of a simple combination of causes. It is the net product of a very complex conjunctur, if I may use that word in a wide sense. Diverse forces, moral, intellectual, political, economic and social, have operated, in the different local communities, with varying degrees of influence upon the mode of development, and the extent to which improper housing conditions have de- veloped has depended upon the mutual relationship and comparative strength of these forces. For instance, the dimensions of the urban overcrowding that grew up in the early years of the nineteenth century were undoubtedly affected by the varying efliciency of local sanitary administration. Perhaps it would be more accur- ate to say inefficiency, for there was Little semblance of method or effective organisation in the local government of the period. Towns wherein rapid industrial develop- ment was associated with inept local government were almost inevitably marked out for serious overcrowding. The inefficient local government of a century ago must be held responsible, to no light degree, for the housing problem with which this nation has been struggling for more than fifty years. 56 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Again, the dtaracter and training of the people must surely be admitted to have some bearing upon the growth of overcrowding. There are differences of civilisation not only between one nation and another but even within the limits of the same nation. Any student of social conditions will have no difficulty in recalling instances of striking contrasts in the manners and morals of the natives of districts within a few miles of one another. As the stan- dard of comfort in living tends to vary, in part, at any rate, with the standard of civilisation, the lower the latter the more likely that overcrowding and insanitation will flourish. In the more undeveloped communities, less power of resistance exists because the evil of these con- ditions is not so fully realised as in the more progressive ones.i Further, general character is strongly influenced by the nature of daily occupation : work that calls for little exercise of the higher mental powers and that has to be performed under xmpleasant conditions is admitted to exercise a deadening effect upon both mental and moral faculties, though, sometimes, this is combated by external social and religious influences. Certainly, what- ever affects the mental or moral position of a community, tends to facilitate, or otherwise, the establishment of un- favourable conditions of living. In the case of several towns situated on the Northumberland and Durham coal- field, the existence of an extraordinary degree of overcrowd- ing has been noted, and, from the point of view now taken, it is reasonable to presume that the nature of the pre- dominant industry of this region has played some part in. promoting and perpetuating such a condition — the extent 1. The influence in this direction exerted by the pauper alien settle- ments, to which reference has already been made, must be taken into account under this head. OVERCROWDING 57 of its influence it is impossible to estimate, but, whetlier small or great, it stould be taken into account.^ Indirect reference bas been made to tbe increase in value of urban land brougbt about by industrial progress, and it may now be noted tbat, owing to differences in industrial development and to otber causes, the average value of urban land, occupying similar positions, bas varied, and continues to vary considerably from town to town, mucb more than do tbe rate of wages and tbe cost of living. It follows tbat bouse rent for tbe same class of accommodation must stand at a bigber level in one town tban in anotber, and therefore tbat, unless tbey are able and willing to devote a larger proportion of tbeir income to rent, tbe inhabitants of the former will be obliged to content themselves with less bouse accommodation : there is an inducement to overcrowd. In tracing out reasons for the variation in the intensity of urban overcrowding, the fecundity of marriage should also be taken into account. The average size of family among the labouring classes occasionally varies consider- ably from locality to locality. Wherever this is the case, 1. The North of England, as shown in the smmnaiy below, embraced, at the time of the 1901 Census, 37 urban districts, which were either county boroughs or had a population of not less than 50,000 inhabitants each: 29 of these (78^ per cent.) contained over 5 per cent, of over- crowding. The corresponding figures for the Midlands were 5 out of 18 (27f per cent.), and for the South (including S. Wales, but excluding the Metropolis) 8 out of 29 (27^ per cent.). Xumber of County Boroughs, and Urban Districts of more than 50,000 inhabitants. England and Wales. With more than 5 % With less than 5 % of Overcrowding. of Overcrowding. Xorthem Section 29 ... 8 Midland Section 5 ... 13 Southern Section (including S. Wales) ... 8 ... 21 It seems impossible to explain satisfactorily so marked a difference in the percentage figures without adding, to the consideration of the rela- tive efiects of indnstrial progress, efficiency of local administration, and so forth, some recognition of the influence of temperament and of occupation. 58 THE HOUSING PROBLEM other things being equal, a heavier proportion of over- crowding is likely to result. A moment's digression may be pardoned here to observe that family overcrowding, uncomplicated by the presence of lodgers or by residence in tenement houses, is a comparatively mild form of the evil, and the greater proportion it bears to overcrowding in general, the less serious is the urgency of the problem. ^ Attention was called by the Report of the Royal Com- mission of 1884-85 to the increase of overcrowding arising, particularly in London, from the fact that large numbers of the poorest class frequently migrate from tenement to tenement within the same district, and thereby stimulate the growth of rents, inasmuch as the demand for ac- commodation is thus artificially increased, and rents have to cover a larger insurance against the risks of vacancy and of defaulting tenants. The same Commission had in- formation placed before them as to the farming out of houses under the leasehold system, which seems to be con- clusive that, in the hands of careless or unprincipled lessees, very bad housing conditions, indeed, may result therefrom. 2 One ought also to note the evidence contained in this very valuable report as to the accentuation of over- crowding produced by the administration of the Artizans' Dwellings Acts of 1875 and subsequent years. The testi- mony adduced established as a fact that the clearing of insanitary areas under these Acts increased the over- crowding it was intended to relieve. The inhabitants, ex- pelled, from the cleared areas, crowded into the surround- ing neighbourhoods, intensifying overcrowding where it already existed, introducing it where it did not exist, forming new slums, and spreading the contagion of sani- 1. But, of course, the conditions -would still need remedying. 2. See also reference to " farming " in the Township of Manchester, Appendix A. OVERCROWDING 59 tary immorality more widely than ever. In so far as any of tliese — ^migratory habits, farming out of houses, ad- ministration of the 1875 Cross Act — prevail, or have pre- vailed, in one place more than in another, the more severe is overcrowding in that place likely to be unless their influence has been combated by opposing forces able to modify their power for evil. From what has been advanced in this and the pre- ceding chapters, it will be clear that, in seeking an ex- planation of urban overcrowding, with its singular variation in intensity, the complex operation of very diverse forces and the influence of very diiferent conditions must be recognised. As these forces and conditions have varied, in the past, from place to place, both as regards their degree of individual eifectiveness and the manner in which they have been combined, so the intensity of over- crowding has varied. The present condition of overcrowding in London may now be presented in the same tabular form as used for the provinces. As will be seen from the foot of the table, the Administrative County of London contained, at the date of the 1901 Census, 726,096 persons living in over- crowded conditions, or 1601 per cent, of the population. Of the constituent boroughs, Finsbury stood first with 35"21 per cent, of overcrowding, and Lewisham last with £•68 per cent. ; only eight boroughs fell below ten per cent., and only two of these below five per cent. 6o THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE XII. Census (1901). Oveeceowding in the Metropolitan BOEOUGHS and in THE AdMINISTEATIVE CoUNTY OF London. Number of Percentjtge Total Per- People of Population Number Number of ceutage Borough. Population. living in living in of Overcrowded of Over- Overcrowded Overcrowded Inhabited Tenements, crowded Tenements. Tenements. Tenements. Tenements Finsbury 101,463 35,723 3521 24,097 6,373 26-45 Stepney 298,600 99,179 33'21 61,113 15,541 25-43 Shoreditch 118,637 35,529 29-95 27,031 6,272 2320 Bethnal Green 129,680 38,410 29-62 28,209 6,384 22-63 Holborn 59,405 14,875 25-04 13,790 2,783 2018 Southwark 206,180 46,073 22-35 47,808 8,133 17-01 St. Pancras 253,317 56,423 23-98 57,045 10,158 17-81 St. Marylebone 133,301 28,147 2ri2 31,623 5,180 16-38 Bermondsey 130,760 25,726 1967 29,073 4,307 14-81 Islington 334,991 56,948 17-00 79,129 10,071 12-73 Poplar 168,822 27,700 16-41 35,787 4,414 12-33 Kensington 176,628 26,207 14-84 38,349 4,599 11-99 Chelsea 73,842 10,659 14-43 17,467 1,914 10-96 Paddington 143,976 19,531 13-57 33,661 3,404 IQ-U ■Westminster 183,011 23,856 13-04 41,344 4,346 10-54 Lambeth 301,895 36,904 12-22 70,887 6,548 9-24 Hammersmith 112,239 13,192 11-75 25,810 2,185 8-47 Battersea 168,907 18,381 10-88 38,987 3,032 7-78 City of London .... 26,923 2,921 10-85 5,339 504 9-44 Fulham 137,289 14,892 10-85 32,137 2,341 7-28 Hackney 219,272 22,332 10-18 48,794 3,684 7-55 Camberwell 259,339 25,012 964 56,985 4,073 7-15 Deptford 110,398 9,999 9-06 24,615 1,667 6-77 Green-wich 95,770 7,947 830 19,702 1,199 6-08 Wool-wich 117,178 7,727 6-59 24,585 1,243 501 Hampstead 81,942 5,215 6-36 16,998 864 5-08 Stoke Newington ... 51,247 2,835 553 11,824 497 4-20 Wandsworth 232,034 10,377 4-45 49,756 1,525 3-06 Lewisham 127,495 3,416 2-68 27,701 535 1-93 London (Administr. Co.) 4,536,541 726,096 16-01 1,019,646 124,773 12-24 OVERCROWDING 6i The forces favouring overcrowding liave had a full and free course in London. When the influence of the In- dustrial Revolution first began to be felt, it was already a large city, and, starting from such a level, its growth under the new stimulus proceeded by leaps and bounds. Rural migration brought to it an enormous amount of country labour, and there was also a certain migration from other towns. Its municipal government was as con- fused, as inefficient, and as inadequate as well could be, and this state niay be said to have continued for many years. In fact, nearly every cause that favoured the ex- tension of overcrowding in the provincial centres operated, but with greater effect, in London. Accordingly, very serious overcrowding resulted : in 1901 there were as many overcrowded persons within the limits of its administrative county as in the whole of the forty-nine most populous provincial urban districts oif England and Wales, as enu- merated in Table X. One point in connection with the distribution of urban overcrowding, whether in or outside London, that has not been dealt with so far, may be briefly noticed, viz., the distribution of overcrowding among the various kinds of small tenements. As an illustration I reclassify, from this point of view, the overcrowding statistics of eight im- portant towns, tabulating the results in the following manner. 62 THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE XIII. The Distribution of Oveeceowding among the vaeiotts Classes of Small Tenements in certain County BOEOUGHS, 1901. Each number represents the percentage of over- crowded persons (based upon the overcrowded popula- tion of the borough) living in tenements of the class named. ■gs liS S." -SS oS go «o) S" -c" go" a" -S" B" "S" ■I-iu iS*'^ "uaj j^ft'J^ -"oj CoJ Tenements of ^^^n gfiHijf^^ziPPMISKLi mp, fMPi pPM One Room 18 5 3 16 1 12 22 9 Two Eooms ... 29 22 36 48 8 27 48 21 Three Rooms ... 32 15 36 26 78 34 20 41 Pour Rooms ... 21 58 25 10 13 27 10 29 In Birmingham, the proportion of overcrowding that exists in one-roomed tenements is surprisingly low when compared with that in some of the other towns : Liverpool reaches 18 per cent., and Plymouth the still higher figure of 22 per cent. Birmingham favours this class of house to a much less degree than either of the other towns, contain- only 1,085 of them as compared with 8,257 for Liverpool, and 4,338 for Plymouth. In the first-named city, seventy- eight per cent, of the overcrowding occurs in three-roomed tenements : Manchester's overcrowding inclines toward the four- roomed, that of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Ply- mouth toward the two-roomed tenements. Taking the towns generally, the great bulk of the overcrowding is to be found in two and three-roomed tenements, through the proportion of overcrowded tenements attains its maximum in the classes of one and two-roomed houses, as appears from the further table now inserted. It will be noticed from the table how in each case, with one slight exception, the proportion of overcrowded tenements decreases as we pass from the smaller to the larger dwellings. OVERCROWDING 63 TABLE XIV. The Peopoetion of Oveeckowded Tenements in each Class of small Dwellings (one to foue eooms), 1901. Proportion of overcrowded tenements of one, two, three, and four rooms to the total number of tenements in each class. Liver- Man- Newcastle- Bir- Ply- "West Tenements of pool. Chester. Leeds. on-Tyne. m'gham. Bristol, mouth. Ham. X 7, '/,'/,% X X X One Room 30 21 30 56 14 11 31 25 Two Eooms 24 19 22 42 18 8 24 17 Three Rooms .... 17 13 12 19 16 8 16 12 Four Rooms 44595486 Such analyses, extended to cover the whole country, ought to be useful in enabling an exact idea of the real nature and locale of overcrowding to be ascertained, especially if they could be based upon more comprehensive statistics than are at present available. A municipal census of overcrowding, carried on simultaneously throughout the land, would be most helpful in the solution of the housing problem. In estimating the gravity of overcrowding in any par- ticular town, there are considerations beyond any yet presented, of which it is desirable to take account, and to two of these a passing allusion may be made. As regards the first, common report nearly always associates urban overcrowding with "slum" areas, and, in most cases, cor- rectly, but it is worthy of notice that a high percentage of overcrowding may exist in a town with a comparatively small amount of " slum " area in the strict sense of the word : I believe this to be so, for instance, at Hudders- field. As regards the second consideration, there are certain cases in which overcrowding, while altogether un- desirable, cannot be considered as gross in character, un- 64 THE HOUSING PROBLEM less, indeed, some (at present) impracticable standard of house accommodation be set up and comparison made therewith. The Census Returns, as already observed, do not class any tenement as overcrowded unless its inmates average out to more than two individuals per room. This allows two persons to a one-roomed, four persons to a two- roomed, six to a three-roomed, and eight to a four-roomed dwelling. Starting from this basis, it may fairly be argued that an addition of one person to the occupants of each of the first three classes of tenements, and of two to the fourth would not represent gross overcrowding. Now, in Bradford (Yorkshire), which is selected as a typical overcrowded town, there were, at the date of the 1901 Census, 783 persons occupying one-roomed tenements, 3 to a tenement. 6,230 persons occupying two-roomed tenements, 5 to a tenement. 7,952 persons occupying three-roomed tenements, 7 to a tenement. 4,783 persons occupying four-roomed tenements, 9 and 10 to a tenement. 19,748 Thus out of the 40,896 overcrowded inhabitants of this city, 19,748 fell in the class of comparatively mild over- crowding, reducing the percentage of those living under more extreme conditions from 1461 to 7'55. Such a.n analysis, worked out for all overcrowded districts, would probably reveal the fact that the worst kind of overcrowd- ing, the sort which the newspapers delight in sketching before the eyes of their readers, is of much less extent in the towns than it is common to assume. But any kind of overcrowding is regrettable, and, in indicating the lines OVERCROWDING 65 of such an investigation, my object is solely to point out that the extent of the grosser forms of the evil is not so great as to entirely discourage hope of successful treatment. In studying overcrowding statistics, more emphasis, perhaps, should he laid upon the extent of that portion of the overcrowded population which is in excess of the accommodation provided in the dwellings so occupied; certainly the evil appears more manageable when this is done. To illustrate, Bradford contained 40,896 over crowded persons (1901) ; the dwellings occupied by these would have accommodated 29,766 without overcrowding, the mischief being caused, therefore, by an excess of 11,130 persons, representing 3"97 per cent, of the total population. Omitting the less severe cases of overcrowd- ing,^ the number falls to 7,816 and the percentage to 2' 79, so that 2'79 per cent, of the population produced all the serious overcrowding that existed, within the limits of the city at the date of the last Census. Dr. Hamer's report, in 1899, as Assistant Medical Officer of Health to the London County Council, drew attention to another fact, very important if it be at all characteristic, and which should be studied alongside of the foregoing, namely, that in certain London parishes (St. Pancras and Kensington) about one third of the cases of overcrowding in tenements arose from misuse of the space available, that is to say, by a rearrangement of the sleeping accommodation, with- out any displacement of families, overcrowding could have been reduced by that amount. Additional encouragement is to be derived from the comparison of the statistics of the last two censuses, which shows not only a general decrease in the percentage of urban overcrowding but also, in numerous towns, an actual decrease in amount. 1. See above. F CO W H O o I? H O ooOo cDcoc^oO"*l:Dco«l^^.-^^,c^coooc'^oou^oQO■^J^■^t^^n(^^oocolr:>Qocc>cDocDl^^cN n^m'^ro ^CSOOOOOI^-CDC^CTiC^U^^-H^-QOr-(ln(^^OOcOOCOl— ICDlOCDOi— Ir— ICDOOIOCO £to'^i-< r-^^OOCO^HTJ^COTt^rHOOlOl^la>Jr^QOTt^UDI-HCD^C«CSU^O^>.CD'.OTOO^ lips + + + + + + + + + + + +-; 4- + + '^ ■^+3; +++ + + + + + + ca rt g o Q C^l-^Q0C0C^C0■^CO00J^-00C"^C.'^000(NcDij::i CO + + 1 O0'co"<£rt-rc^''T(rTdri-H"i-4"c--<"o"co"co",-H l>rco''r^^ I r-T F-T 4- i-T pH + + I I I I ' I I I 1 I I 1 + i I I I 1 I 1 I I I I + II oooot^cDcot-t^ooO'^cocomcocDt^oot^lr^b-.fMiocscDiriccoocoascouticNo^co 00tM£>.rocO«D-»ttCDr-Ht3T*H05i-HlO->^mm00C0cnt^-^lOC<(nHC0I>-C000-*0^»-Ht^C0 oocoocD05^*o05-^(^^ot>(^la>'^^o^ccrH^r^oocoo:-Oi— ICO"'*.'^(N*^C o O C-OcOlOcOI:^lOi:D"^'— I rtqg SDCOOMCOCOrf1iO(Nf-(OCSOa5'*--ICT>-ooMi— It— icoasoooost^ocNoc^asOi— ic^o-— 05ioa5o:icocN-^oooco--*'«*-o:c>c<>oo-^ot^r-HoMaiot-CT)o:jc^coa5incoio-*-*cocot-t^ OScoOf-Hr-lOCS"rt-t--«"- o 15 H H H w H o I? o CO H PI Pv o o ■*^oS '^"!>cQto«p:ihr|p5pqlz;i:qoFM!z;oOh5PH It Totals TABLE XVI. — Summary Table of Ukban Housing and Ovebceowding in England and Wales, 1891 and 1901. nements with 1891 1 X om 270,252 oms 552,516 oms 552,679 oms 981,665 more rooms... 2,030,199 Number of Tenements 1901 2 3 4 5 A B C Y 149,.524 56,793 36,226 242,543 201,431 182,344 174,713 558,488 181,542 230,679 208,132 620,353 1.39,533 463,877 566,558 1,169,968 347,616 1,022,969 1,424,155 2,794,740 Percentage of all Tenements Total Occupants 1891 1901 1891 1901 6 7 8 9 10 X A B C Y 6-16 14-66 2-90 r50 4-50 12-59 19-75 9-32 7-25 10-37 1,958,933 701,203 600,207 12-60 17-80 11-79 8-64 11-52 2,411,589 752,221 977,985 Percentage of Population in each Group of Tenements 1891 11 12 13 X A B 604,355 304,874 118,417 14 C 15 Y 1891 16 X 17 A 1901 18 19 B C 20 Y Average Occupants per room 1891 1901 21 22 23 24 25 X A B C Y Number of one to four roomed Tenements with more than two Occupants per room 1891 1901 26 27 28 29 30 OVERCEOWDING Number of Occupants of such Tenements 1891 31 X 32 A 1901 33 34 B C 35 Y Percentage in su 1891 36 37 X A 4,387,311 1,019,646 1,956,662 2,409,784 5,386,092 100 100 100 X A B C Y 68,303 491,514 2-89 6-72 1-30 6-25 2-00 2-24 2-04 2-08 1-89 2-03 87,535 40,762 15,882 8,239 64,883 337,107 147,771 59,604 31,262 238,637 1-61 3-25 563,093 1,864,503 9-38 15-46 6-57 5-15 7-58 1-77 1-74 1-65 1-61 1-67 151,603 50,304 40,231 38,054 128,589 922,964 296,659 240,847 231,921 769,427 4-42 6-54 851,994 2,582,200 11-54 16-58 10-69 7-80 11-54 1-45 1-38 1-41 1-36 1-39 91,-206 23,979 32,596 27,311 83,886 722,532 187,619 256,447 215,713 659,779 3-46 4-14 22-38 13-68 23-71 23-51 21-72 4,684,913 691,491 2,095,260 2,553,813 5,340,564 22-42 15-24 22-92 23-38 21-70 1-19 1-24 1-13 1-13 1-14 60,876 9,728 20,931 27,720 58,379 589,810 94,047 201,440 267,669 .563,156 2-82 2-08 46-27 34-11 52-28 59-10 51-89 11,235,714 2,086,752 5,349,381 7,345,728 14,781,861 53-77 46-00 58-52 57-42 58-22 --_____ _____ _ _ „ _ 100 100 20,895,504 4,536,541 9,141,250 10,924,378 24,602,169 100 100 100 100 100 _ _ _ _ _ 391,220 124,773 109,640 101,324 335,737 2,572,413 726,096 758,338 746,565 2,230,999 12-31 16-01 face page 67. Columns X. All Urban Districts, 1891. A. Administrative County of London, 1901. B. County Boroughs, 1901. C. County Boroughs, 1901. Y. All Urban Districts (A + B + C), 1901. OVERCROWDING 67 Out of the thirty-five important towns (counting the administrative county of London as one) included in the above table, Nottingham alone showed an increased per- centage, but even this was very slight ('03), and the over- crowding of that city still stood, in 1901, at the very moderate level of 3'65 per cent. Only seven of the towns named exhibited an actual increase in the amount of overcrowding, these being Gateshead, Newcastle-upon- Tyne, Sunderland, West Ham, Nottingham, Croydon, and Portsmouth : Gateshead and West Ham were really the only conspicuous instances. . In each of the remaining twenty-eight towns, a decrease in the number of over- crowded persons, often quite striking, had taken place, though, in but one case (Huddersfield), had the population diminished. In London, for example, there were, in 1901, 103,669 overcrowded persons less than in 1891, and this notwithstanding an increase in population of 324,798. The table certainly evidences a general decrease in the urban overcrowding of this country, its testimony being corroborated by the more general statistics which follow. 68 TH E HOUSING PROBLEM From tlie preceding, an accurate general idea of the condition of urban housing in 1901 may be gained. Pre- vious tables have afforded detailed information as to London, the County Boroughs, and some of the more popu- lous urban districts that are not county boroughs : these are now supplemented by the present table which sum- marises and rearranges the statistics for the metropolis and the County Boroughs, and at the same time affords further information concerning the whole of those urban districts not falling within the two classes just mentioned. The totals for 1891 are given also, but, in comparing the two years, it must be remembered that the figures for 1901 are based upon a larger area than those for the earlier year, owing to the conversion of rural into urban districts. For the purpose of accurate comparison, the 1891 figures need to be corrected for the 1901 area; the extent of the correction may be gauged, from the fact that the total urban population shown in column 11 would require to be increased by 899,782. It is regrettable that this correc- tion does not appear in the report on the last Census. '^ However, whatever error there may be in the uncorrected figures, it cannot be enough to alter materially the per- centages and averages of columns 6, 16, 21, and 36, which may therefore be used, for purposes of comparison, without serious qualification : the alterations required in columns 1, 11, 26, and 31 are, without exception, in the form of increase. The table, as it stands, reveals some most en- couraging facts. One-roomed tenements formed, in 1901, but 4| per cent of all urban tenements, having decreased from 6'16 per cent, in 1891 ; in spite of the increase of population, their number diminished by not less than 1. The Table presented is based upon tables appearing on page 22 in the Oeneral Eeport upon the 1891 Census, and in the Summary Tables of the 1901 Census (Nos. X., XI. and XIX.). OVERCROWDING 69 27,609 tenements. But 2 per cent, of the urban popula- tion lived in suck rooms, as compared with 2"89 per cent. in 1891. Further, the average number of occupants sank from 2-24 to 2-03. In urban districts, this class of tene- ment contained about 100,000 overcrowded persons and nearly 23,000 overcrowded tenements less than in 1891, bringing the percentage of urban overcrowding in the same down from 1'61 to 0"97 per cent. Two-roomed tene- ments were about stationary in number during the decade, thereby becoming a less important proportion of urban dwellings (10'37 per cent, instead of 12'59) ; their occupants were reduced by nearly a hundred thousand persons. In- stead of 9"38 per cent., 7'68 per cent, of the urban popula- tion lived in this kind of tenement, and the average num- ber of occupants per room decreased from 1'77 to 1'67. Twenty three thousand less overcrowded tenements, and over one hundred and fifty three thousand less overcrowded persons, representing a decrease, on the urban population, from 4'42 to 3'13 per cent., mark substantial progress. It is equally pleasing to find that the numbers of three- roomed, four-roomed, and larger houses considerably in- creased, though at the same time the numbers of over- crowded tenements and persons, at any rate in the three and four-roomed groups, decreased substantially. The per- centage of overcrowding (on the total urban population) fell in the group of three-roomed dwellings from 3'46 to 2'68 per cent., in the group of four-roomed dwellings from 2'82 to 2'29 per cent. Grouping all classes of dwellings to- gether, we find that there were, under overcrowded con- ditions, at least 55,483 tenements and 341,414 persons less in 1901 than in 1891, representing a decrease of over- crowded persons from 12'31 to 9'07 per cent, of the urban population. Previous reference has been made, in general terms, to 70 THE HOUSING PROBLEM rural overcrowding, and some of the remarks bearing specially on urban overcrowding apply also to the former. As its statistics are studied, the strange way in which rural overcrowding varies from county to county emphasizes itself in a very puzzling fashion. From the information given in the Census county returns, it would be possible to work out for each county the total amount of over- crowding in its rural districts, and thus to obtain an exact idea of the relation of the various counties to one another in the matter of overcrowding. This is hardly necessary, however, for the purpose of the writer since a general idea can be gained from the county percentages actually ap- pearing in the General Report upon the Census of 1901. This report gives the percentage of overcrowding in each administrative county, including the county boroughs, and also excluding them. The latter figure covers all urban districts outside of county boroughs as well as the rural districts and, therefore, forms a by no means accurate index to the extent of rural overcrowding. Yet it may still be used, in a rough and ready manner, to mark out the counties where rural overcrowding is prominent. With this percentage, then, as the basis of arrangement, the counties with more than five per cent, of overcrowding in 1901 fall into the following order : — Northumberland (32-09% of overcrowding), Durham (28-48%), West Riding of Yorkshire (10-32%), Pembrokeshire (9-72%), Cumberland (8-53%), Denbighshire (7-89%), Shropshire (7-42%), Stafford- shire (7-38%), Monmouthshire (7-04%), Flintshire (6-68%), Angleysey (6-17%), Worcestershire (5-68%), Rutlandshire (5-31%), Carmarthenshire (5-21%), Middlesex (5-14%), West Suffolk (5-14%), North Riding of Yorkshire (5-09%), and Lancashire (5-08%). ^ It may be remarked, in passing, 1. London (with 16'01 %) would stand third, but has been excluded because it contains no rural districts. For verification of these figures see General Bt'port, Census 1901, Table 42. OVERCROWDING 71 that in each of these counties the percentage of over- crowding in 1901 was appreciably lower than that of the previous census. The assortment of counties to he found above the dividing line taken of five per cent, is a very- varied one. Detailed statistics of rural overcrowding for each county will not be attempted here, but a selection has been made, the study of which may prove profitable. The percentages given have been calculated from the data of the 1901 Census, and counties representative of mining, manufacturing and agriculture, have been included : two (Middlesex and Buckinghamshire) have been added because of their proximity to London. 72 THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE XVII. Census (1901) Overcrowding in the Rural Districts OF CERTAIN CoUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WaLES. LANCASHIRE. & " rf «> n «! , o t3 ■2 «.g ^o 3'.2 c ^c 6'gc ^"5 I'^a - •Ks^saR'^Msa SB •"ss ssa = ".SSSgg.ggS •3«§ °£§ gss ft -r C oj fl ^; ftp oJa .Sjujfl A? o u ^ a EuralDistncfc. p^ ^i^OH Pm^hIOH HmB SqOH fMOH Wigan 6,045 606 10-02 1,215 73 6'00 Leigh 8,410 695 8-26 1,752 78 4^45 Limehurst 10,338 747 7^22 2,167 80 3-69 Whiston 18,961 1,351 7-12 3,311 162 4^89 Burnley 16,589 1,179 7-10 3,656 147 4-02 Warrington 10,496 700 6-66 2,065 84 4-06 West Lancashire 26,645 1,493 5^60 5,336 194 363 Bury 8,088 421 520 1,771 48 271 Chorley 19,310 950 492 3,958 102 2-57 Sefton 9,384 358 3-81 1,798 47 2-61 Barton-upon-Irwell 8,065 301 373 1,745 32 1-83 Blackburn 9,828 352 3-58 2,156 38 176 Lancaster 8,837 247 279 1,834 33 179 Clitheroe 6,726 157 2-33 1,440 16 I'll Lunesdale 6,948 153 2^20 1,440 19 1^32 Fylde 11,220 204 I'Sl 2,329 22 094 Ulverston 17,716 313 176 3,769 38 I'OO Preston 18,429 299 1-62 3,409 33 0-96 Garstang 10,437 115 I'lO 2,195 14 0-63 MIDDLESEX. Staines 22,629 1,002 4^42 4,597 117 254 Uxbridge 17,218 644 374 3,573 85 2^03 South Mimms 2,761 85 3-07 577 10 173 Hendon 8,647 225 262 1,705 29 170 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. Long Crendon 4,388 451 10,28 Newport Pagnell 19,173 898 4-68 Buckingham 8,124 368 4^53 Amersham 13,542 496 3-66 Eton 20,038 718 3-58 Wycombe 25,309 901 3-56 Aylesbury 15,622 469 S'OO Winslow 7,034 194 276 Wing 6,274 142 2-26 Stratford and Wolverton 8,387 182 2-17 Hambleden 2,139 44 205 473 5 I'OO 1,043 58 5-56 4,487 108 2-43 2,021 50 2-47 3,072 56 1-82 4,508 84 1-86 5,853 102 174 3,662 61 1-66 1,691 26 1-54 1,481 17 1-15 1,881 21 1-12 OVERCROWDING 73 SOMERSET. Chaxd 13,300 672 5-05 Glutton 16,599 717 4-32 Wincanton 16,399 676 4-12 Shepton Mallet 9,838 405 4-12 Langport 13,459 478 3-55 Dulverton 4,609 141 306 Williton 14,462 427 295 Yeovil 17,520 486 277 Bath 27,765 760 273 Wells 10,767 290 269 Taunton 17,566 448 2-55 Keynsham 8,269 208 2-51 Long Ashton 15,694 383 2-44 Frome 11,115 237 2-13 Axbridge 23,744 473 1-99 Bridge-water 18,446 307 1-66 Wellington 6,277 81 1-29 DOESET. Sturminster 8,804 362 4^11 Wareham and Purbeck... 10,590 428 4-04 Cerne 5,064 197 3-89 Blandlord 8,808 333 378 Shaftesbury 10,928 412 377 Bridport 6,998 261 373 Weymouth 7,884 278 3-53 Dorchester 9,479 283 2-98 Beaminster 9,184 260 2-83 Sherborne 5,725 152 2-66 Wimborne and Cranborne 13,414 228 170 Poole 4,779 43 090 PEMBROKESHIEE. Pembroke 8,859 1,368 15-44 Haverford-west 22,014 2,926 13-29 Narberth 12,107 1,170 9-66 Llanfyrnach 2,473 155 6-27 Saint Dogmells 8,252 331 4-01 LEICESTEESHIRE. Ashby de la Zouch 14,447 879 6-08 Market Bos-worth 18,549 995 5-36 Hallaton 1,925 59 306 Billesdon 6,172 178 2-88 Melton Mo-wbray 14,814 424 2-86 Lutterworth 9,448 260 2-75 Blaby 16,569 433 2-61 Castle Donington 6,223 149 2-39 Belvoir 3,459 82 2-37 Market Harborough 7,250 165 227 Hinckley 12,636 256 2-02 Barro-w-upon-Soar 21,623 429 1-98 Loughborough 4,387 78 1-78 3,087 77 2-49 3,804 85 2-23 4,055 79 1-95 2,307 46 1-99 3,267 57 1-74 1,044 18 1-72 3,316 50 1-51 4,182 58 1-39 6,149 94 1-53 2.260 37 1-64 3,968 51 1-29 1,806 25 1-38 3,474 47 1-35 2,662 28 1-05 5,511 59 1-07 4,287 39 0-91 1,478 10 0-68 2,067 46 2-23 2,558 53 207 1,214 24 1-98 2,088 40 1-92 2,633 52 1-97 1,737 31 178 1,879 34 1-81 2,013 32 1-59 2,206 34 1-54 1,353 19 1-40 3,163 27 0-85 1,086 6 0-55 1,881 192 10-21 5,022 429 8-54 2,865 172 6-00 631 21 3-33 2,276 49 2-15 3,146 110 3-49 4,056 118 2-91 488 8 1-64 1,439 21 1-46 3,476 53 1-52 2,409 36 1-49 3,564 52 1-46 1,454 17 1-17 861 10 116 1,737 19 1-09 2,723 29 1-25 4,761 50 1-05 1,033 9 0-87 74 THE HOUSING PROBLEM CUMBERLAND. Longtown 6,676 1,212 IS'IS 1,439 181 12-58 Brampton 8,785 795 9-05 1,928 103 5-34 Carlisle 17,381 1,406 809 3,626 195 5-38 Alston with Garrigill .... 3,134 253 8-07 788 35 4-44 Cockermouth 21,690 1,551 7-10 4,438 197 4-44 Whitehaven 13,317 591 4-44 2,662 72 270 Wigton 11,449 306 2-67 2,510 40 1-59 Penrith 13,023 291 223 2,765 38 IS? Bootle 5,467 28 051 1,117 3 0-27 NORTHUMBERLAND. Tynemouth 20,922 7,989 38-18 4,168 1,204 28-88 Norham & Islandshires. 6,054 2,234 36-90 1,358 371 27-32 Morpeth 14,832 5,347 3605 2,808 772 27-49 Belford 5,198 1,859 3576 1,136 279 24-56 Glendale 8,770 2,894 33-00 1,969 445 22-60 Alnwick 12,516 3,953 31-58 2,723 607 22-29 Hexham 27,640 8,119 29-37 5,894 1,147 19-46 Bellingham 6,341 1,663 26-22 1,327 233 17-56 Castle Ward 9,297 2,119 22-79 1,858 312 16-79 Haltwhistle 8,502 1,672 19-66 1,809 246 13-60 Rothbury 4,691 918 1957 1,043 135 11-98 Generally speaking, the agricultural counties in tlie above table do not sbcvr the same tendency towards a high percentage of overcro-wding as those counties -which have obtained considerable manufacturing and, particularly, mining development. This is to be seen in the case of Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Leicestershire, etc., though the t-wo latter counties are not to be considered so purely agricultural, perhaps, as the first-named. In the manu- facturing counties, a similar difference is often, though not uniformly, found to occur bet-ween the manufacturing and agricultural portions of a county. In Lancashire, the rural district of Wigan — a coal-mining area — sho-ws a con- siderably heavier percentage than the non-mining areas : its neighbour in the table is Leigh, another mining dis- trict. Northumberland's position is literally astonishing, and is not approached by that of any other county except Durham. The amount of overcro-wding in the rural dis- tricts of these unfortunate counties is positively astonishing. What has contributed to bring about this condition ? Has OVERCROWDING 75 the nature of the preyalent industry — coal-mining — tended to lower the standard of comfort in house room, or has its system of organisation with night and day shifts enahled families to dwell in smaller houses than they might otherwise find necessary? Has there been any peculiarity in the system of property owning that would act in the same direction? Has there been any special laxity of local administration ? It seems to the writer im- portant that a local investigation along these and other lines should be instituted so that answer may be made to these queries, and certainly it is a wise policy to ascertain causes before applying remedies. -"^ Cumberland and Pembrokeshire are further counties in the table whose statistics reveal a surprising amount of rural overcrowd- ing, in certain areas at any rate, though these counties differ in their industrial environment from coal-mining counties like Northumberland and Durham. The counties of Middlesex and Buckinghamshire, which have been in- cluded in the table on account of their proximity to London, do not seem to have been influenced by that fact into any marked degree of overcrowding. The latter 1. Whatever may be the causes influencing them in or forcing them to the choice, the occupiers of small houses {i.e., houses with less than five rooms) in Northumberland and Durham certainly demand this type of house to an unusually large degree. The following figures taken from the last Census report and covering the counties included in Table XVII., with the addition of Durham, evidence this fact. Urban and Eural. Urban. Eural. Tenements Tenements Tenements with with with Administrative. Total less than Total less than Total less than County. Tenements. 5 rooms. Tenements. 5 rooms. Tenements. 5 rooms. Durham 240,490 186,215 175,108 134,031 65,382 52,184 Northumberland.. 125,223 97,486 99,130 77,951 26,093 19,535 Lancaster 913,581 452,366 866,235 434,727 47,346 17,639 Leicestershire .... 96,348 24,829 65,201 12,968 31,147 11,861 Middlesex 165,974 62,656 155,522 58,996 10,452 3,660 Somerset 99,205 32,703 42,548 13,294 56,657 19,409 Buckinghamshire. 44,873 16,077 14,701 3,804 30,172 12,273 Dorset 45,005 14,838 21,008 5,393 23,997 9,445 Cumberland 55,623 24,258 34,350 15,831 21,273 8,427 Pembroke 19,796 8,988 7,121 2,700 12,675 6,288 76 THE HOUSING PROBLEM county, however, affords one of those curious anomalies, the explanation of which must await the time when each one can he separately analysed and explained. I refer to the case of the rural district of Long Crendon, whose 10"28 per cent, of overcrowding in 1901 so greatly ex- ceeded that of any of the other rural districts in that county.'- There is no doubt but that, in certain instances, rural overcrowding is of an aggravated character, but, taken as a whole, it is, as one would expect, not so intense as that of the towns, and, like the latter, underwent a considerable decrease during the past censal decade. The general statistics inserted below will substantiate this, though, in comparing the figures for 1891 and 1901, the warning given in connection with Table XYI. must be borne in mind — in this case even more carefully as the 899,782 persons concerned form a much greater proportion of the rural than of the larger urban population. In all prob- ability, the improvement was somewhat less marked than the comparison infers. 1. An analysis of the housing statistics of Long Crendon, as given in the Census Report of 1901 gives the following result. 3 ^ S~. d i» I -i i-2 liilgi o S i^ £ Number of TenemeDts ill i|S Details of OTerorowded f-i^ H'^tfl of 1, 2, 3, or 4 rooms. [2; h O i^ ^ O Houses. 1043 576 l-room tenements — 6 1 3 1 tenement with 3 persons. 2-room tenements — 119 24 152 10 tenements with 5 ; 5 with 6; 4 with 7; 4 with 8; 1 with 12 or more. 3-room tenements — 121 18 152 5 tenements with 7; 7 with 8 ; 1 with 9 ; 4 with 10 ; 1 with 12 or more. 4-room tenements — 330 15 144 9 tenements with 9 ; 3 with 10; 3 with 11. Total 576 58 451 These figures seem to indicate family overcrowding. Probably the rural district of Long Crendon has its full share of large-sized families ; 4'47 % out of the 10'28 % of overcrowding occurs in 2-room tenements with 5 occupants, 3-room tenements with 7 occupants, and 4-room tene- ments with 9 and 10 occupants. o 02 00 n hi I? o o « ■ o p / » w J ""• / W)^ 9 is o ' o o— t 5 ' CM S s1|| so EH 05 aj«w ™ u. G-ij a t: ft ►?■ S-ti 2d ' 2-1 i S a p Ph >■ ^ ft •s a 03 rt A -S !« g fl -S •3 S d a 3 d PH (i> S^ Si- ' — I I — ,-f ^ C^ rH A-t o w w 03 -2 V d boa) 5a n a tu Sj H ^ is i>. 1—1 c^ ^ ^ 05 . en ""^ 78 THE HOUSING PROBLEM As just stated, the table reveals that the diminution in overcrowding noticed in the case of the urban districts also took place in rural parts. In 1901, only 1 in every 17 of the rural population lived in an overcrowded con- dition (5'84 per cent., or less than half a million people), undoubtedly a considerable decrease upon the 1891 aver- age, whatever the exact corresponding figures may be. An advance in rural housing conditions is further indicated by the fact that, during the decade, the number of larger tenements, five or more rooms, increased by sixty thousand, though the increase in the number of inhabitants of such houses only amounted to one hundred thousand persons ; in this class of house there was evidently less pressure upon living space at the end of the decade than at the beginning. It should be noted, further, that, in 1901, nearly 63 per cent, of the entire rural population dwelt in these larger houses, and only 4'16 per cent, in tenements of less than three rooms, figures which show a general superiority over urban housing, in whose tene- ments of five or more rooms 58'22 per cent, of the urban population dwelt, and in whose one and two room tene- ments 9'58 per cent. In taking the general average, it will be observed that the percentage of overcrowding amongst the rural population in 1901 figured out at 5'84, amongst the urban 8"20 per cent. The information deducible from the two previous tables has been somewhat lacking in precision owing to the fact that the statistics of 1891 have had to remain uncorrected for the 1901 areas, but, in the third of the series which is now given, this factor of error does not enter, as it covers the whole of England and Wales, the total area of which has remained unchanged. But the conclusions derived from the preceding brief study of the separate urban and rural statistics and from the earlier study of the individual metropolitan and county boroughs and large urban dis- tricts are fully confirmed in this table. I— I H Hi m EH o CSi P 05 00 o P p cs ;? ° fl ./ ? o - " ^ ^ S ill sa 03 PI 03 •*-. o ^ p. Is Sa "? O o as g i it § 1 u p. i=l P-m o S-S "rt ^ sg 4) Ah o s s r-l ^ CSI ,-1 rH ,1h I— I CO ft s o o O 3 ^ lO i-H ^ IM r-H r^ CD I CD -^ O M 8o THE HOUSING PROBLEM From 1891 to 1901, a really noteworthy improvement in housing conditions took place. To merely state that the percentage of overcrowding throughout the country at large fell from 11'23 per cent, to 8-2 hardly emphasises sufficiently the change brought about, and I may point out that this means that in 1901 there were nearly six hundred thousand persons less, living in overcrowded tene- ments, and nearly ninety thousand overcrowded tenements less than in 1891. At the later date, the overcrowded population had sank to a little over two and a half million persons out of a total of thirty-two and a half millions. The tenements occupied by these two and a half million persons would have accommodated, without overcrowding, all but 723,000 persons, so that the overcrowding was caused by 2'2 per cent, of the population. The one-room dwellings represented only 1'56 per cent, of the total tene- ments, two-room dwellings 6'64 per cent.; about one-fourth of the former class remained overcrowded, and somewhat less than one-fourth of the latter. On perusing the table, one is struck by the fact that there is a diminished per- centage ^ in all classes of tenements of from one to four rooms, but an appreciable increase in that of those con- taining five rooms or more. It is a pleasant task to have to record so universal a movement towards the diminution of overcrowding, and students of social phenomena will impatiently await the arrival of the next Census to ascertain whether it con- tinues. The noting of the movement is much easier than the analysing of its cause. The forces which may in- fluence housing conditions in one way or another are so numerous, and, in some cases, so indirect in their action that the difiiculty of arriving at a definite and clear-cut 1. This, of course, is quite consistent with the fact that, in the case of three and four-room houses, there is an actual increase in number. OVERCROWDING 8i conclusion is greatly increased. So far as I have been able to pursue my investigations, one of the really im- portant factors in the improvement achieved has been a stricter and more careful administration of the sanitary laws. Of course, administrative progress has not been limited to the last few years, but has been a matter of growth extending over a number of decades. Still it is likely that the full effect of this progress has been felt more in the past half generation than ever before. In- deed, one need hardly hesitate to say that administrative efficiency in sanitary matters has made far greater strides during this period than in previous ones, inasmuch as the attention of the public and of the central and local govern- ments has been called to the housing evils, existing in our midst, in a way that it has been impossible to ignore. The publicity given to the housing question, dating back practically to the time when the Eoyal Commission of 1884-5 held its enquiry, has stimulated the administrative authorities into activity, leading them to seek out the nature of their legal rights and powers, and to make use of the same. Fortunately, they found to their hand a most comprehensive set of enactments, for the sanitary law had long included penalties against overcrowding, whose effectiveness had never been really tested because they had barely been made use of. Besides regulations for the sup- pression of overcrowding, the law included numerous statutes dealing with the reconstruction of insanitary areas, and with the construction of new house property by the municipal authorities, but little use had been made of the latter, and the former, though receiving better atten- tion, met with practical failure so far as the object of their application was to destroy the centres of evil housing, for as one was removed another sprang up : in any case, the comparatively little that was attempted under these powers 82 THE HOUSING PROBLEM could have been of small moment in influencing improve- ment in overcrowding. As interest in the housing problem grew, it was thought desirable to consolidate into one statute as far as practicable, the whole of the law deal- ing directly with bad housing, and thus there came to be recorded in the statute book the well-known Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890. What part has this Act played in the decrease of overcrowding? The Act, it will be observed, opened the decade in which a great improve- ment in housing conditions took place, and it would seem reasonable to conclude that the latter is the result of the former. But is it so? No doubt the Act has had a bene- ficial effect in that it simplified the law and made access to it easier, and in that it has been a means of calling more attention to the housing problem, but its actual effect in reducing overcrowding during the decade 1891 — 1901 can have been but small, for little use was made of its pro- visions during the greater part of the decade. Further, the diminution in overcrowding that occurred was by no means restricted to towns that had placed the Housing Act of 1890 in action but extended equally to some in which it had been practically ignored during the decade. Whatever effect the application of that Act may have upon the conditions of the present or succeeding decades, there is scarcely substantial reason to ascribe to it much influence over the favourable movement of the one that has passed. This is not to say that the Act of 1890 is useless or undesirable, but simply a recognition of what I believe to be the truth, namely, that the decrease observed was mainly due to greater efficiency of adminis- tration of the sanitary law, and only incidentally to the sparing use made of special housing legislation previous to the spring of 1901. In my opinion, there was, however, another factor which has been favourable to progress, OVERCROWDING 83 namely, tte industrial prosperity of the nation in the period preceding the 1901 Census, particularly in sO' far as it affected the poorest classes. If I am not mistaken, there was a period of commercial depression ahout the time of the 1891 Census, whereas that of 1901 was taken in a period of considerable prosperity, and it is likely that this conduced to a lessening of overcrowding. If the con- ditions had been reversed, housing improvement would have been less marked, and, as we are liable to have alternating periods of good and bad trade, the extent of progress made between 1891 and 1901 cannot necessarily be assumed for subsequent decades. But, however this may be, there can be no disputing the fact that the people's standard of comfort in living has steadily advanced, so that, as a whole, they refuse to be satisfied with the level of housing comfort with which they were once content, and, in so far as this force will continue to operate, there will exist a steady stimulus towards the decrease of overcrowding. Consistently with the size of this volume, enough has been said about the present housing condition of the poorer classes of England, and the next question that presents itself naturally to the mind of the student is as to the method of remedying this condition in so far as it is unsatisfactory. In endeavouring to ascertain the proper answer to this question, it would seem appropriate to give attention, first of all, to the history of past attempts to devise a remedy, as manifested in the action of the national legislature, and the consequent results. If, in doing this, I err on the side of prolixity of detail, the apology must be the fact that there is room for careful treatment, and further that the study of past history is most useful for the future social reformer or legislator, for it is still true that "History repeats itself." PART II. THE COURSE OF HOUSING LEGISLA- TION AND ITS UTILISATION IN ENGLAND. 87 CHAPTER ly. The Development of Legislative Action. TliOTigli the extent of grossly defective and inadequate house accommodation in England is not quite so enormous as is sometimes supposed, still it is sufficiently great to cause the enquiry whether serious efforts have been made in the past to remedy the conditions. Prior to the last fifty or sixty years, the reply must have been in the negative, but it does not follow therefore that unstinted abuse should be poured upon the heads of the authorities of those earlier days for their neglect. There has always been an unsatisfactory state of housing among the poorest classes — certainly, from a sanitary point of view — and so always a housing problem in some form or other. Yet, under the old domestic system of industry, before home employment had been supplanted by the factory, when the towns were far less crowded and the population more rural, and when it was a common thing for the family to divide their work and time between the field and the loom, the sanitary evils of indoor life were made, to some extent at least, less baneful by the greater healthfulness of out- door life. But with the change from the old to the new economic system, characterised by a phenomenal develop- ment of industrial activity, by a rapid growth in popula- tion, and by the centralisation of industry and labour in the towns, new conditions were established, one result of which was to render the provision of proper and adequate house accommodation much more difficult and yet, by reason of the very number of people crowding together into the small working areas, of more vital importance 88 THE HOUSING PROBLEM tlian ever to the physical, industrial, and moral welfare of the people. That the nation hardly anticipated the economic revolution which took place at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, and therefore was, for a time, unprepared to cope with the new organisation of society, is not at all surprising — it is far easier to be wise after the event than before. As the nineteenth century advanced, however, Parliament began to realize that something would have to be done towards the amelioration of living conditions, and hence attempted to devise a scheme of sanitary regulation that would meet the exigencies of the situation. Such legisla- tion, more or less hastily thrown together to meet the need of the moment, could be only of a temporary nature, and it was not until the middle of the century was past that a really determined movement towards the improve- ment of the housing of the working classes was inaugur- ated. The history of this movement it is my purpose to trace, and it will be plainly evidenced that, since 1851, the legislature has devoted a very large amount of time and energy to the consideration of the housing problem. In analysing that series of enactments which is described under the general title of housing legislation, it appears that a policy of both destruction and construction has been adopted. In other words, the legislation has been framed to secure the removal of evil conditions, and at the same time to provide accommodation in lieu oif or in addition to the existing supply : in either case it has necessarily been intimately associated with the sanitary laws. Attempts to improve or to extend housing facilities are of no great value unless due sanitary regulations are enforced, and a preventive check placed upon overcrowding and the formation or expansion of slum conditions. Ac- cordingly, attention will be directed briefly to those LEGISLATIVE ACTION 89 portions of the sanitary law wliicli are closely related to the housing enactments. Though but half a century has elapsed since 1851, quite a considerable mass of legislation, bearing in some way or other upon housing matters, has accumulated, as may be readily seen from the appended table. TABLE XX. List of Housing and Eelated Acts, 1851 — 1903. Act Date Nature 14 and 15 Vict. c. 34* 1851 Establishment of lodging houses for the work- ing classes — Shaftesbury Act. 18 and 19 Vict. c. 121 1855 Removal of nuisances— consolidating Act 18 and 19 Vict. c. 132 1855 The facilitating of the formation of com- panies for the erection of dwellings. 