LONDON UNDER SOCIALISM -I

By The Right lion. HERBERT MORRISON, M.P.

[Mr. Morrison is, of course, leader of the Labour majority in the London County Council. THE SPECTATOR sill publish next week a further article on this subject by Alderman W. II. • Wcbbe, Leader of the Municipal Reform Party in the L.C.C.] IN discussing the issues of the forthcoming election for the London County Council, I am in this difli- culty : I know what the general line of the Labour Party will be, but I do not know, and I find it difficult to imagine, what the general line of the Municipal Reform or Conservative Party is or can be. The London Labour Party will fight on what it believes to be the finest three years' record for constructive work of any municipality in the world, together with the development and exten- sion of that policy during the three years, 1937-40.

A somewhat childish and unscrupulous effort is being made to spread the idea that the Labour majority on the London County Council has impeded the functioning of the armed forces of the Crown. This is untrue. To understand the general line of the Labour Party it is necessary to discriminate between questions affecting the armed forces of the Crown proper and efforts to tamper with the children and young people for purposes of militarist and obscured Conservative propaganda. It is true we have refused to put rifles and bayonets into the hands of boys of 14-18 years of age. We shall continue to do so. So far as the armed forces of the Crown are concerned, the Labour Party on the Council has done nothing to impede their lawful functioning. We have maintained, and even somewhat extended, the facilities open to the staff of the Council to join the Territorial Army if they so wish. Indeed, the County of London Territorial Army Association in a letter dated November 5th, 1936, informed the Council officially that they had received particulars of what the Council was doing, that the report was " well received, and that the assurances of your Council gave much satisfaction."

We have taken all proper action with regard to air-raid precautions. There is some sort of imaginary grievance amongst our opponents as to a display by an Anti _Aircraft Unit of the T.A., but that is easily exploded when I say that the display was speedily accommodated by the Council on Clapham Common under better conditions than could have been afforded at Battersea Park.

Let me now briefly summarise the remarkable achieve- ments of the Labour majority since March, 1934.

We have evolved a bigger and better organisation for housing and slum clearance, concentrating on the more difficult task of clearing the insanitary areas in the central London districts and providing accommodation for poorer people than has hitherto been done. In 1933 the late M.R. majority demolished 372 slum houses and rehoused 2,967 people from slum areas, whereas our figures for 1936 were 2,142 demolitions and 20,390 people rehoused.. Our programme is to go forward vigorously with the job until every London slum has gone.

In Education we have evolved a balanced Three Years' Programme of advance in the character of school buildings, staffing, nursery classes and schools, and better care for the physical fitness of the children. Our Manifesto proposes playing-field accommodation which will ulti- mately be adequate for every London school child over 10. We have .finally eliminated the old Poor Law tradition from the hospitals, improved the equipment and the medical and nursing staffing ; reduced nurses' hours of labour to a maximum of 54 per week, and we are steadily improving ; the old buildings, having also decided .to build an entirely new hospital. One of the reasons for this is that L.C.C. hospitals arc now more popular than

ever.

We have added to London's open spaces and we have achieved remarkable success with the Green Belt round London. For this alone we deserve the thanks of all lovers of open spaces and fresh air. We hope to complete the scheme during the next three years. London's parks have been much improved by the Labour majority.

Public Assistance administration under the Municipal Reformers was a by-word. It was harsh, inhuman, and completely devoid of a real understanding of the problem. In 1934 we did not ask the poor to vote for us in order that they should get more relief, and I hope we never shall. We asked London to vote for us in order to relieve itself of this collective disgrace. London did. We have adjusted the standard of relief, eliminated the worst features of the means test, and we arc engaged upon terminating as soon as possible the- old general mixed workhouse and providing appropriate provision for each class of inmate. We have lifted Public Assistance out of bumbledom and given it the status of a modern municipal service. All the time, however, we have kept in mind the proper interests of the ratepayers who must provide the money.

Highways improvements were badly neglected under the old regime. We brought to an end the ten years' vacillation over Waterloo Bridge which cost public funds £100,000. We are building a new and worthy structure and we ask London to support us in demanding that the Government shall pay the customary grant towards the work. Many other improvements are in hand. Two other bridges are being reconstruct ed : Chelse.a and Wandsworth. Vauxhall Cross, perhaps London's worst traffic centre, is being put right. Docks bridges are being constructed in the Port of London. We have secured Parliamentary approval for the Western exits scheme and we arc completing the work on the Western and Eastern Avenues. We shall consult winch the Ministry of Transport on the question of a North to South route and we propose to improve the northern approaches to Lambeth Bridge by-passing Victoria. We also intend to build another tunnel under the Thames in East London.

The Fire Brigade has been economically reorganised, as has also the ambulance service. Every department of the Council's administration has been tightened up, made more efficient and made to feel increasingly that the Council exists to serve. Staff reorgan;:attion has been among our major achievements and, of course, the staff has had to be increased, otherwise the beneficial work upon which we have been engaged could not have been done. Houses cannot be built without staff.

These worthy developments have, of course, cost Money, but the truth is 1:iat the L.C.C. rate when we came into power was illegitimately and artificially low. That we have exercised wise financial control is indicated by the fact that only recently The Times City Editor declared L.C.C. finances to be in a flourishing condition.

If our opponents take the view that the increased expenditure of the Council has been wrong, they thereby take the responsibility of saying that none of these great deVelopments should have taken place. They thereby declare themselves to be opponents of the Green 'Belt, of slum clearance; of better schools and hospitals and of humane treatment of the poor of London. I should respect them the more if they were it; have the courage to say so.

I know that the kindly citizens of London—including readers of The Spectator—would not agree with them.

In this election, therefore, I make a broad appeal beyond the customary limitations of party politics. I ask all who believe that we have done a good job of work to let us finish the job. There are many readers of The Spectator who would not vote Labour at a Parlia- mentary election but who, I believe, may be disposed to vote for us at this L.C.C. election. It is to those in particular that I appeal to help us to complete the noble task upon which we have been engaged for the beautifying and !upliftment of the capital of the British Common- wealth of Nations.