Village Slums • It is not sufficiently realized that the
problem of slum dwellings is one that is by no means confined to the towns. Distressing slums are to be found in hundreds of villages, and cottages that ought long ago to have been condemned as unfit for habitation are scattered over the -countryside. Overcrowding,- bad sanitation, and leaky walls and roofs still disgrace the rural districts. Sir E. Hilton Young did well to seize the opportunity afforded by a meeting of the Rural Districts Councils Association to remind delegates of the duty Of the Councils to tackle this ques- tion. Finance has been the most obvious difficulty in the way up to nciw, but that should be eased by the subsidy which is payable for a house constructed to replace a- demolished slum dwelling. Today sheer apathy is the worst enemy in country districts. There, a "five-year programme " should be out of the question. With public spirit and a determined- plan of action the more out- rageous examples of -insanitary dwellings in rural areas could be demolished or re-conditioned within a year.
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