The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1919. THE HOUSING BILL.
Few problems have been more widely discussed in the Dominion than that of providing a remedy for the great dearth of dwellings and the consequent hardships inflicted on a large number of people as the result of the shortage. The Government has at last submitted a Bill to Parliament dealing with this burning question, but whether that object will be attained by the means proposed in the Bill is very much open to doubt. The Premier, in moving the second reading of the measure, stated that, owing to lack of money and dearness of material there had been very few houses built during the war." To say that lack of money was a factor is too absurd for credence, for never in the history of the Dominion has there been more money available than was the case during the war. That wages and material were factors is generally admitted, the price of roofing iron being almost prohibitive, mainly because nothing was done to stop the shameful profiteering that went on. Naturally the enquiry arises as to why, in face of the enhanced price of timber and roofing material, steps were not taken by the Government to control the prices of cement or to take over the cement works in the Dominion, as a war measure, and to control the price of timber. Steps might also have been taken to offer a liberal premium for the production of permanent roofing material, such as tiles suitable for the purpose. Now that prices have soared beyond all reason a scheme to provide houses is launched, necessitating the increase of the Government advance to workers from £450 to £750, to be lent at such a rate as to protect the State from loss. Sir Joseph Ward promptly pointed out that the weekly payments would be from 14s 7d on a £750 house to over 16s on an £BSO dwelling, and he contended that 10s 6d would be the maximum the workers could afford, as the majority of wage earners were not getting more than 10s 6d a day. The principle of allocating one day's pay a week for rent is one that the Railway Department adopted in relation to the cottages built for the men. Sir Joseph Ward's, proposal is to utilise the Savings Bank deposits for house building, there being an average excess of deposits over withdrawals amounting to two millions a year. Under that scheme the advances would be at 3J per cent., on which he claimed a profit would be made, and not a loss. Sir Joseph appears over optimistic. The whole I question ' centres, not on the • amount pf the advances, but pnJ
the cost of the building. Mr. Hornsby contended that concrete houses up to five rooms could be built for £650 or £7OO, but the evidence showed there was a building ring in the country that would do its utmost to prevent the Government erecting houses at that figure. During the discussion in the House the question of the scheme entailing a loss was freely mentioned as inevitable, and if the houses are to be built under present conditions the prediction will assuredly be verified. By making the housing problem a national concern the duty is imposed on the Government to take exceptional means for overcoming an abnormal situation. It would seem, therefore, that the only way in which the problem can be satisfactorily solved is for the Government to adopt the recommendation of the Industries Committee to indent all the material required from overseas, admit it free of duty, and supply it to those who will undertake the erection of workers' cottages on a percentage basis. Timber should be commandeered, if State sawmills are not erected and used for milling timber from Crown lands, which should be conveyed pver the railways at preferential rates; cement commandeered or the factories taken . over and worked; labor-saving devices obtained that would always be available for Government work, and everything possible done to cut down the cost of building. That is the only way in which it will be possible to bring the weekly cost of a good, sanitary dwelling within the means of the majority of the workers. The Industries Committee rightly contended that considerations of economy should not be permitted to bring the dwellings below a reasonable minimum standard of accommodation, attractiveness of design, sanitation, and convenience. By creating a Housing Board as recommended by the Industries Committee and proceeding on the lines mentioned above there is a reasonable prospect of achieving success, but not otherwise. The chief matter for the Government would then be the provision of cheap fares and suitable means of transport for the workers from their homes to their work. The Bill before the House only touches the fringe of the subject. What is needed is a courageous determination to carry out a national work by whatever means will best attain the object in view, and the Industries Committee's report appears to suggest the most likely means.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19191016.2.15
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1919, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
842The Daily News. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1919. THE HOUSING BILL. Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1919, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Taranaki Daily News. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.