"DESIRABLE" FAMILY RESIDENCES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2715, 9 March 1916, Page 9

"DESIRABLE" FAMILY RESIDENCES

The housing conditions in certain parts of Auckland were the subject of caustic criticism during the hearing of the case of the builders' labourers in the Arbitration Court. Mr. _ Wesley Richards, advocate for the -union, in opening the case, laid stress upon the abnormal • conditions as to house rent in the city as one of the factors in the claim for an increase in the rate of wages. Roughly. speaking, he. said, there were two classes of houses in Auckland inhabited by working men — fairly sound houses of fivo to seven rooms, with modern conveniences, ' at 16s. to 1 18s. per week, and houses in the older parts of the city, generally out of repair, with leaky roofs, no washhouses, and in many cases even below the standard required bx the . city bylaws for fowlhouses and pigsties. One of the witnesses called, who lives in Victoria Street, gave evidence as to the retention in the premises which ho rents of the old system of sanitary conveniences. He had complained to the city's sanitary inspector of the insanitary condition of the bouse, and had received s Teply that the building was likely to bit condemned, and that in the event of its being destroyed by fire the owner would not be to rebuild. Mr. Justice Stringer, President of the Court, said it was astonishing to find that such liousos as the witness had described were tolerated in a city like Auckland. It was a positive scandal. Mr. Richards said there were even worse places. His Honour: And this is called the Queen City of the North! .That buildings such as this are allowed to exist is a perfect scandal. It is no wonder that you have epidemics when such conditions are permitted. Mr. S.i I. Clarke, representative .of the master builders, said he was glad to hear such an expression of opinion from the Court. He agreed that buildings such as had been described ought to be swept away.