Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-05-29
FEDERAL ACTION
follower RENTS
URGED BY CAPPER
Senator Implies Peacetime
Profiteering on Part of
District Landlords.
100000 APPROPRIATION
FOR RELIEF ADVOCATED
Tenants Letters Declare Rentals
Have Jumped as Other Prices
Fall.

renewing MS attack on rents II
Washington, Chairman Capper Of tn
Senate District Committee last nigh
advocated having the Federal Govern
ment take cogniZance of the situa
ton and find out whether the rent con
dition here is the result of secret ma
nipulating and time profiteering
In the course of radio address from
Station WMAL, Senator Capper reat
excerpts from letters he has received II
recent weeks, complaining of rental!
and also referred to some communica
tons from real estate men arguing thai
rents are coming down in Washington
and that owners Of rental propertie:
were not getting a fair return on theil
investment
Referring to the District appropria.
ton bill, which is awaiting action II
the Senate Appropriations Committee
Senator Capper voiced his earnest hope
that the Senate will approve the
amendment to make 100000 available
to be spent by the District government
for Unemployment relief He also
urged that there be no skimming or
school funds in the appropriation bill
Hopes for Passage.
Touching on pending new legisla-
ton for Washington. Senator Capper
reviewed some of the 81 local bills
awaiting action on the Senate calendar
as the session draws to a close, and saiC
he hoped that bills intended to be Of
benefit to Washington will not be de-
layed in their passage by the Senate's
haste to conclude its business"
Senator Capper said that since hi.
previous speech on rents he has received
hundreds of letters on the subject. HI
told of one letter from real estate
dealer. the contents of which were sum-
married as follows: That very few
apartment houses are making as much
money for their owners as they did two
years ago; that real estate propertie.
are governed by conditions different
from other commodities: that the oper-
ating costs of an apartment house have
not come down in the last few years
that interest charges must be met, ano
real estate taxes are increasing, and
that very few apartment buildings are
completely occupied. One of the quo
tations from this letter. which the Sen
ator mentioned, follows:
When there Is a material excess OF
apartment space, with very few apart
ment buildings completely occupied
and many are carrying very serious
percentage of vacancies-hoW is 1t pos
sible for owners of real estate to de-
crease rentals?"
Higher Rent Asked.
Senator Capper said he had several
other letters from tenants claiming that
in some instances wages Of apartment
house employees have been reduced. The
Senator said information also ha;
reached him to the effect that some
tenants have been asked for increased
rents this year. After reading from
some of these tenant letters, Senator
Capper added:
so I do not know how real estate
men can say that operating costs have
gone up and profits are less. when al
the same time We hear of these salary
cuts and rent increases"
The Senator said some of the letters
reaching him also complained that fooe
prices are too high in Washington, a;
compared with other places. One letter
he said, dealt in detail with prices Of
dairy products The Senator defended
the milk situation in Washington, de.
claring that this city gets about the
best grade of milk that can be produced
under stringent regulation. He sale
that what the average Washingtoniar
buys as daily, ordinary milk Is sold ir
other places as certified grade A mill
at much higher prices.
Has Many Letters.
Senator Capper concluded his discus.
sion of rents here as follows:
And now let me say that I have
literally scores of letters charging The
existence of a rent-fixing combination
among apartment house owners ane
agents in the District. These charge.
are not made by persons of the typ
usually associated with the authorship
Of wild rumors. Briefly. the statements
I have along that Inc are:
THAT most of the large apartment
houses here are operated by agents VIII,
Ak the rentals: that many of thes,
properties are financed by a compare
lively small group of big insurance
companies; that the representatives o
these companies collect percentage o
the rent as we'll as commission on tn
loan; that rents throughout Washing
ton are standardized by small numbe
Of real estate operators, and that ther
is a determined effort to keep rents OF
a high level regardless Of temporar,
vacancies.
U. S. Should Act.
This is the feeling Of people VIII
have tramped all over Washington
looking for decent living accommoda
lions at fair rent. When they f1n'
rents high in all sections. what ar
intelligent people to think? Whei
they find these rents in apartment
houses only partly occupied, what ar
they to suppose?
MY own feeling is that the Fed
eral Government should take cogni
Zance of the situation and find GU
whether the rent condition here
the result of secret manipulating an,
peace-time profiteering.
Il want the people OF this city t.
know that I am going forward will
my study. I am always glad to ge
new facts. new suggestions. am sur
that Congress and the Federal agencie
concerned with the health and vel
fare of Government employees will no
willingly leave the people Of Washing
ton to the mercy of rent hogs.
THE Bureau Of Labor Statistics. il
the Department of Labor, has figure
showing that rents in Washington a
the end of 1881 were almost Is pc
cent higher en- the average than the
were in the Spring of 1920. In 1913
these rents were about % per cen
higher than in pre-war days. There
ample evidence that the rents il
Washington have not dropped in &C
cordance with rents in PRACTICAL
every other American city.
While rents went up here between
1920 and 1881, the bureaus figure
show that food dropped 81 per cen
and clothing l45 per cent. The gen
eral cost of living fell 81 per cent
Farmer Killed by Auto.