The Ribbon Development Bill We wish the Restriction of Ribbon
Development Bill to go rapidly through Parliament, and we do not• suppose that the Labour Party would have opposed it in the House of Commons on second reading if they had not known that their votes would make no difference. A small party may sometimes fairly adopt courses which in a large one would be indefensible. Though the Bill has 'certain merits, and though delay in its passage might encourage disastrous speculation in ribbon-building sites, it is nevertheless a measure whose defects become the more obvious the more it is looked at. And they cannot be shown up too clearly or too early, if further measures to overcome them are to be ready in time. Sir John Withers was a true critic when he said that " he did not think anything would be done by poor local authorities, unless there were powers of compulsion ; and there should be some adequate provision of money by the Government to enable the powers to be exercised." Behind the discussion stands the certainty that people will build along existing highways, instead of planning suitable residential roads elsewhere, so long as there are heavy road-charges in the latter case and none in the former.
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