some criticism upon the President, many believing that the powers of the recognized head of the State Department were being infringed upon. In 1917 he was elected a director of the Fort Worth (Tex.) Record. After America's entrance into the World War in 1917 Col. House was appointed to gather in- formation which the U.S. peace representatives would need when the terms of peace should ultimately be discussed. He represented the United States at the Inter-Allied Conference in Paris, Nov. 1917. In Dec. of the same year he represented the United States in the Supreme War Council at Versailles. In 1918 he was delegated by the President to act for the United States in negotiating the Armistice and was a member of the American Peace Commission. He took a prominent part in drafting the Peace Treaty in 1919. In 1920 he joined the staff of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and visited Europe as a correspondent of that paper.
HOUSING (see 13.814). Subsequently to 1910 the housing problem greatly increased in difficulty. At that time it was largely a problem of the poorer classes, of slums, of congestion in cities and large industrial centres, and the like. In 1921 it reached even to the middle classes. There was a world shortage of houses. In addition the slum difficulties remained, and a great many houses had fallen into serious disrepair since 1914 owing to the World War.
There were no reliable statistics up to June 1921 on the short- age, though better information was likely to become available as the result of the taking of the 1921 census in England and elsewhere. However, there was no doubt on the general question. Almost every responsible Government of the world was con- fronted with a grave housing problem. There was abundant evidence of the crying need for houses which prevailed not in Europe alone, but in the remoter continents. A shortage of houses existed simultaneously in towns as far from each other as Paris, Cape Town, Bagdad, Melbourne and Bombay.
Such expedients as the compulsory registration of empty rooms, the erection of wooden hutments, and the conversion of large dwellings into small ones had been introduced, whilst in Germany the unpopular measures of rationing house room, and of billeting the civilian population in private houses, had been urged upon local authorities by the Government.
In several countries laws had been passed for the purpose of making grants of money from public funds towards building costs; of extending the power of local authorities in the matter of housing; of securing the observance of proper standards in the building of small dwellings; and of remedying the evil housing conditions prevailing in so many large and prosperous towns. Legislation had also been passed for the restraint of rent prof- iteering, to which the shortage of houses had given encourage- ment, whilst in France, the United States, Germany and Nor- way, special rent committees had been formed whose duty it was to reconcile, as far as possible, the claims of landlords and
In carrying out legislative measures and housing schemes misunderstandings had tended to arise between the authorities and the public, because progress was slow at a time when speed appeared to be the main essential to those actually in need of houses. In most countries, however, after the war an endeavour was being made to increase the number of houses and to secure a higher standard of housing for the future than has prevailed in the past.
Undoubtedly the World War was the chief cause of the uni- versal house shortage in the countries affected by it. During the war house-building almost ceased; even the loss caused by a number of houses passing out of use each year was not met, and, in addition, populations increased despite the war. In northern France, in Belgium, and in the war-devastated portions of the world generally there was also a special loss of houses. But the war was not the only cause. Even before the war there was a growing shortage of smaH houses, and probably special measures would have been necessary to cope with it. The cause of this pre-war shortage has been variously estimated, but finance had much to do with it. There was a difficulty in building
small houses where they were needed, at a suitable rent suit- able, that is, to the pockets of the tenants. That was one of several difficulties which still confronted private enterprise in 1921, but whereas it caused a slowing down in pre-war years it afterwards produced very nearly a cessation.
Some of the results of the shortage are familiar, including overcrowding, and all that it means. Again, the shortage formed one cause of social unrest. Further, slums cannot be cleared until their occupants can be re-housed. The problem of over- crowding is, however, not identical with that of the shortage of houses. Some families live in one or two rooms because of poverty and the like. There are no recent national statistics about overcrowding, the latest available in 1921 for the United Kingdom being those derived from the 1911 census returns, showing that 9 % of the population of England and Wales were living more than two persons per room. The percentage was over 30 in Sunderland, Newcastle, and neighbouring towns, and in London was 17-7 per cent. It may here be added that there has been a growing recognition on the part of large employers of labour that they have an interest, if not indeed a responsibility, in the housing of their workers; and in several instances employ- ers have helped to supply the need. In areas where new works are erected there is an influx of workers often resulting in over- crowding. Much information on this subject is given in " Hous- ing by Employers in the United States," Bulletin of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, No. 263.
The housing problem has become especially difficult in several areas by the lack of suitable building sites, involving the problem of cheap and quick transport. Most people like to live within easy reach of their work, and if more houses cannot be built near (for instance) collieries in Wales and offices and works in London, there must either be overcrowding, or a good tram, bus, or train service to the areas where houses can be built. In the case of some works 'and offices there is an alternative, namely to move them from the crowded city centres to satellite towns, and this alternative has had attention. To overcome the difficulties of housing in the populous and prosperous South Wales coal-fields, it has been suggested by a committee of investigation that dormi- tory towns be built by the Government in a cleaner atmosphere with surroundings giving a less confined outlook, though still within easy reach of the collieries by train.
But the solution offered by dormitory towns, though probably the only one possible in South Wales, is not complete. The garden city, or satellite town, is better. The promoters of garden cities insist that works and offices should be moved to such cities, and thus that the people can have suitable work without travel. Much useful information on this subject is published in England by the Garden Cities and Town-Planning Association, 3, Gray's Inn Place, W.C. i; and the International Garden Cities and Town-Planning Association with which it is allied held an important conference in London in 1920, attended by a large number of foreign delegates, and presided over by the veteran president and pioneer of the movement, Mr. Ebenezer Howard.
UNITED KINGDOM. A good indication of the housing prob- lem is to be found in the legislation in force in the United Kingdom. The first of the Acts is the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890. It repealed a large number of previous Acts, going back to 1851, but had their main objective, namely, the removal of unhealthy housing conditions. It had little concern with the provision of new houses, and the powers in that regard which it conferred on local authorities were adoptive only. This may be taken as evidence that the shortage of houses was not then a problem requiring serious action by the State. Even in the Act of 1909 (the Housing, Town-Planning, etc., Act, 1909) the powers with regard to the provision of houses by local au- thorities were left optional. It was not until the Housing, Town- Planning, etc., Act, 1919, was passed that they became duties.
The 1890 Act contained somewhat elaborate provisions enabling local authorities to remove unhealthy housing con- ditions. There were powers to enable the authorities to compel landlords to repair houses; houses could be closed until made fit, or demolished; small groups of unfit houses and large areas
