A Model A.R.P. Scheme The A.R.P. Exhibition in the Finsbury
Town Hall is likely to impress the imagination of the public in London very strongly. The Finsbury Council plans to give almost com- plete protection to the war-time population of Finsbury, by means of a system of concrete underground shelters to be built at a minimum cost of k ro a head. In peace time they will give accommodation for 2,000 cars, and the construction work will be largely performed by labour at present unem. ployed. The shelters will give protection against anything except a direct hit by bombs of one ton or over, or by armour-piercing bombs, which are very unlikely to be used. Whether the Finsbury plan is adopted depends very largely on the attitude of the Home Office, which no doubt will he influenced by the probability that, if the plan is approved, Finsbury will be imitated by every other borough in London. For in London especially shelters of the type which the Government will provide are likely to prove inadequate; and the Government would be wise if, for London, they encouraged and assisted the adoption of the Finsbury plan, or a variation of it to suit local circumstances, in every borough. Until this is done the citizens of London will never be free of a terrible fear, or the nerve-centre of Britain even relatively safe against a paralysing blow.
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