Rebuilding Britain by Alfred Hopkinson

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Even before the War there had been a tendency, on the one hand, to
substitute administrative action for regular judicial procedure, and, on
the other, to allow certain associations to act without regard to law,
to injure individuals and infringe their rights without remedy. That
tendency must be checked or liberty will be destroyed. Law and liberty
as well as law and order are correlative terms. A real control over
expenditure must be re-established and made more effective than it was
even before the necessities of war in our unprepared condition made the
present hand-to-mouth procedure to some extent excusable. The
happy-go-lucky way in which new Ministries and new departments with
vague and ill-defined but enormous powers have been created must come to
an end. We should have some definite and recognised method of
authorising changes in the system of Government. To set aside the
Cabinet which, although it had no legal position, had powers sanctioned
and established by long constitutional custom, and to concentrate
authority in a small body selected and increased or diminished from time
to time at the will of a Prime Minister, was probably necessary for
successful prosecution of the War, but nothing else could justify some
of the irregularities that have been committed.

Doctrines have been put forward sometimes in the Courts during the War
by counsel representing the Crown--i.e., in effect some Ministry--which
would have seemed questionable even in the days of the Stuarts. The
whole of the special War Legislation, both Statutes and Orders of all
kinds, will require to be revised and, unless there is strong reason to
the contrary in any special cases, repealed. The burden of proof should
be on those who think any of this exceptional legislation should be
retained. Of course, care must be taken, especially in matters affecting
commerce and industry, to give due notice of alterations and to change
gradually so as not to prejudice arrangements already made and contracts
in course of fulfilment.

Special attention will have to be given to the early removal of those
restraints on trade--prohibition of exports and imports--which have been
frequently necessary, either to retain in the country what is wanted to
satisfy home requirements or to prevent goods from finding their way to
the enemy, or to ensure that the limited tonnage available is used to
bring the commodities which are vital to meet the pressing needs either
of the forces engaged in War or of the civilian population. These
restraints, however, are not only most harassing to merchants and
involve much additional labour when labour is scarce, but if continued
would prevent this country from carrying on the valuable entrepot trade
for which its geographical position, its financial resources, and its
command of shipping specially fit it. That trade at least depends on the
maintenance of a policy of the open door both for coming in and going
out. England is a good distributing centre--unless by artificial
restrictions we destroy our opportunities. Merchants and manufacturers
have been very patient as a rule under the fetters it has been thought
necessary to impose to meet War conditions; these fetters should be
removed as soon as possible. Unless this is done they will be fatally
handicapped when Hamburg and Bremen again come into competition with
them as distributing centres for the countries now neutral, and even for
those which have been in alliance with us.

There is sure to be a cry to protect certain industries; in some cases
it may be necessary to do so for a time at least, but every such claim
should be most jealously scrutinised. The interests of any powerful
section of the community always find influential advocates. They can
exercise strong pressure on any Government or on Members of Parliament.
The general interests of the people who have no trade organisation to
support them will be likely to be overlooked. The restoration of freedom
is the first reform that should attend the restoration of Peace.

CHAPTER XVIII

RESTORATION OF INDUSTRY

_Neither one person nor any number of persons is
warranted in saying to another human being of ripe years
that he shall not do with his life for his own benefit
what he chooses to do with it._--JOHN STUART MILL.

The next task will be the restoration of industry to its ordinary
channels, and the return of the men who have been in the army to
civilian occupations. Mr. Bonar Law has said that nothing has ever
happened more wonderful than the way in which the British Empire has
changed its Peace organisation into a War organisation. To reverse the
process and change the War organisation into a Peace organisation may be
still more difficult. In creating the War organisation enormous sums of
money have been expended, the wheels have been lavishly greased to
enable the new machinery to work. That process cannot continue, as with
the reorganisation after Peace there must also be retrenchment. In the
War Cabinet's Report for 1917 it is said that "1917 may be described as
the year in which State control was extended until it covered not only
national activities directly affecting the military effort but every
section of industry, production, transport, and manufacture." To get rid
of some of that control as regards industry as well as commerce, must be
one of the first steps in reconstruction. State interference not only
involves the expense of an enormous army of officials, inspectors,
clerks, accountants, and others, but also causes friction, while the
regulations which it has been found necessary to impose have been one of
the causes of labour unrest. Any State regulations of labour are rightly
watched with the greatest jealousy. Pledges have been given that
certain pre-War conditions as regards labour shall be re-established as
soon as possible.

