HIGH RENTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 9, 11 January 1912, Page 7

HIGH RENTS.

JS'.S.W; GOVERNMENT URGED TO INTRODUCE A BILL. QUESTION OF EXTREME URGENCY. I By Telesruph.—Pmi A»eoc!atkm.—Copyrigh» SYDNEY, 10th January. A Labour Council deputation asked Mr. Beeby to introduce a Limitation of R«nt3 Bill, with the view of alleviating the distress amongst workers, consequent on the high rent*. They tendered much information on the difficulties of obtaining houses and* the extortionate demands of landlords. Another plea was that the continued influx of immigrants would have to be 'reckoned with. , *> Mr. Beeby admitted that the qu«tion was of extreme urgency. Next month the Government would introduce a Bill to enable it to erect houses. Tho only way out of the difficulty was for the State to become a enmpeiitor with landlords. He regretted that the deputation had not furnished a practical scheme of limiting rents ; if a workable scheme were submitted tho Government \vou\d coneider it. oince Mr Dacey, the State Treaeurer, announced his intention to igo into the landlord business and build houses for the people at Kensington (states Sydney Morning Herald), he has received many letters, the writers 'of which express a desire to become tenants of the State. , Letters, following the publication, of the details of Mr. Dacey's scheme, have also appeared.-, in the Herald, the writers givihg an account of the houses they aro at present living- in and the rents they are paying* with' the object of showing that the Scarcity of dwellings has had the effect of raising rents out of all proportion to the class I ' of dwelling. ' A representative of- the Herald yesterday visited the .homes of the'writerssof two of thcee letters. They were both in Rozelle. In the scheme of city improvement numerous alum areas have been' wiped I out of existence, but it is questionable if some of 'the houses in these areas were any worse than are to be found in certain of our suburbs. Rozelle k one of these districts. The small cottages which were visited y«sterday ought to be condemned without delay ; and there aro other© like them. In each case the tenant is paying 10s 6d ,a week, because he has to be within reasonable distance of his work, and there is no other place to be obtained for a similar rent, which is all that he>can afford. - The wite' of one of the tenants waa 1 Very empfiatic. "Tho landlords," she said, " are just doing what they like with their tenants, and the Government ought to send "inspectors to some of the houses we i are obliged to live in. I have tramped all over the place looking for another place, and» can't find one, except at a rent we can't afford to pay. All the houses are occupied, and we' have to just take what we can get. We came here about five months ago, and only had to pay 7a rent. Then the place, with three others, was sold, and the new land-, lord added Is on to the rent. He said he intended to make some improvements, but he hasn't made them yet. Look at the mildewed%-all»! The- plaster falls off them if you look at it. The windowpanes have no glass in them, and no pulleys. Oh, he did do something— he put in a copper, and the next week the rent went up half a- crown. We are now paying 10s 6d. Presently he'll put in a pane of glass, and raise the rent another shilling or two. That's what we poor people have to put up with. And here I arti with three or four little children, and my husband earning £2 a week. It's time the Government did something. When I was married seven years ago .1 had a much better place to live in, and only paid 7s a week for it. Living was much cheaper then, and I ccc now meat's gone up another farthing. How are we to feed and % clothe ourselves and our children when we have to pay so much away in rent?" A similar story was told at. the other house, with this addition :— " When it I'ains in the middle of the night the rain comes through the roof, and falls through the ceiling on to our heads, and we have to get up and turn the bed round the other way. Why, the whole place is falling down!" Each cottage had three rooms and & kitchen,. one of the rooms being extremely small. Yet in this smadl room in one house three children have to oleep. The house* are old and dilapidated, and the sanitary arrangements are such as ought not to bo tolerated in any city or suburb. There is no question that tho rent problem i 6 proving a very serious one to many people.