Evening star., 1932-12-18
RENT HEARINGS
| TO Be RESUMED
AT 1880 TUESDAY
Senator's View of Excessive
Rates Here Disputed by
Realty Men.
BRINKMAN PRESENTS
| 6OF HIS CONCLUSIONS
Thousands Unable to Paw Regu.
larly, Says Counsel of Sub
committee.

The Senate rent investigating sub
! committee will resume work at 1890
| am Tuesday. A three hour session yes
i terday ended with several Senators con-
1 ending rents here are not as low as
tney should be, while spokesmen for
| the real estate men argued rents have
been going down and that competition
Will accomplish results being sought By
/ the committee
| Earlier at yesterdays hearing Oscar
! H. Brinkman, attorney and investigator
| for the subcommittee presented six of
the conclusions embodied in lengthy
report prepared by him for the subcom-
mittee. They follow:
That many apartment and dwelling
house rentals in the District of Colum-
| bia are exorbitant and extortionate.
and impose severe hardships upon thou
sands of people
That rents and dwelling house prices
In Washington are much higher than
in other cities Of similar size.
That rents paid by many workers in
washington have not gone down per-
ceptlbly during the past two or three
years.
i Thousands Overburdened.
| 1Aot liIcic dIt IldIly thousands OF
people in Washington unable to pay
regularly the excessive rents demanded.
| with resultant evictions. suffering and
hardship that justify Congress in de-
clarlng an emergency and regulating
| rents.
That the alley-dwelling situation in
Washington is still a national dis
grace.
That the figures submitted by the
Washington Real Estate Board, showing
low rates of return to owners on apart
| ment house properties, are wholly un-
reliable and do not accurately reflect
the actual profits"
There are more than 80 other con-
! clusions and recommendations in Brink
, mans report which he had not reached
when the subcommittee adjourned
yesterday These will not be made
known until he resumes the reading
Of his report Tuesday.
After Brinkman had read the first
three of his conclusions, in the course
of which he cited the number Of land
ord-tenant cases that have been filed
in court this year, Attorney Roger j.
Whiteford, representing the Washing
ton Real Estate Board, said it Is con-
ceded that there are people who can
not pay rent and who have lost their
| Jobs, but Wo do not concede that rents
|
Sharp Verbal Clashes.
Brinkman's statement regarding the
figures submitted by the real estate
men on the subject of rate OF return
to owners Of apartment houses. also
led to sharp verbal clashes between the
subcommittee counsel and Whiteford.
There also was discussion at the
hearing yesterday as to the cost OF
financing housing operations, including
rates of interest. Mr.. Whiteford had
argued that if owners reduced rents to
point where they could not meet their
fixed charges. it would increase the
number of foreclosures.
Senator COPELAND, Democrat, Of New
York. wanted to know If Congress could
reduce the rate of interest in an emer-
gency. Whiteford and Brinkman agreed
that existing contracts could not be
impaired by legislation, but Brinkman
said it could be applied to new ones.
Senator Copeland inquired if there
was any way, through voluntary action,
of giving rent reduction relief to Gov
ernment employees and others whose in
come has been reduced Whiteford said
rent reductions have been taking place,
but that there are some people who
cannot pay any rent He argued that
the property owners also are confront
ing difficulties in meeting taxes and
! and other obligations under present
conditions.
Senator Capper, Republican. of Kan
, sas, the subcommittee chairman, said
he thinks the testimony has convinced
, here have not been reduced In line
with other cities" :,
Increases Held Lower.
But rents here never increased to
the point they did in other cities" Mr..
Whiteford replied. He added that at
. the time when rents were going up in
; other cities Congress had a rent COM
mission here to keep them down.
Senator Kean. Republican, of New
Jersey. said he believes rents are high
er here than in any other city. White
ford said the plane of living here is
higher.
Toward the close of the meeting
committee members suggested the pcs
, sibility of the Government considering
the building of housing facilities for
its employees. Whiteford suggested such
a venture would prove uneconomical
for the Government.
At the outset Of yesterdays meeting
Senator Copeland said there were some
statements in Mr. Brinkmans report
based on information the counsel had
gathered during his four months of in
quiry. but some of which had not been
brought out in the form of testimony.
This led to discussion as to whether
: the report should be taken up i'm
mediately or after additional testimony
has been presented.
1t was finally decided to have Mr..
Brinkman read the summary of his
conclusions. AS he went along he in
5 dicated the material and sources of
information on which he based his
conclusions