That, of course, is what we all look forward to,
but if we get it through the Government building 120,000 cottages we shall pay so dearly for the reform that it will be of very doubtful value. The danger is that the County Councils, which, as Lord Salisbury notices, are not very economical bodies, would spend a great deal more on their cottages than was necessary. We believe, however, that if the County Councils fixed a price, say £300 a pair, beyond which the Committee charged with the work of building cottages might not go, they would find that the ac- commodation could in fact be provided. We are not in the least in favour of municipal building, partly because of its extravagance, and partly because we do not want private enterprise killed by public bodies with rates behind them competing against the builder. For the local authori- ties to provide houses for their own employees is quite another matter. Because a Government can usually provide official houses for Ministers or great military and naval officials it ought not to try to house millionaires in Mayfair. But municipal building as a rule means not building official homes for employees, but the provision of houses at low rents for the general public.
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