Snuffing Them

NZ Truth, Issue 1202, 13 December 1928, Page 6

Snuffing Them

— « — TN the centre of the political whirlpool which commenced to swirl iii the House last week was an eddy which, entirely different from the • average waste power which ran contiguous to it, at least flowed m the direction of cogency and apposite presentation. The Rent Restriction Continuation. Bill, introduced by Labor Member Peter Fraser, is the demand for, an equitable balance m the account between tenant and landlord, and it is evident from the heavy weights which landlords threw into' the rollers of their arguments against the original Act, which lapses next month, that the wide margins they have squeezed from their victims between the rollers were too wide, too comfortable to lose. The position iii Wellington, by way of example, is disgraceful. A large percentage of land and property owners — the extent; of the majority cannot arbitrarily be assessed — take full advantagie of their tenants' ignorance of the law, and ■ the utmost farthing is torn from the slender Wages which they are permitted to earn. A .survey of "Wellington would show that far tpo many householders pay away m rent too great a percentage of their salaries. Yet the law limits rentals is a favor percentage on the capital value. The passage of Fraser 's Continuation Bill will straight-jacket a lot of property-holding Ali Babas who, having thrust some of their unhappy victims into miserable, bottle-necked contrivances they call "houses" or "flats," tweak and torture them with the prongs of extortionate demand.