DOWN WITH RENTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2800, 19 June 1916, Page 4

DOWN WITH RENTS

Some of tho Government's Budget proposals seem to suggest an anxiety to cater for what is deemed to bo popular sentiment without very much regard to'the effectiveness or. the fairness of the steps proposed! One of these is the plan to restrict high rents., Tho landlord seldom finds sympathisers in ■ any community, and in deciding to restore house rents throughout tho Dominion to their pre-war rates the Government will be aiming a blow at "wealth" which will bo very popular indeed. Rhether it will be jufet or not does not appear to concern tho Government very much. Even a 'National Government wants to be above all things popular. But if, as stated, the cost of living has gone up all ground, and Civil Servants and trades unions and even some other people require extra salaries or wages to meet tho added demand on their purses, why should the income of tho house-owner be cut down 1 The .cost of living surely affects him as it affects everyone else, and that being the case the question might reasonably be asked why should a, pre-war rental be sufficient for him to live on when a pre-war wage is' not sufficient for the man who rents his house 1 Most people in Wellington complain ,of the high rents, and, generally speaking, rents are high here, but surely if injustice is being done the community, in the matter of rents this is not tho way to remedy it. A landlord who charged a fair rent prior to the war and has been com-, pelled by the increase in hi& rates and taxes and by the increase in the cost of living, to, raise tho rent is placed in a worso position'than the rack : renter ; who has been plundering his tenant before, the war. If tho Government is really sincere in this matter and not merely seeking a little cheap popularity, why docs it not attempt to deal with it on an equitable basis 1 Moreover, how under the proposal now put forward is tho tenant who rents a house to know what tho pre-war rental was'! What check can there be on the unscrupulous landlord, and lie, of course, is the person aimed at. The only persons likely: to benefit under the proposal are the tenants of long standing who have occupied houses from the beginning of the war, and if tho proposal becomes law the unscrupulous landlord will soon see tliat there are no tenants of long standing. That is, of course, assuming that tenants aro as plentiful and houses as scarce as the Government's proposal would lead one to believe. J.f the Government believes in a fair rent why not introduce a Fair "Scut Bill?