The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-10-05

cent place in which to live, he did not linger
long. Some factories were hiring 5000 men
f. year in order TO maintain a force of 1000.
Then Uncle Sam stepped in and went into the
BODYBUILDING business. An appropriation of $780,
100000 was made for emergency wartime housing,
and while that was only a starter it was sufficient
to provide shelter for about 10000 persons. More
money has been asked and it doubtless will be
forthcoming.
In the beginning Uncle Sam made a mistake.
His first idea was to provide temporary barracks,
something on the order of those at the army can
comments. But in the case of the ship workers he
found out that 60 per cent of them are married,
end their wives and children objected to living in
bunk houses. Moreover, temporary houses, while
costing within 10 per cent of as much as perma-
nent ones, are a total loss within a few years.
So he decided to make these towns permanent.
As a result, he is now covering whole square miles
of vacant countryside with pretty little houses,
boarding places, stores, theaters, churches, paved
streets and all utilities. He has at his service the
best town planners and architects in America.
And with all the haste that is being made, beauty
ald good taste are not being sacrificed. The
houses will not all be alike in color, material or
style. On the contrary, throughout each of these
spacious, SUNLESS tracts, will be evidence that the
thing was planned as a whole-that this street
was curved on purpose, because a curved street Is
prettier than q straight One-that yOnder church
was put squarely across the end of the park be-
cause it would look well there. The eye will I'M
consciously start q vain search Tor eyeSOreS, Dlank
eide walls, billboards and disorder.
The chief benefit which accrues to the worker
from the building Of these towns Is the fact that
landlordlsm Is to be a thing unknown. The bene-
fits are to go unfallingly to the workers. Rents
must be based on cost and not on the maximum
which the tenants can be forced to pay. And
inasmuch as Uncle Sam has no desire to retain
the ownership after the war, he has evolved a
scheme to sell them, not to individuals, but to the
communities as a whole, to be held In trust as
community property.
Each such town will be. at the start, at least, In
the complete possession Of a local housing COM
pany composed of and partially financed by public
spirited business men of the vicinity. They put up
20 per cent of the money and they get the other
80 per cent on first mortgage from the United
States labor department or from the shipping
board. each of which has S50,000,O00 given them
by congress this spring for Just this purpose.
In lending money to local housing companies In
congested communities, the government lays down
the stipulation that dividends shall be forever linn
tied to 5 per cent annualy-even after the govern
ment's mortgage is paid off. Any excess income
must be re-expended upon the property or else
eliminated by lowering the rents. The part Of the
rent that would ordinarily go to landlords profits
will 60 to pay off the governments mortgage at
the rate of 2 or 8 per cent a year. The mortgage is
for ten years, and at the end of that time enough
presumably will be paid off to enable the govern
rlent to say: $50 get a private mortgage to pay of
the balance
Then If the local housing company has not mean
while sold Off any of the houses the town will
substantially own itself, subject to mortgage. For
Its rents will be based purely on costs of capital
and service. The private capital, limited to 8 per
cent return, is practically a second mortgage. One
of the first government loans made to the new vii
lage at Newport News provided that 90 per cent
Of the private capital is to be amortized and re-
tired. Normally the private capital owns equity.
including the part of the cost which has been
-.o.Afu and tho unaarnad prasnan fha of1a ~
which Is more or less problematical, but 1t can't
do anything with this treasure except redistributs
the annual proceeds therefrom among the people
in the form Of a rebate on rents or In communal
services. preferably the latter.