MENACE OF SLUMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 757, 2 September 1929, Page 11

MENACE OF SLUMS

METHODIST MISSIONER SPEAKS OUT TRAGEDY OF SQUALOR That the “Queen City” has its own backyard, and a decidedly dirty yard at that does not seem to have occurred to the members of the City Council who recently decided that the erection of oneroom flats might introduce the danger of slum conditions, said the Rev. C, G. Scrimgeour, Methodist City Missioner, preaching in the Strand Theatre last evening. “The humour of the situation is seen when we consider that within 500yds of the seat of civic authority rotten old houses are being used to accommodate two, and, in some cases, three families, in my work it is no unusual thing to find whole families living in two rooms with no conveniences whatever. A short time ago I had occasion to deal with a case where a man, his wife and four children were sleeping in one room. It is no exaggeration to say that hundreds of parents are struggling to bring up their children in conditions almost as bad. “It may do the authorities and the general public good to learn—if they do not already know—-that slums are not merely a possible danger but a positive menace in the city at the present time. The Minister of Health in the late Government was very surprised at the existing conditions when he was shown over some of the hovels let as ‘homes.’ I intend to invite the present Minister to do likewise for the problem is of extreme importance and drastic enforcement of health laws is very necessary. “In the city there are some very good landlords, but I dare not express my opinion of the owners of the filthy buildings in the heart of the city who, hiding behind some agent, let them as dwellings. THE SLUM DWELLER “The most tragic aspect of slumdom is its direct product—the slumdweller, doubly tragic because, once created, the slum-dweller becomes a slum-creator. The dark shadow of immorality is cast over whole areas and even those who still have pride in their homes find the greatest difficulty—almost an impossibility in fact -—in protecting their children under such circumstances. “God knows it is hard enough to keep young people at home in this restless age when those homes are fitted with modern conveniences and comforts. Considering the circumstances under which hundreds of children are brought up in the city, need we throw up our hands in amazement and horror when we learn of the immoral conduct of girls aged fourteen? Nor can we be surprised at the amount of drunkenness. The surprising thing to me is that many of these people are ever sober, considering that a drunken stupor is the only respite from cold, dirty misery that they know. - “Why do not these people leave their slum houses when there are plenty of clean ones to be had in the suburbs? No doubt there aie many homes available—for those who can pay the rent in advance and afford bus fares. “Then again the tragedy is that hundreds of these unfortunates have lost desire to seek better surroundings. Slumdom has burned itself into-their very existence, and there they prefer to remain until every shred of pride and decency has gone. Can we as a Christian community allow this state of affairs to continue? What then is tho remedy? “New Zealand is a young country and we cannot afford to haYe our cities polluted with slums that compare with older countries. “Now is the time to make a cleanup of the poorer quarters and with such action will come a reduction of vice and crime. No new laws are necessary; only the enforcement of those already in existence is required. The present method of allowing landlords to slap a coat of paint on the outside and cover up the dirt of the inside with cheap wallpaper is immoral, to say the least of it. “There is only one way to shift slum-dwellers from the slums, and that is to enforce the demolition, regardless of ownership, of every house in the city unsuitable for habitation. If the authorities will not attack this evil in earnest then I appeal to the employers of labour, the business men and the public generally to take the matter up and render the community an everlasting service. “Some will ask where will the people go to live. Is business and industry generally so bad in Auckland that big concerns cannot pay some attention to the housing problems of those in their employ? Any one of them plucky enough to undertake a task cri this nature will find himself amply repaid. This kind of thing is far past the experimental stage in other countries, and it is up to some of the larger concerns in our midst to take the lead. It will be much cheaper in the long run than maintaining the present costly system of relief and social service, which at the best of times has a hard job to hold its own against overwhelming odds. “I wish that the Minister of Health would find time to come with me and see for himself the condition of things in this, the Queen City of a most wonderfully endowed country,” concluded the speaker.