CHEAP COTTAGE FOR THE PEOPLE.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 15, 18 July 1905, Page 5

CHEAP COTTAGE FOR THE PEOPLE.

THE PREMIER'S PROPOSAL. The Riddiford-street (Newtown) Branch, of the Liberal and Labour Federation, held a conversazione- last night in the Masonic Hall, Daniel-street. Mr. B. L. Thomas, President of the branch, briefly addressed the gathering, • congratulating members on the progress that was being made by the branch, and by the portion of Wellington to which, it belonged. November was drawing nigh, and the branch was looking forward to having a finger in the pie; it might not be a very big finger, but maybe it could stir a little and make things eery lively end influence them in the direction the branch wished them to go. Mr. Thomas J also touched on the characteristic of the Premier to "have his ear to the ground" listening that he might anticipate the wish of the people. That, the President thought, was proper in a true democrat, and in these times there was no room for a Caesar. There was, he was pleased to think, a departure in these. days from &c rancour that characterised political life in bygone times, and he believed that in New Zealand each party, according to its conception of duty,' was aiming for the common good. (Hear, hear.) He trusted that Parliament would still legislate for tie public good, and endeavour to make the future better than even the past had been. The Premier, at a later stage of the proceedings, presented the branch with a framed charter. ,He mentioned that he had been detained through business occasioned by the necessity of iraming the Sstimates, and he felt rather pleased, because the "results of their labours in *hat respect l^ad been very satisfactory, fad the estimates of receipts and expenJitpre were pretty well on tbe same level \ •yi&t they had been on for very many j years past. Mr. Seddon outlined at j .length his resolve, to acquire lands is ihe vicinity of citiea with, the intention of lettering the conditions of workers, who by reason of th« greatly increased rents 'cvied in recent years had been deprived af the benefit that would otlierwise have accrued to them. The Government could Jo much to remedy these matters by j iSering better facilities to workmen. The ofunicipalita^s' had had power since 1900 \ *,o acquire lands and undertake the execdon of workmen's homes, but not one municipality in all the colony had taken idvantage.of tie provisions. That being to tlie Government had resolved to fill the breach, and ne did not mind telling his hearers there and then that the_ Government had already bought land in the Hutt and Pefcone- districts with that end in. view, if land for the same" purpose" could be got in Nefwtown he and his Government would be willing, with the •sanction of Parliament, to erect nouses in Newtown to improve t3ie social conditions of the suburbs. (Applause.) This high, rent problem was a trouble that could be easily remedied, and the Government was going to do it. Its present proposal was to buy the land, cut it up, put houses upon it, and then say to the tenants, "Come along ; here's a nice comioitaWe new house for you!" He had a, definite scheme in iis possession— a. rcheme that was not new, a scheme that had been privately tried and proved successful. Under this scheme a. cottager in twenty years' time would become his own . landlord— and that could be done for ten j (shillings a week iB respect of nice cotThe only thing, to be guarded against was that in the course of years there would not be a return to first principles, and someone else be found owning the cottages. He proposed to avert that risk by making a condition that the cottage most be held by one person, and that person the person who holds the fee simple. (Applause.) It was possible that the scheme might be made an optional one under which tenants could rent the cottages on a basis of 5 per cent. The scheme had been well thought out, and hp wanted to have all the people in the colony participating in its benefits ; not only the workers. And that benefit would be sure to accrue ; the effect of the scheme in respect to rent would work for the good of every pereon who rented cottages or houses in New Zealand. According to modern melodramas (says the (Melbourne Age) it i 3 chiefly young men whose afleefciona have been blighted who enlist in in* axmy; but in Victoria it seems the enlistments include a number of young men who are anxious to make female conquests. The Victorian "head-quarters of the Royal Australian -Artillery, the only "permanent" Teginrcnt in the Commonwealth foroes, is at Queenscliff, and the military authorities md that they have a large number of m*n offeri3% for enlistment in tfie summer months, -when. Queeinsclifi w full of fsmals visitors. Whan the, winter arrives and QueenscHff is comparatively '.ieserfced, tjieso young men whose eol'lieriy ambition ie limited to the effect 4o be. produced on susceptible female hearts by a smart uniform, apply for r/heir discharge. Under #ie defence mfrniationfi a man can obtain his discharge tree on applica>iiion within three months after ios enrolment, provided his com•nonding officer and the State Commandant enter no objection. The military authorities aTe tired of providing summer •{uarteis with moderate pay for this -,ype ot soldier, and iatAd'tc be more <:onseTvative in future in' granting discharges. ■>k. E. Kilbum Scott, M.1.E.E., of Sydney University, -writes to us under date wie- sth July: — "Rnovrsag that theMarconi Company -would bs interested in the various references te wireless telegraphy which have appeared recently in the Australian, p-rc-ss, I cent them copies, and in reply I have to-day received the following interesting cablegram from Condon: — 'Contract with Italian Government for station Monte- Mario communicate with .Argentine- ia with Marconi Company.' From th« above it will be aeen that, after the most mature consideration, the Italian Government has definitely contracted for the establishment of communication from Italy to the Argentine, in Sontfh America, a distance of over 6000 miles, or about double J3k> distance between Poldhu in Cornwall and Cape Breton in Canada, which tho Marcom Company has successfully worked ior some time. Thia great increase in .the distance of transmission ieada one to think that perhaps the time ivhen wireless nreesagefc may reach Australia from Eu-ropo is not 60 far distant, for in this new contratt the distance is afeout the same a« from West Australia to Sacz. It will thua be scon that connecting up Australia with Hew Zealand and fcno various islands is' play-work compared with what is now being done, and there ought certainly to be no fool«h talk aibout experimenting, ac tho .work only requires to bo put in hand." There vere 150,958 acres of wheat reaped in Queensland lant year, as against 138,096 acres in the previous year — an increase of 12,862 acres. From this area 2,149,663 bushels were obtained, whilst in 1903, from a smaller acreage, were garnered 2,436,799 bushels. The average yield m Queensland for 1903 was 17.65 bushels per acre; in 1904 it was 14.24. The last two years were the onlyj ones wherein the cultivated area in Queensland exceeded 100,000 acres.. 1