The author of the recent article on the Proletariat in
the Quarterly Review objects, in a letter which we publish, to our criticisms ; but he fails entirely, as we think, to meet our main point, namely, the enormous scale of his scheme. He says it need not be enormous, because Parliament can pick and choose among cities, can overlook the country districts, can build block houses at a profit, and can also, by their competition, compel old owners to improve their tenements. As those are the very propositions we deny, there is no common locus standi for argument. We hold that Parliament will not assign general funds for local purposes, and that repayment is unlikely, because when the new houses are many the rents of the old houses will fall, and the builders of new ones must reduce their charges accordingly. The reviewer says they can improve their tene- ments, instead of reducing rents ; but that we deny, alleging that separate houses cannot compete with block houses in both quality and price. They may be better or they may be cheaper, but they cannot be both.
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