HOUSED IN TENTS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 192, 14 August 1931, Page 7

HOUSED IN TENTS.

Plight of Destitute Sydney Families. WORK AN URGENT NEED. (Special to the “Star.”) SYDNEY. August 2. Few New Zealanders realise the conditions under which the destitute families of Sydney live. Thousands of them are housed in tent colonies on the outskirts of the city, ekeing out an existence by means of charity and the dole. When it is further realised that many of these families were once well-to-do, with the breadwinners in responsible and highly-paid business positions, their plight becomes all the worse. What will happen when the funds of the relief organisations who have made these camps possible are exhausted? Knowing the limited means of these bodies, many schemes have been discussed whereby the destitute families may be made self-supporting* One of the best of these plans is one whereby each family would be given a small plot of land, to be cultivated and made productive, thus enabling its workers to make a living for themselves. A company is now being formed on nonprofit earning lines, which will develop this idea. The conclusion has been reached that it is futile to keep people in idleness, and in the hope that conditions will soon improve. They may not do that for another ten years. What to Do. One man, realising that, secured a small block of land about eighteen miles from Sydney, and set to work to till it. It became profitable, the. garden yielded all kinds of produce, and now a fowl-yard has been added to the little farm. This man is not now in a position to let the miserable conditions elsewhere worry him and his family. Before the tent colonies were established, the situation was far worse than it is to-day. Crowds of poverty-stricken people were sleeping out in the open, having only sacking for their bedclothes, and without even a place to place their clothes. After this, relief organisations took charge of things, and the well-organised camps sprang up. The single men were housed by the hundred in hostels. That decent, honest citizens should be forced to live in such a manner is a shocking commentary on Australia’s position. They are at a dead-end, and it will only mean stagnation unless something is done to give the settlers work to take their minds away from dwelling on the prospects of the future.