Evening star., 1925-01-20

joint congressional committee hand
ling the proposed rent bill was told
last night by Gen. Nathan William
MacChesney of Chicago, counsel for
the National Association of Real Es-
tate Boards
Gen. MacChesney further told the
committee that a permanent rent law
with price-tixing attached ~ent much
further in the matter of regulation of
business than the Supreme Court of
the United States has ever gone. in
declaring regulatory laws constitu-
tional.
Characterlzing the whaley bill as
an atrocious measure, the under
lying principle OF which was entirely
wrong, Gen. MacChesney said that it
was economically unsound and would
fail to bring about the results claim
ed for 1t.
Says Washington Lags.
You have been playing with the
situation here in Washington" Gen
MacChesney declared, referring to the
continuation of the wartime rent
legislation. other cities of the United
States have left you far behind In the
solution of the housing problem which
developed out Of the war conditions.
Rentals arc coming down in those
cities. / know they are, for example,
in Chicago"
AS long as rent legislation Of the
kind now on the statute books and
proposed in the Whaley bill is con-
tinued in the District the witness
testified. building OF homes and apart
ments here for rental purposes will
fail to materialize.
Randall Fl. Hagner John A Petty
secretary of the Real Estate Board of
the District, and Roger ]. Whiteford
counsel for the board, all told the
committee that what was needed to
meet the housing and rental situation
in Washington was to enact legisIa-
tion for licensing brokers and to pre-
vent the pyramiding of values
through the addition of excessive
trusts.
Says Complaints Aimed at One Man.
Mr. Hagner said that II the leglsla-
was confined to those points and the
agitation for a Rent Commission was
allowed to die, the present hue and
cry would be over in 80 days.
The attention Of the committee was
called to the fact that practically all
of the tenants who have appeared in
support of the Whaley rent bill were
located in the Clifton Terrace and
Plaza Apartments, which are owned
made that there has been no general
increase in rentals since the court
decision practically made imperative
the Rent Commission law several
months ago. AS a matter of fact, Mr..
Petty told the committee that the
Real Estate Board had found in it's
survey of conditions more than LOO
cases were rents had been reduced.
The hearings on the rent bill will
l. l.,r ,trrl, 80
o'clock. when the opponents Of the
bill will again be on the stand. The
hearing will be held in the caucus
room in the Senate Office Building.
Gen. MacChesney. who returned to
the stand last night at the request
of the committee, TO discuss the legal
aspects of the proposed rent law. cited
opinion of the Supreme Court and
other courts to prove his contention
that Congress has no more power to
violate the guarantees of liberty con-
tanned in the Constitution in legisla-
ton for the District than have the
States legislatures to violate those
guarantees in their State legislation.
Insists Residents Are Citizens.
Gen. MacChesney told the commit
tee that the people of the District
are citizens of the United States, al
though this fact had been questioned
in the early days.
II find that the game laws apply
in the District" said Gen. MacChes-
new with a smile. LAS a matter OF
fact this question as to whether re-
sidents OF the District are citizens of
the United States has received serious
consideration in the Courts, and the
decisions have put at rest all doubt
in the matter"
The witness said that there is a
citizenship of the United States as
distinct from citizenship in State.
Referring to language Of the Consti-
tuition giving congress exclusive juris-
dfction over the District, the witness
called attention to the fact that the
Constitution also gives like authority
to Congress over arsenls, dockyards,
etc, in the United States acquired by
the federal government.
The fifth amendment to the Con-
stitution, which throws about citizens
| of the United States safeguards OF
personal liberty and denies the right
to take property without due com
pensation, applies fully in the Dis
| trict, he said. So far as the four
teenth amendment is concerned
which was adopted after the Civil
War, that amendment was proposed
to safeguard the status of the
negroes in some of the Southern
States and was not intended to apply
! to the District of Columbia, where
the Federal Government itself could
protect the former slaves.
Should Act ms State.
We must approach this question
of rent legislation here as it would
| be approached in Slater" asked
|
! The witness replied that was true
| unless an emergency arose here a.
| it did during the war.
| I'VE have the power in New York
state to enact rent Legislation in case
! of emergency" said Senator Cope.
| land. He pressed Gen. McChesney &c
tell the committee whether Congress
had the power to pass a permanent
law for the District, such as the
Whaley bill.
| Gen. MacChesney replied that h.
could not answer that question posi-
lively, since the Supreme Court has
never passed on it. He said, how.
ever, that the proposed law goes fal
beyond regulatory powers upheld By
| the Supreme Court in the past, anC
added that he did not believe the
| Whaley bill could stand the test OF
| constitutionality.
| Senator Ball. chairman of tho com
mittee, who has contended that the
emergency in the District today is
not due to lack of houses. but to high
| prices and rentals, asked If price
emergency" would justify the passage
| of a rent law.
Calls Emergency Personal.
Gen. MacChesney replied that i,
| would not.
THAT is personal emergency" he
| said. THE kind of an emergency
which we all face when we cannot
| nav our bills. You cannot make q