(d) must comply with regulations to be made by the Local Government Board, with the approval of the Treasury, under the provisions of the Housing Bill.

These regulations will, subject to certain modifications, embody the conditions and safeguards recommended by the Housing (Financial Assistance) Committee* and set out at the end of this memorandum, and the Rules of the Society should be so framed as to secure compliance with the regulations.

2. TERMS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

To a Public Utility Society which complies with the conditions above indicated, the financial assistance to be granted in respect of a housing scheme approved by the Local Government Board and carried out within the prescribed period will take the following forms :

Raising of Capital.

The Public Works Loan Commissioners will be authorised to advance on the recommendation of the Local Government Board so much of the capital required as in the opinion of the Board the Society cannot reasonably be expected to raise from private sources; but the total amount so advanced will in no case exceed three quarters of the total cost of the acquisition of the land, the development of the site and the erection of the houses, as shown by the accepted tenders.

The loan will be advanced at the rate at which advances are, for the time being, made to Local Authorities by the Public Works Loan Commissioners for assisted housing schemes. It will run for a period not exceeding 50 years and the repayment of principal and interest, which will be a first charge upon the property, will be on the annuity system.

It is proposed to arrange for advances to be made by instalments. as the work proceeds, on the certificate of an architect or surveyor approved by the Local Government Board, but before advancing each instalment the Public Works Loan Commissioners will require to be satisfied that a proportionate instalment of the capital to be privately subscribed has been raised. The advances in respect of unfinished houses will not in any case exceed 50 per cent. of the cost represented by the work done.

If in the opinion of the Public Works Loan Commissioners there is aspecial risk that it may at some future date during the currency of the loan be impossible to secure tenants for a large proportion of the houses owing to changes in the industrial circumstances of the locality, it will be open to them to require collateral security.

Copies of the Interim Report of this Committee, Cd. 9223, can be

obtained through any bookseller or directly from His Majesty's Stationery Office, Imperial House, Kingsway, W.C.2, or 28, Abingdon Street, S.W.1.

Exchequer Subsidy.

(1) In addition to the advance of capital above mentioned, an annual subsidy will be paid during the currency of the loan by the Local Government Board in consideration of the abnormal cost of building houses at the present time. The subsidy will be an amount equal to 40 per cent. of the annual charges on three-quarters of the total capital raised in respect of the approved scheme, and, for the purpose of calculation, the charges will be reckoned on the basis of the Public Works Loan Commissioners' terms for repayment of principal and interest by equal half-yearly instalments, from whatever source the capital may in fact have been raised.

(2) While the amount of the subsidy will be determined on the basis above described, the Local Government Board will reserve to themselves the right of reducing the subsidy in any case in which there is evidence of failure on the part of the Society to secure due economy in the erection of the houses.

(3) Any Society seeking financial assistance will be required to give an undertaking in legal form that, after the loan has been paid off, any profits of the Society in excess of 6 per cent. shall be devoted in whole or in part as may be required by the Local Government Board towards the repayment of sums received from the Exchequer by way of subsidy during the currency of the loan; and that in the event of the property being sold, either before or after the loan has been paid off, the Society will as a condition of such sale, after paying-off outstanding charges (if any) and shares at par, repay if so required by the Local Government Board the whole or part of the Exchequer subsidies.

3.-PROCEDURE.

(1) The Housing Commissioner for the district will be ready to advise any persons proposing to form a Public Utility Society for housing purposes as to the Rules of the Society and to arrange for a conference with the Local Authority with a view to ascertaining what assistance may be looked for from the Local Authority, both in the shape of advances of capital and in regard to sewerage, water supply and other public services.

(2) The advice of the Commissioner and his expert staff will be at the disposal of the Society in regard to the selection of a site, and the proposals of the Society as to this and the general outlines of their scheme should be submitted to the Commissioner at the earliest stage.

(3) If the proposals are such as in the opinion of the Commissioner are likely to be approved by the Local Government Board, plans should be prepared on the advice of a properly qualified architect for the lay-out of the site and for the houses, of which there should ordinarily be approximately 12 to the acre in urban areas and 8 in agricultural areas.

Where possible an option to purchase the suggested site should be obtained and the purchase should not be completed until the site has been inspected and approved.

(4) Before giving their formal approval to schemes the Board will require to be furnished with plans and estimates, a statement of the rents proposed to be charged and information as to the Society's share and other capital, together with a copy of the Registered Rules. But if the procedure above described is followed the preliminary steps can be taken in consultation with the Commissioner, and the schemes can be dealt with by stages and delay thus avoided.

