"The Digger."

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 32, 22 October 1920, Page 8

"The Digger."

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1920. HOUSING.

t The operations of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act are now rendered practically ineffective, as far as the opportunity to secure a house is concerned. The Government have now decided that the purchase of houses is to be discontinued but that it will be • treated as "special circumstances," which may be favourably consider,ed, should the soldier decide to build. The Government have decided that the purchase of houses shall cease. Although this is a hardship on soldiers who have been wounded and been in hospital for some time, it is nevertheless true that the scheme has been a fa.ilure. With the best part of 100,000 men as members of the Expeditionary Force, it was self-e'vid>ent that a eomprehensiive scheme of repatriation should have been formulated early in the war period, and that a committee of reconstruction should have been set up. This committee would have had power to adviso the Government on all phases ■ of reconstruction and would have meant the formulating of a more definite and co-ordinated plan for the effective repatriation of our goldiers. The Government undoubtedly failed to grasp the magnitude of the various problems which were likely to confront it. The proper houaing of these men is one of the most essential phases t>f repatriation activity. Failure in this respect is to render ineffective other factors of repatriation, and •cause discontent which is a big factor in the unsettled in dustrial conditions. We do not wish to convey the impression

that returned soldiers are responsible for the unsatisfactory conditions prevailing. A large amo'unt of this trouble is. fostered by men who never left New 'Zealand s sliore:, and never intended to. Further, they were a factor in causing trouble calculated to reduce the efficiency of the Expeditionary Force. Returned soldiers throughout this Dominion will have no associations with such a disintegrating factor. Neverthele3s, there is discontent, and every effort should be made to minimise it. When a man has a house that he can call his own or at least look forward to it belonging to him entirely in a few years. it gives him an interest in the conir try which he did not have before. Hj has a stake in the country and is not likely to be lead by irresponsibles. The very character of the man, his wife and children, are largely moulded in his home life. Further, there is a feeling of security of tenure, and these conditions make for contentment. The Government must realise this and make themselves a propelling force behind a vigorous housing policy which should start where the Government has stopped. The purchase of houses has led to an inflation of values, which has produced its effect on houses which are to be built. The Government should have erected houses themselves and by a co-operative system this could have Ibeen effected. The Austraiia|u Government has provided legislation for the erection of houses and bas wider powers than our own legislation. In the Australian scheme, provision i8 made for homes for soldiers and their dependants. The Act provides that a house and land may be purchased with or without a deposit. It would be unique in the administration of the D.S.S Act to find men receiving houses without a deposit. It is admitted that great care has to be taken in purchasing a house, but the Australian Government Building Society makes it easier to comply with the provisions for no deposit. To administrate the Act there is a War Service Homes Commissioner, and the aims .are to provide each eligible person with a substantial and durable house at the lowest possible cost, which will remain a source of comfort to the occupier for ma-ny years to come. The position is acute in this Dominion and must be faced even as a factor in conditions becoming more settled and as a factor in our industrial activity.