Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-25
BUILDING PROBLEM
IN THIS TERRITORY
Philadelphia Housing Ass ociation
Makes q Review of the Whole
Situation.

The following written 10y John lhlder,
secretary of the Philadelphia Housing
Association, is reprinted from the Phia-
delphia Ledger. in view of the iact that
it applies to our territory as well:
There have been 50 many confusing
statements as to the housing SITUATION
in Philadelphia and during recent weeks
attention has been so concentrated, hrSt
on the controversy over the Elmwood site
and then on the increase OF rentals III
West Philadelphia that the Housing
Association has prepared the following
statement: :,
If the Elmwood site had been developed
as at first proposed, with 5000 houses
it wo uld not have met the need OF hog
Island alone If enough houses were buiit
in Philadelphia to shelter all the iio8
Islanders they would meet only fraotion
of the need, as the Leagu" Island Navy
Yard. the new airplane factory, the ar
scnals and munition plants, as well as
other shipyards, have brought ana are
bringing many thousands oi worKers 10
Pmladclphia McanWchil private builders
have virtually ceased operations p
10 NIay this wear, permits had been
issued for only 300 dwellings,, rs compared
with 1897 IN the same period last year,
when high and huctuatlng costs had ai-
ready checked building. and 3O3S IN the
first four months Of 1916
But figures for Philadelphia alone do
not tell the whole story Except rs
nnlitical subdivision, the city has ceased
ia hc our entity The unit with winch
we are concerned today is the whole
PhiIadelphia district from Trenton to
Wilmington and including the NCV Jcr-
sev shore of the Delaware. Tins area
comprises the most important sIngie
sector IN our so-callcd second line ot de
fensc. and for production purposes
from the point of view Of our war pro-
gram. il Is or should bc ono admnistrh-
tive area After the war IS over IT'S
various parts will have become so inter
related that il will continue 70 hc single
area for all purposes except political ana
political unity must follow as lar ana as
fast as practicable. Certainly all q TINS
area which hes within Pennsylvania must
come under one administration. 50 that
we NAV develop adequate systems oi
TRANSPORTATION, roads and streets, sewers
and water supply For she parts that
H. in New Jersey and Delaware We shall
have to work out a cooperative admin
istrative arrangement Just a. viii n"
York and the cities Of northeastern New
Jersey.
This Will II course, take time; tut 7
viii come all the sooner i We now recog-
nize he fact that II is already hhl' :"
liar a. social economic and business
nroblcn,s nre concerned 80 better illus
tration Of the fact Is possible than tha'
afforded by the housing situation. itci"Te
We enterrd the war some of our largest
plants moved Ia the outskirts, the Bald
WINS built their new factory as far away
as Fddvstone. the Remington Arms
Comnany and the Eddystone Munltlon
Works chose neighboring sites, the Nest
inghouse Company located somewhat
nearer the city Then with our entrance
mo the var smphullding Was developed
Old yards like the Cramps. Younger ones
Ike the New York in Camden, wer"
expanded In Chester, Gloucester. Prs