Evening star., 1924-03-03
Rent Commission Needed
AN Argument Offered for Elk.
tending the Housing Law.

souAA6 TIC AOueAu8 LAW
To the Editor Of The Star:
Several articles opposing the con-
tinuation OF the Rent Commission be-
yond its present term have lately ap-
peared in your paper. Why this anx-
iety for it's discontinuance, even If
the usefulness of the Ball rent act
has passed" as claimed? 1t is at
least gratifying admission that it
| has been useful" But why not con-
tinue it's usefulness q little longer,
to make sure 1t has passed? What
harm can possibly accrue? For 1t is
even said that sales of property are
increased thereby. Then why not
continue a law that not only helps
the real estate brokers but also pro-
tects tenant in needo
Now, If the rent law was lately
| necessary to protect tenants against
| "get-rich-guick" landlords (and who
| can deny ft?), is it at all probable
| that these landlords have been con-
! verted' overnight, SO to say, from the
error of their ways and are now
| ready to practice the act Of the lion
| lying down peacefully with the
lambs? But while admitting this
/ teeth by continuing the Ball act in
| definitely, and SO insure the timid
lambs perfect safetyo
| All laws have objections, but a law
! that covers the main points at issue
equitably deserves to be upheld, even
| though q few "nuisances" may crop
' Ia Z.
little rent money now and then, as
| they certainly did under the old
| system.
| Living in a civilized community ne
! cessitates restraint of personal lib
| erty. Hence all business is under
| restraining regulations and subject to
! taxes. OF course, greed does not like
| restraint Of any kind; 1t wants only
| a. ''blue sky limitation. In the Dis
trict 1t has always needed q curb. for
| 1T was a notorious fact that from
| twenty to forty Cor more) years ago
| large number of government and
| other clerks found 1t cheaper to live
! in Baltimore and come daily to bust
! ness in the District of Columbia, and
| save money thereby. house rent there
| being much lower for practically the
/ same class of house.
| All building material being as ac-
i cessible to the District of Columbia
| as to Baltimore, the student of sta
/ tistics" has not explained this incon-
! sistency.
! That many vacancies exist in apart'
| Eent houses is due, / believe, to high
| rents asked, whereas if rents were
more reasonable the present "dou-
| bling up" habit of housing in order to
meet current expenses would be
! abandoned and vacancies would dis
appear.
1t has been stated that all business
must be regulated for the general
| welfare and taxed. All municipal
/ corpora tions are allowed q certain
! percentage on the capital actually
! invested. e., net per cent. Thus
| street car, gas and electric plants are
| all limited to certain per cent.
Now, these things being so, where
! is the inequity between an act OF
! Congress fixing the price of gas, for
! instance, and one liking the rate OF
1 rent of an apartment house? The
j conditions are practically the same
| are proposed to be fairly determined
J and a rate allowed that will net the
| fixed interest rate on Investment ]
; don't see any injustice done. What
. the gander," the only difference be-
; ing there are two instead of one
| commission to determine values, and
l think the Rent Commission Is less
likely to err in its valuations, be,
! readily determined largely by the Of
| flee of the inspector of buildings:
Now, ii there was a just spirit in
all landlords, there WOULD not be any
its purpose is to do the equitable
| thing between tenants and landlords,
! and he ought to be only too thank
! ful to have a diSinterested commis-
/ sion to decide the just rent In every
I case of disagreement So if the land
| lord wants to act Justly, in what way
| can he do better than through Rent
| Commission?
That the usefulness of the Rent
! Commission has not passed. as
i claimed, is borne out by the fact that
more. than one hundred complaints
are now monthly received, and were
| the clerks sure of the extension OF
! the rent act, great many more COM
plants would be made. AS the s!tua-
ton now is, the clerks are very
! timid, fearing they would speedily
| be ousted from their housing GUAR
ters were the rent law to cease III
May. For, truly, many would not
| know where to lay their heads; anc
| this, too. keeps them from being con,
spicuous before the committees OF
! Congress.
! With more than one hundred COM
! plaints a month now, after four years
os active operation, it appears that
in spite of landlord threats, some less
timid tenants have the courage to
complain.
Finally. does not the very activity
of the real estate brokers' opposition
show that there is a decided need fol
the continuation-indeed permanen
tcy-of the Ball rent act? l think SO
CORNELIUS BALDWIN HlTE.