A SOLDIER'S TRIP IN LONDON.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 1 August 1918, Page 5

A SOLDIER'S TRIP IN LONDON.

JHAMPSTEAD TENANTS' GARDEN ! SUBURB VISITED. I | (By J. S. Tosland.) j In the past I have devoted my journalistic efforts to my own county press, but desiring th© under-written to touch those who may, from circumstances, be more directly interested in the subject, x am ta_ing the liberty of sending it to your esteemed paper. Your Opunake leaders will remember (if the article got home) my account to the Opunake limes of the educational scheme being organised and run by tho N.Z. Division under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A. for the benefit of our convalescent' men. JJor those of your readers, however, who may not be awa-re of it, I will preface my subject with a brief resume of the scheme. General Richardson, commandant of i\.Z. l<orees m England, feeling that con ßde , ab , e t nuist el - bef many of the maimed men can again become ht for the field, and also'with a view to the set-back to m.-mv of the nien s education, caused by coming to the front, and feeling, too. that on peace being declared/some great time m st pass ere a 1 men leave for home, conceived the idea of establishing a ?h* ■ m,. of ff „dH catrou for *«« soldiers in their "off" hours between parade., which -will enable them in some way to mwiita.il or better their position ol fit Of 7} aftf„ arnval ln New Zealand, lealise that the most instant and vital element , s to win the war, vet as 1 bave stated, the unavoidable surplus ' ?ecr ef!f,.° ni, ha, nd ' 1 and worthy is theobl2_fit whlcll.tht'y are trying to uti'cft 3U 7 bie^ T^Ped in three Hsh liv • l class vre Imw'<> English, liencii,- economics, book-keeping, and accountancy, shorthand and other elementry subjects. No. 2 class comprises the artisans' section, and teaXs boot-making, basket and' rafia work*" __3_^r m& lldil^ cOMtniction and aichifcect-ure. JSo. 3 class deals with . Jarming in most of its branches, that i istiy, poultry farming, fe_it growing lS« SUIT eying ' md kno^ teoige; Any man can take any three Savior "JS* attend the™ Set t£\ t rSe therV re many difficulties to b e overcome, but still I am sure that in any case good knowledge is being given, and consciously, or unconsciously, assimilated. * ' uutonscl , ■ The YM.C.A. authorities, ? s usual ' have entered most heartily into the scheme for the betterment and also welrare of the men. I daresay, ere now some correspondents have told your ■ readers of tlie splendid concerts gfc_ m camp each week by tlie best talent available, so I need dwell no further ■ upon it. The Y.M.C.A., however proT?™J° r T l'? than mere amusement. Every _week lecturers from universities and other celebrated men sneai to S on various subjects. I am* sure that com V* US Wl a (GV6nte Pitting come home much enriched aaid ripened in knowledge. But it is not so much about the lectures generally that I dePn,'L W/ m' ther Deak > but 'fOT +-he outcome of one series. Mr Henry Vivian, one-time M.P., delivered to us three .consecutive weekly £'7 n: first, industry and the rl ml °? el to second, insuiance against unemployment and town planning; third, reconstruction of our great industries after the war T i° Ur + l! eaders niust now Pardon me if l give them a short pen picture of Mr w °„t al iax aSt 1 remember, 4r«m torv !tlie Y-M.C.A.'sec?e----tary, told us, and personal, observation. Mr Vivian was himself very reticent of mention about himself. i_ his hitlTTi native of Devon and began life at a joiner's bench. In his andyt& S he **_-*** night school^ eSnJrIZ m l f ained \ S°od elementary ■education During the day, of course he worked at his trade. When about teToftlT? 0* "Ptt 1? a^ ll J??' S Union > and later became appointed secretary, and still later i ffld t Cl enches and unclenches dm rag speech, show vividly that the he AAas fully grown, and then as that strong pendulum-like hand moves im stiength force and energy of its owner He has a pair of fine, fearless blue eves looking out from a strong, full head' H ,dark AlUhi. and the thick-set body and broad chest show us a man, practical, courageous and determined. When the addresfAvas finished I knew that something else too was in that broad frame, and that was a human soul: that associations and en! ronment had made the man feel for the under world. .At about twenty-five ■au Vivian became a master builder men "P i *° a, Wld ed in thl t n y? ail ag°' and remainthat nenod he was a member of the ™71^ ? P to enquire into the tauses of unemployment and to draft a scheme m connection vrith Mr Llovd George's Insuiance Bill. 3 vntS , Vh +ian'& I SeC°'ld lecture "'as devoted to town planning and the housing He woJT f ]yettev _lasses of homes. He was the founded of on 0 of the Copartnershm Tenants, and started tlia^t scheme with a capital of £48. To-day he is chairman of the Amalgamated Copartnership Tenants, and gth2 society enrl^T 1 m • ?. nd and improvements nearly four millions sterling This so ciety. the direct outcome of Mr Viviari'^ ?7 finonm" r6 ' las I nmv 1 '-TPent roughly £1^600,000 on land and improvements. self. Mr Vivian's lecture was illustrated with pictures of-the slum quarters of cities, and then pictures of the beautiful garden suburbs, where tho people could live* at the same rental as, m the wretched slums. Of course we really needed no picture to bring to our minds the slums or poorer streets. London is full to overflowing of them ft-* fact, we run through them hist off'tho most fashionable thoroughfares of the city At, the conclusion of his address, 31 r Vivian invited Mr Fawc c tt to brim'a party of us to visit the garden sub" urb of Hampstead. The economic ela<=s ' was chosen as the one to he guests as it is considered to b.- the most interested in social Avell-being and equality. ! The Y.M.C.A. were to stand the* trip from A to Z, and we all accepted the nivitation; even the most hard up of us could not gruinl-ie -,o com e on those terms So when Saturday duly came (the day you may see the lame, halt sick, etc., going everywhere) thirty of us, twenty-eight men in hospital blue a big N.Z. .staff-sergeant-major (who was one tim e a labor secretary and hoav a keen, honest member of the economic classes) straightened ourselves up, and duly reported outside hospital headquarters by 11.3'J. Here, of course, wv Avere duly inspected by tho regiment sergt.-major, received 'our instructio were numbered and marched to the tion. The staff-sergeant bought tickets for Charing Cross and Ave into Avhatever compartment of tlAve could find vacani. At Bar' changed into the li-"rr-irl. stuff gi-oiuid train, and e\'eiitual' the city. At Charing Oo?

