Rebuilding Britain Part 8

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 compet.i.tion 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 quant.i.ties 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 s.p.a.ces 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 cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.ses, 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 cla.s.s, 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 cla.s.s. 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 a.s.sociations. 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 pa.s.sed 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 cla.s.ses 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 a.s.sessing 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 a.s.sessing 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 cla.s.ses 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 s.p.a.ces 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 s.p.a.ces 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 munic.i.p.ality 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 amus.e.m.e.nt. 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 cla.s.ses may be than to read Mr. Mawson's charming volume on "Industrial Villages for Partially Disabled Soldiers and Sailors as an Imperial Obligation."

Another useful means of improving the conditions of housing for working people has been adopted in many places by carrying on the movement initiated by Octavia Hill. Property has been acquired and placed under the management of some voluntary a.s.sociation, usually of ladies, who will collect rents of reasonable amount and see that the property and its surroundings are kept in proper condition. Various a.s.sociations of the kind have been established; the Manchester Housing Company, Limited, may be taken as an example of such arrangements for managing urban cottage property. In the last report it is stated that the Company has owned or managed 114 houses, and the directors are a.s.sured that the sanitary conditions under which the tenants are housed have steadily conduced to the lowering of the death-rate. The personal interest taken in the tenants as well as in the houses by the managers has had a marked influence for good. The scheme is self-supporting, and in 1917 a dividend of 4-1/2 per cent, was paid.

Lastly, there should be some method, provided by public authority, through which workers or other persons of small means can become owners of their houses. Building societies came into existence with this object, and were put under statutory regulation by the Legislature in 1836, and subsequently by an Act of 1874. In many cases facilities given by building societies have been very useful in accomplishing the original objects of such societies; in other cases, for reasons above indicated, they have been a failure. By using the credit of the Government money to enable properties to be acquired can be obtained, or could have been obtained, at a lower rate. Instalments covering interest at that rate and providing a sinking fund towards the repayment of the princ.i.p.al would be of substantially less amount than the subscriptions to the building societies, and would not exceed the rents tenants have been accustomed to pay without any prospective advantage. Schemes to practise thrift and to induce people to take a greater interest in their homes and to enable them to acquire homes which are really attractive on reasonable terms are to be encouraged by every means which the Legislature or private individuals can adopt without causing pauperisation. The object can be achieved on fair business terms and without substantial risk of loss. Under the Ashbourne and the Wyndham Acts in Ireland there has been, at all events until recently, practically no failure to pay the required instalments.

A committee has been appointed to investigate the housing question, and its reports will no doubt contain valuable suggestions for dealing practically and at once with a matter so vitally important to the rebuilding of Britain.

CHAPTER XX

AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

_In all kingdoms this first and original art [agriculture]--this foundation of all others--must be pursued and encouraged, or the rest will faint and be languid._--ARTHUR YOUNG.

The most important practical reform of all is to make the land more productive, to put it to the most profitable use. By profitable use we do not mean using it so as to bring the owner the largest return in money per acre, aiming at the largest net profit by reducing expenditure as much as possible and growing whatever will fetch the highest price at least cost of production. The really useful object is to lay out and use all the land of the country in such a way as to produce the greatest aggregate of commodities which are of real intrinsic value for use or which can be exchanged for useful commodities coming from other nations; in particular to produce in our own country as much wholesome food as possible, and in so doing to support as large an agricultural population as possible in reasonable comfort and health. To grow in our own country a larger proportion of the food we consume is necessary, first, in order to meet our own needs from our own internal resources, and so reduce the amount which has to be paid to other countries for the commodities they supply; secondly, in case of war, to avoid the risk of starvation and reduce the strain on the Navy and on the Mercantile Marine due to the necessity of bringing the larger part of the essential food of the country overseas and also, what may be equally important, to avoid the distress which may be caused owing to the country being unable to provide the means of payment for the immense proportion of the food required which must be brought from overseas. It was long ago pointed out that the "trades by which the British people has believed it to be the highest of destinies to maintain itself cannot now long remain undisputed in its hands."

The next object is to increase the agricultural population. It has been found again and again in other countries as well as our own that a large and healthy agricultural population is essential to keep up the physique of a nation. The town folk tend to decay unless constantly replenished by influx from the country. One good effect of the War has been to direct attention to the vital importance of this subject, and careful inquiries have been made and useful steps taken which have had the effect of greatly increasing the home production of food.

