The New York herald., 1922-05-21

J Special Correspondence to THE NEW YORK
HERALD.
New York Herald Bureau,
Rome, May 8.
| The tenant in Italy is in many re-
spects the most fortunate one in the
world. Although in the cities he is
often doomed to a long and futile
search for a home, when he does find
one he is allowed by law to keep it
until 1928. If he doesn't like the rent
his landlord charges he needn't pay it.
and il a guard Of policemen comes to
arrest him they are met by virtual
army of the intended victims fellow
tenants. If he is a worker the Gov
ernment gives him money to build a
new house. and If he is Roman he
has the edifices of 1000 years or so at
his disposal. A homeless Roman can
always fall back on the ruins.
Moreover. the hard pressed father of
a family has only to arm himself with
n pick, and with a little industry he
can make his own "diggings" Instead
of burrowing into his pocket to meet
the financial ideas of an avaricious
landlord he merely burrows into the
soft cliffs about the city, made Of
porous rock called tuffo, and in a short
time can issue invitations to his
/ housewarming.
| THREE p fr,,
| one of the postwar building extern
sions of Rome has been the avenue of
! Gin dwellers along the Via Flaminia. A
large community of emancpated tenants
has honeycombed the tall cypress topped
Gin ike seagulls. The houses are as
large as fancy dictates. and in case Of
additions to the family or the necessity
Tor taking In boarders car be enlarged
by diligent application of the family
pick. which has come to be the Roman
substitute for the lawnmower and the
snow shovel Washing can be conven-
| 'ently hung out along the cliff sides. and
there is neighborly ledge connecting
the houses so the women OF the com
| munity can exchange calls on each
others steep front porches.
Apartmentless Italians who are not
sufficiently energetic to do their own
digging have fallen back on the in
''ustry of Italians OF 1000 years ago. an
sge when there was not only an apart
ment for every citizen but also a COM
| modious tomb when he died. Several
families of twentieth century Italians
are living In the spacious and rather
cheerful tombs of ancient mobiles Aban-
! loned mines, stone quarries, old reser-
voirs. Roman baths. natural caves and
classic theaters now have far more than
archaeological interest to apartmentless
Romans.
Coliseum Is Barred.
The Roman Coliseum and the Forum
have still been withheld from would be
tenants because it is feared that IL they
/ become private residences American
! tourists might not feel as free as at
present to wander about with Baedeckers
under their arms. They are merely used
as hostelries by nomads and robbers.
Bat with a few exceptions of this kind
the available archaeological apartments
are now occupied for the season.
House hunting in Rome is a feverish
occupation. Besides the deterioration
OF apartments during the war is the
| TACT that the city has increased by
$4,000 in the last few years.
AS in every other country. there has
been practically no building since the
war, and the cost OF building materials
has Increased as much In Rome aJ IN
Harlem. The usual rush of SPECTATORS.
extortionist landlords and building ma
terial combines took advantage of the
lack Of housing TO build up their for
tunes
In order to meet this situation the
Government created housing commits
sion which had the power of seizing any
vacant rooms or apartments and turn.
Ing them over to homeless citizens But
the usefulness OF this commission was
short lived, and now the Roman has
gone back to the good old method Of
bribing the portiere. The housing COM
mission. however, still has its use when
| exorbitant rents are charged by ambi-
| tious portieri. 1t can then step In and
flx a fair price for the apartment.
A campaign for the abolition Of the
Housing Commissioner is now rag =, II,
" Monde, the most important evening
paper of Rome. Landlords and tenants
| agree In denouncing the office as a USE
! less complication of an already bad situ-
tion. The legal secretary of the Ten
ants League and the president of the
Landlords Association appear In neigh
| boring columns with practically identical
complaints against Government mud
ding.
Although the commission Is practically
n dead letter some souls In distress re-
member that the Government has pro-
| vided n responsible body TO deal with
| their suffering. The other morning the
Rome Commissioner looked up from his
desk TO find a fellow citizen with his
wife and six not over clean children
| and a considerable amount of baggage.
The visitors announced that they had
no home. that they understood he was
the Housing Commissioner and that
therefore they had decided to live in his
offices until he found them home The
| Commissioner. after a glance at the chill
dren and pet dog, who were already
making themselves comfortable on his
leather lounge, decided that this was an
occasion for a miracle. and he found
them an apartment the same day.
stops Paying Rent.
The Italians manage very we'll with
out Government assistance or interfer-
ence. Prosecuted American tenants who
try TO take the law into their own
| bonda ora Nuaalr and fpaffapttaI cor,n-