MR. LLOYD GEORGE ON THE HOUSING QUESTION. ITo THE EDITOR
OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—The letter of "Experto Crede" published in the Spectator of December 7th seeks to enlighten you upon some aspects of the health of the working classes. He claims to have considerable experience regarding matters affecting health, but, as he does not disclose his identity, your readers have only his letter to form an estimate of his qualifications, and its general tone does not support his claim. It seems to me to be a somewhat garnished and exaggerated statement, and is not the product of an experi- enced person.
His principal grievance seems to be the existence of slum pro- perty, and the want of action on the part of the authorities in having it properly dealt with. He foolishly seeks to make you believe that the Prime Minister is responsible for this. You know of course that this is simply nonsense. If the houses in the " half-a-dozen courts " to which he refers are in such a deplorable state of filth and dilapidation as stated, then the person primarily responsible is the local designated officer, who in this case seems to be the Medical Officer of Health, and your correspondent him- self is not entirely free from guilt.
Parliament has placed on Local Authorities throughout the country the obligation, and rightly so, of supervising the sanitary condition of their district, and has given them ample scope and power. The Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act of 1909 extends to all Councils, whether District or Borough, farereaching powers to deal with defective and insanitary property in their districts. If, however, the officer entrusted with the enforcement of the law is a timorous being, and afraid to take all competent steps to enforce the closure of uninhabitable houses in his district for fear of bringing the displeasure of some interested member of his Council, then he proves himself to be entirely unfit for the position he occupies. According to your correspondent, the officer to whom he refers, and ascribes the somewhat inflated designation of " Authority on Health," is of this type.
My advice to "Expert* Crede," if he is seriously interested In the welfare of his district, is to draw the attention of the Clerk to
the Local Authority of the district to the deplorable insanitary -conditions to which he refers, and failing redress to communicate direct with the Secretary of the Local Government Board—, If he does this, I can assure him he will get satisfaction, and the inter- ested Councillors who are using their position to protect slum property' owned by them will be speedily dealt with. For the Local Government Board have on their staff men of wide experi- ence and eminent qualifications, and who have performed signal services to the country in all matters relating to public health.—
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