But £ s. d. has been, and will be, the powerful factor, In round figures, the Metropolitan Board have cleared away forty acres of buildings. Of these, twenty-three acres are still, at the end of 1883, vacant. Some of these sites have been lying useless for years, and instead of curing the evil, the disease has been aggravated by some 10,000 people having been squeezed into houses already full to overflowing; rebuilding has not kept pace with pulling down. Artisans' dwellings, built according to the Board's plans, and under its supervision, are not a promising speculation. The Board offers sites for sale at a great sacrifice; there is no competition; of eight sites put up to auction, June, 1883, only three were sold. It is useless to bring in more Acts, until you remove the cause of this reluctance to build; builders must see that the investment will pay. Unoccupied areas, such as at present exist, mean a tax upon the ratepayers, and increased suffering and discontent to the poor. How to house the poor without loss, is the problem that needs solution. The fault, I think, so far, has been attempting operations on too large a scale. Many persons anxious to benefit the poor would devote the necessary time and money to the erection of a single house, but would object to taking a few shares in a gigantic building society. Miss Octavia Hill has succeeded on a small scale, but the large dwellings companies have failed; and unless the speculation will return interest for the money, builders will not build. "There has been a remarkable sameness about the fate of all the attempts of Parliament to deal with the different phases of this dwellings question. The Supervision Acts are excellently conceived, but they have failed. Torrens' Acts and Cross's Acts are thoroughly practical and well-arranged measures,