HOMES FOR WORKERS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1213, 23 August 1911, Page 6

HOMES FOR WORKERS.

* "HIS OWN ROOF." REMARKS IN PARLIAMENT. Workers' dwellings were the subject of discussion in the House of Representatives yesterday when the Departmental report was tabled by the Minister for Labour (the Hon. J. A. Millar). In'reply to Mr. M'Larcn the Minister said there were 152 sections in Wellington, the latest purchases being a block at Island Hay and another at Karori, just at the Other side of the tunnel. Thcy ivere now negotiating for land at New Plymouth, Napier, Christchurch, and Invercargill. "i am not going to buy land at a price which the working man cannot afford to pay" said the Minister decisively. Prices, ho said, had gone up so high that it was impossible to got a section. under .£IOO. This made the charges which fell on tho purchaser too heavy and what he was trying to do was to get sections that would run about .£SO. It was hoped to have many of the dwellings going in the course of two or three months. He recognised that it was no use to buy sections and pay interest on them simply to look at. Demands were coming in in dozens from all quarters and it would require a quarter of a million pounds to put up all the houses asked lor. Mr. Okey (TaranaM) asked what the position was in regard to New Plymouth. Iho Minister said ho was not going to buy land in New Plymouth at -290 to £W per section. At present he was negotiating for the prison reserve and hoped to get it at a reasonable price. Nai Nai and Other Places. Mr. Herdman (Wellington North) referred to the Nai Nai, Mudgwar, and another estate at tho Hult-Knig'ht's estate, ho believed it was, but iio was not sure of tho name. He wished to know whether any dwellings had been erected on these estates. He had moved tor a return in this connection, •■ last session, .but it was opposed. Mr. Jennings (Taumarunui) . urged the claims of Waitara. It was difficult for peoplo going to progressive outlying towns to get places to reside in. Mr. G. W. Russell (Avon) said the intention appeared to be to limit the area on, .which the dwellings were erected. Ho objected to this, which he believed would only create sl'ims. He thought Mr. Miliar might work the railway system'so as to develop the suburban areas. If this were done these workers would be able to have a three-acre section. Forcing the settlement into the cities, and consequently small areas, would increase the tram-' way receipts, but would not improve the revenue of the Government railways.' He thought the Government might limit the expenditure on the homes, a,nd try' and give the homo more ground. Reverting to the suburban railways suggestion Mr Russell thought trains' should be regulated so as to bring tho working men into town in tune for work in the ir.or.ninr. n.nd take them home again at night. Ho was convinced that such a scheme would be successful, Wellington Suburbs. Mr. Field (Otaki) suggested that it would be wise for tho Government to buy land in tho Wellington suburbs now for the purpose- of workers' dwellings. He thought prices of land were as low now as ever they would go. Mr. Field also suggested that the Government might consider the advisableness of securing land in tho country districts which would enable farm labourers and their families to live in healthy, sanitary houses.' Mr. Wright wished to know whether th« Minister had purchased any land in A'ogeltown for workers' dwellings, and when they intended to go on with them? Mr. G. Laurenson (Lyttelton) said that in Lyttelton six out of seven people, and in Woolston eight out of ten people, owned the houses they lived in. though some wore mortgaged. In Wellington he was snn- the proportion was not three out of eight. Wellington was the worst, citv in tho Dominion in this respect—rows of houses were owned by capitalists, who charged rack-rents. He thought everv man should own his own home. ; Mr. Mander-. That's on Opposition sentiment. t (Opposition applause.) Mr. Laurenson:'"You think you've got mo in a cleft stick, but von haven't." He enlarged upon the desirableness of putting the people in their own homes on suburban lands, where they could raise produce. He hoped tho Minister would continue in the same direction in which he was going. . Mr. C. 11. Poole (Auckland West) pleaded for proper housing for those city workers who had to live in the cities. Some scheme should be initiated liv tho Government or by the local bodies for building good streets and terraces for the workers, instead of the insanitary and crowded areas whero many of thorn now had to live.

