Evening star., 1932-06-19
High Local Rents.

OlSlrlcC COmmlCtee In proof, IL mlgnL
be granted at the outset, If only for
the sake Of argument, that rents In the
District have not come down as they
have in many other cities Of the coun-
try-New York, for instance. But that
ought to be explained readily enough
without looking around for any nefar-
have conspired to keep rents up. And
it is rather difficult to draw any analogy
between conditions as they are today
and the conditions during the crowded
days Of the war, when the Rent Com
mission was brought into existence
Those conditions have been reversed
During the war the landlord was sitting
on top OF the world with rising prices
and an inadequate supply of housing
facilities forming the perfect alliance to
boost rents and gouge tenants. Today
the city is overbuilt. rather than under
supplied, with apartment houses. Prices
have fallen and the tenant Is in posi-
ton to get his revenge. II rents have
been slow to follow the decline of other
prices, it has been because of the rela-
tive stability of the Government pay
roll to date, a pay roll that influences,
more or less directly. every business
transaction in the city. There are, in
addition, sucn other factors as original
investment, during boom times. in
rental properties, and undeclining real
estate taxes. These, of course. play an
important part in maintaining the
rental level.
There Is ineScapable irony in the fact
that while the Senate District Com
mittee, and rightly so, is interested In
tbs question of lowering rentals, Con-
gress is on the verge of taking the ac-
ton that will precipitate decline in
rentals faster than anything else. That
action lies in the arbitrary reduction
of salaries and in the discharge of a
number of employees difficult in num-
bers to estimate. There will be no
question then about the decline in rents,
for rents will fall fast enough. The
reduction of purchasing power by sal
airy slashing and the fact that large
numbers of people have been thrown
out of work are the chief factors &C
counting for the decline of rents in
other cities. For rents reflect merely
the ability of the tenants to pay. When
the ability of the tenants to pay is re-
duced, rents are automatically reduced
in some proportion and the cutting is
done by landlords who are seeking to
save their scalps, without being mott
waited by any extraordinary altruism.
As a matter of fact, comparison
between rents today and those, for in
stance, in 1927 and 1923 would in all
probability show a decline. The in
formation should be Cbtainable by the
Senators without great difficulty
Whether the decline has been in pro-
portion to the decline in other cities
of comparable size is another thing
Another matter for investigation Is the
relationship here and in other cities
between the level Of rents and the level
of assessments for taxation. It will
probably be found that there is a very
direct relationship. The matter of high
local taxes has a distinct bearing on
the issue of high rents.
It has been charged before the Senate
committee that there is an unlawful
combination of some sort that has op-
Grated to maintain local rents at high
level. The charge has been made that
rents here are extortionate. If either
is so, the Senate com mittee should work
not only to bring the guilty men to
justice, but to remedy condition that
is inexcusable in any city at any time
Neither charge should be allowed to
lie without definite proof that it is true
or untrue.