Evening journal., 1916-11-29
AGREES HOUSING IS
ONE VITAL PROBLEM
Chamber OF Commerce Sec
retary Points Out Needs
ofBetter City Conditions
SAYS INDUSTRY IS
HURT BY SITUATION

The Housing Problem" is the title
OF pamphlet by Clarence G.. Kinon.
Secretary of the Chamber of Com
merce. which is of great nteres so
Wilminetonians at this time. because
OF the acute situation here regarding
the facilities for sheltecing the great
number of families that have flOcked
TO this city because OF its industrial
activity The pamphlet refers TO the
problem as q serious one ior every
Amer can Industrial city. recites what
Other cities are doing AMI. suggests
lines of procedure for Wilmington
Touching upon conditions here. Mr.
killeu says
So far as Wilmington is concerned.
IL can he stated conscWa.iveiy that
there is now pressing demand for al
least 1000 new dwelling houses All
employers know that every available
man and woman bow and Girl. In VIII
mngtOn. can readily find employ
mcni and thai in addition our indus
trial establishments have employment
for many others In many cases
employees could be $50 cured from
such newcomers could be housed
There are no available houses ior
rent u this city Besides. many male
employees of ihe better class who have
been working here several months
are lcav ne because they cannot bring
heir families here to live.
I'm the face Of such conditions com
paratiycly l,ule building Of private
houses is i'm progress. Higher costs
of matera ais higher wages and scar
city Of workmen are jointly held re-
,ponsible fov so little building The
.ost OF materials has increased from
% per cent to So per cent. labor
costs from 80 10 100 per cent Land
values have risen i'm many cases even
more than materials and labor costs.
II must further be kept i'm mind that
Iocal building operators and real cs-
tate men have usually erected rows Of
houses in this city FOR sale tO indi-
yiduals rather than with the purpose
)l renting permanently
"lt is manifest that the Industrial
progress of tho city is being handi-
capped 10y a scarcity OF houses. in
the opinion OF many men qualified Ia
Warc the demand for houses viii be
continuing demand. possibly not So
pressing as a present. hut certainly
greater than during any period prior
10 the past TWO years The demand
now Is particularly for houses renting
from s12 10 SIS per month. although
many houses m higher rentals are
also needed Land can he purchased
In sufIicint quantities in advantageous
locations to permit large building op
prations Furthermore. the prices o
land in the opinion OF real estate mel
arc not prohibitive. that s. a fair re
turn on the capital invested, could h'
received particularly II the righ
types of houses were erected
Where the weekly expenses for thi
family practically equal the wcekll
income obviously there can be M
thought of home ownership Where
The family weekly income exceeds th'
weekly expenses by sum suilicien
10 allow considerable regular saving
home ownership is possible. Finally
there is a class that has purchased
building lot but lacks funds or ncli
nation TO proceed with the building
The first class. or non-saving class
needs houses for rent The secon,
class needs houses for sale on cas-.
terms. The lot owners should he en-
couraged in every possible way Il
build Money should be loaned then
Al low interest rates. provision shoul'
he made for second mortgages. the,
should he crn shed with suitable
house plans and the genera advan
tagos OF large building operation
should be shared with them The las
class. however. is handicapped by tn
high cost incident 10 retail building
In the case Of the small house, espe
Cially. this is a relatively costly AM
unsa, isfsctory way TO proceed he
cause of The extra expense and din
cultios involved. The decided advan
ages OF wholesale building opera
tions efficient management and tn
resulting economies OF construction
are necessarily largely lost
"ln any plan OF cooperative en-
deavor, comprehensive plans shoul
be drawn by a housing expert. con
struction plans should be passed upor
hv the best architects Obtainable am
the management of the operation
should be entrusted TO men of mark
cd ability in organization and admin
istrstlon In other cities manufac
turers have been persuaded that wit