CHAPTER XIII.

THE FUTURE OF LONDON.

It will now be interesting to consider some of the more striking effects which will be produced on our now over-crowded cities by the opening-up in new districts of such a vast field of employment as the reader’s mind will, it is hoped, be now able to realise with some degree of clearness. New towns and groups of towns are springing up in parts of our islands hitherto well-nigh deserted; new means of communication, the most scientific the world has yet seen, are being constructed; new means of distribution are bringing the producer and the consumer into closer relations, and thus (by reducing railway rates and charges, and the number of profits) are at once raising prices to the producer and diminishing them to the consumer; parks and gardens, orchards and woods, are being planted in the midst of the busy life of the people, so that they may be enjoyed in the fullest measure; homes are being erected for those who have long lived in slums; work is found for the workless, land for the landless, and opportunities for the expenditure of long pent-up energy are presenting themselves at every turn. A new sense of freedom and joy is pervading the hearts of the people as their individual faculties are awakened, and they discover, in a social life which permits alike of the completest concerted action and of the fullest individual liberty, the long-sought-for means of reconciliation between order and freedom--between the well-being of the individual and of society.

The effects produced on our over-crowded cities, whose forms are at once, by the light of a new contrast, seen to be old-fashioned and effete, will be so far-reaching in their character that, in order to study them effectively, it will be well to confine our attention to London, which, as the largest and most unwieldy of our cities, is likely to exhibit those effects in the most marked degree.

There is, as I said at the outset, a well-nigh universal current of opinion that a remedy for the depopulation of our country districts and for the overcrowding of our large cities is urgently needed. But though every one recommends that a remedy should be diligently sought for, few appear to believe that such a remedy will ever be found, and the calculations of our statesmen and reformers proceed upon the assumption that not only will the tide of population never actually turn from the large cities countryward, but that it will continue to flow in its present direction at a scarcely diminished rate for a long time to come.[30] Now it can hardly be supposed that any search made in the full belief that the remedy sought for will not be discovered is likely to be carried on with great zeal or thoroughness; and, therefore, it is perhaps not surprising to find that though the late chairman of the London County Council (Lord Rosebery) declared that the growth of this huge city was fitly comparable to the growth of a tumour (_see_ p. 11)--few venturing to deny the correctness of the analogy--yet the various members of that body, instead of bending their energies to reforming London by means of a reduction of its population, are boldly advocating a policy which involves the purchase of vast undertakings on behalf of the municipality, at prices which must prove far higher than they will be worth if only the long-sought-for remedy is found.

Let us now assume (simply as an hypothesis, if the reader is still sceptical) that the remedy advocated in this work is effective; that new garden-cities are springing up all over the country on sites owned by the municipalities--the rate-rents of such corporate property forming a fund ample for the carrying on of municipal undertakings representing the highest skill of the modern engineer and the best aspirations of the enlightened reformer; and that in these cities, healthier, wholesomer, cleaner and more just and sound economic conditions prevail. What, then, must in the nature of things be the more noticeable effects upon London and the population of London; upon its land values; upon its municipal debt, and its municipal assets; upon London as a labour market; upon the homes of its people; upon its open spaces, and upon the great undertakings which our socialistic and municipal reformers are at the present moment so anxious to secure?

First, notice that ground values will fall enormously! Of course, so long as the 121 square miles out of the 58,000 square miles of England exercise a magnetic attraction so great as to draw to it one-fifth of the whole population, who compete fiercely with each other for the right to occupy the land within that small area, so long will that land have a monopoly price. But de-magnetise that people, convince large numbers of them that they can better their condition in every way by migrating elsewhere, and what becomes of that monopoly value? Its spell is broken, and the great bubble bursts.

But the life and earnings of Londoners are not only in pawn to the owners of its soil, who kindly permit them to live upon it at enormous rents--£16,000,000 per annum, representing the present ground value of London, which is yearly increasing; but they are also in pawn to the extent of about £40,000,000, representing London’s municipal debts.

But notice this. A municipal debtor is quite different from an ordinary debtor in one most important respect. _He can escape payment by migration._ He has but to move away from a given municipal area, and he at once, _ipso facto_, shakes off not only all his obligations to his landlord, but also all his obligations to his municipal creditors. It is true, when he migrates he must assume the burden of a new municipal rent, and of a new municipal debt; but these in our new cities will represent an extremely small and diminishing fraction of the burden now borne, and the temptation to migrate will, for this and many other reasons, be extremely strong.

But now let us notice how each person in migrating from London, while making the burden of _ground-rents_ less heavy for those who remain, will (unless there be some change in the law), make the burden of _rates_ on the ratepayers of London yet heavier. For, though each person in migrating will enable those who remain to make better and yet better terms with their landlords; on the other hand, the municipal debt remaining the same, the interest on it will have to be borne by fewer and yet fewer people, and thus the relief to the working population which comes from _reduced rent_ will be largely discounted by _increased rates_, and in this way the temptation to migrate will continue, and yet further population will remove, making the debt ever a larger and larger burden, till at length, though accompanied by a still further reduction of rent, it may become intolerable. Of course this huge debt need never have been incurred. Had London been built on municipally-owned land, its rents would not only have easily provided for all current expenditure, without any need for a levy of rates or for incurring loans for long periods, but it would have been enabled to own its own water-supply and many other useful and profit-bearing undertakings, instead of being in its present position with vast debts and small assets. But a vicious and immoral system is bound ultimately to snap, and when the breaking-point is reached, the owners of London’s bonds will, like the owners of London’s land, have to make terms with a people who can apply the simple remedy of migrating and building a better and brighter civilisation elsewhere, if they are not allowed to rebuild on a just and reasonable basis on the site of their ancient city.

