AUCKLAND SLUMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15649, 1 July 1914, Page 8

AUCKLAND SLUMS.

It is quite possible that from the point of view of older countries there are no slums in Auckland. This we need not dispute, for the whole problem is to be considered and judged from the Auckland and New Zealand point of view alone, as we consider and judge wages, working hours, factory sanitation, and every other industrial and social factor. From the Auckland point of view there are " slums" in this fair city, that is to say, thore are houses and groups of houses in which the recognised standards of colonial health and decency cannot bo lived, and which tend to degrade and demoralise those who permit them as those who inhabit them. It is matter of common knowledge to all who take an interest in civic affairs that every effort to eliminate this evil encounters a steady resistance, various superficial pleas, and arguments being advanced against every drastic proposal for its extirpation. There cannot be any anta-

gonism between true town-planning and a true anti-slum crusade any more than there can be antagonism between . swimming and rowing, but the creation of a garden suburb at Orakei will of itself no more eradicate slums at Freeman's Bay than the unaided modern factory system will of itself eradicate "sweating." There is positively no excuse in Auckland for permitting any house to remain which is unfit for human habitation and the surroundings of which are detrimental to decency and health. Nothing should be permitted to divert public opinion and civic thought from the fundamental truth that unless new communities impose arbitrary housing standards and enforce those standards without regard to personal considerations or vested interests, the slum will not only take root but will flourish in spite of all other progress and in the very midst of unprecedented prosperity.