"NO EVICTIONS"

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 10, 7 October 1920, Page 4

"NO EVICTIONS"

AIM OF RENTPAYERS' LEAGUE

HOUSING PROBLEM DISCUSSED

About 6ixty persons attended a meeting of the Reutpaycrs* Protection League, which'wife, held in the, Trades' Hall last .owning. The president (Mr. 11. Sproule) was in Tiie ohoir. Traversing Mr. Mossey's statement that tho housing flifficuity was being overcome, tho president contended that conditions were actually getting worse and were extending throuijhout New Zealand. In, order to give point to his argument Mr. Sproule quoted a number of coses, including tho following: (!)■ House, Tinakori Road, rent £2 sb. per week; live years' lease; .EIOO bonus. (2) Berhanipore: Three unfurnished rooms, rent JE2 10s. per week; £& bonus. (8) Man and his wife decided to take up_ an arxirtment house, the man having just oomo out of hospital. Had to buy a poor lot of furniture at ,£235 in order to get possession. Then a few months Jator he got notice to quit. (3) Brooklyn, four rooms, with po° r conveniences and unfurnished. Rent asked i 5 10s. per week. (4) Three rooms and kitchen-, otto, unfurnished, Oriental Bay, rent £Z 10s. per week, with .£2O bonus. Mr. Sproulo went on to deplore the practice of some landlords demanding bonuses. Conditions were supposed to, bo good on Wellington Terrace, but a case had been reported where an old lady," two 6ons of 27 aud 16 years respectively, and a married daughter w:th a child of six years were living in one room. The president went on to point out that landlords not satisfied with the Magistrate's decision in favour of the tenant wero adopting a policy of persecuting tho latter by continuing to issue summonses for possession. As the' land; lords had adopted an aggressive policy, it behoved tho tenants to adopt similar tactics. As a 6tart it had been decided to post the names of certain landlords who were treating tenants unscrupulously. This list would be available for prospective tenants. A general statement was then made by the secretary, Mr. H. Dyson. In Wellington things were, he said, gradually getting from bad to worse. Parliament was productive of nothing but promises. Houses on "paper" were no comfort to tho hundreds o"f people who were daily tramping the' streets looking for shelter. Over a period of three months 101 tenement cases were heard in the Wellington Court, and out of this number only 33 orders were made for possession. Continuing, he said that the only solution to the problem was more houses and still more houses, and this meant muoh more agitation than at present. Mrs. R. Catlow moved: "That this association calls on the Government to take active steps to relieve tho acute housing 6hortago in tho Dominion by pursuing a vigorous poljcy, and in the meantime to allow no evictions." "I think Ve ought to add to that, •remarked the president, "that tho Government bring down a Bill making it an offence for any landlord, hotelkeeper, boardinghouse proprietor, or apartment house proprietor to raise the question of, 'nave you any children?'" (Hear, hear.)' The motion, together with the addition suggested by ihe chairman, was carried unanimously.