We may next notice, very briefly, the bearing of this migration of population upon two great problems--the problem of the housing of the people of London, and the problem of finding employment for those who remain. The rents now paid by the working population of London, for accommodation most miserable and insufficient, represents each year a larger and larger proportion of income, while the cost of moving to and from work, continually increasing, often represents in time and money a very considerable tax. But imagine the population of London falling, and falling rapidly; the migrating people establishing themselves where rents are extremely low, and where their work is within easy-walking distance of their homes! Obviously, house-property in London will fall in rental value, and fall enormously. Slum property will sink to zero, and the whole working population will move into houses of a class quite above those which they can now afford to occupy. Families which are now compelled to huddle together in one room will be able to rent five or six, and thus will the housing problem temporarily solve itself by the simple process of a diminution in the numbers of the tenants.

But what will become of this slum property? Its power to extort a large proportion of the hard earnings of the London poor gone for ever, will it yet remain an eye-sore and a blot, though no longer a danger to health and an outrage on decency? No. These wretched slums will be pulled down, and their sites occupied by parks, recreation grounds, and allotment gardens. And this change, as well as many others, will be effected, not at the expense of the ratepayers, but almost entirely at the expense of the landlord class: in this sense, at least, that such ground rents as are still paid by the people of London in respect of those classes of property which retain some rental value will have to bear the burden of improving the city. Nor will, I think, the compulsion of any Act of Parliament be necessary to effect this result: it will probably be achieved by the voluntary action of the landowners, compelled, by a Nemesis from whom there is no escape, to make some restitution for the great injustice which they have so long committed.

For observe what must inevitably happen. A vast field of employment being opened outside London, unless a corresponding field of employment is opened within it, London must die,--when the landowners will be in a sorry plight. Elsewhere new cities are being built: London then must be transformed. Elsewhere the town is invading the country: here the country must invade the town. Elsewhere cities are being built on the terms of paying low prices for land, and of then vesting such land in the new municipalities: in London corresponding arrangements must be made or no one will consent to build. Elsewhere, owing to the fact that there are but few interests to buy out, improvements of all kinds can go forward rapidly and scientifically: in London similar improvements can only be carried out if vested interests recognise the inevitable and accept terms which may seem ridiculous, but are no more so than those which a manufacturer often finds himself compelled to submit to, who sells for a ridiculously low price the machine which has cost a very large sum, for the simple reason that there is a far better one in the market, and that it no longer _pays_, in the face of keen competition, to work the inferior machine. The displacement of capital will, no doubt, be enormous, but the implacement of labour will be yet greater. A few may be made comparatively poor, but the many will be made comparatively rich--a very healthy change, the slight evils attending which society will be well able to mitigate.

There are already visible symptoms of the coming change--rumblings which precede the earthquake. London at this very moment may be said to be on strike against its landowners. Long-desired London improvements are awaiting such a change in the law as will throw some of the cost of making them upon the landowners of London. Railways are projected, but in some cases are not built--for instance, The Epping Forest Railway--because the London County Council, most properly anxious to keep down the fares by workmen’s trains, press for and secure, at the hands of a Parliamentary Committee, the imposition of terms upon the promoters which seem to them extremely onerous and unremunerative, but which would pay the company extremely well were it not for the prohibitive price asked for land and other property along the line of its projected route. These checks upon enterprise must affect the growth of London even now, and make it less rapid than it otherwise would be; but when the untold treasures of our land are unlocked, and when the people now living in London discover how easily vested interests, without being attacked, may be circumvented, then the landowners of London and those who represent other vested interests had better quickly make terms, or London, besides being what Mr. Grant Allen termed “a squalid village,” will also become a deserted one.

But better counsels, let us hope, will prevail, and a new city rise on the ashes of the old. The task will indeed be difficult. Easy, comparatively, is it to lay out on virgin soil the plan of a magnificent city, such as represented on our Diagram 5. Of far greater difficulty is the problem--even if all vested interests freely effaced themselves--of rebuilding a new city on an old site, and that site occupied by a huge population. But this, at least, is certain, that the present area of the London County Council ought not (if health and beauty, and that which is too frequently put in the front rank--rapid production of wealth forms--are to be considered) to contain more than, say, one-fifth of its present population; and that new systems of railways, sewerage, drainage, lighting, parks, etc., must be constructed if London is to be saved, while the whole system of production and of distribution must undergo changes as complete and as remarkable as was the change from a system of barter to our present complicated commercial system.

Proposals for the reconstruction of London have already been projected. In 1883 the late Mr. William Westgarth offered the Society of Arts the sum of £1,200 to be awarded in prizes for essays on the best means of providing dwellings for the London poor, and on the reconstruction of Central London--an offer which brought forward several schemes of some boldness.[31] More recently a book by Mr. Arthur Cawston, entitled “A Comprehensive Scheme for Street Improvements in London,” was published by Stanford, which contains in its introduction the following striking passage:--“The literature relating to London, extensive as it is, contains no work which aims at the solution of one problem of vast interest to Londoners. They are beginning to realise, partly by their more and more extensive travels, and partly through their American and foreign critics, that the gigantic growth of their capital, without the controlling guidance of a municipality, has resulted in not only the biggest, but in probably the most irregular, inconvenient, and unmethodical collection of houses in the world. A comprehensive plan for the transformation of Paris has been gradually developed since 1848; slums have disappeared from Berlin since 1870; eighty-eight acres in the centre of Glasgow have been remodelled; Birmingham has transformed ninety-three acres of squalid slums into magnificent streets flanked by architectural buildings; Vienna, having completed her stately outer ring, is about to remodel her inner city: and the aim of the writer is to show, by example and illustration, in what way the means successfully employed for improving these cities can be best adapted to the needs of London.”