23 and 24 Vict. c. 77 1860 Eemoval of nuisances— amends 18 and 19 Vict. c. 121. 29 and 30 Vict. c. 28 1866 Powers granted to the Public Works Loan Commissioners to make advances towards the erection of dwelling houses for the labouring classes. 29 and 30 Vict. c. 72 1866 Treasury authorised to advance a certain sum out of the consolidated fund for the pur- poses of the 29 and 30 Vict. c. 28. 29 and 30 Vict. c. 90 1866 Sanitary Acf^amends 18 and 19 Vict. c. 121, and 23 and 24 Vict. c. 77. 30 and 31 Vict. c. 28 1867 Amends 29 and 30 Vict. c. 28, facilitating such advances. 31 and 32 Vict. c. 130 1868 Torrens Act — improvement (or demolition) of existing dwellings. 35 and 36 Vict. c. 79 1872 Public Health Act — rearranges sanitary ad- ministrative areas and deals with the ap- pointment of medical officers of health. 37 and 38 Vict. c. 69 1874 The facilitating of the erection of dwellings for working men on municipal lands. 37 and 38 Vict. c. 89 1874 Amends 35 and 36 Vict. c. 79. 38 and 39 Vict. c. 36 1875 Cross Act — improvement of large insanitary areas by demolition and reconstruction. 38 and 39 Vict. c. 55 1875 Public Health Act — consolidates previous sani- tary enactments relating to the provinces : still in force. 42 and 43 Vict. c. 63 1879 Amends 38 and 39 Vict. c. 36 (Cross Act). 42 and 43 Vict. c. 64 1879 Amends 31 and 32 Vict. c. 130 (Torrens Act). 42 and 43 Vict. c. 77 1879 Public Works Loans Act — contains provisions empowering the Public Works Loan Com- missioners to advance monies to companies and associations. 45 and 46 Vict. c. 50 1882 Municipal Corporations Act — consolidating : Part V. § 111 facilitates the conversion of portions of municipal lands into sites for workmen's dwellings. * In this same year, an Act was also passed for the regulation of common lodging houses (14 and 15 Vict. c. 28) afterwards amended by the 16 and 17 Vict c. 41. Act Date 45 and 46 Vict. c. .54 1882 48 and 49 Vict. c. 72 1885 53 and 54 Vict. c. 16 1890 53 and 54 Vict. c. 59 1890 53 and 54 Vict. c. 70 1890 54 and 55 Vict. c. 76 1891 57 and 58 Vict. c. 55t 1894 62 and 63 Vict. c. 44 1899 63 and 64 Vict. c. 59 1900 90 THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE XX. — continued. Nature Artizans Dwellings Act — amends both the Torrens and the Cross Acts. Housing of the Working Classes Act — amends the Shaftesbury, Torrens, and Gross Acts. Facilitates the giving of land for dwellings for the working classes in populous places. Public Health Acts Amendment Act — amends the 1875 Act. Housing of the Working Classes Act — con- solidates and amends the Shaftesbury, Torrens, and Cross Acts : still in force. Public Health Act — consolidates the sanitary law relating to London : still in force. Housing of the Working Classes Act — ex- tends borrowing powers exercised under Part II. of the 53 and 54 Vict. c. 70. Small Dwellings Acquisition Act — enables local authorities to advance monies for the purchase of small dwellings by their occupiers. Housing of the Working Classes Act — amends Part III. of the 53 and 54 Vict. c. 70 : enables land to be acquired outside of the area of jurisdiction of the local authority. 3 Ed. vii. cap 39 1903 Housing of the Working Classes Act — amends 1890 Act in several particulars. Tliere liave not been included in the above Kst the special enactments for Scotland and Ireland, as these but repeat the substance of the English Acts. Under the present law, the same Act provides for the application of its powers to all parts of the United Kingdom. But two chapters can be devoted to an analysis of this extensive body of legislation and obviously much will have to be omitted. Since, however, the statutes are practically accessible to everyone, details can be tilled in at will by the student. Of the two chapters, the first one will sum- marize the legislation dealing with the extension of house building, the second that dealing with the betterment of sanitary and housing conditions and with the rehousing incident thereto. t The London Building Acts of 1894 and 1898 may also be mentioned as bearing upon the method of construction of working-class dwellings. Some of the provincial towns have local building Acts, but generally building bye-laws are made under the powers of the 1876 and 1890 Public Health Acts. 91 CHAPTEE Y. The Histoet of English Legislation bearing upon the Extension of Housing Accommodation for the Working Classes. The credit of initiating the long series of legislative enactments dealing with constructive housing must be ascribed to the celebrated Lord Shaftesbury, whose name is indissolubly connected with the social reform movement of the mid-nineteenth century. In 1851, he secured the passing of a permissive Act generally known by the name of the " Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Act," ^ or, more popularly, perhaps, " Shaftesbury's Act," the inten- tion of which was to provide for the erection and main- tenance, in towns and populous districts, of well-ordered lodging houses for the working classes, or for the con- version of existing buildings into such. The principal features of the Act that interest the student of housing legislation are (1) the power of the local authority (with the consent of the central authority to which it was amen- able) to appropriate its own lands or to purchase, by voluntary agreement, other lands, with the property standing thereon ; (2) the power to convert existing build- ings into lodging houses and to erect new buildings ;2 (3) the power to borrow, on the security of the rates, for these purposes either from the Public "Works Loan Fund or elsewhere ; (4) the power to sell property thus acquired, if found too expensive after a seven years' trial. The ex- penses of carrying the Act into execution were to be charged upon the rates. In the bye-laws drafted by the 1. 14 and 15 Vict. c. 34. 2. Including power to fit up and furnish. See Sect. 36 of Act. 92 THE HOUSING PROBLEM local authority, provision was to be made for securing the due separation at night of men and boys above eight years old from women and girls, which seems to indicate that an important function of the lodging houses operated under this Act was to be the lodging and boarding of single per- sons, though families were also anticipated as tenants. ^ In this same year was passed the Common Lodging House Act,2 another of Lord Shaftesbury's measures, the object of which was to secure the due management, regula- tion, and inspection of common lodging houses : it was amended in 1853.^ These places have proved to be very largely the resort of the idle, the dissolute, and the criminal, though, no doubt, a sprinkling of the honest poor may be found among them, but they are by no means desirable homes, if that word can rightly be used in this connection, for the latter class. ^ Under present conditions, such houses have a definite place in the social economy of towns and cities, inasmuch as they provide shelter for a certain proportion of the poor — the residuum. If one may presume to interpret for their author, the object of the two enactments, it would seem to have been the separation of the idle or irregularly working (and, as a matter of fact, the irregularly moral) class of the poor from the artisan or regularly employed, the former to be provided for in the common lodging house, the latter in. the labouring classes lodging house which was intended 1. The receipt of poor relief, other than temporary sick relief, was made an absolute disqualification for tenancy — a provision which became a permanent feature of subsequent legislation. 2. 14 and 15 Vict. c. 28. 3. 16 and 17 Vict. c. 41. 4. The Eowton cubicle lodging houses, started in 1892 by a gift of £30,000 from Lord Rowton (a company being formed in 1894), represent a great step in advance of the ordinary type of common lodging house. There are now half a dozen of these houses in London. The common lodging houses owned and managed by several municipalities are also of high grade. BUILDING LEGISLATION 93 to be, perhaps, a cross between a "block dwelling" and an "artisan's borne." Under the Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Act, the local authorities alone were enabled to act, but Parlia- ment soon deemed it advisable to open up further facilities to private or philanthropic enterprise, which had already- found a beginning in the formation of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of the In- dustrious Classes, incorporated in 1845. So an Act was passed in 1855 (The Labourers' Dwellings Act, 1855, 18 and 19 Vict. c. 132) authorising the incorporation of companies for the erection of dwelling-houses for the labouring classes, to which end they were empowered to receive and to acquire (by agreement) the necessary land (but not more than ten acres without the sanction of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade), to erect dwellings on the same, and to let them by the week or month, or to demise them to lessees for a term of not more than twenty- one years. Where the dwellings belonging to the company were to be let only by the week or month, it was to be allowed to borrow, upon a mortgage of its property, as soon as half the siibscribed capital was paid up, an amount equal to one-third of such subscription. This was as far as the Act went, and some years elapsed before the privilege of borrowing from the Public Works Loan Com- missioners, granted, in the Shaftesbury Act, to local authorities, was extended to these private companies and associations. For a period of eleven years from 1855, the two Acts constituted the sole contribution of Parliament to (constructive) housing reform : its attention was diverted to the interests at stake in the Crimean struggle, the Indian Mutiny, and the American Civil War. These Acts clearly marked out two lines of activity which Parlia- ment recognised and approved, the one municipal, the 94 THE HOUSING PROBLEM other private, but apparently with this distinction, that while private enterprise could utilize the facilities offered in constructing all kinds of working class dwellings, the local authority was restricted to what may be termed collective housing: at any rate, the Shaftesbury Act would have needed a free interpretation if its powers had been sought to be extended to the construction of in- dividual cottages. Indeed, in the 1885 Housing Act, it was found necessary to insert a clause specially defining the " lodging houses " of the Shaftesbury Act as including separate dwellings. So far private enterprise had not received any official financial help, and, in view of the formation of organisa- tions similar to those now established — at this time in- cluding, in addition to the Metropolitan Association, the Peabody Trustees and the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, — and also for the purpose of enabling those already formed, and many other kinds of private enter- prise, to do as much work as possible in housing the people, an Act was passed in 1866 (The Labouring Classes Dwell- ing Houses Act, 1866, 29 and 30 Vict. c. 28) widely extend- ing the powers of the Public Works Loan Commissioners in making advances : the privileges in this direction, formerly restricted to local authorities, were now to be enjoyed by various kinds of companies or associations, and even by private persons. ^ The Treasury was given the power of prescribing the mode of providing for the main- tenance, repair and insurance of dwellings erected by 1. The Commissioners were empowered to make loans to any local authority, to any commission appointed under Shaftesbury's Act (14 and 15 Vict. c. 34), to any railway, dock, harbour, trading or manufacturing company, and to any private person possessing land either in fee simple, or for a term of years absolute, provided fifty years of the term re- mained unexpired (Section 4). The rate of interest was somewhat high, four per cent, being fixed as the minimum, and forty years as the maximum period of repayment. BUILDING LEGISLATION 95 means of public funds. Tlie advances were to be secured by a mortgage of the rates, or of tbe estate or interest in tbe land and dwellings upon wbicli a loan was granted, and in case tbe security was land or dwellings solely the ad- vance was not to exceed one half of the value of the same. To give practical eifect to this measure, a further Act was passed shortly afterwards (29 and 30 Vict. c. 72), author- ising the Treasury to advance out of the Consolidated Fund, to the account of the Commissioners for the reduc- tion of the National Debt who were the trustees of the Public Works Loan Fund, an amount not exceeding £250,000 for the purposes of the previous Act. In con- nection with the earlier Act, it should be noted that by an amendment of the following year, the mortgage terms were made somewhat less stringent. ^ Several years elapsed before Parliament took any further action in the direction of stimulating constructive housing, its attention being given in the meantime to sanitary improvement and supervision.^ A measure was then enacted of considerable importance, though not one to which much attention has been drawn by writers upon housing legislation. The 1851 Act (Shaftesbury's) already authorised local authorities to appropriate some of their lands for the building of lodging houses, but no power had been conferred upon them to lease out such lands as sites upon which private enterprise might undertake the erection of the desired class of dwellings. With such a power at its disposal, a local authority with suitable vacant land in its possession might be able to stimulate greatly 1. 30 and 31 Vict. c. 28— The Labouring Clauses Dwellings Act, 1867. This amending Act permitted any land, buildings, or premises, held together with and for the same estate and interest as the lands, build- ings, or premises upon which the money advanced was to be expended, to be offered as security. 2. The first Torrens Act (31 and 32 Vict. c. 130), dealing with the improvement or demolition of houses unfit for human habitation, was passed in 1868, and a Public Health Act (35 and 36 Vict. c. 79) in 1872. 96 THE HOUSING PROBLEM the building of such houses without having to incur the responsibility and difficulties of house building and management. This was evidently the purpose of the Working Men's Dwellings Act of 1874 (37 and 38 Yict. c. . 59). Under this Act, municipal corporations, with the approval of the Treasury, were allowed to make grants or leases of their land as sites for working men's dwellings, and, furthermore, they could make such improvements on the land (roads, drains, walls, fences, etc.) as were necessary for converting it into building land, at the ex- pense of the borough fund and rate or out of monies raised by mortgage. In the grants or leases of such lands, they could insert provisions guarding against the misuse of the sites. ^ One of the necessary conditions of the grant or lease of each site was that a working men's dwelling should be erected thereon according to the plan and specification tiled with the town clerk, and that the site or building should not be sold or alienated. The dwelling was to be suitable for persons employed in manual labour and their families, one of our earliest parliamentary definitions of a working man by the way, and the use of part of a building for retail trade or other purposes approved by the corpora- tion was not to prevent the building being deemed a dwelling. The policy of the Torrens Act of 1868^ was widely ex- tended, in 1875, by the passing of the Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act, 38 and 39 Vict. 1. ". . . . provisions binding the grantee or lessee to build thereon as in the grant or lease prescribed and to maintain and repair the building, and prohibiting the division of the site or building, and any addition to or alteration of the character of the building, without the consent of the corporation, and for the revesting of the site in the corporation, on their re-entry thereon, on breach of any provision in the grant or lease." Sect. 4, § 2. It was further specified that should a building be taken down at any time, the rebuilding must be in the manner approved by the corporation. 2. See note (2) on page 95. BUILDING LEGISLATION 97 c. 36), the first of wtiat are generally termed the Cross Acts : it provided for the improvement of comparatively large areas where the conditions of house property were such as to make demolition and reconstruction desirable. In the matter of new accommodation, the Act provided only for substitutional housing (" rehousing "), and its consideration, along with that of its amending Act, passed in 1879, will more appropriately be dealt with in the succeeding chapter. The Torrens Act of 1868 contained no provision for the construction of additional dwellings, but its amending Act of 1879 (42 and 43 Vict. c. 64), though dealing chiefly with the settlement of compensation, distinctly specified one of the purposes of the Act, in London, to be the provision of the labouring classes with suitable dwellings by the con- struction of new buildings, or by the repairing or improve- ment of existing dwellings, within the jurisdiction of the local authority : this intention is also evident in the "loan" clause which prohibited the Public Works Loan Com- missioners, or, in the case of London, the Metropolitan Board of Works, from making loans under these Acts ex- cept for the purpose " of defraying the cost of building suitable dwellings for the labouring classes, or of defray- ing the cost of purchasing sites, and of building thereon such dwellings." ^ Undoubtedly, the main object of this Act was to provide for the rehousing of those displaced by improvement orders, but there seems to be nothing in the text of the Act that would have prevented further applica- tion of its powers to the extension of working-class ac- commodation within the boundaries of a metropolitan local authority. If the interpretation is justifiable, this enactment, then, represented the recognition, by the 1. Sect. 22 § 2. H 98 THE HOUSING PROBLEM national legislature, of a policy of housing reform, in- volving the metropolitan local authorities not only in sanitary improvement and consequent rehousing but also in the extension of dwelling accommodation in general, for whatever may be the meaning of the phrase " lodging houses " in the 1851 Act, the "dwellings " of this 1879 Act certainly covers both collective and individual housing. Nor was the recognition a merely formal one, for, as already noted, an inducement to use the powers conferred was held out to both local authorities and private bodies in the form of state loans ; the terms were not over favour- able, however, the period of repayment being restricted to seven years and the minimum rate of interest being fixed at 4 per cent. It should be noticed that the legislature did not contemplate the local authority assuming the per- manent management of property acquired by it as it re- served the power to the central government of ordering the sale of property not disposed of by way of sale, exchange, lease (99 years) or so on within seven years of its acquisi- tion. For the purpose of carrying out the Act, the local authority could levy a special rate up to twopence in the pound in any year. The only compulsory powers granted were those for improvement and demolition purposes. A Public Works Loans Act (42 and 43 Yict. c. 77) was passed in this year (1879) which indicated the existence of activity among the housing associations and companies, though the same assertion could hardly be made of the municipalities. By it ^ the Peabody Trustees were enabled to borrow from the Public Works Loan Commissioners a sum not exceeding £300,000 to be applied by them towards the purchase of land and the construction thereon of work- ing class dwellings. The Commissioners had no general 1. The Act dealt with the general powers of the Loan Commissioners, the housing provisions constituting but a small portion of it. BUILDING LEGISLATION 99 powers enabling them to advance monies to sucli a body- as fhe Trustees of tlie Peabody Donation Fund. The general authorisation of the Loan Commissioners to lend money for the construction of dwellings and the purchase of the requisite land to any company or association estab- lished for the construction or improvement of labouring class dwellings, first given, it will be remembered, in 1866, was again repeated but the conditions of such loans were altered. The period of repayment was fixed at fifteen years, and the maxim.um rate of interest lowered to 3^ per cent. In 1882, an important Municipal Act (45 and 46 Vict. c. 50)^ was passed which consolidated and amended the law governing English municipal corporations, and, in Part V. section one hundred and eleven of this Act, the powers conferred upon such corporations by the Working Men's Dwellings Act of 1874 ^ were re-enacted. Accord- ing to the one hundred and twelfth section of the Act, the Treasury could permit the repayment of loans, in- curred by the corporation under Part V. either by instal- ments, or by a sinking fund, or by both methods, operating over a period of thirty years. The same year, both the Torrens and the Cross Acts were again amended by the 45 and 46 Victoria c. 54, an Act in two parts of which the first dealt with the Cross Acts of 1875 and 1879, the second with the Torrens Acts of 1868 and 1879. Both parts are concerned with demolition and improvement on a larger or smaller scale and will therefore be considered later. Two years later, a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the housing of the working classes, and its labours evolved a bulky and important Report, pub- 1. The Municipal Corporations Act. 2. Ante p. 96. 100 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Iished in 1885. ^ The Commission was a thoro uglily repre- sentative one, as will be seen from the following list of the names of its members:— Sir Chas. W. Dilke (Chair- man), the Prince of Wales, Cardinal Manning, the Mar- quess of Salisbury, Earl Brownlow, Baron Carrington, Gr. J. Goschen, Sir Ed. Assheton Cross, Wm. Walsham (Bishop Suffragan of Bedford), the Honourable Ed. Lyulph Stanley, W. T. McCuUagh Torrens, Henry Broadhurst, Jesse CoUings, George Godwin, Samuel Morley, Sir George Harrison, Edmund Dwyer Gray. The conclusions of such a body of men were bound to carry weight, and especially so in view of the thoroughness with which their investigation was pursued. Their elab- orate report is so well-known and has so often been analysed and summarised by writers upon the housing question that it is unnecessary to attempt it again. For the purposes of this historical sketch, its importance lies in the fact that a number of its conclusions were em- bodied in a new Act that was brought forward and passed in 1886. ^ The principal function of this Act, which legislated for the whole of the United Kingdom, was to modernise, harmonise, and, to some extent, amend the existing statutes bearing upon the relationship of local authorities to the improvement and extension of housing property occupied by the working classes, and consequently there is to be found in it no direct attempt towards the consolida- tion of previous legislation. Its repeals chiefly affected the Shaftesbury Act of 1851, though clauses, or parts of clauses, were also removed from the 29 and 30 Vict. c. 28, the 38 and 39 Vict. c. 36, the 42 and 43 Vict. c. 64, and 1. Previously to this, in 1881-82, a Select Committee had sat and had made important suggestions with regard to the amendment of the Torrens and Cross Acts, some of which suggestions were adopted in the 1882 Act which resulted. 2. Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1885 — iS and 49 Vict. c. 72. BUILDING LEGISLATION loi from the 45 and 46 Vict. c. 54, besides from the Irish Acts of 1866 and 1883, and the Scotch Acts of 1875. The authorities, by whom the Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Acts, 1851 — 67, might be adopted, were to be, for the City of London, the Commissioners of Sewers ; for the Metropolis, excluding the City, the Metropolitan Board of Works; for any urban or rural sanitary district, the sanitary authority of the district. Before a rural sanitary authority could adopt the Acts, an application was to be made to the Local Government Board, who would there- upon hold an inquiry and decide whether a certificate, permitting the adoption, should be issued. The conditions upon which the granting of a certiiicate depended were as follows: — (1) accommodation must be necessary, in the area specified by the local authority, for the housing of the labouring classes; (2), there must be no probability of such accommodation being provided without the execution of theActs which it was desired to put into operation; (3), with due regard to the liability which would be incurred by the rates, it must be, under all the circumstances, prudent for the local authority to undertake the provision of the desired accommodation under the powers of the Acts. Even when the certificate had been granted, the actual adoption was not to take place (unless in case of an emergency, and then only with the express sanction of the Local Government Board) before the next ordinary election of members of the local authority concerned, and should, within twelve months after the issue of the certifi- cate, the Acts not have been adopted, a fresh certificate was to be applied for. All acquisition of land and erection of buildings were to be made strictly within the area mentioned in the certificate. After application by the rural sanitary authority, the Local Government Board could, if they so wished, make an order levying the ex- 102 THE HOUSING PROBLEM penses upon a part alone of the district of the rural authority instead of upon the whole of the district. The Act provided that the expenses of carrying it into execu- tion should be met, in the case of the London authorities, by their Dwelling House Improvement Funds, established under the 1875 Cross Act, and, in the case of other authori- ties, as expenditure under the Public Health Act of 1875 : where it was required to borrow monies, such should be borrowed under the powers of the Artizans' and Labourers' Dwelling Improvement Act of 1875, and of the Public Health Act, 1875.i The " lodging houses " of the 1851 Act were to be considered as including separate houses or cottages for the labouring classes, whether containing one or several tenements. Both the London and provincial authorities were empowered to acquire lands for the pur- poses of the Lodging Houses Acts, 1851 — 67, as if for the purposes of the Public Health Act of 1875, the conditions of which were made to apply with the exception that the sanctioning authority for the London area was to be the Secretary of State. Provisions were included by which the Metropolitan Board of Works were authorised to acquire by agreement, and at a fair market price, the sites of cer- tain penitentiaries and prisons in London, should these be removed. ^ An important modification was made in the terms upon which the Public Works Loan Commissioners, under the powers of the Public Works Loans Act of 1875, could lend monies in pursuance of the Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Acts, 1851 — 67, or of the Artizans Dwell- ings Improvement Acts, 1876 — 82, or of the Artizans Dwellings Acts, 1868 — 82, the minimum rate of interest 1. Which allowed 50 years as maximum period of repayment at such interest as would enable the loan to be made without loss. Later the period was lengthened to sixty years. 2. The site of one (Millbank) has been used by the London County Council for the erection of dwellings. BUILDING LEGISLATION 103 being reduced to 3^ per cent. By an amendment of the Settled Land Act of 1882, the sale, exchange or lease of land under that Act for the purpose of housing the work- ing classes was permitted to be made at a lower price, consideration, or rent than could have been obtained if the land had been sold, exchanged or leased for another pur- pose.^ In addition to the dishousing and rehousing provisions which will shortly be considered, there are one or two further interesting points in the Act, as, for instance, the provision that houses let for habitation by the working classes should be reasonably fit for human habitation at the commencement of the holding, in connection with which working class houses are defined as houses or parts of houses let at a rent not exceeding in England the sum. named as the limit for the composition of rates by the Poor Rate Assessment or Collectioin Act of 1869, and, in Scotland or Ireland, £4. The composition limits named in that Act were £20 in London, £13 in Liverpool, £10 in Manchester or Birmingham, and £8 elsewhere. The expression " cottage," it waa further provided, could be taken as including a garden of not nxore than half an acre, provided that the estimated annual value of such garden should not exceed £3. Prom 1885, a period of five years elapsed during which no further legislation upon the housing of the working classes matured. Then became law the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890, a statute which, with certain amendments, has controlled the housing policy of the nation since the date of its enactment. Before discussing those parts of the Act which are pertinent to the subject matter of this chapter, the Local Government Act of 1888 (51 and 52 Vict. c. 41) should be briefly noticed as having 2. Sect. 11 § la. 104 THE HOUSING PROBLEM merged the Metropolitan Board of Works, a body elected in a most peculiar manner and at times accused of a lack of integrity, into a London County Council : at the same time. County Councils were ordered to be elected in all the various counties of England and Wales, and these bodies assumed certain duties in connection with the housing of the working classes. A great many of the statutes named in this chapter have been repealed but no breach of continuity has taken place. The law laid down in the legislation prior to 1890 is still, broadly speaking, the law of the present. A number of speakers and writers on housing topics have expressed themselves in such a way that one unfamiliar with the history of housing legislation might easily fall into the error of supposing that the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, represented some new departure in housing policy, whereas the exact reverse is the truth. The Act took its origin in the necessity of simplifying and rendering more easily accessible the maze of housing enactments that had been passed through Parliament during the preceding forty years. It was realized that the involved state of the law with one amendment heaped up on top of another had been a great discouragement to progressive action and that the consolidation of the same would prove a real boon to local authorities. Con- sequently, the new Act inaugurated no startling reform, the amendments included in it, though in places impor- tant, were not sufficient to change essentially the nature of the law. The principles of action established by the groups of enactments initiated respectively by Lord Shaftesbury, Mr. Torrens, and Viscount Cross, were adopted with but such modifications as were considered necessary to secure their harmonious and equitable opera- tion. In this chapter, attention will be given only to BUILDING LEGISLATION 105 that portion of tlie Act wliicli deals with the provision of working class dwellings. In the Housing Act of 1890, the principle of simul- taneously encouraging Loth municipal and private enter- prise, laid down clearly in the Shaftesbury Acts, 1861-67, is established more firmly than ever. The definition of the expression used in those measures — "lodging houses" — as interpreted in the 1885 Housing Act is retained so that both separate cottages ^ and tenement dwellings are provided for. The authorities of metropolitan, urban and rural sanitary districts may adopt this part 2 of the Act, but, in the case of the last named, the consent of the County Council must be obtained, in the same way and under the same conditions as the consent of the Local Government Board had to be obtained from 1885 to 1890. This change was brought about by the organisation of county councils already mentioned. The power of compulsory purchase of land upon which it is intended to erect workingmen's dwellings was first granted to the local authority in 1885, and this right the 1890 Act continues, with similar conditions as to com- pensation. ^ The clauses of the 1851 Act, authorising the building, purchase or lease of lodging-houses, their altera- tion, improvement, and equipment (with all requisite furniture, fittings, and conveniences), were also re-em- bodied in the Act, as well as the seven years' sale clause. The powers granted to the Public Works Loan Com- missioners to lend money to railway, dock or harbour com- panies, to housing associations or companies, and to private 1. With or without gardens of value not exceeding £3 per annum, and in extent not more than half an acre. 2. Part III. 3. Namely those of the Land Clauses Consolidation Acts, the basis of compensation being the fair market value plus an allowance for com- pulsory purchase, usually ten per cent. io6 THE HOUSING PROBLEM persons, are the same as originally granted under the Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses Act of 1866, even the same period of repayment (forty years) being retained. In the 1866 Act, the rate of interest was fixed at a minimum of 4 per cent., but this was lowered to 3^ per cent, in 1890 and went below that figure in later years, the Act being phrased so that the lowest interest suf&cient to avoid loss could be authorised by the Treasury. The maximum loan period to local authorities stood at sixty years. Some new provisions which deserve mentioning were the power to sell or exchange land acquired under Part III. for the purpose of obtaining land better suited, the removal of disabilities attaching to non-corporate bodies in the holding of land, the extension of powers to any and all companies to build workingmen's dwellings, ^ and the authorisation of gas and water companies, at their discretion, to furnish supplies of gas or water either with- out charge or on favourable terms. The implied contract clause (that houses under a certain rent should be reason- ably fit for habitation), enforced by the 1885 Act, found a place in the later Act.^ The power of writing down the value of land for housing sites remained as in the 1885 Act. No further legislation relative to constructive housing secured the approval of Parliament until 1900, when an amending Act^ was passed, though the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act of 1899 enabled urban local authorities to play an indirect but somewhat important part in stimulat- ing house building. The Act of 1900 introduced several changes into the 1. " Notwithstanding any Act of Parliament, or charter, or any rule of law or equity to the contrary." — Sect. 67 :3. 2. Attempts were made to contract out of this, but were finally quieted by the amending Act of 1903, which insisted upon the implied contract holding good, and made void all agreements to the contrary. 3. The Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1900. BUILDING LEGISLATION 107 law as codified in Part III. of the main Act. The some- what complicated procedure attaching to the adoption of Part III. by a rural district Council was simplified, the necessity for a local enquiry by the county council being dispensed with. Power was granted to local authorities, with the consent of the Local Government Board or of the County Council,! iq lease land, acquired by them under Part III., to persons engaging to erect lodging houses on the land. Under the Working Men's Dwellings Act of 1874 and the Municipal Corporations Act of 1882, this power already belonged to municipal corporations, but the 1900 Act made it applicable to all local authorities. The conditions attaching to such a lease remain essentially the same as in the Act of 1874. A very important amendment from the point of view of local authorities anxious to make full use of Part III. has been the clause enabling a local council, other than that of a rural district, to establish or acquire lodging houses outside of the limits of its own district. The power of the county council over rural housing was extended by enabling such a body to transfer to itself the powers of any rural district council in regard to Part III., where a parish council concerned passes a resolution that the rural district council ought to have taken steps for the adoption of that Part and to have exercised its powers under the same but has not done so : the resolution of transfer acts, if necessary, as an adoption of Part III. by the district council. Arbitration was simplified by placing such proceedings for the determina- tion of the price of land acquired compulsorily in the hands of a single arbitrator appointed by the Local Government Board or, in the case of a London Council, by the Secretary of State. 1. The County Council in case of a Rural District Council; in other cases the Local Government Board or (in London) the Secretary of State. io8 THE HOUSING PROBLEM A long-continued agitation for easier loan repayment terms culminated, in 1903, in tlie extension of tlie maxi- mum period for repayment of loans to eiglity years, this being provided for by tbe Housing of tbe Working Classes Act, 1903.1 It was also provided that such loans should not be reckoned as part of the debt of the local authority for the purposes of the limitation on borrowing under the Public Health Act, 1875, ^ which ordered that at no time should the total debt of a local authority under the sani- tary Acts exceed the assessable value for two years of the premises assessable within the district. The 1890 Act con- tained no specific authorisation allowing local authorities, acting under Part III., to build shops, though the Working Men's Dwelling Act, 1874, already referred to several times, had allowed buildings put up under leases granted by a municipal corporation, to be considered as dwellings, though parts of them were devoted to retail trade or other purposes. This idea was improved and enlarged upon by the 1903 measure which interpreted the powers of any local authority under the Housing Acts as including (with the consent of the Local Government Board) the power of providing and maintaining (in connection with dwelling schemes) any building adapted for use as a shop, and, further, any recreation grounds or other buildings or land which, in the opinion of the Local Government, might serve a beneficial purpose in connection with the require- ments of the persons for whom the dwelling accommoda- tion was provided.^ It would not be proper to close this chapter without re- ference to a very useful Act, passed in 1899, which, though limited necessarily to a very small part of the working 1. 3 Ed. VII. c. 39. 2. Sect. 234. 3. The clause (Sect, ii :1) also authorised the local authority to raise money for the purpose (if necessary) by borrowing. BUILDING LEGISLATION 109 class community, and as yet not greatly used, will never- theless exercise, within its limited sphere, the most desir- able kind of influence. The Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899 (62 and 63 Yict. c. 44) opened out to local authorities a new field of action, enabling them to give solid encouragement to the thriftier and better-paid section of the working classes in the direction of house building or acquisition. By this Act, the local authority, who may be the council of any county or county borough or any district council, provided that in the case of the latter the consent of the county coimcil shall be had if the population of the district is less than 10,000, are authorised to ad- vance money to any resident of a house, the market value of which does not exceed £400, for the purpose of enabl- ing him to acquire the ownership of the same. The amount of the advance must not exceed either four-fifths of the market value or £240 (in case of a fee simple or of a leasehold of not less than 99 years, £300). The con- ditions which must be fulfilled before the loan is made, are very reasonable, and will be found stated in the note below. 1 The terms of the advance are to be : interest, at such rate as may be agreed upon, not exceeding ten shillings above the rate at which the local authority can, at the time, borrow, from the Public "Works Loan Commissioners, the money for the advance; period of repayment, not to 1. The local authority must be satisBed that :— (1) the applicant for the advance is resident or intends to reside in the house, and is not already the proprietor, within the meaning of the Act, of a house to which the statutory conditions apply : but this condition may be sus- pended where the applicant undertakes to begin his residence therein within six months; (2) the value of the ownership of the house is sufficient; (3) the title to the ownership is one which an ordinary mort- gagee would be willing to accept; (4) the house is m good sanitary condition and in good repair; (5) the repayment to the local authority is secured by an instrument vesting the ownership (including any interest already held by the purchaser) in the local authority, subject to the right of redemption by the applicant, but such instrument shall not contain anything inconsistent with the provisions of the Act. iio THE HOUSING PROBLEM exceed thirty years ; method of repayment, either by equal instalments of principal or by an annuity of principal and interest combined, all payments being made either weekly or at any period not exceeding six months, as may be arranged. Provision is made for the borrower repaying, at any quarter day (with one month's notice), the whole outstanding debt of principal and interest or any part thereof being £10 or a multiple of £10. Until the full repayment of the advance (or until the local authority have taken possession or ordered a sale), the following conditions apply: — (1) Every sum for the time being due in respect of principal or of interest of the advance shall be punctually paid. (2) The proprietor of the house shall reside in the house. ^ (3) The house shall be kept insured against fire to the satisfaction of the local authority, and the receipts for the premiums produced when required by them. (4) The house shall be kept in good sanitary con- dition and good repair. (5) The house shall not be used for the sale of intoxicating liquors, or in such a manner as to be a nuisance to adjacent houses. (6) The local authority shall have power to enter the house by any per- son, authorised by them in writing for the purpose, at all reasonable times for the purpose of ascertaining whether the statutory conditions are complied with. A person, acquiring any house under this Act, may, with the assent of the local authority, transfer, at any time, his interest in the house, such transfer being made subject to the statutory conditions. Where the statutory conditions as to residence are not complied with, the local authority 1. But — clause 7 § 2 — " The local authority may allow a proprietor to permit, by letting or otherwise, a house to be occupied as a furnished house by some other person during a period not exceeding four months in the whole in any twelve months, or during absence from the house in the performance of any duty arising from or incidental to any office, service, or employment held or undertaken by him, and the condition requiring residence shall be suspended while the permission continues." BUILDING LEGISLATION in may take possession of the house, and where any of the other statutory conditions are broken, whether the pro- prietor is or is not in residence, they may either take possession or order the sale of the house without taking possession. 1 The expenses of the local authority are to be met out of the rates, but it is provided that if the balance of expen- diture in any year exceed, in a county, a sum equal to one halfpenny, and, in a county borough, or urban or rural district, one penny on the rateable value, no further advance is to made by the Council until after the expiration of five years, and, if the said balance still exceed the stated amount, for such longer period until it falls below the same. The local authority is permitted to borrow, and the Public Works Loan Commissioners to lend, monies, for the purposes of the Act, under the powers of the Public Works Loans Act, 1879, which stipulates that, where no special terms are laid down in the enabling Act, all loans shall be advanced at a minimum interest of five per cent., for a maximum repayment period of twenty years. No direct reference has yet been made to the Working 1. In the case of any condition, other than that of the punctual pay- ment of the principal and interest of the advance, being broken, the local authority shall, previous to taking possession or ordering a sale, call upon the proprietor by written notice to comply with the conditions, and if he gives a written undertaking to do so within fourteen days and complies therewith within two months, they shall not proceed to take possession or to order a sale. Where they take possession of a house, they shall pay to the proprietor (with deductions for all costs of or incidental to the taking of possession, sale, or disposal of the house, including the costs of arbitration, if any) either (1) such sum as may be agreed upon, or (2) a sum equal to the value of the interest in the house at the disposal of the local authority, after deducting therefrom the amount of the advance then remaining unpaid, and any sum due for interest, such value, in the absence of a sale and in default of agree- ment, being settled by a county court judge as arbitrator, or, if the Lord Chancellor so authorises, by a single arbitrator appointed by the county court judge. Should the sum so payable not be paid within three months after the date of taking possession, it shall carry interest at the rate of three per cent, per annum from the date of taking posses- sion. A house, taken possession of by a local authority, may either be retained under their own management, or may be sold or otherwise disposed of as they think fit. 112 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Class Dwellings Act of 1890 (53 and 54 Vict. c. 16), a brief Act passed shortly before the great Housing Act, but not repealed thereby. The object of this Act is to facilitate gifts of land for the erection of working class dwellings in populous places, and it exempts from the operation of the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act, 1888, Parts I. and II., "any assurance, by deed or will, of land, or of personal estate to be laid out in land for the purpose of providing d,wellings for the working classes in any populous place," but such land, assured by will under this section, must not exceed five acres. The phrase "populous place" is defined as including the administrative county of London, any municipal borough, any urban sanitary district, and any other place having a dense population of an urban character. One more act needs a brief notice, and that is the London Government Act of 1899, (62 and 63 Yict. c. 14), which rearranged the forty-two vestries and district boards of the metropolis into twenty-eight borough councils, these, from the commencement of their official existence in Nov- ember, 1900, being empowered to exercise the powers of Part III. of the Housing Act of 1890 concurrently with the County Council. To conclude, the present chapter evidences the steady adherence of the English Parliament to a policy of muni- cipal interference in the matter of house supply. "Well over fifty years ago, it authorized local authorities ("of populous places") to engage in the business of house build- ing, and its most recent Act (in 1903) was to confirm its position in that matter. The propriety of such a policy is something that must be discussed in a later chapter. "3 CHAPTEE VI. The History of English Legislation beaeing upon House Improvement, Dishousing and Eehousing. The specific evils which constitute the housing problem are, as indicated in a previous chapter, (1) insanitary conditions, (2) overcrowding, and (3) overhousing. The English housing code bases its policy of reform upon two methods, one that of improving existing house accommoda- tion, the other that of increasing the supply of dwellings. The present chapter will trace briefly the development of legislative action of the former kind, and, in doing so, will give attention, in the first place, to the legislation aimed at the evils existing in individual houses or small groups and, secondly, to that dealing with large areas. The laws comprised within the same form a very interesting series, including both housing and general sanitary meas- ures. Their study may very conveniently commence with the Nuisances Removal Act of 1855 (18 and 19 Yict. c. 121), though this consolidating Act was not the beginning of sanitary legislation. Within the list of nuisances specified in this Act, it was provided that there should be included any premises in such a state as to be "a nuisance or injurious to health," ^ and power of complaint attached to any person aggrieved, to any two inhabitant householders of the parish or place to which the complaint related, and to certain official servants of the local authority. On receiving a complaint, the local authority could demand entry for the purpose of examining the premises, and, if refused, could secure an order from a justice of the peace. Upon the evidence thus 1. Section 8. 