The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911.

Evening Star, Issue 14632, 31 July 1911, Page 4

The Evening Star MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911.

ritKsmiKt. at Mr Churls". Ke-'de".- recent lecture on" slum cond'HCUSiRg "-"d tions in Auckland (of Tsvan-plar.ning. which we gave an ac-

ciunt'on Thut.-day Wit), the .Minister of Kdueatiun premised that the (lovernme.nt would invite tlu> Legislature t<> -fle.il with the que At ion of lownjil'imi;i»t» the ensuing se-sien. A reference in the Uovmioi's Speech points to the fulfilment of this engagement. Meanwhile it mr.y be interesting to take n.-to of what ':-. t.!n-_' -clone and attempted in the same direction in the Homo- Cnun-ti-v. At the iu.-tanco of that admirably Minister. .Mr John ]>im:;, a Housir.-; and Town-planr.in-j Ait was parvixl three, years u ,_•<">. and faiut'on has already been to no le?s than 180 loans for w many hom-im,'; c-i hemes in town and country at an estimated cc.'.t ct' a million and a-iiiiancr etcrliiij;. Naturally it is in London that the chief need is observable, though progressive rcfcnvi is required in every town in varying decrees, Thero has been a very larjreexcdtis frcm Inner London to the suburban districts the la .1 few years, and thio tact in itself is not to be regretted—in deed, Mr l!tirns re-cent ]y announced, witii frank satisfaction, that there were iii'ty thousand empty houses in London, the former tenants of which had, to their credit, found fresh woods antl pastures new. The population of the* comity of L'.sex has actually increased by 245X00, oi 50 per cent.. .since the beginning of the century. The trouble is that the new homes, for the mo-st part, have not been built on sonnd principles. An expert writer haij declared that "not 5 per cent.

"of the houses which have been erected ":u the. suburb'; in the last 10 yam oiurlit "to have he-en built. . . . 'I ho brihi"nvg of Outer London hers, consisted, in. "the juoih, of ,-i ncr. ninnies,, repetition of " badly-planned boasts no re- " deeming qualities— not even th-it of "theapnesM." Of late, however, there has bcon a fruitful Giirring of public opinion in regard to thi.s matter, aid a. few weeks ago u. notable objoet-le.-on wrr, presented to the community in the opening of' the Town-planning and .Mod-rn Heive ami Cottage Exhibition at Oi.lea l'aik, near Ltomtord. on the Ureat Kastem Kaiiway. Designs were submitted by 325 aichiteets, u::ti 140 of the.".: ucn: i;3td. the buddings covering 30 acres a:.d e;. t iug £30,000. "There is a new e;arde;i city which, savs "to the- world: ' Thoie are the sort "of "hcu.<eii I.) build and live in.' A sidit ui "them makes our mean arects stih niore-

" terrible." .Mean .-trtets .'—it is a i'amiiiar term, but tlicj fact wha.h the term is Flill move I'tuniiiat—jye, even in ih;.J.tnd wlticii li.iitr bi-r.:-:' of burner : deadened) we cad "(.'tad's- n;;n eomiti'v." Ihink ot bimie <:f tiie nn.an, drab, unlovely streets o:i tiie l>utie.!in "Mat"! Thu rei'jrm jnov«uent at ii-.is an iCothetic or aitistie s.;de. '!h., promoters dishe, ;.s W.iliam Aiorits ikr.wM, ta tester a poptdar appreiiatit.-n of feautv and outnaiti lieendiiif.--, as w.Ji a.; a icuirnitJou vt the aequireiiK'Uts cf health ;md iea.::onable toiui'ort. And this a.-pee' should not be ignored by l\ t ':v '/,: ;;!a;ut hjformers. It is hoped trui the tiideti Park Exhibition will have an educational effect oi the most practical kind, stimulating and insauetiti- the tndcavo:,, of tiie a-encKs, public and priviite, vi.hosc litisinesr; it is >.o supply the lesiiientia! needs of

fhe ihteen t!u;ii:;::>ii Kintiiit-s th.iL move evoiy year iroin Inner tu Outer London. An LX.cileiit ilkuliaUd aixcunt oi the exiiibiticu has bcou published by _Mr H. .Smith hi id Son at tho juice of cue shilling, and u should hi studied by everyone inter «■ ted i;i town-planning. An:-.tii{>r si";:iliwuit fact may ]::■ instanced, i'ret'essor 11. Stanley the diainguwhed sou of a distinguished father, has rc-M-ntd hi.; profeesorship of L'e-oiicrnies and Political Science at Cauiiif I'aiversiiy College in order to till th.' position of managing director of the Housing Ileform Building Company, which has been fyrmed to improve the health and conditions of life of the colliery population of South Wales, not only by providing impioved houses, but by -enciut lowii-plam.in.,' on up-to-date, lint's. A number of questions were recently addrosal to representative men ci' light and leading in relation to the subject under iivtae, and lh-3 published answeis are, for the nir.,it part, interesting v.v.d practically valuable. Some of Sir Frederick Treves'u remarks are particularly noteworthy, '(he famous surgeon is strongly of opinion that the aitistie ideal uhould go hand-in-bamj with the uiinitary motive. Here is a passage which ht'.s its distinct lesson tor Now Zealand (not excluding Dtmcdin) r.e well as for the country to which it specially refers : 1 he moist deplorable spectacle presented in Kitulund at the present day hj to be ioUJid inthcauburbsof almost every large

town, ivhne will bo stv?n acre after acre of land covered with houses whose only external feature is uftlir.Fc.s. hovers .is free from any traces of desicn a.-, a row of iwckinif caerfi. . . . They dob:i.r> the public taste; they make a mockery of the idea of home. and as m;m ii i»fluenced hv his siirr'~-urnlirisi.s they nir-M foster that melancholy which in nuppoM'd to b: a character of the Knglish race.

At th? same time Sir Frederick deprecates th? fantastic or quaint styles—sometimes bordering on the grotenque—which, in the minds of same architects, .are' the only alternative to the conventional unloveliress. He also strongly insiets on the rectification of two common faults (and here is another lesson for our own community)—th.st, the neglect of any attempt to make houses rat proof ; and, .worldly, ths inadequate ventilation of roomr,--u-p*ci-iilly cottage bodrcoms. We hnvo a- good deal oi ■material on the subject of townplanning, "but the promised Government Hill will give further opportunities of dealing with a question which is ot the utmost practical irsportaiice.