Sir Alfred Mond on Thursday, May 12th, defended the Esti-
mates for the Ministry of Health. Unlike Dr. Addison, he showed some concern at the enormous expenditure for which his depart- ment has become responsible. He lamented the fact that " housing was a kind of cuckoo's egg put into the nest of the Ministry, and that large bird had pushed the little chicks of health out of the nest." Local authorities had greatly reduced their estimates of the number of new houses required, as the demand had fallen—or, we may suggest, had never existed except in the imagination of enthusiasts. But if the local authorities built 300,000 houses, the State would lose £60 a year on each of them, or £18,000,000 a year in all, apart from subsidies of £15,000,000 to private builders and other obliga- tions. Never was there such deplorable extravagance and waste as there has been in this housing campaign led by a Minister in a panic. Sir Alfred Mond said that 45,000 houses had been completed, and that, with an increased supply of labour, 7,000 more would be finished each month. He stated that the building guilds, of which there has been some talk, had only submitted estimates and could offer no financial guarantee of their ability to fulfil contracts.
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