PISE AND THE " SPECTATOR."
ONCE more let 413 say that we do not for a moment think that the Government could have been expected to take up Pith building merely on the Spectator's recommendation. What we do think they ought to have done when they first heard of it was to have this system of wallbuilding examined, not by another Commission and not in the abstract or on paper, but by some men, or preferably by some man, who would test the matter in the fullest possible way, and then tell the world the result of his investigations. Here we may say that the inability of the Government Departments to come to definite decisions is a great obstacle to anything in the way of State action. You can get " Leave it alone," or " Put it off," or " Wait and see " out of a Government Department with the greatest ease. What, alas ! you can very seldom get is a definite plan of action. That seems to be reserved entirely for the so-called " mean and miserable creature who looks to a profit "—i.e., the much-abused business man. He can come to a decision, and hence he has an output, a product, while Government schemes prove utterly sterile.
To illustrate this we must, we are afraid, continue to be as egotistical in this article as in that which precedes it. When the Spectator found that the authorities, with the exception of the Board of Agriculture just mentioned, were going to do nothing save use pleasant and laudatory words in regard to Pith, those responsible for the Spectator building at Newlands adopted the policy so succinctly stated by Virgil in his account of what Dido did when she found that Aeneas, after saying many pleasant things, skipped offwithout even bidding her good-bye. First, it will be remembered, she called upon the gods of Olympus, as we have called upon Downing Street. When it was obvious that they were going to do nothing for her, she determined to appeal elsewhere. " If Heaven will not help me, I will seek the Lords of Hell."
When we found that the Government would not take Pith seriously, we determined to appeal to the business world and to get the system commercialized. Happily for our venture, the well-known firm of contractors and engineers, Messrs. Alban Richards and Co., of St. James's Street, of their own accord inquired into the system of Pith construction, and we thus had the opportunity we desired of getting a trustworthy firm to take the matter up on a commercial basis. Their plan of action was in exact contrast to that of the Government.
Messrs. Alban Richards expressed great interest in the matter, but they most properly said that before they committed themselves to Pith construction they must subject the system to a series of rigorous scientific and practical tests, to be held under the supervision of an impartial authority—namely, the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington. We were not merely willing but delighted to see these tests made, for we ourselves had not the necessary organization. These tests are now in progress, and we hope we shall soon be able to report the results, whether for good or evil. Before that, however, we trust that the architect of the Newlands scheme, Mr. Williams-Ellis, will be able to deficribe the tests in detail in these pages. We venture to think they will greatly interest our readers.
If it be said that we are unfair to the Government, and that we could not expect them to have anything to do with a newspaper scheme, we are quite willing to bow the head in acknowledgment. In that case, however, why did they not take up the matter themselves, and before the idea was tainted by " newspaperism " ? The Government could perfectly well have had investigations made into cheap means of construction. They could do so even now, and might swamp Pith, if it is to be regarded as tainted, by some new discovery which will be as much cheaper than Pith as Pith is than brick. At the same time they should investigate the crying problem of cheaper roofing.
Yet again, the first and foremost thing is to arrive at a system of cheaper construction. When that is discovered, the financial difficulties will be found much easier. Upon this—i.e., the financial side of the Housing breakdown— we will only express our belief that to muddle construction between the Government and the Local Authorities is madness. The Government must use as their instrument for building the private builders throughout the country. These must build under some system of public credit—but that is too big a matter for us to discuss now.
We have one word to add. The Government are face to face with the unemployment question. If, despite the vote of the House of Commons on Wednesday, they decide to pay large sums to unemployed women and men, we implore them not to allow this great reservoir of energy to run to waste, but to use it in order to cheapen housing. We cannot help saying here yet another word for Pith. One of its great advantages is that it can be done by unskilled labour. Any man who can dig a trench, put earth into a wheelbarrow, and stamp it down with a rammer can do Pith work. But that means every one in the country, for, as the war showed, any man can dig a trench. No doubt some men can dig enormously better than others, but if you are getting the labour for nothing, as you are in the case of people receiving unemployment doles, you will immensely decrease the price of your building by using your unemployed labour. If you are paying out money to the unemployed, why not utilize this stream of cash to help you in the Housing problem ? In short, you can subsidize your building scheme through your unemployment grants, or, to put it in another way, prevent unemployment through a system of State-aided hou icbuilding. But, remember, to do this you want a system of construction which unskilled labour can carry out. Pith de Terre provides that system.
Previous page
