HON. J. RIGG.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8509, 10 August 1907, Page 5

HON. J. RIGG.

ADDRESS AT THE TOWN HALL.

The Hon. J. Rigg. M.L.C., de livered an address in the Town Hall last evening, on the Workers' Dwell ings Act and other matters affecting the workers. The chair was occupiee by the Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine) who briefly introduced the speaker He read an apology for absenc* from Mr A. W. Hogg, M.H.R. The Hon. Mr Rigg, who wai greeted with applause on rising, firs' thanked the Workers' Laud Settle ment League for inviting him t( address a meeting in Masterton. 11 was the first occasion on which hj( had addressed a Masterton audience, and he hoped it would not be the last. The scope of his address w.)ulc be on the lines of explaining the Workers' Dwellings Act, how it was being administered, and what it was proposed to do in the future. He then proposed to deal with the Advances to Workers Act and Closei Settlement. The latter was one of the means of solving the problem of the unemployed which was one of the most important matters affecting the workers to-day. It was laid down in the Workers' Dwellings Act of 1905 that a worker was a man whose yearly income was not more than £156. The house provided was to the value of £350 if built in wood and £450 if built in brick. He detailed the various methods by which a dwelling might be acquired under the Act. Under the Municipal Corporations Act a Borough could let dwellings to any male or female who was employed in any work. The difference between the two methods was that the Boroughs could not part with the freehold of the buildings. He considered that the Government had given to the Boroughs greater power than they retained themselves which seemed an extraordinary method. There was also another provision by which the Government could erect the buildings and vest them in the Boroughs for management, retaining, of course, the right to take back the dwellings in the event of bad administration. When the Act was first circulated the general opinion of the members of the Legislative Council was that the purchasing clause was not in favour of the workers. The workers paid nearly double what they should for their houses. Those present would no doubt like to know what had been done under the Act. Up to March last 71 dwellings had been erected in the different centres of the colony and 52 of these had been leased. The average cost of the houses had been £476, and the weekly rental had averaged from 9s 3d to 10s Bd. This was for five-roomed houses. With such low rentals as these it would be thought that the houses would be "rushed." But they were not. He, for one, was puzzled at this apathy on the part of the workers. They objected to living in the suburbs of cities because they were too far away from their various unions, lodges, etc. The Minister of Labour had recently said that he intended to build about fifty houses a year in Newtown (Wellington). It was expected that these houses, let at a low rental, would have the effect of reducing the rent for houses all round and generally benefit the workers. But it was not likely that this would come about, lie was not good at mental arithmetic, but, he would estimate that at the present rate of progress, in the matter of building workers' dwellings, it would be about ten or fifteen years before Masterton saw any workers' homes. He asked what had the Boroughs done under the Municipal Corporations Act to house tne workers? Practically noth ing. He would suggest that the Government should use their powers under the Act of 1905 and build the homes and vest them in the boroughs for management. The only two things required for workers' dwellings were money and land. Land could be bought, and the money, lie suggested, could be provided out of the large amounts that were being borrowed annually for land settlement. Last year only £34,000 was spent in workers' homes, and this was somewhat disproportionate to the amount borrowed for land settlement. He advocated the tenement system as the only means of overcoming the difficulty of high prices of land, because a large number of families could be housed on a very small piece of ground. The speaker then went on to discuss the Advances to Workers' Act. The operation of the Act was greatly harassed by the fact that before any man coul.l get an advance from the Government he had to have some security. This Act, he considered, like the Workers' Dwellings Act, was only framed for the "aristocracy of the labourers." What about the man who was only on casual labour or. worse than that, unemployed? How was he going to obtain an advance from the Government without security? There were plenty of unemployed and this state of affairs should not be allowed to exist in a civilised community. His opinion was that the Government did nothing for these people. His solution of the difficulty was to place all the men possible on the land. The lease-in-perpetuity was a fine thing, but it was useless to the man without capital. He could not fulfil the clauses of the lease. The speaker advocated the Government advancing money to these young men on approved personal security, in order to give them a start. This might seem revolutionary, but he saw little element of risk in it. The people of New Zealand thought they were very progressive, but in some matters they were very far behind other countries. A difficulty would he found in getting some of the unemployed on the land. They should be educated to a farming life, and this could best be done by State farms. Labour colonies should also be established in New Zealand. Labour colonies were in vogue in Germany, and had been successful in keeping down the number of unemployed. (Applause). The Chairman said that Mr Rigg would be pleased to answer any questions submitted. The speaker was asked what was the difference between securing a

j house from th« Government and i securing one in the open market. I Mr Rigg replied that the advanI tage in obtaining a house from the Government was that it could be got cheaper, because the Government could borrow more money under more favourable terms than a private individual, and they did not require so much rent for their houses. In answer to other questions Mr Rigg stated that he considered land nationalisation would tend towards improving the condition of the workers. He believed in the nationalisation of every industry, but that wouid not come about just yet. It was a good thing to look up to, and, looking back, it was interesting to see how rapidly the Government were advancing towards nationalisation in various ways. The graduated land tax was a good thing but a limit had tQ be fixed. On the motion of Mr T. Smith, seconded by Mr R. Rigg, a vote of thanks was accorded to the speaker for his address. Votes of thanks were also accorded to the Mayor and the Press.