Evening star., 1925-05-08
"Back to Farm" Urged.
Benefits of Living in Suburbs Are
Cited.

To the Editor of The Star.
The rentpaying people of Washing
ton seem to be alarmed at the pros
pect OF having to pay more for their
houses and apartments when the Rent
commission ceases to function. This
Is, indeed, serious matter, especially
tor the Government workers and 9th
ers receiving small salaries
There is an inexorable law which
governs matters of this kind-the law
of supply and demand If tenants in
sist on living in the city they will have
to pay the penalty for such self-in-
dulgence. President Coolidge sized up
the situation the other day with sin
gular accuracy when he told the auto
mobile men that the motor cars. in
stead of encouraging the owners to
seek homes outside the cities. were
actually operating to make them crowd
more than ever into the great centers
of population.
At least a partial solution of this
problem can be found by consulting
the advertising section of The Star
where many columns are filed with
offers of suburban homes for sale or
rent at reasonable prices. Many of
these homes can be bought at a figure
lower than the rent of n city. home
and others can be rented at about half
the cost of the same number of rooms
in town. Some modern improvements
are now lacking in these cheap homes
but the improvements are on the way
Many of them now have electricity
and the Washington Suburban SAM
tary Commission is extending water
and sewer connections as fast as pos
Sible, while fine new high schools and
other educational buildings are going
up in many places. Many of these
homes provide plenty of land for
garden and chickens (the two being
separated. of course). and some are
large enough to keep a COW and pigs.
OF course, this means work outside of
office hours, but il also means:
A chance to lower the cost of living
by providing. with little extra work.
plenty of fresh and delicious vegeta-
bles and small fruits as we'll as eggs
and poultry for the family table as
well as some to sell. if desired. There
is no better land anywhere for straw
berries, raspberries, etc, as well as
garden stuff, than nearby Virginia and
Maryland, and there are the best of
experts close at hand in the United
States Department of Agriculture to
give first hand information about their
culture.
Good, wholesome exercise. A lady
told me she had grown SO much
stronger since she went to the suburb
that no inducement could bring her
back to city life, and she had saved
50 cents per day in food bills by hav-
ing a small garden. This means a
great deal to the desk worker with a
small salary and with children to sup
port. Many of these suburban homes
are within easy walking distance of a
one-fare line from the city.
Profit on the investment. The aver
age buyer of Virginia and Maryland
suburban property will realize an an
nual profit of at least 10 per cent on
the rise of real estate values. Many
have done much better than that. The
building of bridges, improvements of
outlying parks and the wise and en-
ergetic measures Of the Washington
| Suburban Sanitary Commission for
extending modern improvements are
all operating in favor of the develop
ment of suburban Washington.
/ have no quarrel with the landlords
of Washington. Labor is high and
going higher, and building materials
are not going down in price But their
exactions will suffer a. reaction if
there Is a general exodus Of tenants
toward the suburbs. This will oper-
ate more effectively than any written
law. LINDSAY s. PERKINS.