114 THE HOUSING PROBLEM obtained, tlie justices could order the abatement of the nuisance, and, if they considered it necessary, could make an order prohibiting the use of the house for human habi- tation until it was rendered fit for that purpose, where- upon they could issue another order declaring it open again. Such structural works could be ordered by them as would secure the abatement of the nuisance, though a right of appeal to the quarter sessions existed for seven days after the date of the order, in case of recourse to which all proceedings under the order were to be postponed until after the determination or lapse of the appeal. This Act, it will be noticed, provided only for a nuisance application being made by the local authority, but in 1860 (Nuisances Amendment Act, 23 and 24 Vict, c. 77) the privilege was extended to any householder of the parish or place where the nuisance occurred, and such person could also be granted an order of entry. This was again extended in 1874 by the Sanitary Laws Amendment Act (37 and 38 Vict. c. 89) by making nuisances in public premises subject to the same complaints and application, and further by enabling any owner of premises situated in the parish, or any other aggrieved person, to make com- plaint. In this form, the provision was embodied in the consolidating Act of the following year (Public Health Act, 1875 — 38 and 39 Vict. c. 55), which substantially governs the whole of England and Wales to-day, excepting London which, in 1891, had its own consolidating Act. In 1866, the Sanitary Act of that year (29 and 30 Vict. c. 90) amended previous procedure by requiring the local authority, previous to taking proceedings before a justice, to serve notice on the person responsible for the nuisance to abate the same and, within a specified time, to execute all such works as might be necessary for that purpose. In case of non-compliance, a court order could be obtained as IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 115 previously, but it should be noticed that tbe 1875 Act gives the court power to impose a penalty not exceeding £5.i A useful clause was introduced into the Act of 1866, and afterwards perpetuated in the 1875 measure, confer- ring power upon the local authority, under the certificate of a legally qualified medical practitioner,^ to compel the owner or occupier of a filthy or unwholesome house to whitewash, clean or purify the whole or part of the house at his own expense. In the later Act, the power was given to impose a penalty of ten shillings per day for every day of default subsequent to the expiration of the specified time, and it was further provided that the local authority might execute the works ordered and summarily recover the expenses. The matter of overcrowding was handled in the 1855 Act, though the operation of this part of the Act was re- stricted to cases of overcrowding where more than one family resided in the same house. The justices, upon application of the local authority, based upon a certificate of the Medical Officer of Health, or (where there was no such officer) upon that of two medical practitioners, that certain houses were so overcrowded as to be dangerous or prejudicial to the health of the inmates could make an order, at the same time imposing a penalty not exceeding forty shillings upon the person permitting such over- crowding. In 1866, overcrowding, dangerous or prejudicial to health, was specifically included in the list of nuisances under the Nuisance Removal Acts, and the restriction to cases where more than one family resided in the same house was removed. It was also enacted that where two convictions of overcrowding against the same dwelling 1. 38 and 39 Vict. c. 55, Sect, 95. 2. The 1875 Act modified this so as to read "medical oificer of health or any two medical practitioners." ii6 THE HOUSING PROBLEM should take place witliin tliree months, the justices could close the premises for such time as they deemed necessary. ^ These clauses were reproduced in the consolidating Act of 1875. This same Act of 1866 introduced very stringent regulations concerning houses let in lodgings or occupied by more than one family, the local authority being em- powered, subject to the authorisation and confirmation of the central government, to make regulations for fixing the number of occupants of such houses, for registering and inspecting the houses, and for providing that they should be kept in a cleanly and wholesome condition ; penalties might be imposed for disobedience to the regulations. Cellar dwellings were dealt with rigidly in the 1875 Act, the occupation of such cellars or rooms as separate dwell- ings being absolutely prohibited if they were not lawfully occupied at the time of the passing of the Act. Existing cellar dwellings were held down, to stringent requirements, which, in 1891, were made even more stringent so far as London was concerned, though there was no prohibition in that Act of the future establishment of dwellings in cellars. Power was given by both Acts to coxirts of summary juris- diction to order the closing of an underground dwelling for any necessary period, or even permanently, in cases where two convictions for an offence relating to its occu- pancy as a dwelling should take place within three months. A penalty not exceeding twenty shillings for every day during which the written notice of the local authority is disobeyed may be imposed upon any person letting, occupy- ing or knowingly suffering to be occupied any cellar or underground room contrary to the provisions of the Acts. The Shaftesbury Act of 1851 provided that, where lodg- ing houses were put up under the Act, bye-laws should be made for securing proper control and orderliness. By 1. If the place were a cellar dwelling, it could be closed permanently. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 117 the Sanitary Act of 1866 tlie local authority, under the approval of the central government, were given full power to regulate by bye-laws the occupancy and cleanliness of such dwellings. The provisions of the two Acts in this matter were consolidated in the 1875 Act.^ The evils of overcrowding and uncleanliness against which these bye-laws were aimed are ones to which tene- ment dwellings are particularly liable. To enforce obed- ience to them, it was found necessary to increase the penalties for offences against the same, the forty shillings for each offence and twenty shillings per diem for every day of the continuance of the offence after written notice being raised to ^6 and forty shillings respectively. Since the passing of the Common Lodging Houses Acts of 1851 and 1853, considerable attention has been paid by the legislature to lodging houses of this class. The Acts mentioned were repealed, outside of London, by the Public Health Act of 1875, which restated in more adequate form the manner of regulating such houses.^ It is hardly necessary to say more here than that the inten- tion of the legislation has been to secure the orderly and cleanly management of such places, and to make both the registration of houses and their keepers compulsory. The 1855 Act, as has already been pointed out, em- powered the justices to issue a closing order against any house proved to be unfit for human habitation. This was re-enacted in the 1875 Act and is, of course, the law to-day. 1. As stated in that Act, the local authority were to make bye-laws — (a) for fixing the number of persons who may occupy a house or part of a house which is let in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family, and for the separation of the sexes in a house so let or occupied; (6) for the registration and inspection of houses so let or occupied; (c) for enforcing drainage and privy accommodation, and for promoting cleanliness and ventilation; (d) for the paving of courts and courtyards ; (e) for the cleansing and limewashing of the premises at stated times; (/) for the taking of precautions in case of any infectious 2. Public Health Act, 1875 ; Sects. 76—88. Ii8 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Tlie matter of houses unfit for habitation was taken up more thoroughly, however, by the Torrens Act of 1868,^ though it must be noticed that this Act applied only to places of more than 10,000 population. In every such place, the medical officer of health or equivalent officer, either upon his own initiative or upon that of four or more householders, living in or near the street where the pre- mises complained of were situated, was to investigate and report (to the local authority) upon the condition of pre- mises found by him, or complained against to him as being unfit for human habitation. If after such a report the local authority should neglect to take proceedings under the Act for a period of more than three months, the com- plaining householders could appeal to the Secretary of State ^ who had the power of compelling the local authority to act. After hearing the objections (if any) of the owner of the property to the report, ^ the local authority could make an order in writing, and cause to be prepared a plan and specification of the works (if any) required, and an estimate of their cost, which the owner was privileged to examine, and, at a subsequent meeting of the local authority, to object to ; further, upon the making of an order with relation thereto, he could appeal against it on the ground that he was not responsible for the condition of his premises, at the same time giving notice of the appeal to the party or authority alleged by him to be re- sponsible. This third party, of course, was allowed to appear before the court in defence. The local authority 1. 31 and 32 Vict. c. 130 (The Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Act). 2. Subsequently changed to the Local Government Board. See 1890 Act, Sect. 31 (2). 3. The Report of the Officer of Health was to be submitted by the local authority to a surveyor or engineer, who would examine and report upon the cause and removal of the evil complained of. The owner was to be furnished with a copy of each of these reports. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 119 might decide that the owner was not liable, in which case they would take action with the proper parties. After the making of the order, three months were allowed for the owner, upon whom the order was imposed in the first in- stance, to commence the works required, which he must diligently proceed with. If he failed to obey the order, the next owner was to be required to carry on the works, and so on, and, if all the owners defaulted, the local authority might order the premises to be shut up or demolished, or might themselves execute the necessary works, making an application to the Quarter Sessions for an order charging all expenses, with interest at four per cent, per annum, upon the premises. The total amount was to be a charge upon the house, bearing interest at the same rate. Should total demolition be required and the owner have failed to demolish within three months after the service of the order, the local authority were to do so selling the materials, deducting expenses, and handing the balance, if any, to the owner. Instead of effecting im- provements, the owner could take down the premises, but he was prohibited in such case, and also in every case where he desired to retain the site of premises required by the order to be totally demolished, from erecting on the site a building which should be injurious to health. Where the owner completed all the works required to be done, he was entitled to obtain from the local authority, as a charge on the premises on which the work had been executed, an annuity of six pounds per centum, payable for a term of thirty years, upon the expenditure incurred : this was to be compensation for his expense. For the expenses in- curred under the Act, the local authority were authorised to levy a special rate of not more than twopence in the pound, and also to apply to the Public Works Loan Com- missioners for advances of monies. 120 THE HOUSING PROBLEM This Act remained without amendment for eleven years, that is, until the Torrens Amendment Act of 1879. ^ A somewhat dangerous prerogative was granted to the owner of premises against which an improvement or demolition order had been made in that he could require the local authority to purchase.^ In case of dispute over the price, the Local Government Board were to appoint an arbitrator who, in settling the amount to be paid, was to base his estimate of the value of the premises on the fair market value as estimated at the time of the valuation being made of the same, "due regard being had to the nature and then condition of the property .... and all circum- stances affecting such value," without any additional allow- ance being made in respect of compulsory purchase. A mild form of "Betterment" was recognised, for the arbi- trator was to make allowance in respect of any increased value which, in his opinion, would be given to other prem- ises of the same owner by the alteration or demolition of the premises by the local authority. From the award of the arbitrator no appeal was allowed. Where the owner did not execute the required works, and the local aaithority undertook them, the latter were to be entitled not only to sell old material and to set o& such receipts against their expenses but also to' recover the balance of such expenses from the owner, as a debt due from him, by action at law — an important widening of the original claxise. Any land or premises acquired by a local authority under the 1868 Act, and not required, could be disposed of or (so 1. 42 and 43 Vict. c. 64. But the Public Health Act of 1872 had, in the meantime, made the appointment of a medical officer of health com- pulsory in all sanitary districts (constituted under the Act), thus render- ing more stringent the " officer of health " requirement in the first Torrens Act. 2. Section 5. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 121 far as tlae land was concerned) could be dedicated as a highway or other public place.i In 1882, by the Artizans' Dwellings Act, a measure which amended both the Torrens and the Cross Acts, an important extension was made in the powers of the former. Now the Medical Officer of Health was enabled to make a representation about any building, not in itself unfit for human habitation but so situated that it stopped ventila- tion, or conduced to make other buildings unfit for human habitation or prevented proper measures from being carried into effect for remedying the evils complained of in respect of such other buildings, to the intent that the building was an obstructive one and should be pulled down. Eeports, meeting for consideration, and the making of an order were to be required as usual. The order made and standing good, the local authority were to be deemed authorized to purchase the lands on which the obstructive building was erected, but within one month after the notice of purchase had been served, the owner might declare his intention to retain the site of the build- ing and undertake to pull down the obstructive building ; compensation for the pulling down of the building was to be granted to^ him. "Where the lands were purchased by the local authority, they were to pull down the building or such portion of it as caused the obstruction, keeping the site, or such part of it as was necessary for remedying 1. It may conveniently be noted here that a certain amount of super- vision was granted by the Act to the Metropolitan Board of Works over the London local authorities to the extent that where any of the latter neglected to put into force the provisions of the Act in respect of pre- mises described in a notice served on them by the former, after three months from the date of such notification the Board of Works could enforce the Act as though they were the local authority, recovering ex- penses incurred from the same. By the 1890 Act, the period of three months was reduced to one month, and, of course, the London County Council substituted for the defunct Board of Works. The same power was granted to any County Council over rural sanitary authorities within its jurisdiction. 122 THE HOUSING PROBLEM tL.e evil, as an open space; with the assent of the con- firming authority any portion of the site not required could be sold. If the arbitrator were of the opinion that the demolition of the obstructive building added to the value of other buildings, he could apportion among such buildings so much of the compensation to be paid for the demolition of the obstructive building as might be equal to the increase in value of the other buildings, such appor- tioned amount to be deemed private improvement expenses incun-ed by the local authority. The latter could then levy an improvement rate on the occupiers of such premises, as under the provisions of the 1875 Health Act. In the event of a dispute between the owner and the occu- pier of any building to which an amount might be appor- tioned in respect of private improvement expenses and the arbitrator, two justices were to decide the matter where the amount of compensation claimed did not exceed £50. The clause requiring the arbitrator to take into considera- tion "all circumstances affecting the value of lands or interests" concerned was removed. It was also provided that where a local authority of London took no action upon an official representation, the board of guardians in whose union or parish such premises were situated, or the owner of any property in the neighbourhood of the same, might complain to the Metropolitan Board of Works who, if they thought fit, could thereupon proceed to^ enforce the Act as provided for in the 1879 Torrens Amendment Act. From this time until 1890, the only legislation referring to the Torrens Acts was that clause of the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1885,'- in which the right of an owner of premises, subjected to an improvement or demo- lition order, to require the local authority to purchase the premises was withdrawn. 1. 48 and 49 Vict. c. 72. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 123 To those acquainted with the present law as to the powers and methods of dealing with houses unfit for habita- tion, it will be obvious from the foregoing sketch that the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890 introduced no new principle in this respect; in fact, its function was largely that of consolidating (and, to some extent, im- proving) the earlier Acts. The more important changes alone can be noticed in this essay. One of these is the heavier penalty which the court of petty sessions may attach to a closing order — £20. Where occupiers do not vacate the premises, ordered to be closed, within seven days after notice by the local authority, a penalty of £1 per diem may be imposed. Reasonable expenses incurred in re- moving occupiers may be allowed by the local authority under the sanction of the court making the order; the amount is to be debited against the owner and can be re- covered from him in the ordinary way. The proceedings for demolition outlined in the first Torrens Act, in cases where, after the making or confiriaing of an order, no adequate effort is being made to render the house fit for habitation, are substantially the same in the present Act as they were in 1868. The powers for dealing with obstructive buildings, first introduced by the Act of 1882, were re-enacted in the 1890 measure with little change. The compensation clauses were stated more comprehensively than in the earlier meas- ure, both the Torrens and Cross Amendment Acts of 1879 being drawn upon : it is desirable to restate here the final result. In estimating compensation for the compulsory acquisition of buildings, the condition of the property both as regards its probable duration and its state of repair is to be taken into account, and in cases where the rent is abnormally high by reason of an illegal use or over- crowding, or where the building is insanitary or dilapi- 124 THE HOUSING PROBLEM dated, or where it is unfit for habitation and not reasonably- capable of being made fit, the compensation is to be esti- mated with regard to these facts. The abnormal rent, obtained under the conditions first named, is not to form the basis of compensation but the normal rent which would have been obtained if the dwelling had not been over- crowded or used for illegal pui-poses. In the second case, the cost of putting the house into a sanitary condition or into repair must be deducted from the estimated value of the house when placed in such condition ; and, in the last instance, the compensation is simply to represent the value of the land, and of the materials of the building. The fact that the premises are being acquired compulsorily is not to affect the compensation. The most important feature of the part (Part II.) of the 1890 Act which is the historical sequence of the Torrens Acts is that dealing with the improvement of small areas. Previously, areas could only be dealt with under the Cross Acts but, after 1890, it became possible to handle small areas under a somewhat more simple procedure, which briefiy is as follows. The local authority must pass a reso- lution that the demolition or reconstruction of the area under consideration is desirable in consequence of its bad condition or arrangement being prejudicial to the health of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and that the area is too small to be treated under Part I. They must also prepare a scheme, giving notice of it, and submitting it to the Local Grovernment Board who will proceed to hold an inquiry. If the scheme meets with the approval of that Board, they will now sanction the scheme, modifying it, should they so choose : in the absence of any opposition, the scheme will be confirmed and may then be put into execution. Where lands are to be acquired compulsorily, the provisional order must first be advertised in the London IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 125 Gazette, and a copy of it placed in the possession of every owner within the area, any one of whom may submit, within two months, a petition against the order, in which event confirmation must take place by Act of Parliament. The scheme may be modified under conditions precisely the same as those laid down in the 1875 Cross Act. In sanctioning the scheme, the Local Government Board can demand the insertion of such provisions (if any) for the rehousing of persons of the working classes displaced as seem to the Board to be required by the circumstances. The London County Council, either in exercise of the powers of a borough council or upon the representation of the latter that a scheme under Part II. ought to be made, may undertake a Part II. scheme at the expense of the county fund : they may obtain from the Secretajty of State an order charging the whole or part of the expenses upon the local council, or, under the privilege granted thirteen years later by Section 14 of 3 Ed. VII. c. 39, the borough council may voluntarily contribute without an order and are allowed to borrow money for the same. Also where a metropolitan borough undertake a Part II. scheme, they may secure a voluntary contribution to the cost of the scheme from the London County Council, or may obtain an order from the Secretary of State to this effect. Where larger areas are treated under Part I., adjoin- ing lands, if required, may be included under the scheme, but not till 1903 does this appear to have held good of a Part II. scheme. In settling the amount of compensation, the procedure of Part I. applies, but, in addition, the betterment of any other houses of an owner caused by the execution of the scheme is to be taken into account, and the decision of the arbitrator is to be final aaid binding. In connection with reconstruction schemes under Part II. of the 1890 Act, a curious omission placed the local 126 THE HOUSING PROBLEM authority in the position of being able to borrow money to cover the purchase price and compensation but not such other expenses as are incidental to^ promoting and carry- ing into effect such a scheme. This was remedied, how- ever, by a special Act of two clauses passed in 1894.'- Further amendments and additions to the law as con- solidated in Part II. of the 1890 Act were made by the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1903 (3 Ed. VII. c. 39). Power was given to include neighbouring lands in areas treated under Part II. schemes, biit the prohibition of an additional allowance for compulsory purchase does not apply to such lands. The power of the local authority over dwellings unfit for human habitation (or in such state, the Act adds, that the occupation should be immediately discontinued) was made more stringent by rendering it unnecessary for the local authority to serve a notice of abatement on the owner and occupier of such a dwelling before obtaining a closing order. A further change of appreciable worth was made in connection with the execu- tion of demolition orders by the local authority. Until 1903, if the sale of old materials did not cover the expenses of the demolition, the loss fell upon the rates, but this was now amended so that the deficit could be recovered as a civil debt from the owner of the building. An important extension of facilities made by this Act and affecting operations under all parts of the main Act (1890) is that concerned with the period of loan repayment. Prior to 1903, the maximum repayment period for monies borrowed under the Housing Act of 1890 was fixed by Section 234 of the 1875 Public Health Act at 60 years; this, a^ mentioned previously, was now extended to 80 years. 1. The Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1894^57 and 58 Vict, c. 55. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 127 Before leaving this interesting and useful side of our housing legislation, reference may be made to a further extension of the principle of allowing " moving " expenses to occupiers dispossessed under a closing order, namely, the privilege given in section 78 of the 1890 Act to local authorities, allowing them to grant reasonable expenses of this kind to any tenant of a building required to vacate his tenancy in order that the building occupied may be pulled down for the purpose of a Part I. or Part II. scheme, though the building is not closed by an order. The year 1875 is a notable one in the history of housing legislation as it marks the introduction of a policy of con- siderable moment in the housing reform movement. The Artizans' Dwellings Improvement Act, commonly known as the Cross Act,^ was intended to apply on a larger and more drastic scale the remedy already made applicable to single houses by the first Torrens Act. It provided for the demolition and reconstruction of insanitary and overpopu- lated town areas subject to an abnormal amount of fever and disease and unfit for human habitation.^ The method of reform proposed by the Act to be followed was (1) official representation,^ (2) official enquiry by the central govern- ment with issue of a provisional order, and (3) approval of the provisional order by Parliament. To justify a 'repre- sentation,' buildings in the area complained of had to be unfit for habitation or the area had to be subject to diseases indicating a generally low condition of health due to the bad condition or bad arrangement of the property. Upon 1. 38 and 39 Vict. c. 36. 2. The Act applied to London and to any urban sanitary district in England and Ireland -with a population upwards of 25,000, Similar powers were granted to Scotland in the 38 and 39 Vict. c. 49 3. Ordinarily by the local medical officer of health, provision being made that he could be called upon to act by any two justices of the peace acting within the district or by any twelve persons liable to be rated for the expenses under the Act, the central authority lending its aid for that purpose. 128 THE HOUSING PROBLEM a representation being made to the local authority and accepted by tbem, they were to draw up an improvement scheme for the area, which could propose to take land com- pulsorily. The scheme was to provide for the rehousing, in the neighbourhood of the area, of displaced persons of the working class. A public and properly advertised inquiry was to be held subsequently by the Local Govern- ment Board, who could isstie, if they approved, a provi- sional order, which then had to be sanctioned by Parlia- ment ;i opposition might have to be met at each and all of these stages. One notices with interest the prohibition imposed upon the local authority by which they were not allowed, without the express permission of the central government to erect dwellings upon the cleared area. Even where they did have such permission they were to sell the dwellings within ten years from completion unless granted special relief from this requirement. The compensation and arbitration clauses in a measure of this nature must necessarily be of the utmost importance and hence considerable attention was bestowed by the Act upon almost every detail of the procedure connected with the determining of these matteis. In settling the com- pensation payable for lands proposed to be taken compul- sorily, the fair market value of the property, as existing at the time of purchase, was to be taken, without any addi- tional allowance for a compulsory purchase. Persons sus- taining loss by the extinction of rights of way and other easements upon the purchase of any lands were to be com- pensated. A special schedule, of no less than thirty-two clauses, detailed the method in which lands compulsorily taken were to be purchased and acquired by the local auth- 1. Provision was made for the modification of any approved scheme by the confirming authority placing a statement before both Houses of Parliament. Where larger expenditure or further compulsory purchase of lands, etc., was involved, the original procedure had to be repeated. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 129 ority. According to this elaborate scheme, an arbitrator was to be appointed by the confirming authority, and he was to hold an inquiry, malie a public provisional award, hold a further meeting for objections, after which he might confirm his provisional award, a copy of it being deposited at the office of the local authority who were to publicly advertise it. In case of dissatisfaction, provided the amount awarded as compensation exceeded ,£500, either side might appeal to the courts and have the question submitted to a jury, but, if there were no appeal, the purchase would be proceeded with in the ordinary course. "^ Local authorities were to form a special fund (The Dwell- ing House Improvement Fund) for the purposes of the Act, and were granted power to borrow monies on the mortgage of the land, houses, or other property acquired under the Act or the rates, repaying the same out of the rates. Ad- vances could be made by the Public Works Loan Commis- sioners for periods of fifty years at a minimum of 3-| per cent, per annum. Barely four years had passed away before it was found desirable to amend the Cross Act, the amendment being carried out by the 42 and 43 Vict. c. 63 (1879).2 This Act enabled the arbitrator, if it were proved to him that, at the date of the confirming Act or at some previous date not earlier than the date of the official representation in which the scheme originated, the houses or premises whose compensation he was assessing constituted a nuisance within the meaning of the law, to deduct the estimated 1. Where the local authority were desirous of entering on the lands as soon as possible, they could deposit in the Bank of England the amount of the purchase money, or some greater sum, certified by the arbitrator as being of the proper amount, and would then be able to enter upon the lands at an earlier date than in the ordinary way. Should they do this, five per cent, interest per annum was to be paid by them upon the compensation money from the time of entry to the time of payment of the principal and interest. 2. Cross Amendment Act. 130 THE HOUSING PROBLEM expense of abating the nuisance from tlie amount of ccm- pensation tliat would otherwise have been awarded. He could also decide that a part of a building could be acquired by the local authority without material damage to the building, whereupon the latter would not be obliged to purchase the whole of it. The clause of the main Act requiring the displaced persons to be rehoused within the area or its immediate vicinity was modified so as to permit the local authority (with the approval of the confirming authority) to go further afield, " since," so runs the section, " equally convenient accommodation at a much less cost can be often provided in this way." ^ For the purpose of providing for this rehousing, the local authority were per- mitted to appropriate any lands belonging to them and suitable for the erection of working class dwellings, or to purchase by agreement any such additional lands as might be convenient. In this same year, a Treasury minute fixed the following rates of interest under the Cross Acts : 3-| per cent, per annum where the period of repayment did not exceed 20 years, 3j per cent, per annum for not exceeding 30 years, 4 per cent, for not exceeding 40 years, 4j per cent, for not exceeding 50 years. A maximum sum of £100,000 was fixed for any one operation. ^ No further legislation attracts our attention until, in 1882, the Artizans' Dwellings Act (45 and 46 Vict. c. 54), an Act in two parts, amended both the Cross and the Torrens Acts. Part I. contained at least three im.portant modifications of the former, one dealing with the rehousing of displaced persons in London, another with the valuation of property by the arbitrator, and the third with a division of duties between the Metropolitan Board of Works and 1. Section 4. 2. See reference in Report of Boyal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, 1885 : Question 37. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 131 tke local authorities within its axea. TaMng these in their order, under the first head it was provided that if the officer conducting the local inquiry reported that it was expedient, " having regard to the special circumstances of the locality and to the number of artizans and others belonging to the labouring class dwelling within the area, and being employed within a mile thereof," ^ to dispense with the rehousing of some of the displaced persons, the confirming authority might do so to the extent of one-half. Where the local authority proposed to house the displaced on an area situated elsewhere than in London, they might be called upon to provide either within or without the limits of that area for such number of persons of the working class displaced in the area as the confirming authority might require. This clause, it will be seen, refers to two sets of displaced persons, first, those displaced by the im- provement scheme, and, secondly, those displaced (if any) by the rehousing of the former on an extra,-Metropolitaai area. Under the second head, the arbitrator was instructed not to include in his estimate of the value of lands or in- terests any addition to or improvement of the property made after the date of publication of an advertisement stating that the improvement scheme had been made, unless such additiofa or improvement was necessary for the maintenance of the property in a proper state of repair, nor as regards any interest acquired after such date was any separate estimate of the value thereof to be paid for the lands. Further, the too generous and too vague phrase " and all circumstances affecting such value " (to be taken into account when making the esti- mate) was repealed. Under the third head, the Metro- politan Board of Works were empowered to pass any official representation, made to them concerning not more than 1. Section 3. 132 THE HOUSING PROBLEM ten liouses, over to the proper local authority who were to deal with it under the Torrens Acts. Before lea.ving the consideration of this measure, it is important to notice that the process of arbitration was simplified to some extent. The arbitrator was permitted to ascertain the amount of compensation demanded and offered in such manner as he thinks most convenient." After so doing he was to proceed to the hearing of parties interested, afterwards giving notice to the claimants of a meeting at which he would render his decision. Under the old regulations, this award was only provisional, and a meeting had to be summoned for the hearing of objec- tions to it, after which the provisional award could be confirmed : under the new regulations, this was done away with, the award, when given in the first instance, was to be binding and final and conclusive, subject to appeal where either of the parties was dissatisfied and its amount exceeded a certain sum, now raised from £500 to £1,000. Many of the clauses of the well-known Housing Act of 1885 1 have already been explained, and it simply remains for us to ascertain the purport of the Act in those parts where it specially applies to action under the Cross Acts. The Cross Acts were extended to all urban sanitary districts without any definite limit as to population. Where an official representation under the Torrens Acts was made to a Metropolitan local authority and such authority re- solved that the matter was of sufficient general importance to the Metropolis to be dealt with under the Cross Acts, or where a representation, made under the Cross Acts to the Metropolitan Board of Woi'ks, was declared by the resolu- tion of that body not to be of general importance and such as ought to be dealt with by the local authority under the 1. 48 and 49 Vict. c. 72. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 133 Torrens Act, the Secretary of State could be requested to appoint an arbitrator to report upon the case and also whether, in the event of it being dealt with under the Torrens Acts, the Metropolitan Board of Works ought to contribute towards the expense. Upon the consideration of this report, the Secretary of State could decide under which class of Act the representation must be dealt with. The appeal to a jury from an arbitrator's award of com- pensation under the Cross Acts was henceforth prohibited except by lea,ve o.f the High Court of Justice or any Judge thereof at chambers. The Act also dealt with the making of bye-laws for tenement houses, and with the sanitarj^ regulation of tents, vans, sheds, and similar structures used as dwelling places. Though there was no very extensive utilisation of the Cross Acts between 1879 and 1890, the legislature appar- ently believed that the procedure outlined in them was, on the whole, satisfactory, and, consequently, with one exception, the Acts were embodied in the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890 about as they already stood on the statute book. The important exception was a change in the definition of an unhealthy area rendering it un- necessary to prove that an area complained of as being unhealthy was subject to disease. It was now sufficient to establish that the conditions were dangerous or injuri- ous to health. Among the minor changes made, by the way, was one increasing the penalty of the 1875 Cross Act from £20 to £50 upon persons beneficially interested in premises dealt with under Parts I. or XL, and members of the local authority, voting on questions connected there- with. The amending Act of 1900 did not deal with Part L, and, accordingly, the further amendment of 1903 (3 Ed. VII. c. 39) represented the first substantial alteration of 134 THE HOUSING PROBLEM this portion of the housing law since 1885. The changes made were (1) extension of the maximum loan repayment period to 80 years, (2) as regards money borrowed for hous- ing purposes, the removal of the limitation imposed by the Public Health Act of 1875, (3) the empowering of the central authority to order a local authority, even though the latter should pass no resolution as stated in the prin- cipal Act, to make a scheme under Part I. (or Part II.), enforcing their order by mandamus if necessary, (4) the granting of the same appeal privileges to any twelve rate- payers of the district, as belonged, under the main Act, to the twelve originally making complaint to the Medical Officer of Health, (5) the attaching of exactly the same force to a provisional order as to a confirming Act in cases where land is not proposed to be taken compulsorily or, being proposed to be so taken, in cases where there are no objections raised within two months of the publication of the order (if objections of land owners can be met by a modified order, the same can be substituted for the original order without recourse to Parliament),^ (6) the modification of the obligation on the part of the local authority to advertise a Part I. scheme, after they have prepared the same, during one of the three months, September, October, and November, any part of the year being now available. The Act of 1903 is also noteworthy in that it extended the controlling power of the central authority ^ over dis- housing projects contained in local Acts and Provisional Orders. The inclusion of these powers resvilted from the 1. The modified order must be advertised and notified as in the case of the original, but no petitions are to be received or to have any effect unless such as have been presented against the original order or such as are concerned solely with the modifications sanctioned by the new order. 2. For London, the Secretary of State; for the remainder of the country, the Local Government Board. See Section 16 of Act. IMPROVEMENT LEGISLATION 135 report of tlie Joint Select Committee (1902) on Housing of "Working Classes, to which a reference was made in the first chapter. The important schedule in which these powers are prescribed is given in full in Appendix B, so that a brief summary will suffice here. It is laid down in the body of the Act that the provisions of the schedule are to apply where land is acquired by local Act or Provisional Order or Order having the effect of an Act, either compulsorily or by agreement, by any authority, company or person or where land is acquired compulsorily under any general Act other than the Housing Acts. Working men's dwellings, occupied by thirty or more working class people, are not to be taken until the central authority have approved a rehousing scheme, or have decided that such is unnecessary. In this housing scheme, the central authority have to take into consideration not merely the number of present occupiers, but also any persons of the working classes displaced within the previous five years in view of the acquisition of the land by the parties seeking the powers of the Act or Order — a clause intended to prevent evasion of responsibilities ^ under the Act, but somewhat difficult to make really effective inas- much as many reasons, apart from the acquisition of the land, might be plausibly advanced by ingenious minds. In the execution of the housing scheme, resulting from the dishousing, lands are to be appropriated for twenty- five years from date for the purpose of dwellings for working people, unless the central authority dispense with this requirement. Other powers granted enable the central authority to require new houses to be ready for occupation before the proposed dwellings are taken, also to enforce the 1. The basis of the provisions of the schedule is to be found in the Parliamentary Standing Orders, whose provisions had been evaded ac- cording to evidence before the Joint Select Committee. 136 THE HOUSING PROBLEM carrying out of tlie provisions of approved housing schemes by mandamus. Entering on such workmen's dwellings without consent of the central authority renders the offender liable to a penalty of £500 in the case of each dwelling taken. Not even the most ambitious administra- tive body could ask for more lavish powers than Parliament conferred upon the Local G-overnment Board (or the Secretary of State) in this matter. Included in the schedule, by the way, will be noticed a further edition of the standard " working class " definition, which is clearer and more definite in its phraseology than its legal predecessor. With the Act of 1903, the present outline of housing legislation necessarily comes to a close, though two further chapters in this Part of the volume will deal with the utilisation of the legislation. Parliament has certainly not hesitated to provide our local authorities with wide ex- tending powers. It would seem as though the only thing left was to place these powers into discreet and really effec- tive operation. 137 CHAPTER VII. The Utilisation of Housing Legislation in England. The development of housing legislation in this country- has heen briefly covered in the preceding three chapters, but only incidentally has anything been said as to the extent to which it has been operative. It is important to ascertain whether any material improvement in the housing conditions of the poorer classes may be placed to the credit of the various measures composing that legislation. In 1885, the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Work- ing Classes came to the conclusion that, during the pre- ceding thirty years, there had been a great improvement in the dwellings of the working classes, and, no doubt, con- siderable progress had been made, both in building and sanitary regulation, in the direction of increased efficiency of supervision. The local authorities, under the stimulus of the greater publicity to which their conduct was sub- jected by the press, had come to recognise more fully their responsibilities and duties. But, as just indicated, the means adopted by them to secure the health and, to some degree, the comfort of the inhabitants of their res- pective areas of jurisdiction had been those provided by the sanitary and building Acts rather than by the housing Acts, commonly so called. Fair progress had been made in matters affecting the sanitary and structural supervision of individual streets and houses, but there had been little attempt to utilise the more or less radical powers, placed in their hands by Parliament, either in the reconstruction of insanitary areas, or in the demolition of houses unfit for habitation or conducing to make other houses unfit, or in 138 THE HOUSING PROBLEM the actual building up of new property. The evils result- ing from the OTercrowding both of houses and of persons, which the housing legislation^ had been designed to cure, were little mitigated. Though much legislation had been provided, " the existing laws," reported the Royal Com- mission, " were not put into force, some of them having remained a dead letter from the date when they first found place in the statute book." When drafting this part of their report, the Commis- sioners would have prominent in their minds, probably, the instance of the Shaftesbury Act of 1851, which had been almost totally ineffective. Local authorities had not evidenced the slightest desire to make use of its powers ; only one exception to this general indifference towards the Act is known to the writer — Huddersfield, where in 1853 a municipal lodging house had been erected under the Act. It seems, as the Permanent Secretary of the Local Govern- ment Board indicated in his evidence before the Commis- sion, that the Act had been generally regarded as providing for the establishment of a superior kind of common lodging house rather than for tenement dwelling houses, ^ and this no doubt dissuaded municipalities from adopting it, as there was a well-marked reluctance on their part to assume the responsibility of the direct management of such places. The vague wording of the Act afforded ground for such a view of its purport, though its noble author hardly intended it to be so limited ; indeed, in his evidence (1884), he went so far as to assert that, if the Act had been put into operation, it would have been found to provide almost everything required in the way of legislative powers. Fifteen years later, the Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses 1. Including under that phrase those portions of the sanitary Acts which deal with overcrowding. 2. Royal Commission, 1884-5 evidence, 375. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 139 Act, 1866, in granting power botli to local authorities, companies, associations, and individuals to borrow money for the provision of bousing accommodation, employed the wider term, ' dwellings,' without any limitation upon its meaning, except that such accommodation should be for the working classes. Certainly, many tenement dwellings were erected by private enterprise under the facilities afforded by this enactment, and as, according to its second section, the 1866 measure was to be deemed incorporated with that of 1851 and the two read together as one, it may be assumed, with fair probability, that local authorities could have interpreted the earlier Act in the light of the later, and have proceeded to act accordingly. However, they did not do so. The Secretary of the Public Works Loan Board, in giving evidence before the Royal Com- mission, stated that, up to March, 1884, only one loan under the 1866 Act had been advanced to a local authority, the one entitled to this distinction being Liverpool. ^ Subse- quent to the restrictions of the Treasury Minute made- under the powers of the Public Works Loans Act of 1879, the larger municipal corporations were not likely to appeal for advances to the Loan Commissioners, inasmuch as they could probably borrow, on equally favourable terms, on their own stock, and hence much evidence of them in the accounts of the Commissioners after that date is not to be expected ; but neither there nor elsewhere is there any record of dwelling or lodging houses in England being erected by them under the Shaftesbury Acts, though houses were erected under the requirements of local Acts, as, in 1865, 1875, and 1880 by the Corporation of the City of London under the Holborn Yalley Improvement Act, in 1882 by Huddersfield, and, after 1875, under the Cross 1. Eoyal Commission, 1884. 11169— 11176. 140 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Acts, as by the Corporation of tlie City (Petticoat Square site, 1877), and by Liverpool (Victoria Square and Juvenal Dwellings) .-■- The latter borough, as we have noticed, did borrow a sum of £13,000 from the Loan Commissioners, but, while it thus availed itself of the facilities offered under the 1866 Act, its action, was really the result of powers exercised under a local Sanitary Act obtained in 1864, so that the dwelling accommodation provided by the Corporation in 1869 can hardly be directly attributed to the stimulus of the Acts of 1866 and 1851. In the case of parochial authorities, the indisposition to assume the powers of the Act may have been intensified by an unwillingness to undertake the work in the only way the Act authorised them, namely, by appointing Commissioners into whose hands the execution of its powers had to be put. It has been urged also that the absence of compulsory powers of purchase from the Act rendered it an undesirable measure from the point of view of the local authorities, inasmuch as, in treating for lands and buildings by agreement, they would have found it very difiicult to purchase at a fair market price, vendors looking upon municipal and similar bodies more or less as a providential means of securing to themselves abnormal rates of profit upon their transactions. Finally, and this applies to many Acts besides the Shaftesbury one, there was, with few exceptions, a widespread apathy on the part of municipal bodies towards the undertaking of any further duties than were already obligatory upon them. Private enterprise, however, though not legislatively recognised until 1855 (the Labourers' Dwellings Act) and not financially assisted until 1866, was undoubtedly stimulated by the facilities afforded. In addition to the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwellings of 1. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 1901, pp. 222-3. