On Monday Mr. Neville Chamberlain received a deputation from the
London Municipal Society on the subject of housing and slum clearances in London. He assured the deputation that he was in perfect agreement with them as to the importance of providing for the town planning of built-up areas. He also agreed with them as to the urgency of slum clearance. He hact been horri- fied to learn that the whole process of slum clearance sometimes took as much as seven or even ten years. In his opinion such delay was intolerable, and he would try to remove the cause of it. He would also consider the use of vacant land for temporary housing purposes, al- though he felt bound to point out that temporary housing was not so simple as it seemed, as even temporary houses required the usual public services such as drainage, water supply and so on, upon which no saving could be made.. He agreed, again, with the deputation about the use of alternative methods of house construction and about the strictly economic character of spending money on clearing insanitary areas. Altogether Mr. Chamberlain's speech showed a really enthusiastic and crusading spirit, and we sincerely congratulate him upon it.
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