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What is briefly called "the housing is of vital importance tao Timmins and the whole North. It6 is for this reason that The Advance gave so much time and ettention to its "Home Improvement" edition last year, and why in this issue so much thought and effort have been given to "The Bctiter Homes" edition. In an nddress to the Kiwanis Club at Kingâ€" «ton, Ontario, recently, Mr. W. J. Leâ€" Clair, of Toronto, dealt with the quesâ€" tion in very effective way. His address is given in full below:â€"â€" Canada‘s Most Pressing Need Democracy has done more for the advancement of the human race in the course of one century than all the other experiments in government toâ€" gether during the millions of years which have elapsed since our preâ€" historic forbears gave up having their babitation in trees Why then does it seem to be discredited toâ€"day? Simâ€" ply because on the face of the body politic, there are still some festering sores which give the impression of general iliâ€"health. Housing Conditions impartial housing committees have disclosed housing conditions in our large cities comparable in many ways to the slums of St. Pancras and the Cowgzte. In a rural community not (me hundréd miles from Kingston, a district nurse told me recently that tne: mortality from â€" tuberculosis was high because of poor housing condiâ€" tions. You Kiwanians in your work »mong underprivileged children know of the inadeuate conditions under which a great number of our citizens live. It is a sad reflection on the hopes of the Fathers of Confederation that such conditions should have been perâ€" mitted to grow up in a country so peâ€" culiarly blessed by a munificent Proâ€" vidence as this Canada. A country which they welded into a confident young nation which was to profit by the mistakes of the Old Lands and was to give democracy its finest exâ€" pression. Housing Schemes Municipal bodies have recognized the problem and have submitted plebiscites to their rateâ€"payers The Federal (Gsovernment has launched two schemes â€"the Dominion Housing Act, and The Home Improvement Plan. Bcth have with a measure of success, but bave fallen short of the hopes enterâ€" tained for them, despite indefatiguabie efTfort and most able administration on the part of the staffs in charge. Rising Municipal Taxes Neither local nor Federal efforts can hope to succeed until an attempt has been made to grapple with the probâ€" lem of rising miunicipal taxes. In*+my own native city of Ottawa, in the past 25 years, the per capita burden of municipal taxes has risen 354 per cent. The municipal schemes in effect ask the property owners who find their present investments unprofitable to yote in favour of increasing taxes to build more houses to compete in the market with their existing houses and possibly further decrease their rental value. The Federal scheme depends for sucerss upon convincing the public that it is an economic proposition for a man to own his own home. And the uvidence is all to the contrary. Some adjustment of municipal burâ€" dens is necessary to remove the anoâ€" maly of the industrious, thrifty citizen who saves out of his earnings to buy a stake in the community having to bear the whole burden of civic imâ€" provement and relief while the shiftâ€" less and improvident ncot only goes Ecotâ€"free but is actually subsidized and in exsreme cases wholly provided BETTER HOMES EDITION Canada‘s Greatest Need is More Low Cost Homes We are in the ninth year of the deâ€" pression in Canada. Certainly conâ€" ditions have improved materially in the last two yvears, but we still see the squabble between municipal and government bodies as to who is going toâ€"bear the cost of relief. It is very evident that we still have unemâ€" ployment very much with us. Whole Vital Question Comprehensively Dealt with in Adâ€" dress to Kingston Kiwanis Club. Premises and Concluâ€" sions of Address of Special Importance to Timmins and the North. While inadequate housing, inequilâ€" able tax burdens and unemployment exist, the vaunted ~improvements in civilization are a hollow mockery, and you will continue to have people turnâ€" ing in desperation to alternative forms of governmentâ€"even to discredited one:. Thoreau said: ‘"There are a hundred men hacking at the branches of evil to one who is cutting at the roots." It seems to me that describes what we have