Evening star., 1925-01-19

grounds for the victims, which state.
ment was entirely disproved by us at
the time. is an illustration of the ex-
tent to which the alarmists have gone
In their agitation for rent-control
legislation. Much of the appeal and
pathos that have made up the news
paper stories. and, indeed. some of
the testimony in favor of rent legis-
lation given before the congressional
hearings. If Investigated, would be
FOUND exaggerated and not based on
racts. Frequently, this sort of propa-
ganda is based solely on q desire to
avoid paying a just compensation for
rental accommodation and an unwill-
ingness to meet present day condi-
tions of high costs of labor and mate
rails, or. expressed in another way
the lowered purchasing power of the
dollar.
Almost invariably the proponents
of this Legislation base their argu-
mentS on the theory of protecting the
sixty-odd thousand Government en-
ployes. The impression is given that
all, or II large percentage of Govern
ment employees are tenants. The per-
centage of potential tenants, that is,
individuals who are actually occupy
ing definite housing units and assum-
ing the responsibility of bona fide
tenants under rental contracts,
among Government employees is not so
large as these repeated statements in
dicates. Deduct those Government en-
ployes residing in Maryland and Vir-
ginia, also those who own their own
homes, allow for duplication occa-
stoned by two or more members of one
family being in the Government serv-
ice, eliminate the young men and wo-
man who reside with their parents or
yIyh n VI,
or boarding houses, and the net num-
ber of Government employees actually
effected by rental Legislation will be
found very much lower than is gener-
ally believed
Permanent rent-control legislation
will result in practically a total sus-
pension of construction of rental
properties in the District. This will
be due to two reasons-the loss OF
control of private property and the
withdrawal by the financial interests
of the money necessary to finance
building operations. During the past
years of rental-control legislation
there has not been a single dwelling
house or a two-family fat constructed
for rental purposes, and this type OF
rental properties is very much needed
to serve the tenant classes in any
city. Building of houses for sale
only has gone on. In addition, this
legislation has also caused hundreds
of properties that for many years
heretofore were owned by investors
as income producing investments to
be sold to home buyers and thus with
drawn from the rental market. there
by reducing the supply of available
rental properties. 1t Is true that
apartment house construction has
continued through the period of rent
control Legislation on an extensive
scale, but 1t should be borne in mind
that the legislation was temporary
only and was expected to cease and
that the type of these properties in
the main were high class expensive
buildings with rentals from $50 to s3S
per room and wholly outside of the
character of building demanded by
the emergency or which was designed
to be or was effected by rent control
legislation.
I'VE. as an organization, are in
terested in improving real estate
practice. and we are very willing &c
cooperate in accomplishing any con-
structive legislation that will result