It cannot be disguised that the country as a whole
has received the contemptuous destruction of Dr. Addison's handiwork with delight. This is a good sign in itself, not because we think for a moment that people are indifferent to the very important questions of public health, but because the delight is a measure of public concern at the wastefulness of the Government. In the words of the Committee of Public Accounts, " we simply cannot afford " this kind of thing. Nothing, after all, is more likely to lower the standard of public health than a period of great financial leanness accompanied by insufficient work and insufficient food. Yet that is what will certainly happen if Ministers have their way in bringing about the very conditions from which they profess to be saving the nation. We do not know whether the public at large have an idea of the masses of printed and typewritten stuff which pour out from Dr. Addison's Department. All these things cost much money, and the annoying part of it is that they are all unnecessary. The intention is no doubt excellent, but we should probably get on much better without interference, quite apart from the money that is spent on printing, paper, and typewriting. Of course the Government will have to bring in a special measure to provide for the housing subsidies now that they cannot be provided for as part of the Health Bill.
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