Page 380 - clra62_0019-(GIPE)

ECONOMIC INQUIRIES AND STUDIES
, (
and probably in various directions, by individuals and
classes, perhaps so much is spent that there is consider-
able economic waste; but for the mass of the people,
as we all know, the housing arrangements are not suf-
ficient for civilized life, or even for good health. Great
as the increase in this item has been since the report
of twenty years ago--the expenditure being about
double what it was, with an increase of less than one-
fourth in the population-we' must look for further out-
lay in this direction as the wealth of the people increases.
I fear it must be added that the increase of accommoda-
tion has probably not been quite proportionate to the
increase of expense. While our food bill has been
lightened by the fall in prices, the expense of housing
has been greatly increased, among other causes by the
rise of rent in the neighbourhood of large towns through
the steady growth of population, and the monopoly
value thus given to areas suitable for building. The
expense of building has also been increased, it is said,
by the advance of wages in the building trades i but
whether this advance is not largely balanced by a fall
in materials, or the substitution of different materials,
is not qui~e so clear. At any rate, there seems to be no
doubt about the rise in rent, and the permanent causes
of that rise, which certainly add to the complexity of
the problem of the housing of the people.
A third point which arises is in connection with the
item of national services. The total, 183 millions,
exclusive of education, is certainly a large one, though
smaller than either the food and drink or the housing
bill. Is economy here possible or desirable, or the
reverse, and on what details can there be economy?
As far as civil and local government is concerned,
the sum spent on civil government in the United King-
dom, always exclusive .of education, appears to be 113
millions, including about 14 millions the expenditure
of the post office and telegraph department. Some de-
duction ought to be made from the latter department
for expenditure that is really part of the general cost of