The time for the complete reconstruction of London--which will eventually take place on a far more comprehensive scale than that now exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Glasgow, Birmingham, or Vienna--has, however, not yet come. A simpler problem must first be solved. One small Garden City must be built as a working model, and then a group of cities such as that dealt with in the last chapter. These tasks done, and done well, the reconstruction of London must inevitably follow, and the power of vested interests to block the way will have been almost, if not entirely, removed.

Let us, therefore, first bend all our energies to the smaller of these tasks, thinking only of the larger tasks which lie beyond as incentives to a determined line of immediate action, and as a means of realising the great value of little things if done in the right manner and in the right spirit.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] It is scarcely necessary to give instances of what is meant; but one that occurs to my mind is that this assumption of the continued growth of London forms one of the fundamental premises of the Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Water Supply, 1893. On the contrary, it is satisfactory to note that Mr. H. G. Wells has recently entirely changed his views as to the future growth of London (_see_ “Anticipations,” chap. ii. ). Read also “The Distribution of Industry,” by P. W. Wilson, in “the Heart of the Empire” (Fisher Unwin), and Paper by Mr. W. L. Madgen, M.I.E.E., on “Industrial Redistribution,” _Society of Arts Journal_, February, 1902. _See_ also note on page 31.

[31] _See_ “Reconstruction of Central London” (George Bell and Sons).

INDEX

A

Act of Parliament for enforcement of rates unnecessary, 66 (_See_ Parliament.)

Adelaide, 129

Administration, Chapters vi., vii., viii.; effects of dissatisfaction with, not greater than in any other municipality, 99

Agricultural Land, its low value compared with city land, 28; its probable future rise in value, 136

Allen’s, Mr. Grant, Description of London, 148

Allotments, their favourable situations, 33

Appropriation of wealth-forms advocated by Socialists, 117; a new creation of urged as a counter programme, 122

B

Bakeries, 82

Balfour, Right Hon. A. J., real question for working classes is one of production, not of division, 116

Baker, Sir Benj., Sewerage of London, 32; London Railways, 131

Banks, Penny, precursors of Post Office Banks, 88; Pro-Municipal, 88

Barwise, Dr., Water famine in Derbyshire, 17

Binnie, Sir Alexander, Sewerage of London, 32

Birmingham, profits on gas, 67

Blake’s resolve, 20

Boffin, Mr. and Mrs., 70

Bruce, Lord, Liquor Traffic, 10

Buckingham, J. S., his scheme combined with others, 110

Building lots, number and size, 39; estimated rents, 41

-- Societies, a field for, 89

Burns, Mr. J., M.P., L.C.C., 89

C

Cadbury, George, and temperance, 85

Capital, How raised, 20, 43; security for, 63, 64 (_See_ “Wealth Forms and Vested Interests.”)

Cawston, Arthur, Scheme for London improvement, 149

Central Council, Its Rights, powers, and duties, 71; delegation of its powers, 72; how constituted, 74

Chamberlain, Right Hon. Joseph, Limits of Municipal activity, 68

Charitable Institutions, 27, 65

Chester, Bishop of, Temperance, 85

Children and water famine, 17; nearness to schools, 48

China, Alleged effects of opium, 10

Churches, 24, 39

Circle Railway, 25; cost of, 58, 60; Railway and Canal Traffic Act (1894), 60

Cities, Alarming growth of, 11; true mode of growth, 51, 128

Clifford, on growth of railways, 127

Cobbett, on London, 11

Common ownership of land, how brought about, 21, 124

Communism, Difficulties of, 95-6

Compensation for improvements, 34

Competition, Rents fixed by, 21; as test of systems, 26, 74; effect on prices, 80

Consumers’ League, 83

Co-operative farms, 25

-- kitchens, 24

-- organisation and disorganisation, 90

-- stores, 82

-- principle, ample scope for growth of, 27, 70, 84

Country, depopulation of, 11

Country life and town life contrasted and combined, 15, 19

County Councils, Larger powers for, 134

Cow pastures, 25

Cricket fields, 63

Crystal Palace, 23, 77

D

_Daily Chronicle._ Cost of re-housing, 53

_Daily News._ Life in our villages, 12

Debentures A, Rate of interest and how secured, 20, 21

-- B, Rate of interest and how secured, 43, 63

Departments, The, 73

Distribution, A more just, of wealth, combined with greater production, 117

E

Electricity, profit on, in Manchester, 67

Electric light, 25, 31

Estimates, 58

F

Factories, 25; diagram, 3; estimated rents, 41

Failures foundation of success, 94; causes of former considered, chap. ix.

Fairman, Frank, Poor cannot be raised without depressing rich, 116

Farquharson, Dr., on rings of middlemen, 32

Farrar, Dean, Growth of cities, 11

Fields, farms, and workshops, Krapotkin, 31

Floods and water famine, 17

Force without, compared with impulse within, 138

Freedom. (_See_ Liberty.)

G

George, Henry, All blame on landlords, 124

Gorst, Sir John, on growth of cities, 11, 19

Grand Arcade. (_See_ Crystal Palace and Local Option.)

