SCRAMBLE FOR HOMES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 21604, 5 January 1945, Page 6

SCRAMBLE FOR HOMES

DIPLOMATS IN CANBERRA SYDNEY. Jan. 2. The arrival in Australia ot tho Indian High Commissioner, Sir Ragahimath Paranjpye, and lii.s stall' has again drawn attention to the inadequate housing arrangements at Canberra for tlie diplomatic and commercial representatives of various countries The Indian household has settled, more or less, at a Canberra hotel, but the High Commissioner's plea for a private home and another large house for office purposes is unlikely to be heeded while the city is at a pitch of excitement over the arrival next month of the Governor-General-elect, the Duke of Gloucester. Sir Ragahunalh Paranjpye’s efforts to find accommodation for offices in the Patents Building, where the British and New Zealand High Commissioners are quartered, were unavailing. The French Legation is also seeking a house lor use as an office. The present French offices are at the Hotel Canberra. Most of the other legations have sufficient houses, but only because some of the Russians have left. When another third secretary arrives to replace Mr. Randolph Kidder, who nas been transferred from the United States Legation, the Americans will want another house. The Chinese will also require a house xor the successor to Mr. Ah Chin Li, who has gone to Bombay. The position will be eased slightly when the American Minister, Mr. Nelson T. Johnson, moves to the new £30,000 legation, but the date of tim move is still uncertain.