New-York tribune., 1922-02-19


,,,encc in Washington accomplishes all
,A.t II had aimed to do--that is, mini
s;xe the possibilities of war between
,.tions-the world Will not enjoy abso-
ate peace until the animosity that has
.,istcd between landlord and tenant
"A. been removed.
Preparations are now under way IN
Il. camps Of landlords and tenants 10
.s-ch on Albany and tell the Legis-
.c-e what il should do with regard to
,he rent laws, which expire next fall
~riess extended now by the lawmakers.
landlords are opposed 20 their ex.en-
sion for this, that and some one hun
ired other reasons. The tenants,
hacked ov city authorities. judges, civic
,DS social workers and the Lockwood
romnittee, Will say that the need Of
shs rent Laws has not passed and
Nov should he extended if the health
.rJ social peace Of the commonwealth
are to bo preserved
The laws were passed for the pro-
,.r.ion os tenants who claimed that
r,thou. civic control of the housing
s,.uat.on they woul6 not be able to
nov for shelter. Landlords say that
u. laws nave served their purpose,
hat the emergency has passed and the
~sssures are decidedly one sided. The
-,s.rictions which The acts have placed
An the house owners. landlor rds claim,
ave given tenants the opportunity Of
,husing the hclpiesSness of the prop
crty holder
Discord in Every Country
g.ports from every corner Of
Il. world tell Of similar discord
though the housing condition is new
% most OF US. 1t being the first time
IN our lives that homes have been so
vsrce and rents comparatively high,
ti.a an old story in the story Of the
world. For centuries and centuries
there has been n fcud between the
house owner and the renter. How long
hack this condition has existed his
torians have not been able to trace
But i. goes back TO days before Christ
and the feeling OF bitterness between
the two classes has been traced in
.he civic history Of nearly every coun-
Try and some even before they became
civilized.
Edgar J. Lauer. justice of the Mu-
nicipal Court. and Victor House, A
astant District Attorney for the South
en- District of New York, have pub
i.ned recently through Baker. Noorhis &
/ Co an interesting volume entitled "The
Tenant and His Landlord,' in which
i Il. story Of this feud is told Justice
] L.er and Mr.. House have started, it
SEEMS. at the very beginning and come
] hight up TO the moment, stressiug, OF
course, the present state of affairs
They have delyed into history, and it is
/ interesting TO learn that restrict ions
we're placed on landlords and tenants
way back in the dark days of pagan
dom, and that in old Japan, even be-
fore Commodore Perry advanced on the
Mikado's land and introduced to it the
ways Of the outside world, its rulers
found 1t necessary to regulate the busi-
1ess Of house renting.
"Ihe reiaf on of tenant and landlord
s one Of the oldest and probably the
most universal OF civilized society,"" say
Justice Lauer and Mr.. House, "and in
il civilized communities the people
..st be housed Housing is therefore
,nessity of life. Comparatively few
i.ilies can afford to own the homes
(which they live, and therefore they
rsN have houses supplied to them by
sae!s.'
Jews Had Rent Regulations
The Talmud, the great book of the
.ss, contains regulations by which
.hant and owner were controlled.
Il Spesking Of these restrictions, which
/ are much different from those now in
u operation, Justice Lauef and Mr.. House
u ny; In the collection Of religious
\ avs gathered together IN what is
\ iaown as the Mishna, which consti-
\ 'utes the bass OF the Talmud, we find
4 that the law as TO renting Of houses
<o, orI
h poses and OF farm land had been de-
B 'eloped with considerable care.
\ In respect &C arm lands. the Mish-
\ IA and later authorities speak of two
3 dnds of tenants: The Aris. or the ten
/ al, on shares the landlord receiving
h one-half, one-third or one-fourth, and
h the Hoher, or the tenant at g fixed
/ rental, which. in the case of farming
and, was usually payable in q fixed
measure Of the grain to be grown on
The land and less frequently in money.
J, dwelling or business houses were,
me nature Of things, left at fixed
entail it money.
I'm respect to town property, when
oouse was let TO lodge in,' it meant
,o' Gay! to 'res; in meant for two
Gays and for marriage thirty days.
out the unconditional ordinary letting
dwelling house meant, in winter
lalhy season., for the rest of the
s..ason' IN summer till expiration of
.uI.y Gays notice TO quit. But this
appaea only in p town (ir); in large
,vmIerciai city kerak), when the de-
aaau ior houses was 50 great, notice
,au 10 DC given twelve months in ad-
sace' This also was the rule for all
NV, ,Ivps, Tor tradesman had to have am
ss '!tne TO make his new place Of busi-
..' ,s. known to his customers. The ten
ma. ~. mao IN each ease to give long
;issce 10 rid himself of the obligation
n. rent as the landlord had to give to
where the letting was for a fixed
, sns no notice was given by either
.suE ,s.E Where a house was let under
m.:s sS.:s Of implied length only, without
y. m''hea terms, the rights Of the ten
NJ, while the notice to quit was run
s.s out, we're not secure against
,s.,a nanoiord's necessities. The latter,
i,,,.. .u nls own house fall down, could
as mat the tenant make room for
! h niso, II during the running OF
/ ss,. euce the market rate OF rents
v@.t @ up the landlord could ask for
,,,a the higher rate, on the other
ssls y rents went down the tenant
"sa Demand reduction.
w Japan Was Ideal Place
d. ss p relation was one likewise in
~. "tnan Una, law, and even in Japan be-
,ta, .ue modern era eviction of a
aw ;,s Gfm tenant for good cause was
4 ao,s ,saa was the ideal place to live be-
aa,i,no non payment of rent did not nee
I'd ~ mean eviction. Judge Lauer
l,s,." "n. house say that tenants in