did as well as might be expected, seated as I was between Jesus Christ [Wilson] and Napoleon Bonaparte [Clemenceau]." Historian Antony Lentin evaluated his role in Paris as a major success, saying: Postwar social reforms A major programme of social reform was introduced under Lloyd George in the last months of the war, and in the post-war years. The Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis) Act 1918 (which was introduced a year later) allowed for compensation to be paid to men "who could prove they had worked in rock which contained no less than 80% silica." The Education Act 1918 raised the school leaving age to 14, increased the powers and duties of the Board of Education (together with the money it could provide to Local Education Authorities), and introduced a system of compulsory part-time continuation schools for children between the ages of 14 and 16. The Blind Persons Act 1920 provided assistance for unemployed blind people and blind persons who were in low paid employment. The Housing and Town Planning Act 1919 provided subsidies for house building by local authorities, and 170,000 dwellings were built under it by the end of 1922. which established, according to A. J. P. Taylor, "the principle that housing was a social service". A further 30,000 houses were constructed by private enterprise with government subsidy under a second act. The Land Settlement (Facilities) Act 1919 and Land Settlement (Scotland) Acts of 1919 encouraged local authorities to provide land for people to take up farming "and also to provide allotments in urban areas." The Rent Act 1920 was intended to safeguard working-class tenants against exorbitant rent increases, but it failed. Rent controls were continued after the war, and an "out-of-work donation" was introduced for ex-servicemen and civilians. Electoral changes: suffragism The Representation of the People Act 1918 greatly extended the franchise for men (by abolishing most property qualifications) and gave the vote to many women over 30, and the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 enabled women to sit in the House of Commons. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 provided that "A person shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage from the exercise of any public function, or from being appointed to or holding any civil or judicial office or post, or from entering or assuming or carrying on any civil profession or vocation, or for admission to any incorporated society". Wages for workers The Unemployment