Evening star., 1924-04-04

within mis- means ne must not pay
over one-fourth of his income for
| rental or housing purposes. The con-
ditions surrounding the employees of
the government in the District of CO.
: 1umbia are such that IL Is an essential
that they live and dress in such man.
ner as may preserve their self-re-
spect. Taking all of these facts into
consideration, the government en-
ploye in the District, receiving an
leverage salary as above shown, would
be unable to safely pay rental for a
dwelling house in which to house his
family of over S35 a month, or an
month, the difference being, of course,
in the cost of his heating and other
expenses of living in dwelling house
which are not incurred in an apart
meut.
Renting Out Rooms.
"It seems to me that this class OF
dwelling house nor the class OF
apartment suitable for the houslng Z
of a family of an average of four ana
one-half persons is a thing not to be
found in Washington at anywhere
near the above rentals except In
isolated cases where tenants have oc-
cupied properties for years and the
owners have chosen to not raise their
rents to the present rent levels.
Rather, a portion of these employees
have been driven to the expediency
of renting out rooms, or extra work
at night and of being compelled to
allow their children (many of whom
have not fully completed their edu-
cation) to obtain employment in
order to permit them to keep their
families in home that will allow
them to retain their self-respect in
the community with which they live
and among those friends with whom
they are brought in contact.
Amy family containing the esti-
mated average of four and one-half
persons would require, both from a
sanitary and moral standpoint, at
least three bedrooms. A reference to
the present rental of a dwelling or
apartment offering six rooms-that is,
three bedrooms, Ii, ing room, bath and
kitchen-in respectable neighbor-
hood in the District of Columbia to-
day will convince any one that it is
absolutely without the means of the
present governmental employees sal
airy of s1,40S. / venture the state
ment that never again will building
construction costs reach their pre- war
level, except that some unusual call
amity would upset all calculations.
Cites Comparisons.
'T make no attempt to estimate the
percentage in the difference of pre-
war rents and those of the present
day, though individual cases could be
cited that would warrant them being
estimated from IS to l25 per cent.
The salaries of the governmental em-
ployes have been raised but 20 Fer
cent 1t is obvious that in order to
relieve the present rental situation in
the District some way must be found
to reconcile the difference in increased
cost of housing with the present sal-
aries of government employees in JUS
tice to both the owner and the ten
ant
Every business in the country
other than the government of the
United States has been compelled to
meet these conditions satisfactorily to
their employees or else lose their serV-
ices. The government itself has met
these conditions wherever it employs
labor paid on recognized wage scale,
but it is evident a large majority of
the clerical force of government en-
ployes in Washington have not bene-
fitted in proper proportion with other
labor.
Peculiar Conditions Noted.
THE peculiar conditions surround
ing the governmental employe in the
District of Columbia seem to preclude
comparisons possible from statistical
information gathered from centers
enjoying the benefits from large
manufacturing interests The salary
of the government employe remains
stationary year in and year out, while
the laborer in other cities is able to
sell his commodity at the market
price, which, of course, is determin-
able by the law of supply and demand,
the present situation being greatly
against any advantage to the govern
ment clerk.
Based on the experience of the in
spectorS and of those of the govern
ment, District and congress ional en-
ployes with whom this survey has
brought US in contact, it is a serious
situation. Through the creation of
the Rent Commission under wartime
emergency the government assumed
to protect these governmental en-
ployeS (as well as practically all 9TH
ers employed in the District Of Co.
lumbia). for seemingly almost all
business and practically all those
residing in the District of Columbia
are dependent, either directly or in
directly, upon the moneys paid out
by the government in the District of
Columbia for salaries.
Business Enlightenment.
Every big business in the country,
in the enlightenment of the present
day, pays almost as much attention
to the sanitary conditions and the
proper housing of their employees as
they do to the production and mar
keting of their commodity, thereby
acknowledging that the properly
paid, properly clothed employe comes
to his daily labor in a frame of mind
whereby he can give his best in the
The government has partly assumed
this in the creation of the rent COM
mission during the war emergency,
and from the experience of the first
commission and it's ACCOMPLISHMENTS
came the second commission, now
functioning with fuller powers and
greater opportunity to adjust some
of the inequalities existing For the
government to abandon this question
before it's solution would be a calam-
ity to those who are dependent on
the Congress for both their livelihood
and protection.
The United States is the biggest
business and the greatest employer of
labor in the world, and in it's protec-
tion of the Individual in its employ it
thereby protects itself. 1t is incum-
bent on the government to assume its
full responsibilities in this respect.
Unenviable Position.
THE real estate broker stands, to
certain extent, in an unenviable posi-
demand their pound Of flesh and the
tenants who must produce it. The
average owner is able to protect his
own interest in many ways, whereas
on the other hand the average ten
ant, the innocent sufferer, who in this
particular situation is the govern
ment employe, can only look to those
who have the power through remedial
legislation to protect his interests,
and without their support he is in
deed without a friend in court"
DENIES "RING', EXISTENCE.
John A. Petty Declares Rumor Is