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 141 the Industrious Classes (1847), and the Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes (1850), which were established prior to the enacting of the measures named, the following companies and other organisations were all in operation prior to 1890 — the Peabody Donation Fund Trustees (1864) ; the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, Ld. (1864) ; the Strand Building Company (1867) ; the Artizans', Labourers', and General Dwellings Company, Ld. (1867) ; Bell Street, Edgware Eoad, Trust (1870); the ITational Dwellings Society, Ld. (1875) ; the Victoria Dwellings Association (1877) ; South London Dwellings Company, Ld. (1879) ; the East End Dwellings Company, Ld. (1885) ; the Metropolitan Industrial Dwellings Company, Ld. (1886) ; the Four Per Cent. Industrial Dwellings Company, Ld. (1887); the Tenements Dwellings Company, Ld. (1887) ; besides a few similar organisations in the provinces, such as the Newcastle Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, Ld. (1870), and the Salford Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, Ld. (1871). ^ The (London) Society for Improv- ing the Condition of the Labouring Classes also did some work in Hull. Under the 1866 and 1879 (Public Works Loans Act) Acts, some of these undertakings borrowed considerable sums from the Loans Commissioners. The Metropolitan Board of Works, it may be noticed, sold most of their sites, cleared under the Cross Acts, to the Peabody Trustees, the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, and the East End Dwellings Company, the statutory re- housing requirements being fulfilled by the purchasers. The quarter of a century succeeding the year 1865 was a period of marked activity on the part of these companies and associations. In connection with the 1866 and 1879 measures, the Working Men's Dwellings Act of 1874, the clauses of which 1. As well as the Leeds Industrial Dwellings Co. (1876). 142 THE HOUSING PROBLEM ■were substantially incoi-porated in Part V. of the Muni- cipal Act, ought to be noticed. Tbougli the powers con- ferred were not made mucb use of, yet the statute might have become very useful indeed, for just as the 1868 Act facilitated the obtaining of monies, so this Act facilitated the acquisition of sites, and a combination of this kind, properly ai-ranged and worked, might have enabled private enterprise to accomplish great things in relieving the pres- sure of population upon the cheaper sort of house accom- modation. The Local Government Board reports covering the years 1888 to 1905 record but six instances during those years of the utilisation of the statute — Carlisle and Lei- cester in 1898-99, Devizes in 1900-01, Devizes again and Marlborough in 1901-02, and Marlborough again in 1904-5. Each year, since 1888, the Local Government Board has published in Appendix D. of its report a table headed " Instruments issued by the Local Government Board to Municipal Corporations under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, in respect of purposes other than the raising of loans during the year ending on the 31st March, . . .," and it is in this appendix that the references to the above named places are to be found. Prior to 1888, the powers exercised by the Board with reference tO' the corporate property and liabilities of municipal corporations belonged to the Treasury;^ hence the Local Government Board re- ports give no record of instruments issued before that year. The Torrens Act of 1868, subsequently amended in 1879, 1882, and 1885, was based upon the principle " that the responsibility of maintaining his houses in proper condition falls upon the owner, and that if he fails in his duty, the law is justified in stepping in and compelling him to perform it." It further assumes " that houses uniit for human habitation ought not to be used as dwellings, 1. Local Government Board Report, 1888 — 89, p. 21. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 143 "but ought, in the interests of the public, to be cleared and demolished, and to be subsequently rebuilt. The ex- propriation of the owner is thus a secondary step in the transaction, and only takes place after the failure of other means of rendering the houses habitable." ^ The principle thus enunciated is a satisfactory one, but it was found difficult to carry it into effect, and as a result very little action was taken under these Acts. According to the statement of the representative of the Local Government Board, made before the Royal Commission, no appeal of householders, as provided for by the 1868 Act, in the case of a local authority neglecting to enforce its provisions, had ever come before the Board,^ and in only one case (Parish of Marylebone) had they been asked to appoint an arbitrator under the Torrens Acts.^ By the 1879 amendment, the Metropolitan Board of "Works had been given powers to enforce the Act where the local authority declined or failed to act, but the Commissioners were assured that this privilege had never been exercised, nor that given, in 1882, to Boards of Guardians, granting them the right to make a complaint to the Metropolitan Board of Works upon the failure of the local authority to act.* The former considered the clauses of the 1879 Act, bearing upon their power of interference, obscure, and so took refuge from litigation in inaction. Facts like these testified pointedly to the practical failure of the Act as an operative measure. According to a Parliamentary Eeturn issued in 1889, during the half-dozen years 1883-88 there were only four towns outside of the Metropolis where it was put into effect, viz., Manchester, Nottingham, Oldham, and "West Ham. "Where the local authorities 1. Draft Report of Chairman. Select Committee, 1881-2. 2. Royal Commission, 1885 — 337. 3. 76. 314. 4. Royal Commission, 1885 — 333. 144 THE HOUSING PROBLEM did anything at all, they generally preferred to work under the sanitary Acts or local Acts. Thus, Limehouse, St. Leonard (Shoreditch), and Stroud took action under the Nuisances Removal Acts, Birmingham under the Health Act of 1875, and Bolton, Bradford, Leeds, Liverpool and Salford under local Acts of one kind or another. It is significant that the Return names eight tirban sanitary districts with a population of not less than 100,000 people each, and fifteen London parishes, in which proceedings had not been taken under the Acts, and for which no information had been furnished to the authorities as to whether action had been taken under local Acts. The details of such action as was taken under the Torrens Acts during the years mentioned will be found in the following table, taken from Parliamentary Return 287, 1889 : — ■ UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 145 TABLE XXI. List of Urban Sanitary Districts with a Population OF not Less than 100,000, and of Parishes or Districts in the Metropolis, where Proceedings WERE Taken under the Torrens Acts During the Period 1883—88. .si S S S »-i Name of District or a|«| I i|i|| fs^flSl P-i*- Year. J^^og ^5|| |^ ^5 I 11 go Manchester 1886 160 135 135 Nottingliam 1883 21 21 21 1884 59 59 59 1885 5 5 5 1886 17 17 17 1887 5 5 5 1888 17 17 17 Oldham 1884 5 5 *5 1887 2 2 t2 1888 3 3 t3 West Ham 1884 23 23 23 1885 6 6 6 1887 1 11 1888 1 11 Parishes or Districts in the Metropolis... 1883-88 **1632 tt863 837 * Permanently closed. t Repaired : at date of return in process of sale for demolition. JOne permanently closed. Two closed for repairs. **Dealt with under Sanitary Acts 207 Works undertaken or dwelling closed voluntarily by owner ... 17 Owner undertook not to let or use premises for human habitation 1 Demolished under improvement scheme 40 In hand at time of return 24 Reports not entertained by local authority 86 No further proceedings 394 769 ttLapsed 10 Not carried out 16 25 K 146 THE HOUSING PROBLEM During the period covered by the Return, no memorial had been addressed to the Secretary of State or to the Local Government Board protesting against the refusal or neglect of local authorities to put the Act into force : we have seen that this was also the case in the decade and a half preceding the holding of the Eoyal Commission. i There were certainly real difficulties in the Torrens code which deterred local authorities from utilizing it. One of the most conspicuous of these was the fact that the amending Act of 1879 enabled owners of property, upon which a repairing order had been made, to demand that the local authority should purchase — a most efficacious means of preventing them from making such orders. This clause was too absurd to have a very long existence, and so in 1885 it was struck out. The real intent of the Act, moreover, could often be evaded by a delusive system of repairs ; the owners might execute just sufficient repairs to satisfy the justices to whom an appeal would be made, though by no means enough to place the property in good sanitary condition : thus the object of the repairing order would be frustrated. In one way or another, the opera- tion of the Acts was likely to cause much trouble to local authorities at the risk of accomplishing very little, and, where something was accomplished, heavy expenses were likely to be incurred. Facility of appeal, rigidity of arbi- tration, and profuseness of compensation are defects potent to nullify the usefulness of any legislation. Nor were these the only weak points in the Torrens Acts. Unhealthy dwellings, compelled to be repaired or reconstructed, sprang up again on the same site, the street or court remaining as congested as ever, unless further measures could be 1. Torrens Act being passed in 1868, the statement in the text thus covers twenty-one years ; it may be added that the short time intervening between 1888 and the passing of the 1890 Act witnessed no change in this respect. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 147 adopted. Obstructive buildings, after 1882, could be de- molished and their sites kept as open spaces or highways, but a fairly considerable area might require entire recon- struction, and yet be too small to justify the costly processes of the Cross Acts. Ultimately in 1890, as we have seen, this was reached by allowing small area-s to be dealt with under Part II. (which was modelled upon the Torrens Acts), but, even prior to this, a step had been made in the same direction by the rule of the 1882 Act that representa- tions dealing with not more thaai ten houses should be dealt with under the Torrens Acts. In connection with the handling of schemes under the Cross and Torrens Acts, much friction arose between the Metropolitan Board and the local vestries within its area of jurisdiction. The latter were anxious to have as many of their schemes as possible treated under the Cross Acts and thus thro'Wn as a charge upon the whole Metropolis, the former's anxiety was just in the opposite direction and hence there was a constant shuffling of responsibilities,^ until at last the 1885 Act settled the matter by empowering the Secretary of State to hold an inquiry and decide. The Cross Acts proceeded upon a different principle from the Torrens. " They contemplate dealing with whole areas, where the houses are so structurally defective as to be incapable of repair, and so ill-placed with reference to each other as to require, to bring them up to a proper sanitary standard, nothing short of demolition and recon- struction. Accordingly, in this case the local authority, axmed with compulsory powers, at once enters as a pur- chaser, and on completion of the purchase proceeds forth- with to a scheme of reconstruction." ^ Like the preceding series, they were largely neglected, though perhaps not to 1. Royal Commission, 1884—329, 341, 342. 2. Draft Report of Chairman, Select Committee, 1881-2. 148 THE HOUSING PROBLEM the same extent. The chief reason for this neglect seems to have been the great expense entailed by procedure under their powers. Mr. Shaw Lefevre's evidence in 1884 stated that eleven improvement schemes carried out in London under the Cross Acts resulted in a loss of £1,250,000, to the Metropolitan Board of Works, ^ and of this sum no less than £400,000 was due to excessive valuation. Mr. Chamberlain estimated the cost of the Birmingham scheme under the Act to be £300,000 or £400,000 over the ordinary market value, ^ and this in spite of the very carefully worded arbitration clauses of the Act. The causes of such high compensation are not difficult to ascertain, and as they still operate to a greater or less degree, it is worth while briefly considering them. For one thing, there appeared to be a constant tendency on the part of arbi- trators and juries to deal very liberally with the monies of the local authorities. jSTot for one moment is it sug- gested that either arbitrators or juries did not strive their utmost to come to a fair and just award, but the contest between local authority and private owner often seemed like a struggle between a giant and a dwarf, between strong and weak, and consequently there was a natural disposition to emphasize every point in favour of the latter. Probably the thought was always present that the former had aa inexhaustible purse to draw upon, in the shape of the rates. But there were other forces at work over which arbitrators had no control. From the enhancement of rental value by the overcrowding of individuals within a house proper deductions were to be made, but no provision was made for enhanced value brought about by overcrowding of houses upon an area whereby its rent and the rent of the houses were driven up, and compensation necessarily raised above 1. Royal Commission, 1885 — 12634. 2. lb., p. 34 of Eeport. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 149 the normal — yet the evils resulting from house overcrowd- ing are as serious, indirectly if not directly, as those from human overcrowding. Another circumstance, making for increased compensation, was the number of interests in- volved in the ownership of land and the buildings upon it. As was pointed out to the Commission, besides the ground landlord there would be, perhaps, two or three intervening persons between him and the ultimate tenant. All these lessees and sub-lessees had to be compensated and though it would have been proper simply to divide the amount of compensation that would have been due to a single interest in the property, in practice, this was very far from what was done ; generally, the greater the number of interests, the larger was the compensation and of course the law costs. Apart from such conditions, the original Cross Act, in one particular, directly influenced the arbitrators to increase the amount of compensation, the clause, namely, in which they were instructed, in assessing the compensation payable in respect of lands or interests taken compulsorily, to take into account " all circumstances aifecting such value." A more than literal obedience to the clause was given, for, in numerous in- stances, the fortunate proprietors of condemned property — unfit for habitation — received as much compensation as though their houses were in a most satisfactory condition. The Select Committee (1881-82) had clear evidence before them that the arbitrators had been influenced by the clause to increase the valuation, and as a result it was struck out, by the 1882 Act, both from the Cross Act of 1875 and the Torrens Act of 1879. The Cross Act as originally framed rigidly insisted upon the rehousing of as many people of the working classes as were displaced, by a scheme under it, within or near the area of improvement. Such rehousing was very expensive ISO THE HOUSING PROBLEM and sometimes seemed somewhat unnecessary inasmuch as, during the period of the clearing and reconstruction of the area, the former tenants had secured fresh accommoda- tion in which they had settled down again, and, as a result, the tenants of the new dwellings were far from being identical with those displaced. After four years' working of the Act the absolute restriction of the locality of the rehousing was found to be impracticable, and, in three years more, that is in 1882, the rule requiring the rehousing of all persons (of the working classes) displaced was recognised to be unnecessarily strict, and, so in the 1879 and 1882 amendments, permission to modify these requirements was granted to the central authority. Another defect attaching to the Cross Act, as also to the Torrens, was the dilatory mode of procedure it countenanced. In each successive measure amending the 1875 Act there is evidence of an effort to remove causes of unnecessary delay, markedly testifying to the difi&culty that existed in securing its expeditious working. All of these difHculties and impediments were strongly complained of by the Metropolitan Board of Works. One restriction they felt very keenly was the prohibition of the sale of cleared sites except under the obligation that working class dwellings should be built thereon, for this prevented them obtaining more than one fifth of the commercial value of the land which they themselves had to pay. For example, under the 1887 St. Luke's scheme, land, worth commercially Is. 2d. per square foot, had to be sold, on account of the limitation of its use, for twenty years' purchase at a rent of 3d. per square foot.^ In view of the many difficulties experienced by local authorities in the working of the Cross Acts, especially during the period 1875 to 1882, it 1. Stewart: Housing Question in London. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 151 is not surprising that extensive schemes of reform were not common. Still, though comparatively neglected, a certain amount of action was taken under them, particularly by the Metropolitan Board of Works, who borrowed nearly £1| millions for the purpose of the Act, £1,330,000 of which was borrowed between 1878 and 1881 inclusive. Prior to 1889 this body had completed sixteen schemes and initiated six others which were completed by the London County Council. The cost of the sixteen schemes worked out at £1,323,415 though it had been estimated at £759,424 : under them 22, 868 persons were displaced and 27,780 rehoused. The remaining six schemes cost £281,673, about £54,000 above the estimate, and displaced 6,188 persons, rehousing 2,930. It should be borne in mind that the Metropolitan Board did not undertake any rehousing, but simply sold the sites at nominal prices to various com- panies for building working class dwellings, these com- panies erecting 7,026 dwellings containing 14,093 rooms. The following table summarises the work done. TABLE XXII. Activity of the Metropolitan Board of Works — Cross ACTS.^ Number Extent Number of Estimated Cost Actual of aTeas of Persons Persons of Clearances. net Cost. dealt with. displaced. rehoused. £ £ Acres. 16 Schemes* 759,424 1,323,415 421/7 22,868 27,780 6 Schemes! 227,930 281,673 8i9/,„ 6,188 2,930 * Completed. t Commenced — completed by London County Council. 1. For further details see Parliamentary Return 275, April 1888. 152 THE HOUSING PROBLEM In 1877, the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London cleared the Grolden Lane and Petticoat Square neighbourhoods under the Act, ^ Liverpool cleared two sites, Birmingham distinguished itself, immediately after the passing of the Act, by initiating quite an extensive clear- ance, an example followed by its neighbour, Wolverhamp- ton ; Swansea, Walsall and Norwich also took action under its powers, borrowing monies for the purpose from the Loans Commissioners. A Parliamentary Return, issued in 1888, ^ives interesting details concerning the work done by the provincial urban sanitary authorities from the date of the enactment of the Cross Act to the April of 1888, and it may be taken as practically covering the whole period prior to the 1890 Act.^ The information is tabu- lated as shown on the following page. Date of Number Money borrowed Estimated Coat Improvement of areas Size for purposes of Improvement Actual Scheme. referred to. Sq. Ft. of tiie Act. Sclieme. Cost. Oct., 1876 ... 4 ... 126,390 ... £347,000 ... £284,544 ... £328,765 Independent Including of buildings. buildings, but exclusive of interest or loans. Two official representations were made, afiecting 22 areas covering 458,970 square feet, four of whish were proceeded with as above. Of the remaining 18, one was in abeyance at the date of the return from which these particulars are abstracted (April, 1888), and, with regard to the other 17, the houses had been pulled or were being pulled down or alterations carried out without any further action on the part of the Commissioners. In three cases, railway extensions accounted for the demolition. 2. Birmingham was given authority, in 1887, to raise £100,000, and, in 1890, £4,000. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 153 TABLE XXIII. Improvement Schemes of Provincial Urban Sanitary Authorities, under the Cross Acts, 1875 — -85. °g a -g B^ Urban Sanitary PnSm Authority. 1875 Nottingham . Liverpoool !?; £ Size. 1 1306 sq. yds 1 4 acs. 1 rd. 5 pis. Money borrowed for purposes of Acts. £ None Estimated cost of such Improvement Scheme. £ 1,000 1876 Wolverhampton 1 11 acres, 3 roods Walsall Birmingham Swansea 1877 Norwich Devonport 1878 Newcastle-on- Tyne Derby ... 1 2acs. 2rds. 2pls. 2 93 acres 5 llaes. Ird. 18pls. 120,979 1 2 acres, 2 roods 1 3 acres, 35 poles 1 5,533 sq, yds. 2 6acs. Ird. 3 pis. 130,000 Total 92,600 Net 62,254 For acquiring land and clear- ing same 228,239 Total 162,307 Net 45,307 15,000 Total 17,000 Net 10,510 1,650,000 1,344,000 {Original estimate) Total 61,280 Net 11,044 10,000 Net 20,800 None Net 35,000 None None 1881 Nottingham ... 1 12,813 sq. yds. 160.000 Total Net Total Net Total Net 40,000 18,300 86,540 37,774 84,500 35,500 Actual cost of such Improvement Scheme. A profit of £84 14 5 £67,197, cost of land andclearing same. £63,629, cost of 5 blocks of dwellings, 322 tenements £231,652 This is capital expenditure £17,799 £1,644,869 18 5 to date of return £120,979 £9,406 19 11 £1,546 Scheme abandoned Nothing done by Town Council at date of return Not ascertainable at date of return The Return also states tliat official representations were made at Dover (1875), Exeter (1876), Nottingliam (1876),i Hastings (1877),^ Brighton (1877),3 Sheffield (1877),* and Ilfracombe (1888),® but no provisional orders had been 1. Some buildings purchased at a cost of £134. Is. 3d. 2. Local authority considered it too expensive. 3. Question deferred. 4. Complaint by upwards of 12 ratepayers to the medical officer of health, but he "represented " against their complaint, and no further action was taken. 5. Local Board deemed an improvement scheme unnecessary. 154 THE HOUSING PROBLEM applied for up to the date of tlie E,etum. Manchester, it is recorded, had taken action, under local Acts and under the Torrens Acts, Salford under a local Act, and York under the Public Health Act. Thus far in the chapter, attention has been concentrated upon the working of legislation prior to 1890, this date being chosen not because it marks an organic change in the nature or scope of the particular class of legislation now being studied but simply on account of its convenience for retrospection and criticism. As stated in an earlier chapter, the period since 1890 has not witnessed substantial alteration in the composition of the law. When, in that year, the three series of Acts, Cross, Torrens, and Shaftesbury, were consolidated, modifications in their provisions were made with the obj ect of removing some of the difficulties that had been experienced in the working of the previous Acts. To a certain extent, this was successful though, accepting for the moment the policy indicated in the Act and in its predecessors as a proper and justifiable one, it is still possible to discover points in the practical application of its powers which denote that the amending process may still continue. Indeed, since the date of the Act, there has been agitation by municipal authorities and individual reformers, aiming at a more or less radical overhauling of the powers and duties therein conferred by Parliament upon local government. With regard to the alteration of the Act so as to make it more successful along the line of policy it pursues, there are certain specific changes which the weight of public opinion seems to favour. T must confess to some hesitation in using the phrase "public opinion " here, because it is questionable whether public opinion is a good guide. The great masses of the people of all classes, I fear, have no opinion upon the matter, or, if they have, its value is vitiated often enough by a state UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 155 of mind that condemiis or approves of any course of action just as it varies from ot agrees witli tlie precepts of the socialism of the man in the street. Whether these precepts are right or wrong, obviously each case ought to be analysed unbiasedly and judged upon its own merits, but this is just what people in general do not do. Yet it may be assumed, perhaps, that municipal bodies, which are sup- posed to represent and to come into immediate touch with the people, have given more careful consideration to a matter affecting the welfare of their constituents. Cer- tainly, these bodies have clearly marked their approval of the modus operandi of the law : their desires are in the way of am.endment with the object of increasing their powers and enabling them to enter more actively into the combined work of housing and dishousing. One of the largest, most representative, and most influential author- ities of local government is the London County Council, and, in a report of the work carried on under the Housing Acts by the Committee of the Council charged with the same, made in 1900,^ there were embodied definite pro- posals which both mark out the general policy of the Metro- politan local parliament and also may be taken as a fairly accurate index of the trend of municipal opinion, as well as indicating the difficulties which both the London County Council and other local authorities had experienced, up to the date of the report, in putting the Act into opera- tion.^ It is not necessary to enter into a description of every amendment proposed in the report to which reference has been made, and attention will be confined to the more important ones such as would materially affect the action 1. Stewart — The Housing Question in London. 2. The Report of the Glasgow Municipal Commission on the Housing of the Poor (1904) and also the Eeconunendations of the Citizens' Associa- tion of Manchester upon Housing Conditions in Manchester and Salford (T. R. Marr, 1904) should not be overlooked in this regard. 156 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of local authorities in general, if adopted. These were as follows : — (1) After the lapse of three years from the clear- ance, a Part I. scheme should be capable of being modified by a local authority, so that the land may be sold free from the conditions of the scheme, other lands being ac- quired with the purchase money upon which the accom- modation for the working classes should be provided. (2) Power should be given to a local authority to insert a better- ment clause in any scheme under the Act. (3) A provi- sion should be included in Part II. fixing the value of the property at the time of the service of the notice upon the person interested as the value to be compensated. (4) The local authority should be empowered, in the case of property which cannot be rendered fit fox human habita- tion without reconstruction, to proceed for closing orders without first serving notice to repair. (5) The local auth- ority should be able to acquire, under a Part II. scheme, neighbouring lands, if necessary to the effective operation of the scheme. (6) To prevent any dealing with property, to which a scheme should be applied, in anticipation of its being acquired under a scheme, and to facilitate the making of such schemes, immediately upon the passing of a reso- lution by the local authority declaring any area to be in- sanitary, an inspection should be made on behalf of the confirming authority, the result of which should be con- clusive as to the condition of the property for the purpose of the local inquiry held later on after the formulation of a scheme. (7) The confirming authority should have power, under proper conditions, of including in a scheme further properties than are comprised in the scheme as originally drawn. (8) The local authority should not be required to sell and dispose of, within ten years, houses erected under a Part I. scheme. (9) The compensation clauses should be modified, and, in particular, it should UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 157 be made the duty of the freeholder to see that dwelling houses on his property are fit for human habitation : if an official representation be made under the Act, he should have power to re-enter into possession, with only the ob- ligation imposed of re-building, upon the site, houses for the working classes. Should the freeholder fail to fulfil this obligation, the local authority should be empowered to take possession of the land, paying only the market value of the land subject to the obligation to rehouse persons of the working classes, and should then be required to rebuild such dwelling houses on that site.^ Some of these proposals have already materialised into actual legislation, the powers desired under both Clauses 4 and 5 having been granted by the 1903 Housing Act, thereby constituting a distinct improvement in the portions of the housing law affected. ^ There seems to be no logical ground for objection to Clause 1, as it represents merely the further application of a principle already acknowledged in the later modifica- tions of the State housing policy. The incorporation of the powers detailed under both this Clause and Clauses 3 and 6 would certainly tend towards economy in the handling of improvement schemes. While personally I do not favour too frequent resort to extensive schemes of demolition and reconstruction, such schemes are, at times, undoubtedly necessary and desirable ; hence, every feasible and proper means of reducing any abnormal expense likely to arise from their execution should be provided for in our legislation. As regards the removal of the time limitation upon houses erected by a local authority under a Part I. scheme, referred to in Clause 8, it seems incon- 1. Stewart — Housing Question in London, pp. 60 — 6. 2. The seventh recommendation is somewhat vaguely phrased, but may be considered to have been followed in part by the sixth section of the 1903 Act. 158 THE HOUSING PROBLEM sistent with the privilege granted to the same local authority to erect dwellings, under Part III., without any time limit ; in this matter, there is hardly a sound basis of reason for differentiation between the powers of the two parts, and, if the principle of Part III. is a correct one, the local authority should be able to retain its ownership of Part I. dwellings without the necessity of obtaining special permission from the central authority at the expiration of ten years. ^ The issue raised by Clause 7 of the above London County Council recommendations is not so easily determined; in fact, it may raise the whole question of direct Parlia- mentary supervision. This I do not propose to discuss at present, but may say that Section 15 of the 1890 Act provides for modifications of a Part I. scheme with the restriction that, if a larger public expenditure is to be incurred than provided for by the original scheme, the sanction of Parliament must again be sought ; but, under the extended powers of the 1903 amending measure, it is evident that neither in the original nor in the modified schemes, where there is no opposition to the same, is it necessary for the confirming authority to have recourse to Parliament. The time may come when, even in schemes where compulsory purchase of lands is included, the final power will lie with the Local Government Board, except in cases where that body and the local authority may disagree and refer to the Legislature as an arbitrator. The second and ninth Clauses are noteworthy because they touch upon quite controversial questions, and indicate that the London County Council, though sometimes 1. The clause to which reference is made is Para. 5, Sect. 12 of Part I. of the Act — " If the local authority erect any dwelling out of funds to be proyided under this part of this Act, they shall, unless the con- firming authority otherwise determine, sell and dispose of all such dwellings within ten years from the time of the completion thereof." UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 159 accused of being over-sparing in the exhibition of its wisdom, is, at any rate, not lacking in courage. The latter clause seeks to place powers in the hands of every local authority that might be discreetly used or very indiscreetly, and it is to be feared that an enthusiastic Council might be carried away on a wave of reforming zeal to cause more unsettling of local social stability and more restilting mischief than half a century might put right. Without pretending to say the last word upon the subject, it would seem reasonable to urge that the closing and other powers, exerciseable by the local authority through the courts, enable that body to penalise pretty severely the parties immediately responsible, viz., the occupiers and the owner of the buildings, whether the latter be the freeholder or not ; to go further than this, in the present involved conditions of land and property ownership is not a practicable proposition. The second clause brings up the 'betterment' problem, and it should be at once noticed that a modified application of the principle of betterment was admitted into a Torrens scheme so long ago as the year 1879 and extended in 1882, the provision being also reproduced in the 1890 Act (Section 38). Hardly anyone woidd dispute, from a theoretical point of view alone, the desirability of a system of betterment in the improvement of public property, but the broad application of the principle presents a problem of the greatest difficulty. The arguments against the practicability of the principle are familiar, but may be briefly restated. Under a Part I. scheme, how far from the area is the arbitrator to extend his betterment? If this be fixed in the scheme, it is bound to be somewhat arbitrary in its limits, and, if no such limits are fixed, how is he to make an investigation which may be almost illimitable in scope? In any case. i6o THE HOUSING PROBLEM the time required for a proper inquiry would cause mucli delay in the award and considerable inconvenience. The inhabitants of the vicinity of an improved area are bearing, under the present general system of local taxation, a portion of the burden of the expense of improving other localities ; now if they are to pay for their own betterment, would they not be entitled to ask to be relieved from a portion of the tax burden they bear for other districts within the same raunicipality ? This would involve a re- arrangement of local taxation, a difficulty in itself. These are practical obstacles in the way of a broad application of the system of betterment. The more general arguments against it are concisely stated by Dr. E. Schuster in R. H. Inglis-Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy, namely: — (1) There is hardly any public expenditure which does not benefit somebody, and it would be obviously unfair to give away these benefits in some cases and sell them in others. (2) If public bodies may ask for contri- bution from persons benefited by their expenditure, irrespectively of the objects of the expenditure, private corporations or individuals ought to have the same right. (3) It is dangerous to establish a principle of taxation, the incidence of which, instead of being determined by definite general rules, depends on the discretion of one or more individuals whose fitness cannot be ascertained beforehand, and upon a calculation of probabilities which may, and frequently will, be erroneous. (4) If the effect of public expenditure on private property is to be con- sidered at all, irrespectively of the object of the expen- diture, the loss ought to be considered as well as the gain. The 1882 and 1890 enactments extended the principle of betterment from property of the same owner to the property of any owner; no doubt, it would be inequitable that only owners of property dealt with should be liable to UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION i6i pay for tte betterment of their own property in the neighbourhood, and that other owners, though sharing equally in the benefit, should escape free from any burden of this kind, but the extension makes the practical applica- tion of the principle immensely more difficult. Tet, if it is right to apply it in one case, surely it must be so in all, and so the London County Council, accepting the provision for betterment already made in Part II. of the Act, are logically justifi.ed in pressing for its extension to all cases. But how they intend to overcome the inherent difficulties of the principle is beyond the present comprehension of the writer. Upon the discussion of the London policy much more could be said not without profit, but space forbids, and I must hasten to note briefly something of the actual work being done under present conditions. To-day, it is almost unnecessary to observe that, since the passing of the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890, and especially since Part III. was amended in 1900, muni- cipalities up and down the country have more and more freely availed themselves of the powers embodied there- in. The London County Council not only completed the six demolition schemes left over to them by their predecessors, the Board of Works, but entered on a number of new schemes of both demolition and hous- ing. Some of their projects under Part III. are most extensive in scope, such as the Tooting ^ and Norbury ^ schemes, and especially the famous Wood Green and Tottenham scheme under which the Council propose to house ultimately 42,500 persons in 5,779 cottages on an area of some 225 acres.^ Among work of the Council 1. When completed, will provide accommodation for 8,432 persons on 385 acres at an estimated cost of £400,000. 2. Proposed to accommodate 5,800 persons on 31 acres. 3. See Municipal Year Book, 1906, p. 473; also Economic Journal, June, 1902, p. 263. i62 THE HOUSING PROBLEM imder Part I. may be mentioned the Boundary Street, Clare Market, Clerkenwell and Holborn, Garden Eow, and Soutbwark improvements, and they have also executed some smaller schemes under Part II. In London, it will be remembered, the administration of Part I. is reserved to the County Council, who may also undertake Part 11. and Part III. schemes; in the case of Part II. schemes, a contribution of from one-third to one-half of the net cost is usually obtained from the local Council having jurisdic- tion over the borough wherein the area treated is situated. In a similar way. Part II. schemes undertaken by the local Councils are helped to the same extent by the County Council. The London Borough Councils date only from November, 1900, when they entered upon their duties as Councils under the provisions of the London Government Act of 1899 (62 & 63 Yict. c. 14), and all powers exercised by them under Part III. date from that time; details of their action under this Part may be found in the Municipal Tear Book for the current year.^ Through the kindness of the Clerk of the Council, Mr. G. L. Gomme, I am enabled to give the following table, presenting a concise conspectus of the housing work done by the London County Council up to March 31st, 1906 : — 1. For 1906 Year Book— see pages 478 — 481. o o 1^ h^ ^ W Eh UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 163 00 CO ^5 CD "^ if) i^ g -g (M o 00 =^ fl « ■ 22 «> d^S oO o -ss 00 00 .S'^-S ;j:! -^^ m CO o o 05 « ,£oSj^g'T3 1^ "a 6.-2 02 g -*^ • ■ ■ ■ '■ <3 Pi' o 03 00 Oi rH CO t» S'=« Mo ^ o;^ si I <| ^ O) f=q H ^ a ^ o h Cl^ w ^ o .a (M CD ■^ P J>- •^ 00 •^ do Tfl ^ CO : a Is 1 <+-! ' -£ M ^ Board art I.) l-H -1-3 s s > >^ >> pq pq m w i64 THE HOUSING PROBLEM PP la M Mi P o H be o ^ t^ o o « CB _d . ■tsco !? o M o ■g^ B ^1 -w PMiS o o c« 60 Pi •i— I DO g O I — I ^ H'^ O ft ■*3 o £ o :S . o .a a =1 tl S © P3 fl go o Ssa S^ o a " s o3 o CI (XI CO CO 00 * CD O cn CO CO OO o * CD bo 00 o o CO CO CD, 05 CM co__ o CD (M CO CO 05 to CD 00 CO CO o CD 1^^ ^S ■fH PI > 9 10 Devonport 11 12 13 jj Sunderland 14 )} 15 16 )) Birkenhead 17 jj 18 19 j; Leeds 20 )j 21 22 Bath 23 ?3 24 25 Prescot 26 J3 27 28 Bradford (Yorkshire) 29 " 30 31 Liverpool 32 )> 33 34 Darwen 35 ,, 36 )> Parts 1891 1892 1893 1894 £ £ £ £ 11. III. — — — — II. III. — — — — II. III. — — — — II. III. II. — — I I III. II. III. II. — — — , . z z I III. — — — — II. III. — — — — II. III. II. III. — — — — — — — — II. III. II. — — 10000 III. — — — — continued. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 175 1895 £ 1896 £ 1897 £ 180 1898 £ 1899 £ 1900 £ 1901 £ 1902 £ 1903 £ 1904 £ — 36512 76346 — 18350 — — 14500 — 32000 — 9146 26078 505 12500 Paying off Loans 20887 15800 12298 9000 — — — 8358 23551 11412 35963 — — 350 — — 1614 — 26650 7250 8892 > 15694 - Paying off Loans 1827 1805 J 19237 150000 — 603803 156606 — — 10983 — — — — 10012 — 4400 6000 3970 7800 ^ 11233 Paying I off Loans 7800 150000 28981 — 13000 — 26600 31400 96000 64000 1230 — 5115 12000 — — 5500 2000 — — — 5377 420 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 U 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 176 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Table XXVI.- 1 Hereford 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Tamworth Poole Eccles Eichmond (Surrey) Newcastle-on-Tyne Folkestone Llandudno Hornsey Barnes . . . Bognor West Ham Parts I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. , I. II. III. I. II. III. 1891 £ 1892 £ 1893 £ 1894 £ 17350 5761 UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 177 continued. 1895 1896 £ 1897 £ 1898 £ 1899 £ 1900 £ 1901 £ 1902 £ 1903 £ 1904 £ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 3915 3918 _ _ _ 4835 1175 406 — — — 21975 — ^ Paying off Loans 21827 2028 18892 1635 — 12500 — 4000 — 907 Paying j Paying I off Loans I off Loans — 4357 — — — 1926 — 6694. - 1144/ — — 31000 ' — 3767 = 44285 44285 — — — — 1600 16900 — — — — 400 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 200 450 — — — — — — — — — — ~~ — — 11976 50387 169139 — 2697 — 178 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Table XXVI. - 1 Leicester 2 J) 3 ,, 4 Southgate 5 ,, 6 )) 7 Tunbridge Wells 8 >> >> 9 >) >j 10 Basingstoke 11 J, 12 „ 13 Ealing 14 15 ,, 16 East Ham 17 ,, ,, 18 ,, „ 19 Finchley 20 'J 21 ,, 22 Aberystwith 23 ,, 24 )> 25 Alnwick 26 ,, 27 28 Barking Town ... 29 3? ?5 30 J5 JJ 31 Brentford 32 ,, 33 ,, 34 Burton-upon- Trent 35 36 Parts 1891 1892 1893 1894 £ £ £ £ I. — — — — II. — — III. — — — — I. — — — II. — — _ III. — — — — II. , z III. I. — — — — II. III. I. — 5 — II. III. I. II. — — — — I I III. I. II. — — — — I III. I. — — — — 11. III. — — — — I. II. I III. I. — — — — II. III. I. II. — — — — , III. I. II. — — — — — . — — — III. — — — — UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 179 continued. 1895 £ 1896 £ 1897 £ 1898 £ 1899 £ 1900 £ 1901 £ 1902 £ 1903 £ — 6525 3275 1904 £ — 20000 — 3000 — — 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 5350 30566 Paying off Loans 5243 — — 4100 — — — — 120640 — 7045 — 1850 — — — 16000 3300 Paying off Loans " 3076 1100 — 1240 — — 13000 — — 20125 — 14500 6950 — 33000 — — 13400 M i8o THE HOUSING PROBLEM Table XXVI.— 1 Edmonton ... . 2 3 " .' ] 4 Heston and Isleworth . 5 6 )j J) 7 Hexham 8 9 jj 10 11 Ehyl 12 13 Stafford ... . 14 15 16 Tottenham ... . 17 18 ,) — 19 Wood G-reen 20 21 yi )) 22 Erith 23 24 25 Esher and Dittons ... . 26 27 28 Gosporfc and Alverstoke 29 f} J) 3J 30 )) )) )J 31 Grays Thurrock 32 }) J) 33 )) >j 34 Hampton . . . 35 ,, 36 „ ... . 37 Hendon 38 >y 39 it I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. 11. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. in. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION i8i continued. — 8630 — _ 582 _ g ~" ~ ~ ~ — — — V 2739 5 — — — 2833 _ 5100 _j 6 — - - 327 - _ _ Z 9 — — — 3000 — — — _ 12 — — — 1400 6500 — _ _ 15 — — — 2273 — _ _ _ 18 — — — 3300 — _ _ _ 21 — — — — 14930 861 — — 24 ~ ~ — — — — — — 26 — — — — 2250 — _ _ 27 — — — - 3326 — _ _ 30 ~~~ — — — — — 32 — - - - 6400 _ _ _ 33 — — — — — _ _ — 34 ~~"~~ — — — — 35 — — — — 1160 — 14685 — 36 ~~"- — — — — — 37 "■"" — — — — 38 — - - - 1265 _ _ _ 39 l82 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Table XXVI.- 1 Merthyr Tydfil. 2 )> S3 3 „ 4 Southend-on-Sea 5 jj jj 6 M >J 7 Wellington 8 J) 9 >: 10 Bangor 11 12 13 Brentwood 14 15 16 Bristol 17 18 19 East Grinstead . 20 „ 21 )j 22 Famham 23 )j 24 ,, 25 Swansea 26 ,, 27 ,, 28 Whitley Upper . 29 ,, ,, •• 30 J) ), •■ 31 Wolverhampton 32 >» 33 J) 34 Workington 35 ,. 36 !> 37 Wrotham ... . 38 M 39 ') Parts I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. 11. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. I. II. III. 1891 £ 1892 £ 1893 £ 1894 £ UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION continued. 183 1895 £ 1896 £ 1897 £ 2899 £ 1899 £ 1900 £ 1901 £ 1902 £ 1903 £ 15000 — 16250 1904 £ 2047 Paying off Loans 1476 4200 — _ _ 9 — — — - 10 — — — — 11 — 7445 10065 — 12 — — — — 13 — — — — 14 — 6000 — _ 15 — — — — 16 — — — — 17 — 9157 — 1000 18 — — — — 19 — — — — 20 — 5800 227 — 21 — — — — 22 — — — — 23 — 3668 — _ 24 — — — — 25 — — — — 26 — 860 — 178 27 — — — 28 — — — — 29 — 1240 _ _ 30 ~ — — — 31 ~ — — — 32 — 5618 _ _ 33 ■~ — — — 34 ~" "~ — — 35 — 3315 — — 36 ~ ~ — — 37 ~ ~ ~ — 38 — 3058 — — 39 i84 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Table XXVI.— Parts 1891 1892 1893 1894 £ £ £ £ 1 Abercorn I. — — — — 2 J, . II. — — — — 3 ,, . III. — — — _ 4 Chester I. — — — — 5 ,, . II. — — — — 6 ,, . III. — — — — 7 Lichfield ... I. — . — — — 8 ,, . II. — — — — 9 i> . III. — — — — 10 Stanley I. — — — — 11 ,, . II. — — — — 12 . III. — — — — 13 Croydon I. — — — — 14 J? . II. — — — — 15 ,, . III. — — — — 16 Guildford ... I. — — — — 17 ,, . II. — — — — 18 ,, . III. — — — — 19 Neath I. — — — — 20 . II. — — — — 21 yy . III. — — — — 22 Thingoe, West Suffolk (Rural District) . I. — — — — 23 )J 5) J> >) )J . II. — — — — 24 )J i} )J J> J? . III. — 1700 — — 25 Sevenoaks, Kent (Rural District) ... . I. — — — — 26 J) J) >) )) . II. — — — — 27 J, „ ,, „ . III. — — — — 28 Maiden, Essex (Rural District) ... . I. — — — — 29 )> ?) )> ?) . II. — — — — 30 y} )> J) >> . III. — — — — 31 Westbury and Whorwellsdown, Wilt. I. — — — — 32 (Rural District) . II. — — — — 33 )) )j J) 'J III. — — — — 34 Total : Part I 117685 197800 74100 5708 35 „ Part II — — 10000 10220 36 „ Part III — 13250 19350 8461 37 ,, Unclassified — — — — 38 Grand Total 117685 211050 103450 24389 UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION i8s continued. 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 £_£_£_£££££££ — — — — — — — — — — 2 — — — — — — — — 6850 — 3 — — — — — — — — — — 4 — — — — — — — — — — 5 — — — — — — — — 2160 — 6 — — — — — — — — __7 — — — — — — — — 4750 — 9 — — — — — — — — — — 10 — — — — — — — — — — 11 — — — — — — — — 6000 — 12 — — — — — — — — — — 13 — — — — — — — — — — 14 — — — — — — — — — 26850 15 — — — — — — — — — — 16 — — — — — — — — — — 17 — — — — — — — — — 1700 18 — — — — — — _ — __ 19 — — — — — — — — — — 20 — — — — — — — — — 7000 21 — — — — — — — — — — 22 — — — — — — — — — — 23 — — — — — — — — — — 24 — — — — — — — — — — 25 — — — — — — — — — — 26 — — — — 1800 — — 1850 — — 27 — — — — — — — — — — 28 — — — — — — — — — — 29 — — — — — — — — 1250 200 30 — — — — — — — — — — 31 — — — — — — — — — — 22 — — — — — — — — 1000 — 33 121198 10548 100382 40699 54288 161153 161412 55069 819845 240619 34 11575 5115 12000 — — 8942 10876 21975 10983 2378 35 — 34487 32800 71041 255152 432210 249507 189052 199078 207698 36 — — — — — — 47317 66974 1300 193545 37 33773 50150 145182 111740 309440 602305 421795 266096 1029906 453434 38 Loan Repayment. Loan Repayment. 47317 66974 1300 190806 i86 THE HOUSING PROBLEM In introducing the tables just preceding, it was remarked that the loan statistics of the Local Grovernment Board reports did not fully represent the work done under Part II. of the 1890 Act. Fortunately, since 1899, those reports have included, each year, a summary statement of action, taken under Part II., by the various provincial author- ities. The following table contains the figures for the years 1899 — 1904. Its figures indicate a vague amount of forward movement in the use of the important powers of Part II. bearing upon individual houses, but, in view of the known conditions, the work being done is ludicrously small. Of course, action may be taken under the Public Health Acts, but the total number of cases thus handled would probably not increase very materially the figures recorded in the table. TABLE XXVII. Proceedings outside London taken (undeh. Sect. 44, Paet II.) in regard to Buildings unfit for Human Habitation during the Years specified, and the Number of Cases in which such Proceedings were taken. [Does not include action, similar in efi:ect, taken in a few cases under local Acts.] 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 Borough Coun- cils 1,610 2,015 2,296 1,763 1,660 2,076 .Urban District Councils ... 912 994 1,167 1,291 994 1,405 Rural District Councils ... 1,109 1,469 2,252 1,645 1,597 2,227 3,631 4,478* 5,715* 4,699* 4,251* 5,708* Number of houses as to which re- presentations were made during the year * Including 1900—37, 1901—83, 1902—14, 1903—69, 1904—159, dwelling houses in respect of which complaints were made by householders during the year. Number of houses in respect of which proceedings were taken by the Local Authorities during the year for clos- ing houses UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 Borough Coun- cils 1,480 2,182' Urban District Councils ... 923 985 Rural District Councils ... 1,109 1,466 187 1904 1,759 1,648 2,060 1,279 978 1,393 1,636 1,590 2,189 3,540 4,683 4,674 4,216 5,642 Number of houses made fit for human habitation during the year without a closing order being obtained 582 513 757 818 Borough Coun- cils 677 1,086 1,340 990 Urban District Councils ... 410 645 729 602 Rural District Councils ... 848 1,130 1,738 1,318 1,135 1,783 1,935 2,861 3,807 2,910 2,330 3,358 Number of houses^. Borough Coun- in respect of which cils . . . closing orders were I Urban District made by the Jus- j" Councils tices during the Rural District year J Councils 149 316 195 206 308 176 392 98 380 129 297 107 170 145 126 78 108 70 514 667 610 568 617 474 Number of houses in which the Local Authorities during the year ordered the demolition of the building Borough Coun- cils ... Urban District Councils Rural District Councils . . . 131 41 42 214t 38 11 19 68t 56 33 26 59 27 115t 92t 37 36 13 11 31 5 81+ 52t 1. Apparently this figure is too large; should not be greater than 2,015. 2. Figures omitted from Local Government Board report. tin 1899—292, 1900—720, 1901-489, 1902—856, 1903—791, 1904—1139, other cases, the dwelling house was closed or demolished voluntarily by the owner, without a closing order or an order for demolition being made. i88 THE HOUSING PROBLEM The number of local authorities, out of the total 1800, making the representations recorded in the above table, was in each respective year as follows : 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 Borough Councils ... 70 94 92 100 95 98 Urban District Councils 102 135 138 132 125 126 Eural District Councils 163 192 200 130 192 195 Total 335 421 430 362 412 419 Per Cent. Percentage of the total number of local auth- orities 19 23 24 20 23 23 In the case of nearly all the above authorities, little inclination was shown to use their powers against obstruc- tive buildings; for instance, only eight local authorities reported such action in the administrative year 1901-2, five in 1902-3, and five in 1903-4. As regards the coiTesponding work in the London area, the Local Government Board reports, 1900-01 to 1904-5, state that, in the years ending March 31st, 1900 to 1904, action was taken in the case of 133, 112, 48, 90, and 74 dwellings respectively,^ a poorer showing than even the poor record of the rest of the country. The comparative inactivity of the local authorities in this important duty is unsatisfactory and. discouraging. The part played by private housing trusts and companies in the m.etropolis has been seen to be an important one in the past, but there has been no marked extension of their effort to urban centres other than London, though a certain amount of building has been done by such as the Man- 1. Local Government Board reports, 1900-01, p. cxxxix. ; 1901-02, p. cxl. ; 1902-03, p. clvi. ; 1903-04, p. cli. ; 1904-05, p. clxiv. UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 189 Chester Labourers Dwellings Company and the Leeds In- dustrial Dwellings Company. Far more important in the country at large has been the work of the co-operative societies. It is stated that, in Daxwen for instance, at least one fifth of the houses are owned by members of the local co-operative society who have purchased or obtained their houses through its help. The latest returns I have been able to secure show that, up to and including 1902, 302 oohoperative societies of England and Wales Lad invested £7,702,184 in providing for 35,147 houses, the chief area of activity being the north-western counties where 4,713 houses had been built and were owned by the societies as landlords, 3,240 houses built by the societies and sold to members, 14,532 houses built by mem- bers upon money loaned by the societies, at a total cost of £4,935,500. Undoubtedly, these figures will have been considerably increased by the present time. For the bene- fit of those interested in co-operative housing possibilities, the full statistical sunim.ary, from which the above figures have been quoted, is herewith appended. The work of Mr. W. H. Lever and of Mr. George Cad- bury in housing their workmen in model villages and the experiment of a Garden City now under way will be briefiy noticed in a subsequent chapter.'