New-York tribune., 1918-02-04
Housing
Puzzle Before
Wilson To-day
Secretary of Labor to Ask
Presidents Aid in
Solving Problem
[SMf Co1.responde1lcel

ltoNtU COYTcSpOH0c1ceJ
WASHINGTON, Feb. O. Secrctar,
OF Labor Wilson will tomorrow asl
the President 70 devote his persona
attention to an immediate solution Of
inc housing problem, now believed te
be SO serious that it threatens to un.
dermine the shipping programme ane
dlsastrously affect other phases Of tho
war industrial programme.
Though The housing problem has
been the subject matter Of discussion
1or several months by several Fedora,
agencies, no coordinatcd plan of action
has been thus far evolved. The impor-
tance Of its early solution was brought
out in the testimony OF Homer /. Fer
guson. Of the Newport News Snipbuild-
ing Company, before tic Senate Com
merce Committee. lie testified that
without housing facilities at Newport
News, it would be impossible to COM
plcte ship construction allotted to his
yard.
Nr. tcrguson's testimony gave 4
temporary impetus to the attempt be-
ing made by Chairman Hurley to make
housing provision at all the shipyards,
and resulted in a conference between
him and the Secretaries Of War and
Navy to discuss the matter. Secretary
of the Treasury McAdoo was also in
vited to attend this conference. but did
not appear
The Hurley Baker Daniels confer
cnce agreed that the housing problem
properly belonged in the Department
Of Labor, and Secretary Wilson was
requested to devise plans at once,
which he undertook TO do, with the
result that q bill, prepared by members
Of his staff, was presented TO the next
subsequent Cabinet meeting.
Secretary McAdoo, however, opposed
vestlng authority over the housing
problem in the Department Of Labor,
pointing out that the Treasury Depart
ment had been erecting public build
ings for years and had an experienced
staff ready to undertake the contem-
plated housing construction at the ship
yards and other industrial plants. This
caused the President, it is competcntiy
reported, to communicate with the Sec
rotary Of Labor in non-committal
though lot encouraging fashion re-
gardlng t,c tentative plans he had
The Secretary Of Labor. it is declared
by those closely in touch with him, did
not seek the job of providing govern
mcnt housing facilities. The task was
urged upon him by the chairman of the
Shipping Board and the Secretaries Of
War and Navy, following the confer
cnce which Secretary McAdoo did not
attend. 1t was pointed out to him at
that conference, it is said. that hous-
ing bore definite relation TO the labor
phases of the war programme, and that,
without adequate housing facilities, no
satisfactory labor programme could be
administered
The point made by those who see in
the delay in building houses at the ship
yards and other war plants a serious
menace to war work is that political
ambitions and intcrdepartmcntal rival
ries should be subordinatcd to the ur-
gent Necd Of action.
Nobody cares much ntfo builds the
houses SO long as they are built, and
At once declared one of the officials
Of the Department Of Labor to-day. "If
the Secretary Of the Treasury wants
the job, let him have it, but also let
him get busy on it at once. Delay may
mean disruption Of the entire war pro-
grammc."
The housing problem. it is charged
by those who have been studying the
question for months, is the direct re-
suit Of unintc!ligent ALLEGATION OF gov
ernmcnt contracts. Officers OF the gov
crnment ignored the housing problem
completely in awarding contracts dui-
ing the first six months of:cg our entry
into the war.
ZINBALlSr and three Chicago Opera stars
At Carnegie Hall tonight At S. See