Nelsonian Santa Claus

In mellow Prime Minister James Ramsay MacDonald's mild but able National Government the Minister of Health is that crustiest of rock-ribbed Conservatives, high-hatted, icy-monocled Sir E. (for Ed- ward) Hilton Young. Even the flint-hard Admiralty has been dented by Sir E. They tried to retire him as unfit for active service after he lost his right arm with conspicuous bravery at Zeebrugge Mole. "On my way here through Trafalgar Square," he observed, fixing the Board of Admiralty with the eye of a basilisk, "I passed the statue of a man who had also lost an arm. Moreover, he had only one eye. And yet he won the battle of Trafalgar."

This piece of crust got Edward Hilton Young command of a British armored train on the Archangel front, a command from which he emerged with the D. S. O. In the arrogant tradition of arrogant Lord Nelson, Sir E. wears his empty sleeve pinned forward on the right side of his chest, the other side being for medals. Two years ago, when Reds and Pinks sent platoons of hunger marchers converging upon London (TIME, Nov. 7, 1932), Sir E. was asked by Labor M. P.'s what he proposed to do as Minister of Health for the health and shelter of the hunger marchers. "These people have been induced by a Communist organization to leave their homes," retorted Sir E. "Very well. It is up to the Communists to take care of them." Last week by a pleasant British paradox it became the job of crusty Sir E. to get through Parliament one of the most drastic measures ever drafted to bring "Socialism in our time."

When it is not a case of Communists but of Englishmen, Scotsmen and Welshmen, die-hard Sir E. is all for getting action in the realm of health & happiness. He released last week the text of two momentous housing bills--one for England and Wales, the other for Scotland-- which the House of Commons must consider when it reconvenes January 28. Attacked first is overcrowding.

No Three-in-Ones. Under Sir E.'s bills, considered sure to pass, the Briton's house ceases to be his castle, and Government tells him for the first time how many people can live in how many rooms. Over-crowding becomes a crime, punishable by $25 fine for the first day, $10 fine for every day after conviction.

Not more than two persons shall live in one room; not more than three in two rooms; not more than five in three rooms. Babies under one year old not to count. Boys and girls may sleep in the same room until the eldest crosses the deadline of adolescence, set by Sir E. at 10 years for both sexes. Finally it shall be illegal for any Briton to sleep in quarters of less than 50 square feet, that being Sir E.'s absolute minimum "room." In case of violations police will pounce first upon tenants, then upon landlords who become ultimately responsible for all fines.

Five Shilling Houses. Since the Housing Act of 1919 England has built more than 2,200,000 houses, of which nearly 50 percent have been subsidized by local or national public funds. Today the velocity of new building is a vital index of the Kingdom's current Recovery Boom and 420,000 homes have been built in the past 19 months, largely with private capital.

Some six million more new houses, thinks London's Economist, must be built in the next 20 years "for decency." Today 35 percent of the population of Scotland are living more than two in a room, thus find themselves prospective violators of the new bills. In London slums, Government inspectors have reported up to ten residents per room. Last week Sir E.'s new measures contained emergency clauses to prevent police from cracking down unjustly or too soon, but breathed the urgency of prompt building action. For the first time Parliament will be asked to vote a nationwide uniform building subsidy. In England and Wales this may mean to the owner of a new house a maximum of $25 per year from the Government for 20 years, plus $12.50 per year for the same period from local public funds. In Great Britain 21 years is the standard period fixed by private building firms for householders to pay up. Experience shows that they pay up in about eleven years, the houses costing from $3,000 to $9,000 each. For Britons too poor to buy even on these terms, Leeds and other municipalities have given the Government a lead followed in Sir E.'s bills last week. The smallest type of house is built by the municipality, rented for a sum based on the occupant's earnings. In Leeds minimum earners are now renting a new house of two bedrooms, bath, small kitchen and tiny sitting room for five shillings per week ($1.25).

"Answer to Moscow." Correspondents agreed that His Majesty's Government are attempting a factual, activist answer to the claims of Communist agitators that "Conditions are better in Russia." Soviet housing is a star feature of the Five-Year Plans.

In answering Moscow, His Majesty's Government may yet have to drop Sir E. who is simply too crusty for most British proletarians, even in the role of Santa Claus. At rumors that a housing specialist with sub-Cabinet rank will be appointed to head that section of the Ministry of Health, Manchester's Liberal Guardian grew enthusiastic: "This step saves the Government from the unpleasant necessity of demanding Sir Edward Hilton Young's resignation." Says Santa Sir E. with the incorrigible stiffness of a Nelsonian Old Etonian: "The nation's help will be given in no ungenerous spirit to effect a permanent raising of our standard of civilization."

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