been doing in coping with this depression. There can be no cure for depression until we rehabilitate our primary industries. The primary inâ€" dustry of this country is farming and lumbering. I call it one industry beâ€" cause each is simply one branch of the industry of the soil. In our severe climate, cur farmers cannot hope to compete in the markets of the world against farmers in countries with more favorable climates unless we can proâ€" duce a winter crop. Lumber is the winter crop which has saved the situâ€" ation in the past. It could and should cofitinue to do so, if we would sitrip the veil of prejudice from our eyes. A Farcical Ruling Instead of encouraging markets for lumber, we deliberately try to legislate against its use. The farce of fireâ€" zoning has been carried to Gilbertian lengths. In the city of Toronto, no frame construction is permitted within the city limits. In the city of Boston, which is about the same size and enâ€" joys the same climate, frame construcâ€" tion is permitted in every zone. A friend of mine on a recent visit to Boston asked the Building Commisâ€" sioner what happened if a fire spread from one building to another. He reâ€" plied that such things didn‘4t occur. He was further asked what would hapâ€" pen if one did, and he said that they would probably "Fire the Fire Capâ€" tain" for there was no excuse for such a thing happening except in very exâ€" ceptional cases. And his opinion is borne out by fire underwriters‘ statisâ€" tics. The average fire loss in 149 cities on this continent isâ€" 3% for allâ€"brick buildings. 5%% for allâ€"concrete buildings. ‘4% for allâ€"frame buildings. Statistics for 1935 show that in 15 large cities in Canada and the United States where 73% of the dwellings were of frame construction, 98.7% of all dwelling fires were confined to the dwelling in which they started. Lumber Logical Material "I mention these facts because if we ever hope to properly house the famâ€" ilies in the lower salary brackets we milst build low cost houses. The cenly ‘logical way of buildings these in this country is to build them of lumber. Unquestionably the‘ most successful housing scheme in all Europe is the Stockholm scheme. In 30 years, Stockâ€" holm increased its population from 300,000 to 500.000. In order to proâ€" vide cheap hou‘ing for families with incomes between $800 and $1300, the city bought 20,000 acres of land at a cost of $6.000.000 and spent another $8,000,000 on improvements. In a coâ€" operative scheme between builder and municipality it lends up to 90% on the cort of homes. Already 50,000 people have been so housed in ideal surâ€" roundings with every modern convenâ€" ience at a total cost per house between $2300 and $2875. Rates of interest are between 4 and 5% and payments eaere spread over 30 years. Following the general custom of Northern Europe these houses are all built of wood. They use the pine an® spruce which they have at hand, and they build warm, convenient and arâ€" tistic houses. As their climate and conditions are identical to our own, their example is well worth following. In 1934. the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce of the U.S.A. had a careful examination made of the scheme and reported very enthusiasâ€" tically in its favour. Building Wooden Schools While on the subject of frame conâ€" struction, I have letters in my possesâ€" sion from education boards from over (Continued on Next Page) THE PORCUPINE ADVANCE, TIMMINS, ONTARIO rlgif.fifillfilllléfiffltéfl%fifégré”ff/f(’//f/fll’l r,flf.?./.fil/‘fil,flf?ffilfi;ffi%fi%filéfigffffyfi,/%’,_/ INDUSTR Y THE VIKING ELECTRIC MACHINESHOP This week we are proud to announce the opening of an upâ€"toâ€"date machine shop. With this additional service we have but one thought in mind, and that is to give our many customers the service they expect on any job at a minimum price. With experts in charge of our new shop we invite you to compare our work. No job too large or small. LATHE WORK GRINDING WELDING ELECTRIC MOTOR REPAIRS GUN REPAIRS EXHAUST FANS MADEâ€"TOâ€"ORDER, ETC. JAMES H. PETERSON (prop.) ‘]0 Cedar Street North A COMPLETE ELECTRICAL SERVICE FLOOR SANDING and POLISHING RADIO SALES AND SERVICE CAR RADIOS SOLD and INSTALLED The VIKING ELECTRIC dnnounces the opening of a completely equipped â€"» PRECISION â€" Estimates Given on Any Job Large or Small Also Offer You Phone 590 THURSDAY, MAY. 12TH, 1938 Timmins