SLUMS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27676, 4 June 1955, Page 3

SLUMS

Sir, —How much may removal of beauty contribute to slum creation? Replacement of tiny gardens by shedlike additions to one-time homes, uprooting of shrubs and trees which graced a street of contented (if unpretentious) homes can leave barrenness behind where daily heart and eye were gladdened by sun or rain a gleam upon leaves. Where bright geraniums pushed cheery heads between palings to greet the passer-by, ugliness replaces them on the way to work. Drab, unrelieved by vegetation, once lovely streets change character, as may occupants struggling to maintain some smallest part, not of what makes a garden suburb, but a so-called garden city. Chnstchurch has some examples of deterioration.—Yours, etc., MODERN TRENDS. June 3, 1955.

Sir,—We should be thankful we have no Freeman’s Bay, but we have nothing to be complacent about. We have plenty of slum units, condemned houses occupied by families, old folks living in deplorable conditions, parents rearing children in caravans, etc. We have the makings of many Freeman’s Bays. Now is the time to act before the disease becomes chronic. The housing problem is serious and should be dealt with on a national basis. Too many houses have been bought for industrial purposes, while families live in condemned homes. This is shocking. There are plenty of answers if the Government and local bodies will act. If we had even one councillor who though a little less of votes and more of the welfare of the community we might get somewhere; but who among our city fathers has the courage to speak out?—Yours, etc., _ o , M.A. June 3, 1955.