THE JIOBE BEAUTIFUL LONDON 



13 



I believe to be the greatest housing scheme 

 evtT attempted in any city. It has pur- 

 chased 225 acres of land just north of 

 London, and is creating a settlement which 

 will provide beautiful cottages for about 

 43,000 persons. It will be a city without 

 a slum or a private landlord. There will 

 be a site in the center of the settlement 

 for shops and public buildings. A fine 

 public library has been already promised. 

 The council is to extend their street rail- 

 way lines out from London, and on the 

 neighboring steam railw^ay workingmen's 

 trains will be run at a return fare of only 

 two pence, or four cents in American 

 money. 



^Tt would take hours to tell you half 

 the enterprises in which our governing 

 body has engaged. It has forced the w^ater 

 companies to improve their service from 

 time to time, and eventually it hopes to 

 buy them out entirely. It saw that there 

 was a telephone monopoly detrimental to 

 the public good, and broke it by organizing 

 a system under the management of the 

 postoffice. Lately it has become the man- 

 ager of the street railways to a large ex- 

 tent. A ten-hour day for the workmen 

 was instituted at once, and also one day 

 of rest in seven. Besides raising wages, it 

 gives the men free uniforms and the pub- 

 lic lower fares. At present about forty- 

 four per cent pay only a one-cent fare, 

 forty-three per cent pay two cents, eight 

 per cent pay three cents, four per cent pay 

 four cents, and only one per cent pay six 

 cents. The reduction of fares represents 

 a gain to the public of $97,500, -and in 

 spite of this the profits of the council dur- 

 ing the first year were more than the 

 former owners had ever earned. Electric 

 traction is now being rapidly introduced. 



^^But municipal ownership of street rail- 

 ways is only one phase of the council's 

 activity. It is now developing a scheme 

 for public ownership of the London docks, 

 and is considering the establishment of a 

 municipal steamboat service on the 

 Thames to replace the private company 

 which has again collapsed." 



The lord mayor replied enthusiastically 

 to my question as to street widening in 

 the metropolis. The traffic increases so 

 rapidly in London, he said, that new 

 means of outlet are constantly necessary. 

 Many schemes have been adopted the last 

 few 3^ears, and they may be classified as 

 follows : 



1. The construction of entirely new 

 streets^ such as Northumberland avenue, 

 Eosebery avenue, and others. 



2. The widening of whole lengths of 

 existing streets, as in Clerkenwell road 

 and Theobald's road. 



YE OLDE FARME INN 

 One of London's New Betterment Features. 



3. The widening of streets as opportu- 

 nity has occurred when houses were re- 

 built, by setting back the frontages of new 

 buildings. Ludgate Hill has been widened 

 graduall}^ in this way. 



4. Minor local improvements, effected 

 by the vestries with the aid of the central 

 authority, in widening parts of streets or 

 removing obstructive buildings. 



5. Great special improvements, such as 

 the Thames Embankments, and the im- 

 provement at Hyde Park Corner. 



"It may be considered practically im- 

 possible," said the lord mayor, "to widen 

 such streets as the Strand, Piccadill}^, or 

 Cheapside, for it would involve the pur- 

 chase of houses, with their trade interests, 

 and the great expense is prohibitory. The 

 best plan of dealing with such streets, we 

 have found, is under the third head, by 

 widening them when houses are to be re- 

 built. Ludgate Hill buildings have been 



