Evening star., 1919-09-23
SEEKING TO AVERT
HALT IN BUILDING
Committee From D. c. to Ask
Congress to Eliminate Part
of Rent Control Bill. :.
PROTECTION OF HOUSING

Representatives Of home dwel1ers
tenants. landlords and building op-
orators will go before Congress to
urge the elimination Of provisions
from rent control legislation which
will tend to decrease the supply OF
homes in Washington on account OF
drastic measures, and thus aSgravate
the present housing situation here
This decision was made yesterday
afternoon at a meeting OF represen-
tatives from the Federation OF Cat1-
zens' Associations, the Board Of Trade,
the Chamber Of Commerce and the
Merchants and Manufacturers Asso-
ciatioh in the Board Of Trade rooms
Interests Of the tenants were repre-
sented at the conference BY delegates
from the Federation Of Citt.ens' Aseo-
Citations. On the committee which
tives of the Federal Employees Union
and of the Central Labor Union Will
be assigned to look after interests OF
tenants.
opposed to rent control or admins
trative legislation. but as hostile to
any measure which would halt build
ing operations. Real estate men ana
representatives Of citizens spoke IN
favor of a rent-control law. for the
but declared that it would be An in
jury, to the city to put into eject
drastic legislation which would take
the control Of building operations out
Of the hands Of builders and investors
after completion of the projects.
Not Objection to Whole Bill.
The principal objection voiced
against the Ball anti-rent pro6teerine
bill. which was distinctly declared
not to be in objection to the entire
enactment. was the elimination Of
landlords from participation in the
adjustments and agreements to be
reached. thus. apparently, leaving Al
decisions to the tenants. The provt-
sions Of the bill call for the appoint
die all agreements between tenant and
landlord. A stipulation is made in
the bill that the members Of this COM
mission must not be the owners OF
rental (rented) property or their rep
resentatives.
was declared, building men would md
no incentive for operations, since tho
control Of their products would be
taken out of their hands upon COM
pletion. This, in turn, would limit
building operations just at a time
when there is a crying need for more
homes, 1t was argued. and the stu
alton of a shortage Of homes would
be aggravated rather than relieved
by such legislation. Investors would
become reluctant to put capital in
building.
Committee to Visit Congress.
The committee which will 60 before
Congress to point out these features
Of the proposed legislation IL COM
posed Of the following members:
James T. Floyd, chairman: W. T..
Galliher, Bates Warren. Joseph A
Berberich. Ross p. Andrews. Harry
King, Robert II. McMacken and Capt.
George W. Evans.
Messrs. Lloyd and Andrews are rep
resentatives Of the Chamber Of Com
merce, Galliher and Warren represent
the Board Of Trade, King and Ber-
berich the Merchants and Manufac-
turers' Association: Capt. Evans. the
federal employees, and Mr.. McMacken,
the Central Labor Union.
Stress was laid upon the fact that
the conference did not oppose any leg
islation which would wipe out extor-
tionate practices. but strongly favored
such legislation. It was decided that
the stamp of approval would be put
on bill such as the Ball bill. II pro-
visions which would retard the
growth of the city and blaze = way
for a moro serious situation would be
eliminated.