-- Avenue, 24, 39, 40

Green, J. R., on sudden changes, 9

Ground rents 1s. 1d. per head, 39; how applied, 40

H

Hawthorne. Human nature, like a potato, requires transplanting, 126

Hobson. Physiology of industry, 91

Hyndman, Mr., Views of, 119

I

Increment of land value secured by migrants, 29

Individual taste encouraged, 24

Individualism, an excellent principle, but should be associated with co-operation, 96; thus carrying out principle advocated by Lord Rosebery, 117; society may become more Individualistic and more Socialistic, 116

Industry, Redistribution of, 142

Inspection, 24

Insurance against accident or sickness, 28

Interest. (_See_ Debentures.)

Isolated efforts, necessity for, 95

Issues, distinct, raised at election times, 75

J

Jerusalem, Blake’s Resolution, 20

K

Kidd, Mr. Benj., on antagonism between interests of society and of individual, 117

Krapotkin, Prince, Fields, farms, and workshops, 31

L

Labour leaders, a programme for, 90

-- saving machinery, object lesson in, 55

Land compared with other wealth forms, 118, 122

Landlord, Average man a potential, 124; landlords will become divided into two camps, 135, 136; their Nemesis, 147

Landlord’s rent, meaning of term, 35; insignificant amount in Garden City, 39

Land system may be attacked without attacking individuals, 28, 124, 135

Large farms, 25

Laundries, 82

Lawn tennis courts, 63

Leases contain favourable covenants, 40

Liberty, Principles of, fully observed, 26, 87, 96, 112, 141

Library Public, 22; diagram, 3; cost, 58, 62

Lighting, 25, 26, 66

Local option and shopping, 77; its effects on prices, quality, and wages, 80; it diminishes risks, 80; reduces working expenses, 82; checks sweating, 83; application to liquor traffic, 84

Local Self-government, Problem of, solved, 72

London, Growth of, Lord Rosebery on, 11; high rents, 28, 144; their impending fall, 144; sewerage system “unalterably settled,” 33; area too small for its population, 38; growth chaotic, 52; Garden City contrasted with, 51; cost of its school sites and buildings compared with Garden City, 48; cost of dwellings contrasted, 53, 54; excessive number of shops, 81; want of railroad system, 131; contrast with Garden City’s system, 130; its future, chap. xiii.; its continued growth generally anticipated, 142; this leads to mistaken policy of London County Council, 143; its large debt and small assets, 144, 145; simultaneous fall of ground values and rise of rates as the withdrawal of population makes debt per head larger, 145; cost of moving to and from work ever increasing, 146; comparison with Garden City in this respect; slum property falls to zero, 146; transformation of London, 147; London on strike against its landlords, 148; the “squalid village,” unless entirely reconstructed, will become deserted, 148; proposals for reconstruction of, 149

M

Machinery, 55

Madgen, Mr. W. L., on Industrial Redistribution, 142

Magnets, The Three, 16

Management expenses, 62

Manchester, profit on electricity, 67

Mann, Tom, on the depopulation of the country, 13

Manufacturers, choice of workmen, 77

Markets, 76; town forms a natural market for farmers, 22, 26

Marshall, Professor, on London overcrowding, 38; on organised migration, 104

Marshall, A. and M. P., on excessive number of shops in London, 81

Master-Key, 13

“Merrie England,” inconsistency of its proposals, 120

Mexico experiment, 98

Middlemen, their number reduced, 32

Migration, organised, secures, (_a_) combined advantages of town and country, chapters i., ii., iii., etc.; (_b_) full increment of land values for migrants, 29; (_c_) saving of compensation in respect of business disturbance, 47, 53; (_d_) large reduction in railway rates, 32, 51; (_e_) the advantages and economies of a well-planned city, 51; (_f_) a splendid system of water supply within its own territory; (_g_) proximity of workers to work, 54; (_h_) a greater extent of local self-government, 72; (_i_) plenty of space and avoids overcrowding, 88; (_j_) opportunities for economic use of money, 92; (_k_) a way of escape from present municipal obligations, 144; (_l_) a field of work for unemployed, 93; is advocated by Wakefield, 102; by Professor Marshall, 104

Milk, saving effected in the case of, 32

Mill, J. S., his endorsement of Wakefield, 104; on the ephemeral nature of wealth, 118

Misgovernment, check upon, 71

Money not consumed by being spent, 91; importance of dispensing with its unnecessary use, 92; set free from its enchantment, 93

Monopoly, no rigid, 27; evils of may be avoided in the case of shops, and advantages of competition secured, 79

Morley, Right Hon. J., on Temperance, 10; on the gradual adoption of new ideas, 86

Mummery and Hobson, “Physiology of Industry,” 91

Municipal enterprise, growth of, how determined, 27, 70; its limits, 69, 70; at present small range compared with private, 99

N

Nationalisation must be preceded by humbler tasks, 89

Neale, Mr. V., on excessive number of shops in London, 81

Need, An urgent, 114

Nunquam. (_See_ Merrie England.)

O

Old age pensions. (_See_ Pensions.)

Order and freedom, reconciliation of, 141, 142

Over-crowding prevented, 88

Owen, A. K., Experiment of, 98

P

Parks and gardens, 22, 24, 39; cost of, 62

Parliamentary powers unnecessary in the early stages of railway enterprise, but requisite later; so in relation to the reform initiated by proposed experiment, 126, 134

Pensions, 28, 65

Petavel, Capt., 61

Philanthropic institutions, 27, 65, 66

Plan, importance of in building cities, 51

Playgrounds. (_See_ Parks.)

Police, 66

Poor law administration, 66

Power, 25

Prices raised to producer, diminished to consumer, 32, 141

Private and public enterprise. (_See_ Municipal.)

Production, Right Hon. A. J. Balfour on necessity of increased production, 116; increased production secured and distribution rendered more just, 116

Pro-Municipal enterprise, chap. viii.

