And then comes a further mischief. As a se-
quence of this law-made deficiency of house-accom-
modation, there has been growing louder a com-
plaint about the "houseless poor," with frequent
newspaper articles on "The Housing Problem";
tacitly assuming that it is a public business to supply
people with fit abodes. For equally valid reasons
there may by-and-by be agitated the "food prob-
lem," and then the "clothing problem"; whereupon
socialism will be achieved.

Of course the foregoing paragraphs must not be
regarded as a condemnation of all sanitary adminis-
tration. Public control of individuals is needful in
the sphere of hygiene as in other spheres; for com-
mission of a nuisance is an aggression on neighbours
or on the public at large. In a town, care of the
roads and pavements must obviously be undertaken
by a public authority, as also sewage (though Chel-
tenham, before its incorporation, was drained by a
company). Doubtless it is difficult to draw the line.
But the absurdities and abuses, as well as the in-
direct restraints on house-building, which I have
pointed out, furnish reasons for holding in check the
sanitary bureaucracy and closely criticizing its rep-
resentations.

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