64 HOUSING 



Public Money for Building. 



The second remedy, which is the advance 

 of pubHc money for building, has already 

 been made the subject of several Bills in Par- 

 liament ; but has unfortunately become a 

 matter of party politics because of differences 

 of opinion on the question whether such 

 assistance should be given only to public 

 bodies or also to individuals and private 

 associations. Common-sense suggests that the 

 test is the attainment of the object, and that 

 if assistance is given at all it should be given 

 to those agents who will make the best use of 

 it, whether they are private or public. The 

 choice will no doubt vary with local circum- 

 stances. In Ireland over 39,000 cottages had 

 been built in all parts of the country down to 

 March, 1912, and between 7,000 and 8,000 

 more had been sanctioned under the Labour- 

 ers Acts. The system there is that of advances 

 made to rural district councils by the Public 

 Works Commissioners and repayable in 68 1 

 years. Uneconomic rents are charged, 

 ranging from as low as 6d. in poor districts to 

 2s. gd. in the neighbourhood of Dublin. Rents 

 vary much in different parts ; they are high- 

 est in Ulster, where they are commonly about 

 IS. 6d., and rather less in Connaught, which 

 comes next ; in Leinster they are most com- 

 monly about IS., and in Munster under is. 

 Although the cost of building is much lower 