Public-houses. (_See_ Temperance.)

Public-houses, Trust, 85

R

Railways, their rapid growth, 127; a carefully planned system of, 130; chaos in London, 131; construction of railway system was “a large order;” a larger one remains to be executed, 139, 140

Railway rates, reduction in, 32, 51, 60, 141

“Rate rent,” meaning of term, 34, 35; revenue raised entirely by rate-rents, which are fixed by competition, 21, 26, 28, 73; tenants in occupation have some preference, 34; assessed by a committee, 73; estimate of, from agricultural estate, chap. ii.; from town estate, chap. iii.; what these suffice to do, chap. iv. and v.

Rates levied by outside bodies, provision for, 58, 65

Recreation, boating, bathing, etc. (_See_ Parks.)

Rents, computation of, in England and Wales, 30

“Revolution, The Coming,” 31

Revolution, Social, at hand, 134

Rhodes, Dr., on growth of cities, 12

Risk of shopkeepers, 80

Roads, cost of maintenance small, 25; estimated cost, 59

Rosebery, Lord, compares London to a tumour, 11; on borrowing from Individualism and Socialism, 117

Ruskin, Mr. J., 20

S

Sanitation, 24

_St. James Gazette_ on dangerous growth of cities, 12

Schools, sites for, 24; comparison with London, 47; estimated cost of buildings and maintenance, 58, 61

Semi-municipal industry, meaning of term, 76

Sewage, 25; cost of system, 58; difficulties in London, 32

Shaw-Lefevre, Right Hon. G. J., on chaotic growth of London, 52

Shops, factories, etc., estimated rents from, 41; excess of in London, 81; multiplication of prevented, 78; risk of shop-keepers reduced, 80 (_See_ Local Option and Crystal Palace.)

Sinking fund for land, 21, 28, 34, 42; for works, 58, 65

Slum property declines to zero, 146; is destroyed and sites converted into parks, 146

Small holdings, 25

Smoke, absence of, 25

Social cities, chap. xii.

Socialism, does not represent a basis on which an experiment can safely proceed, 97; inconsistency of Socialistic writers, 118; their neglect of the land question, 123; their threats little heeded, 135; and their efforts meet with little success, 137

Spence, scheme of common land administered by parish, 106; the difference between this and my own chiefly one of method, 107

Spencer, Herbert, advocated common land administered by State, 107; his reasons for withdrawing his proposals, (_a_) evils attending State control, 108; (but my scheme, like Spence’s, free from these evils, 109); (_b_) difficulty of acquiring land on equitable terms, and of yet making it remunerative to purchasers, 108; (this difficulty completely overcome in my proposals, 109); the “dictum of absolute ethics” that all men are equally entitled to the use of the earth practically realised under my scheme, 110; his objection on principle to State control rebuked out of his own mouth, 109

_Star, The_, on depopulation of country, 12

Strand to Holborn, new street, 52

Strikes, the true and the false, 90; of London against landlordism, 148

Subways, growing need for, 54; their economy, 59

Sweating, opportunity for public conscience to express itself, against, 83

T

Temperance, Right Hon. John Morley on, 10; Lord Bruce on, 10; experiment may lead to temperance reform, 84

_The Times_ on sudden changes, 9

-- Three Magnets, Diagram 1, 16

Tillett, Mr. Ben, on depopulation of country, 12

Topolobampo experiment, 98

Town life and country life contrasted and combined, 16-19

Tramways, 66, 131

Trees, 23, 39, 63

U

“Unearned increment” a misnomer, 29

V

Variety in architecture, 24; in cultivation of soil, 25; in employments, 111

Vested Interests, indirectly threatened, become divided, 135; the same thing has occurred before, 135; vested interests of skill, labour, energy, talent, and industry, the most important of all vested interests consolidated by the same force which divides the vested interests of land and capital in twain, 138

Villages, Depopulation of. (_See_ Country.)

W

Wages, Effect of competition upon, 81

Wakefield, Art of Colonisation, 102; J. S. Mill’s view of it, 104

War, implements of, drop down, 140

Ward, Mrs. Humphrey, all changes preceded by sporadic efforts, 94

Wards, town divided into by boulevards, 22; each ward in a sense a complete town, 45; work on one practically complete before commencing on another, 45

Waste products, utilisation of, 33

Water, scarcity of in country, 17

Water-supply usually a source of revenue, 66

Wealth-forms for the most part extremely ephemeral, 118; J. S. Mill on, 118

Wells, Mr. H. G. on future growth of London, 142

Westgarth, Mr. William, prizes for essays on reconstruction of London, 149

Wilson, P. W., on the distribution of industry, 142

Winter Garden. (_See_ Crystal Palace.)

Women may fill all offices in municipality, 75

Work, plenty of, 55, 88, 122, 130, 147

Workmen’s trains, 148

POSTSCRIPT.

“To-Morrow,” of which this book is substantially a reproduction, having been published towards the end of 1898, the reader who has followed me thus far will be interested to learn what has been done, and what is proposed to be done to realise the project which was there set forth. I will endeavour to answer these questions.

