The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1920. THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 272, 11 August 1920, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1920. THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Foe the reason, amongst others, that the existing housing shortage is partly an outcome of the spccial legislation enacted for fcho protection of tenants, the Government is bound henceforth to take a full and .aefcivo part in meeting the housing needs of the people. This legislation, in combination with the greatly enhanced costß of building, has for practical purposes driven private enterprise out of the business of erecting and letting dwellings, and it is imperative that the place thus left empty should be filled. Good housing is an elementary condition of national as well as individual welfare, and as matters aro now arranged, the satisfactory housing of a proportion of the population evidently depends absolutely upon a really effective development of State enterprise. In the extended provision made for the erection of workers' dwellings, .and in tlj6 assistance given or offered to local bodies desirous of promoting housing schemes, the Government has in a measure recognised its responsibilities in this direction. Measured by results, however, that is to say by the actual production of houses, both Government and local boijy housing undertakings appear to ve;y poor advantage, and it seems unlikely that appreciably bettor results will be attained ujjtil entirely different methods are adopted. While | neither the Government nor local authorities have yet taken really effective hold of the housing problem. it must be added that organised Labour very definitely shares responsibility for the existing state of affairs. Labour leaders have taken a prominent part in promoting popular demands for a solution of the housing problem. Yet it seems to be strictly true that not ono helpful overture or proposal calculated to facilitate such a solution has come from organised Labour. Recently, it is true, tho Building Trades Federation became a party to proposals for a so-called co-operative housing scheme, but under this scheme workers employed in erccting dwellings were to receive more tnan the standard rate of wages, and in addition a substantial bonus, without giving any assurance of results. On the facts disclosed, this looks more like an attempt to trade upon and exploit the public necessity than an attempt to solve the housing problem. While the organised workers immediately concerned have done nothing to assist in tho promotion of a housing scheme on sound lines, other sections of organised Labour have done a great deal to impede the erection of dwellings. The "goslow" strike in the coal mines and perennial minor troubles in tho same industry—a strike by tho State miners over a matter of railway facilities is the latest example—are conspicuous cases in point. Needless reductions in the output of coal hamper all forms of useful production, and building certainly not least. Of necessity the building industry makes heavy demands on land and sea transport service, and the bearing of coal output on tho production of cement, an essential building material, is also a matter of familiar knowledge. Mlno workers e*i»

dently are responsible for some part of the existing housing shortage, and the same is, of course, to bo said of other sections of organised Labour which limit production or on occasion arrest tho wheels of industry.

People who are suffering hardship as a result of the housing shortage have every right to demand that the Government and local bodies should improve greatly on their present housing plans, but no full solution of the problem will be reached until organised Labour also is brought to a definite reckoning. The time is more than ripe for addressing a few plain questions to building trade unions, and to organised Labour in general. Building trade workers might be asked in the first place whether they aro prepared to concentrate on the erection of dwellings and to accept standard wages for work of this kind done under normal conditions; secondly, whether they are prepared to work overtime (of course at full overtime rates) until some progress has been made towards satisfying the exceptional demand for dwellings and finally, whether they are prepared to acccpt a bonus or reward system for extra production. Labour organisations in general may fairly be askerl to say whether they are prepared to co-operate in developing the industrial conditions that will conduce to the success of a housing scheme. A nswfrrs to such questions, or a refusal to answer them, would show whether organised Labour is or is not prepared to take an active and worthy part in solving the housing problem. The neces- | sity of arriving at an understandt ing with Labour, and other aspects of the problem, alike suggest that the Government would best meet tho existing _ situation by taking tho step which has been repeatedly urged of appointing a special Minister of Housing. This position would best be filled, by an experienced contractor competent to organise a national housing enterprise on thoroughly businesslike lines, and technicalities need not be allowed to hinder the appointment of auch an expert, temporarily, to Ministerial office. There is ao doubt that a qualified expert, given tho free hand that would most- readily be conferred on a Minister of the Crown, could easily improve, vastly on the ineffective efforts tfuls fur made_ to expedite the erection of dwellings. At present it seems to bo nobpdy's business to insist upon and secure the rapid production of dwellings, which is tho end and aim of all housing schemes. In any case, there is an evident lack of concentration upon this essential result. As Sir William Hermes showed yesterday, the Government is endeavouring in various ways to hasthe erection of dwellings, but decidedly _ the most effective step it can talce is to appoint an expert as Minister of Housing, give him unfettered control over the supply uik' distribution of materials and all other details of organisation, and demand early and substantial results.' With the right man in > office, and assuming even' moderate support and co-operation on the part of organised Labour, the new policy would very speedily be justified.