(5) In order to promote economy and to assist those engaged in the provision of houses for the working classes steps have been taken to secure supplies of certain building materials and standardised fittings, which will be available for the use of Public Utility Societies. There need, therefore, be no hesitation in proceeding with the preparation of schemes on account of anticipated shortage of materials. The Board are issuing a Manual which will contain further information on this subject, as well as detailed proposals in regard to the preparation and submission of schemes and suggestions as to lay-out, with designs and plans.

Recommendations as to safeguards contained in the Report of the Housing (Financial Assistance) Committee of the Ministry of Recon

struction.

(i.) All tenants should be entitled (though not required) to become shareholders of the Society on equal terms.

(ii.) Tenant members should have the right to elect annually a Tenant Members' Committee, each tenant having one vote.

(iii.) At least one-quarter of the Board of Management should be appointed by the Tenant Members' Committee.

(iv.) Holders of loan stock should only be entitled to vote at a Society's meeting if they are shareholders, and only to give a vote in respect of loan stock representing at least five times the capital represented by a share vote.

(v.) Security of tenure should be provided for. A tenant should only be given notice to quit for (a) non-payment of rent, or (b) acts or defaults tending to the detriment of the property, or (c) bad neighbourship. Nothing in this clause. should prevent a termination of a tenancy for failure to pay an increased rent in cases where the increase has been approved by the Central Authority. The question of whether a tenant has been guilty of bad neighbourship should be determined by the Tenant Members' Committee. (vi.) The lay-out and design of the houses should be approved by the Central Authority, and the same authority should supervise the carrying out of the plans (either directly or through the agency of the Local Authority).

(vii.) Profits, over and above the maximum rate allowed, should after due provision for Reserve Fund, be used for the benefit of the tenants generally.

(viii.) Rents should be approved by the Central Authority.

(ix.) Societies should not be allowed to sell houses, except subject to the consent of, and under conditions laid down by, the Central Authority.

(x.) Building contracts should be approved by the Central Authority.

(xi.) Professional charges paid by Societies should not exceed a fixed percentage on cost, and management expenses should not exceed a fixed percentage on gross rental.

(xii.) The accounts should be audited and certified by a District Auditor, or other Auditor appointed by the Government (who should have the power of surcharge) and filed with the Central Authority and the Local Authority of the District, with the right of inspection by the public.

(xiii.) On the dissolution of a society the Local Authority should have the right of pre-emption at a figure sufficient to pay off shares at par, loans, loan stock and debts. If this right is not exercised the estate should be sold by public auction and any surplus remaining, after discharging all obligations, be paid to the Local Authority, and by it applied for housing or other like purposes.

All communications with reference to this Memorandum should be addressed to the Local Government Board, Whitehall, S.W.1, or, in the case of Scotland, to the Local Government Board for Scotland, Edinburgh.

24th March, 1919.

CIRCULAR OF BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND

FISHERIES.

RABIES ORDER OF 1919.

Board of Agriculture and Fisheries,
Whitehall Place, London, S.W.1.
April 15th, 1919.

Sir, I am directed by the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to inform you that it has been found desirable to amend the regulations relating to rabies and suspected rabies in animals, and consequently the Board have issued an Order, entitled the Rabies Order of 1919, which revokes and replaces the Rabies Order of 1897 as from the 1st proximo.

The new Order differs from the existing Order mainly as follows:

1. Report of Inspector of Local Authority.

An Inspector of a Local Authority dealing with a suspected case of Rabies has forthwith to make a report to the Board in the form of the specimen attached. [Art. 2 (2).]

2. Compulsory slaughter by Local Authority.

A Local Authority is required to slaughter every cat, as well as dog, that is diseased or which is suspected or is shown to the satisfaction of the Inspector of the Local Authority to have been bitten by a diseased dog or cat. (Art. 3.) The expression "dog" includes any canine animal.

3. Veterinary Inquiry.

The provisions as to veterinary inquiry require such inquiry to be made in every case in which a Local Authority receives information of the existence, or the suspected existence, of rabies in any animal or carcase.

It is to be noted that the above requirement is not to interfere with or delay slaughter under Art. 3. A report of the inquiry is to be made in every case in the form of the specimen attached. [Art. 5 (1).]

If at the time of death the animal is affected with, or suspected of rabies, a post mortem examination is to be made by the Veterinary Inspector, who, unless he is satisfied that rabies did not exist, is at once to forward to the Board material as directed in the Veterinary Report Form which is attached. [Art. 5 (2).]