- 1. For detailed items as to the housing work done by the London County Council, the metropolitan borough councils, and the provincial local authorities, the reader is referred to the annual issues of the Municipal Year Book, to W. Thompson's The. Housing Handbook, to Dr. J. F. J. Sykes's essay in the Journal of the Eoyal Statistical Society for June, 1901, entitled The Results of State, Municipal and Organized Private Action on the Housing of the Housing Classes in London and in other large Cities in the United Kingdom, and to Mr. Stewart's The Housing Question in London (Report of Housing Committee of London County Council). 190 THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE Summary of Housebuilding by the Co-opebative Societies Houses built and owned by Society as Landlord. Houses built by Society and Sold to Members. Section. Societies. Houses. Total Amount. £ No. of Houses Sold. Total Value. £ Midland . ... 51 .. ,. 615 ... 139159 ... 375 .. . 111255 Northern . ... 57 ., .. 1017 ... 244277 ... 939 .. ,. 210496 North- Western . ... 150 .. ,. 4713 ... 881058 ... 3240 .. . 695939 Scottish . ... 41 ., .. 1436 ... 277670 ... 148 .. . 31765 Southern . ... 26 .. ,. 255 ... 78326 ... 243 .. . 65585 South- Western . ... 11 . 87 ... 14670 51 .. 9496 Western . ... 7 .. ,. 124 ... 23650 84 .. . 16731 Ireland . ... 1 .. — ... — . — .. — Total . ... 344 .. . 8247 ... 1658810 . ... 5080 .. . 1141267 1. Taken from the Report of the 35 th Annual UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 191 XXVIII. OF THE United Kingdom up to and including 1902.^ Houses built by Society and Sold to Members. Amount Amount Paid remaining Money Lent by Society to Members to build Houses for themselves. Amount No. of Houses remaining on which on account due to Society of Houses. on Mortgage. Total Amount. Amount Paid. due to Society on Mortgage. money has advance £ £ £ £ £ ... 44165 .. 66541 .. 625199 . .. 329940 ... 323740 . .. 2984 ... 114126 .. 97196 .. 643589 . .. 256561 ... 395056 .. 3141 ... 481455 .. 241515 .. 3358503 . .. 2072374 ... 1384391 .. 14532 ... 22332 .. 9433 .. . 109223 . .. 57222 ... 52007 505 ... 34620 .. 29617 .. 389266 . .. 176467 ... 214641 . .. 1610 3688 .. 5808 .. . 12716 . 4826 7846 85 ... 14580 .. — - . 182269 .. 115983 ... 66307 .. 1052 — .. — - 6313 . 1214 5099 31 ... 714966 .. 450110 .. . 5327078 . .. 3014587 ... 2449087 .. 23940 Co-operative Congress, 1903, p. 158. 192 THE HOUSING PROBLEM On an earlier page, reference was made to an Act passed in 1899 — tlie Small Dwellings Acquisition Act — which was intended to assist working men, to acquire the owner- ship of their own homes. Town councils and urban district councils were permitted by the Act to borrow money for this purpose from the Loan Commissioners under the sanc- tion of the Local Government Board. In Table XXIX., a list of loans thus approved is given in detail. TABLE XXIX. Loans Sanctioned by the Local Government Board to Urban Authorities under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899.^ 1900-4. Year ending December 31st. Birkenhead (C.B.) Erith (U.D. Kent) Gillingham (U.D. Kent) Amble (U.D. Northumberland) Bedwellty (U.D. Monmouth) .. Cheriton (U.D. Kent) Ilford (U.D. Essex) Waterloo with Seaforth (U.D. Lancaster) Worcester (C.B.) Barking Town (U.D. Essex) . Walthamstow (U.D. Essex) West Ham (C.B.) Abersychan (U.D. Monmouth) Cheshunt (U.D, Hertford)... . Tonbridge (U.D. Kent) ... . Bristol (C.B.) Enfield (U.D. Middlesex) Liverpool (C.B.) Southall Norwood (U.D. Middlesex) ... The Maidens and Coombe (U.D. Surrey) Pontardawe (E..D. Glamorgan) Total 1830 19593 24516 12440 16360 1. Local Government Board reports — Appendix M : 1900-01 to 1904^05. 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 £ £ £ £ £ 180 770 612 916 798 600 — 200 — — 1050 2988 1816 4905 1880 — 280 — — 250 — . 750 — — — — 1585 200 1330 197 — 12720 14000 3000 5000 — 300 440 — 190 . — 200 240 — 360 — — 3000 — — — — 3350 — 830 — — 658 384 — — — — 945 — — — — 560 600 — — — 400 400 — — — — 2363 — — — — 1101 176 815 . . — — — — 240 — — — — 160 UTILISATION OF LEGISLATION 193 The Act deserves increasing use to be made of it, and the activity of places like Ilford and Grillingliani is not un- likely to find; mucli imitation. A comparatively short while after the Act came into force, a ' Small Dwellings Acquisition Company ' was formed with the object of carry- ing on the building and sale of dwellings under the faci- lities granted by the Act, the Company advancing to per- sons wishing to purchase houses, erected or to be erected by the former, the necessary one-fifth of the value, thus enabling the remaining four-fifths to be borrowed from the local authority. However, the advantages of the Small Dwellings Acquisi- tion Act are such as apply to but a small proportion of the working class population, among whom the serious evils of overcrowding, at any rate, are not frequent. The privileges granted by the measure naturally appeal to m.oderately well-to-do artizans of settled position and settled habits. I fail to see much prospect of the Act operating to any extent within the city limits of our large towns; its most successful field will probably lie in the rural and smaller urban districts and, possibly, in the sub- urban environments of the large centres. 195 CHAPTER VIII. The Extent of the Einancial Assistance Geanted by THE CeNTSAL GrOVEENMENT TO LoCAL AUTHORITIES AND Othees in Connection with the Housing of THE Working Classes in England. The tables contained in this chapter supplement the information already given in the previous one, and are especially useful in that they enable one to realise more vividly the part played by the central government in fostering the utilisation of its own legislation. The following table is based xipon the annual reports of the Public Works Loan Commissioners from 1879 onwards, and shows the amounts of money borrowed for building working class houses, up to 1891, under the Labouring Classes Dwellings Act of 1866 and the Public Works Loans Act of 1879, and, from 1891 to 1905, the amounts borrowed, on property, 1 under the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890. Loans made in the financial year ending March 31st, 1891, woiild be made, of course, under the former Acts. Though, under the 1851 and 1866 Acts, local authorities were empowered to borrow from the Commissioners for the purposes of the Acts, the table makes it clear that, from 1879 till the consolidation of the law in the 1890 Act, the privilege was never used. Loans made after March 31st, 1891, to private organisations were granted under Part III. of the Housing Act. Local authorities now began to borrow on all parts of the Act, but the Commissioner's reports do not distinguish advances upon the security of rates according to the Part of the Act 1. As a matter of fact, all of the loans shown in the table were property secured. 196 THE HOUSING PROBLEM under which they were made. Accordingly, such loans are included in the table next following, to which reference will be made shortly. The table at present being con- sidered (No. XXX.) has been arranged in three sections, the advances to trusts and other philanthropic associations being placed in the first section, those to housing com- panies in the second, and those to private persons and firms, also to a number of Welsh building societies and clubs, in the third. Under the first head, the Hayle's Charity Estate Trustees were the only regular borrowers during the seventeen years ending 1904 ; during 1902, the Guinness Trust (London) borrowed £20,000. In the second section, attention is attracted by the activity of the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company prior to 1895 and of the East End Dwellings Company since 1891. One prominent feature of housing during the past generation is indicated to some extent in the third division — the work of building clubs and societies, but it is a somewhat remarkable fact that none of the numerous building clubs outside of South Wales seem to have had financial relations with the Loan Commissioners. The part to be played by such organisations, in the future, in providing accommoda- tion for the artizan class, may be of considerable import- ance, and hence the writer may be pardoned in extracting from the 1898-99 Report of the Commissioners an interesting description of the methods adopted by them. "With reference to the loans made to building clubs," runs the report, " and to previous loans made and applications now pending from similar clubs, all in South Wales, it would appear that working men have found a method of either acquiring their own dwellings or of investing their savings in that class of property. The constitution of these clubs is practically the same, and may be briefly described. The club is constituted by a FINANCIAL AID BY GOVERNMENT 197 deed of settlement whicli shows that a piece of vacant land (freehold or long leasehold) is about to be acquired, and is intended to be divided into building plots, the number of shares in the club being equal to the number of the building plots. The deed names the trustees in whom the property is to be vested, and the members of the club who have taken the' shares equal to the number of houses to be built (generally one shareholder for each house) as parties to the deed, and under the regulations which are contained in the deed there is a committee of management appointed with other officers usually selected from the members. The working expenses are thus reduced to a small sum. By the deed and from its date the shareholders agree to pay £1 per lunar month to the trustees until the whole of the expenses incurred in building the houses have been repaid. As soon as the plans for building have been approved, the particular house intended to represent each share is settled by lot. When a house is completed, it is let (not necessarily to a shareholder), but the rent of the house is paid to the trustees, and equally with the monthly subscriptions forms the fund out of which the whole of the expenditure is repaid, when each shareholder becomes entitled to his house. The trustees are empowered by the deed to borrow money, and appear to have no difficulty in doing so, as probably the sum raised by the subscriptions towards the building affords a sufficient margin of security. This Board lend a moiety of the cost of building at 3| per cent, interest, the loan being taken up as soon as the buildings are completed, and the borrowers select a short period for repayment, generally from 5 to 12 years, the instalments of principal being repaid to this Board out of the subscriptions to the club and the rents. So far the instalments of repayment have been punctually repaid. No member of the club is entitled to sell his share without first offering it for sale to the other members." THE HOUSING PROBLEM TABLE Advances by the Public Works Loan Commissioners 1868— 1878 £ ropolitan Associa- 1 for Improving Dwellings of the lustrial Classes... 3ody Trustees ... Giles' and St. See's Joint Par- Charities Trustees . . . Charity (Lambeth) istees mess Trust (Lon- 1) I's Campden's arity Trustees ampstead) ial ,ates ie's ;ate '79 £ Section A. — To Trusts and ■81 '82 '83 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 £ £ £ ££££££ 47000 6000 — 5500 1000 — 65000 100000 100000 35000 — 40000 — 9000 3000 5000 FINANCIAL AID BY GOVERNMENT XXX. UNDER THE LaBOURINU CLASSES DWELLINGS ACTS. Philanthropic Associations. '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 ££££££ '96 '97 '98 '99 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ — 8000 3000 — — 650 7000 2000 4650 — — 6320 5000 6375 895 ________ — — — — 20000 — — THE HOUSING PROBLEM Section B. — To Workmen's 1868— 1878 79 '80 '81 '82 '83 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 £ £ £ £ £ £££££££ oved Industrial )llmgsCompany.l38000 40000 45000 48000 35000 10000 11000 3200 49000 — 20000 16000 gate Dwellings rovement Com- f 2500 — 2000 — — _______ )ria Dwellings ipany 16000 3000 18000 — — _______ 3astle - on - Tyne roved Industrial iUings Company 1700 — 6000 — — — — — — ___ ■pool Labourers' jllings Company 6000 — — — — — — — — — — — • on Labourers' filings Company — 6921 — — 2000 — 8500 _____ Dual Dwellings ety, Ld of Rochester In- ;rial Dwellings ipany nts Co-operators' ety End Dwell- Company 14000 ____ _ ___ 2500 1700 — Section C. — To Private Persons 1868— 1878 £ ite Persons and raie Firms 10900 ling Clubs and sr Building Socie- (all in South es) — '79 £ '80 £ '81 £ '82 £ '83 '84 '85 £ £ £ '86 '87 '88 '89 £ £ £ £ 5500 4250 43000 66210 4500 2400 5500 9000 — 7000 FINANCIAL AID BY GOVERNMENT Dwellings Companies. '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 £££££££££££££££ — 20000 — — 20000 — — — — ______ — 1270 — — — ___ — ______ 3000 1750 — 1500 — — __ — ______ — 13000 3000 13300 19700 8500 9000 2825 27000 — 18000 12750 26400 12000 1200C and Building Societies. '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ '99 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 ££££££ 6500 — — 3000 5000 7965 2800 2700 — — 5950 — 4000 3000 — — 6000 4400 14175 4600 7500 4500 4200 1700 — 329( 202 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Prom tlie passing of the Cross Act in 1875, the Public Worts Loan Commissioners were empowered to advance monies under the Act, but the more rigid terms imposed upon loans by the Treasury Minute of August, 1879, put an early stop to such advances to local authorities, inas- much as the larger towns — the chief places where the Act could be applied — were able to borrow on as favourable terms in another way. Thris, after 1880, with the ex- ception of a further sum of £200,000 to Birmingham, absolutely no advances were made under the Act, and though, under the circumstances, the absence of official advances would not necessarily be a proof of inaction, yet, as a matter of fact, there was a practical stagnation of effort except in the case of the Metropolitan Board of Works. This body, it may be added, never found occasion to apply to the Commisioners for financial help : all the funds they required they could raise upon their own credit as cheaply as the government could afford to lend. The Local Government Board did, indeed, sanction in 1885 a loan of £160,000 to Nottingham, and in 1887 one of £100,000 to Birmingham (with an additional £4,000 in 1890) for the purposes of the Cross Acts, but no applica- tion was made to the Loan Commissioners in connection therewith. Even the action of the 1885 Act in lowering minimum rate of interest to S^ per cent, thus modifying considerably the stringency of the Treasury Minute to which we have referred, did not stimulate the provincial authorities. No doubt, the expense to which the Metro- politan Board of Works was put by its execution of schemes xmder the 1875 Act, the heavy loss incurred by the ex- periments of Birmingham and Wolverhampton made other authorities more than chary. However, after 1890, signs of activity were fairly frequent, though until 1900 there was a tendency to fight shy of the Commissioners, only FINANCIAL AID BY GOVERNMENT 203 two advaaces being made ; one to the Thingoe Rural Dis- trict Council, the other to the Hornsey Urban District Council : in 1900, a further advance was made to Hornsey and one to Salford. Subsequent to 1900, there was much freer recourse to the public funds, as shown in the table. It must be borne in mind that, whereas the earlier loans from 1870 — 1883 were made under the Cross Act, or what is now Part I. of the Act of 1890, the later ones may be under either Parts I., II., or III. 204 TABLE Advances by the Public Works Loan Commissioners under the Cross Acts R = Eural Authority. 1878 79 '80 '81 '82 '83 '84 '85 '86 '87 '88 £ £ £ £ £ ££££££ Birmingham (U) 850000 150000 130000 — 100000 100000 — — — _ _ Liverpool (U) 50000 — — — — ______ Swansea (U) _ 28433 86546 — _ ______ Walsall (U) _ 10000 __ _ ______ Wolverhampton (U) 25000 50000 25000 — — ______ Norwich (U) — _ 10000 — — ______ Salford (U) — _ _ — _ ______ Folkestone (U) _ _ _ _ _ ______ West Ham (U) _ _ _ _ _ ______ Ealing (U) _ _ _ _ _ ______ Hornsey (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Barking Town (U) — _ _ _ _ ______ Brentford (U) — — _ _ _ ______ Heston and Isleworth ... (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Bhyl (U) - - _ - — ______ Tottenham (U) — — — — — ______ Wood Green (U) — — — — — ______ East Ham (U) _ _ _ _ _ ______ Erith (U) _ — _ _ _ ______ Brentwood (U) — — — — — — — — — — — East Grinstead (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Llandudno (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Esher and the Dittons ... (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Grays Thurrock (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Hampton (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Hendon (U) — — — — _ ______ Hexham (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Wellington (Salop) (U) _ _ _ _ _ ______ Thingoe (R) — — — — — ______ Southgate (R) — — — — — — — — — — — Sevenoaks (R) — — — — — — — — — — — Merthyr Tydfil (U) — — — — — ______ Prescot (U) — — — — _ ______ Whitley, Upper (Yorks.) (U) — — — — _ ______ Wrotham (U) — — — — — ______ Southend-on-Sea (U) — — — — — — — — • — — — Maldon (R) — — — — — ______ Westbury and Whorwellsdown (R) — — — — — — — — — — — Farnham (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Stanley (Durham) (U) — — — — — ______ Edmonton (U) — — — — — — — — — — — Totals 925000 238433 251546 — 100000 100000 — — — — — N.B. — All the above loans were rate secured. XXXI. 205 AND, AFTER 1900, UNDER THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES AcT, 1890. U = Urban Authority (including Boroughs and Urban District Councils). '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 1900 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 ££££££££££££ £ £ £££ — — — — — — — — — — — 6180 _ _ _ _ 37000 — — — — — — — — — — — — 60000 — 49000 — — — — — — — — — — — — 19500 3500 16700 _ _ _ _ — — — — — — — — — — — — 6000 14105 _ _ — — — — — — — — — — — — — 10800 — — 6500 — — — — — — — — — — — — — 4000 2950 — _ — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2833 — 5100 — 2739 — — — — — — — — — — — — 1500 1500 _ _ — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 20000 _ — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 10810 4981 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2000 4000 — ________ — _ — — — — 4250 227 — _______ — — — — — — — 6694 — — _______ — — — — — — 2250 _ _ — ____________ — 6400 _ — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 1160 — 14685 — __________ _ _ — 1255 _ _ _ _______ — — — — — _327 ___ ______ — — — — — — — 2200 2000 — — — — — — — 1700 — — — — — — — — ___ _____ — — — — — — 3275 — — 1850 — — _____ — — — — — — — — 1800 _ — _ ______ — — — — — — — 5000 10000 — — _____ — — — — — — — — 6000 4400 — — _______ — — — — — — — 1240 — — ______ — — — — — — — — 3058 — — ______ — — — — — — — — 10000 — — ______ — — — — — — — — — — 1450 ____ — — — — — — — — — — — — 1000 ____ — — — — — — — — — — — — 2068 ____________ — — — 1600 6000 ___ — — — — — — — — — — — — 582 — _ _ _ _ _ 1700 _ — — — 19500 12955 118540 115666 104573 27594 50257 2o6 THE HOUSING PROBLEM The detailed tafcles now presented may be profitably supplemented by a more general statement (Table XXXII.) from wbich it will be found that, under the various hous- ing Acts operating in England and Wales, the central government had advanced, up to March 31st, 1905, a grand total of nearly three and a quarter millions sterling, over two-fifths of which had been lent to private undertakings as distinct from local authorities. From present prospects, the figures in the first of the two columns below (Loans on Local Rates) seem likely to increase at an appreciably faster rate than those in the second, as is indicated by the following comparison for the years 1902-05. Loans on Local Rates. Loans on Property. Advances up to and including March 3l8t, 1902 1,877,340 1,564,006 Advances made 1903 104,573 18,375 Advances made 1904 38,594 16,185 Advances made 1905 50,257 36,490 TABLE XXXII. Summary Statement of Advances made by the Public Works Loan Commissioners, 1867 — 1905, under the Housing Acts and under the Small Dwellings Ac- quisition Act — England and Wales. Loans under Small Dwellings Loans under Housing Acts. Acquisition Act. On Local Rates. On Property. On Local Rates. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. A rl VJ1 'ri r* p Q In the year 1904-05 .. 50,267 36,490 10,708 Total to 31st March, 1905 2,070,764 1,564,006 61,968 Kepayments and Interest — In the year 1904-05, Principal ... 12,650 8 1 40,184 10 2 4,970 10 1 Interest ... 13,256 12 6 16,897 3 4 1,523 8 10 Total to 31st March, 1905, Principal ... 1,649,401 19 4 1,081,421 11 10 11,794 10 3 Interest ... 315,599 11 3 657,482 6 10 3,909 9 1 Balances outstanding against borrowers 31 March, 1905— Arrears "i — — — Not yet ^Principal due J _ 421,362 8 479,483 3 2 50,173 9 9 On loans outstanding as assets of the Local Loans Fund, Interest ... — — — FINANCIAL AID BY GOVERNMENT 207 Tlie Loan Commissioners were also authorised to lend m.oney to local authorities desiring to utilize the privileges of the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, and, for con- venience' sake, the preceding table includes a statement of advances made to them under this Act, a total of £61,968 to March 31st, 1905 ; not a large amount, but sufficient to show that practical experiment is being made of its possi- bilities. In conclusion, it is evident from the tables submitted that the financial part played by the central government has not been a very large one, there has not been an over- whelming eagerness to advantage by governmental loans. The conditions attaching to the loans account for this to no small degree, and, as these conditions are lightened, no doubt increased use will be made of the facilities offered ; in fact, this is already indicated by the loan operations of the last two or three years. PART III. HOUSING POLICY IN ENGLAND. 211 CHAPTER IX. Housing Reform ajstd the Doctrine of Laissez-Faire. The diagnosis of a disease is one thing, its cure another, and so of housing evils their identiification is simple, the tracing of their origin comparatively easy, but their amelioration remains a matter of singular perplexity. It has been said that the housing problem touches every other social question, and the statement, if not mathematically precise, at least serves the purpose of indicating some explanation of the difficulty experienced by reformers and administrators in their struggle to bring about better conditions of housing among the poorer classes. In view of the fact that housing evils are of long standing, and that it is more than half a century since a remedial policy was first attempted in England, out of which has developed an imposing code of enactments, some analysis and criticism of the policy formally adopted by the nation is entirely desirable in a volume like the present one. In Part II. of this work consideration was given to the succession of statutes by which a national housing policy has been outlined. From that legislation, it appears that the State has marked out four lines of action in the reform of house property — (1) improvement, (2) demolition without reconstruction, (3) demolition with reconstruction, and (4) construction. The responsibility of enforcing reform along the first three lines has been laid directly upon local government, whereas both local government and individual enterprise are invited to participate in the fourth. It will have been further observed that, in the case of the former. 212 THE HOUSING PROBLEM action is intended to be compulsory, and to this end the close supervision of the work of local government by the central government is provided for ; in the case of the latter, its operation has been left optional. A connection has been established between the third and fourth by enabling the powers of construction to be applied to the purposes of reconstruction. To examine our information in a some- what different way, improve-ment (whether structural or otherwise) is to be enforced upon the owner at his expense ; demolition without reconstruction may be either at the owner's expense, as in the case of unhealthy dwellings, or at the expense of the local government, as in the case of obstructive buildings — but, in the latter instance, the principle of betterment may be called into play, under certain conditions, to saddle the owner with a portion of the expense ; demolition with reconstruction is to be carried out at the expense of the local government, which has the power, however, of placing some uncertain portion of it upon "bettered" property where the areas demolished are small, also of freeing itself from the expense of reconstruction by arranging with private persons or organisations to fulfil its obligations; and, finally, construction may be undertaken at its own expense, or left to private enterprise. To interpret in a general way the spirit of present legislation, the last-named function is a moral duty, where private enterprise is inadequate to supply necessary housing accommodation, the others are legal duties which the local government may be forced to fulfil. A very important part in housing reform has thus been assigned to local government, and the question arises as to how far this may be considered appropriate, justifi- able, and necessary. The determination of the proper limits of State action has exercised the minds of many eminent thinkers, giving REFORM AND LAISSEZ-FAIRE 213 rise to two antagonistic schools of thougM and, incidentally, to mucli literature. Tlie extreme positions are represented, on tlie one side, by those who believe in the most rigid and limited interpretation of the principle of laissez-faire, and, on the other side, by the socialistic school. The doctrinnaire followers of laissez-faire argue that, under almost every condition, the interest of the individual is coincident with the interest of the community, conducing to the highest welfare of both. Therefore, the interference of the State in restriction of the action of individuals is unnecessary and undesirable, hindering the natural harmonizing of the interests concerned. The socialistic school take exactly the opposite position, viewing the interest of the individual as being generally opposed to the interest of the com- munity, and consequently necessitating the interference of the State in order that a harmony of interests may be produced. As already stated, both of these conceptions, though each containing an element of truth, are extreme, and, as this has become recognized, there has arisen a disposition on the part of many of the believers in laissez- faire to modify their interpretation of its doctrine. That there are certain obligatory functions resting upon the state haa never been disputed. Adam Smith concisely laid down the nature of these in his famous section upon the functions of government, specifying the maintenance of public defence and the administration of justice, and even going so far as to include the carrying on of public works which it would not be to the particular advantage of any individual or small body of individuals to undertake and yet would be beneficent to the society. J. S. Mill further enlarged upon this by arguing that the intervention of the state was desirable whenever the proposed action was useful or necessary and not likely to be effected by voluntary agency, or when it was of such a nature that 214 THE HOUSING PROBLEM the consumer could not be considered capable of judging its quality. Herbert Spencer, however, in his Social Statics> placed himself in direct opposition to this widening appli- cation of the doctrine of laissez-faire, for both Smith and Mill were believers in the general validity of that prin- ciple, and, to quote the words of a. careful writer, held it to be " the essential duty of Grovernment to protect — to maintain men's rights to life, to personal liberty, and to property; and the theory that the Grovemment ought to undertake other offices than that of protection he regards as an untenable theory. Each man has a right to the fullest exercise of all his faculties compatible with the same right in others. This is the fujidamental law of equal freedom, which it is the duty and the only duty of the State to enforce." ^ Spencer's protest failed to accom- plish much : indeed, of late years, there has been in evi- dence a movement on the part of many of the leading local authorities tending to carry them, beyond Mill's limita- tions into a semi-socialistic regime, and popular opinion actively fosters and supports this tendency. I am not of those who are prepared to condemn any proposal that may have received the name of socialism : with Marshall, I believe that the future may reveal higher forms of collec- tivism, the effective operation of which should conduce to the marked amelioration of the conditions of social life. But I certainly deprecate the ill-considered zeal with which so many of our local authorities are throwing themselves into schemes of social and economic reform, with hardly a thought of the relationship of the consequences of their action to the ultimate well-being of the community. The socialist propaganda in so far as it has called attention to the impracticable rigidity of the tenets of the extreme 1. Article on Government, by Professor E. Bobertson, EncyclopEedia Britannica, ninth edition. REFORM AND LAISSEZ-FAIRE 215 Mancliester school has not been without value, but the acknowledgement of its beneficial influence in this direc- tion is very far from justifying a general recognition and application of its teachings. Caimes' analysis is still worth recalling, " Human beings know and follow their interests according to their lights and dispositions ; but not necess- arily, nor in practice always, in that sense in which the interest of the individual is coincident with that of others and of the whole. It follows that there is no security that the economic phenomena of society, as at present con- stituted, will arrange themselves spontaneously in the way which is most for the common good. In other words laissez-faire falls to the ground as a scientific doctrine. I say as a scientific doctrine; for let us be careful not to overstep the limits of our argument. It is one thing to repudiate the scientific authority of laissez-faire, freedom of contract, and so forth ; it is a totally different thing to set up the opposite principle of State control, the doctrine of paternal government. Eor my part, I accept neither one doctrine nor the other ; and, as a practical rule, I hold laissez-faire to be incomparably the safer guide, only let us remember that it is a practical rule, and not a doctrine of science ; a rule in the main sound, but like most other sound practical rules, liable to numerous exceptions ; above all, a rule which must never, for a moment, be allowed to stand in the way of the candid consideration of any promising proposal of social or industrial reform." '■ To state the position concisely, from the point of view of the writer, there are two principles by which all state (including municipal) interference must be tested and judged — ^necessity and efficiency. In other words, state or municipal action should be necessary to the general welfare 1. See his essay on "Political Economy and Laissez Faire " in the Essays in Political Economy Theoretical and Applied. 2i6 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of the community and such aa caai be carried on with more efficiency and with greater advantage to the community than by any individual or body of individuals. The pro- priety of any existing or proposed state function is not determinable, therefore, by a priori reasoning, but requires an investigation of the environing facts and probabilities. In applying this rule to ascertaining the proper function of local government in housing reform, the latter must be separated out into its two component parts of (1) the sup- pression of unhealthy sanitary conditions, which may in- volve the demolition of property, and (2) the provision of dwelling houses : to the consideration of the former point the next two chapters will now be devoted. 217 CHAPTER X. The Primary Process of Housing Reform and the Relation of the Municipality thereto. The importance of sanitary supervision and reform can- not be overestimated. Unhealthy conditions in one part of a commtinity may spread devastating disease over the whole. Their existence is a constant menace to public welfare, and the absolute necessity of their removal needs no demonstration. But who is there to see to the re- moval? Private individuals may occasionally be found ready to put themselves to any inconvenience, and prepared to meet any unpleasantness in their efforts to improve the living conditions of the people, but such eiiorts can be, at the best, only scattered and sporadic in their action. Sanitary reform being unremunerative work, private com- mercial enterprise will not touch it, of course. '^ In any case, the obstacles interposed by conflicting interests would be fatal to any ordinary association : the determined oppo- sition of house-owners and tenants has frequently to be encountered, and the compulsion of the law must often be invoked. In short, on the grounds of both necessity and efficiency, the intervention of the state, in the shape of its representative, the municipality, is fully justified. I may go further and say that it is practically impossible to con- ceive of the prosecution of this work by any other authority than that of the community itself. 1. That is, as a general proposition. It is easy to conceive of special conditions under which, for instance, an employer might deem it to his interest to improve the sanitary conditions under which his workpeople were living. 2i8 THE HOUSING PROBLEM In discharging its sanitary responsibilities, the duty of the municipality must naturally be of a varied kind as the cause of action may arise from uncleanliness of house occupiers, from structural defects, or from overcrowding, and, in accordance with the nature of the source of the evil, comparatively mild or extremely stringent treatment may be required. Much of this work the law facilitates, as we have seen, by enabling the expense to be placed either upon the occupier, if he be the party oifending, or upon the owner, and it is certainly equitable that such should be the case. It is just as proper that the local authority should penalize and forbid the occupancy of uncleanly and disease- breeding houses as the sale of unsound meat. Of course, the municipality cannot exercise a satisfactory surveillance over its house property unless assisted by a staif of officers adequate both in numbers and in intelligence. This neces- sarily involves expense, but the safeguarding of the health of the community justifies any expenditure that can be proved essential to the accomplishing of this purpose. "• Fortunately, a large proportion of the houses in most places, though by nO' means ideal, may be considered moderately satisfactory from a housing point of view, that is to say, they have no gross structural defects, are not overcrowded, and are not unclean. Such houses it should be the aim, 1. A similar position is taken in T. E. Marr's report on "Housing Con- ditions in Manchester and Salford " (1904), where it is stated (page 5), ". . . . the admirable work of the Sanitary Department needs extension. More inspectors are required. Dr. Niven has suggested the need for a house-to-house investigation of one of the Sanitary Districts of Man- chester. We are convinced that the authorities ought to undertake such an investigation continuously for the whole of Manchester and Salford, for the prevention of bad conditions rather than their cure when they have arisen. In all towns, small as well as large, experience has proved that only by a system of careful supervision continuously exercised by competent inspectors, is it possible to maintain the conditions essential for health." A great many of the German towns are recognizing the importance of a policy of thorough and continuous sanitary inspection. English readers will find in Mr. Horsf all's recent book ("The Example of Germany") a fund of accessible information on this point. PRIMARY HOUSING REFORM 219 and is, in fact, the duty, of tlie local autliority to see that they are maintained in their existing satisfactory condi- tion; no house that is sanitary now should be allowed to hecome insanitary and yet be occupied, no house that is not overcrowded now should be allowed to become other- wise. In other words, the first and the most important step in the administration of a housing policy by local government should be the prevention of the extension of improper housing conditions. To the attainment of this end all the powers of the law should be invoked and rigor- ously applied. That these powers are not inadequate will hardly be questioned after penisal of Part II. of this book, and the responsibility of any failure must be ascribed largely to inefficient administration. It may be urged by some that the high cost of securing efficient administration in the direction mentioned excuses such failure inasmuch as, in view of the constantly increasing burden of taxation, municipalities are compelled to limit even their ordinary expenditure. The only answer is that such work is one of the primary duties of the body corporate, and that its cost, therefore, should be regarded as a preferred liability. But there is more than a slight probability that the expense to the ratepayer incurred in preventing the development of sani- tary evils will be far less than that which would subse- quently make demand upon his financial resources for the prom.otion of elaborate municipal schemes of dishousing and rebuilding, in themselves (however necessary they may be under the conditions that may have arisen), a witness to lack of foresight and administrative sagacity. As a matter of fact, so far as our municipal government is concerned, its action has been averse, in general, to a plodding, persistent, and apparently unheroic policy of housing reform. Many exceptions to this statement may be adduced, no doubt, but no more than will ' prove the 220 THE HOUSING PROBLEM rule.' Our local legislators are but Iranian, like the rest of us, and are oftentimes inclined towards housing pyro- technics in the shape of most extensive and costly demoli- tion and reconstruction schemes, the execution of which brings newspaper renown, public commendation, and, per- haps, voting support. In writing in this manner, I do not deny the utility of a wide-reaching scheme of slum recon- struction at a proper time and under suitable conditions, but wish to point out the mistaken idea presumably held by not a few public bodies and private individuals as to the function and place of such schemes. To look upon them as a quick and sure cure-all for the housing evil is to entertain hopes that are not only certain to meet with disappointment, but likely to cause considerable mis- chief in the community, and to bring about a misapplica- tion of the public financial resources. To some extent, however, these remarks are anticipating subsequent argu- ment, and more will be said on a later page concerning drastic dishousing schemes. This much appears, that a most important duty of local government is to prevent the further extension of unhealthy conditions of living, that for this purpose the law oilers adequate powers, which can be made eiiective through a comprehensive and careful system of local sanitaiy inspection and adm.inistration. Preventive action of this kind should certainly form the basis of a housing policy aiming at permanent ameliora- tion : upon this the successful issue of a therapeutic treat- ment depends. Therapeutics is that branch of science which deals with the modes of curing disease, and, since bad housing may well be regarded as a kind of disease, the term may be appropriately applied to the consideration of the methods to be adopted by local government in an attempt to improve the condition of that portion of the community suffering from its effects. I now pass, then, PRIMARY HOUSING REFORM 221 to the consideration of tlie remedy for already existing insanitation and overcrowding. Tlie treatment of insanitation, in so far as it does not involve dealing with overcrowding, or with the material reconstruction or demolition of property is comparatively simple in view of the powers placed in the hands of the local authority, a firm and consistent application of the same being the all important requisite. Where structural defects are so gross as to require considerable reconstruc- tion or demolition, or where overcrowding is present, the mode of procedure becomes complicated by the fact that the dishousing of occupiers is necessitated. In urban centres where cases of this kind are likely to be numerous, it would be absurd to endeavour to deal simultaneously with all. Any such attempt would be simply courting the risk of signal failure. The exercise of discretion, how- ever, will enable an appreciable amount of the dishousing to be carried out without serious injury to the occupiers. Slum rents, it may be observed, are not necessarily cheap rents, in fact, they are often exorbitantly high for the accommodation afforded, and it is not an uncommon cir- cumstance for houses, situated outside of the slum area and with superior conveniences, to rent at a price little, if any, higher. Before taking action under its legal powers, the local authority should carefully ascertain the extent to which such accommodation is available, and should pre- pare a register giving all requisite details of description. It is also essential that inquiry should be made into the size, earnings, and occupations of the families resident in the property to be dealt with, information which the sani- tary inspectors aided by the relieving officers and the police, should have little difficulty in obtaining. This in- formation will enable those cases to be picked out whose treatment can, in reality, be simplified down to a compul- 222 THE HOUSING PROBLEM sory cliange of residence. That is to say, other more suitable accommodation is available for them at a reason- able price and within a reasonable distance. The 1890 Housing Act (Part II.). provides that a court of Petty Session, in declaring a closing order against an unhealthy house, has power to allow the local authority reasonable expenses incurred by removing occupiers, the amount to be debited against the owner and recovered from him in the ordinary way. In certain instances, the local author- ity might be able to use this privilege to advantage. The number of houses handled at one time should be kept strictly within the capacity of the municipality, the prin- ciple of individual supervision, upon which I have pre- viously laid stress, being observed. Should any of the displaced decide not to settle in the houses placed before their notice by the officials of the municipality, and go into another district, the supervision should be carefully maintained : if they enter another local jurisdiction, word should be passed along. As a rule, people of this class will not go very far. The houses where total displacement has occurred on account of the necessity of reconstruction or extensive renovation, as soon as they are placed in proper repair and reinhabiting orders obtained, will in- crease the accommodation available. Where demolition takes place, and new houses are erected on the sites (as will be the general rule) , a like increase will occur. While the treatment described will leave untouched a certain proportion of the badly-housed, it will undoubtedly reduce this proportion to a minimum, and the process of ameliora- tion will not be so slow as might be supposed — our analysis of Bradford's (Yorks) overcrowding revealed the encourag- ing fact that all of what might be termed gross overcrowd- ing in that town was caused by 2'79 per cent, of the popu- lation. The numbers to be dealt with directly are not so great as one might anticipate. PRIMARY HOUSING REFORM 223 The cases that cannot be handled in this way may well be considered the residuum, and include individuals and families who are unable to pay the price of the most moderate accommodation except by herding together, as families, possibly with the addition of lodgers, into hope- lessly inadequate tenements. Here is the hardest problem the municipality has to solve. What is it to do with these people ? They cannot be allowed to continue permanently in their insanitary and overcrowded conditions of living, frequently conducing to immorality, if for no other reason than that they form a plague spot in the midst of the community. Their financial m.eans appsirently will not allow them to rent houses affording them sufficient (un- crowded) accommodation; hence to turn them out of their present homes by applying the provisions of the law means that either they must overcrowd elsewhere — if the careful supervision that has been suggested be maintained, this should be well nigh impossible — or they must drift to the so-called artizan's homes and common lodging houses, or, if they be too destitute for these, to the workhouses. At any rate, if this is not to be the case, outside help must be afforded them. Not all are deserving of help, for the testimony of both the police and the relieving officers of the larger towns is to the effect that there is a heavy per- centage of criminals among this class, and that the condi- tion of many others is the result of drunkenness, laziness, and wasteful extravagance. Over such let us not waste any sentiment as to the sacredness of home — it is to the public benefit that they should be driven out of their warrens into the light of day. At the same time, there are others whose dire poverty is their misfortune and not their crime, to whom consideration might be shown with a degree of satisfaction ; it seems desirable that there should be a differentiation of treatment between the two classes. 224 THE HOUSING PROBLEM However, in the application of closing orders to unhealthy houses and ahatement orders to the reduction of over- crowded houses to the legal limit of occupancy, the treat- ment must be rigidly uniform. Street by street, neighbour- hood by neighbourhood, the local authorities must surely and persistently pursue the policy of wiping out the evil conditions of housing that arise from insanitation and over- crowding. The wisdom of the municipality stepping in as a bene- volent agency is more than questionable, for past experi- ence warns us how little it is likely to be appreciated, and how soon looked forward to and demanded as a right, thereby tending to exert a deleterious influence upon the self-maintaining power of the lower strata of the com- munity. Certainly, the less official private charity, es- pecially in so far as it assumes an organized form (and it is to be hoped that the next few years will witness con- siderable development in this direction), should be stimu- lated, to operate so far as its resources will permit. The local authority, through its sanitary and other departments, can supply information concerning the deserving cases and into these the private organization can examine, tailing such action as it deems proper. But so far as the direct responsibility of the former is concerned, it should be confined to the removal of the evils it is attacking and to the prevention of their recurrence. The process of housing reform, upon which I have been dwelling, is based upon the fact that, negligence and inefficiency of administration having contributed much to the development of housing evil, a system of discreet and efficient supervision may do considerable towards check- ing further growth, and, in fact, reducing the present proportions of the evil. I regard this active and continuous supervision as a sort of moral training for the class of PRIMARY HOUSING REFORM 225 people wIlo come under its restraints, and tlie necessity of such, training is obvious to anyone wIlo is acquainted with, their character and the nature of their surroundings. On the part of some of our great municipalities, there has been a disposition to rush into drastic schemes involving extensive demolition of slum property and an elaborate provision of house accommodation. The promises of such attractive reforms are great, the reality disappointing, as a rule. Slums have been destroyed, and new dwellings provided, only to discover that those, on behalf of whom the effort has been put forth, by no means appreciate the sacrifices made, and prefer to reproduce their old un- healthy environments. " The people's homes," says Miss Octavia Hill in one of her writings, " are bad, partly because they are badly built and arranged; they are ten- fold worse because the tenants' habits and lives are what they are. Transplant them to-morrow to healthy and commodious homes and they will pollute and destroy them." The fact has not been sufficiently recognized that people accustomed to the laxity of slum life will not readily or easily fall in with any other mode of life. Even if they could be bodily transplanted to the most favourable conditions and the pleasantest surroundings, they would still cling to old habits, or shall I say vices, and in time, unless they have abandoned it beforehand, degrade their new neighbourhood into the regular type of slum, or little better than such. Before radical measures can be enforced, an educative process must be set in action, and, until this is attempted and a reasonable time allowed for its opera- tion, it is a mistake to attempt these drastic schemes. What must be the object of this training? Clearly, to lead the denizens of the foul spots in our towns and villages to appreciate the advantages of an orderly and decent life, and the importance of respecting the elementary principles 226 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of public and private healtli. It is hopeless to expect the attainment of this by persuasive measures, and so the compulsion of the law must be applied. To summarize the suggested treatment, the local authorities must maintain constant supervision over all unhealthy localities. Building regulations must be steadfastly enforced. Gradually, dwellings incapable of being reclaimed from an unhealthy condition should be ordered to be demolished, others, not so far gone, to be improved; ordinary nuisances should be severely treated. Careful but increasing pressure must be applied to over- crowded dwellings with the object of reducing the number of their inhabitants to a normal amount. Except for the cost of the requisite machinery of organization, the work can be done at comparatively small expense to the community. The process is a slow one, for not even the moderate powers, thus capable of being used, can be imposed at first with anything like the strictness really desirable; to do so would throw large numbers of people homeless upon the streets. But each step in advance will enable a longer step to be taken afterwards, and, in its later stages, the work will be rapidly progressive. In such reform the eclat of more drastic schemes will be missing, much of it will pass unnoticed, and there may be no special opportunity, for any particular administrator, of attracting the gaze and admiration of the nation, but, for all that, no work will be found more valuable, none is more requisite. The operation will be both preventive and therapeutic ; the formation of new slums, the degradation of property, will be rendered impossible, and, at the same time, a gradual but effectual cure of existing evils obtained. 