Evening star., 1917-12-02

confronting the country. It IL agreed. IL
that Of labor. In connec.
The Tahor tion with labor and trans.
ferring men from one
1Iopiem. place to another, In order
to have the most men where they Will
do the most good, the housing problem
is foremost. Experts of the Depart
ment Of Labor have just recently given
serious consideration to this very prob.
lem.
Company housing in the United States
dates from the beginning of the fac
tory system. The colonial manufac-
turer. who established his mill where
water power was available, usually
found an undeveloped country, and, by
force Of necessity, had to provide &C
commodations for the labor which he
brought to his establishment.
A good many early housing develop
ments were found by agents of the de-
housing. which has just been completed
One project connected with a cotton
mill dates back to 1881.
Before undertaking its investigation
experts of the department secured list
of firms which did housing work for
their employees. This list contained
more than 700 firms. but was incom-
plete. 1t is believed that thousand
would probably be a conservative esti-
mate of the number of industrial en-
housing work.
The survey revealed that town plan
ming has not been given any great con.
sideration in the large majority OF
cases: technical town planners had been
consulted by IS per cent Of the employ
ing companies studied. The idea of
consulting town-planning experts is OF
recent origin; and the employment OF
quent on the part of manufacturing
employers than Of mine operators.
Model towns. with few exceptions, are
of recent origin.
It was found that the company house
tends to become standardized both as
respects its plan and material Of construc-
ton. The standardization goes even to
the matter of the color of Its sexterior.
Certain types of houses are character
istic of different sections Of the country,
and in the eastern states there is fur
ther difference between the type of house
in the manufacturing town and in the
mining town. a thing which is not true
in the southern and northern states where
there is no essential difference in the
company house in the manufacturing
town and in the mining town
The four, five and six room dwellings
are typical sized company houses OF IT,
643 four-room dwellings 80 per cent rent
for less than IS a month, 40 per cent for
less than Sc. So per cent for less than 81
and rs per cent for less than So. OF the
fve-room company houses 63 per cent
and of the six-room houses 43 per cent
rent for less than SIS per month. Consid-
ering all company dwellings included in
the recent study, SO per cent rent for less
than IS a month.
Good company developments were found
to be marred by failure to maintain the
houses and their surroundings properly.
Relatively poor housing accommodations
are redeemed to an extent by good sys-
are practically one in their belief that
problems Of maintenance are the most
important ones for the success Of any
housing undertaking.
With few exceptions, the housing work
is conducted as a general part of the en-
ployers principal business; the account
ing and administrative work connected
with 1t is done in the general Office Of the
employer and by a staff which has other
duties to perform. In some instances
special department has been created for
the conduct Of the work. usually termed
the land department or land agent. 1t was
found that where the housing Is conducted
by subsidiary company the housing en-
terprise is usually more elaborate and is
found more generally in connection with
a model village development.
~
AppFOAlHldtely GUpVVU employees HdSo
been added to the governments pay
roll in Washington
Government's since the war began. 1t
-, is estimated that the
war Cofce. population of the Ma
tional Capital has increased more than
forty thousand.
The great expansion of the govern
ment's operations, not only in Wash
ington but throughout the country. is
revealed in the certiflcations of the
Civil Service Commission. -
Since the outbreak Of the war the
has certified for appoint
ment. in the field and departmental
services, between 10000 and 125.000
persons.
While the number of appointments is
far behind the number of certif1cations.
the figures indicate the preparations
made for the extraordinary demands of
from this list and the Civil Service
Commission continues to hold exami-
Civil service certifications for
the service in and out of Washington
embrace all classes from watchmen and
messengers to expert accountants and
chemists.
The War Department leads in the ad-
ditions to clerical forces since the be-
of the war. Since April the
War Department has added approxi
$500 names to the roster OK
employees.
The clerical force of the Navy De-
partment is today substantially double
that at the beginning of the war.
About $500 employees have been added,
this number including around 500 "yeo-
women" who have enlisted in the Navy
and are now assigned to clerical duties.
Independent bureaus have employed
many hundred clerks, typists and ste
The food administration
now uses a force of nearly one thou
sand The war trade board employs
more than 700; the fuel administration
now employs about 100 clerks, and the
Council of National Defense and the
Red Gross have approximately 1.400
persons who are divided about equally
between the two organizations. War
time printing has added materially to
the large force of the government
printing Office, and it is estimated that
additions to other departments will
run the total number Of new govern
ment workers to 10000.
Approximate figures show that more
than $1,000 persons are now employed
by the government in Washington.
When a count was taken in all depart
ments for the regular issue of the blue
book, in 1915. the number of Washing
ton employees was a little more than
$4,000.
The housing of its enlarged bureaus
has been a problem for the government
since the declaration Of war. Dozens of
rented buildings are today being used.
Within the past few days the govern
ment has found it necessary to lease
almost the whole of an eight-story of
fee building for the war trade board.
The old Department of Justice building