We have dealt at length elsewhere with the urgent problem
of cutting down expenditure. One of the best and most suitable ways of reducing expenditure is to reduce the vast number of Government employees. It is impossible to believe that now peace has returned we want about three times as many officials as we had before the war. Let us remind the Chancellor of the Exchequer of a historical example which may prove useful in the case of most Departments. After the dissolu- tion of the great Abbey of Glastonbury, the monks still clung to the buildings and could not be got rid of. When Thomas Cromwell was asked what was to be done in the matter, he cynically replied that the only way to get rid of the rooks was to cut down the rookery. So the roof was taken off one of the most glorious architectural monuments in England. That, no doubt, was a sad loss, but no one could feel any sorrow if the roof were taken off the Lake Buildings or any of the other hutments which now desecrate some of the most beautiful open spaces in London. Here the destruction of the Rookeries would, be a double blessing. We should at one stroke get rid of hideous buildings and expensive and superfluous officials.
Previous page
