Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1901. GARDEN CITIES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 12025, 11 December 1901, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1901. GARDEN CITIES.

Now-a-iiays we are witnessing such rapid and complete changes in industrial methods that we arc no longer surprised at any proposal, however revolutionary and startling. Nor do all proposals of this kind come from our Yankee cousins. It is gratifying to find that Englishmen are still capable of solving the peculiar problems which the development of industry from time to time forces on public attention. Qhe last scheme which has been exciting the interest of all concerned in the welfare of the laboring classes is that which passes under the name of garden cities. For some time past the housing problem has been causing the greatest difficulty to local bodies, and in particular to the London County Council. Do what they can their means are all too inadequate to provide the rapidly increasing population of the capital with healthy dwellings. And the difficulty which presents itself to the London authorities in this regard is onlya little less urgent in the case of most of the larger cities in which manufacturing trades are carried on. During the last few years the London County Council has purchased fifty or sixty acres of land, and built hundreds of model dwellings, but without succeeding in lessening to any appreciable degree the pressure of the population. Philanthropists and social workers of all kinds have long recognised that these efforts of the local bodies, praiseworthy as they may be, are not adequate to the needs of the workers However sanitary the dwelling which is thus provided may be, the herding together of large masses of human beings is not conducive to healthy life. Nothing connected with the commercial history of the last century has been, and is, so distressing to the reflective mind as the steadv

and ever-increasing exodus from the country to the town. Ihe best of the bone and sinew of the country is thus removed to the large industrial centres, where as a necessary consequence of physical conditions it undergoes a rapid deterioration. It is said that in three generations this rustic element wears itself out in

the artificial and unhealthy surroundings to which it has been transplanted. To check this exodus then is one of the greatest problems facing the would-be social reformer. It has, indeed, more than once struck a thoughtful observer that the improvement in means of communication might do much to combat this evil. Mr H. GK Wells, whose vaticinations have been providing much amusement, and at the same time much food for thought, declared some time ago that with the municipalieation of tramways and the application of electricity to purposes of traction the worker would be able to make his home at considerable distances from the workshop and the factory. And the last Fnglish census justified his forecast by showing that already the suburban districts were increasing in population at the expense of the city proper in the case of London I hero is room, however, for still more sweeping alterations. Instead of making the worker travel long distances to his factory why not take the factory to him ? Why not establish the manufactory in the heart of the country and surround it with a little village of rustic homes in which the workers could enjoy the advantages of rural life ?

The suggestion has, indeed, already been given a trial with the most marked success. Quito recently a conference was held at Birmingham find Bournville in connection with the Garden City Association. The conference was of the highest interest, and has aroused such a strong feeling of hope in all who attended it that a man like Lord Grey was able to confess that a visit to Bournville had dispelled all the nightmares which bad oppressed his mind with

regard to the social and economic future of England. The Bournville village is the work of Mr Cadbury, while Messrs Lever at Pott Sun-

light, and others, have independently worked out similar schemes. The great feature, of course, in all of them is the garden space. By this means the right line is adopted to keep men in the country and provide them with work there under healthier conditions and with homes at low rents. The garden area is felt to be a special boon. Not only does it provide a healthy interest for the worker, but it keeps him at home and assists in no small degree to combat the intemperance which is a sad feature of existence in the slums of the cities.

While it is not every employer who is able to put into practice hie convictions for the welfare of those dependent on him there is beyond question a well marked tendency on the part of certain trades to remove their concerns from the large towns to tho open country. Already many of the largest printing concerns are carried on in various rural districts or small country towns, and the owners find themselves able to hold their own against their competitors who have continued to carry on business in ordinary urban conditions. Still more is this the case with soap, jam, cocoa, and other provision factories, and also with such industries as the manufacture of clothing, boots, and furniture The cost of carriage is, of course, not so important an item at Uome as in this country, and in any case the employer is able to recoup himself for any extra expense on this score by the diminished cost of dwelling accommodation. In addition to this

the cost of lend required for factory purposes, of fuel and raw material, is in many cases considerably reduced. Probably in most of these coses the worker derived little direct benefit. What he does enjoy, however, is the immense advantage of healthy surroundings and opportunities for healthy recreation. The Garden City Association proposes that the County Councils [chiefly concerned should purchase large areas in suitable localities for workmen’s homes, and should, at the same time, offer facilities for manufactories to remove their factories from the larger centres to those villages. The attempt to permanently rehouse the worker in London is costly, and fails in the main object it has in view. There is no alternative to the garden city if the strength of the Nation and the standard of physique is to be maintained ; the people must be drawn back to the land, and the steady flow of able bodied men must bo stopped. In a country such as this it must be ever a matter of congratulation that we have not at present, and shall not for many years to come havo, any such problem to face. Here we can all pursue our

avocations whether they take us to town or country, amid surroundings which are in the highest degree favorable to the fullest physical development. That is an inestimable advantage which is worth mote to the worker than Conciliation Boards and Factories Acts, and one which is perhaps hardly estimated at its full value.