The Washington herald., 1918-10-28
JOHNSON HARSH.
!. ON PROFITEERS.
Would Shake Ill Gotten
Gains from Pockets Of
D. c. Landlords.

tect war workers from the con-
scienceless grafters of the District.
according to Representative Ben
johnson, chairman of the District
of Columbia Committee.
These laws should be SO framed
that the profiteer would be taken
by the neck and his ill-gotten gains
shaken out of his pockets to be re-
turned to his victims. according to
Mr.. johnson. Naturally such legis-
lation would not be considered ideal
by the profiteer.
His Bill ssre Care.
THE johnson bill would change
this inhuman condition over night:
the Pomerene bill fosters. encour-
ages and protects the wretches that
are guilty of profiteering from these
girl workers who have left their
homes to serve their country.
II am not a member of the House
Conference Committee which has
discussed the Pomerene bill with
the Senate conferees and i can not
speak for them, but / have conf
dence in their courage, intelligence
and fairness. and / feel sure that
they VIII never surrender to the
profiteers, whether in or out of the
Senate.
The johnson bill, which even the
profiteers themselves admit will stop
profiteering in rents, passed the
House approximately eight months
ago. 1t has been held up in the
Senate all this time. while war
workers are being daily robbed. The
responsibility for this delay rests on
Senator Pomerene, who has dis
placed the johnson bill with one
that has the approval of every prof
iteer in Washington, and which
openly charge was practically die
tated by the real estate agents of
Washington. who are the chief ben
eficiaries Of the excessive rentals
now being charged"
Representative johnson expressed
himself vigorously when asked as
to the condition OF the Pomerene
anti-profiteering bill. which the SEN
ate has attached as a rider to the
agricultural bill. Mr.. johnson said:
1T may interest Senator Pomer-
enc and the senators who are sup
porting him in his fight for the land
lords against the war workers, to
know that the last report of the
the facts. shows that SO per cent
of the clerks who recently came to
Washington to take positions in the
various departments have returned
home, impoverished and discourage
ed. although called here by the
United States Government, their
services as stenognaphers and clerks
being urgently needed. Only II per
cent. had the hardihood to remain
and endure the hardships visited
upon them by the profteers. who
crowd them into small. uncomfor-
table rooms. furnish them with poor
food and mulct them of their small
salaries.
The war workers in many cases
have sacrificed their lives. and in
every case the government has suf-
of its employees.
Lays Blame on Senators.
The deadlock on the anti-rent
profiteering legislation rs entirely due
to the position assumed by Senator
Pomerene and majority Of his asso-
ciates. The responsibility for the
present deplorable condition in the
matter of exorbitant rents rests on
their shoulders. The Senate conferees
cannot disturb me by refusing to
meet with the House conferees, be-
cause l am one of them l, too. pick
my company. l am proud to be the
champion of the war-working tenants
who are being daily robbed. while
Senator Pomerene and his fellow
statesmen live in luxurious quarters,
undisturbed. The contempt of such
Senators and the hatred OF the graft
ing landlords they are protecting are
badges of merit which ! wear with
pleasure. The good opinion of a
profiteer can only be earned by a
service that will protect him in his
nefarious work. l don't want it The
gratitude of a poor woman saved
from eviction and guaranteed shell
ter at a reasonable rental is some
thing that money can't buy. l would
ask for no finer tribute than to ne
regarded as her champion.
Il have no pride OF authorship in
the johnson bill. 1t was written TO
prevent profiteering in rents in the
District of Columbia. II the Senate
will pass a better bill can guarantee
that the House will accept it. l have
but one purpose. to protect the war
workers who have come here IN an
SWeT 10 lne cali Ol AllF tSNNA
from being robbed by as conscience
less set of grafters as ever dis
graced a community. A great ma
iority of these helpless victims are
women. They are threatened with
eviction II they do not pay in ad-
vance an Increased rental. and IN
many cases find themselves barred
from their rooms with chains across
their doors. Women seriously i'll with
influenza have been turned into the
streets by profiteering landlords tax
ing advantage of the delay IN the
Senate.
"Net Entitled to Appeal"
The johnson bill protects tnese
war workers by taking from the
rrofiteering landlord the excess over
a fair rental which he has eNacted
from his tenants. It does not provide
him with an appeal. because he is not
entitled TO it, and for the better fea-
son that he would employ the courts
10 barass and blsckmail his VIC
Tins.
when the Senate Committee on
the District of Columbia came TO
consider the johnson bill. the mem
hers could find no virtue in IL
They rejected it in its entirety. and
Senator Pomerene 10
write q substitute bill. And he did.
If a profiteering landlord. publicly
of his crime, had asked
the Senate of the United States for
an apology, and an assurance that
in the future his profits would not
be endangered, but would be in
creased and made more certain, he
would find balm for his wounded
honor, and reward for his mental
q n cilish in the Pnmerene hill III is