New-York tribune., 1920-04-20
Profiteer Plot
Laid to Tenants
BY Irate Court
Dwellers Ordered to. Paw
Contested $4 and Are De.
nOunced as Pirates With
4 Soviet of Their Own
Landlords Win 200 Cases
Owners Warned Against
Cutting Up Larger Apart
ments to Add to Rentals

~ AoA SCI apart.
ments to Add to Rentals
So-called profteering tenants took
their turn in feeling the weight of the
hand of justice yesterday, when in
more than 200 cases Justice Peter
Shiel in the I'd District Muricipal
Court, in the Bronx, refused to grant
reductions in rent, ordered prompt
eviction, and undertook, ne said, to
breakup tenants soviet. In some
cases he even ordered tenants to paw
more than the rental at when lanc-
lords were willing to compromise
This series Of decisions is the first
break in the run of luck the tenants
have been having since .he new anti
nog laws went into effe,.. In some
cases the justice refused to abide by
rulings made by other members of the
same bench.
New Profiteering Move
Another development of the housing
situation yesterday was the launching
by the Mayors committee of a cam
palgn to stop profteering in the small
stores. with few dwelling rooms at
tached, which are so numerous in some
parts OF tie city. The committee, A. J.
W. Hilly, chairman, announced, will
make an effort to have such combined
stores and apartments brought under
the new laws as dwellings.
Mr.. Hilly also issued a warning to
landlords who are threatening or plan
ming to cut up larger apartments into
such two and three room places az
Mark Twain called homes for three
Legged sardines," and which MIR Hilly
refers to as "lapdog apartments" This
clared. and will not % tolerated in any
case which is brought to the notice of
the committee. He urged all tenants
who may suffer from .his practice to
apply to the committee in time for It
tc act to block the approval of the
plans for alterati IN.
One of the cases which Justice Shel
turned against the tenants yesterday
was that of Miss El;zab eth H. Sears,
who had raised rents 81 on seventeen
tenants at 681 East 199th Street. Her
paying for the upkeep of the place out
of her earnings rather than raise the
tenants, but had become i'll and could
not continue to do so. He also said
that the place was mortgaged, and that
she might lose it if the April rent were
delayed longer. So he offered to COM
promise on So raise.
Tenants Receive Rebnke
"These tenants are a bunch Of pi-
rates." said the justice. "They have
soviet of their own and Pm going to
break it up" He ordered them to pay
the rent with the full 81 increase or
get out by Wednesday.
Another tenant, who refused to pay
his rent on the ground that the in
crease had been more than 25 per cent
since last April, also was ordered to
pay up on the ground that he had paid
without protest in March. He argued
that Justice Davies had ruled the law
was retroactive.
81 am not bound to follow the ruling
of Justice Davies" said the court
Out of 240 rent protest cases only
few tenants got reductions. Those were
of only dollar or two, and there were
many evictions granted.
Advice on New York's methods Of
handling the housing crisis was asked
yesterday for application to Australia
by Leonard H. Pike, secretary to Pc
mier Edward T. Theodore of Queens
land, who is visiting here. Mr.. Pike
said that rent laws similar to those
of this city had been tried in some
of the Australian states, but had failed,
heavy, government housing p1rogam,
even, had not kept the supply Of houses
up to the demand.
The Office Tenants League held a
meeting last night at 81 Duane Street
to complete its plans for to-day's hear
ing in Albany on the bills to check the
increases in rents on business property.
1t is expected that delegation Of
about twenty-five will go up, head
of the league; Henry A. Forster
league alleges that realty interests
are attempting to drive all lawyers out
1 Of the City Hall region. and that real
estate lobby is making it hard for
them to fight the bills in Albany. There
will also be big delegation go to Al
bany from various organizations of loft
users, who charge excessive profteer-
ing in rents. Many of the organizations
of clothing manufacturers are repre-
sented, and the delegation will be head
ed by Henry Uvillier.
There is far greater delay in reliev-
ing the housing shortage than in any
other form of building, according to q
survey issued yesterday. by the F.. w
Dodge Company. The survey says tha1
the contracts for dwellings should run
to 80 per cent of the total new con-
struction in normal times and to 40
per cent at present to make up the
shortage. Instead, it is found to be
only IA per cent in New York and
Northern New Jersey, 19 per cent in
the country north of the Ohio and east
of the Mississippi, % per cent in New
timore % per cent, 13 per cent in the
Middle West and 20 per cent in the