WHEN FAMILY LIVED IN ROOM

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 192, 12 May 1944, Page 6

WHEN FAMILY LIVED IN ROOM

Cr. Appleton’s Reply LABOUR HAD MAJORITY ON HEALTH COMMITTEE His Labour opponent advertised the plight of a woman who, in 1935. was living with her family of three in one room, but he did not say that the Wellington City Council health committee then had four Labour members out of seven committeemen, said Cr. Will Appleton, Citizens’ candidate for the Wellington mayoralty, at Thorndon and Wadestown last night. The Labour mayoral candidate should ask former councillors, Messrs. C. 11. Chapman, MJ*, (then health committee chairman), A. Black, T. Brindle, M.L.C., and P. M. Butler (the other health committee members) what they had done about it. He would probably learn that till Labour members of the Wellington Hospital Board used the occasion to bring the publicity spotlight on themselves the council knew _ nothing of it and, if it did, the committee which could have done something was chaired by a Labour member and had a Labour majority. Mr. R. Holland, under whose name the Labour advertisements were inserted, knew the position well, as he was then a member of the hospital board. But today he remembered only the facts that suited him. The woman was living in unsatisfactory conditions, but Labour did not mention that the house was occupied by her relatives. Of course, the house was still there'. The council had no power to pu-1 it down. It could, under the Health Aet, issue a closing order and require the premises to be vacated or repaired. That did not do the repairing nor did it find a home for those who should be living under more satisfactory conditions. A magistrate would not, under the Fair Rents - Act, evict a person who had no home to go to. , In 1935, that same Labour-majority health committee through Mr. Chapman introduced a motion to embark on comprehensive house building and slum clearance, but it allowed the motion to lapse. Later, another Labour councillor put. in a notice of motion to investigate living conditions, but that motion, too, after the preliminaries had given the mover much publicity, was allowed to lapse. So mueh for lip service. People were living today in undesirable conditions. They could not get a State house because the letting of these was on a much more discriminatory basis than was permitted the private owner. _ ■ Referring to the time devoted to civic affairs, Cr. Appleton said that in the past three years he had attended 76 council meetings out of 79, and 216 committee meetings. # * * Replying to Mr. Roberts’s allegation that only in Wellington had there been restrictions of bus fuel and tyres for workers’ transport, Cr. W. H. Stevens said at Wadestown last night that the restrictions were imposed by the Government fuel controlling authority.. He could riot imagine it discriminating against Wellington. The council had no say whatever beyond representing for an increased allocation; this had been done. The 18 bus drivers averaged 60 hours a week, with five call-backs a fortnight. This in itself was proof that the council was doing the most with the resources it had, consistent with not making health-

breaking demands on the bus drivers. Since January, 1941, 168 bus drivers, motormen and conductors had entered the armed forces, and 329 had resigned (including 69 women conductors). The net loss, jvith three conductors directed to other work, was 500. This had been offset by qjigaging 182 men and 243 women, but the net deficit was 75. Women conductors averaged 50 hours a week, motormen and ipale conductors between 58 and 60 (many worked 70 hours). Nearly JO per cent, of motprmen were aged between 61 and 65. « => ♦ Cr. M. S. Galloway, at Thorndon, said that Labour referred to the trams as “bull-pens," but the demeanour 6f the travellers, and the tramways staff, showed ail appreciation of wartime difficulties which was sadly lacking in the opposition ticket.