Evening journal., 1920-04-07
CALLSF0R 1900
MOREDWELLINGS
Labor Union Committee Re-
ports Hundreds Will Be +
Homeless on June %
MAYOR SKEPTICAL
OF ARMY TENT PLAN


miblee OF the Central Labor Union.
Is declared at least 1900 more home
are needed TO accommodate worker
and their families, and the time ha
passed for surveys and discussion. Ac
ton and action only, the committee
asserts, will relieve the situation.
Mayor Taylor is skeptical OF the pro
p0sal OF Gerald o. MacConachie. hea'
Of The service and welfare department
Of The Harlan shlpyard, to use arm,
tents as temporary dwellings. tn
mayor fears army tents would be to-
small 10 provide adequate shelter 10
families and further Is OF the opinion
that moving day will be merely
big interchsnging OF families from on
house to another" and demand for ad
ditional homes will be less than an
icipated.
The report OF the housing adjust
ment committee OF the Central Labo
Union was presented to the latter or
ganization az a meeting last night.
was heard with rapt attention and III
conclusions and recommendations az
iirmed unanimously.
The report Of the committee on
housing adjustment IN full follows:
While no statistics have been COM
piled IS 10 the number Of workers
and their families who Will be
homeless due 20 their respective
notices 10 yacate the premises they
are at present occupying by June
%, IL IS believed by your commit
tee that the number will run Up In
the hundreds.
At the present time. due to the
lack OF proper and adequate hous-
ing facilities, workers families are
living under highly congested con-
ditions. House after house In VII
mington. built originally 10 accom-
modate one family under the
stress OF present conditions. Is
forced to accommodate two and
even three workers families.
Rents are soaring higher and
higher with the average tenant
getting less for his money than
ever before. But few new houses
are being built 10 be rented TO
workers sc any rental, moderate or
otherwise.
Surveys have been conducted, In
vestigations have been made. re-
ports have been issued, but TO
date there has been no start made
with a progressive building pro-
gram. Some Of our good citizens
blame the banks Cor refusing 10
help with the building OF new
houses; others blame the cost OF
building materials; others pass
the buck" 70 labor.
Your committee believes that
n Wilmington Is 10 advance as a
progressive city OF It's tempera-
ment should progress, we want 20
adopt an immediate building pro-
gram. A recent survey made by
the Bureau Of Municipal Researth
on behalf OF the Central Labor
Union and the Service Citizens OF
Delaware made the concrete rec
Ommendation OF forming mil
lion dollar housing corporation 20
build homes for skilled workers.
The survey was complete and the
report was issued some months
ago. but 10 date no start has been
made 10 interest financially able
citizens IN this housing corpora
tion.
As the Central Labor Union has
pointed out on numerous occasions,
we know that there Is an absolute
ned at the present time OF at least
flften hundred new homes 20 ac-
commodate skilled workers in VIII
mlngtOn. While employment con-
ditiOns are steady. and there Is a
strong and urgent call for addl-
tional workers, men and their fam
ilies from places outside OF VIII
mlngton cannot be prevailed upon
10 come TO our city because we
cannot house them.
Temporary patching up OF the
housing problem will never settle
the main issue, and that Is that
our city needs at least fifteen hun
dred new houses for workers II we
are 70 advance industrially and
commercially. There can never be
cOntentment among the workers
when they and their families are
crowded in rooms as at the pres
ent time. While we had been led
70 believe that II was the inten-
tion or Interested citizens 10 at
tack our housing problem as 1t
should be attacked, by building
houses with the cooperation Of all
concerned. 10 seems that about the
only thing we can do Is TO con-
tinue hopin- 10 is the opinion OF your
committee that we have the money
Tor can get it), that we have the
vacant land, that we have the
labor Tor can get ny, and that
through adoption OF cooperative
plans for building the urgently
needed houses on wholesale
basis, the houses can be built. We
have previously pointed out that
the building Of a few houses here,
and a few houses there, will never
solve Wilmingeon's acute housing
problem. What we want today Is
action.
And In the meanwhile. what IL
Wilmington going TO do as a com
munity TO arrange for housingthose
who will be homeless, without a
roof over their heads on June s52
Do we intend TO wait until that
day, or do we intend 10 organize
TO aid those who viii be homeless
Your committee would suggest
that all workers who have been
notified to vscate on June % and
have been unable 10 locate another
house TO supply the compile infor-
msteion to the Central Labor Union
IN order thai the organization may
havo statistics OF how many work
ers and their families will be
homeless on June 25. Then per-
haps. we. as an organization may.
through the cooperation and sup
port OF Interested citizens. arrange