TO THE PUBLIC OF NELSON.

Colonist, Issue 10, 24 November 1857, Page 2

TO THE PUBLIC OF NELSON.

Per favour of the Colonist. I was among the first settlers of the Province, and I can assure you no person has taken a greater interest in oiir social progress than myself. Having assisted in the drudgery of forming the settlement, I feel myself at liberty to remark upon a subject I think you will.admit, of much importance to many individually, and all collectively. I well remember when a bed of rushes stretched from the salt-water bridge a tolerable distance into town, and when (unless you took a bird's-eye view) not a house was to be seen as you stood in Haven-road, except the' Company's' offices in Trafalgar-square,; and when our dwellings were composed of fern, toitoi, mud, turf, bark, and suchlike materials; and a fine contrast our Nelson presented, compared with the meanest village in the old country. Well, the rush, fern, toitoi huts gradually gave place to a better description of dwellings, yet how many are still living in miserable substitutes for houses, which are perfect shanties, and far too small into the bargain.. Now, what I would urge upon you is the necessity of a building society, to give to every family a home fit to live in, and I may add, obtained cheaply. Witness the operations of Building Societies in England, and what combination has effected in one country for one public, the same may be done for another. I need not multiply arguments in favour of my proposal, when the majority of us have felt the inconvenience of living in small buildings, and in many instances, suffered such for years. I am glad to observe of late a better class of buildings has sprung up, and that more are in the course of erection; nevertheless, I am inclined to the opinion that unless a building fund is established, the majority will never be able to secure to themselves the comfort and advantage of a home demanded by the voice of decency and self-respect. Many advantages will accrue by taking a step in this direction, —such as greater safety from fire, a proper division of families, health, increase of the suffrage, as also an improvement in the appearance of the town, which would operate favourably upon the minds of visitors, and secure some of them as residents among us: besides, our children demand that we should remove the demoralizing influence of confined dwellings. A small house drives the children into the street, and frequently the father to a public house, the end of which is, parents have to mourn over the disobedience and immorality in their family. I have imperfectly introduced this subject to you I admit, and I hope that some one more capable than myself will take the hint, and bring" this matter prominently before you, and cany out successfully a building society. CITIZEN.