227 CHAPTER XI. Slum Cleaeances. TKe slum is the physical embodiment of the housing evil, and much attractive argument has been put forward in favour of a frontal attack upon the latter in the shape of extensive slum demolition. London, Birmingham, and Glasgow, not to mention other cities, have experimented in this direction. The policy of the Cross Acts was regarded, and is still by numbers of people, as the method of housing salvation fjar excellence. Its importance in the minds of legislators is indicated by the substantial inclusion of the Cross Acts in the Housing of the Working Classes Act of 1890. Public opinion has rarely failed to approve attempts to place these Acts in operation. It is not surprising that this should be the case as, on the face, there seems to be no simpler nor more certain way of treating the housing evil. The method of cure seems analogous to the work of the surgeon by whom the dangerous tumour is excised, at one operation, from the body of the afflicted patient. When this can be done, why resort to any other treatment? There has been, in general, but one consideration standing in the way of a wide and free execution of the powers of the Cross Acts and Part I. of the 1890 Act, and that has been the effective one of expense. Urban house property, even of the poorest kind, cannot be acquired for a song, and local authorities ready in all other respects have hesitated to shoulder the financial burden that would result from any general application of the powers of slum 228 THE HOUSING PROBLEM clearance placed at their disposal by statute law. Thus, in spite of the favour with which this branch of housing legislation was regarded, the loans sanctioned for clearance work during the decade and a half intervening between the first Cross Act and the 1890 Act amounted to less than two and a half million pounds sterling, a comparatively small sum for the country at large, and indicative of the failure of the policy as the housing panacea. It is significant that, during the last ten years of the decade and a half mentioned above, the loans sanctioned were but one-fifth of the total amount. The schemes of the Metropolitan Board of Works secured the displacement of approximately 29,000 persons, but at a net cost of £55 per person, a sufficient argument to most municipalities for not attempting to follow suit. Had it not been for this fact there can be no doubt but that the period 1875 — 1890 would have witnessed a universal attack upon slum property. At the time, it was not realized, as it is beginning toi be realized now, that, so far as their effect upon overcrowding and allied evils was concerned, these clearances could be ranked as little, if any, more than failures. It was conceived by the promoters of clearance legislation that the people displaced would be housed in good sanitary property under proper conditions of space, ventilation, and so forth, the demolished dwellings being replaced by new property of this kind. As a matter of fact, those affected manifested the utmost unwillingness to avail themselves of the superior housing conditions provided in lieu of those from which they had been forcibly ejected. But a very small percentage of the dishoused sought the accommodation held out to them. If it were not a matter of record, it would seem incredible to the casual observer that any sane individual should prefer the environment of the filthy, reeking slumi to the SLUM CLEARANCES 229 far superior conditions tliat have frequently been, offered to the slummer. Explanations of this remarkable conduct have been sought, and various facts, or supposed facts, have been adduced. Confining my attention to the more prominent statements made, I find that the failure of past clearing and rehousing schemes has been ascribed to one or more of the following causes : — (1) Lack of any real provision to take care of the dishoused families during "the period intervening between dishousing and rehousing ; (2) the higher rents of rehousing accommodation as compared with those of the original property; (3) preference of tenancy in rehousing accommodation to applicants able to establish a good record as tenants, a qualification frequently lacking in the class of people immediately affected by such schemes. (1) "With reference to the first point raised, it must be admitted that dishousing which makes no provision for rehousing is, under ordinary urban conditions, a foolish policy at the best. It does not necessarily follow that, in every case, the rehousing should be in the form of the erection of new buildings ; it is quite possible to conceive of a situation where this would not be requisite, but it is essential that some sort of provision should be made. More than this, the provision should be made ahead of the dishousing. If there be any possibility of forcing people out of slum conditions, it will not be through schemes that leave them homeless, in large bodies, with every inducement to locate themselves in other districts under similar conditions to those from out of which they have just been driven. But this is just what is done when a clearing scheme is pushed ahead of the provision of or .arrangement for rehousing facilities. Three, six or nine months after the displacement, there is but little chance of having the new dwellings filled with those for whom, 230 THE HOUSING PROBLEM in reality, they were projected. Tlieonly logical conclusion seems to be that, where a clearing and rehousing scheme is deemed essential, the new accommodation for the people affected should be provided ahead of the dishousing, and, necessarily, on some other area, and that any rebuilding on the area where the demolition takes place should be without reference to the particular persons living in the original dwellings. (2) In providing rehousing accommodation, the matter of rent has assumed considerable importance. It is often stated that the new dwellings have been appreciably dearer than those which they have replaced, and that, as a conse- quence, the dishoused families have been practically debarred from tenancy. Just to what extent this is true is. difficult to determine. As remarked previously, slum rents are not necessarily low rents, and it is not unlikely that, in many cases, the difference between the old and new rents is not quite so great as has been imagined. Allowing however, that a difference exists, cause for it is to be found in the increased cost of building resulting from (a) the higher price of materials and labour, and (b) more stringent building regulations. The former is the natural result of the working of powerful economic forces which it would be useless and foolish to combat, but it has been urged that, as regards the latter, the Local Grovernment Board regulations are unduly rigid and that reasonable relaxa- tions would enable dwellings for the poorest classes to be put up at an appreciably less cost, and, therefore, demand- ing lower rents. The Grildart's Gardens dwellings in Scotland Yard, Liverpool, represent an attempt to meet the need for very low priced dwellings in cities. They are- substantial but unattractive buildings, the cheapest two- roomed dwellings (two rooms and a scullery) being 2s. 6d.. per week, or Is. per room, counting the scullery as half a SLUM CLEARANCES 231 room. It is not altogetker improbable tbat, with, favour- able consideration from tbe Local Grovernment Board, a more attractive type of dwelling could be profitably erected at a rent very little in excess of this figure, and this without resorting to huge barrack dwellings. The double tenements as erected at Richmond (two-storey cottage fiats) present the most favourable type for securing economy of building with more privacy of family life than barrack dwellings can possibly give. Block dwellings are common enough in some countries but have never appealed to English taste, notwithstanding that at least from four to five thousand of such dwellings are in existence in London and the provinces. Earlier legislation insisted that rehousing under clearance schemes should be provided within the same vicinity, and this fact, combined with the expensiveness of land, naturally led to the erection of block dwellings. Such buildings, capably administered are far preferable to badly kept cottages, but inferior to well kept ones. There is, obviously, less privacy; less chance for the healthy development of young children, at any rate in the case of families situated on an upper floor. To secure their orderly and decent regula- tion, it is requisite to enforce strict rules, which place a restraint upon the liberty of the family, justifiable enough but not a little irksome to the average individual. By enabling many more tenements to be provided to the acre of ground, they favour, perhaps, a diminution of over- crowding, though this all depends upon administration, but, on the other hand, increase the overhousing evil, or the overcrowding on area as it is sometimes termed. The only justification that a dwelling of this type can have is in the low rent of its tenements, but the high cost of construction per room has prevented this being in evidence so far. As a general thing, such dwellings should be dis- 232 THE HOUSING PROBLEM couraged. So far as housing improvement is concerned, there is possibly one function which they can discharge with some degree of success, and that is the housing of the residuum of our cities, the people who are confirmed slum- mers and inveterate oiienders against the sanitary law. These might be compelled to live in barrack dwellings under the strictest sanitary supervision, at least until they learned how to live decently in decent houses : in their cases, a restriction of the liberty of the individual is de- sirable both for their own sakes and for that of other citizens. (3) Preference of tenancy has undoubtedly taken place in filling up the dwellings erected in connection with clearing schemes. It is not astonishing that new property should invite the attention of a superior grade of working class people, and that these should prove much more accept- able tenants to landlords than those for whom, nominally, the accommodation has been provided. The former as tenants mean decently kept houses, paid up rents ; the latter, the reverse in each respect, or, if not that, a great deal of extra worry and trouble to. prevent lapses in these directions. The situation is decidedly against the slummer in competition for the tenancy of such property. It is often urged that it is a matter of little moment whether the dishoused families become the actual tenants of the new property or not, inasmuch as the houses vacated by those who rent the dwellings will be open to them. But some of the incoming families may have been paying a higher rent in their previous houses, a not uncommon circumstance, and, even if the rent has been no higher, it is probably somewhat greater than that which the dis- possessed slummer has been paying. And again, the renting of a new house does not always mean a vacated house somewhere else. The marriage rate among the working SLUM CLEARANCES 233 classes is influenced, tO' a certain extent, by tlie availability of bouse accommodation, and in so far as newly married couples (not previously bousebolders) occupy tbe new dwell- ings, tbey leave no vacant accommodation bebind tbem. Tbeir demand for tbe vacated bouses also lessens tbe supply of bouses open to tbe disboused slummer. To a greater or less extent, tben, tbese conditions bave alfected rebousing experiments, rendering tbem largely inoperative. But a furtber factor, more vital in nature, needs to be taken into consideration. Tbe demolition of slum property temporarily or permanently removes tbe slum from a certain number of square yards of land, but affords no guarantee tbat tbe extent or virulence of slumming will be permanently diminisbed. As bas been pointed out, conditions may be sucb, usually bave been sucb, as to permit tbe re-establisbment of slum conditions in localities bitberto free from, tbe evil, or at any rate to enlarge tbe boundaries of otber slums. Hence, a distinction, not always realised by bousing reformers, needs to be drawn between ' slum proferty demolition ' and ' sluin demoli- tion.' In reality, and tbis cannot be over-empbasized, tbe slum is not so mucb tbe property as tbe people, and one migbt as well expect tbe leopard to cbange its spots as tbe mere cbange of roof to reform tbe regular denizen of tbe slum. Place bim in a bome, spotlessly clean, com- modious and tborougbly attractive, and be will do bis best apparently to reproduce, as closely as possible, tbe wretcbed conditions of bis normal state of life. He seems utterly incapable of appreciating any of tbe advantages of a cleanly and well-ordered life. Mere transition of dwelling, a de- sirable tbing in itself, will not accomplisb mucb witb bim ; be bas to be trained, first of all, by a slow and severe process of discipline, into tbe adoption of sucb a life, acquiring its flavour piecem.eal as it were, and, not till 234 THE HOUSING PROBLEM this occurs, is physical environment likely to be a factor of account with him. Not a little time and money have been expended on much talked about schemes of clearance and rehousing that could well have been made use of in more profitable ways, but the real nature of slumming, though obvious to any careful student of its character- istics, has seemingly been overlooked, and, consequently, attempted reform has pursued, in this respect, a course of action of dubious benefit. This is my excuse for calling attention to this matter in both the present and preceding chapters. It will now be understood that the writer does not attach to clearing schemes anything like the importance, in housing reform, usually assigned to them by popular opinion. At the same time, he is far from denying that, at a proper time and under proper conditions, such schemes have their usefulness. As pointed out in the last chapter, the proper time will be when, by careful inspection and supervision, overcrowding and ordinary sanitary nuisances have been reduced to a low percentage in the area to be dealt with, the people having been trained under the compulsion of the law (moral suasion, alone having but small effect upon the class dealt with) into regularity of habits so far as their housing conditions are concerned. There can, then, be some confidence that, when these persons are compelled to leave their old dwellings, they will be able to appreciate, to an extent at least, improved surroundings. The money spent upon clearance schemes will, then, have some justification in housing reform, and there will not be an occasion for the criticism that the public money has been spent in pulling down one slum to build up another. The proper function of clearance schemes is not to cure overcrowding, not to abolish slummers from the face of the earth, but simply the SLUM CLEARANCES 235 sanitary one of removing an unhealthy agglomeration of dwellings. Their place is not at the first step of housing reform, but rather at the last. They must ever be expen- sive, but, if properly and effectively conducted, they remove a menace to public health, and the expense is thereby justified. In past experiments, the factor of expense has proved to be a very serious one, and our survey of the development of municipal powers through a long series of Acts of Parliament marked successive attempts to reduce such expenditure to the minimum. For some reasons, it is fortunate that clearance schemes are expensive, as municipal authorities will not be so likely to undertake them without a good deal of consideration, thus reducing the probability of unwise action in this direction. Assuming, however, that the real function of clearing schemes is recognized, it is undoubtedly important to consider how the attaching expense may be kept down to the minimum figure possible under the conditions. The lands and premises acquired by compulsory purchase under the powers of the various housing Acts in force from time to time have been paid for very heavily indeed compared with their reasonable market value. But the present conditions as represented in the compensation clauses of the 1890 Act have made the position more favourable to the municipality, and the cost of compulsory acquisition has not been so abnormal; there is little room, probably, for legitimate dissatisfaction. So far as the net cost of clearing schemes is concerned, its amount will depend upon the policy to be pursued. If the land purchased is to be put to the best hygienic advantage, it will mean the giving over of a considerably larger proportion of it to wide streets and open spaces. If the supply of working class houses in the district is scanty, then the remaining land, or such portion of it as is deemed necessary, ought 236 THE HOUSING PROBLEM to be sold under agreement for the erection of this class of property. This will mean, in all likelihood, a poor price and a comparatively expensive scheme. Should the reverse conditions hold good, the restriction as to the class of property to be erected upon the sites need not form a condition of the sale (of the greater part of the land, at least) ; full market value will be able to be obtained, and the expensiveness of the scheme correspondingly lessened. If clearing schemes are not used as a remedy for over- crowding, but simply as a means of removing property which no amount of minor improvements will render suitable for fairly healthy living, the question of rehousing will not be so difficult as it has been in most past experiments. Previous to demolition of the property, overcrowding will have been reduced to a small percentage, the occupiers of the dwellings will have been accustomed to orderly ways of living, which will be likely to result in better utilisation of income, so that response to their demand for homes to live in, arising from the forthcoming execution of a demolition scheme, will probably be promptly made, in not a few instances, by private enterprise. In so far as this does not take place, and existing accommodation, of the class required and suitably situated, is not available, the clearing authority must perforce endeavour to make good the deficiency, though not necessarily by building on their own account, a point to which reference may again be made. But there is little reason to believe that, under the conditions assumed, there would ever be an extensive need of this. The number of clearings required may not be so great as would appear at first glance — a somewhat desirable conclusion to aiTive at in view of the present state of municipal finance. The securing of ideal conditions of housing in existing cities is impracticable, and housing SLUM CLEARANCES 237 reformers should be careful to avoid ignoring mucli of the good that they can do by reason of seeking after the good that they cannot do. Remembering this, it is pertinent to ask whether a number of slums could not be made reasonably habitable without recourse to expensive clearances. This presumes, of course, that some people will still have (or choose) to live amid the bricks and mortar of city buildings, having no desire to rusticate amid the gardens some half-dozen or more miles away from the scene of their daily activities, a fairly reasonable presumption. Suppose that to such slums the suggested system of more detailed and more effective sanitary inspection is applied with the inevitable result of reduction of overcrowding to a minimum, and of the maintenance of fairly clean houses, streets and alleys. Suppose that sanitary regulations are rigidly enforced to remedy defects of lighting, ventilation, drainage, etc., in the houses, to secure the removal of houses in themselves impossible of sanitary reconstruction, also to pull down an obstructive house or two here, another one or two there, and so on. Is it not possible to conceive that, though the improved conditions may not be perfect, still they may be such as to give the inhabitants of such districts about the average chance of life and health afforded within the inner limits of our urban communities.'' While not claiming that every slum area can be satisfactorily handled without recourse to more drastic measures, personal observation convinces me that many could be so dealt with, provided that the municipality and its officers fulfil their duties with patience, determination, ability and integrity. And the municipal representatives or officials that do not exhibit these qualifications are unworthy of office and an impedi- ment to any kind of permanent reform. It has been taken for granted in the foregoing discussion, 238 THE HOUSING PROBLEM tliat, when clearing sclienies are undertaken, the burden of the work of clearing and the expense thereof must fall upon the municipality. Sanitary reform of this kind, like the general administration of the sanitary Acts, cannot be left to private individuals or organizations, for reasons which have been briefly indicated in another chapter. The distribution of the expense of clearance upon ground landlords and building owners interested in the property condemned would be approved by popular voice as an act of justice. However, even supposing that such persons are always responsible for bad housing conditions on their lands and in their houses, the equitable distribution of the expense according to the degree of responsibility would form an insuperable problem. Nor must it be forgotten that, by reason of inadequate laws and still more defective administration, these conditions have grown up with the passive, and sometimes, perhaps, the active consent of the municipality, in consequence of which not a little responsibility must be considered as resting upon the municipality itself. Ideal justice is more often hoped for than achieved, and practicability must determine course of action in every case. 239 CHAPTEE XII. The Municipality as Landloed. In Part II. of this work, it has been shown that the earliest housing policy, which received the formal appro- bation of Parliament as such, was based upon the desir- ability of municipal authorities associating themselves with private individuals in the provision of dwelling accommodation for the people. This policy has been con- sistently fostered by successive Parliaments with increas- ing emphasis upon the duty of the municipality in this direction, until, to-day, on every hand are to be seen local authorities filling acre after acre with workmen's dwell- ings. Apparently, they have condemned private enter- prise as inadequate, and some seem prepared to go almost to the extent of municipalizing house-building, so far as it concerns the great bulk of the population of their cities. In these days of socialistic tendencies, the advocacy of such a policy is not at all unlikely to spread : the desir- ability of it so doing is another matter. Accordingly, there is justification, in such a work as this, in dealing with municipal house monopoly as one of the possibilities of present tendencies, especially since the discussion will apply not only to absolute municipalisation but also largely to any municipal house-building on an extensive scale. To start with my conclusion first, there need be little hesitation in condemning as unpractical the idea of house municipalisation. Those favouring the adoption (com- plete or partial) of such a policy sometimes bring forward a propter hoc argument of this nature. Gas and water. 240 THE HOUSING PROBLEM they say, are frequently supplied by the municipality and, if these can be so furnished with efficient service, what reason can there be against the similar treatment of house accommodation? Obviously, what argument there is for the municipalisation of gas and water supply rests upon the fact that such industries must necessarily be non- competitive in any specific area, and consequently, within that area, monopolistic in character. The choice is between a private monopoly and municipal ownership, and public sentiment nearly always casts its vote for the latter of the two alternatives ; it is one of its weaknesses to imagine that public service must necessarily be preferable to and cheaper than private service. The possibility of the reverse being the case under many conditions and that the welfare of the community may be better conserved in industrial matters by private management under efficient municipal supervision hardly enters into the conceptions of a short- sighted democracy. However, the same tendency towards a close monopoly has not manifested itself in the supply of houses, at least not in the large urban centres, and con- sequently no true parallel can be drawn between the cases. The assumption, by the municipality, of the position of house-owner and landlord on a large scale, could hardly be viewed with equanimity. Can the idea be seriously enter- tained that the municipality, as house-builder, house- owner, and landlord on such a scale, would be a success? Already, local authorities are overburdened with responsi- bilities, which are so varied and so intricate that proper supervision is impossible, and far too large a dependence has to be placed upon hired servants, the permanent staff, whose interests, under such lax conditions, have not always proved themselves to be identical with economy and efficiency. Add to all of this the building of houses, their maintenance in repair, the collection of rents week THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 241 by week, and a hundred and one other things connected with the ownership of house property, affording every opportunity for official negligence and corruption, and can it rationally be supposed that a popularly elected body, with but a few hours per week at its disposal, would be capable of handling and supervising such complex details, in addition to performing its numerous other duties, with the care and efficiency that is not only desirable but essential? Inefficiency of management would lead, in the case of ordinary commercial organizations, to speedy bank- ruptcy, or its equivalent, but, in the municipality, thanks to the length of the ratepayers' purse and to defective bookkeeping, such a contingency need not be immediately anticipated, and the wealth of the community can be squandered with undistiirbed mind until industrial decay and financial ruin loom threateningly near. It is a matter of almost common repute how unsatis- factory and illusive the account-keeping of state and municipal bodies is prone to be. Cobden, addressing the House of Commons in 1864, declared that " Throughout the inquiries before Parliamentary Committees upon our Grovernment manufactories, you find yourself in a di£B.- culty directly you try to make the gentleman at the head of these establishments understand that they must pay interest for capital, rent for land, as well as allow for depreciation of machinery and plant." ^ As pointed out by Professor Bastable, in such industries there is constant confusion between capital and revenue accounts, the latter being swelled at the expense of the former : — " Receipts that should go to capital are assigned to revenue, and ex- penditure that ought to be met from revenue is defrayed from other state funds or by borrowing." 1. Quoted by Bastable, Public Finance, p. 183 note. 242 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Besides the financial risk, there is also a moral danger in municipal house monopoly. The great bulk of the tenants of such houses would belong to the working classes, and would constitute the majority of the electorate. It goes without saying that these would be deeply interested in securing a minimum rate of rental, especially since normal rent would consume an important portion of their weekly income. Constant pressure would be brought to bear upon the administrative body to this end, and suasion could be reinforced by the coercion of the polls. Any ap- preciable amount of profit made on the yearly transactions would raise an immediate demand for lower rents, and there would be, ultimately, a real danger of part of the responsibility of the rent of municipal dwellings being thrown upon the general rates, to be met out of the pockets of another class of society. Actual evidence of such a tendency is to be found, at the present time, in more than one municipality which has undertaken to provide houses for its working-class citizens. The difference between this and poor-law aid is a mere matter of nomenclature. Those familiar with the history of the old Poor-law will call to mind the mischief that was wrought in the earlier years of the nineteenth century by the system of relief in aid of rent, but municipal housing on an extensive scale would be capable of working much greater harm. It is true that such relief would not be administered by poor- law officials, that its real nature would be largely obscured, and that therefore its influence for evil would operate more slowly, yet the ultimate results would be similar, nay, much more baneful to the nation on account of the extent of the area affected. The following quotation from an article written twenty years ago by the late Lord Shaftes- bury, a man by no means unfavourable to m.unicipal action, is to the point : — THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 243 " Hitherto we have done too little ; there is now a fear that in some respects we may do too much. There is a loud cry, from many quarters, for the Government of the country to undertake this mighty question ; and any one who sets himself against such an opinion is likely to incur much rebuke and condemnation. Be it so. But if the State is to be summoned not only to provide houses for the labouring classes, but also to supply such dwell- ings at nominal rents, it will, while doing something on behalf of their physical condition, utterly destroy their moral energy. It will, in fact, be an official proclama- tion that, without any efforts of their own, certain por- tions of the people shall enter into the enjoyment of many good things, altogether at the expense of others. The State is bound, in a case such as this, to give every facility by law and enabling statutes ; but the work itself should be founded, and proceed, on voluntary effort, for which there is in the country an adequate amount of wealth, zeal, and intelligence." ^ Theoretically, perhaps, the municipality might be able to prevent the conversion of its house property into rate- aided dwellings, but, in practice, it would be found other- wise. The influence of interested representatives on the municipal controlling body, the power of the working-class vote would not fail to overpower, sooner or later, any opposition. In truth, there is some possibility that, in the course of a generation or two, the demand of the working- man might be extended from cheap houses to free houses : our socialist friends would certainly not demur. Any provision that relieves people of the necessity of relying upon their own exertions exercises a pauperising influence in proportion to its efficacy in destroying self-reliance and independence of character, virtues the absence of which in 1. Nineteenth Century, December, 1883, p. 935. Q 244 THE HOUSING PROBLEM a nation forecasts decay and ruin. Thus, philanthropic, like municipal housing, may work in this direction, though, perhaps, not with the same intensity, since the recipient of its benefits recognises the voluntary character of its services and is correspondingly grateful, whereas the gifts of the municipality or state are regarded more as something due to him, which he has a right to demand, and for which no special feeling of thankfulness is re- quired. Apart from what has been said, rate-aided dwellings, as the result of a general policy of municipal housing on a monopoly or fairly extensive scale, cannot be regarded otherwise than as a state subsidy in aid of wages, which means, in the long run, a subsidy in aid of employers. Of course, the appropriation of this benefit by the em- ployers would be gradual, but in the meantime any tem- porary benefit obtained by low-waged classes resident in the cities would tend to stimulate the very movement which thoughtful men are anxious to avoid, the migration from country into town. Another aspect of the municipalization of house build- ing must be considered in that it would mean a great addition to the ranks of municipal employes, whose numbers are already large in many localities. The pre- sence of such a large body of municipal employes would constitute menace to efiicient democratic government. It is not estim.ating human nature too cynically to suppose that such men would be peculiarly susceptible to the in- fluence that could be exerted upon them by their employer, the local authority, and, without doubt, the effort of rival elements in the local council to secure their support at the polls would result in corruption and a consequent lowering of civic morality. Much more might be said in way of criticism ; sufficient THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 245 lias been put forward to indicate that municipal house monopoly cannot be viewed with any degree of favour by the supporter of civic welfare. It may be thought that this discussion is beside the mark since no municipality has expressed its desire to monopolize, within its borders, the building of working class dwellings. But the argu- ments made apply, with almost equal force, to any attempt on the part of a m.unicipality to provide houses on a larger scale. Besides, the entrance of the municipality into such an industry cannot avoid forming a serious check to private enterprise therein, and it must be seriously borne in mind that this may drive capital out and thus leave the muni- cipality, willing or unwilling, with the stupendous task of supplying the house needs of the whole working class population. There is some reason to suppose that fear of municipal competition, especially the sort of competition which, directly or indirectly, has its support in the rates, has already contracted the activities of private enterprise. Capital will not undertake undue risks. It is noteworthy that, before the Glasgow Municipal Commission, the state- ment was made by several witnesses that if that Corporation charged itself with the work of building working class houses, " it must be prepared to build all the houses of that class, as private enterprise would not or could not compete with it." ^ It is important to call attention to the fact that, in the handling of men and of money, muni- cipal action is distinctly inferior to private enterprise : if it manages to do the work equally as well, it is usually at greater cost, in other words at an economic loss. The important factor of the personal management and per- sonal interest of the private builder is lost to it, of course. It was most stoutly asserted before the Glasgow Commis- 1. Report and Recommendations, etc., of the Glasgow Municipal Com- mission on the Housing of the Poor, page 16. 246 THE HOUSING PROBLEM sion, to wliich reference lias just been, made, that private builders eoul-d provide houses at as cheap a rate as that Corporation could do, unless it made them a charge on the rates, and this in spite of the greater cheapness with which money could be borrowed by the Corporation. But the fact that the municipality may, and, indeed, is likely to make good its own deficiencies by a subsidy from the rates is sufficient to induce private enterprise to cease investing capital at such risks. Under any ordinary circumstances, the competition of the municipality with the private interests, upon which its growth has depended, is undesirable. The very life and prosperity of the community is based upon individual action and enterprise and it may well be questioned whether interference of this kind, except its equity and reasonable- ness can be demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt, can be conducive to the ultimate prosperity, welfare and happiness of the community at large. I do not refuse to admit the possibility, though hardly the probability, of conditions under which intervention might be justifiable. If, by some chance, the supply of houses and vacant building land in any community became largely centred in the hands of one owner or of a co-operating group of owners, with accompanying forcing up of rents for the purpose of securing altogether abnormal profits, there would be some reason for the local authority attempt- ing to combat these conditions in the interests of its citizens by arranging for the erection of property in sufficient quantity to produce an appreciable effect upon rents, to this end securing land by compulsory purchase, if found necessary. Even under these circumstances, it does not follow that the actual building should be under- taken by the local authority. It would be far better for it to acquire the land, as stated, then leasing out the same THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 247 under sucL. covenants as would secure tlie desired end. Naturally, this would be an expensive process, as the rents that could be obtained for the land would be diminished, in most cases, by reason of such restrictions, but the result- ing levy upon the rates would have its justification in the exceptional conditions. A plea for municipal house building is sometimes based on the assertion that private enterprise has failed to meet the demand, and that the proof of this lies in the existence of overcrowding. One constantly meets with such state- ments as these : — "The product of private enterprise, then, is insufficient in quantity and inferior in quality,"^ and " Private enterprise, as represented by the ordinary builder or by companies or societies like those described in the previous section, has failed to supply the deficiency, and there is no evidence forthcoming that in the near future, under present conditions, it will make it up." ^ Is it possible -Qiat too much emphasis is being laid upon the so- called short-comings of private enterprise. Everything seems to point in that direction. Certainly, if our experi- ence during the last censal decade may be taken, the con- demnation can hardly be based upon the record of recent years, for private enterprise during that period proved itself able to provide housing accommodation at a rate greater than the increase in population, so that, at the end of the decade, overcrowded houses were considerably fewer in number than at its beginning. As pointed out in an earlier chapter, municipal house building was so limited during this period that its effect is negligible. A few additional figures will throw further light on this debated question. In 1891, the population of England and Wales was 29,002, 525 ; in 1901, it was 32,527,843, an increase of 1. Thompson. Housing Handbook, p. 9. 2. Manchester Housing Report, p. 82. 248 THE HOUSING PROBLEM 3,525,318, or 12'17 per cent. In 1891, the total number of houses, inhabited, uninhabited, and building, was 5,862,068; in 1901, 6,771,693, an increase of 909,625 houses or 15'52 per cent. Here is at once, then, evidence of the statement — 12'17 per cent, increase in population, but 15'52 per cent, increase in number of houses. Pursuing the calculations further, I find that, in 1891, the number of inhabitants per house (not tenement) was 4' 95, that the housing accommodation during the decade was provided at the rate of 1 house for every 3'88 individuals of in- creased population, so that, in 1901, the number of in- habitants per house had fallen from the 4' 95 just men- tioned to 4' 80. Surely, in face of these facts, a word may be said in protest against too eager condemnation of private enterprise in house building. Of course, private enterprise is not organized into a charity bureau, and, therefore, it may fail to provide for a class of people whose misfortune or crime places them practically under the pauper line. There is assuredly no moral duty resting upon business enterprise to build for charity, and, though sentiment urges otherwise, it is certainly dangerous for the state or municipality to attempt to do so, except to a very limited extent, under rigorous conditions, and with a definite reformatory policy in view. One can go into the poorest neighbourhood of any city and meet with families subsisting on what appears to be a minimum wage, and yet find some of these very families living under far more decent and desirable conditions than others possessing larger incomes — able to pay their landlords and to live without recourse to the poor rate, except, perhaps, in face of some great exigency. They economise their resources, others do not. Is the municipality to provide comfortable homes for the latter at rents in inverse proportion to their incapacity or extravagance? If this is to be the treat- THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 249 ment, such vices will have a premium placed upon them. But if it is conceded that it would be most perilous- for the municipality to attempt a policy leading to any such re- sult, can culpability be charged to private building enter- prise for declining to burden itself with a responsibility promising neither profit nor honour? Rather let the blame be placed upon the municipality which hag allowed so many years to pass by without attempting to meet squarely the moral and educational issues yearly raised by the continued presence of such a class of citizens within its borders. The proof of necessity for municipal housing cannot be deduced from any argument along these lines. Again I repeat that, before the municipality interferes, directly or indirectly, with the province of individual enterprise, there must be established beyond question the need of its action and its capability of more efficient per- formance than could be obtained from private effort. And efficiency here means more than the mere placing of brick on brick or of timber to timber : it takes into view all ultimate consequences — the social and economic welfare of the municipality as a whole, as well as of the particular classes composing it — with careful consideration of the balance of advantage or disadvantage. Even if private enterprise had been weighed in the balance and found wanting, the case for municipal interference would not be established until undeniable proof had been brought for- ward that the former had failed in spite of all the support that the municipality could possibly have given to it. There are many things that the municipality can do well and ought to do, and which require and demand all its energy and care. The more attention it gives to assumed duties, the burden of which could be borne equally satis- factorily by other agencies, the more will the former be neglected, the less assured and substantial will be the social and economic progress of its community. 250 THE HOUSING PROBLEM The next chapter will include further remarks upon the relation of the municipality to private eifort in the housing of the poor, but before closing the brief discussion of the present one, it is desirable to refer again to the question of rehousing as apart from the provision of additional ac- commodation. The following quotation, taken from the Glasgow Report, states the generally accepted view on this matter : — ". . . . Others, while not laying down any general principle, pointed out that, if the Corporation by its own action dishoused a considerable population of the poorest class, and thereby created an abnormal scarcity of accommodation, the same obligation rested upon it as the law imposes upon railway corporations and others who displace more than a certain number of the working- class population to see that accommodation is provided for them within a convenient distance." ^ The extreme opposite of this position, if it needs an ex- ample, is illustrated in municipal dishousing operations, within the present generation, under local improvement Acts. The Manchester Corporation dishoused a consider- able number of people in this way, without rehousing, especially in St. Michael's Ward; so did Glasgow. The latter city is stated to have dishoused some 19,000 persons between 1871 and 1875, leaving them to find accommoda- tion in the existing houses of the city, this being done under the powers of the City Improvement Act of 1866, and the dishousing process, it may be added, continued long after 1875.^ Instances of similar work are to be found in the history of every municipality : the two cities named 1. Refort: Glasgow Municipal Commission, pp. 15-16. 2. Report : Glasgow Municipal Coinmission on the Housing of the Poor, p. 11. THE MUNICIPALITY AS LANDLORD 251 by no means stand alone. However, in recent years, muni- cipal privileges in this direction have been severely re- stricted. Rehousing is entirely a local problem; whether or not the clearance of any area should be associated with the erection of property for the accommodation of the whole or part of the people displaced is to be determined purely by local conditions. No general rule can be set forth, and this is partly recognised by the law permitting the central authority to dispense with the inclusion of a rehousing clause in any clearance scheme of a provincial local authority. 1 In all cases of raunicipal, railway, or other clearances, a very careful analysis of the situation is desirable — the state of the building trade, the house facilities of the district, the position of the people to be placed, and so forth. If it is clear upon the evidence accumulated that the absence of special rehousing is going to seriously discommode these people and that there is no prospect of private building obviating the inconvenience of its own initiative, then the dishousing body should be required to provide a remedy. This applies to the muni- cipality as well as to the railway or other private organisa- tion, but it must be remembered that the local authority have many ways of stimulating private enterprise in build- ing, which, save under the most extraordinary conditions, will bring about the provision of all house accommodation desirable without themselves laying one brick. The words of the Glasgow report just quoted I heartily endorse, though the sentiment contained is more frequently than not regarded as imposing actual house building upon the municipality. "An abnormal scarcity " of accommodation is to be created by dishousing, under which circumstances the local authority is " to see that accommodation is pro- vided "2 1, 1890 Housing Act. Sect. 11 (2). 2. The italics are mine. 253 CHAPTEE XIII. Some fuethee Consideration of Municipal Housing Policy. The lesson of the previous chapter is that " municipal housing policy " should not be based upon municipal housing. It must not be supposed that the position taken disputes the morality of the municipality undertaking any kind of housing ; a careful study of what has been said will make clear that this is not the case. In the promotion of proper housing conditions, there is much important work for it to do beyond that which has already been indicated in the previous discussion, and some little space may be profitably devoted to the consideration of this. The municipality might well give to its citizens an instructive object lesson in the possibilities of suitable cottage building by erecting a few dwellings in its working class neighbourhoods. These should be models of what can be done in building with due regard to economy of construction. The dwellings should be self-supporting, forming, in every way, a means of comparison with the production of the private builder. This work would undoubtedly stimulate the latter as it would afford a practical standard of house-building, the lesson of which could be appreciated by all. The influence of such houses upon the minds of the working class, and therefore upon the nature of their demand for house accommodation, would probably be considerable. Even the municipality itself would benefit by having to put its own bye-laws into practical representation. The Manchester Citizens' 254 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Association, in the report presented through the able pen of Mr. T. R. Marr, recommend: — "That the Town Councils should use more fully the powers they possess under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, oif 1890 and 1900, and erect, in many different parts of the towns and of the country contiguous to the towns, groups of working class dwellings, exemplary in respect of size and arrangement of rooms and of offices, and of pleasantness of exterior, and provided with adequate yard space and with small gardens. The objects of this work, which should be self-supporting, should be (a) to provide part of the supply of wholesome dwellings needed by the towns; (b) to raise the working-man's ideal of a dwelling; and (c) to set a higher standard for those who are building or may build workmen's dwellings." ^ The sentiment of the recommendation is in harmony with the previous remarks, though the way in which it is phrased prevents me from endorsing it just as it stands. To advise the Town Councils to use " more fully " the powers they possess under the Housing Acts, in connection with the context, leads me to believe that the Association had in mind much more extensive building than my own suggestion anticipates. This is borne out by the further statement that one of the objects of this movement should be "to provide part of the supply of wholesome dwellings needed by the towns." Any part played by model dwellings in house supply should be incidental, and, provided that the purpose of simply furnishing illustrative types for the social education of the working man were strictly adhered to, would be very small, negligible in fact. A certain amount of housing might be undertaken by 1. Manchester Report on Housing Conditions, pp. 5-6. MUNICIPAL HOUSING 255 the municipality witli a purely reformatory purpose in view. In an earlier chapter, reference was made to the general undesirability of block dwellings for the poorer classes, argument being made that the functions which such dwellings could best fulfil would be the compulsory housing (under rigid supervision) of the city residuum— the confirmed slummers and inveterate offenders against the sanitary law. Such compulsion might be considered, to some extent, an invasion of the liberty of the individual, but where the liberty of the individual is dangerous to the comfort and safety of the body, there is every justifica- tion for restriction. In carrying out the details of any arrangement of this kind, many difficulties would have to be met, but probably not insuperable ones. Powers could be granted to the municipality, by the Legislature, under such checks as might secure their reasonable and judicious utilisation, without unduly impeding action. In slum reformation, whether by clearance or otherwise, a few of such buildings under municipal control would be of great service, and would immensely assist the working of our sanitary legislation. With some relaxation of building regulations, suitable dwellings could be put up at a very low cost, let at the rate of about a shilling a room per week, and yet be self-supporting. The experiments of Liverpool in clinker built houses indicate that this is far from impossible.^ Such a rent could hardly be bettered in the slums themselves ; and those, whose wages, properly economized, vtdll not enable them to pay even this small amount, are proper subjects for the workhouse, or, in selected cases, for the attention of organised private charity. The Glasgow City Engineer proposed, before the local Commission, that a scheme somewhat along these lines, 1. Rents for three-room tenements figuring out at 4s. per week, giving 5 per c«nt. return on capital expenditure. 