LIVING ROOM
SIR,—Your correspondent may be . paying our work in St. Pancras an exaggerated compliment in saying that it is " the only housing estate where family life is considered of any importance." Indeed I hope she it. It is not, however, without significance that the flats to which she refers, where there are children's playgrounds and " an adequate supply of places in which prams can be kept," are all dedicated to Christian saints, e.g., St. Nicholas, patron of children, and St. Michael, guardian of homes. This has never been merely a " picturesque " feature of the work of the St. Pancras House Improvement Society, but a practical sign of the conviction which has inspired its labours—namely, that true happiness "is the meeting together of all good things," which is another way of saying that it is only to be found in the Communion of Saints. For the Saints, under whose patronage we have always placed our tenants, represent the richest possible variety of " good things " and one which we cannot afford to ignore at a time when human individuality is every- where in danger of being sacrificed to the demands of mass production.
" Children's street games," says the New Survey of London Life and Labour, "are a pleasant sight to see, but the street at the best is but a poor playground, presenting all sorts of perils." Thanks to Mrs. Humphry Ward there are the Children's Play Centres, but " a young child will not normally walk more than a quarter of a mile to find somewhere to play " (When We Build Again, p. 8z), and mothers may not unnaturally welcome the fact. If we believe that " the family is the unit " surely playgrounds in close proximity to " home " should be regarded as a normal part of all future planning—Yours faithfully,
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