HOUSING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 291, 4 September 1919, Page 5

HOUSING PROBLEM

!. LABOUR DEMONSTRATION i »i — '— ■ COMPREHENSIVE SCHEME ; WANTED GOVERNMENT URGED TO ACT : The urgency of tho housing problem in ! the Dominiou was emphasised at a pub--1 lio meeting held in the Town Hall last i night under the auspices of tho Welling- ■ ton Labour Representation Committee. I Tho gathering was presided over by Mr. i J. Ward. 1 The chairman said the housing prob--1 lem was causing unrest, not only in New ( Zealand, but in'nil parts of the world. The people wero demanding better condi- ] tions than existed -at present, and would . not be contented with what was consider. '■ ecl good enough five or six years ago. It was hoped by all concerned in the Lab- , our movement that much good would • como from the unrest that was now going on in regard to the housing question. Mr. P. Fraser, M.P., was tho first speaker, -and ho moved: "This meeting of Wellington' citizens calls upon the Government to immediately address itself to (the problem of tho housing of the people of the Dominion. It affirms . that tho overcrowding and general housing conditions in Wellington and many other portions of the country, are a standing, disgrace and reproach to the Governments of the last decade. In view of the fact that the Liberal leader, Sir Josop'h Ward, lias stated that houses can be provided at 10s. Gd. per week, and that ■.£1,000,000 should be voted for the purpose, this meeting considers that a comprehensive Dominion housing, scheme should bo embarked upon without,delay. It also asks that in the until sufficient homes are provided to meet the requirements of the population, section 13, subsection 1, of the. War Legislation and Statute Amendment Act of the 1918 session of Parliament, which prevents the ejection of a soldier, a discharged soldier, or the wife or widow of a soldier, or discharged soldier, should be applied to all householders." . . ' r \ Failure'of Private Enterprise, Mr.: Fraser said that private enter-

prise had failed miserably in dealing with the' housing question, and local enterprise was not capablq of remedying ' the evil that existed. The conditions obtaining in Wellington were not new, and the City Council liad failed in the pnst to take the necessary steps to provide houses notwithstanding that it ha' 1 power to do so. ' Now, tho council found that it could not tacklo_ the_ question easily. Tho way in whjcli it was attempting to solve the matter _ reflected no credit on the' council. The council was not seeking to provide Ihomes for the people, but was going in for speculative building. Instead of solving the problem, the policy adopted by the council would only tend 1 to accentuate the ovil. The Citv Council was permitting the sale of tho houses it was going to.build. This had been objected to by the Labour members of the council, who maintained {hat the houses should not be sold and prices forced up artificially as a consequence. Tho Gov-ernor-General's Speech made only brief reference to the housing difficulty, and did not indicate that tho seriousnesses of the properly grasped. Tho other day the speaker-spent a forenoon in inspecting houses in Wellington. On ten of these tho City Council's inspector had to make ndverse reports and imist on repairs being carried out. There were sad tragedies associated with fho housing problem in Wellington, and tho working (•■lass must, make up their minds that these conditions must be stopped. In his_speech at tho Town Hall on .Monday night Sir Joseph Ward had touc'hed on the housing question, and dealt 'at length with what, was termed "sane Labour." If there was much more talk of "sant. Labour" it would bo necessary for some attention to be given to "sane LiberalIsm,'' for the disgraceful lousing conditions in the Dominion wer.e due as much to Liberalism as to Toryism. The people of the Dominion were sick and tired of the manner in which / they had been lioused._ ''Wei want Dhis meeting to emphiisiso in no uncertain .manner," added Mr. Eraser, "thai tho working clasn shall be treated no more a$ goods and chattels." (Applause.) • What, was wanted was for the Government to nut into nrnctico tho proposals enunciated by Sir Joseph Ward in regard to housing. "They are good enough for us as an instalment," said Mr. Frnser. The working class would not be satisfied until every family._ throughout the land had a decent home in which to bring up oliikiren. -(Applause.) ■

