Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-23
Own Your Own Home
BY Frederic /. fIaskin

New York, May "a Breathea there
n man with a soul su dead who never
TO him self hath said. own Your Own
Home." If SO, let him attend the Own
Your own Home Exposition when II
appears In his town and forthwith be
converted.
This exposition has already been held
in Chicago and New York, where IL
turned thousands of settled cliff dwell
ers into determined home owners, and
is now on its way To various other
cities.
1t consists OF a whole miniature sub
| urh. reproduced in elaborate detail,
including many different types of at
| tractive homes. set OF by tiny gardens
aud dgniaed by that boon of the land-
| scape gardener the tall and stately
cedar. Nothing is lacking In the way
| of homeiy realism from thesiatest thing
! I'm laundry tubs TO the best type of
rambler rose for the front veranda. All
| that goes into the making of the mod
/ ern American home--as well as much
| that doesn't is there before the daz-
| zled gaze of the home seeker, to say
i nothing OF the homes themselves. There
/ are severe, little, stucco houses. quaint.
| little frame dwellings, large and pre-
tentious brick houses-a wide selection
| to choose from.
All are reproductions OF prize win
ming designs from recent national
small-houae contest, which was held
under the auspices Of the American
/ Institute of ArchitesaA and In which
a thousand architects took part. A
nationally known architectural jury
selected % designs in three classes
| aumber. brick, and stu.co and back
| piastered metal lath) for prizes total
ing SIS, 600 The awards were governed
/ principally by the economy of space
shown in the floor plans. and prefer
| ence was ,iven to designs that would
be seasenable In upkeep and reduce
re eieral operating expenses to a mimi
mum.
For the exposition is designed to
reach the great mass Of small-home
builders. II strives 20 show the man
with only a small amount of capital
how he can build a comfortable. thor
oughly up-to-date house at surpris-
| ingly low cost, and thus escape exor-
bitant rent
Home-building is not only desirable
| now, it is a necessity, the organizers
of the exposition point out, According
| to Robert H. Sexton. its managing dir
ector, the national dwelling shortage
! at the lose Cf last year was placed at
| the appalling figure of 1,2b0,o0a In
| normal times" he says, "the United
| States builds between S5o.0o0 and 40o.-
600 family dwellings each year. In
1919 only $4,000 such dwellings We're
| erected. ard in 1920 but $4,000 We're
reported. One-fourth Of the popula-
ton is either living in rented quarters
or is improperly housed The country
il 1000 900 homes short"
Effects OF Housing Shortage.
This situation. the home-building
promoters declare, Is a menace to the
nation from two important aspects.
First. IL has & deleterious effect upon
the public health In New York a re-
cent housing survey brought TO light
MANY instances where families of ~
and Is members were living crowded
together in one and two rooms. The
public health departments of other
I cities report a similar state of affairs.
Nor is overcrowding confined to so-
! called slum districts; il is also found
to prevail among the middle classes,
The scarcity Of homes likewise
breeds discomfort, ii is pointed out,
and keeps a large part Of the popula-
ton restless and rowing whereas for
the good Of the nation Ii should be
quietly housed. The homeless citizen,
who drifts from one community TO
/ another, is seen 10 be q possible source
Of social and political disorder.
THE Government is beginning to
realize that homeless citizens and fam
lilies, ra-h and poor, are not usually the
best American citizens" says Mr.. Sex
ton. 1t is beginning to realize that
every additional home owner makes an
4 1a
tons wealth and an additional urge FOR
all .other forms of permanent construc-
ton" In other words, Mr.. Sexton be-
li-Ves the Government is coming around
, TO the Chestertonian belief that under
the system Of private property. every
citizen should be a private property
owner.
Just what the Government intends tc
: do about it, however. still remains q
mystery. Il is known TO have acquired
vast reams OF information upon the sub
, ject: TO have been deep in the consider
, alton of public health reports on hous-
ing conditions and financial reports con-
cerning mortgages and loans. as well as
reports on rent increases in various
!. cities; but the nation still awaits a
home run from Congress. Senators Cal
der. Edge and Kenyon have made THEN
important recommendations but as yet
: nothing has come of them.
City Building Projects.
Meantime various cities have st.
tempted relief measures. A few have
, / themselves gone into the home-buildins
: business for the benefit Of the public
) while others have placed restrictive
measures upon profiteering landlords
i / New York has made things as pleasant
{