A Minister of Reconstruction in Great Britain

Abstract

THE appointment of Lord Woolton as Minister of Reconstruction with a seat in the War Cabinet follows naturally on Mr. Churchill's declaration in his Mansion House speech on November 9 that it was “a definite part of the duty and responsibility of this National Government to have its plans perfected in a vast and practical scheme to make sure that in the years immediately following the War there will be food, work, and homes for all. . . . No party doctrines or party prejudices or vested interests shall stand in the way of the simple duty of providing before the end of the War for food, work, and homes. They must be prepared now during the War. These plans must be prepared and they must come into action, just like when war breaks out general mobilization is declared. They must come into action as soon as victory is won. On this far-reaching work His Majesty's Government are now concentrating all the energies that can be spared from the actual struggle with the enemy.” It may, of course, be inferred that the removal of Lord Woolton from a post which he has filled with such conspicuous success is an indication that Mr. Churchill does not expect the food problem again to become acute. It is equally an indication of the Prime Minister's assent to the principle that preparation for post-war reconstruction has become an urgent necessity and of the importance which he attaches to the Ministry of Reconstruction.