During the War the exceptional conditions demanded exceptional measures.
To prevent competition for labour in order to fulfil the enormously
profitable contracts when the demand for munitions was so imperative,
special legislation was found absolutely necessary before the end of the
first year of the War. Employers had to be prohibited from engaging
workmen who had been on munitions work within six weeks before taking up
new employment, unless they had a certificate that the workmen had left
with the former employer's consent, or a tribunal held that consent had
been unreasonably withheld. Many persons who were in a position to form
a sound opinion consider that this provision "saved the situation." At
all events, it prevented the workmen, under the influence of the
inducements offered by competing employers, from running from place to
place to find where the highest wage could be obtained, and dislocating
the work in which they had been engaged.

The provision for manufacture of munitions had to be made very
hurriedly, as it took the Government and the heads of the army a long
time to realise the fact that in a war against the organised forces of
Germany greater quantities of munitions of all sorts, some of an
entirely new kind, would be required by the army and navy. Our infantry
were exposed to the bombardment of the enemy while the British artillery
was unable to reply. Nothing is more wonderful and more creditable to
the Minister who first took charge of the matter, to the heads of
producing firms, and also to the workmen and the leaders of their Trade
unions all over the country, than the way in which new factories were
built, old factories enlarged, and output increased to the utmost. In
the course of a few months rough vacant spaces all over the country were
covered with admirably planned and well organised works. In a short time
employers generally learned to understand and to observe the
restrictions imposed, which were for the common good, though often
irritating to individuals.

There was, however, some dissatisfaction among many of the workmen, and
after two years the provisions as to certificates were repealed, and the
Ministry of Munitions obtained wide powers for giving directions as to
remuneration, and also to prevent munition workers from being taken for
other work. The Ministry also exercised powers for regulating what
workmen of different classes should be allowed to go to various
establishments. Such regulation was and is necessary, but it will be a
relief to British industry when this State control and the restrictions
and regulations it involves can be done away with. The process of
reversion to normal conditions as regards industry will take time,
especially in adapting establishments where the products of the munition
works are articles which are not required in time of peace. Fortunately,
there will be a great demand for labour after the War to resume work
that has been postponed, as well as for new undertakings, especially for
housing and for repairs and renewals in railways, roads, and buildings.
Work that has been put on one side to allow undivided attention to be
given to munitions will require the services of a great number of
persons and help to prevent unemployment which might otherwise arise
when the new army is disbanded.

Of the questions affecting employment after the War, the position of
discharged soldiers and sailors naturally comes first. They may be
divided into two classes, namely, those who are in any way disabled, and
who are discharged during the War suffering from some kind of injury to
limb or to health, and, secondly, those who will be discharged when the
army is demobilised. For the first class, the honour of the nation
demands that proper and liberal provision should be made by pensions,
having regard to the nature and extent of the injury received. For the
totally disabled there must be an adequate subsistence; for the
partially disabled the object will be, in addition to the pension, to
find suitable employment and to train those who wish to take up some new
employment suited to the varied requirements of men who have been
disabled in different ways, and also in which higher remuneration may be
obtained by reason of a skill thus acquired, and the greater demand for
work of the class. It has been estimated that, apart from the provision
for officers, forty millions a year will be required for pensions for
soldiers and sailors. It is an expenditure which the country would least
think of grudging. The Ministry of Pensions, in co-operation with other
Departments concerned, has already taken in hand the question of dealing
with the disabled, not only as regards the regulation and payment of
pensions, but also as to qualifying those who are partially disabled to
take up suitable employment. The work thus begun will have to go on for
a considerable period after the close of the War. So far as inquiries
have at present been made, a large percentage of the partially disabled
men will be able to go back to the employment in which they were engaged
before the War; others will be able to find similar employment without
special training; many will be engaged in various simple light
occupations.

