HOUSING PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume XCIX, Issue 70, 23 March 1920, Page 6

HOUSING PROBLEM

WELLINGTON'S SPECIAL NEEDS

(Contributed by the Welfare League.)

With the numbers of people who have come to Wellington during the war and since, it is no wonder we have extremely bad housing conditions. J n many parts the conditions were bad long .before the war, and they are worse now than ever. Mr/ P. Praser, M.P., is doing the right thing in calling attention to the evil. A reporter of The Post who made a brief tour of inspection with Mr. Fraser disolosed an utterly vile state of overcrowding. To take, one example, he says: "In three rooms of one house there were fifteen people—a widow and six orphan children in one room, and a. man, wife, aria six children in the other two. 1' Let tl.os-e who are comfortably placed ti-mk of what this means. The degradation of children in such a. manner ad this ought to rouse whatever instinct of humanity we have in us. From our own knowledge we say that this is only one example. There is not the scope for expansion that obtains in Auckland, Christchurch, or Dunedin. The fact is that Wellington's housing problem is a Special one. Besides being compressed m area Wellington, as the centre of the Dominion, draws population from outside in a way that creates more and more congestion. The whole circumstances call for practically a good-sized township-to be added to the! present city. The problem involves tha supply' of transport and other i acilities^as well as of houses. There are areas outside the aty where land could be acquired if the Government and the City Council were prepared to face a big scheme. lOf coarse, it is not a matter of simply a few thousands' expenditure, but with judgment there is no reason why "il should not be a safe investment. The trouble, to our mind, seems to rest in this: that the Government is disposed to regard Wellington's housing problem as one of the local difficulties that: it has to deal with in common with others. If lt^did this for Wellington it might be called upon to do the same for Auckland, Chnstchurch, Dunedin, or some other - borough. It does not seem to recognise that the situation in Wellington as regards the needs of the people is very spgcial, and in a sense abnormal, when compared with ; other plaoas. It has been said that if any big scheme was projected the labour could not be got with which to carry it out. Mr. P. Fraser, M.P., has said tha,t labour can be procured. We submit that the matter should not be left there, but the -Labour organisations should be called upon to take' the responsibility of showing exactly what labour, skilled and otherwise, could, be relied npon, and at what approximate cost. It should be borne in mind that if the overcrowding anu' other evils attached to inadequate housing continues as it^-js in Wellington, children cannot be brought up without deterioration of the population, and the cost of meeting that deterioration becomes a permanent charge on the t State. It would be a wise and statesmanlike economy to face even a loss in expenditure now rather than allow, the evil to go on constantly' creating additional fixed . charges which the State must provide for. This question. ia. one Jthat might well be reported on. by a committee of the moat practical inon at the National Industrial Conference, which the League has BU|ssfested- the. Government might call. The Welfare League wants to see something definitely accomplished. A Citizens' Housing Committee might; be formed to collect all data, and make recommendations. , This committee to .be composed^ of. representatives of. the Industrial Association, the Trades and Labour Council, the Building Trades' Federation, the Master.Builders', .Assocja-.. tion, the Returned Soldiers' Association, » the Bepatriation Board; the Progress League, the Town Planning Association, and the City Council. 'All will surely agree that there is a very" seriouj problem to be solved, and it' can best be worked out by taking joint, option "as citizens. ,The bad conditions will pot mend themselves. It ig no use standing off from each other, and expecting a solution. The best course is to get together and keep at it until a solution is achieved. ESSENTIAL WORK FIBST. We wish to emphasise the fact that there appears to be no steps taken towards concentrating the labour that is available on this essential work A commercial man has just drawn our attention to these facts. Near where he resides there are two small cottages, in each of which two families 'reside. Recently this gentleman has had carpenters at work altering his offices, and he has put it to us that he thought it would: b» much better if the labour, of these carpenters had- been devoted to the building of cottages—his offices could easily have stood over. >

During th* war the Government did much good by concentrating. the available labour oif essential industries. It was a mistake to absolutely drop that policy. The building of homes for. our people is essential above everything else, and the necessary labour should not be taken up upon unessential work whilst this urgent need exists. The- British Building Trades' Industrial Council, oompoaed of employers and workers hfcs for one of its objects,tho direction of the trade into the most urgently, necessary channels. We commend it to both employers and employedl in the Now Zealand building trades to co-operate along this line, with tihe support of the Government, in having essential work done first; and we repeat that the most essential is to build more cottages. l?u,D cooperation can do much,