HOUSING THE PEOPLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17040, 23 December 1918, Page 8

HOUSING THE PEOPLE.

SLUMS IN WELLINGTON.

SUGGESTED REMEDIES.

The WpOtt of a sub-committee of the group captains and officials engaged »- th recent epidemic campaign in Wellingl(„ has been adopted by the latter. Wealing with such questions as the housing ot the people, medical and nursing services and sanitation were comprehensively dealt with. The report expressed the opinion that "the State should bo prepared to conduct any subsequent campaign-should th« necessity for such unfortunately arisewith more economy and greater efficiency than was the ewe this year. Further th ! experience of members of the various committees revealed conditions in the living ! and housing of the people that no one but a fool can ignore. . '•The investigations of the various health committees reveal the facts It bat slum localities and isolated slum houses do I exist in Wellington," continued the report. "These slums are a reproach to our citizenship and a menace to national efficiency, and they must be removed. Besides the slum areas usually accepted by Wellington residents as such, the vis As of members of the various committees revealed undoubted slum localities where siums were not previously recognised as existing. A letter to the public prow by Mr. A. Gellatly, officer in charge of the Lyall Bay district, bears unequivocal testimony to the fact thalt deplorable conditions exist in parts of that favoured seaside suburb. Instances in the city could be multiplied, e.g., a visitor from one of the city centres found 12 people, i representing sis diffeient families, existl iiii,' in one'small four-roomed cottage. A man, his wife, and child occupied one room, another similar family a second, a man and wife a third, a man and wife the fourth, where the common cooking v. as also done, one girl slept on a stretcher over the bath, and another girl occupied the curtained-off part of a miserable passage. One of the occupants rented the cottage at 26s a week. What he made by suu-letting was not ascertained. Similar conditions were found in nearly every other district. •' Antecedent to any action for the abolition of slums must be considered the question of housing accommodation for the people at present occupying them. To that end this committee strongly supports powers being given to the local civic authority to purchase under the Public Works A* suitable building areas irf* near proximity to the city, and cut them up in quarter-acre sections for residential suburbs. An essential part of this suggestion is cheap and rapid means of transport to those suburbs. Where tram facilities exist at present the question of fast through trams between the hours of 7 and 9 a.m. and 5 and 7 p.m. is one worthy oi consideration. In the case of suburbs proponed to be rected under this scheme rapid and cheap tram and train transport is essential, and must be taken in hand conjointly with the acquisition of the land. Evils ol Apartment-houses.

" The growth of the ' apartment-nouse,' j as differing from the ' tenement-house,' has been a marked feature of the housing problem in Wellington of late years. Thin committee is not disposed to blame the war for this evil in its entirety; it is firmly of opinion that the excessive rentals aie the main cause, and that the evil will not be remedied until relieving suburbs are available.. It is recommended, that all apartment-houses shall be regis- ' tered and open to inspection by special inspectors under the Health Department. " Similar inspection should be made in respect of all boardinghouses and private and public hotels, and certificates issued at short regular intervals to these institutions after inspection. The conditions disclosed under which many of the young men and women are herded in boardinghousea or are 'rooming' in apartmenthouses are of such a nature as to make the establishment of properly-built and properly-managed hostels a matter of national responsibility. (Note.—An instance of overcrowding m unsuitable surroundings is one where seven young men boarders were found living in a basement with concrete floor and walls, and no adequate lighting and ventilation; this in one of the most favoured residential streets in the city.) . " Housing is a matter o» such national importance that this committee feels justified in urging that all houses shall provide living and sleeping accommodation for a definite number of persons under conditions to be determined by the expert medical advisers of the Health Department, Medical and Nursing Aid.

"In regard to medical service, the experience of all districts seems to have! been very much the same. During the, first five or six days of the epidemic the doctors attended 'their private patient?, and' no attempt was made to deal with the large number of cases—some serious, cases— fell outside this field. : "The whole system of control of the ; medical profession has been brought prominently before the people by the epidemic, and there seems to be three possible ways of improving the present system, or lack of system: That the nationalisation of the medical profession bo taken into consideration and that the doctors on the staff of the Public Health Department should bo so increased in number that a State doctor would always be provided for each area, and in time of epidemic all doctors, while carrying on their private practices, should ba com- | polled to deal with epidemic cases i.i areas I allotted to them.

" The nurses who undertook the «". ity of visiting the sick reported an astonishing lack of elemental nursing skill o i the part of many women. The committee therefore recommends that (or }>iung women between the ages of 18 am! 20 years the State should institute some form of training in elementary lursing, and that all women, unless engaged in some other educational training, should be compelled to attend weekly classes in nursing until they shall have reached a certain prescribed degree of efficiency. Probably the organisation of the St. John Ambulance Society could be made of great value in this connection.

Sanitation Recommendations. " Without suggesting that Wie civic authorities have been lacking in their effort for the sanitation of the city, this committee has the following recommendations to make:—

" Tile inspection of drains and backyards must be more vigorously and moro readily undertaken, and officers must have executive powers. "2. All street- should be side-channel-led, and such channels should be flushed with water and disinfectant frequently during the, summer. "3. Citizens should again he directed to burn much of the perishable refuse that now finds a haven in the garbage tineither in the copper fires or in an improvised destructor, Mich as an oilcan. "4. That tile city authorities be asked to improve the system for the collection of rubbish for the destructor, and if possible use should I'e made of the existing tram lines for this purpose. '"5. Collection of rubbish for the destructor should be made by night, and use made of the existing tram lines for this purpose. "6. The practice of depositing street swaging* in public or semi-public places should be discontinued.

"7. A bylaw should be introduced requiring at least 2ft between the ground and the under-side of the floor level of all dwellings, and an area of 6ft of ventilation for each 144 square feet of floor space, properly distributed. This ventilation applies to ail buildings, shops, factories, etc.. and shonld bo carried to the top of wall where necessary by means of proper shafts in. the walk

The warehouse of the Tcnson CJarlick Company, Ltd., will remain open till 6 p.m., Monday. 23rd inst.; 10 p.m., Tuesday. 24th inst.; 9 p.m., Friday, 27th inst.; V p.m., Saturday, 20th inst.

Double medical certificate before cremation is an extra safeguard' against premature burial—(Adyt.) ..-.