Finance was, he agreed, the central difficulty. He-wished the municipalities
to raise local loans in order- that local public opinion should be enlisted on the side of economical building. Economy was essential. But above all he appealed to the building trade not- to restrict output in the way they had been doing. Do what we would, if because of restricted output houses cost £1,000 instead of £700, it must be a permanent burden on the working classes-of the-country. The mere shortage of skilled men was appalling, and if the output of such men as there were was to be restricted the position was' deplorable. He appealed for tho relaxation of all Trade Union rules against the employment of unskilled labour. He appealed to organized Labour " to make- one special effort regardless of restrictions and regulations as they did during: the war," in order to alleviate the distress of thousands of people throughout the country. Thus Mr. Lloyd George handed on, neatly wrapped in a half-truth, the vote of censure which the country has passed on the housing scheme. Save for this manosuvre, the debate was remarkable for its platitudes and its abject confessions of incompetence. But what might be sport to- a Dean Swift spells bitter misfortune to the community:
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