At the outset, I perceived that the first thing was to make the project widely known--that the city which was pictured so vividly in my own mind must be pictured more or less vividly by many, and that a strong and widespread desire for its up-rearing must be created before a single step could be wisely taken to put the project in a concrete form. For the task before me was, I was fully conscious, a most difficult one, and demanded the hearty co-operation of men and of women[32] experienced in very numerous departments of human activity; and many of these had to be reached and enlisted. City building, as a deliberately thought-out enterprise, is indeed a lost art, in this country at least, and this art has not only to be revived, but has to be carried to finer issues than those who have before practised it ever dreamt of. Autocrats like Alexander the Great and Philip II. could build cities according to well-thought out and carefully-matured plans, because they could impose their will by force; but a city which is to be the outward expression of a strong desire to secure the best interests of all its inhabitants can, among a self-governing people, only arise as the outcome of much patient and well-sustained effort. Moreover, the building of the first of such cities necessarily involves co-operation on new lines--in untried ways; and, as it is essential that the freedom of the individual as well as the interests of the community should be preserved, very much work must needs be done to prepare the way for the successful launching of such an experiment.

My task--hardly a self-imposed one, for, when I commenced my investigations many years ago, I little dreamed where they would lead me--was rendered especially difficult by the nature of my professional work, which it was impossible for me to give up; and I could, therefore, only give odds and ends of time and energies largely exhausted to the work. But, fortunately, I was not left without help. First the press came to my aid. “To-Morrow” was very widely noticed. Many books have been more fully reviewed, but few have been noticed, and favourably noticed, in such a variety of types of journals as “To-Morrow” has been. Besides the daily and weekly papers of London and the provinces, the project has been favourably commented upon in journals representing widely different points of view. I may mention, merely as illustrations of this--“Commerce,” “Country Gentleman,” “Spectator,” “Leisure Hour,” “Court Circular,” “Clarion,” “Builder’s Journal,” “Commonwealth,” “Young Man,” “Councillor and Guardian,” “Ladies’ Pictorial,” “Public Health Engineer,” “Municipal Journal,” “Argus,” “Vegetarian,” “Journal of Gas Lighting,” “Labour Copartnership,” “Hospital,” “Brotherhood,” “Municipal Reformer.”

Nor was the reason of this widespread interest difficult to discover. The project, indeed, touches life at every point, and when once carried out will be an object-lesson which must have far-reaching and beneficial results.

But, although approval of my aims was general, doubts were often, especially at first, expressed as to their realisability. Thus, the “Times” said: “The details of administration, taxation, etc., work out to perfection. The only difficulty is to create the city, but that is a small matter to Utopians.” If this be so, then, by the “Times’” own showing, I am no Utopian, for to me the building of the city is what I have long set my mind upon, and it is with me no “small matter.” A few months after this, however, the “Journal of Gas Lighting” put my case very forcibly thus: “Why should the creation of a town be an insuperable difficulty. It is nothing of the kind. Materials for a tentative realisation of Mr Howard’s ideal city exist in abundance in London at the present moment. Time and again it is announced that some London firm have transferred their factory to Rugby, or Dunstable, or High Wycombe for business reasons. It ought not to be impossible to systematise this movement and give the old country some new towns in which intelligent design shall direct the social workings of economic forces.”

In my spare time I lectured on the Garden City, the first lecture after publication being given in December, 1898, at the Rectory Road Congregational Church, Stoke Newington, N. In the chair was Mr. T. E. Young, past President, Institute of Actuaries, and I was supported also by Dr. Forman, A.L.C.C.; Rev. C. Fleming Williams, A.L.C.C.; Mr. James Branch, L.C.C.; and Mr. Lampard, L.C.C. The lecture was well reported in a local journal, and I speedily found that, by means of lectures, interest in the project could be widened, because the subject made “good copy.” I, therefore, as far as possible, have always given lectures when requested, and have spoken in London, Glasgow, Manchester, and many provincial towns. Friends, too, began to help, the Rev. J. Bruce Wallace, M.A., of Brotherhood Church being among the first to lecture upon the project; nor shall I ever forget the pleasure I felt at hearing his simple and forcible exposition of it.

Soon after the publication of “To-Morrow,” I began to receive many letters, and these often from business men. One of the first of these was from Mr. W. R. Bootland, of Daisy Bank Mills, Newchurch, near Warrington, who wrote heartily commending the project as “sound business,” and yet as likely to confer great public benefits.

After a few months of such fitful work as I could undertake, I consulted a friend, Mr F. W. Flear, and we decided it would be well to form an Association with a view to securing supporters in a more systematic manner, and of formulating the scheme more completely, so that, at as early a date as possible, a suitable organisation might be created for carrying it out. Accordingly, on the 10th June, 1899, a few friends met at the offices of Mr. Alexander W. Payne, Chartered Accountant, 70 Finsbury Pavement, E.C., Mr Fred. Bishop, of Tunbridge Wells, in the chair, and the Garden City Association was formed--Mr. Payne being its first Hon. Treasurer, and Mr. F. W. Steere, a barrister, who had written a very useful summary of “To-Morrow” in _Uses_, its first Hon. Secretary. On the 21st of the same month, a public meeting was held at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, E.C., which was presided over by Sir John Leng, M.P., who, at a very short notice, gave an interesting outline of the project, and urged those present to support me in my very difficult task. At this meeting a Council was formed, and at the first sittings of that body Mr. T.H.W. Idris, J.P., L.C.C., was elected chairman, a post which he resigned at a later stage on account of ill-health, though remaining as firmly convinced as ever of the soundness of the Garden City idea.

Lecturers now began to come forward in different parts of the country, and additional interest was afforded by lantern slides and diagrams. The Association steadily grew, and three months after its formation I was able to write to the “Citizen”:--“The Association numbers amongst its members, Manufacturers, Co-operators, Architects, Artists, Medical Men, Financial Experts, Lawyers, Merchants, Ministers of Religion, Members of the L.C.C., Moderate and Progressive; Socialists and Individuals, Radicals and Conservatives.”

