WORKERS' DWELLINGS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10401, 23 August 1911, Page 5

WORKERS' DWELLINGS.

THE ANNUAL REPORT.

A QUESTION OF SLUMS

By Telegraph—Tress Association,

WELLINGTON, Last Night. In .moving in the (House of Representatives this afternoon for permission. to lay the report on the Workers Dwellings Act on tire table, the Hon. J. A. Millar, in reply to a query, said he <was negotiating for land for workers' dwellings in Chiristchurch, Inveroargill, Now Plymouth, and Napier. He would not buy land whioh was .too dear for the workers to Ibuy. The erection of (buildings would, he stated, be put .in. hand within, a month. iMr G. W. .Russell objected to the limited areas the Government was allmving for dwellings. He advocated larger sections on suburban railway linesT Messrs Hainan, Field .and Lang supported the policy pursued by the Minister. '. Mr Laurenson advocated a- liberal area-, in connection with the dwellings. He instanced the oase of a man jn Christchurch who cleared £4OO out ■>fif'''vtom-2ifco€is grown' in. a glass house oil one and a half acres cn one year. . • Mr Poole siaid there were thousands of .workers in. the cities who were compelled to live right in the cities, and these people were deserving of consideration. Mr Luke contended that the Minister should extend the operations of the Act to eanbraoe individual sections. The workers ought not to be put in. on a particular .settlement and marked off as a special class of people. He hoped the Minister would resist the temptation to allow himself to be exploited by. syndicates desiring to unload ia lot of land on. the Government. Mr iFisher' thought Parliament would have to undertake the duties which municipalities ought to carry out, 'but so far had shirked, namely, the destruction of slum areas .in the cities l . The Hon. J;. A. Millar, in reply, said the House would Ibe given an. oppoitunity during .the session to discuss the whole matter of workers' dwellings. It was impossible to do anything of a comprehensive character without the aid of a large loan. Half 'a million, of money wias necessary to cany out the scheme properly. The. question of slum areas required drastic legislation to compel local authorities to abolish them. The local authorities commenced the slums by giving permits for buildings., aald should be made to bear the brunt in. the elimination thereof.

The motion thai the ireport ibe laid upon the table was carried.