256 THE HOUSING PROBLEM thougli with tiie compulsory feature less obvious, should be undertaken by the Corporation; the policy involved had previously been associated with the names of Professor Smart and Mr. John Mann, of Glasgow. The following extracts from the final report of the Commission will explain the nature of the official proposal : — " Much interest was felt in a scheme submitted and explained by the City Engineer to supply a class of one-roomed houses at a rent of Is. per week, provided ground could be obtained at about 10s. a yard. Speaking of the necessity of housing what he called ' the nether- most unit,' he brought before the Commission the possibility of erecting such a house — built of brick, cement plaster in the inside, with specially constructed wooden floor, water-tight but without deafening, and cheapened in every way that human ingenuity could devise. ' Undesirables,' he thought, and not a few witnesses agreed with him, should get a chance in some such erection as this The Commission therefore recommend (2) that an experiment should be made by the Corporation in the erection of a building or buildings on the lines laid down by the City Engineer, to be reserved for those who, while unable to show any factor's line, or other certificate, are willing to submit to neces- sary regulations as to cleanliness, respectable living, order, and punctual payment of rent, with the view of rehabilitating their characters, and in time qualifying for a better house. The houses should be of the plainest construction, with indestructible fittings, and should be capable of being quickly and efiiciently cleansed." ^ Under the provisions of the 1890 Housing Act, the Public Works Loan Commissioners have power to lend 1. Report: Glasgow Municipal Commissions, pp. 20-21. MUNICIPAL HOUSING 257 money to any railway company or docks or harbour company, or any other company, society, or association, established for the purpose of constructing or improving, or of facilitating or encouraging the construction or improvement of dwellings for the working classes, or for trading or manufacturing purposes (in the course of whose business, or in the discharge of whose duties, persons of the working classes are employed); also to any private person entitled to any land for an estate in fee simple, or for any term of years absolute, whereof not less than fifty years shall for the time being remain unexpired.^ The period of repayment of loans must not exceed forty years, and the money advanced on the security of a mortgage of any land or dwellings solely must not exceed one moiety of the value. The Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, empowers the local authority to advance money for the purpose of assisting persons to acquire the owner- ship of small houses in which they reside or intend to reside. There seems to be much in favour of widening still further the facilities open to private enterprise for obtaining loans for the building of working class property. The municipalities, certainly the larger ones, can borrow money at a comparatively low rate of interest, and legisla- tion that would enable and induce them to make use of their power of securing capital cheaply for the benefit of organizations and individuals desirous of erecting this kind of property would powerfully stimulate building activity. A great deal has been done in this direction in Germany. English readers will find much to interest them on this point in Mr. Horsfall's volume on " The Example of Grermany," one of the most important English works dealing with housing policy that have been issued during recent years. In 1902, the Grand Duchy of Hesse estab- 1. 53 Vict. c. 70: § 67 (1). 258 THE HOUSING PROBLEM lished a J^Tational Credit Bank for tlie supply of money to assist in the building of working class dwellings. Through this bank, the State gives credit tO' its constituent com- munity, and the latter can either themselves build, or make loans to building societies to the extent of 90 per cent, of the total cost of dwellings. Towns in which there is an insufficient supply of wholesome cheap dwellings, and whose local authorities do not attempt to build can be forced to accept a loan and to lend the money obtained to a building society " of public utility " where such is will- ing to build and desires a loan. Further, local authori- ties are urged by the Government to aid the building societies by placing the services of their building officials at the disposal of the societies without charge, by taking shares in the societies, by granting them favourable terms respecting interest on, and repayment of the loans made to the societies, and by granting them loans without mort- gage security; also by letting the building societies have building land on low terms and by remitting the usual contributions towards the cost of street making and sewer- ing. ^ Just as to the feasibility of developing our facilities 1. Horsfall, pp. 47 — 50. See also in the same book reference to Prussia, p. 39; to Saxony, p. 74; to Frankfurt am Main, pp. 125 — 9. I venture to quote in full that portion of the decrees of the Prussian Ministers relating to this subject : these decrees were issued in March, 1901. " Towns will promote the provision of an increased supply of small, wholesome, cheap dwellings for the poorer classes, if, whenever the housing conditions are unsatisfactory, they give as much support as possible to building societies " of public utility." It should be a con- dition for receiving help from the community, that, without regard to the particular legal form chosen by them, the building societies are bound by their articles of association to seek the one object of pro- viding, in houses built or bought by them, wholesome and suitably arranged dwellings for families of the poorer classes, at low rents ; that the dividends payable to the members be restricted to not more than 4 per cent, on the amount of their shares, and that, in case of liquidation, not more than the nominal amount of the shares be pay- able to the shareholders, any surplus being used for public purposes. " It should also be considered how far, and under what conditions, the same help which is granted to building societies of public utility may be given to persons who undertake to erect small, wholesome, and properly arranged dwellings to be let at low rents. MUNICIPAL HOUSING 259 on exactly the same lines as Germany, there is room for legitim.ate difference of opinion, but that further develop- ment would be beneficial to the interests of the municipality and the state seems tolerably certain. The advocacy of municipal ownership of building sites has become an important feature of the housing reform propaganda. It is urged that municipalities should have and exercise the power of acquiring land, within and sur- rounding their areas of jurisdiction, to as large an extent as possible, so that there may be always an abundance of land under the control of the towns which may be used for the " Next it is a question whether building societies should be helped by remitting in their favour part or the whole of the cost of streets and sewers, and by allowing them to defer for a considerable time payment of the sums they owe. It is desirable that the decision arrived at respecting this subject shall provide that any payments which are remitted shall become due, and shall be enforced, if the dwellings are ever used for purposes other than that for which they were first intended, and that this obligation be legally recorded against the sites. The remission of the fees usually paid by builders to the Building-police is also a desirable form of assistance. " Towns can, further, give important aid to building societies by placing at their disposal without charge the co-operation of the build- ing officials of the town. As it is a matter of experience that work- men's building societies can, as a rule, obtain but little capital, the chief way in which such societies can be helped is by the towns taking some of their shares, and making it as easy as possible for them to obtain loans on mortgage cheaply, and on terms as favourable as possible in respect of repayment. So far as other funds are not available, or are not provided by the Town Councils, the surplus funds of the communal Savings Banks can be used for this purpose with peculiar propriety. " Even if a town is not in a position to pay for shares with its own funds, or to lend money of its own to building societies, it can easily give them facilities for obtaining capital, by itself borrowing money for them from the National Insurance Institutions on the security of its own credit. The National Insurance Institutions often give very favoinrable terms to the agents who effect loans to building societies, so that the town, even if it adds i per cent, to the rate of interest to cover any loss which may occur, can yet supply the need of building societies for loans on the security of their land at low rates of interest. Further, a town can help a building society to obtain loans by becoming security for them, as many Ehenish towns have done. In these cases some Insurance Institutions lend amounts which consider- ably exceed the usual limits. "Lastly, for the purpose of aiding building societies, a town may, under certain circumstances, sell them some of its land at a low price and allow them considerable delay in the payment for it." — Horsfall, pp. 39-40. R 26o THE HOUSING PROBLEM extension of the cheaper sort of housing accommodation. The land is to be kept in perpetual ownership by each town, only leases of it being granted.^ Under the supposition that the town is to be a great house builder and owner, the consistency and business logic of such a policy is obvious. If there is justification for the former so is there for the latter. However, the desirability of municipal house ownership has not been admitted in this discussion and, consequently, cannot be allowed as an argument for municipal land proprietorship. That the municipality should acquire and reserve suitably situated land for parks, open spaces, and boulevards goes without saying. The financial position of the municipality determines the reason- able limit of this kind of improvement, but, within that limit, the more that can be done the better. Such expen- diture is entirely unreproductive financially, but incal- culably productive from the point of view of the health and well-being of the citizens. There is also every reason for the acquisition of sites for future libraries, museums, baths, washhouses, and other public buildings. Further- more, in overcrowded towns, little, if any objection need be taken to the holding, by the municipality, of a moderate amount of land with particularly favOiUrable situation which it might be desirable to lease, under easy conditions, for the erection of small dwellings. To approve a more ambitious policy than this is practically to advocate the municipalization of land. Now, whatever may be the ad- vantage of municipal ownership of land, it has the great disadvantage of exposing the municipality tO' considerable financial risk. In the first place, the municipality has to buy dearly. In the second place, it has to buy at a risk. The movement of the values of town sites is by no means a 1. Cf. T. E. Marr, Housing Conditions in Manchester and Salford, V- 7, § 5. MUNICIPAL HOUSING 261 ■uniform progression. Values may remain stationary or retrograde ; even in the same town may be found instances of botK forward and backward movements. Also land may increase in value during one generation, and the reverse take place during the following period. Where the town has to buy at a price above the market (and even members of the local government have not been averse to stimulate the price for their own private advantage), it follows that stationary land values mean an unprofitable investment, especially when it is borne in mind that, to secure the erection of working class houses, the ground rent obtainable may have to be reduced to a very low figure. In popular opinion, a strong point in favour of the policy now under consideration exists in the retention of the unearned in- crement by the community. But it also secures to the community the unearned decrement should this occur, and, in any case, the extensive use of land for cheap houses is going to reduce to a minimum the possibility of any large increment. The municipality could only get an appreciable increment by departing from its ostensible purpose of securing the land for housing and selling it for offices, warehouses, shops, and such like. A great deal of importance has been assigned to securing for the community the unearned increment from urban land, though the unearned decrement attaching to so large an area of English agricultural land has been passed over with as little notice as possible.^ As a measure of finan- cial reform, the value of such a change is extremely du- 1. The argument upon this point would be, no doubt, something in this way. The increment from urban land arises from the collective activities of the community, therefore it should belong to the community. The decrement from agricultural land results from the accident of foreign competition for which the community is not responsible. The reasoning is more specious than convincing. Could one, then, take it for granted, by analogy, that, in a case where an urban council con- struct a new thoroughfare, diverting traffic from an older one, the local authority would reimburse property owners along the line of the latter for unearned decrement arising from its action? 262 THE HOUSING PROBLEM bious/ and, as a matter of fact, no workable equitable scheme for appropriating the unearned increment has been produced. A great deal of skill has been expended upon the discussion of this question, resulting in a fairly volu- minous literature, which fact, combined with a certain amount of incredulity as to its important or practical bear- ing upon the housing problem, will excuse the present writer from devoting more attention to it. 1. Cf . Professor F. C. Montague's article on " The Unearned Incre- ment," Diet, of Political Economy, vol. i., p. 383 : — " But further it may be urged that the State has an indefinite power of taxation, and that under a democracy, which is the most costly of all forms of government, taxation is always becoming heavier, and is more and more thrown upon property, especially, where landowners are few, upon landed property. Under these circumstances, it is cer- tain that the national and municipal authorities will in future draw an ample revenue from landed property whether or no any unearned increment has accrued thereon." 263 CHAPTER XIV. Housing Reform and Taxation. The municipality is invited to lielp forward the solution of the housing prohlem in several diiferent ways, among which that of taxation is assuming special importance in the utterances and writings of many reformers as well as in the mind of the general public. At first glance, there seems to be but small connection between improvement of housing conditions and alteration of the system of local taxation, but the student of the recent housing literature of this country will not read very far before he will have emphasized and re-emphasized upon his attention that in tax reform lies the key to the whole situation. Unfortun- ately, rhetorical exaggeration is frequently a conspicuous feature of this literature, a fact which hinders rather than helps conviction. Serious students of the subject will not ignore any proposed solution that bears upon its face the slightest trace of feasibility, but they certainly cannot be expected to be converted by anything but solid reasoning from cause to effect. Nevertheless, the agitation for the taxation of land values, and, in particular, the taxation of urban sites, has undoubtedly made considerable impression upon public opinion, especially since its supporters have interlinked their proposal so cleverly with the housing reform movement. It is not intended, in the few pages that can be given to this question, to attempt a full dis- cussion, but rather to ascertain how the proposed reform is viewed by its advocates, and how far their arguments may be regarded as reasonable. 264 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Under present conditions, our urban communities derive their funds for public expenses mainly from the receipts of taxation based upon the rental values of occupied build- ings, or rather upon those values less a certain deduction (usually about 15 per cent.) which is intended as an allow- ance for outgoing expenses of the buildings in the shape of repairs, etc. Land unbuilt on is either not rated at all or else at its agricultural letting value, half the rates being remitted, in the latter case, under the Agricultural Rating Act : the income from it, therefore, is practically neglig- ible. The sum of the rental values of any locality (with the deduction named) forms its annual rateable value and the ratio between this and the amount required by the estimates for the year's expenditure establishes a certain rate in the £ for that year. This system has administra- tive simplicity whatever its defects may be : the difficulties and dangers of an official assessment of property values are avoided. The reform proposals take as a premiss that the rates paid by the occupier fail to reach the ground owner, at least in a sufiicient amount, and therefore advocate the necessity of a special rate iipon the site value, assessed separately from the building value. Single taxers are often found earnestly supporting this movement, but the reform so persistently fought for by Henry George was essentially different from the present suggestion of housing reformers. The single tax theory proper would substitute all other taxation (local and imperial) by a tax on land values, which m.ust be made equal to the economic rent of the land apart from improvements. Housing reformers, who do not happen to be single taxers, do not go so far as this, but urge the imposition of a tax on urban site values (not necessarily equal to the economic rent) as part of a system of local taxation in which the financial burden HOUSING REFORM AND TAXATION 265 hitherto resting upon the occupier shall be relieved, to a large extent, by the ground owner. There are others who, without recommending the application of the single tax theory in its complete form, urge that all local taxation should be imposed on ground values. The arguments usually adopted, and the influence exerted by the move- ment will be understood from the following extracts. The minority report of the Royal Commission on Local Taxation^ (signed by Lord Balfour of Burleigh, Lord Blair Balfour, Sir Edward Hamilton, Sir George Murray, and Mr. James Stuart) has been a source of no little moral strength to believers in the desirability and possibility of a reform of the nature already indicated. The report urges that : — • ". . . there is a strong argument for rating site values on the ground of public policy, regard being had to the effects of taxation on industry and development. Our present rates indisputably hamper building, which is a necessary of life, and of business of every kind. Now, the tendency of our present rates must be generally to discourage building — to make houses fewer, worse, and dearer. The effect of substituting a site-value for an ordinary rate in a town will be, roughly speaking, to decrease the burden in the outskirts and increase it at the centre, and any increase of building on the out- skirts tends to reduce the pressure for accommodation all through the town, while the value of the accom- modation also is likely to be improved by the light- ening of the burden on the building value. While the rating of site-value thus concerns the public at large as an administrative reform, it is of special importance in connection with the urgent problem of providing 1. VI., 1901. 266 THE HOUSING PROBLEM house accommodation for the working classes. Any- thing which aggravates the appalling evils of over- crowding does not need to be condemned, and it seems clear to us that the heavy rates on buildings do tend to aggravate those evils, and that the rating of site values would help to mitigate them." A couple of general elections ago, the taxation of land values was made a party-cry, and the succeeding paragraph is quoted from a leaflet circulated at the time : — " For our present rates we should substitute the taxa- tion of land values. An assessment must be made of the unimproved value of land everywhere, i.e., the value of the land apart from any buildings or fixtures or im- provements. The tax, then, must be levied on the true land value, whether the land is in actual occupation or not, and whether or not it happens at that moment to be " ripened " for sale in building plots. Under the pressure of the tax, more land would be thrown on to the market, and land everywhere would be obtainable on easier terms by those who wish to use it. Sites now un- used would be put to fuller use. If land were taxed according to its true value, there would be a re-adjust- ment of the burden of taxation as between different districts, which would have a most beneficial influence in stimulating building enterprise. Heavier taxation would fall on the fully developed sites at the centre, while the outer districts would be relieved from the burden which now hampers this development Again, we should be freeing buildings from the burden of rates. By levying rates on buildings, we make build- ings dearer, and the inevitable consequence is that fewer are built. Under our present system of rating, builders cannot afford to build, because occupiers cannot afford HOUSING REFORM AND TAXATION 267 to occupy so many or such good houses as they could if buildings were not liable to be rated. If we cease to levy rates on the value of buildings, we shall remove the first of the two main causes of the dearness and scarcity of houses." 1 During the years 1903 and 1904, three Bills were brought before the House of Commons, one presented by Mr. Macnamara, the second (known as the Municipal Bill by reason of the support it received from local authorities) by Mr. Trevelyan, and the third (the Scottish Bill) by Mr. Caldwell, but none of the three succeeded in becoming law. The memoranda of the first two bills indicate that their purpose (whatever the ultimate policy of their authors may have been) was to impose a tax on urban site values in addition to the existing taxation on buildings. Thus, we read : " This Bill is framed with the object of providing local authorities in urban areas with a new source of revenue in relief of the present rates, and so diminishing the existing burdens on building enterprise " (1903 Bill), and, again, " It is provided by this Bill that all valuation lists on which local rates are based shall con- tain a separate assessment of the land values of rateable premises " (The Municipal Bill). The same is true of the Scottish Bill, " The assessor shall make up the valuation roll for the burgh, with additional columns for the purpose of showing the extent of land contained in each separate piece of ground, with the annual value thereof at four per cent, on the selling price." The above references make plain that housing reformers are proposing, under the name of taxation of (urban) land values, two different schemes, one that the levies of the city should be raised from both land and buildings directly, 1. For easily accessible reference, see Thompson's Housing Handbook, p. 263. 268 THE HOUSING PROBLEM the other that the whole of the local taxation should be thrown upon the land. The latter proposal is, of course, Henry Georgeism in a pruned form. It is based on the theory, a tolerably correct one where the tax is levied at the point of incidence, that a tax on land values falls on the land owner. But this being the case, does not such a method of taxation do violence to every principle of justice? Taxation is not merely getting money from a community, but the getting of it equitably, and no community has any moral right to relieve part of its members capable of bearing taxation from supporting a fair share of the burdens resulting from its existence as a community. The work of a community is undertaken for the good of the whole, and the mere fact that some portion of its membership incidentally derives a special and peculiar benefit from this work (while a possible justification of differential treatment) is no reason why the other part of the population should be relieved entirely from its civic indebtedness. Injustice should be sufficient of itself to condemn any proposed change in our system of taxation. As a general rule, it is better to put up with the known evils of an old established tax than to risk the unknown ones of a new tax whose effects are too indefinite to be traced. To a certain extent, the taxed will have adjusted themselves to the old system, thereby mitigating some of its inequality.^ The proposal to associate a local tax on site values with the present taxation on buildings is much more reasonable, though it yet remains to be seen whether this is really practicable. There has been much discussion concerning 1. "The argument for a tax, or mode of taxation, that it exists, is always a very strong one, when the abolition would necessitate other taxes to supply its place. The mere antiquity of the system by giving time for the adjustment of the burden on the subject taxed makes it fall lighter, very much lighter, than any novel tax or method possibly could." — Re'port on Local Taxation, 1870. HOUSING REFORM AND TAXATION 269 the incidence of local rates, but there seems to be good reason to accept the view that the incidence is largely upon the occupier, except, as pointed out by Mr. Blunden, under the special conditions existing in the congested areas of the metropolis (and, m.ay it not be added, of the large provincial centres), in exceptionally advantageous suburb- an sites, and in stagnant or dwindling towns. This being the case, it would seem that, so far as local taxation is con- cerned, the ground owners might consistently be asked to bear more of the annual indebtedness of the community. But there are serious difficulties in the way. Those who have carefully studied the incidence of taxa- tion are fairly well agreed that if there is to be any surety of a tax on ground values falling on the landlord, the tax must be levied on him directly. This would mean extra- ordinary difficulty of administration, involving enormous expense. A maze of contracts between the original ground owner, chief rent holder, ninety-nine year lease holder, short lease holder, and house owner, will make it a problem, indeed, to place the tax just in the right place. If the tax is to be levied from the occupier with power for him to deduct from the rent, the administrative diffi- culty still remains. There may be half a dozen persons concerned in the ownership of the ground, and, on ele- mentary principles of fairness, the amount deducted by the occupier from the rent he pays to the owner, and de- ducted by the latter from the amount he pays to the lease- holder of the ground, should be divided among the pro- prietary interests in proportion to the benefits derived by each from his share in the ownership. The difficulties of ascertaining the status of the parties concerned and of determining the proper share of each are not to be under- estimated : they might prove insuperable. It is generally asserted by the more moderate advocates 270 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of the kind of taxation now being discussed that they have no desire to tax improvements but that they propose the tax on laaid values because it is the one way to strike pure economic rent. This assumes that economic rent, in urban centres, at any rate, is easily determinable, at the same time presumably recognizing that the actual rent paid for building land may be widely different. Thus, in each case of urban rent, there would occur the necessity of a careful analysis of its component parts. The work in- volved can be imagined and, after all, the best that could be done would be but a guess. As Professor Nicholson points out, the complex relationship of a building and its site to roads, lighting and water systems, etc., stands abso- lutely in the way of accurate determination of economic rent.i It is claimed that recourse to the taxation of urban land values will facilitate the solution of the housing problem by throwing land on the market that under present con- ditions would be held for a rise. How far is this likely to "be the case .? It must be granted that, in an unprogressive or decaying town, such a thing as holding for a rise will be absent; landowners, unless influenced by sentimental reasons, will be eager enough to get rid of their land with- out other pressure. In progressive towns, on the other hand, parties holding land for a rise will have to stand the tax, but will they sell? If the landowner sells, he will get for his land not its value before the imposition but that value (supposing other conditions remain the same and that the tax is viewed as a permanent addition to the fiscal system) less the capitalized value of the new tax at its initial rate. Now with increasing population and a grow- ing industry, tax or no tax the value of urban land will go up, and consequently the land owner will calculate the 1. See his Principles of Political Economy, vol. iii., p. 322. HOUSING REFORM AND TAXATION 271 chance of making more in a few years by enhanced value as against the total amount of taxes he will have to pay plus loss of interest, etc. The effect of the tax in causing land to he thrown upon the market, unless made so high as to approach absolute confiscation, would be far less, probably, than is anticipated by the advocates of the so-called reform. Most of the land it could influence would find its way on the market anyhow. Moreover, it should be borne in mind in connec- tion with the proposed policy of forcing land on the market that every vacant plot of ground forms one of the breathing lungs of the city, and, though the owner's sole reason may be personal gain, he incidentally confers a benefit on the community by holding open the land, the value of which benefit must be set off in part against the disadvantage of a restriction of the area for building in that locality. Fur- ther, the imposition of site value taxation must necessarily penalize the addition of garden space to houses, a most undesirable thing. Of course, the imposition of the tax would diminish the value of all land in the market and prices would fall. A fairly heavy tax would confiscate quite a large proportion of the value of the land ; the fact that the existing holders would lose the whole capitalized value of the tax, with, perhaps, a further decrement for uncertainty, while the mxmicipality would require, say, twenty-five years to secure for itself the equivalent of that taken from the holders at one blow, seems to be a piece of economic injustice so far as the latter are concerned, to say nothing of the financial dis- turbance likely to be caused in an investment market which at present attracts much of the capital of the country. The fall in price and the uncertainty of future taxation would make ground rents a far less attractive investment for capital, and it would be correspondingly more difficult to 272 THE HOUSING PROBLEM raise capital upon them. Thus, the builder would have to pay more heavily for the loans he secures, a condition which would tend to restrict his activities in house build- ing; believers in the municipalisation of house property will consider this, perhaps, a point in favour of the tax. One is forced to the conclusion that there is little possi- bility of such a system of tax reform, as that to which this chapter has been devoted, playing a substantial and im- portant part in the solution of housing difficulties. Admin- istrative and other changes may introduce improvements into our fiscal arrangements, and it is to be expected that, in so far as these establish an approximately just distribu- tion of burdens, social conditions in general will feel the benefit. There is, indeed, far too great diversion of opinion upon the real incidence of local taxation to justify any reform movement which assumes as its basis a perfectly definite and rigid incidence : as yet our knowledge is in- sufficient to decide what the distribution of incidence is, and, beyond that again, how far such distribution, all circumstances being taken into consideration, is equitable. 273 CHAPTER XV. The Municipality and the Supervision of Urban Building Extension. English towns are, with few exceptions, in a state of fairly active growth. On the borders of every important industrial centre, extensive suburbs are springing into existence with a rapidity that is amazing. Some of these suburbs are largely made up of middle-class houses, often presenting a charming appearance. Others cater for the working classes, and, in an appreciable number of in- stances noted by the writer, are quite attractively ar- ranged, considering the limited amount of capital that can be profitably invested in each dwelling. But, in not a few cases, jerry-built property, badly arranged, house crowded on house, narrow streets, are painfully in evidence, obviously marked, in spite of newness, for easy degradation into dilapidated and insanitary slums, homes for those who lack the moral fibre essential to cleanly and orderly conduct of life. This is an unfortunate prospect ; it would be still more unfortunate if no attempt should be made to apply preventive measures with the minimum amount of delay. The improvement of the central areas of our towns can be achieved only very slowly and at much expense, but the exercise of foresight and administrative ability can bring about the establishment of conditions which would secure the towns against the repetition, in the suburbs, of the same building evils that have rendered some of the older districts such unpleasant places to live in. Through the building acts or bye-laws there is al- 274 THE HOUSING PROBLEM ready provided a means of enforcing sound and sanitary- building, but the course of building is more or less liapliazard. It is true that some regard is paid to tbe construction of streets and so fortb by tbe municipalities, but there is a marked absence of carefully arranged plans based on a broad and well-conceived building policy. Many of the cities of Germany have taken an advanced position in this matter; building extension has come to be regarded by them as a matter of the utmost importance and demanding careful regulation by the municipality. Their building regulations contain much that is interest- ing and instructive, and I feel that space devoted 'to some description of the same will by no means be wasted. The General Building Law (1900) of Saxony well illus- trates the new movement at work in various parts of Germany. This law provides that the building up of dis- tricts, as yet practically unbuilt on, must be carried out according to the requirements of a building plan prepared for each district by the local authority : such a building plan may also be prepared for districts already built on. The plans are to pay special attention to the position of the buildings which must be such as to secure an adequate amount of sunshine, also to the arrangement of streets with a view to maintaining both sufficient width and convenient communication (all streets with continuous buildings must have a minimum width of 13 yards, which is increased to 18;! yards for streets with busy traffic). Open spaces, public shrubberies, public recreation grounds, sites for churches and school buildings are to be provided for in suitable number and extent. The plans are to decide, the general character of the district being taken into considera- tion, whether factories and workshops shall be allowed, also whether close or open building shall be the rule. Streets with continuous lines of building must be inter- rupted in sufficient measure by streets of open building, URBAN BUILDING EXTENSION 275 and tlie density of building and population in the outer districts must be suitably restricted. The maximum number of stories to a building must vary according to the character of the place and the width of the street, ranging from three in the suburban districts to four or five in the central. The owner of land marked out for public streets on the building plan is prohibited from putting up any but temporary buildings thereon, and these, with all fences put up after the determination of the plan, must be re- moved at his expense when the land is needed for use as a street or public square. The Building-Police Authority has power to prohibit building or undesirable alterations in a district for which it is proposed to form a building plan or to alter an existing one. Such prohibition holds good for two years from the date of its publication but then lapses if the building plan has not been definitely adopted. The prohibition illegalizes the division of plots of land for which the permission of the above authority has not been obtained. In cases where the position, form or size of plots of land within the area covered by a building plan prevents the con- venient and proper use of the land for building purposes, the municipality can rectify boundaries or proceed to a redistribution of the land, with or without the consent of the owners.'- Plots of land too small for building sites 1. The following describes the method of redistribution : — " The plots of ground belonging to all the owners concerned are to be thrown together, and the public roads which the new building plan makes unnecessary are to be included. From this mass the land shown by the building plan to be intended for the future public roads must first be separated, and the building land which remains must then be distributed in such a way that each owner of a plot or plots of land shall have a share of the total value corresponding to the share which he had in the whole amount of land before redistribution. The com- munity must have land for public roads assigned to it to replace the roads which were absorbed. In fixing the values on which the re- distribution plan is based, and which are to be fixed with the help of experts, all material and legal conditions must be taken duly into account. For each of the plots of land suitable for building pur- 276 THE HOUSING PROBLEM must be sold to the cominunity, unless the owners volun- tarily arrange to dispose of them : the community will distribute them among the owners of the other plots, from whom the money it has paid out will be recovered. Cologne, since 1901, has been under the " zone " build- ing system to which reference has been made in the pre- ceding paragraph. For building purposes, the town is divided into four districts. In the central district — the old town — buildings may be four stories high and from seventy-iive to eighty per cent, of a site may be built on. In the district encircling this central part, detached or semi-detached houses are to be the rule and no more than from forty to fifty per cent, of a site covered. Surrounding this area, except in certain portions of the town where the extension of the villa style of building is provided for right out into the rural outskirts, lies a zone of more urban suburbs in which buildings of only three stories are allowed, with a covering of the site varying from sixty-five to seventy-five per cent. Finally, on the outer edge of the town are the rural suburbs, in which but two stories are permissible with a covering of from fifty to sixty-five per cent, of the site. Suflicient has been written to indicate the nature of the control which, in the future, the urban authorities of Ger- poses one or more plots of land, as far as possible in the same place, must be given. Plots of land with buildings on them, as a rule, subject to rectification of their boundaries, are to be restored to the persons who have hitherto owned them. The land, which, according to the building plan, is to be used for the future roads, so far as it is not used at once, must be distributed, when provision has been made for the necessary means of access to the newly divided plots, among the various owners of plots, in the same proportion as the building land, and, as far as possible, in such a way that, for each owner, his future building plot and his share of the future road may lie together. Unavoidable differences of value between the earlier plots and those received to replace them can be settled in money." — General Building Law, Kingdom of Saxony (July 1, 1900), § 58, quoted from T. 0. Horsfall's The Example of Oermany. URBAN BUILDING EXTENSION 277 many intend to exercise over the building up of tlieir towns. If loyally and persistently adhered to, the policy must produce residential conditions very superior to those that now exist, presuming that it is associated with strict and diligent sanitary supervision. How far the resulting social and hygienic gain involves economic loss is a ques- tion not easily answered. Better housing conditions will result in greater economic efficiency on the part of the worker. Against this has to be set the burden of any ex- penditure necessary to bring about such improvement, also the retarding of industrial and commercial development within the towns by the restrictions upon the location of factories, warehouses and the like. It is possible that a too rigid administration of a policy of this kind would drive industrial and manufacturing interests to other local- ities, and with them the source of supplies for the main- tenance of a part of the working population. However this might be, there is certainly much to admire in the ideals which the Germans have set before their urban centres. Much has been done in our own country towards the better supervision of urban building, and, in referring to the development of German policy, it is not intended to underestimate at all the value of this work. But it has been essentially a control of detail and there has never yet been officially propounded, in an English urban community, a broad and far seeing scheme of building extension. The towns have been allowed to grow up haphazardly ; build- ings have been put up and streets constructed with little consideration of their relation to other buildings and streets. Especially important is the matter of street con- struction, and the attaching questions of width, direction, reservation of certain roads as boulevards, connection with other thoroughfares are vital to the health and pleasure 278 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of the community. I do not suggest that it would be de- sirable for England to import bodily the German system, but I certainly think that we should at least copy from that country the general idea of adequate supervision of present and future urban extension. There is even reason to suppose that town areas ought to exercise some influence over the constructive activities of neighbouring localities. It is quite easy to understand how the good work of an urban community may be partly nullified by the indifference of independent suburbs, care- less of the accumulation of property obviously on the direct road to " slummery." The irony of the situation exists in the probability that the growth of the town will cause the absorption of these suburbs, and the citizens will then be put to the expense of applying reformatory measures at a cost infinitely above that which would have been necessary originally to prevent the evil. As one way of meeting this peculiar and unsatisfactory condition, it has been suggested that for certain general purposes, of which building supervision would be a very important one, the district surrounding and economically subsidiary to each large town should be placed under the control of the central municipality. A different suggestion is that ad- vising the formation of Provincial Councils with authority over such districts in the matters indicated. It has also been recommended that regulation be obtained through the formation of a department of the Central Government with power to control. The relative efficacy of these plans can be finally determined by practical experience alone. I am inclined to think, however, that the device of a pro- vincial council or some such body would be found of much service in certain cases. The City of Manchester, for in- stance, is geographically continuous (or practically so) with several other large towns, Salford, Ashton-under- URBAN BUILDING EXTENSION 279 Lyne, Oldham, Bolton and Eochdale ; some important urban districts also are in close proximity. An attempt to extend the authority of the central city (Manchester) over any of the other towns would give rise to violent conten- tion : in fact, it would be unfeasible. The formation of a body such as that mentioned, adequately representing each interest concerned, would be most calculated to secure harmonious action and substantial results, though, natur- ally, a good many rough spots would have to be worn smooth before the attainment of a mutually satisfactory working policy. In cases where towns are more isolated in situation, it might be practicable to adopt the first- named suggestion of extending the authority of the towns over the adjoining districts in these matters of building extension — the exercise of this power in any instance should be made subject to the approval of the Local Government Board. It is not to be concealed that the administrative difficul- ties in the way of any of these plans are considerable, but there is no need to regard them as insuperable. The opposition of interests between contiguous local authorities has led to much that is unsatisfactory in housing con- ditions, and will lead to very much more unless some effoi-t is made to remedy the existing situation : any plan that contains a reasonable promise of doing this should receive the earnest attention of those interested in civic welfare. a. 28l CHAPTER XVI. Some special Aspects of Housing by VoLtrNTAEY Entee- PEisE. Teansportation Facilities and the Housing Peoblem. The previous chapters have dealt with the general relationship that should exist between the municipality and private enterprise in the housing of the working classes. It would be unsatisfactory to close the discussion without some reference to special efforts in the way of such housing made by one form or another of private enter- prise. I regret that it is not practicable to devote more than a single chapter to the discussion of this aspect of the English housing movement. However, the numerous and copious references scattered through our periodical litera- ture and elsewhere render a detailed treatment, to some extent at least, a work of supererogation in connection with the present essay. The housing work of a number of organisations will be lightly touched upon, the co-operative societies, the building societies and the semi-philanthropic housing associations : reference will also be made to the projects of the Garden City Association. Though a different topic, advantage will be taken of this chapter to include in it some brief remarks upon the relation of transportation facilities to the housing problem. The co-operative societies of the country, particularly those of the sister counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, have done considerable work in assisting their members to purchase or build their own homes. The co-operative wholesale society helps on the movement by lending 282 THE HOUSING PROBLEM money to the local societies at a low rate of interest. As a result, quite a large number of houses has been erected by the societies or by their members on money borrowed from the former. A report made in 1903, a summary of which is included in Chapter VII., recorded the building in this way of more than 37,000 houses, representing an investment of capital by the societies to an amount well exceeding eight millioms sterling. Since that time, there has been a steady increase in the number of houses and, correspondingly, in the amount of investment. The societies have operated in at least three distinct ways : (1) by lending money to their members to build for them- selves, (2) by building houses and selling the same to members, and (3) by building houses of which they retain the ownership, simply renting them out to members. The Public Works Loan Commissioners were authorized by the Housing Act of 1890 to lend fifty per cent, of the capital outlay of co-operative and other societies for housing pur- poses at the low rate of 3j per cent, interest. It appears that little use has been made of this privilege. Along with the housing work of the co-operative societies should be mentioned that of the building societies. There can be no doubt that these societies have played a great and use- ful part in the supply of cottage dwellings. It is true that many such organisations have been conducted on im- proper principles and even corruptly, but this is not true of the majority of them, which have been successful in enabling working people to become their own landlords, and, sometimes, to become the landlords of others. Of course, the advantages of house building through the co-operative and building societies apply only tO' a fairly prosperous class of workers and do' not reach the very poor. It must also be noted that such societies find their largest field of activity on the outskirts of the cities, in the smaller VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 283 towns, and in semi-riiral districts. In tie cities there is usually present in the minds of the working classes a greater or less degree of uncertainty as to employment or as to continuance of employment in any one locality, and there is, anyhow, less attractiveness in the ownership of a city cottage dwelling than in that of the more commodious suburban home with its gardens and pleasant surround- ings. These conditions, combined with the high cost of urban house building, are powerful obstacles to the de- velopment of tenant proprietorship within the cities. The reasons mentioned make it clear that the work of these societies offers no solution of the real housing prob- lem. The thrifty people, benefitting by their help, are not the kind who live in overcrowded and insanitary houses. At the same time, the spread of tenant proprietorship among any section of working people must have some in- fluence upon the general standard of housing. It provides a stimulus of no little value for others around them. Be- sides, the houses thus built are an element in the total supply of dwellings which, in so far as it works towards a decrease of the relative intensity of demand will counter- act, to that extent, any tendency towards excessive rent charges. There can be little doubt but that the building activities of organizations of this kind are capable of considerable extension, and it is desirable that every legitimate induce- ment should be put forward to bring about the same. To this end, it might be desirable for the loan facilities, al- ready placed at their disposal by the government, to be further improved, particularly in the direction of reducing the interest charge . Inasmuch as the co-operative soci- eties have behind them an immense amount of capital, much of which is invested at a low rate of interest, the increase of governmental loan facilities would be less im- 284 THE HOUSING PROBLEM portant to them than to the building clubs and societies. So far, the South Wales building clubs appear to have been the only ones seeking to any marked degree the financial help of the Public Works Loan Commissioners. An appre- ciable decrease of the interest charge and a reduction of formal red tape and official procedure to the minimum, consistent with provision for the safety of the loans and for their proper use, could hardly fail to stimulate power- fully the activities of such organisations. A building society is on its safest ground when established, on a small scale, in some definite, limited area ; the detailed and con- tinuous supervision of the members is then exercised over its affairs, and the localized character of its business en- ables them to do this with efficiency, by reason of their personal knowledge of the situation. Small societies of this kind have been very successful and have accomplished an enormous amount of work. Under favourable conditions, which, perhaps, cannot be expected to occur very frequently, the development of organisations similar to that of the Ealing Tenants Limited must be regarded as a welcome addition to the ordinary kind of co-operative building. The members forming the association combine together for the purpose of building houses to be rented by them from the society. The loan of capital can be more easily secured, and pur- chase and construction on a wholesale scale reduce the cost of each house. The system is so arranged that a ten- ant compelled to leave the neighbourhood can dispose of his interest without much difficulty. To quote the official arguments made in favour of the experiment at its initia- tion, there is obtained (1) the minimum of speculative risk in letting, (2) security to capital, (3) economy in buy- ing, building, and borrowing, (4) individual responsibility without anxiety, and (5) the sharing of surplus value equitably. VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 285 The movemeiit has made quite a little progress. A Co- partnership Tenant's Housing Council was organised in 1904 which takes an active part in forming tenant housing societies ajid in endeavouring, by conferences and the pub- lication of suitable literature, to stimulate public interest. From the Second Annual Report of the Council, for the year ending June 30th, 1906, it appears that, at that date, there were five tenant's societies actually operating, in- cluding the Tenant Co-operators, Ltd., Ealing Tenants, Ltd., Sevenoaks Tenants, Ltd., Anchor Tenants, Leicester, Ltd., Garden City Tenants, Ltd.; the present capital of the societies being over £52,000, and the present value of their property £105,000. The report states further that two other societies had registered during the year, the Beacon Hill Builders Limited, Haslemere, and the Bromley Tenants, Kent, and that societies were in course of formation at Birmingham, Boumville, Brighton, Berk- hampsted, Cardiff, Hampstead, Manchester, Oldham, Ox- ford, and Swansea.