HOUSING PRUSSIA’S POOR.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14015, 23 June 1913, Page 7

HOUSING PRUSSIA’S POOR.

I The high value of the land in places , where the poor are compelled to dwell causes several very unfortunate conditions to arise/- The buildings must be .high and the 'apartments small, while I every inch of ground has to be utilisi ed, so that open spaces to give light and fresh air are seldom sufficiently provided for. This is the case in all great cities, and in Europe the state of things is such that legislation is being called upon to remedy the evil. The German Government, among 1 others, seems to have risen to the oc- ; caaion, and we read in the Continental '.Correspondence (Berlin i that the j Conservative, the Catholic Centre, and (the various groups of the Liberal par-

j ties are united on this question, and I at this moment the Prussian Diet, or 1 Landtag, which has in charge the iocai government of Berlin, is considering a Bill -which bids fair to bring about a . better state of things. After enume- { rating some of the present evils of 1 overcrowding, insanitation, etc., the ; Correspondent outlines the provisions of the proposed law as follows; “Before building plans are passed in the future, the requirements of the special class of tenants who are to occupy them are to be carefully considered, and by this means a check is to be placed on speculative building, with its concurrent evils. Streets; squares—in fact, entire quarters—-can be given over to a new style of building, in which the houses can be constructed in such a manner as to be more open to the air; they must neither extend back from the facade to the present customary depth, nor must they exceed a certain definite number of storeys. Under existing conditions it often happens that, for pecuniary reasons, building sites in the midst of inhabited thoroughfares remain long untenanted, thus giving an unsightly air to the whole street; all this is to be done away with, and the municipal authorities are to have the right of purchasing and developing such sites at a fixed rate of compensation.” The building inspectors, too, are to be given larger powers and can condemn buildings already standing unless they come up to the requirements of the Government, and we read; “It provides them with the authority to take active steps even in the case of existing buildings which are badly planned or merely overcrowded. Furtherfore, it contains definite and strict regulations concerning the exact area in square feet to be set apart for each person, both, in the case of sleeping apartments and other rooms. All rooms intended either for bed or living rooms must be duly passed by the authorities as suitable for the.purpose for which they are intended. Each municipality, is to have absolute control in these matters. Communities of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants must create a special municipal departmen to deal with these .questions, whereas smaller communities are also entitled to take this step, if so disposed. These der partments will also have to keep themselves informed concerning the existence of very small dwellings in their particular district. As soon as a d-welling of this kind becomes vacant, the landlord will be, obliged to announce this fact to the department in question, so that the latter will always be in a position to supply those seeking habitations of this kind with vacancies. The authorities are to have the right to send their inspectors to examine all rooms intended for human habitation, and all the offices pertaining to them; at the same time, the landlord or his representative will be bound to supply any information that may be required by the municipal inspectors.