conditions have been absolutely intolerable, and when those who are
engaged in the army abroad return, the state of things in some districts
may be worse. The President of the Local Government Board recently
stated that 1,103 local authorities in England and Wales had reported
that houses for the working classes were required in their areas, and
that the number of houses they needed probably exceeded 300,000. As
above stated, the total requirement is much greater. The deficiency of
accommodation has been one of the prime causes of labour unrest; the
prices charged for any kind of shelter have been enormous; in some cases
the same bed is occupied by one set of people immediately the prior
occupants have gone to work, and "the bed is never even cold." The
overcrowding of agricultural labourers and their families in miserable
cottages, often out of repair and letting in the rain, has long been a
scandal. Something has been done by benevolent landowners, who build
cottages which they let on terms which bring little return for the money
spent on them; but it is quite impossible to rely either on the working
of the law of supply and demand or on private benevolence for meeting
the difficulty. Strong and immediate action by the State is needed.
Adequate powers should be given to local authorities, and pressure put
upon them, if needed, to ensure that such powers are exercised. Such
action is already being taken, and compulsory powers to acquire land
will be given. In assessing compensation, the great urban landowner who
has done nothing to contribute to the growth of the town or to promote
its industries, ought not to receive the full value of the land, as
enhanced by the necessary expansion of the town and thereby converted
into building land, with an added amount for compulsory purchase. The
manner in which the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act has been worked has
added enormously to the burden of most great public undertakings. The
compensation awarded has often been outrageous, and the expense incurred
in assessing it one of the grossest scandals. It would be easy to give