THE HOUSING PROBLEM
. [To the. Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—As you have recently been opening your columns to the ventilation of the urgent question of Housing, I am requested by - the committee of the Public Utility Society ,which has recently been formed in Bethnal Green to ask you to be good enough to devote a little of your space to our own most urgent housing problem, and, in this manner, to help us in our attempts' to meet it.
I should like in the first place to make clear that the formation of this Society does not imply any criticisms of the work of the Borough Council in the matter of local housing. Of the work of the Borough Council we are most appreciative. The needs of the locality are, however, far greater than can be met by any measures which have yet been taken, and there is ample room for any amount of voluntary action in this direction. As was said at a meeting recently, " Time is of the essence of the housing problem;" The problem is so urgent that every possible means should be taken to accelerate the rate of building.
It is quite unnecessary to describe the housing conditions ,which obtain in certain parts of this Borough ; they are just the same as those to which your correspondents have called attention in other parts of the country. Suffice it to say that there are men, women, and children living here in conditions ;which are a disgrace to the country, and which are seriously prejudicing the interests of the rising generation.
Our difficulty is to gain support to enable us to carry out our project. We have not been idle. We have already raised £4,000. We have purchased a site, and we have approved plans for the erection thereon of a sixteen-family tenement. We 'are now seeking to raise a further £16,000. The sources to which we can apply for assistance in a Borough such as this are naturally restricted. There is no well-to-do class of residents whose sympathies can be enlisted on behalf of their fellow citizens, as is the case in some boroughs whose population consists of both rich and poor. Out of sight out of.mind, is, I fear, rather our position ; and although near to the heart of the City in one sense, we have not found our way to its heart in another. We have few large manufactories of our own. The greater number of employers in the neigh- bourhood are people in a small way of business, who are in no position to help us financially. We need more publicity, and this is my reason for applying to you.
If there are any of your readers who would care to help us, by taking up shares or loan stock, or in any other way, I beg that they will communicate with the Honorary Secre- tary of the Bethnal Green Housing Association, St. Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E. 2.-1 am, Sir, &c., WYNDHAbf DEEMS.
The Oxford House, Bethnal Green, E. 2.
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