HOUSING AND LABOUR.

Waipa Post, Volume XII, Issue 944, 20 May 1920, Page 4

HOUSING AND LABOUR.

THOSE who are suffering from the housing trouble are almost despairing of remedy, and a regular army of house-hunters wanders from place to place in a hopeless mission that is foredoomed to failure. The only way to remove the present inconvenience is to build more houses, but the natural way out of the difficulty seems to find little favour. It might almost be believed that there is a conspiracy of hindrance. Every obstacle is being thrown in the way of affording relief by the proper and natural method of eliminating the deficiency. Increase the number of houses available and the intensity of the demand which forces rentals up to an almost impossible figure would quickly be reduced. The only logical way is to go on building more houses untilsupply and demand are brought more nearly in accord. But it is just at this point that the hitch occurs. Building is rendered unprofitable by the continuous advance in wages and the limitation of the hours of work. The excessive cost of building material is another deterrent. The State Housing Department is experiencing the , troubles incidental to housebuilding in these difficult times, and private building, except for personal use is out of the question. Government interference # usually makes the position worse, and perhaps it has done so in this case. The decree for fair rents, with every provocation warranting it, has had the result, unfortunately of discouraging building enterprise. Either the interference should be withdrawn and give private enterprise free play or fair rents should be universally demanded. And in that case some big remissions would have to be made fin Te Awamutu. However, building activity is restricted all along the line, and the present outlook is not good. The position is not helped by the very frequent processions which go to the Arbitration Court in demand' of shorter hours. There can be no other result than increasing the cost of building operations, and this will mean an increase of rents and an abatement of enterprise. Shorter hours and a diminishing production are out of keeping with the prevalent cry for some solution of the cost-of-living problems. By shorter hours the prospect of overcoming the housing difficulty is more remote than ever. It is high time that the position into which greed is leading the public was seriously considered. The community must inevitably be loaded with the loss involved in every claim for shorter hours and curtailed production.