THE 'TtAEDEX CITIES'' OF EXGLAXD 



285 



cause the cost is prohibitive. The value 

 attaching to the land upon which a grow- 

 ing city stands is enormous. Consequently 

 any substantial clearances means a very 

 heavy increase in the tax rates^ and a very 

 heavy increase in these rates is apt to 

 drive the richer inhabitants out of their 

 reach, so that there is a danger, by over- 

 taxation, of killing the goose that lays 

 the golden eggs. Moreover, where the 

 clearances are made, they only have the 

 effect of driving the workmen further and 

 further from their work, so that more and 

 more of their leisitre is spent in getting 

 to and fro. in underground railways or 



other unhealthy conveyances, while the 

 cost of traveling goes far to neutralize 

 the benefit anticipated from the lower 

 Tents obtaining in the localities to which 

 they move. 



If it costs so much to bring open spaces 

 :and fresh air to the towns, why not induce 

 the population of towns, or the presump- 

 tive population of towns, to settle where 

 ■open spaces and fresh air abound, and 

 where both may be procured at the least 

 possible expense? The economic advan- 

 tage of conducting manufactures in large 

 towns is already doubtful, and the ten- 

 dency in many trades is towards removal 

 to the smaller country towns, where labor 

 can be obtained and at the same time 

 ample space for the works be enjoyed at 



a moderate cost. Obviously, the same or 

 a better result may be obtained if the man- 

 ufacturer goes into the country, carrying 

 his workmen with him. In this direc tion 

 the example has been set by Messrs. Cad- 

 bury, the well-known chocolate manufac- 

 turers of Birmingham. This firm, finding 

 they had to. enlarge their premises, pur- 

 chased an estate at Bournville, a few miles 

 from Birmingham, and have there estab- 

 lished their works and surrounded them 

 with the houses of their workpeople in a 

 veritable "garden city,'' a city where each 

 householder has a large garden, which he 

 may cultivate in his leisure time, while 

 ample provision is made for the healthy 

 recreation of the employees in the shape of 

 cricket grounds, gymnasiums, parks, and 

 pleasure grounds. 



The idea of a Garden City had been 

 promulgated by Mr. Ebenezer Howard in 

 a book called "Tomorrow," published in 

 1898. The underlying idea of the book is 

 that, instead of wasting money over a use- 

 less effort to alter the conditions of life 

 in existing towns, it would be far better, 

 by concerted effort, to start new towns on 

 a sounder basis, and under conditions 

 vastly more favorable to health and hap- 

 piness than town populations have ever 

 enjoyed before. Mr. Howard saw that 

 the evils observed in towns really result 

 from the private ownership of the land 

 upon which they are built, the owner, 

 naturally enough, being only concerned in 

 getting the highest price he can for his 

 land, ^ by inviting the greatest possible 

 number of people, according to their de- 

 gree, to settle upon it. The laying out 

 of his land in public parks and open 

 spaces obviously would not suit his pocket. 

 Why not cooperate? says Mr. Howard. 

 Build a town on your own land, the in- 

 creased value of which shall forever be 

 applied for the benefit of the inhabitants, 

 and where the land covered by buildings 

 shall always bear such a just proportion 

 to that left open, that the dwellers in the 

 town shall, in addition to the social ad- 

 vantages arising from membership of a 



