47 
The subject of Housing is a serious problem in Sydney and 
Melbourne and disgraceful conditions exist there. Both cities are 
overcrowded. The recent report of the Housing Commission which 
has been collecting evidence in Melbourne is a very disturbing docu- 
ment. It says: “In Fitzroy, a husband, his wife and three children 
were found living in one room. In South Melbourne, in a house of 
three rooms, three families were huddled. Two families, totalling 
eight persons, were discovered in a three-roomed house in Port Mel- 
bourne. In St. Kilda, a fashionable suburb, a bedroom 10ft. x 10ft., 
and with damp walls, accommodated a man, his wife, and four chil- 
dren.” 
In Sydney, Mr. A. B. Piddington (Chairman of the Interstate 
Commission), who is inquiring into house rents, said: “I visited 
without previous announcement a number of houses in the eastern 
suburbs of the city in order to see for myself the nature of the 
dwellings which a large number of people occupy. The rooms in 
many of the houses were small and low, and the floors rat-eaten. 
The back yards at almost all of the houses, on an average, would not 
be more than about 10ft. x 10ft, Speaking generally, I formed the 
conclusion that a great many of the dwellings in that portion of 
the city are just about on the same level as the slum dwellings which 
I was shown in South London.” 
The Prince of Wales paid a visit recently to Southwark in order 
to investigate the housing conditions of the poor. The Mayor asked 
the Prince what he thought of them. “It is damnable,” lie said. 
The same thing will happen here if we do not take steps to 
prevent it. The Workers’ Homes Board have done good work with 
the funds that were available, and the proposed housing of soldiers 
will assist. This latter scheme is most liberal. Up to £700 will be 
advanced to each approved applicant and the interest will be only 
5 per cent. Thirty-seven years will be allowed for repayments when 
a stone house is erected, and a shorter time if of less enduring 
material, viz., 20 years for a wooden house. 
C h i l dren’s Playg rou nds . 
It is gratifying to know that some ladies are interesting them- 
selves in the Children’s Playground at Lake Street in Perth. The 
Town Planning Association has appointed some of its members to 
advise as to the lay-out. Children’s playgrounds are of recent, origin, 
but many cities are providing them. The idea is that no house should 
be more than half-a-mile from the playground. There is a Chil- 
dren’s Playground Association of Queensland, and Miss Bedford, 
the Hon. Secretary, stated that: “In the Brisbane City Area there 
are approximately 9,000 children between the ages of three and Hi 
totally unprovided for as regards play centres, and, in the Metro- 
politan Area, taking a 10-mile radius, there are as many as 48,849 
equally unfortunate, with the exception of one district.” 
