The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-10-08
fContinued from Page 1.l


of $500 per small lot. The Gary
Land company now owns IA
subdivisions in Gary, the re-
turns from their renting and
selling projects bringing in
hundreds of thousands of dol
lars a year.
Hundreds Lose Their Homes.
Many hundreds Of the steel workers
have lost their homes and their saw
ings by being fired before their houses
were paid for, the houses reverting to
the steel corporation. Houses are
cheaply built by the company, with no
conveniences, and cost more than sim
liar structures in Chicago.
One of the latest subdivisions to be
built up by the steel trust, the
eleventh subdivision, is typical of the
land prohteering carried on by the
steel trust. Houses here are built of
stucco, without cellar or basement
with four small rooms. They cost the
steel workers from $4,000 to $4,000.
One of these little houses, the occu-
pants told me, cost $1,000. In add.
ton it cost $685. to install a dry air
heating system, $3.50 to have eel
lar dug, in addition to the six per cent
interest charged by the Gary steel
company for lending" the workers
the money.
The eleventh subdivision, of average
size, runs from 18th Ave, to 18th Ave,
and from Madison Ave to Grant Ave-,
being five blocks by ten in size. Two
houses are being built on one of the
streets near Madison which are to cost
the steel workers families $4,000 plus
the interest. A house of five rooms,
without the basement and without the
heating plant, cost $4,000, the occu-
pants told me. 1--WE pay $4,000
month toward the house." the man of
this house told me. 1--WE had to pay
$3.50 down before the company
would start building. We installed
our own cellar and heating plant. If
we neglect to pay the installment,
even for only one month, the steel
company raises the interest, and for
every month we fail to pay the inter
est is raised little higher. The COM
pany does not care whether we are
working or not-the same rules hold"
Must Buy; Can't Rent.
A steel worker who went into the
offices of the Gary Land company ask
| ing to rent a house was told by Mr..
Cohen, who works for the steel cor
poration, eve haven't rented any
houses for four years. You'll have to
buy lot from us first, and then we
lend you the money at six per cent
interest to have the house built, by
the contractor. The average lot costs
around $500. We don't start build
ing the house until you get the lot
entirely paid for"
The biggest complaint of the steel
workers against the Gary Land and
pany is that in buying house they
become greatly obligated to the steel
corporation. They must cling to their
jobes at all costs, as there is no other
work in Gary except in the steel mills.
There are at least 5000 steel workers
laid off in Gary at the present time,
and most of the others are working
on half time or less.
Their house payments are falling
behind, and meantime interests and
debts are piIing up. The workers can
not move away from Gary if they want
to retain the money invested in their
homes. Thus the steel corporation,
besides reaping immense profits from
the steel workers, wields constant
threat over the steel workers to ''be
good little boys and not talk union
ISM"
The steel trust, while it is very ex-
acting toward the collection of rents
from the workers, spends money lib
orally to build up the churches of the
town. 1t is a well known fact that
every large sized church in Gary is
controlled by the steel trust. The
Russian orthodox church recently re-
ceived a '1oan" of over $4,000 from
the U. S. Steel corporation, it is de-
clared by members of the congrega-
ton.
Church Much In Evidence.
Near the eleventh subdivision are
four church buildings and three large
priest houses in one block. This Is
the block running from Madison tc
Monroe and from 18th to 18th AYES
The Slovack Roman catholic church
with father Ignatz Steponcheck in hii
immense priest house, the Greek cath