The Plight of the Building Trade
The prosperity of the country during recent years has to a large extent depended on the activity of the building trade. A sudden cessation of building has the immediate effect of throwing large numbers of men out of work, and a long cessation leads to a shortage of houses such as caused so much distress after the last war. The Government's ban on new works involving the expenditure of public capital was too far-reaching and too hastily imposed, and we see the result in the heavy unemployment-roll of those whose trade is in building and kindred industries. In the early months of the war, before the strain of it had absorbed the workers, the continuance of building would have averted much unnecessary unemployment. It is true that the Government's war-time building programmes must have priority, but there is at present not only a large surplus of labour but also, according to Mr. Stanley Hall, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an abundance of all building materials except timber, which, he says, is being wastefully used. If more use were made of the advice and organisation of the architectural profession many serious mistakes might be avoided, and orders might be more advantageously distributed. A great industry like building cannot suddenly be turned upside down without causing large-scale hardship and loss.
Previous page
