Evening star., 1926-08-09
OFFICIALS SILENT
ON APARTMENTS
First of 10000 Question
naires From Government En-
pIoyes Are Turned In.

While the vanguard of the thous-
ands of queStionnaires expected from
government employees in answer to
proposal to construct cheap apart
ments for them began to appear to-
day at the Commerce Department.
officials maintained complete silence
on the name of the individual who
made the offer to build, and withheld
further details of the proposition.
The area west Of Eighteenth street
between Pennsylvania avenue and B
street, where two large apartment
buildings have been erected within
the last two years, was mentioned in
some quarters as the site for the gov
ernment workers apartments, particu
larly as there has been some activity
in real estate circles in that section
within the last few months. Most
of the area is now occupied by houses
A letter urging Secretary Hoover to
examine the cooperative apartment
projects already erected in Washing
ton, written by Edmund j. Flynn.
who characterizes himself as an au-
thority on such apartments. was
ment head today. Mr.. Flynn said
the use Of Mr.. Hoover's official posi-
ton to obtain information on rentals
paid by Government employees lis not
warranted by Federal statutes. and is
contrary to the spirit of our institu-
tions, and the alleged altruiStic moN
tive attributed to the party who seeks
this information affords no authority
for the publication to any one Of such
information"
Demands Full Information.
"If. in your official capacity. you
Nd 1,,1hlich tl,iC iyofn
ton, then I submit that you have no
right to discriminate as to who in the
apartments t-selling field shall have the
advantage of such information" He
reiterated his demand of last Saturday
that he be furnished with as COM
plete information as any one else to
be derived from the questionnaires.
Speculation as to the identity of the
philanthropist who has made the of
fer to Secretary Hoover contingent
on adequate support from the Fed
eral employees in Washington was
widespread today. 1t was made plain
that the steps already taken, and the
meeting of last Friday, at which chief
clerks of the departments were ac-
uuainted with the limited disclosures
already made on the proposal. have
been taken with the full knowledge of
secretary I1OONcl. otlSI
Department officials said they do not
know the name Of the man who has
made the OFFER.
Rents Reported Higher.
Mr.. Hoover declined today to reveal
the name Of the philanthropist who
has offered to build the apartments
and rent them on a basis of $3.50 a
room.
Forty thousand of the question
naires seeking to sound the sentiment
of Federal employees on the proposal
have been distributed among the Gov
ernment departments and independent
establishments. The few answers al
ready received at the Commerce De-
partment indicate that the rentals per
room now being paid average con-
siderably higher than the $3.50 figure
mentioned in the first and only official
announcement Of the proposal. While
the size of the apartments mentioned
in the announcement range from two
rooms to four rooms. with bath free,
some employees questioned whether a
one-room apartment. If such are made
available. could be secured for $3.50
a month, when rentals in other apart
ment buildings for one-room apart
ments run considerably more than
twice that amount.