Evening star., 1919-09-22

rentals commission, which renders in
eligible those "owning or representing
owners of rental property" Rental
property, is defined by the law as
rented property, so that landlords and
their representatives. are excluded from
the commission. A rentals-6xing COM
| mission, an equitable tribunal of
three to pass upon issues between
landlords and tenants, should either
have upon it landlord, a tenant and
an umpire who is neither landlord
nor tenant, or both landlords and ten
ants should be excluded from the trib-
unal. The commission is to do even
handed justice between landlords and
tenants. It is not to be controlled
solely and arbitrarily by either.
Even without statutory compulsion
the President would not appoint and
the Senate would not confirm to place
on this important court Of equity any
one disqualified for impartial service
by personal interest.
After thoroughly impartial rentals
commission has been created, consider
able discretion might we'll be given
it in declaring and enforcing the
equities in all cases between landlord
and tenant, with a minimum of ham
! ering by statutory restrictions. One
Of the amendments to the Ball bill
practically re-enacts with notifications
a vital feature Of the Salisbury law,
after the formal repeal of that law. a
tenant should not be permitted to
occupy leased premises after the
termination of his lease and against
the will of the landlord unless
8 rentals commission or some other
court of equity declares that the par
ticular circumstances are such that to
dispossess him would be inequitable.
To destroy the agreement of land
lord and tenant as to the duration ot
the lease and to say in the statute
that no matter when he has contracted
to quit the tenant may hold the prem
ises as long as he pleases on payment
of a rental, fixed not by the leasing
contract but by the rentals commits
sion, is to impair the obligation of
contract. Such impairment should be
reduced to a minimum in wartime and
not tolerated for an instant after war
is over.
To the end of the increase to the
maximum Of housing facilities an
urgent practical need Of today is to
encourage the building of houses
to rent and to induce as many house
owners as possible to rent their houses
or parts of their houses and to become
landlords. The pending bill in effect
seems to say to the hesitating house
owner that if he rents his house he
loses all control Of it; that the rental
paid is not to be determined by his
leasing contract, but by rental COM
mission, from which he and his repre-
sentatives are excluded; and that the
lease terminates not at the time spec
ified in the lease, but only when in the
future a rent-paying tenant chooses to
end his occupancy. If the bill is thus
accurately construed its effect would
naturally be to frighten of all house.
owners from joining the outlawed
landlord class and thus losing control
Of their property, housing accommo-
dation from this source would be re-
6ueed to q minimum and the purpose
of the legislation would in an i'm
portant respect be defeated.
A war of reprisals between landlord
and tenant has been raging in the
District. Some landlords have taken
advantage of the war-overerowding of
the capital and Of the law of supply
and demand to extort from some ten.
ants. Some tenants have taken ad-
vantage Of the Salisbury law, which
partially checked fresh extortioning
by landlords, to extort frsm some land
lords. Bat the Salisbury law Il dis
tinetly . war measure and landlord
rcprisals are feared when the world
war IL over.
This local war should end even be-
fore the Termination Of the world war.
The peace which ends this war sheald
be = negotiated peace Of agreement,
and net . dictated peace, arbitrarily
enforced by either party n . con-
queror. The WashiRgtonians who are
landlords and the Washinstonians whe
are tenants shosld get together in =
fxir-play agreement not only in their
own selfish interest, bat fer the good
reputs Of their city, and fer that eity's
future welfare, to which their war
threatens serious injury.
Secretary Lansing is apparently in
clined to do his own talking and NO
more Of that than is positively neces-
sary.