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t h e E x c h e q u e r a n i t h e M i n i s t e r of H e a l t h of ifhe 7 t h November and
t h e 87th October r e i p e e t i v e l y ( C P . 7 5 : and C P . 5 ) i t l a c l e a r
t h a t , a s was a n t i c i p a t e d some t i m e ago i n p r e v i o u s memoranda,
the p r o v i s i o n o f t h e v e r y l a r g e number of h o u - e a t h a t had
"become u r g e n t l y n e c e s s a r y u n d e r t h e Government H o u s i n g Scheme,
w i l l n o t be p r a c t i c a b l e i f t h e Government ro r e l y r e l y upon
t h e e f f o r t , ; of t h e L o c a l A u t h o r i t i e s , and i t i s a l r e a d y a p p a r e n t
t h a t t h r o u g h r e l y i n g u p o n t h e L o c a l A u t h o r i t i e a a.j t h e main p r o p ,
t h e j o he 00 i i b r e a k i n g down,
The M i n i s t e r of H e a l t h p r o p o s e s now t o . u t i l i s e t h e
s e r v i c e s of my L e p a r t m e n t f o r t h e p r o v i s i o n o f the n e c e s s a r y
h o u s e s i f t h e e f f o r t s of t h e L o c a l A u t h o r i t i e s f a i l t o m a t e r i a l i s e ,
I s u g g e s t e d uome time a g o t h a t my L e p a r t m o n t s h o u l d be e n t r u s t e d
- w i t h t h e G o v e r n m e n t H o u s i n g Genome, w h : c h s h o u l d r e a l l y be r u n
b y t h e Gove r n m e n t B u i l d i n g D e p a r t m e n t w i t h a c e n t r a l c o n t r o l
and o r g a n i s a t i o n , n o t o n l y of t h e v a r i o u s a c h e m e e , b u t a l . i 0
o f t h e p r o v i s i o n of l a b o u r and m a t e r i a l s , on a s y s t e m a t i c p l a n , ,
T h i j. would have o b v i a t e d many of t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s w h i c h have
o c c u r r e d - s u c h a s c o m p e t i t i o n f o r l a b o u r and m a t e r i a l s by a
l a r g e number of d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r i t i e s , w h i c h l a c o n t i n u a l l y
r a i s i n g t h e p r i c e s of b o t h , and d o e s n o t l e a d t o t h e most
e f f e c t i v e re.ni.lta.
I t 1 , p r o b a b l y t o o l u t e t o r e v i v e t h i s p r o p o s a l now, b u t
I am Q u i t e r e a d y t o a a ^ i a t the M i n i s t e r o f H e a l t h t o t h e l i m i t s
of t h e c a p a c i t y of my D e p a r t m e n t as a t p r e s e n t o r g a n i s e d , b u t
I must p o i n t out t h a t t h e Department i s Bsriously u n d e r s t a f f e d
t o c a r r y o u t t h e ne.; d u t i e s w h i c h h a v e b e e n e a s t u p o n i t
d u r i n g t h e l a s t few y e a r s , and i f i t L t o u n d e r t a k e H o u s i n g
S c h e m e s , on a l a r g e s c a l e , I must have a u t h o r i t y t o make
a l t e r a t i o n s and a d d i t i o n s t o rny o r g a n i s a t i o n - b o t h s e c r e t a r i a l
and t e c h n i c a l - t o e n a b l e me t c u n d e r t a k e t h e w o r k .
I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n i t must be r e a l i s e d b y t h e T r e a s u r y
t h a t I must h a v e a f r e e r hand/thai, i n t h e p a s t t o deal, w i t h b o t h t h e
n u m b e r s a n d r e m u n e r a t i o n of t h e n e c e s s a r y s t a f f .
O t h e r new
Departments have been a l l o w e d t o c r e a t e o r g a n i s a t i o n s i n which
v e r y much more g e n e r o u s s a l a r i e s a r e p a i d , e s p e c i a l l y t o
t e c h n i c a l members.
W i t h r e g a r d t o t h o q u e s t i o n o f f i n a n c e , r e f e r r e d t o by
t h e C h a n c e l l o r o f t h e E x c h e q u e r , i t a p p e a r s t o me t h a t i f t h e
Government i n t e n d s t o o a r r y t h r o u g h t h e i r H o u s i n g Scheme, t h e y
The
m u s t be p r e p a r e d f o r a v e r y b o l d f i n a n c i a l p o l i c y .
d i f f i c u l t y o f t h e s i t u a t i o n c a n , i n a y o p i n i o n , o n l y b e met
b y h a v i n g a v e r y l a r g e N a t i o n a l H o u s i n g L o a n , s e c u r e d on t h e
p r o p e r t i e s , which c o u l d b e g r a d u a l l y t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e L o c a l
The
A u t h o r i t i e s as t h e y t a k e o v e r t h e c o m p l e t e d s c h e m e s .
f a c t m u s t a l o O be f a c e d , t&at.,'. i n v i e w o f t h e e n o r m o u s c o s t of
b u i l d i n g a t t h o p r e s e n t time,, a c o n s i d e r a b l e l o s s of c a p i t a l
c a p i t a l must be i n c u r r e d i f h o u s e s a r e t o be
l e t a t a- r e a s o n a b l e r e n t , e v e n i f s u c h r e n t
ss c o u l d o n l y b e e x p e c t e d \ b e c o n s i d e r a b l y
h i g h e r t h a n p r o - w a r r a t e a,.The r e a l q u e s t i o n t o b e c o n s i d e r e d
i s whether the p r e s e n t housing p o s i t i o n i s to be
l o o k e d on a s a n a f t e r m a t h of war c o n d i t i o n s and
any l o s s i n v o l v e d r e g a r d e d a s p a r t of t h e c o s t Of
t h e w a r , O r , w h e t h e r i t i s t o be t r e a t e d
sly a s
I n v i e w of a l l t h e
eoonomic p r o b l e m by i t s e l f .
d e c l a r a t i o n s by t h e Prime M i n i s t e r and m o t h e r s
of t h e G o v e r n m e n t , t h e f i r s t of t h e s e two v i e w s
seems t o me t o b e t h e c o r r e c t o n e .
(Signed)
H..M.. O f f i c e
of Works
1 1 t h November,
1919*
A. Mond.
an