Sir Hilton Young was careful to tone down hopes of
what may be expected of the new Committee appointed to examine reconditioning and the creating of a National Housing Corporation. Indeed, he carried reticence to the point of obscurity. What does he mean by saying that the direct subsidy shall not be replaced by an indirect subsidy ? If he means that all question of a Government guarantee of capital raised for housing is ruled out, he has merely added one more to the proof that the Government are far too obsessed by financial principles which were valid only during the crisis of 1931. The rank and file of members are very strongly in favour of the constructive use of the restored national credit, and a grim " Budget this year would strain the loyalty of the Government's supporters to breaking point. One of the many signs of this fact was the reception of Mr. Baldwin's speech on Mr. Boulton's motion last week in favour of a reduction of taxation. Mr. Baldwin is far more popular and carries far more authority than Mr. Chamberlain in the present House, but his speech, which gave far too great an indication of intellectual laziness, was most frigidly received.
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