^ In the provision of housing accommodation for working people, one of the most striking features of the latter half of the nineteenth century was the work performed by phil- anthropic and semi-philanthropic associations. It is not necessary to go into the statistical details of their work again, as they have been given in a previous chapter. Their united efforts, largely limited to London, succeeded in providing housing accommodation for many thousands, and indicated what might be done in this way. The special help granted to them in the form of cheap land, arising from the building restrictions which the vendors (the old 1. For other particulars see Thompson's Housing Handbook, ];>}). 183-4; Second Annual Report of Co-partnership Tenants' Housing Council ^:^ Co-partnershi-p in Housing by Mr. F. Maddison, M.P., "The Speaker," June 23rd, 1906 : Co-operative Housing by Miss Sybella Gurney (Pamphlet of Co-partnership Tenants' Housing Council). 286 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Metropolitan Board of Works) were obliged, by statute, to include in the conditions of sale, was a very important factor in their financial operation. The determination of the London County Council to discontinue this practice oi the former Board and to build for itself removed the un- usually favourable conditions under which the Peabody Trust and other organizations were working, and this naturally affected their further development. Whether the building policy of these companies has been in the best interests of the people housed is a matter of opinion. Their resort to barrack dwellings might have been the necessity of the situation at the time, as the law stood, but it has resulted in the infliction upon us of a type of dwelling which hardly encourages that privacy of family life which it is so desirable to cultivate among, the working classes, while the stringent discipline necessary to secure decency and order in the every day-management of the buildings, suitable though it would be for a certain class of house dwellers, can hardly be regarded as a beneficial environment for the average working-class family. As a housing reform movement, in the strict sense of the phrase, it is not necessary to ascribe much importance to the work of the associations. Generally speaking, they have housed in their block dwellings people who previously lived under fairly decent conditions, but were attracted by the con- veniences of flat dwellings or by their nearness to the city centre. A very small percentage of the people dishoused by the clearances of the Board of Works was rehoused by the housing trusts and associations. It has already been noted that there is a steady movement towards the reserva- tion of urban centres for the purposes of business : ware- houses, shops and offices naturally seek the central locality on account of its accessibility from all points, and, as the commercial growth of the neighbourhood proceeds, they VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 287 must find space at almost any cost. This brings about tbe persistent reduction of the area available for residence, and the development of barrack dwellings, so largely re- sorted to by the societies mentioned, has been a deliberate attempt to evade the natural consequences of the move- ment. The result is practically overcrowding, not per room, but per acre of ground surface, an evil of equal, if not greater, consequence. The modern building reform legislation of Germany recognizes the necessity of calling a halt upon such a policy, and efforts are being made in that country to discourage further building of this type. Objection has sometimes been taken that philanthropic housing exerts a pauperising influence upon its actual and would-be recipients. How far this may be true depends entirely upon surrounding conditions. It is not easy to believe that the past policy of English housing associations of the kind has worked any material mischief in this direction, for their tenants have hardly felt, in most cases, at any rate, that they were receiving something for which they had not paid. I suppose that it would be safe to say that the rents charged by them have not varied to any great extent from the usual amounts paid by the class of people renting their tenements. As a matter of fact, the central position of these dwellings, utilizing ground of high annual value, made it unavoidable that the usual standard of rents, applicable to dwellings of similar con- veniences hut less centrally situated, should involve an act of charity either upon the part of the associations, or, presuming that the associations obtained a normal rate of profit upon the actual capital invested by them, upon the part of the local authority in conveying to them building sites at less than the market price (resulting from the restrictions upon sale imposed by statute law), or upon the part of both. But, in so far as the tenants failed to realize 288 THE HOUSING PROBLEM tliat they were paying for less thaii they received, just to that extent was any pauperizing iniiuence absent. It goes without saying that the future efforts of philanthropy to participate in the housing of the people should not rely overmuch upon this " failure to realize." The chief ad- vantage of the development of philanthropic housing associations probably lies in the leavening effect their operations exercise upon the general rent situation. Their endowments should be used to construct houses of the kind needed by the poorer classes at amounts suificient to bring in a normal return of profit upon the capital invested. By so doing, they would incur no risk of injuring the self- reliance of their tenants, and, as the philanthropic basis of the organisations would obviate the necessity of dividends, the net income received would be available for continual building extension, and their houses would constitute an important element in the total supply. If the rents were fixed at such figures as to bring in a rate of profit which, with due regard to risks incurred, might fairly be con- sidered a normal return, private commercial enterprise would not be particularly handicapped. Some statistics have previously been given concerning the extent of the present operations of the now widely- known Rowton Houses. There can be no question but what these lodging-houses have proved a boon to thou- sands of London working men. A single man, by their aid, is able to secure decent lodging accommodation, good food at an extraordinarily low rate, with special advantages in the way of reading and writing rooms, smoking rooms, use of books, magazines, etc., penny baths and so forth. The discipline of the Houses and their general manage- ment are such as to enable the working man to take ad- vantage of their facilities without the feeling of moral degradation that almost inevitably results from resort to VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 289 tlie ordinary common lodging house. It is possible for a man to live fairly comfortably in a Eowton House for as low as eight shillings and sixpence per week and by no means starve, and, if necessary, he could reduce the cost to a shilling a day. The Company now operating the Houses (Eowton Houses, Limited) appears to obtain satisfactory commercial results. Their last balance sheet for the year ending 31st December, 1905, shows that, after paying a dividend on preference shares, the Company was able to pay 5 per cent, on ordinary shares and to carry forward a sum of £3,500. It is to be hoped that institutions of this kind will be established in our large cities in sufficient number to take care of single men of the labouring class who might otherwise become the " family lodger," ap- parently much to the increase of overcrowding. Instead of a municipality establishing a system of lodging houses of its own, it would be more desirable, to my way of think- ing, that it should encourage the formation of private companies of the Rowton type, and that to this end its powers should be enlarged to enable it to take stock in such companies. It would thus give solid encouragement and yet would not be adding to its present administrative duties. The extent to which industrial concerns may be able to contribute to the amelioration of the housing condition of the working classes is an interesting problem. The work done at Bournville by Mr. George Cadbury, at Port Sun- light by Mr. W. H. Lever, at N"oisiel (France) by M. Menier, at Essen by the Krupps, and at various other places, is worthy of much more consideration than this brief chapter can possibly afford. There is a distinction between the Bournville experiment and the others named in that the latter have been undertaken solely in the in- terests of the workpeople in the employment of the firms 290 THE HOUSING PROBLEM responsible for their development, wliile Mr. Cadbury designed that Bournville sbould accommodate not only his employes but some of the workpeople of the adjoining city of Birmingham, and, as a matter of fact, more than half of the residents are employed outside of Bournville. In view of the enlightened desire, shown by several large employers of labour, to improve the working and social conditions of those labouring for them, and par- ticularly in Yiew of the fact that influential employers are declaring that " welfare " work is actiially a paying in- vestment, even from the business standpoint, in that it improves the physical and mental capacity of the worker and increases his contentment, there is much reason to anticipate the spread of the movement. Employers as a whole cannot be expected to be influenced to any great degree by an appeal to sentiment, but, if it can be demon- strated to them that this work " pays," they will not be slow to enter heartily into the surrounding of their workers with favourable conditions of work and living. Industries located in central parts of large cities will not be easily able to do this, at least not upon the same generous scale on which it could be done away from such localities, but the importance of this exception may be lessened by the extension of the movement of manufacturing establish- ments into suburban and rural districts. ^ A project of late years to which much attention has been given is that of establishing " garden cities." Since the formation oif the Garden City Association in 1899, an org_anization resulting from the activity of Mr. E. Howard, ^ the idea of founding new towns, so situated and so planned as to secure due provision for industrial development as 1. Model Factories and Villages, by Budgett Meakin, gives a number of interesting details as to various experiments in industrial housing. 2. See his book Garden Cities of To-morrow. VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 291 well as healthy and pleasant residential conditions for all classes of the community, has been actively discussed. The Association has not produced, as yet, results definitely demonstrating the feasibility of its policy, but it has brought about the incorporation of a Company, the first Garden City, Limited, which has purchased a site of some 4,000 acres, about 35 miles north of London, and is now making efforts to attract industries and people thither. The intention is to build up a town on the central part of this area, covering some thousand acres, with a capacity of thirty thousand people, a belt of 3,000 acres encircling the town proper being retained in perpetuity for agricul- tural purposes. The land is leased out either under a per- petual lease, subject to periodical revision, or under the ordinary ninety-nine years' agreement, each lease contain- ing restrictions upon the use of the land. The ideals of the " Garden City " project are admirable. ISTothing could be more desirable than that many of our urban industries should be ruralized, carrying with them their workmen, and enabling the latter to work under con- ditions conducing to health and strength of body and sanity of mind. I have already noted that this has been done independently by some large manufacturers. Obviously, many industrial concerns could not house their employes in independent villages, but they could co-operate with others in establishing a rural working community. There has been, in fact, during the last few years, a move- ment on the part of several urban industries away from crowded centres into localities where the pressure of rents and rates is less severe and the climatic conditions more favourable to manufacturing. Fears have been expressed that paternalism would characterize the government of both industrial villages and " garden city " communities, working ruin to the self- 292 THE HOUSING PROBLEM reliance and mental independence of the members of the same, an evil more serious than any resulting from the hygienic disadvantages of city life. Candidly, I see little chance of excluding entirely from industrial villages of the one-firm type an element of paternalism — it would be contrary to human nature to presume that it would be altogether excised. But our present mode of government introduces a certain amount of paternalism into the every- day life of the ordinary citizen, and, though this is the paternalism of government and not of an individual, it can be quite as mischievous. Under modern economic and social conditions, it is hardly likely that any attempt to unduly develop this aspect of the relationship between employer and employes in industrial villages would meet with any permanent success — it seems almost certain that the attempt would sooner or later cause a reaction of serious import to the controlling firms. It seems reason- able to suppose that there would be less danger of pater- nalism in a " Garden City " than in a one-firm " industrial village." The civic individuality should be more in- dependent and more developed in the former than in the latter, where the houses and buildings of the village are apt to be considered in the same light as the factories and workshops — part of the instruments of production, — and where the workpeople, dwelling in the houses of the firm, walking along its streets, attending divine service in the firm-built church, public entertainments in the firm hall, and so forth, are prone to sacrifice that mental independ- ence which the separating of home life and civic responsi- bility from the powers controlling the working hours of life undoubtedly favours to a greater or less extent. At the same time, the control of the destinies of a fairly large community by a joint-stock company is a twentieth- century novelty to which our ideas have not yet become VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 293 adjusted. One hesitates to believe that industrial con- cerns will be very ready to place themselves under such conditions until the practical experience of others has proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that they stand to gain by a change. In any case, the artificial promotion of " garden cities " by joint-stock companies is not likely to revolutionize the industrial condition of this country. It is to be hoped that success will attend the efforts of the Association now engaged in this work, but it requires a very cheerful mind to believe that the present experiment is merely the precursor of a long chain of specially con- structed " garden cities " stretching from one end of the kingdom to the other. Transportation Facilities. Before concluding this chapter, a word or two may be said concerning the relationship of transportation facilities to the housing problem. This is the more necessary in that the emphasis placed upon cheap transit by several advocates of housing reform indicates their belief that here is the real solution of the problem. If by problem is meant the permanent removal of the slumming element from our cities, then such a belief is far too optimistic. The price of house space in the central parts of our cities will necessarily remain high, the growth of population and the extension of commercial enterprise will ensure that. At the same time, so long as a class of casual labour exists, dependent, from day to day, upon the opportunities of temporary employment always frequent in the business areas of the towns, there will ever be a demand for house room in or near such localities. The methods of living of this body of casual labour, combined with those of the hopelessly idle, dissipated, and criminal classes, constitute the crux of the housing problem proper. No improvement 294 THE HOUSING PROBLEM of transit facilities will induce these people to live out in the suburbs, no extension or cheapening of suburban ser- vices is going to remedy the economic or moral conditions conducing to their overcrowded and disorderly habits of life. Reliance upon any plan of reform which bases itself entirely upon suasion and voluntary action will meet with , disappointment. But, apart from this problem of the present, there is a housing problem of the future, liable to be regarded as less pressing than the former, really involving no ques- tions of municipal landlordism, slum clearances, or such like, yet of great importance to the welfare of our urban communities. I refer to the necessity of proper control being exercised over urban extension so that a balanced and healthy growth shall be secured. In connection with this problem, the question of transportation assumes con- siderable importance, as the due provision of cheap and frequent suburban transit facilitates the distribution of the rapidly increasing population of the towns over their tributary territories. Much has been said about the neglect of the railways in providing workmen's trains but, in reality, they have done much to promote the diffusion of the population of London and many other urban centres into the surrounding suburbs. The electric tramways and light railways are going to do still more, and it may be that the standard railways will have to reconcile them- selves to the practical loss of the short distance suburban traffic. There is evident a strong tendency towards the municipalisation of tramway systems ; a number are already in the hands of the local authorities, and several are an- nually turning over large profits in relief of rates. With- out digressing to discuss the merits or demerits of this variety of municipal ownership, I may venture to express my opinion that the municipality, in operating its cars, VOLUNTARY ENTERPRISE 295 should be satisfied with revenue sufficient to defray opera- ting expenses and interest charges, and to make reasonable provision for depreciation and for reserve, the fares being fixed accordingly. There should be no surplus profit of any size after the meeting of these expenses and charges. The fares, as a whole, would be based on cost of service, therefore, and, in many cases, this would mean a reduc- tion of the expenses of travel to passengers. At any rate, if fares were to be kept at their present level, the surplus should be made use of in increasing service, extending the tramway network, and sO' on. Much has been written upon the propriety of the municipality earning a profit on its industrial undertakings, but as yet I have not been relieved of the fear that the application of the profits of municipal enterprise in relief of rates is a policy most dangerous to the integrity and true democratic administra- tion of local government. 297 CHAPTEE XYII. The Rural Housing Problem in England. Conclusion. The assignment of but a portion of the concluding chapter of this part to a discussion of the rural housing problem does not indicate its relative importance, but simply the necessary restrictions upon the size of the volume and the time of the writer. In any case, a great deal more first-hand investigation in the various rural districts of England is required before the careful student will be in a position to establish really reliable conclusions. From the standpoint of the number of people aifected, rural overcrowding, understanding by that phrase over- crowding in rural sanitary districts, is considerably less important than urban, inasmuch as the last census figures evidence that it affects less than half a million persons and 56,000 houses against the two and a quarter million per- sons and 335,000 houses of urban overcrowding. Further, it is less intense than the latter, since appreciably less than six per cent, of the rural population is overcrowded as against more than nine per cent, of the urban population. These figures throw no light upon the prevalence of in- sanitation, to which reference was made in Chapter III., and, perhaps, this is a more serious and widespread evil than overcrowding. Statements recently made before a Select Committee of the House of Commons,^ and evidence accumulated by the Rural Housing and Sanitation Associa- tion, as well as by private investigators like Mr. Walter 1. 1906 — Select Committee on the Housing of the Working Classes Acts (Amendment) Bill. 298 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Crotch and Mr. Rider Haggard, ^ indicate that the sanitary conditions of country cottages are frequently most repre- hensible. Still it would be a very unjustifiable assumption to conclude that the cases brought before our attention by the earnest advocates of reform represent general condi- tions over the country. There are very many rural dis- tricts in England where serious overcrowding and dangerous insanitation are practically unknown. The qualifying adjectives are used because the writer is conservative enough to believe, from his personal investigation, that a certain amount of family overcrowding and certain defects in the construction and arrangement of buildings, so long as they do not become absolutely objectionable, are to be counted lightly in summing up any disadvantages incident to country cottage life. Outdoor occupation with abund- ance of uncontaminated air makes healthy life possible, and actually realized, in the scattered villages of the country side that would be perfectly impossible in urban localities under similar housing conditions. In laany country cottages with which the writer is acquainted, a family of eight living in three rooms would have an in- finitely healthier life than in the typical four room urban cottage or tenement. Yet it is not to be denied that, in certain localities and under certain landlords, grossly defective insanitation and equally gross overcrowding are allowed to exist in cottages that thereby become little else than pig-sties. What can be done to remedy such deplorable conditions? The ordinary agricultural labourer in the country parish receives but a small wage (more often than not about 15s. weekly) and pays but a very small rent (Is. 6d. a week is a 2. W. Crotch : The Cottage Homes of England. H. Eider Haggard : Sural England. RURAL HOUSING IN ENGLAND 299 common amount). ^ To keep a house in good repair, to pay otlier expenses incident to its possession, and, at the same time, to secure an appreciable return upon the capital in- vested in it is almost an unsolvable problem for the land- lords of these small rent cottages. On such a rent basis, the profit can work out at but a ridiculous rate per cent, and, accordingly, the ' land-poor ' and the unconscientious landlords neglect the condition of their tenants' houses, putting as little money into their maintenance as possible. In our open villages, cottages are not infrequently owned by comparatively poor people who must get as large a return as possible from them, even at the neglect of keep- ing them in repair. Under these conditions, serious dilapidation is likely to^ result, especially in the older type of cottages made of lath and plaster or of clay lump. Where the tenants of insanitary houses realize fully the hygienic evils to which they are subject through lack of attention to the premises they occupy, it still requires an unusual amount of courage to pit themselves against the ' powers that be.' So that, while our laws are stringent enough about unhealthy houses and overcrowding, the crux of the whole matter, effective administration, is lacking. I see no remedy for this except by allowing the county council to assume active supervision of the insanitation and overcrowding of houses within its component rural dis- tricts, appointing travelling inspectors of health with a general power of entry into^ houses where there is good reason for suspecting improper conditions, and with power to apply for closing and abatement orders. A strict application of the law might, in some cases, cause landlords to close up their cottages rather than to 1. For details, see Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, June 1903. Paper by C. Wilson Fox on Agricultural Wages in England and TVales during the last Fifty Years. 3IO THE HOUSING PROBLEM the Housing of the Working Classes Amendment Act, 1900, which enables these Authorities to acquire land outside of the area of their own jurisdiction for the purpose of erecting working men's dwellings. Unfortunately, the people who become tenants of the new houses are by no means identical with those dishoused by the demolitions, the new dwellings provided being generally seized upon by tenants of a superior class to those for whom they were intended. The poorest classes naturally cling to the central areas of our large towns because they find there their main opportunities of securing a livelihood, scanty and precar- ious as it may be. Even if this were not so, very many of them have little, if any, capability of appreciating the benefits to be derived from residence in a healthier neigh- bourhood and in much more convenient dwellings. On account of these conditions the reduction in the number of dwellings caused by the demolition of cottage property in central urban districts, though apparently met by the erection of suburban dwellings, may cause an increased pressure upon the housing accommodation of the vicinity affected, and overcrowding with all its demoralising and pauperising influences becomes more intense, and the amount of pauperism in such districts is certainly not appreciably lessened. Even when new accommodation is provided in the im- mediate neighbourhood of the demolished property the same undesirable conditions are to be observed. No doubt this is to be ascribed, in part at least, to the fact that the high value of land added to the cost of building makes low rents impracticable and, therefore, the poorer classes re- main huddled together in the slums, while the better class of artizans and labourers avail themselves of the superior accommodation provided by the authorities. APPENDIX A 311 One thing is very apparent in connexion witli the house- hunger within the Township. While the better class arti- zans and labourers eagerly avail themselves of the superior accommodation provided by the housing authorities, the houses vacated by them are frequently transformed into common lodging houses or fitted up and let as furnished rooms, three, four, and in some cases more families re- placing the previous occupiers and thereby often creating conditions under which decency in its true sense becomes almost an im.possibility. In the centre of the city, within the limits of the Town- ship, there is a lucrative trade carried on in furnishing and sub-letting such tenements, for which in the aggregate exhorbitant rentals are obtained. Frequently the poor, the criminal, and the vile are associated together in these places, many of which are hot beds of disease, social cor- ruption and pauperism, and a danger and a discredit to the City. Under such conditions it is not surprising to find the statistics of pauperism within the Township apparently high when compared with other Unions or Parishes more favourably situated, but it must be remembered that an increasing percentage on the total population of a given area may be due not to any increase of poverty but may be caused by the migration of the non-pauper classes to districts outside the pauperised area, which is not an un- common experience in central urban districts. It is gener- ally the poverty-stricken and shiftless who remain, in- creasing the percentage of pauperism per head of the population, and the demolition of houses in pronounced insanitary areas does not always alleviate the evils com- plained of. I am, Ladies and Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, (Signed) Joseph Dewsnup, Superintendent, Relief Department. 313 APPENDIX B. Schedule with reference to Dishotjsing under local AND SPECIAL ACTS, 3 Ed. VII. C. 39. (1) If, in the administrative county of London or in any boroTigli or urban district or in any parisli not within a borough or urban district, the undertakers have power to take under the enabling Act working men's dwfellings occupied by thirty or more persons belonging to the work- ing class, the undertakers shall not enter on any such dwellings in that county, borough, urban district or parish, until the Local Glovernment Board have either approved of a housing scheme under this schedule or have decided that such scheme is not necessary. For the purposes of this schedule a house shall be con- sidered a working-man's dwelling if wholly or partially occupied by a person belonging to the working classes; and for the purpose of determining whether a house is a working-man's dwelling or not, and also for determining the number of persons belonging to the working classes by whom any dwelling houses are occupied, any occupation on or after the fifteenth day of December nest before the passing of the enabling Act, or, in the case of land acquired compulsorily under a general Act without the authority of an order, next before the date 'of the application to the Local Government Board under this schedule, for their approval of or decision with respect to a housing scheme, shall be taken into consideration. (2) The housing scheme shall make provision for the accommodation of such number of persons of the working class as is, in the opinion of the Local Government Board, 314 THE HOUSING PROBLEM taking into account all the circumstances, required, but tliat number sball not exceed the aggregate number of persons of the working class displaced ; and in calculating that number the Local Government Board shall take into consideration not only the persons of the working class who are occupying the working-men's dwellings which the un- dertakers have power to take, but also any persons of the working class who, in the opinion of the Local Grovernment Board, have been displaced within the previous five years in view of the acquisition of land by the undertakers. (3) Provision may be made by the housing scheme for giving undertakers, who are a local authority or who have not sufficient powers for the purpose, power for the purpose of the scheme to appropriate land or to acquire land, either by agreement or compulsorily under the authority of a Provisional Order, and for giving any local authority power to erect dwellings on land so appropriated or ac- quired by them, and to sell or dispose of any such dwell- ings, and to raise money for the purpose of the scheme as for the purposes of Part III. of the principal Act, and for regulating the a/pplication of any money arising from the sale or disposal of the dwellings; and any provisions so made shall have effect as if they had been enacted in an Act of Parliament. (4) The housing scheme shall provide that any lands acquired under that scheme shall, for a period of twenty- five years from the date of the scheme, be appropriated for the purpose of dwellings for persons of the working class, except in so far as the Local Government Board dispense with that appropriation; and every conveyance, demise or lease of any such land shall be endorsed with notice of this provision, and the Local Government Board may require the insertion in the scheme of any provisions requiring a certain standard of dwelling-house to be erected APPENDIX B 315 under the sclxeme, or any conditions to be complied witli as to tlie mode in whicli tlie dwelling-houses are to be erected. (5) If the Local Grovernment Board do not hold a local inquiry with reference to a housing scheme, they shall, before approving the scheme, send a copy of the draft scheme to every local authority, and shall consider any representation made within the time fixed by the Board by any such authority. (6) The Local Government Board may, as a condition of their approval of a housing scheme, require that the new dwellings under the scheme or some part of them, shall be completed and fit for occupation before possession is taken of any working men's dwellings under the enabling Act. (7) Before approving any scheme the Local Government Board may, if they think fit, require the undertakers to give such security as the Board consider proper for carry- ing the scheme into eifect. (8) The Local Government Board may hold such in- quiries as they think fit for the purpose of their duties under this schedule, and subsections one and five of section eighty-seven of the Local Government Board Act, 1888 (which relate to local inquiries), shall apply for the pur- pose and, where the undertakers are not a local authority, shall be applicable as if they were such an authority. (9) If the undertakers enter upon any working-men's dwelling in contravention of the provisions of this schedule) or of any conditions of approval of the housing scheme made by the Local Government Board, they shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred pounds in respect of every such dwelling. Any such penalty shall be recoverable by the Local Government Board, by action in the High Court, and shall be carried to and form part of the Consolidated Fund. 3i6 THE HOUSING PROBLEM (10) If the undertakers fail to carry out any provision of the housing scheme, the Local Government Board may make such order as they think necessary or proper for the purpose of compelling them to carry out that provision, and any such order may he enforced by ^iiandamus . (11) The Local Government Board may, on the applica- tion of the undertakers, modify any housing scheme which has been approved by them under this schedule, and any modifications so made shall take effect as part of the scheme. (12) For the purposes of this schedule — (a) The expression " undertakers " means any autho- rity, company, or person who are acquiring land com- pulsorily or by agreement under any local Act or Pro- visional Order or order having the effect of an Act, or axe acquiring land compulsorily under any general Act. (6) The expression "enabling Act" means any Act of Parliament or Order under which the land, is acquired. (c) The expression "local authority" means the council of any administrative county and the district council of any county district, or, in London, the council of any Metropolitan borough, in which in any case any houses in respect of which the re-housing scheme is made are situated, or, in the case of the city, the common council. {d) The expression " dwelling " or " house " means any house or part of a house occupied as a separate dwelling. (e) The expression " working classes " includes mech- anics, artizans, labourers, and others working for wages ; hawkers, costermongers, persons not working for wages, but working at same trade or handicraft without em- ploying others, except members of their own family, and persons other than domestic servants whose income in any case does not exceed an average of thirty shillings a week, and the families of any of such persons who may be residing with them. 317 REFEEENCE LIST. Tlie appended working list of books and reports wliicli the a.utlior found of more or less use to him in preparing this volume may be useful to the student; it does not, attempt to be exhaustive. Census Eeturns of England and Wales, particularly those of 1891—1901. Public Statutes, as indicated in the text of this volume. Hansard's Parliamentary Debates for the years in which housing legislation was passed. Annual Reports of the Local Grovernment Board. Annual Reports of the Public Works Loan Board. Report of Select Committee on the Housing of the Work- ing Classes, 1881—82. Report of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, 1885. Report of Joint Select Committee on the Housing of the Working Classes, 1902. Report of the Royal Commission on Labour, 1892 — 94. Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1893 — 97. Report of the Select Committee on Repayment of Loans, 1902. Report of the Royal Commission on London Traific, 1905. Parliamentary Paper. " Reproductive Municipal Works" — (to March 31st, 1902) — issued by the Local Groviernment Board, 1903. Evidence and Report of the Glasgow Municipal Commis- sion on the Housing of the Poor, 1904. Report on Housing and Industrial Conditions and Medical Inspection of School Children in Dundee — Dun- dee Social Union, 1905. Report of the Sanitary Committee of the Manchester Corporation iipon the Housing of the Working Classes. 3i8 THE HOUSING PROBLEM Report of the Deputation of tie Housing Committee, Liverpool 1901. Report to the Manchester Diocesan Conference of 1902, of the Committee appointed to consider the Ques- tion of the Housing of the Poor, 1902. Report of Conference on the Housing of the People, held at the National Liberal Club, April 30th, 1890. Report of Conference on Riiral Housing, held at Sion College, London, under the auspices of the National Union of Women Workers in Great Britain and Ireland. Pamphlet. Municipal Year Book. Annual Returns of Work done under the Housing Act of 1890. London City Council. Annual Statistical Reports of its work under the Housing Act of 1890. Annual Reports of the Housing Trusts, Associations, and Companies mentioned in the text. Proceedings of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (1) Discussion on ' Housing Problems,' March, 1902. (2) J. Mann : ' Better Houses for the Poor , : Will they pay? December, 1898. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, London : (1) J. P. J. Sykes : Results of State, Municipal and Organized Private Action on the Housing of the Working Classes in London and in other large cities of the United Kingdom. June, 1901. (2) A. Wilson Fox : Agricultural Wages in England during the last Fifty Years. June, 1903. (3) Sir H. H. Fowler: Municipal Finance and Muni- cipal Enterprise. September, 1900. (4) Lord Avebury : The Growth of Municipal and National Expenditure. March, 1900. (5) R. J. Thompson : Local Indebtedness in England and Wales. September, 1904. The Economic Journal : Numerous articles, notes, and reviews upon housing, municipalisation, and rate- incidence questions. Municipal Affairs : Particularly Vol. 6, 1902. REFERENCE LIST 319 Co-operative Annual, 1886: Housing of the Working Classes. Report of the 35tli Annual Co-operative Congress, 1903, Co-operative Housing Returns. C. E. Allan: The Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890—1900. 1901. C. Booth: Pamphlet on the Housing Question in Man- chester. 1904. C. Booth : Life and Labour of the People. 1892 — 1902. E. Bowmaker : Housing ocf the Working Classes. 1895. E,. M. Brown : Report on Housing in Nottingham. H. Lemmoin-Cannon : The Sanitary Inspector's Guide. 1902. W. Crotch : The Cottage Homes of England. 2nd edition, 1901. J. Corbett : Rehousing of Central London, 1886. L. Darwin : Municipal Trading. 1903. D. H. Davies : Cost of Municipal Trading. E. R. L. Gould : The Housing of the Working People. 1895. (Eighth Special Report of the Commis- sioner of Labour, U.S.A.). H. Rider Haggard : Rural England. 1902. T. C. Horsfall : The Example of Germany. 1904. J .M. Knight : The Growth and Incidence of Municipal Expenditure. Co-operative Annual, 1905. C. M. Knowles : The Housing Problem in Towns. Co- operative Annual, 1901. P. W. Lawrence : The Housing Problem. ' Heart of the Empire,' 1901. T. M. Lupton : House Improvement : A Summary of Ten Tears' Work in Leeds. 1906. T. R. Marr : Housing Conditions in Manchester and Sal- ford (Report of Citizens' Association), 1904. A. MacMorran: The Pu,blic Health Acts,, 1888—1890, including the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890. 1891. B. Meakin: Model Eactories and Villages. 1905. 320 THE HOUSING PROBLEM F. H. Millington: The Housing of the Poor. 1891. Sir Shirley F. Murphy : Presidential Address before the Jubilee Meeting of the Incorporated Society of Medical Officers of Health, 1906. J. S. Nettlefold : A Housing Policy. 1905. (Gives details of work done in Birmingham). E. Neville : Garden Cities. 1904. Pamphlet. J. Parsons : Housing by Voluntary Enterprise. 1903. C. V. Poore : Rural Hygiene. B. S. Eowntree: Poverty. 1901. B. Shaw : The Common Sense of Municipal Trading, 1904. William Smart : The Housing Problem and the Muni- cipality. Pamphlet, 1902. Barry and Gordon Smith : Back to Back Dwellings. Re- port for the Local Government Board, 1888. C. T. Stewart : The Housing Question in London, 1855 — 1900. 1901. (Official Account of the housing operations of the London County Council). J. F. J. Sykes : Public Health and Housing. Milroy Lectures, 1901. J. Tatham : Back to Back Dwellings. Reports to the Manchester Corporation, 1891 and 1892. W. Thompson : The Housing Handbook. 1903. T. L. Worthington : Dwellings of the Poor. 1893. In studying the relationship between the housing prob- lem and the incidence of local taxation, the following books may be profitably consulted. C. P. Bastable: Public Finance. 3rd Edition. 1903. A. Billson : Taxation of Land Values. Co-operative Annual, 1899. G. H. Blunden : Local Taxation and Finance. H. H. Fowler: Report on Local Taxation. 1893. A. Wilson Fox : The Rating of Land Values. 1906. REFERENCE LIST 321 G. T. Gosclieii : Local Taxation. 1870.. Gr. Howell : Local Government and Taxation. Co-operative Annual, 1897. J. S. Nicliolson : Principles of Political Economy. Yol. 3. R. H. J". Palgrave : Local Taxation of Great Britain and Ireland. P. J. Roland Phillips : Local Taxation in England and Wales. 1882. C. T. Rhodes : Taxation of Land Yalues. Pamphlet. Halifax, 1900. L. W. Sargent : Urban Rating. 1890. E. R. A. Seligman : The Shifting and Incidence of Taxa- tion. 1892. E. R. A. Seligm.an : Essays in Taxation. W. J. Williams : Some recent Modifications of our Rating System. Co-operative Annual, 1899. W. Zimmerman : Taxation of Land Yalues, 1905. Co-operative Annual, 1899 : Rating. Report of the Select Committee on Town Holdings. 1892. Report of the Select Committee (House of Lords) on Town Improvements (Betterment), 1894. Report of Royal Commission on Local Taxation, 1901. INDEX V INDEX Adam Smith, on "functions of govermnent," 213. Agriculture, decline of, 9; pre- sent depression in, 31. Aliens, immigration of, its effects, 17. "Artizans' Dwellings Acts," evil effects of, 58. " Betterment " Problem, 159 — 161. Block Dwellings, 231, 232, 255. Bournville, 289, 290, Building Clubs, work of, 196, 197, 282—285. Building Extension, character of, in England, 273, 277; in Germany, 274—277; difficulties in municipal, 278. C Cairnes, on doctrine of " laissez- Cellar dwellings, 28, 116. Census Returns, value of, 45, 46, 70. " Common Lodging House Act " of 1851, 92. Co-operative Societies, housing work of, 189—191, 281—285. County Councils, organisation of, 104 ; connection with the Housing Question, 104, 105, 299, "Cross Acts." "Artizans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improve- ment Act" of 1875, 96, 97, 127—129 ; Amendment of 1879, 97, 129, 149; Amendment of 1882, 99, 116, 121, 124, 125, 130—132, 147, 149, 150, 160; statistics of work done under, 151—153, 227. D Death Rate, effect of over- crowding on, 26; in back-to- back houses, 29. Dishousing, under local and special acts, 313. Domestic System of Manufacture, 10, 11, 14. E Ealing Tenants Limited, 284, 285. Factory System, beginnings of, 13 ; effects on labour, 14 — 17 ; effects on overcrowding, 54. G Garden City Association, 281, 290, 291, 292, 293. Germany, building extension in, 258, 274^277. Glasgow, Municipal Commission, report on housing, 245, 250, 251, 256. H Hill, Miss Octavia, efforts for housing reform, 169 ; on degeneracy of slum popula- tions, 225. Horsfall, " The Example of Germany," 257. Housing conditions in 18th cen- tury, 11, 12; after the In- dustrial Revolution, 14, 16 ; effects of municipal activity on, 18, 19; effects of railway im- provements on, 19 — 22; effects of building improvements on, 24; evils of, in rural districts, 30 — 33 ; three evils in, 35 (see sanitation, over-housing, and over-crowding) ; improvement 326 INDEX in, between 1891 and 1901, 80; causes of improvement in, 80 — 83; commission of 1884 to inquire into, 99. Housing Legislation, policy of, 88; between 1851 and 1903, 89, 90; history of, 91—136 (see separate acts) ; utilisation of, 137 — 144 ; principles underlying, 211. Housing Act of 1885, 100—103, 122, 132, 133, 202. " Housing of the Working Classes Act" of 1890, effects of, 82; character of, 103—106, 123 ; amendment of, in 1900, 106, 107; provisions of, 123— 127, 133, 158, 160; work done under, in provincial towns, 170 — 188 ; loans made under, 195, 198—201, 222, 227, 235, 254, 256, 282. " Housing of the Working Classes Act" of 1903, 126, 133 —136, 157. Industrial Eevolution, The, 3, 9. Industrial villages, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293. Infant mortality, effects of over- crowding on, 25. " Labouring Classes Lodging Houses Act" of 1851, 91, 92, 93, 95 ; repeal of clauses of, in 1885, 100 ; ineffectiveness of, 138, 140. " Labourers' Dwellings Act " of 1855, 93, 94. " Labouring Classes Dwelling Houses Act" of 1866, 94, 139, 140. Laissez-faire, school of, views on housing reform, 213. Land, unearned increment from, 261, 262; rating of, 263—272. Leeds, back-to-back houses in, 29 ; over-crowding in, 53. Liverpool, over-crowding in, 44, 53, 62; 139; Gildart's Gardens dwellings, 230 ; clinker-built houses in, 255. London, housing in, 12 ; aliens in, 17; infant mortality in, 25; death-rate of, 26 ; "exhaustion" among working population, 27 ; migration to suburbs of, 36, 37 ; increase in density of population of, 42, 61 ; exemp- tion from " Public Health Act," 114; 139; report of com- mittee of County Council of, in 1900, 155—161 ; Housing work of County Council of, 163 — 165 ; housing work of philanthropic societies in, 165 — 170 ; slum demolition in, 227, 228 ; incidence of rates in, 269. " London Government Act " of 1890, 112. M Manchester, aliens in 17 ; back- to-back houses in, 29 ; over- crowding in, 44, 62 ; applica- tion of Torrens Act in, 143, 154; School of Economists, 215 ; dishousing by corporation of, 250 ; Citizens' Corporation, its attitude towards municipal housing policy, 254 ; 278 ; Re- port on demolition of house property in, 309—311. Mill, J. S., on functions of government, 213, 214. "Municipal Act" of 1882, 99, 141. Municipilisation of house-building, 239 ; arguments against com- plete, 240—249; methods of, 250 ; advocacy of partial, 253 ; in Germany, 258. of land, 260, 261. of tramway systems, 294. N Newcastle - upon - Tyne, over- crowding in, 44, 52, 53, 62. Overcrowding, evils of, 45 ; statistics of, in urban districts, 45 — 54 ; causes of, in towns, 54 — 59, 65 ; statistics of, in London, 60, 61 ; statistics of, INDEX 327 in various classes of tenements, 62 — 65 ; comparison of statis- tics of, for years 1891 and 1901, 66 — 69 ; variations in rural, 70 ; statistics of, in rural districts, 72 — 76 ; diminution of, in all districts, 78, 80, 305 ; and "Nuisance Removal Acts," 115 ; as dealt with under "Cross Acts," 148, 149; often limited to a small minority of popula- tion, 222; rural, 297, 298. Overhousing, difficulties in, cure of, 39; statistics of, 41 — 44; 231, 287. Philanthropic Associations, hous- ing work of, 165—169, 285— 290. Phthisis, effects of overcrowding on, 26, 27. Plymouth, overcrowding in, 42, 62. Poor Law, effects of the old, 15, 242. Population of England and Wales in 1750 and 1901, 3; its trend to urban centres, 4, 6, 9, 13 ; increase of, with Factory system, 15, 54. "Public Health Act" of 1875, 108, 114, 126, 134. " Public Works Loans Act " of 1879, 98, 111, 139. Public Works Loan Fund, 91, 93, 94, 97, 98, 109, 111, 134, 139, 195, 202—207, 282, 284. E, P,ehousing, local character of problem, 251. Eowton Houses in London, 168, 288, 289. Rural Districts, housing problem in, 297—304. Sanitation, before the Industrial Revolution, 11 ; effect on labour market, 16 ; insufficiency of, in houses of the poor, 24, 25 ; recent improvement in London, 27; insufficiency of, in rural districts, 30, 31, 297; recent improvement in, 81 ; connection with housing legislation, 88 ; legislation on, 113 — 117 ; pro- gress in, from 1855—1885, 137; necessity and nature of muni- cipal action in, 217 — 226. Sanitary Legislation . "Nuisances Removal Act" of 1855, 113, 114; "Nuisances Amendment Act" of 1860, 114; "Sanitary Act" of 1866, 114, 115, 116; " Sanitary Laws Amendment Act" of 1874, 114; Act of 1875 (consolidating), 116, 117. Shaftesbury, Lord, and housing legislation, 91, 92, 138, 242. Slums, rents in, 221 ; clearance, 227 — 238 ; causes of failure in clearances, 229 ; demolition, distinctions in kind, 233. " Small Dwellings Acquisition Act" of 1899, 106, 109—111, work done under, 192, 193 ; 257. Socialists, views on housing re- form, 213 ; leaning of local authorities to, 214. Societies for improvement of housing conditions, list of, 141. Spencer, Herbert, on functions of government, 214. Taxation, and housing reform, 263, 266, 270; Royal Commis- sion on Local, 265 ; incidence of, 269. "Torrens Act" of 1868, 96, 97, 118, 127, 141; Amendment of 1879, 97, 98, 120, 143, 149; Amendment of 1882, 99, 121, 122, 130—132, 143, 145, 146, 147, 150. Transportation Facilities, and the housing problem, 293 — 295. W West Ham, overcrowding in, 42 ; application of " Torrens Act " in, 143. "Working Men's Dwelling Act " of 1874, 96 ; re-enactment of, in 1882, 99, 141. " Working Class Dwellings Act " of 1890, 112. SHERKATT AND HUGHES MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS. Medical Series. 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