New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-11

~ aiterations. If the evictions can
% % limited to these reasons, it is
.hought the landlords will be pre-
vented from asking possession of prop
e s.. IN many cases where they mere
~ want to Dust tenants for the pur-
pose of overcharging new ones,
More teeth could be put into the
JAWS, too according to Justice Leary,
Il the Municipal Court justices would
generally adopt the ruling of Justice
Sacoo 5. Strahl, in Brooklyn, on the
20 per cent question. Justice Strahl
ruled that the owner could not ask
more than 20 per cent increase over
what was paid for the same place a
year ago, either from an old tenant
or new one. The decision, says the
justice, If generally adopted, would
certainty cause many owners to hest
tate before asking the eviction of an
old tenant, realizing, as they would,
That they could not demand more rent
from the newcomer.
Legal Machinery Inadequate
The problem Of providing adequate
legal machinery to take care Of the
tidal wave Of litigants expected to
overwhelm the forty municipal
courts on October / is causing many
tenants to appear in court without law
yers and i'll prepared to defend them
selves against attorneys representing
the landlords. In many cases the ten
ant can't get into the courtroom be-
cause of the crowding, and he fire.
quently loses his case by default.
Mr.. Hilly thinks the Legislature
should empower the Mayor to appoint
additional Municipal Court judges for
ttirtyday periods to assist in hearing
the thousands of rent cases now clog
gng the calendars. Additional court
space, too, should be provided in school
auditoriums and other public places.
Justice William G. Wilson seems to
think that this problem could be dealt
with effectively by the revival of the
courts. These courts have had these
powers for a long time, but have neg
lected them. They provide for the
selection of an arbitrator with the
consent of both parties and, in the
event of a disagreement, still permit
the litigants recourse to the courts.
The procedure would mainly be called
into play in preliminary Investigations
in dispossess cases in an effort to
keep from the crowded calendars cases
which have no merit. If extensively
employed, it would reduce the burdens
of the justices by half.
"The rent laws are good as far as
they co." says Mr. Hilly, "but they do
not, Of course. offer a permanent solu-
ton. You can see for yourself what
the stays run out and the tenants
have nothing to do but get out and
pitch their tents on the sidewalks, for
we all realize there are certainly no
houses to go to and there won't be,
as far as ! can see, at that time.
~ can't see what further check can
be placed on the rising rentals. 1t
would seem that the high rates would
be an incentive to building There
has been no appreciate increase in
building activity, so far as | am in
formed, and the prospects appear still
worse.
"Whatever the lawmakers decide to
do. this much should be borne in mind
that the builder and landlord are
as much entitled to square deal as
the tenant, and that great care must
be taken how the laws are added to or
changed. No law, it seems to me,
should be enacted that might discour-
age the building of homes. To pro-
vide an incentive for dwelling con-
struction, rather, should be the chief
task of the Legislature when 1t meets;
Coming to the efforts now being made
to stimulate the erectlon Oh houses,
it is we'll to have few facts in mind.
Building Record Slumps
The Tenement House Department
tells US that before the war $4,000
apartments were erected annually in
this city to take care of its natural
g., owth of population. This figure melt
ed away from year to year until IN
1919 there were only 1,736 apartments
built in all the five boroughs.
Since January l, says Frank Mann,
head of the department., ninety tene-
ment houses. with a capacity Of 2,171
suites. have been completed. Of these
tenoments, seven, with a capacity of
24o apartments, were erected in Man
haitian; thirty-three, with 1,197 suites,
in the Bronx, and fifty, with 734 apart
monts, in Brooklyn. There was none
built either in Queens or Richmond.