CORRESPONDENCE.

Press, Volume XLII, Issue 6248, 28 September 1885, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

HOMES FOB LABOBEBB. TO THH BDITOS OT TBCB. 7XSBS. Sib,—l have recently read in your paper two articles on the subject of homes for working men. One proposed thai land owners should build nomes for their laborers; the other dealt with the proposal the present Government have brought forward. You very justly condemned the Government proposal on the ground that it would remain a dead letter, but in tte other article you very forcibly pointed out the absolute necessity of something being done in the way of providing homes for farm laborers* I feel confident, therefore, that any proposal having the object referred to in view will meet with your sympathy. At the last general election, as candidate for Gladstone, I made the following suggestion -.—" Let the Government buy here and there allotments of land of about sue : acres eaoh, and lease them for lite to agricultural laborers desirous of settling in such homes. Let these allotmenta be in the proportion of one to every 200 or 800 acres of agricultural land in any district. I elaborated this scheme, and tent it, with the National Bank scheme, to Sir Julius Yogel. As he acknowledged the receipt of it, I may, I think, conclude that the proposal was originated by myself. I am sorry to say it has been w>

altered that it has been rendered r.eeksa. { Beside your bbjeotion that the loos.! >>c«lwa j would never take it up, I can voint .at j others atill more serious. It is Absolute ■ nonsense to propose that house* the eld be ' built. To do bo would lead to ondlo:* ] trouble. The houses would require < to bo repaired frequently, ba-i tenants ] would clear out without paying f heir rente, \ and the local body would have to make 1 up tec deficiency out of rates. My protocol j ■was to lease the six-acre allotments and let the tenants* build their own houses. ' The hosso would then be the property jf tho tenant, while the land would do the property of the Crown, and if tho tenant \ wanted to leave, he could get compensation for improvements, or else sell his in- i terest to sny other agricultural laborer ] who might ba willing to buy. If that plan j were adopted, the State would have the ! house built by the tenant as security fer i the rent. The rent should be a-uffident to pay cost of administration and interest on the purchase money, together with providing for a sinking fond that would w<po out the debt inourred in purchasing ; the land. Under these circumstances 1 as would be next to impossible. Anoi: r ; objection ia that the Government to give the tenants a freehold title to the land. If this were done the result would be that their owners would sell them to the higLest bidder, who would naturally be some adjoining landowner. Thus these allotments, purchased specially for working men, would in a few years vaaiub.. Whatever land in general may do, the perpetual leasing system should be applied Ito these, for it ia only in that way they i could be preserved for the exclusive use of succeeding generations of farm laborers. The advantages of this scheme -would tie that laborers who sow pay JBIS to £20 a year for two-room houaea in town, would have six acres of land for abont £3 or JSX a year j that instead of being huddled together in towns, fomenting agitation and discontent, they would bo ecatu r.d all over the country; that as they \»vuld always be near their work, they conl J live alwajs at home with their families, instead of having to absent tin nieelvoe ior months, ac at present; and that they would bring up their Children fit for country life. The advantage to farmers would be that they would have Eettlcd in their midst a * better class of laborers, for laborers thus settled down would naturally be better 1 than comers and goers. That they would be improving the quality of labcr, tor . children brought up in towns, as at present, will never be well fitted for country life. Farmers would also have cheaper labor, for men eettled down as suggested could afford to work much cheaper than they can under existing circutnstr.nceu. I have only touched on the leading points of the subject, because I know your space is very valuable just now. I have spakeu to many farmers on the subject, and they approve of the scheme, so long aa provider n would be made for the removal of per sod a of bad reputoa. The condition of " the swagger" in this colony is a d\pgraue to our civilisation, and we ought to take steps to improve it. Even if you do not agree with the suggestion, I am certain you will sympathlflo with the object in view and give this a place Iα your colninno. Tours, the.; J. M. TWOBB7.