People Must Doclde. Mrs. Beck seconded the motion, . She said that tho City Council's proposals showed thais they were either incapable or unwilling to deal'with tho problem in a satisfactory manner, therefore it was lelt that the Government should be approached. The people must tackle tne diincuuy tor txitfiii reives, and the only way in which that could be done was *>y returning a Labour Government at the nest elections. During her servieo on tho Charitable Aid Board she. had come into touch tfith many deplorable cases arising out ot two nousing trouble, -fl- lew aaytrago 6uq and another Labour woman bad inspected a number of houses, and they cauie across a places wiisre u man, his wile, ana fivo children were c.ompoiled to live in one room, because tbey could not get a house to live in Women were compelled to Ming children into the world uuder just such conditions (.IV'f Tho matter was lelened to the City Council and lcjio overnnient : but tliey made the usual replies. it wag not loir to expect women to bring . up. children -under tho siumlike conditions that existed in \\'tiiiug. low yards of the iuwn ■liall there was a house which was overrun with rats, ai)d the mother was airuid to leave her -children in one ot tho looms lor fear tuat they would be at. tacked by tho raiii at mgiit tnuo. Ka< burning soldiers had been facwl with tho impossibility of trying to find houses lot the wives whicli tney brougiit Oaclt with thom, and yet they were told before (hoy went away that they would be treated lairly on tiieir return, buch a condition oi affairs was a disgrace to the men who ha<t made putnouo speeches to the soldiers bwore tuey went away. Mr. It. ijeniple, Ai.P., quoted ligures compiled by tuo Government Statistician showing thtij out of a population oi over 1,000,000 there wore only 5(j,8(i0 people in tho Dominion ,ivho owned their own homes, freo and unencumbered from mortgages. Out of the metropolitan population of 95,000 in Wellington, only 2064 pooplo owned tiieir ov.'ii homes free from mortgages, and 12,702 were "victims of tho landlords." Sir Joseph Ward had expressed ,his readiness to' deal wifch iho housing question, but both the Liberals and tho Tories had been weighed .in the balance and found wanting. Tho squalor in tho city of Wellington, the misery throughout tho country generally, and tho increased cost of living that was pressing on tho shoulders of -tho wageearnors was the "handiwork of tho crowd that manipulated tho political destinies of this country during tho past few years."

Mr. L. Glover, president of the Wellington Waterside- Workers' Union, said that the landlords maintained that rents had not gono up very much. But the landlord class had another way of increasing ronts than ]>y raising them directly on the occupiers of houses. They sold houses and tho now owners charged more rent than 'did the former owners. In that, way the working class was made to suffer. During Jhe war the Government had erected -buildings in which to house war records. Imf. it took no steps to build houses for those who wore helping to carry oji the Avar. He did not altogether blame the Government for tlio neuteness of the housing problem. Tt was for Hie people to beslir themselves and see that the problem was solved effectually., (Applause.) Tents in Parliamentary Grounds, Mr. 11. E. Holland, M.P., said the Parliamentary Labour Party would lend its support to tlio demand of the meeting that tho housing ouestion should be tackled by tho Government. Tho housing conditions in Wellington to-dny wore dißgracoM. Tonants tad no guar-

iintee of permanency os ! tenure, and even the Kent Restriction .Let was not efl'eptive in keeping down rents. "I am in the position of possibly having to make a shift," remarked Mr. Holland, "nnd 60 is Mr. Semple. We may liavo to make application to the Speaker_ lor a permit to erect tent? in Parliament House grounds. Thai: is ' within the hounds of possibility.'' The National Government had failed to deal with the housing conditions. ]'t might be that the housing; question could not be settled during the life oi the present Parliament, but the people should sea that they returned Labour representatives who would make it their business to solve the problem. The motion was carried unanimously on a show of hands. BUILDING SCHEME AT PALMERSTON NORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL TAKING ACTION. 'By Telegraph.-Snechl Correspondent. Palmerston North, September 3. Important suggestions relative to coping with the housing problem in Palmerston North were discussed at the last meeting of the Borough Council, when the following clauses ?of the Reserves Committee's report came up for discussion:—(l) That the council bo recommended to set aside a portion of tho reserves adjoining Fitzherbert Street and Park Road for development as. a garden, suburb, reserving a further. 50 acres for park purposes, and that tho engineer's T>hm for such develonraent as submitted

for the anproval of the counfil be adopted. i' 2) That with a view of immediately providing for the needs of the council's emnloyees. 15 cottages be erected' on section 153 C, Part Lot SO, and along tho line of the street at nresent facing tho borough stablest, providing loan proposals for the purpose nre adopted, (3) That witli a view of planning the proposed municipal cottages on the right lines the committee be empowered to add to itfj numbers for consultation purposes such persons as shall in its opinion.be qualified to' assist, to include representatives of the workers themselves.

Spea.king . to the recommendations, Councillor E. H. Ornbh (chairman of the Reserves Committee) said that it was felt that with tlm ure.it developn in nt <& the town in the futur.i there would have to bo more reserves in the town. This meant that more revenue would have to be provided. The subdivision of Teservs proposed would provide this, and it would also Tvrovide nn onpnHunitr of pffordinfi an object le=son to Wi« Test of the town as tn how land fihon'd be cut up. It vmiHl i7'vo i>rivnt». ] nn d owners nn insight into town-nlanning, and should serve to emnliasise the benefit of the ownera combining and making a pardon suburb. The arw. to be set "side for houses was about 70 acres, TV=e to acres wnnitd cut nn in to cpct'Ons, Ti of which would be utilised for tb« cottaees under the nreseut. nronosnls. Tt. was estimated i-kit tl, P houses) wouldicost apnrnrimntply ' .S7OO.

AfHf di^cus^^' 1 tlir> rwieil adonted. f'«»n and Wd over chins'* (2) for fuller consideration it the next meeting.