WORKERS' HOMES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1292, 22 November 1911, Page 2

WORKERS' HOMES.

FOUNDATION-STONE LAID. SPEJX'H HY Till; IKiN. .). A. MILLAE. (fly Tokcrasill.—l'rc»s Association,) Chrlstcrmrch, NVjvoiiiljpi- 21. The foundation slnno of cloven workers' homes in Hoddnn Sheet, Sydenham, was laid this morning by the Minister for Labour, tli.': lion. .1. A. .Millar, at a. gathering which included anion!; those prefi\l I lie Major (Mr. ,1. .1. Dougall), the town fieri;, moinljfir. of Parliament, and oUicgi.s of the Labour anil Lands Department:-.. Them was a. fair gathering of the public, including a number of womenfolk, presumably the wives of the men win) prt.pose. to take up the, new homes on the deferred-payment system. The Mayor, who presided, saiil that he was privileged to bo prer-ont at the inauguration of a seheme I}irit in his opinion was the most b;Miofie.ont ever devised in a,n,v part, ol the world, and the occasion was not only an epnvh in Now Zealand, but in tho eau.-e of humanity. Ten years ago tho man who would have, suggested that. :i worker could ptirchai-G a. homo on a deposit of .fcji), with the balanco as vent, would have been laughed nl, and house agents would not have considered it. possible. Tluj Government, however, hsd taken the matter up, and the present seheme, the, first of its kind undertaken by any Government, would give effect to the innate desire of even' man to possess a house and section of land of his own. (Applause.)

The Hon. J. A. Millar, who was received with applause, said that tho difficulty in the pa.st in the way of workers getting their own homes had been high rents, and Mr. Seddon had met tho difficulty by his schemo of workers' homes, but the workers did not buy thoso homes, which were leased. Tho pro ; c:it Government hod now introduced a scheme whereby a man could buy his house on a deposit of .£lO. Under tho old scheme 1.37 homes had been erected at Aldington, Auckland, Dunedin, and 'Wellington, but the new scheme would extend beyond the four centres and apply to any part of the Dominion. It "was tho duty cf every man in constant employment to make nrovision for a homo for his wife and family, and the scheme would enable him to do so. At the same time there was slill a difficulty in getting land thnt would run out at a fair price per section, say, from ,£SO to even .£Bo_ or .£'1)0. and it was useless to consider sections that cost up to .t'laO. The scheme had many advantages. Thero were no plans to be paid for, no legal fees, no procuration fees for getting the money, and tho worker knew from the start exactly what he had to pay. A six-roomed house could be put up for .£SOO. and rental, insurance, rates, and everything would work out at lGs. a week, which was also paying for tho house. The worker could nominate from a two to a six-roomed house, choosing from fifteen different designs, and improvements would bo made if desired. Nothing but'the best material would be used, and tlio Dennrtment would turn out a house, that would he amply secured for tho money it cost. There had been a proposal that ready-made houses should be mirchnscd, but nothing of the kiwi would be done, as it was intended to put, the workers into faiHifully-built houses that would not require repairs for many years to come. The success of the scheme was assured. The : Department had accented tenders for 22 bnildiwrs at Auckland. 2.1 at Wellington, 11 at Palmersfon North. 11 at Sydenham, and 2 «t Addiwrnn, and I'o.d purchased land at Nanier, Wannanui, Hamilton, Tnumarunui, Timaru. Teniuka, and Duuedin, and he hnpr-d before loin: to find the countrv studded with workers' homes. The eleven sections at Sydenham had cost '.£B<lo, and the cwri-iot w.-.s .P 4241. The two sections at Addington had cost £191, and the contract ira-9 /*•'". So tie average w-nrVpr) nut nt .£471! a house. " I am confident." said the Minister, : n conclusion, "that we are doing tho nioneor work of what I trust and feel sur° will bo of ben"fit to the vorkcrs of the country. Parliament last year ..gav'e a million .of "money for "this particular purpose because it is no use inaugurating a-scheme to benefit a few, and if this works out wo will have houses studded all over the country. I feel sure it will be fully appreciated .and result in thousands of happy homes in all parts of New Zealand." Mr. Millar, added that' the houses could not be placed singly, but it was not intended to place them all together in any kind of barrack system which could bo pointed to as a workers' settlement. The houses would be all over the city, and he was now in treaty for a further section of land in another part of the city for'further homos. (Applause.) The Minister laid tho stone well and truly with tho aid of a mallet presented to him by tho contractor. Mr. H. G. Ell, M.P., iu moving a vote of thanks to the Minister for his attendance, said that thero was no moro warm-hearted friend of the worker than Mr. Millar. Ho also envnhnsised the futility of opposing borrowing for such necessary and beneficial works as workers' homes. Mr. J. L. Scott seconded tho motion, which was carried with applause. Mr. T. 11. Davey, M.P., cordially endorsed what the previous speakers had said regarding tho efforts of the Government on behalf of the workers t„ church alone during tho last thrco year* 733 workers had borrowed JE224.0U0 irom the Government under the oh' «\-«tn»' ' 1)u ild homes for themselves. The present scheme was for the poorpr mau ami wuuul bo of incalculable benefit to him. Ho moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor for his attendance. Mr. L. M. Tsitt, M.P., seconded the motion, stating that of all schemes the Liberal Government had undertaken none was moro commendable than that of workers' homes. The motion was carried with applause, and cheers were given for tho Minister.