ANTISOCIAL PRACTICES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 23 October 1942, Page 4

ANTISOCIAL PRACTICES

OPPOSITION members were ill-ad-i vised in objecting to legislation making it an offence for a landlord to j refuse to let a dwelling to an appli- i cant with children. Questioning of the precise wording of relevant ; clauses of the Bill might have been justified, but everyone knows their! broad purpose. Certain landlords do not like children in their houses and flats because they may cause damage, which depreciates the property and adds to the repair bill- Children be- j ing what they arc. there is a certain , amount of validity in the objection. But refusal to let to people with; children is deliberate and calculated; discrimination against a class in the ! community—a most important class; —the family man and woman with i young children. That is anti-social j conduct and. whatever the rights of, private property, they should not ex-j tend to the length of condoning antisocial behaviourIt is readily acknowledged that: members who voted against the provisions in Parliament may not be unsympathetic towards mothers, fathers, and children. They probably uphold and applaud the family as the unit of society. If it is to be given every encouragement to remain so, discriminatory practices must be banned for the good of the race. These occur when landlords reject wouldbe tenants purely because they have children, or whenever a bus company. tramway corporation or union of workers takes steps to restrict the carriage of push-chairs to certain hours because of inconvenience. Other examples could be cited- It has still to be realised that the tirst consideration should be the needs of mother and child at all hours and that both private enterprise and com-munity-owned services should make provision to cater for them. If a mother with children causes inconvenience it is not through choice. A wise State must act to ensure she is not penalised because she undertakes the essential duty of rearing a family. The best way to do that is to educate ourselves out of these antisocial habits, both personally and collectively. Until that can be done legislation must apply the check to their growth and continuance.