In selecting men for positions as caretakers, office porters, and others
of a similar kind, good feeling will naturally cause preference to be
given to the men who have met with injury while fighting for their
country. There will be a large number, however, who may wish to take up
employment of a different description from that in which they were
engaged before the War, and they will be glad of the opportunity of
preparing themselves for it. For these men the Ministry, acting in
co-operation with local authorities, and especially with local education
committees, is arranging courses of technical training. During the
period of training a payment, usually about twenty-seven shillings per
week, is made to the men. The character of the training to be given and
the provision to be made for it have been settled with advisory
committees of persons engaged in and well acquainted with the
requirements of the trade. This kind of co-operation and the practice of
taking the advice of members of the trade from the very beginning, have
been invaluable both in preventing mistakes and in creating goodwill
towards the schemes which have been set on foot. The training, of
course, differs according to the needs of different localities, but
already suitable courses have been provided in different places, in
boot-making, tailoring, furniture-repairing, basket-making, building,
printing, aircraft-manufacturing, dental mechanics, and many other
trades. Men who otherwise might have been condemned to useless lives
with a bare subsistence will, through the measures thus taken, be able
to earn a comfortable wage in some employment where their disablement
does not seriously interfere with their work. What has been done in this
matter should be as widely known as possible, and facilities for
training should be extended to give preparation for other suitable
trades.

Most of all, it is desirable that as many men as possible should be
trained for agricultural and horticultural work, and should have the
opportunity of healthy outdoor employment. To do such work efficiently,
training for those who have not been brought up to it is, of course,
necessary. This training may be given on farms acquired for the purpose
either by some public authority or by individuals or by philanthropic
associations. Work of the kind has been already started, and should be
extended as fast as any demand for such training is found to exist.
There is, unfortunately, reason to believe that the number of discharged
men able to take up work on the land and desirous of doing so will not
be very large.

In connection with the permanent employment of these disabled men,
schemes have been set on foot which hold out the most attractive
prospects as affording healthier conditions, brighter and pleasanter
homes, and as enabling useful production to go on with efficiency under
conditions in which the life of the worker may be passed in
surroundings which will give some satisfaction to the aesthetic sense.
These schemes include the formation of (i) industrial villages in the
neighbourhood of towns, of which the one at Lancaster, referred to in
the next chapter (p. 145), may be taken as a type, and (ii) new villages
established, or old villages extended in places which are easily
accessible, and not too remote from facilities for the education of
children and from the attractions of a town. In these villages organised
cultivation will be carried on.

Co-operative farming is already being tried. A very interesting and
hopeful experiment in working a farm on co-operative lines under the
management of a skilled director has been made near Maidstone, where a
farm has been acquired by private effort. It has received a name of good
omen--the Vanguard Farm.

Another proposal which may lead to very valuable results is the
establishment of nurseries for forest trees on land reclaimed from the
sea, or in other places where the soil is light and can be acquired at
moderate cost. These and similar schemes, though intended in the first
instance specially for partially disabled men, should be permanent. When
fairly started they are expected to be self-supporting.

It is obviously impossible to treat of all the questions in the long
list given above, and also impossible to deal with any of them
completely. All that can be done is to give a general idea of the kind
of thing that is wanted; then to select a few subjects as furnishing
rather fuller indications of possible lines of action; and then--just as
examples--work out one or two in more detail.

Two subjects, namely, Housing and Agricultural Development, must be
selected, because their vital importance demands attention from all who
care about the welfare of the nation. Another subject, namely, Law
Reform, is selected because it is comparatively easy to say what ought
to be done and to frame Acts embodying the required reforms.

CHAPTER XIX

HOUSING

_Owing to house shortage in Sheffield, two wooden
pigsties are being inhabited, one by a man and his wife
and two children, and the other by a man and his wife.
Both men are discharged soldiers._--DAILY PAPER.

There will be no rest, and should be none, until every industrious man
or woman who wishes to have a real home can have one, where everyone who
has children can bring them up under conditions where decency can be
maintained and healthy life be possible. It is a question of urgency in
rural as well as in urban districts, in the most remote places equally
with the great cities. In this matter it is no case of having to create
or stimulate a desire for improvement. The demand has existed for years,
but after the War will be more imperative than ever. Somehow or other it
must be supplied more fully. Attempts have been made again and again to
deal with the question. Its importance is recognised and special
inquiries are now being made as to the best means to be adopted. It is
stated that at the present time half a million additional houses for
working people are required, and that 100,000 more should be provided
annually to meet the normal increase of population and to replace houses
which have to be demolished.

