RETURNED MEN AND HIGH RENTS
"It's about time these money grabbers wefe put in their place. Their -motto is 'I am alright, why should I worry about anyone else.' It would do some of them good to sleep in a trench for awhile." These. are the sentiments expressed by an ex-serviceman in a letter to the Editor of the "Auckland' Star" referring to the high rents at present being charged for accommodation. The serviceman, who signs himself j "Disgusted Digger" has expressed ; himself f.orcibly and pungently on a i question which can stand all the I pungency in the world. The present j unbending attitude of landladies in I general towards all members of the j public, whether they be ex-service- | men or not, is enough to get even the most placid back up, and no man, who | has spent up to hve of the best years | of his life overseas, can fail to feel i that things at home are not so rosy as he hacl often thought. ' To be perfectly fair, of course, the problem, s'uch as it is must he vi'ewed from both .sides. No landlady with the present high cost of living could be expected to rent her accommodation to anyone at pre-war rates, but on the other hand we feel that some are being hopelessly exploited. Although the question of ridiculous rentals affects eVerybody ijn this
house-short New Zealand of ours, we ! are only interested in this column as ' to how it directly affects returned , men. There is no doubt that but for t the efforts of the Rehabilitation De- ' partment, the R.S.A. and the 2nd j N.Z.E.F. Assojeiation,, ex-servicqmen ! would have "had it" and would have , been forced to take their place with , everyone else in the mad scheme of 1 things. As it it they do get a large ! measure of help from these bodies . ' and it will undoubtedly only be a matter of time before they all receive , consideration. . In the meantime, however, ex-servicemen are being fleeced ! right and left by people who, we might judge, have had no war time repercussions in their own homes. There have been enough specific cases mentioned in the columns of the press of ridiculous exploitatioh on the part of boarding house keepers, to spare us the monotonous job of reeliilg off more. Let it suffice to j say that all over Rotorua and other I parts.of the country ia well, returned | men, with their wives in most cases are living under the most unenviabie J conditions. This is, to a large extent, inevitable but the fabulous prices that these men have to pay are by no means inevitable. Tliere appears to be a Fair Rents Act, but on the other hand it doesn't seem to do much good. I "You can take it or you can leave it" j seems to be the war cry, as our friend i put it, and it seems dim having to take it.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/RMPOST19461231.2.13.2
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Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5290, 31 December 1946, Page 3
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494RETURNED MEN AND HIGH RENTS Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5290, 31 December 1946, Page 3
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