CONDITIONS THAT CONCERN ALL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 270, 13 November 1943, Page 4

CONDITIONS THAT CONCERN ALL

"THAT many people need houses and are unable to find them is a fact familiar to all, but few pause to wonder, "What happens to the people who can't find the accommodation they want?" The answer, of course, is that they find accommodation of a kind. But what kind is it? In an article published on this page there is a description of a visit paid to a small number of Maori families in the city. Maoris are not singular in being obliged to live in sub-standard accommodation, but for reasons briefly stated in the article the consequences of the housing shortage are_ visited upon them with special severity. Anyone reading of the conditions under which some of them, and particularly families including ycung children, are living, must come to the conclusion that even in the midst of war Auckland can do better than this, and that, even if the problem be regarded only from the point of view of cold self-interest something better done. If an epidemic disease, such as the influenza which afflicted this country late in 1918, were to recur, the horribly overcrowded and unhealthy premises described to-day would provide a hothouse for its growth, and no man, woman or child, pakeha or Maori, can feel confident that he would be unaffected by it. Nor is epidemic disease the only danger. The Maori people appear to be peculiarly subject to tuberculosis; the rate of pulmonary tuberculosis among them is three times the pakeha rate. Does anyone suppose that either rate can be reduced, or even prevented from rising, in this city., under the living conditions which have developed out of the housing shortage? Last year, in the face of external threat, great efforts were made in this country to prepare its defences. The efforts were speeded by a sense of urgency and by unity of purpose. There is need to-day for a similar sense of urgency and united determination in relation to the city's housing conditions. Last year no one said that the task, which had to be done was the duty and responsibility of the Government; everyone was concerned, and few did not help in some way. The duty and responsibility to-day are equally wide, and unless they are accepted and shared there may be few among us who will not regret it.