The subject is treated clearly in a popular way in a book published in 1917 on Agriculture after the War by Sir A.D. Hall, now secretary of the Board of Agriculture, and in fuller detail in the report of a committee of which Lord Selborne was chairman. The report was published at the beginning of 1918; some of the proposals have been already acted upon, others will no doubt be the basis of future action by the Board of Agriculture and the Ministry of Reconstruction.

Before the War the imports of food less re-exports amounted to about 229 millions annually, or, to put the case in another way, about half of the total food consumed in the British Islands was brought overseas; but "if the most essential foodstuff, wheat, is considered, less than one-fifth of what we required was produced in the country." The position was one of terrible insecurity; but for the efficiency of the Navy the country would have been starved into complete submission in this War, and its prosperity and liberty would have been lost for ever. After the War the financial question of the continued ability of the nation to pay for the food we require is probably the most serious we have to face. The first remedy for the existing state of things is the increase of tillage.

a.s.suming that the same pecuniary profit can be obtained by using any land for tillage as for pasture or other purposes, it is obvious that it is right to do everything possible to get that land devoted to tillage, first, as national insurance for the reasons above stated, and, second, to support a larger population under healthy conditions. One of the great causes of discontent, of vagrancy, and of distress in the sixteenth century was certainly the conversion of large tracts which had formerly been arable into pasture land, because the land laid down as pasture would produce a larger profit to the owner though it supported a much smaller population and required far less labour. A considerable portion of the rural population was thrown out of employment and the supply of food was diminished. Again and again the decay of the agricultural population has been the ground of complaint. Goldsmith speaks of it beautifully and pathetically in the "Deserted Village," and the process went on, becoming year after year a greater national peril; but the Government and Parliament seemed to care little about it, so that even during the last forty years, according to the statement of Sir A.D. Hall, "the productivity of the land of Great Britain as a whole has declined." Although a far larger rent might be obtained from the wealthy who use a great part of Scotland for shooting than could be obtained from crofters, national welfare demands that it should be used for crofts and to raise the population which has supplied our armies with many of the finest soldiers and the whole Empire with many of its best colonists. Of course, there are large tracts of such a character that people cannot support themselves in tolerable comfort by tilling them, and it is better that land of that kind should be used for sheep if possible, and, in cases where even this is impossible, for deer forests or grouse moors, subject to reasonable public rights of access.

Among the measures which may be taken to increase the home production of food the following may be mentioned:--

1.--_Improved farming or intensification of agriculture under the existing system._ It is admitted that English, and perhaps still more Scottish, farming at its best is admirably conducted. Fortunately, very many of the large landowners are themselves keenly interested in agriculture and take a pride in promoting it. It is perhaps not generally known what a useful and valuable trade the country carries on in the export of pedigree stock. The prices obtained for the best bred British bulls, rams and boars are very high. An extension over all suitable parts of the country of the highest type of British farming would add to the wealth of the country immensely.

Connected with this subject is the promotion of agricultural education, and along with that of agricultural research. Very great advances have been made of recent years, and it would be an utterly false economy to starve productive work of this kind. It ought to be held a disgrace for a country landowner not to have some knowledge of agriculture and interest in it.

2.--_Industrialised farms_, i.e., the organisation of large farms to be managed as business enterprises under the control of a general manager.

If farming was thus carried on on a large scale machinery would be employed to its full advantage, and there would be economy in buying and selling wholesale and avoiding waste in preparing for and placing commodities on the market. The most highly trained, skilled and energetic management would be obtained for farms of this kind. It is to be noticed that, although some commodities can equally well be produced by small culture, it is generally only on a large scale that cereals can be profitably cultivated.

3.--_Co-operative farming._--The subject is one of special interest, as co-operative farming in some form was historically the basis of the whole system of society in many countries. Experiments in co-operative farming may be tried with advantage. They may take various forms. It will, no doubt, be found that in certain branches of farming, such as dairy farming in some districts, co-operative action is almost necessary to success. The experience of Denmark has shown how much can be done to keep up a definite standard in b.u.t.ter, for example, by sending milk to some large, well-equipped and well-managed dairy. Such establishments have also far better opportunities for dealing with transport and distribution.