HOMES FIRST NEED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 82, 4 October 1944, Page 4

HOMES FIRST NEED

CATHEDRAL LATER

BISHOP STRESSES MOfIAL ISSUES

Those who desire to see a cathedral v jrected in Wellington as soon as pos- I sible after the war must be prepared J to wait till such headway has been I made with the building of houses that c men and materials can be released for c other great national tasks, states the * Bishop of Wellington, the Rt. Rev. H. 1 St. Barbe Holland, in the current issue of the diocesan journal, "Church and" -, People" v ( "There will be unanimity •on the i part of aU reasonable men that the i housing of the people must take pre- 1 cedence over every other class of < building," he says. "An ordered social < life cannot be restored while married i couples have to face the misery of 1 living in a wretched rented room at i an exorbitant cost. Roofs and hearths < and living space must be provided for ' all. As the Christian looks at the situation, he knows, also that a great .: moral issue is at stake. It is homes ' and not only houses which are need- j ed; homes and not 'dormitories attached to a garage.' The rebuilding of family life is the surest way to the rebuilding of the world's life. Such rebuilding on the one hand cannot take place unless the State bends all its energies, using all its wartime ingenuity in collecting the needed materials, towards making possible the erection of houses. But, on the other hand, houses can. only become homes when a new sense of the joy and sacredness of the creation of a family touches the imagination of our young citizens. "The problem is no easy one. Its material and its spiritual aspects are interlocked. Will the provision of small three-roomed houses act as a check on the birth-rate? Will the provision of five-roomed houses ensure a rising birth-rate?. No one can answer these questions. But it remains a national duty so truly to combine faith and common sense, that these questions will ultimately cease to have any relevance. 'God speed the plough' is the first prayer which will rise to our lips in the midst of a world shortage of food; 'God speed the hammer and the saw' isa prayer which will closely follow in a world which must have homes if it is to have a peace which is worth the name. "You who are desiring to see a worthy cathedral rising as soon as possible after hostilities cease, as a natural expression of your gratitude to God for the victory which He has given, must keep in mind what I have just said. We shall have, from now on, to strain every nerve to bring together the money which will be needed, so that we can begin building at the earliest possible moment. But we must be prepared to wait till such headway has been made with the erection of houses that men and materials can be released for other great national tasks. When that moment comes we shall be ready to begin the great work of building the cathedral and to press forward without interruption till it is completed."