Mr. J. P. Luke (Wellington Suburbs) referred to a case in which a constituent of his own, living at Ngahanranga, took up a section of the Hnutere Estate near the .Tohnsonville Post Office. lie expected to get an advance up to threequarters of the value, namely, ,£192, but on getting plans drawn for a house for himself, his wile, niid six children, h» } ° coukl onl 5' B et an advance of AloO from the Advances to Settlers Department. He applied to the Advances to Workers .Department with the same result, lho Minister, doubtless, was not to blame, but if the Government had not sufficient power in the matter of advances,-the House should give it them. Mr. &. .1. Anderson (Mataura) urged tho need for ■•workers' dwellings in provincial towns, and said the system must be run on business lines.

The Sorest Need. Mr.F 31. B. Fisher (Wellington Cen- , tral) saul the Minister should be pleased \ \ with the -unanimous expressions o{ an-1 \ ImOV1 m OV ,oV " ls administration of that Act the class who most needed better homes were the casual labourers who had to live la the cities and could not use the tramways because of their hours of work He was of opinion that Parliament should J/atlerMe Ms /rarJr <?///s<> fatec /was- ( ing of these people, as the municipalities owing- to tho strength of local iulluenccs had neglected • it. He regretted, for this reason, the probable abandonment ot the lown Planning Hill, on nccouut of a minor reverse in Committee. ' He was glad that the Minister had indicated that he would have nothing to do with such transactions as -the Nai Nai purchase, and that that purchase would not be a charge on the scheme. Perhaps the Minister for Internal Affairs could say something about the Nai Nai property? The Hon. D. Buddo: There's a Ion" way between workers' dwellings and land tor settlements.

The Minister in Reply, The Hon. J. A. Millar'said ,this was a big scheme, and members evidently wished to cxtond it further, hut ho would advise caution. Tho scheme was originally intended to deal with the big cities that were in danger of becoming congested, and it was not meant for the establishment of small farm settlements, ihe scheme might be extended ah tho money came in. like the Advances to Settlers scheme, but it must have a fair trial on loan money. 7so crowded areas had been created under the Act, but some workers, on the contrary, complained of having too much land. Tho House would have an opportunity this session to fully discuss the subject, as he would require to bring down a Bill to give power to borrow money for the scheme, as pievious authorisations had been' exhausted. The Advances to Workers Department which had been mentioned by Mr. Luke was under a different Act altogether. If in-the case mentioned only ,£l5O was authorised to be advanced, 'the house and land together must have been worth onlv £200, and the land only .£SO, as the De'partment was empowered to lend up to throe-fourths of the value. They could not blame the Department for not breaking the lav.'. The security was not there or tho man would have, got the money.

Slum Areas, In regard to slum areas, he thought the Municipal Corporations Act should' 1» amended to make it compulsory on tho cities to clear these areas. The muninihilities were tho bodies that issued building permits, thus allowing such amis to come into existence, aaid they drew rales from tho properties. Mr. Fisher suggested that Mr. Millar should get his colleague, Mr. Powlds, to , revive the Town Plannins Bill,

Mr. Millar: But the Govonior-in-C'oun-cil is dead, and would have to be brought to life again. Continuing, tho Minister said the Nai Nai property was visited by him, as well as other properties in the Hutt district soon after he took over tho Labour Department. Ho found that the Heretaunga Settlement, near Petone, was not being tiiken up well, it being regarded as tt:o far from the station, and he then thought it desirable to get the Nai Nai property off the hands of his Department It was transferred to the Lands Tor Settlement Department at cost price, and he understood it was now leased for grazing purposes. Another property out there, the name of which he forgot, had been similarly dealt with. Every man who hud a worker's home under the Act had been supplied with a circular stating the terms on which ho could acquire the freehold. The Government did not want to be landlords, but they did not object to being mortgagees. Mr. Fisher: Yon are skating on thin ice. Mr. Massey: You are coming ronnd, anyhow. Mr.-Millar said he did not believe in private individuals owning big properties, which practically gave them power to tax the rest of tho country, but he believed in men being enabled to own the roof over their own heads. The paper was ordered to lie on the table and ba printed.