The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1920. A GROWING EVIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1920. A GROWING EVIL.

The acuteness of the housing problem is felt in varying degrees throughout the Dominion, and, so far, but little has been done towards a solution, owing to the shortage of labor and materials. At th'e 'last meeting of the New Plymouth Borough Council, the Mayor brought up this burning question, in connection with the consequent overcrowding in a number of houses in the town, and he instanced cases which had recently come under his notice, showing a very serious state of affairs existed. He mentioned one case in which a house was crowded with families, one room being occupied by a father, mother and six children, and the reason given by the mother for not renting a second room was that the owner required twenty-five shillings a week for it. It is clear, therefore, that the house shortage—a deplorable evil by itself—is being aggravated by the greed of extortionate householders. In consequence of the Mayor's statements, a Daily News reporter made careful and exhaustive inquiries into this matter, and the results of his investigations have been published. Probably the majority of New Plymouth's citizens have noideaof the extent of overcrowding'that exists in the town", and they may not realise how great a menace this evil is to the health of the community. Their eyes have now been opened, not only to the extent of the overcrowding, but to the fact that conditions are becoming worse instead of better, so that they must be well aware that if some effective remedial action is not taken speedily by the authorities, the health and prosperity of the town will be seriously affected. It is quite true that a y number o! ! houses have been built during the last eigfiteen months, but a largo proportion of these Avere for retired farmers or house-owners who had sold their residences and were erecting new homes. A small number of workers' homes have been put up by the State, . and there are a few others in course of construction, but these hardly touch the fringe of the problem. Meanwhile the evil grows and brings other evils in its train. It is remarkable that provision was made under the ' Public Health Amendment Act, 1918, whereby itwas not lawful to let a house for the occupation of more than one family "without the approval of the local authority in'accordance with regulations to be made hereunder," but as no regulations havebeen made,' the powers of local bodies are still undefined. This omission should be rectified without delay, though it will increase the difficulties of solving the problem. An illustration of the manner in which municipalities .can be imposed on in respect to controlling building construction was recently given at Mount Eden, where a per mit was asked for and granted for alterations, the plans disclosing only external work, while the real object of the owner was to convert the dwelling into live flats,- with only one sanitary system, connected to a septic tank, and this was in one of the most closely settled portions of the borough. The result of the disclosure was a decision !;;> have the by-laws re-considered, with special reference t.o apartment houses—a matter of vital importance to the health of the community- Obviously those who are forced to take part in this overcrowding cannot be turned into the streets, so that additional emphasis is placed on the urgency for the provision of more houses. How is this to be accomplished within a reasonable time? All sorts of suggestions have been made, but mostly of an impracticable or undesirable nature. It would seem that the first step should be an embargo on the construction of all buildings except'houses, and possibly a limited number of larger edifices that are absolutely essential. With the present shortage of labor and materiols there is no hope #f speeding up the erection of dwellings unless both labor and material are withdrawn from work of lesser urgency. The Government apparently favors this line of action, but possibly not in a form sufficiently drastic to effect • .the desired fiuj-fioje, In yjevy, jof

the existing evils the Government would be justified in proceeding t d extreme measures in order to safeguard the health of the community and establish better living conditions than are possible at present. Local authorities should not merely discuss the problem, but take active steps to solve it. There are many towns in the Dominion far worse off for housing accommodation than New Plymouth. N\> efforts should be spared to rrovent, "slum" conditions being a serious menace to health. It is high time the combined wisdom of the country'evolved a practical housing scheme, for with the advent of population from overseas the position -will become intolerable, as well as a blot on the good nam'e of the Dominion.