THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1914. WORKERS' DEWELLINGS.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13470, 16 May 1914, Page 4

THE COLONIST. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1914. WORKERS' DEWELLINGS.

Practical answers to the query, What did the Liberals do for the worker, not -infrequently heard from the lips of interested politicians, are found in the Workers' Dwellings Act and the Advances to Workers Act. The latter measure' extends to wage earners whose incomes do not exceed £200 per annum, the principle of the earlier Advances to Settlers Act, and is intended to enable such persons to purchase or erect dwellings upon much easier terms than would otherwise be available to them. Up to the last date for which statistics are available advances totalling £2,270,000 had been made to workers under this Act. The operations under the Workers' Dwellings Act are described in a booklet just issued by the Labour Department, which forms an interesting record of another form of Liberal legislation ot an eminently sound description. The original Act was passed in 1905 to enable bona fide workmen to obtain dwellings at reasonable rentals. The principal object of the Act of 1905 was for the State to purchase land, or set apart Crown land, and to erect thereon dwellings for workers which could be leased to them at very low rentals. A strong desire, however, was evinced by applicants for these homes to obtain the freehold, and the Act of 1910 was passed, which enabled the workers to purchase the dwellings outright by way of a system of payment of weekly or monthly instalments (7 per cent, on the capital value, and fire insurance premium) extending over a period of twenty-five and a-half years. The purchaser is directly responsible for rates and maintenance. The only security needed is a deposit of £10, to be made at the time of application, and the signing of an agreement to purchase. A "worker" is defined by the Act as any person, male or female, who is employed in work of any kind or in manual labour, whose earnings at the time of his application do not exceed £175 per annum and who is landless. Dwellings may be built of wood, concrete, or brick, but the total capital value, including land, outbuildings, etc., must not exceed £600. All dwellings are to be built in accordance with the plans supplied by the Labour Department, but reasonable alterations to suit the requirements of applicants are considered by the Workers' Dwellings Board. At any time during the currency of an agreement to purchase, the purchaser may reduce the amount owing on his dwelling, and thus shorten the period of time required to complete the purchase. The photographs and plans which comprise the major portion of the booklet under notice show that substantial comfort and pleasing appearance are the objects aimed at by the Board's architects, and where the Act has been put into operation attrac- [ tive »homes have been made available to eligible tenants or purchasers on terms < that could not be offered by private landlords and property owners. Thus in the four chief cities, where house rent constitutes^ a formidable problem even to the fairly well to do, dwellings have been erected by the Department and occupied on terms representing a rental ranging from 9s 4d per week for a four-roomed house to 14s Id per week for dwellings of five and six rooms. The extent to which, the Act has been utilised is shown byvthe fact that in addition to the four chief centres, dwellings have now been erected in many of the secondary and smaller towns, whilst land has been purchased or is being negotiated for in practically every town of any size in the Dominion.- During the twelve months ending 31st March last, 102 houses were erected and disposed of. The sum of £47,000 was spent in acquiring land for these dwellings and in erecting dwellings thereon. Since the inception of the Act in 1905 to the 30th September, 1913, 298 dwellings had been erected. Legislation passed last s_ession extended the benefits of the Act. to farming and other employees in ,the country districts, for: whom it is proposed to purchase or set apart suitable blocks of land to be sub-divided into sections of

about five acres each upon which to erect workers' dwellings. It is expected that such an area will enable the workers; to carry on farming in a small way on their own account, in addition to performing their ordinary duties as employees in the respective districts. The two measures we have described represent a courageous and in-as-far as they have been carried into operation, a successful endeavour to grapple with the cost of living problem, and to lighten one of the most serious'1 burdens to the family of small mean's.