Camps Without Occupants
Twelve of the camps whose construction by the National Camps Corporation was authorised last May have for some time been ready for occupation, and the remainder, making 31 in all, will be completed by March 31st. These camps are equipped for permanent use in winter and summer, and are admirably suited for the reception of older elementary school children evacuated from the danger zones. Yet the Chairman, Lord Portal, tells us that only two are at present occupied, and that only four others are engaged for future occupation—this at a time when Education Authorities are supposed to be at their wits' end to find means for the suitable accommodation and education of evacuated children. But this neglect of opportunity is only part of the story. The camps, which will hold fewer than 11,000 children, should have been able to accommodate 17,000. The Corporation, within the limits of its capital, was compelled to restrict the scope of its building owing to higher costs. The costs had been sent up owing to the fact that the Militia camps which were being constructed by the Govern- ment had been built on a cost plus profit basis, with the usual disastrous results. In the case of one of their camps, constructed under competitive tender, 8o workmen were enticed away to Government work for which double the normal wage was offered. An unsatisfactory story.
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