Letters to the Editor
CLEARING THE SLUMS [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Mr. Bossom's most inspiring articles on slum clearance which have appeared in the last two numbers of the Spectator
must have appealed deeply to many of your readers, for everyone who has the interest of our country at heart realizes that decent homei are the foundation of the life of the nation. But the problem which has for many years confronted us, especially in overcrowded and congested areas, is, how are sites for dwellings to be found ?
Not only does Mr. Bossom now answer this question, but he has outlined a scheme, which in its apparent simplicity and obviousness is reminiscent of Columbus's egg and we cannot but wonder why it has not been thought of before.
When the many acres of " newly "-claimed land, which his brilliant imagination foresees, can be used for building purposes the problem which has been before us for years, and which is steadily growing worse as our population increases and homes deteriorate, will, he maintains, be solved within a comparatively short time.
This would, indeed, be a splendid achievement and I • cannot believe that so eminent and experienced an architect would advance such a suggestion had he not carefully enquired into the entire question from every aspect and found it feasible.
There are, however, two points of the utmost importance about which more should be known :-
1. The Financial side—and whether the cost of the undertaking might not be so great as to render it prohibitive. 2. The Engineering side—and whether the difficulties of covering a large expanse spreading over many acres of land is not very different from, and much more complicated than, the problem pre- sented in New York, where the railway lines over which it was possible to build with satisfactory results, run through a compara- tively narrow strip of land or cutting, and where the existing side foundations form a solid bulwark, the spanning of which was com- paratively easy, and on which a " raft ' strong enough to support high buildings was simple to erect.
However, such questions are for the experts to answer, and not for the ordinary reader, who merely has at heart the welfare of our less fortunate citizens. To such readers, Mr. Bossom's articles will surely have a strong appeal, and as one of them I earnestly hope that his splendid suggestion may shortly be realized and that before many years, the terrible housing conditions existing in our midst may be altogether a thing of the past, so that the oncoming generation may be given the chance of growing up in more healthful and less sordid conditions than those prevailing in our day.—
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