DETENTION CAMPS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 72, 19 December 1918, Page 6

DETENTION CAMPS

Sir,—Whilst. I do not desire to enter into' a controversy through your valu- . ( ablo columns, yet I would l'ke to say a. few v.-ords in regards to detention 'bnr- c racks i;nd camps. I was pftSKinj, , through Waipuknrnu a few days ago, and 1 had the privilege of paying a visit to Ilatniua. Detention Camp with a . friend, and we were- greatly taken with the'way it is conducted. While making inquiries we were told that thie camp is . under the charge of a sergeant who lias Had considerable experience, in this .par- v ticular department of the military service. We were not able to speak to any (( of the men, but from what we gathered „ from a soldier who had been released a g few days before, this ser'geant was well respected both, by his staff and the men j under detention. I also heard that no r officer had visited tliis camp since it was started. As one- of tho general public, •, I think it is only right 'hat I should let the public know that all camps are 0 not alike, and time ■ remove any anxiety " that may exist in their mind's.—l ani, « etc., J VISITOR. i THE REAL CAUSE OF HOUSE [ CONGESTION _ Sir,—lt is time that someone replied to the panic ravings of certain people about the congestion of houses in Wei- 5 lington, pointing out how that in the ( case of Messrs. P. Fraser, H. Holland, !' and now Mr. It. Semple, a little know- - ledge is a dangerous thing, and that their superficial ravings after an epidemic and belore a by-election on this ' question are very far removed from the actual causation of the conditions 'they deplore with such virtuous indignation. One must know something of the history of Wellington city to appreciate the reason of the congestion of houses in what may be called the older parts of Wpl- ; lington, and'which are creeping into tho ; newer. Not that such conditions are in any way responsible for the epidemic, ■ though they may be- conditions that all [ deplore. Time was when property was rated on the annual value—that is, on tho return it brought in on the average, year ijk and year out, to the owner. At that time Wellington was a nearer ap- ; proach to the garden cities which are now being so vigorously advocated by town-planners than it is to-day, or ever likely to be. There were beautiful gardens in Ghuznce, Abel Smith, and Vivian Streets, orchards on the lower slopes of Mount Victoria, and magnificent gardens and lawns attached to half the houses on Thorndon fiat. Then, some time in tho '9fl's, the City Council of the time, in need of funds, brought about a change in the system of rating. Rating on the unimproved value was adopted without much thought of the consequences in the future, and the trouble commenced. Property owners with a gnrden or a bit of lawn found that they were being rated as , much on their land as if it were covered with rent-1 -producing houses, and building in the city became very active. At this the council. rejoiced exceedingly. It created a good deal of work; the number of building permits was published and bonsted about as an indication of tho swelling importance of the city and the added accommodation that was being provided for the increasing population. Up to a point the effect was not an unmixed evil, as there were at that time some large tracts of land, such as John MiU'tin'6 paddock (embracing Jessie Street and Vivian Street), Pearce's paddock (acres of land extending northward from about where the Alexandra Hall now stands to Abel Smith Street), and other blocks that were not being utilised as city lands. But as time went on, it was found that the gardens were gradually .disappearing, and houses were being erected*, where roses bloomed and orchards put forth their myriad blossoms each summer. Then with the rise of values, as tho city progressed, the rates increased to such an extent that very few were able to allow their land to stnnd in gardened array, and even the smaller gardens gave way to bricks and ninrlar and red pine stacks. So, by the united wisdom of the City Fathers of the tiruo, the state of tilings was brought about that is now viewed with such horror and disgust, and impassioned orations are made by honest advocates of the city beautiful that was deliberately destroyed by a vicious system of rating, which' certainly bucked up the city revenue, but at what a cost Messrs. Scmple, Frnser, and Holland are tailing tho , people of to-dny, hoping—for this is election time—to tickle tho ears of the electors with the conditions that have been created by the "grasping landlords." Would any one of the three gentlemen . named have acted differently hnd he , had the good fortuno to possess land in the city thirty or forty years back? Mr. Frasor, with a self-created halo round his head, draws attention to the fact that there are 29 houses on ail acre of ground here. Dear, dear! If he went to any other city, such as Melbourne or ' Sydney, or Glasgow, or Manchester, or ! Liverpool, or London, lie might sec forty bouses on an ncre—very good houses, too, built in terraces, closo together, with all modern conveniences, and yet with . not an inch of ground between them < other than tho brick partition wall. Then, having forced landlords to build, the later city councils enact laws providing for air spnee—the one element 1 they have through their by-laws com- ' pelied owners to abandon, or pay the , price for not doing so. To anyone whog 1 knmve Wellington-Hie three rogenerai tors arc newcomers—the real cause of 1 ckr-e building is not tho gripping landldrd, but a pernicious syslem of rating j which forces an owner to produce some sort of revenue from every foot of land he possesses in order to pay tho heavy rates, which go up automatically as the nivpcrly" increases in value.—l am, etc.,' 1 CITIZEN.