Our subscriptions, however, were very small. We had put the minimum at the democratic shilling, so that none should be shut out, but, unfortunately, some who could afford much more were content to subscribe that sum, and, from the formation of the Association until August 13, 1901--a little more than two years--the total subscriptions to the general funds of the Association only reached £241 13s. 9d.

A change suddenly came over the Association. I learned early in 1901 that Mr. Ralph Neville, K.C., had written in “Labour Copartnership” expressing his full approval of the essential principles of the Garden City project, and when I called upon him he at once consented to join our Council, and, shortly afterwards, was unanimously elected its chairman. At about the same time, though our financial position hardly justified such a step, we took an office of our own, and engaged a paid secretary, who agreed to devote his whole time to the work.

And here the Garden City Association was very fortunate. It secured the services of Mr. Thomas Adams, a young Scotchman, who has proved active, energetic, and resourceful--to whose suggestion was due the Conference held last September at Mr. Cadbury’s beautiful village of Bournville, which has done more than anything else to make the Garden City Association and its project known to the great public, and to give to our members ocular proof of the feasibility--indeed, the wonderful success--of a scheme in so many respects like our own.[33]

Since our Annual Meeting in December our membership has increased--thanks mainly to a special effort of members--from 530 to 1,300; and, as many of our friends, anxious to put the project to the test of experiment at an early date, are offering to subscribe very considerable sums, a Joint Stock Company, to be called the Garden City Pioneer Company, Limited, with a small capital of about £20,000, is being formed for the purpose of securing the option of a site, and of preparing and presenting to the public a complete scheme adapted to the development of the site thus selected--a scheme which will be in accordance with the general principles set forth in this book, but differing, of course, in many details. Subscribers to this preliminary Company will, of course, run considerable risk; and, as the profits, even in the event of the most complete success, will only be nominal, the appeal will be addressed only to those who take an interest in the project as public-spirited citizens. The Secretary of the Garden City Association will give the latest information on this subject, and will also gladly enrol members.

No one can possibly be under a greater obligation than he who has an idea which he earnestly wishes to see carried out and who finds others helping him to make visible that which exists only as a thought. Under this greatest of debts am I. By writing; by speaking; by organising public meetings and drawing-room meetings; by suggestion, encouragement, and advice; by secretarial and other work; by making the project known among their friends; by subscribing funds for propaganda work; and, now, by offering to subscribe considerable sums for practical steps, many have helped and are helping me to do that which, without their aid, must have been quite impossible. They have thus multiplied my strength a thousandfold; and from the very bottom of my heart I thank them for the assurance of speedy success which their efforts have thus given me. Ere long, I trust we shall meet in Garden City.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] Woman’s influence is too often ignored. When Garden City is built, as it shortly will be, woman’s share in the work will be found to have been a large one. Women are among our most active missionaries.

[33]

Through the kindness of Messrs. Lever Brothers, a conference is being arranged for July this year at Port Sunlight, a most admirably planned industrial village in Cheshire.

GARDEN CITY ASSOCIATION.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

The Countess of Warwick. The Earl of Carrington, G.C.M.G., L.C.C. The Earl of Meath, L.C.C. The Bishop of London. The Bishop of Hereford. The Bishop of Rochester. Percy Alden, M.A. Dr. Tempest Anderson (York). Yarborough Anderson. L. A. Atherley-Jones, K.C., M.P. William Baker. R. A. Barrett (Ashton-under-Lyne). J. Williams Benn, J.P., L.C.C. Sir M. M. Bhownaggree, K.C.I.E., M.P. W. R. Bootland (Manchester). Rev. Stopford Brooke, M.A. The Right Hon. James Bryce, M.P. W. P. Byles, J.P. (Bradford). George Cadbury, J.P. (Bournville). W. S. Caine, M.P. Robert Cameron, M.P. Professor Chapman (Manchester). Rev. Thomas Child. Dr. John Clifford, M.A. Miss Marie Corelli. Walter Crane. Alderman W. H. Dickinson, L.C.C. Canon Moore Ede (Sunderland). Samuel Edwards, J.P. (Birmingham). The Master of Elibank, M.P. Alfred Emmott, M.P. F. J. Farquharson, J.P. Mrs. Anna Farquharson. Michael Flürscheim. Lady Forsyth. Sir Walter Foster, M.P. Madame Sarah Grand. Corrie Grant, M.P. W. Winslow Hall, M.D., M.R.C.S. G. A. Hardy, L.C.C. Cecil Harmsworth. R. Leicester Harmsworth, M.P. Henry B. Harris. Anthony Hope Hawkins. The Hon. Claude G. Hay, M.P. Sir Robert Head, Bart. C. E. Hobhouse, M.P. Henry Holiday. Canon Scott Holland. George Jacob Holyoake. Rev. Alfred Hood. T. H. W. Idris, J.P. Ben. Jones (Chairman C.W.S. London). Mrs. Ashton Jonson. Dean Kitchin (Durham). George Lampard, L.C.C. A. L. Leon, L.C.C. Sir John Leng, M.P. W. H. Lever (Port Sunlight). J. W. Logan, M.P. Dr. T. J. Macnamara, M.P. Walter T. Macnamara. Mrs. Magrath. R. Biddulph Martin, M.P. Professor Alfred Marshall (Cambridge). Rev. F. B. Meyer. Edward R. P. Moon, M.P. Mrs. Morgan-Browne. Harington Morgan. The Hon. Dadabhai Naoroji. Mrs. Overy. Gilbert Parker, M.P. F. Platt-Higgins, M.P. Sir Robert Pullar (Perth). Joseph Rowntree (York). C. E. Schwann, M.P. Arthur Sherwell. Albert Spicer, J.P. Henry C. Stephens, J.P. Miss Julie Sutter. A. C. Swinton. Ivor H. Tuckett (Cambridge). J. Elliott Viney. Professor A. R. Wallace, D.C.L., F.R.S. J. Bruce Wallace, M.A. H. G. Wells. Richard Whiteing. J. H. Whitley, M.P. Aneurin Williams. Alderman Rev. Fleming Williams, L.C.C. Robert Williams, F.R.I.B.A., L.C.C. Henry J. Wilson, M.P. Wm. Woodward, A.R.I.B.A. Robert Yerburgh, M.P. T. E. Young, B.A., F.R.A.S. J. H. Yoxall, M.P.

