H.—3l

XI

Density of Population It was pointed out last year in the report on the Wellington Health District that in our capital city there was a greater density of population in some parts than obtained in many of the large centres in the Old Country. The system, for which the Government has done so much, of facilitating the transport of the worker in the city to a cottage and an acre or quarter-acre in the suburbs is excellent, but it ought to be extended. Dr. Vivian Poore has long advocated that by-laws should be brought into force prohibiting the erection of more than two-story buildings in all the residental portions of the town. This may be a counsel of excellence, but something more is surely possible in this direction. A house of small rooms cramped in and abutting directly upon the noisy street, no playground for the children and no garden for the workman to interest himself in, are factors which undoubtedly do much to sap the energy and physical well-being of a community. The proper housing of the smaller-wage earner and the poorer classes should not be left to the land speculator. It is undoubtedly a matter which deserves the earnest consideration of all interested in the physical and moral welfare of the race. It should be made impossible in a new country like this to reproduce even in miniature the conditions which unfortunately obtain in old-established cities. Wise and carefully-worded by-laws have been enacted by most of our larger towns, but in many instances they have only come into existence after considerable mischief has taken place. Back-to-back houses, dwellings with inadequate yard-space, and narrow lanes ending in cul-de-sacs, all unfortunately exist in most of our cities. To prevent the further introduction of such unhealthful conditions ought to be the aim of those in authority. It is to the fathers of the newly born towns and boroughs we would most earnestly offer this counsel, for as soon as the conditions described have been laid down it becomes difficult, and in many instances impossible, to have them altered. Among the first works which should be undertaken by a young town is the passing of by-laws wherein the height of buildings, air-space, construction of streets, laying-down of watertables, and all that pertains to the sanitary well-being of a town should be set forth. Much has been done on general lines by the Legislature, but each community must work out its own salvation in this, as in many other matters. At first sight it may seem that the question of high rents is without the domain of a Health Department, but on careful consideration it will be found not only that it is not so, but that it plays a most important part from a public-health point of view. High rents mean bad and inadequate housing for the working-man and his family. Small houses and no gardens mean ill-health, discontent, and lack of interest in the home. Pride of domicile is one of the most powerful factors in the family life, and absence of it is accompanied by much that is antagonistic to the best interests of the physical weal of the State. The workman must be within easy access of his sphere of labour, and herein lies one of the greatest difficulties with which we are confronted in essaying the solution of the problem, " healthy housing for the poor and the moderate wage-earning classes." The taking-over of unhealthy congested areas has cost London and Glasgow many millions, not to speak of the energy and time required to fight those rapidly growing giants vested interests and ancient rights. The conflict between sanitation and these " old men of the sea " has already begun in New Zealand, and it promises to cost much money. With the economic adjustments of the position it is not within my province to deal. Whether the present price of land can be taken as a sure measure of the general prosperity, whether the house-owner gets more than his fair share of the wages earned by the worker, and whether any readjustment is within the scope of practical politics is a question more for the student of political economy than for the sanitarian. Still this remains—the worker must be healthily housed, and for a sum commensurate with his earnings. How this can best be done has engaged the attention of many. Tenementhouses several stories high, such as obtain in the larger cities at Home, have been advocated. By this means fair-sized comfortable suites of rooms at a moderate rental could be provided. In densely populated areas, such as in certain parts of London or Glasgow, this may be the only practical solution of the difficulty, but unquestionably it is not the one to be recommended for a country such as ours. The solution lies in an extension of the policy which has already been instituted—namely, the acquiring of suburban lands, the granting of small areas at low rentals, the erection of cottages thereon, and a ready and cheap mode of transit to and from the centres of industry. Much has been done in this direction, but a great deal more is required. There is no insuperable difficulty in the way of 90 per cent, of the men working in the cities being housed in the country. Between the mental effect of living in a small house with a horizon bounded by the backs of similar uninteresting edifices, and living in a cottage with a flower-garden in front and a vegetable-garden behind, there is a very great deal. The publichouse and the theatre lose a great deal of their attraction, while the effect upon the children is of the very greatest moment. Electric trams and cheap railway fares are in this sense powerful agents for good,