The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-09-12

WASHINGTON, D. c. Sept. 12-l
The life of the famous Ball rent law,
enacted by congress for regulating
rentals in the District Of Columbia,
has been extended by another act OF
congress until next May, and we'll in
formed persons assert that its lie
will have to be prolonged again, Tor
at least two years more in all.
The Ball rent law is OF wide inter
est for several reasons. In the nrst
place, of all the rent laws passed dur
ing the war, this one alone represents
the wisdom of our national congress
and not merely that of some local leg
islature. In the second place, 1t is an
excellent example of the sort OF
emergency legislation the war brougnt
! into being. Theoretically all OF TINS
emergency legislation was TO expire
soon after the war was over. A gooo
| deal Of it has expired or mas peeh
killed, but a good deal of it also sur
wives, of which this law is a sample.
| OF course, it is anticipated that all
of this legislation will eventually per-
| ish In theory we go back to 1915. IN
practice, obviously, we never can. Inc
| "little fellow who has been rescued
from a profiteering landlord by the
rent commission, will not forget the
fact, any more than a dog Will 1or-
get the hand that fed him. This man
has gained a new conception OF gov
| eminent as a thing which can step In
and save him in spite of the constltu-
ton, the law of supply and demand
the rights of eminent domain and prl-
yate property, and all the other gods
of his fathers, in the names OF winch
he has long been fleeced without a
whimper. In word, demand LOT
such legislation has been created, anu
the pillars of conservatism VIII nave
to shout "Bolshevism' with all lneA
lungs to keep it down.
The Ball rent act, in brief, appoint
ed a commission which was en-
powered to hear disputes between
Landlords and tenants, and to deter
mine, with the help of the tax asses
sor, what was a reasonable rent An
appeal from it's decision may pc taken
! to the court of appeals, but the court
can modify the decisions OF the com
mission only for error in law. Inc
act further prohibits the eviction OF q
tenant, even though his lease has ex
pired, provided he pays the usual rent
or the rent fixed by the commission
The landlord can evict the tenant only
if he wishes to live in the premises
himself or to raze the building.
Wait a Year
Soon after this law had been passed
one of the Incredible absurdities OF
government was illustrated. was the
, law constitutional or was 1t not! ina
was a matter for the courts to declde
But the courts move slowly A tes
case was brought and the lower cour
held the act unconstitutional IN Janu
airy, 1920. An appeal was taken .
the supreme court. The question tneI
was whether the supreme court woule
uphold the lower court or reverse II
If it upheld the lower court the law
: was dead as a doornail. II 1t dld not
the law was effective.
For over year-until April, l9zl-
this state of suspense continued. Rent
! ers and landlords alike were IN stat'
:, of confusion which greatly compn
3 Gated the emergency that the laV
1 was created to meet. Some tenants
. gambling the law would be held valid
: refused to move when the lanolor'
raised the rent, or to pay the advanced
= rent. Landlords made petty Warfar'
S in some cases, cutting off gas ant
v water and otherwise seeking to maxi
o the tenant miserable. Nobody knew
what was going to happen next. No
: body could know except the suprem
court, and it wouldn't tell. The tenan
/ who took his stand upon the law wa
e uneasy in his boots. If it we're no
V upheld he could be thrown out in tn
/. street and sued for back rent Tn
J. landlord, betting the law would not b
upheld, was equally uncomfortable.