Evening star., 1922-02-07

pIebtHt SlTlHSe1iCS VIII uc SoAACSeSN'
X X
The rent law has discouraged build
ing in the District, Property owners
have been l6ath to expend money In
| the erection Of houses and apartments
at high rates Of construction with an
| assured restriction upon rental in
| comes. On the other hand, the law
stimulated the sale of housing prop
critics, which has merely meant trans
| fer of responsibility from the former
! landlord to new owners, the latter
| being in many cases the former ten
| ants. Between the high prices of
construction and the check upon rent
| returns imposed by the law building
in Washington has virtually stag
nated-has, in fact, not kept pace with
p, the natural growth since the subsid-
! ence of the wartime excess popula-
! ton.
1t has been urged that. having ere
ated this situation both by precipita-
! ton of war and the consequent swell
| ing OF the capital population beyond
| its housing accommodations, and by
, interposing a constructions hecking
| regulation, the government has been
, under the moral obligation to promote
building in the District by some
| scheme of aid or inducement calcu-
w
| ing investment. Nothing of this sort
| has been attempted or even practi-
| cally outlined. The government has
| looked to private enterprise to supply
the demand while interposing a dis
couraging rent regulation system.
. There are, of course, more tenants
! than landlords in the District. as in
| every other community. Therefore
! the weight of interest lies on the
side Of regulation. to prevent inor-
! dinate increases, to assure housing,
/ to check ousters. to make the utmost
use of such facilities that exist with
| the least burden upon those least
able to bear the weight of wartime
, and postwar high prices. The ques-
! tion that now is pending in Congress,
particularly in the Senate committee
| on the District, is whether it is nee
| essary to continue this protection
| for another period, although the war
capital has diminished to normal pro-
| portions and the balance between
| housing supply and demand Is more
closely approached. If in the judg-
| ment of Congress an emergency still
exists re-enactment will probably
, follow in season to continue the COM
mission, perhaps with some of the
! changes proposed by the District Com
misSionerS.
| These changes thus recommended
| are in the direction of making the
! commission more equitably effective.
| 1t is urged that the commission
! should itself consist of a representa-
! tive of the property owners, one Of
i the renting class and one who lis
| neither a renting -owner nor a renting
| occupant; that the attorney for the
mission should represent the
| public as a whole and not merely the
| renting class; that the commission
should have an inspection force; that
; the bona fide purchaser of a dwelling
| should be assured of possession with
| out delay: that it should be possible
| for owners to get rid of Objectionable
| tenants; that leaSe-signing tenants
I should not be permitted to break the
terms of lease regarding the
| amount of rent. and that the law
! should no longer prohibit the razing
| of rental property used for resi-
Dental purposes unless it is replaced
; by new residential constructions.
| These changes are in the line of
equity. They do not affect the vital
| principle of regulation. They do not
! lessen the ability of tenants to Sc
| cure protection against extortion.
Assuredly if Congress deems it nee
| essary to extend the law on the
ground that the building balance has
not yet been restored and an emer-
sency remains, such an emergency as
! in the judgment of the Supreme
| Court justifies a rent-regulating law.
| it will proceed to frame the new law
as a revision and not merely as an
| extension of the old. seeking to Sc
| cure the most effective and the most
| equitable method of assuring tenants
| of protection from extortion. and as
| suring owners of a fair and rea-
sonable return from their property.