The Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1899.

Evening Star, Issue 10933, 16 May 1899, Page 2

The Evening Star TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1899.

A special meeting of the City Council is to be held to-morrow evening lodging- for the purpose of confirmiouscs. } D g the following resolution, adopted at a special meeting of the Council on April 5 ;—“That it be “ resolved by way of special resolution to “ operate as a special order that the draft “ now before the Council of a licensed “lodging-house by-law be adopted and “made as a by-law, to bo hereafter “ known as By-law No 7; and that “it be further resolved and declared “ that the said by-law shall come “into force on the Ist day of June, “ 1899.” It is to be noted that the by-law resolved to be adoped, and which now comes before the Council for confirmation pursuant to the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1886, differs very materially from the draft prepared by the General Committee, which was submitted to the Council on April 5, and caused considerable amusement to the ratepayers and the general public. In the present form it appears to be not likely to unduly interfere with a business which, upon the whole, we to be respectably conducted in Dunedin, and to be of great convenience to a considerable section of the community. We are not disposed, however, to have much faith in city by-laws, which are more frequently honored in the breach than the observance _ It is only after a lapse of years, for instance, that any practical action has been taken to enforce By-law hip. 2, and now it is only enforced against loiterers and presumed betting men at certain street corners, while the strident nuisance of street preaching and howling actually blocks thoroughfares on Saturday and Sunday evenings up to 10 o’clock, and has become more rampant than ever, to the great annoyance of residents and of occupiers of offices in the vicinity. What is “ sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.”

When the draft by - law concerning lodging-houses was brought down and the Mayor moved its adoption by the Council there was a somewhat amusing discussion, and the members of the General Committee, presumably responsible, came in for some hard knocks for such proposals as were embodied in certain sections which purported to deal with tho morality and domestic economy of lodging-houses. Even the washing of bedclothes was to be regulated by law, and there was to be official inspection of rooms, yards, and premises at any time. The separation of the sexes was provided for under conditions that would have involved tho production of tho marriage certificate before a married couple could be accommodated. The majority of tho Council, fortunately, recognised the absurdity of such grandmotherly legislation, and struck out the sections, notwithstanding the protest of Councillors Haynes and Christopher, supported, so far as he could do, so in' his position, by the Mayor. We especially take exception to the assertion of Councillor Christopher, in advocating section 18; “ Persons of “ different sexes other than married “ couples shall not occupy the same bed- “ room,” which, he declared, was “ a very “ important and necessary clause. Some •‘of these places were merely houses oi "assignation.” This, as applied to ordinary lodging-houses, we believe to bo a scandalous libel. The same councillor, who seems to have had unfortunate experiences, also asserted that at some of “these houses'they seldom washed the " clothes. He had been in some of these " places, and had seen the blankets "almost alive” 1

The by-law, as it will come before the Council to-morrow for confirmation, is free froto the provisions to which such strong objections wore made. A “ common lodging-house ” is defined to be any house to which that expression in its ordinary acceptance applies, and where six or more persons are provided with lodgings at the same time. Noperson is to keep any house or premises as a common lodging-house unless the same be registered as a licensed lodging-house in the manner prescribed in the by-law. Licenses are to be issued by the town clerk upon the report of the city surveyor certifying that the house mentioned in the application is a fit house to be licensed and complies with all the Requirements of the by-law and any other law, and particularly that the same is furnished with proper appliances for securing the safety of the inmates in case of fire, and that the appliances are of such a nature that they may be evenly maintained and in order. The town clerk is to keep the book, to be called the Register of Licensed Lodging-houses, wherein shall be entered the name and address of each licensee, the location of the house, the number of lodgers intended to be accommodated, and such other conditions as the town clerk may think necessary. Every person applying for a license is to pay the annual fee of five shillings, when the house is intended to accommodate less than eleven persons, and ten shillings when the same is intended to accommodate eleven persons and more. In each license the town clerk is from time to time to enter such directions and conditions as the Council may direct as to the times for washing rooms, cleaning yards, etc., the keeping of night watchmen in houses for the accommodation of more than twenty persons, the providing and maintenance of means of securing safety in case of fire, and such other directions and conditions as, in the opinion of the Council, the requirements of safety, health, comfort and decency may justify; and the failure on the part of the keeper of a house to observe any such directions or conditions is constituted an offence. The licensee is at all times to allow access to the house when required by any officer of police, any inspector of nuisances, or person appointed by the Council to visit or inspect such houses. The proposed by-law certainly appears to be reasonable, and very desirable in the interests of the very large number of persons whom circumstances practically compel to live in boarding-houses and lodgings. Several of the boarding-houses accommodate as many lodgers as the large hotels, and are equally liable to danger from fire or from insanitary conditions. There is no valid reason whatever that they should be excepted from supervision and inspection by the City

J Council through the latter’s officers. At ! present there is no check upon faults in i the construction of the buildings—no control as to the sanitary arrangements or ; overcrowding ; whilst as to the danger of | fire, there are houses in this City which would be veritable death traps, and no Provision whatever for escape exists 1 in them.