Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-05-06
STRESS BENEFITS
OF BALL RENT ACT

; Representative Reed Of West Virginia.
-ac;ing chairman of the House District
committee on the hearing on the Ball
rent act today. summarizing testimony
before the committee to the effect that
all tho people of Washington now are
housed, that there are yards of bona
fide advertisements for houses to rent
appearing in the daily papers, that much
building is going up and that Washlne-
ton is becoming a city of home owners
instead of renters, drew the conclusion
that this was one of the greatest pene-
fits achieved by the Ball rent act.
Hugh b. Roland. representing the
owners of Meridian Mansions, VINO was
then a witness. agreed with Mr. Reed
in this conclusion.
Sharp clashes between Representa-
tive Hammer of North Carolina, demo-
crat. who is leading the fight for con-
tinuation of the Ball rent act, and
Roger J. Whiteford. attorney repre-
senting the Washington real estate
board. and between Representative
Hommer and Representative Sproul OF
Illinois featured the meeting today
Representative Hammer censured Mr.
Whiteford because he was prompting
Representative MillspaCgh OF missouri
who is leading the opposition TO the
bill.
Representative Hammer presented
letter sent to members of the Real
Estate Board by the secretary of the
board as an indication of propaganda
against the Ball rent act. In TINS let
ter was a statement that no meHoe,
of the committee or Congress would
dare attempt to put the same ieglsia-
ton through in their home dlstrSts
Mr.. Whiteford forced Representative
Hammer to admit that he would not
attempt it in his home district, anu
Representative Sproul made the state
ment that in every large city of the
country similar conditions exist as IN
Washington regarding rent and thal
he would not dare to propose such
rent. law in his home city or chi
cago.
Discuss Propaganda Issue.
The question of propaganda was
again discussed at length today. Inc
letter introduced by Mr.. Hammer, ana
which Representative Sproul and
Representative Iillspaugh insisted
should go into the record, contained a
statement by Henry r. Brigham OF
Boston, chairman of the housing CON.
mittee of the National Association OF
Real Estate Boards.
j. Leo Kolb, Washington real
estate dealer. when cross-questioned,
said that he knew of no propaganda
by the real estate men, although ne
is a member of the real estate board.
He believes that the to rent adver-
tisements in the newspapers are bona 1ina
fide; that he knows Of no red list
or black list of tenants who have
appealed to the Rent Commission. and
that the only propaganda engaged IN
by the real estate men has been IN
sending an attorney to represent them
at the hearings.
Conditions could be far better ad-
justed by allowing the Ball rent act
to die a natural death. Mrs Charles
T. Thompson, vice president OF the
Housekeepers' Alliance Of Washing
ton. told the committee. She said
that she appeared ION behalf of the
home-makers of Washington-in
particular of those who are tenants
to oppose the extension OF the Ball
rent act because that act reduces to
makers best investment-hofne own
-ership."
Hotel Exemption Alarms.
One feature of the Ball act as it
passed the Senate has filled the home
maker with alarm, she said. 1t is the
elimination of hotels from the pro-
visions of the act.
"The amendment bearing on that
point offered by Senator Caraway,"
Mrs. Thompson said. seems to be
vague and of uncertain effect. To
the rent act would doubtless soon
leave only individually rental
property at the mercy of that act.
Apartments. as has already happened
in some cases. would quickly find
means of escaping the restrictions of
the law by Transforming themselves
into apartment hotels, and the conse-
Quence of that would be to do away
with home kitchens and home cook
ing-a matter of vital concern to the
home-maker, one of whose main obll-
cations is to assure the care of chill
dren and the health of the family.
"A close study of the movement in
real estate under the Ball rent act
seems to.warrant the conclusion that
the act. if not by design. has operated
in effect to promote and to protect
speculation in real estate on a large
scale at the expense of the home and
family interests of persons of mod
crate or small means. Home-owner-
ship as an investment has been rem
dered unsafe. owing to the uncer-
tainty and loss attaching to income
derived from rent in the case of the
bona-fide owner of property: Bullds
ing and loan associations refuse to
loan money to build individual homes.
Coincident with these conditions huge
apartments and rows Of houses have
RAPIDLY been built.
The tide of homeseekers is driven
either into buying ready-made
renting an apartment, though to the
greatest extent possible even apart
ments have been for sale rather than
to let, and traffic in apartment houses
has appeared in the testimony of
tenants to be the dominant cause
of the ills of which they complain.
over and over again tenants testify
to repeated change of ownership ac-
companied by repeated demand for
increased rent: also they nave testi-
fed that seeking to communicate
with the owner to overcome their
grievance in this connection the fden-
tity of the owner is elusive; he can
not be found: in word. the truth
appears that it is the operator and
not the bona fide owner of rental
property against whom the correc-
tive influence of a rent law should
be directed
Charges Interest Excessive.
Incident to the exclusive buying
and selling market that has resulted
from the Ball rent act. new kind of
middleman has multiplied-the finance
corporation. loaning money to persons
without the necessary means driven
by the Ball rent act to buy a house
built. not for a home, but for specula-
tive purposes. The cost of loans in
that connection may amount to SO
per cent of the investment. and of the
real value of the investment who can
tell? Such is the relation to home and
family interests of the recent building
activity over which this committee