HOMES FOR HEROES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2677, 25 January 1916, Page 2

HOMES FOR HEROES

WORKING WITHOUT WAGES V AN AUSTRALIAN SCHEME Dr. Arthur, M.L.A., writes from Sydney:—lt is recognised that we cannot do too' much for those who have come back from the front shattered on our behalf, or for the dependents of those who have given their lives for us. Is it not a duty and a privilege, then, to provide a home for all of these? A small experiment made on some Crown lands near Sydney opens up the prospect of such an achievement. This land has been divided into forty farmlets for fruit . and vegetable growing and poultry raising, and all the work in preparing these for occupation is being done by unpaid labour, mostly on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and holidays. 011 these days a mixed crowd of all ages, occupations, and social ranks is to be found clearing the ground. Cottages and poultry runs are to be erected, and the land fenced and ploughed, and fruit trees and vegetables planted. Each soldier will be given about one or two hundred- head of poultry to start "with. The cottages of ' from four to five rooms are to he of wood on. brick foundations, with brick chimneys. Enthusiastic Experimenters. Bricklayers and carpenters have volunteered enthusiastically to give their labour for nothing, stoves and watortauks are to he had for the mere cost of the raw material, and by an, arrangement with tlte State Bank the cost of the raw material will be advanced. It will follow that a soldier or his widow will be able to obtain a farmlet on which a living can be made at a- rental of about four or five shillings per week, the house becoming their own property at the end of twenty years, but not the land, which is a perpetual lease. To a partially-disabled soldier or a soldier's widow with children this small rent, and the chance of making at least 30s. or £2 per week off the land, will supplement m a most desirable way the pension they receive. Extending the Schema. ■ Now, there is no reason why this principle of labour,, not for gam, but for altruistic ends, should not spread all over Australia. In the country districts the labour can be expended on the preparation of farms; in tho city, on the building of cottages.' For instance, let ? every town form a Voluntary Workers' , Association. 'Phis association will find out the number of disabled soldiers or soldiers' widows in this town, and ascertain if they wish to live permanently in tho district. This' done, an appeal can then be made to landowners to eitlier give or sell, at bedrock price, some building allotments. A meeting of skill- - ed and unskilled workers will then he convened, and volunteers invited to give so many hours of work each week. Unskilled labourers, such as professional and business men,'can tako on the rough work'of clearing the land and helping the skilled artisans. These latter, the • masons, bricklayers, carpenters, and plumbers, could, if sufficient numbers offered, run.up a cottage in a few Saturday afternoons.

At French's Forest, bricks are being given for nothing, and the carters are bringing them to tho ground for nothing. The workers at a galvanised iron tank factory have offered to remain behind on Saturday afternoons and-mako tanks—not for overtime rates, but for nothing. ; 1

I estimate that under this system a cottage will be built at least 50 per cent, below ordinary rates, and. an advance sufficient to cover the actual expenditure can therefore be easily obtained from the State or Commonwealth Bank. At French's Forest people have sent expensive motor-cars to convey the workers to and from the ground, and seeds, tools, Incubators, household furniture, and poultry have been given, Valuable uisurs. The chief value of the experiment lies, however, in the fact that people are willing to devote their leisure time, formerly given over to recreations, to work for others. However little they may be able to do, they.add something to the l national wealth, and also help to repay in some slight measure the infinite debt of gratitude they owe to our heroic men. Let this form of recreation, -then, take the place of all other kinds of sport. Let our young men who still play cricket, tenuis, or golf, or go to the races, take to the pick or mattock, or mix mortar, or carry bricks for the skilled artisans. By doing, this till we have provided for all needing our services, we will raise our whole social life to a higher and nobler plane. I shall be pleased to give further information to any who wish to take up this branch of service, or full details will gladly be given to .'any applicant by Mr. George Fitzpatrick, honorary organising secretary, Box 1488, G.P.0., Sydney.