It will be necessary to consider, first, the provision to be made to
meet the existing shortage of house accommodation both in urban and
rural districts. At present a large portion of the population cannot
find a home or even any kind of accommodation that affords reasonable
comfort and decency. Since the War, in some places, such as Barrow, the
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
numerous instances from actual experience.

But there is not only need for more accommodation, but also for more
attractive accommodation. There is no reason why the home of a human
family should as a rule be, as it is in most of the towns in England at
present, a hideous object. What has been done at Port Sunlight, at
Bournville and other places shows that, by proper forethought and wise
expenditure, small houses which it is a pleasure instead of a pain to
look upon, can be provided. Another good example of what can be done may
be seen in the change effected in the residences for the poorer classes
made on the property of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at Walworth in
South London. What is now a pleasant exception ought to be a regular
rule. Means ought also to be taken to ensure that urban workers should
have the opportunity of obtaining an allotment, if not adjoining, at
least within reasonable distance of their homes, where they may grow
fruit and vegetables and enjoy what is, after all, one of the greatest
of the quiet pleasures of life, watching the growth of the plants which
they have cultivated, and enjoying the products.

Round some towns, the estates of great landowners form a ring fence
barring any growth of the town until, when trade is good and the town is
expanding, extravagant prices can be obtained for the land of which they
have the monopoly. High ground rents are fixed when trade is inflated,
jerry-builders then start erecting houses, borrowing sometimes from
building societies the whole amount required to enable them to build,
and the houses are either sold or let at very high rents. The cottages
are put up in the cheapest possible way consistent with the by-laws of
the local authorities. When a cycle of bad trade occurs the property
falls in value, it goes out of repair, tenants have no interest whatever
in keeping it decent, it falls into a disgusting condition, mortgagees
foreclose. In many cases the building societies that have lent money on
the property to its full value, by arrangement between the secretary of
the society and the speculative builder, have gone into liquidation, and
the industrious people who have placed their money in the societies
have lost their investments. And last, there have even been disputes
between the owner of the ground rent who wishes to re-enter and the
local authority as to the payment of charges for making streets in the
district which has fallen into decay. This is no fancy picture. Those
who have had legal practice over a period of years in some of our large
towns will confirm it from their own experience.

There is no valid reason why, when land is converted from agricultural
land into building land in the neighbourhood of a large town without any
effort on the part of the landowner, a definite portion of such land
should not be set aside for allotments or open spaces without payment,
on the same grounds that a person who is erecting buildings on the land
is obliged to comply with building regulations to secure proper
sanitation, although it might be more profitable to build without any
regard whatever for the health of the prospective tenants. Of course, it
may not always be possible to set aside a portion of any given piece of
land which is sold for building, but in that case the landowner should
contribute an equivalent value out of the proceeds of the land which he
sells towards providing the allotments or open spaces required elsewhere
in the neighbourhood. Such a provision would not be really burdensome,
as no contribution either in land or money would be made except at the
time when a largely increased revenue was to be derived from the land.
It is not to be forgotten that the large urban landlord usually pays no
rates towards meeting the requirements of the town, and receives the
full amount of the rent fixed practically for all time at a period of
inflation, although the rates may have enormously increased to meet the
cost of the things which the municipality has to provide for the needs
of a large and industrious but often very poor population.

An example has been given of what private enterprise may do in providing
not merely accommodation for working people, but accommodation with
really attractive surroundings, in the action taken by the family of
the late Sir Thomas Storey, at Lancaster. They, under the advice of one
of the highest authorities on town planning, Mr. T.H. Mawson, have given
an estate adjoining the town, which will be laid out in an attractive
manner, with avenues arranged to afford pleasing prospects. The primary
object at present is to provide homes in the neighbourhood of a factory
to be erected where disabled soldiers may engage in some kind of
suitable manufacturing work, but the scheme is intended to be permanent.
The houses will be near the factory; there will be playgrounds,
drying-grounds, probably garden allotments, a hostel for single men, a
reading-room, and some place of amusement. The development of industrial
villages by private enterprise, encouraged in every possible way, is one
of the most hopeful things to look forward to in the rebuilding of
Britain. There can be no greater pleasure for anyone who has any vision
of what the future of housing accommodation for the working classes may
be than to read Mr. Mawson's charming volume on "Industrial Villages for
Partially Disabled Soldiers and Sailors as an Imperial Obligation."

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