.Lord Lansdowne, in an interesting speech, admitted the existence of
a genuine grievance, while strongly demurring to Lord Lucas's view that Mr. Lloyd George's speeches had been specially designed to elicit such proposals for its removal as Lord Salisbury had just put forward. He believed that if they could solve the housing problem they would go near to solving the wages question. But he strongly deprecated hurried and wholesale State intervention. He associated himself with Lord Salisbury's plan of legislation, under which there might be local efforts to bring employer and employed together for the purpose of setting up, but without compulsion, what might be regarded as a reasonable rate of wages. Lord Crewe concluded the debate with a speech of tepid condemnation, in which he expressed the belief that some form of compulsion would be necessary. We agree with Lord Lansdowne that the housing question is the crux of the problem ; but much as we distrust official attempts to regulate wages, we should be willing to support Lord Salisbury's pro- posal, provided that it can be prevented from becoming the first step towards a compulsory minimum wage. Compulsion would mean ruin to the labourers.
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