oett and two of the camp instructors j —Messrs Adams (late proiessor ot j languages, Otago University) and Con- : liffe (professor of economics, of Christ- I church) —joined us. They were verypleased to see. the full party, and rushed off and purchased the under-ground tickets (on a much lower level) for Golders Green, Avhere Ave were to get off. Upon arrival at Golders Green a vivid contrast aAvaited us as we got into daylight again. We had entrained in the heart of London and within half an hour here A\'e Avere, for threepence, right in the glorious country. Not long were we left to reflection, for the staffsergeant, the best I was ever out under, again counted us up, and, Avith Mr Fa-w----cett in the lead, off we set for "The Temple of Fortune,'' the name of the society's offices and headquarters. Of course Ave could not all go at the same pace, but all arrived eventually. As Ave walked this mile Ave came through a beautiful town suburb, but it Avas not the one AA-e were shown over.

Mr Vivian met us, and in the office slioAved the plan of the estate. Originally only forty-eight acres Avere acquired, but "as the society got upon its feet it 'bought more land until now, at Hampstead, it OAvns 660 acres, or a good square mide. According to the English suburban toAvn by-laAvs it is possible to place up to fifty-six dwelling houses upon one acre. (Anyone who has been through Stepney can see this; in fact, it. is evident on every, side of us). By the registered model townplanning scheme only eight ordinary dwellings are alloAved. Mark Avell! These laAvs were draAvn up and duly registered by the promoters and not by Act of Parliament. Here Ave have the cojnmou man going ahead of the Parliamentarian simply because the latter, many of them, OAvn those fifty-six to the acre areas.

As Mr Vivian stated in his lecture to us, Messrs Lever Bros., of Port Sunlight, were the fii"st people to get ahead of Legislation in providing for their workers. You friends in New Zealand, if you have not lived in the poorer part of a great city, can form no idea what effect environment has upon the morals and character of individuals. As we wer-fe told, so is it. People living, a whole family in one, two, or three rooms, overcrowded, under-ventilated, unconsciously drift to a level of degradation beneath which it is almost impossible to fall. Their outlook on life is deadened, their aim and ideals are those things bordering on the vicious, consequently the unseemly drinking and the multiplicity of the grogshops. The laws of England say a suburban street must bo at least forty feet wide. Tlie i town planners, however, make no thoroughfare less than, fifty-six feet wide. The extra width is used for footpaths. Again a large, full, straight, wide road has been constructed across the centre of the estate from the London Fiiichley road to the Great North road (to York, I believe, as the estate fringes on the Spaniards road, where there is the famous inn where Dick Turpin put up). Off these roads are small lanes just the required forty feet wide, These, however, are not thoroughfares, and exist, so Mr Vivia.ii told us, contrary to English law, which says every road must connect with another. Their use is obvious and is the ensuring of privacy. Besides under the spreading chestnut trees the children can run out and play in safety. (To be continued.)