COUNCIL.

_Chairman_--Ralph Neville, K.C.

_Hon. Treasurer_--A. W. Payne, F.C.A., F.S.S.

A. S. E. Ackerman, A.M. Inst. C.E. C. M. Bailhache, LL.B G. M. Bishop. Arthur Blott. Miss Edith Bradley (Lady Warwick Hostel). James Branch, J.P., L.C.C. William Carter. J. Cleghorn. G. Croscer. F. W. Flear. J. C. Gray (Secretary, Co-op. Union Manchester). Ebenezer Howard. Mrs. Ebenezer Howard. James P. Hurst. H. C. Lander, A.R.I.B.A. Fred. W. Lawrence. M.A. H. D. Pearsall, M.Inst.C.E. T. P. Ritzema, J.P. (Blackburn). Edward Rose. Hon. Rollo Russell. W. H. Gurney Salter. Sydney Schiff (Chester). W. S. Sherrington, M.A., L.L.M. Edward T. Sturdy. Alderman W. Thompson. Herbert Warren, B.A. Aneurin Williams.

(_The full Council will consist of 30 Members._)

Honorary Provincial Secretaries.

_Manchester District_--R. Morrell, Moston Lane, New Moston, Manchester.

_Liverpool and Cheshire District_--J. Norton, 1 Morningside Road, Bootle, near Liverpool.

_N.E._--F. W. Bricknell, Guyscliffe, Hessle, East Yorks.

_Midlands_--Rev. J. B. Higham, 25 Copthorne Road, Wolverhampton.

{Robert MacLaurin, 39 Caldercuilt Road, Maryhill, Glasgow. _Scotland_--{James Allport, 15 Montpelier, Edinburgh.

_General Secretary_-- THOMAS ADAMS, 77 Chancery Lane, London, W.C.

Objects.

To promote the discussion of the project suggested by Mr. Ebenezer Howard in “To-morrow”[34], and ultimately to formulate a practical scheme on the lines of that project, with such modifications as may appear desirable.

Membership.

Payment of an Annual Subscription of not less than 1s. confers Membership. A Subscription of 2s. 6d., or more, entitles the Subscriber to all literature published by the Association. More funds are required for the immediate purpose of bringing our proposals prominently before the public, and an average subscription of 5s. per member is necessary to meet current expenditure. The income for the first half year 1901-02 was ten times that of the same period of the previous year. The Membership is over 1,300, being an increase of 700 since January 1st, 1902. It is hoped that all who are desirous of improving, by constitutional means, the present physical, social, and industrial conditions of life in town and country, will help to immediately increase this number.

Sectional Committees.

Committees have been or are being appointed to consider questions of detail, such as Land Tenure, Manufactures and Trade, Co-operative Societies, Labour, Housing and Public Health, Liquor Traffic, Education, Smoke Abatement, Art, etc. Members desirous of taking part in the work of any section are requested to communicate with the General Secretary.

Publications.

The Association publishes a number of tracts which are forwarded to members on joining. A list of publications and some explanatory literature will be sent free on application. A few reports of the Bournville Conference may still be had, price 6d., post free. These reports consist of 80 pages, and contain reports of speeches by--Earl Grey, Mr. Ralph Neville, K.C.; Mr. George Cadbury, Mr. Aneurin Williams, the Mayor of Camberwell, Sir M. M. Bhownaggree, M.P.; Mr. R. B. Martin, M.P.; Mr. Ebenezer Howard, Dr. Mansfield Robinson, and others.

All communications should be addressed to the Secretary, Garden City Association, 77 Chancery Lane, London, W.C. Cheques and postal orders should be crossed London City and Midland Bank, Fore Street.

_Printed at the Rosemount Press; London Office: 149 Fleet Street, E.C._

FOOTNOTE:

[34] Now published by Swan Sonnenschein & Co. (London), under the title “Garden Cities of To-morrow.”

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note

Diagrams have been moved next to the text which they illustrate, and may not match the page numbers in the List of Illustrations. Punctuation in the index has been regularised without comment. Some index entries have no page number. The text following "_see_ Diagram 5" on p. 71 does not obviously relate to that diagram.

The following apparent errors have been corrected:

p. 12 "Tillet" changed to "Tillett"

p. 96 "be comparatively, feeble" changed to "be comparatively feeble,"

p. 118 "ilth" changed to "filth"

p. 163 "anounced" changed to "announced"

p. 169 "Meyer" changed to "Meyer."

p. 169 "Hon Dadabhai" changed to "Hon. Dadabhai"

p. 169 "Anenrin" changed to "Aneurin"

p. 171 "Wililams" changed to "Williams"

The following are used inconsistently in the text:

goodwill and good-will

Mr and Mr.

network and net-work

overcrowded and over-crowded

playgrounds and play-grounds

s and s.

shopkeepers and shop-keepers

End of Project Gutenberg's Garden Cities of To-Morrow, by Ebenezer Howard