HOUSING THE PEOPLE
♦ NEW SOUTH WALES SCHEME A CURE FOR BOLSHEVISM The New South .Wales Minister for Housing, Mr. Hoi, in a speech at tha ■ inauguration of the Stockton Garden Village, said that they were that day handling over the first uhreo cottages built under the Government's new housing Bohome. Theso were portion of 100 cottages to 'be erected on 70 acres of land appropriated in tho-vicinity. In days to coino the Stockton Garden Villugc, witli its recreation oval and .its other gardens and beach recreation reserve, would he one of the features of the Newcastle district. These cottages would cost - from jCiOO to J5500, according to size, aud the occupants' would ha-vo tho light to purclmso them by weekly rental payments over a term, of years. • ■ -•..-■ Tho main purpose of this particular scheme was to assist tho einp'ibyees of Walsh Island to obtain their own homes, but if theso men failed to appT.y. for tho houses they would bo disposed of to other workers in the district. .
This was the iirst of many undertakings on the part of tho Government to house tho ißople.- More mid more ho felt the urgent need of drastic action in this direction. .. To-day in Sydney—ha believed also in Nswcastl(v-we had the spectacle of" several families living in the same house, and tho ■ overcrowding was becoming worse as time went on. This was calculated to-lower the, moral and physical standard of the coming generation. ■ <f ■
The condition of overcrowding■-which" had como into existence during tho 3ast few years was certain to be an inljjort.int fnctor in producing the Bolshevists of tho future. Any average man or woman could he pardoned for developing unholy discontent if called upon to live, year after yea.) , , under the conditions to. whirii some of the workers of to-day had to submit.
Z , Owning His .Own Homo,
An outstanding feature of the Government's new scheme, -Jlr. Hall went on, would bo that in every case a- umn;.-would have 11 chiinco of buying for himself— by paying as much us ho pays "in rent ■to-day over a term of years. -He believed that when a man put .£2O into his own (home he became a better citizen as a consequence. When he had something to lose he had nh interest in guarding the country against enemies from without and more potent enonieds from within.
It was not intended that the Government's activities should only manifest : themselves in starting garden. villages, the Minister explained. • Itecently. he had visited the Trades Hall to meet representatives of. the hrjcklnycrs,_.car« neuters, and plasterers' unions, and otEen sections of tho building trades. He was assured thero t'hui a very Urge number of men had bought blocks of land for themselves in various suburbs iu the hope of some d.iv, being able to build. They had bought thpir land where they wanted it and were not so much attract, ed to a garden village like Daceyville, which was far from their place of employment.
They were tradesmen, and were prepared to use their own labour in putting up their own houses, but they had uo bricks, no timber, no materials. They wanted to know would the Government supply these- things. , He was glad to bo able ■ now to give an affirmative answer. ■ . ■■.-.:,
Where a man owned his land, and was » skilled tradesman, and able to arrange for the bulk of the labour in his house, the new Housing Department would advance all materials, and, if necessary, provide small advances for the finishing trades—taking a mortgage over tho whole property, and accepting icpayment by small instalments. Ho ■had hopes that by this means nm;iy houses would ba begun in tho immediate future. ,
This.concession was not afforded merelv to tho tradesmen of Sydney. Mr. Hall s;iid. It would apply equally to Newcastle, or any country town in the State. Hi! was busy examining many other (schemes connected, with the problem of providing 'houses. ' llr. Ilnll concluded by saying that the task hi* colleagues had placed upon, him was a difficult one and nn important one. Ho could not predict. (Ht he would life successful in solving all thn problems involved in it, but could only promise that every ounce of his energy, and of whatever ability lie m'ight have, would bo devoted to their solution.
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Dominion, 14 August 1919, Page 5
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716HOUSING THE PEOPLE Dominion, 14 August 1919, Page 5
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