Evening star., 1933-05-03
|s9D,010,0|)O LOAN
| Agency PROPOSED
Rehabilitation Finance Cor
pOration" Suggested to
U. S. Trade Body.


Formation of a $4,000, 900 "Rehabih-
tation Finance Corporation" financed
Dy the Government and private sources,
10 moderniZe business property, was ad-
vocated this afternoon by Charles F.
runner OF Atlanta at a group meeting
OF the Chamber Of Commerce of the
United States at the Willard Hotel.
Mr.. Palmer, the president of Palmer,
incorporated, and former president of
the National Association of Building
owners and Managers, spoke to round
table conference on Property Mainte-
nance and Improvement
He proposed that the Reconstruction
FINANCE Corporation furnish 80 per
cent OF the fund; the owner, :. and
the manufacturer, Is. This 6. le
said, would test" the market.
i believe this test, with $50 900, ,000,"
ne continued. will prove that more
than 100000, 900 can be safely and
next four months, re-employing 15O, 900
men. What the grand total should be
can be judged only as this movement
progresses"
Commend Renovizing.
Mr.. Palmer was one of four speakers
who emphasized the value of "renoyiz-
ing campaigns such as now are in
progress in Washington and elsewhere.
The others were Walter j. Kohler,
Wisconsin industrialist and former
Governor of that State; DR.. Frank
Parker of Philadelphia, president of the
Inliadelphla Federation of the Con-
struction Industry, and professor Of
nnance, Wharton School of Finance
ana Commerce, University of Pennsyl-
Vanla, and William H. Meese of Balti-
more, president Of the Point Breeze
works, Western Electric Co., and chair
man Committee on Industrial Rehabili-
tation, fifth Federal Reserve district.
Declaring that business properties
cannot be modernized on a national
scale until the problem of financing Is
solved, Mr.. Palmer stressed that some
effort IN this district is necessary. I'm
are demanded, he continued,
10 stabilize rentals, to lessen foreclo-
Sures, to forestall a disastrous recur-
renee OF overproduction, to balance the
ead OF the construction industry and
10 increase employment.
offering his plan, which he proposed
should be laid before the Reconstruc-
Ion Finance Corporation, the speaker
'ald the organization he visualizes
would be non-profit-making, and be
composed of representatives from ma
,lonal trade associations interested in
he ownership of business properties.
IN the board would be one represent
tive OF the manufacturer.
Seif-Liquidating Project.
"This corporation" he anplined,
would make loans for -liquidating
of business properties.
They would be secured by income as
ire the farmers seed loans The mini
mum loan might be $1,000. Each ap-
1lication would be analyzed by some
body. such as the Building Planning
Service Council of the National Asso-
,iation Of Building Owners and Man
ayers"
Explaining then the financing. Pal
mer said that loans would be hquidated
over periods of from l to 20 years,
governed by the magnitude of the jobs,
ability to pay, and the useful life of the
The Reconstruction
Finance Corporation money would be
the first repaid and the last to go into
the work.
AS a measure to curb over-building,
and provide safeguards for real estate
loans, Mr.. Palmer advo-
Gated legislation which would provide
for issuance of certificate of neceS-
sity" by some constituted body, before
any commercial building is erected.
There is no more justification" he
added, "for the addition Of an ONCE
building or hotel to a city now glutted
with adequate facilities than for con-
struction of parallel railroads"
Gov. Koehler, presiding at the meet
ing. voiced the opinion that renovizing
particularly for dwelling
houses, should be organized in every
city, adding that undivided support was
necessary for their success.
Urges Co-ordinated Effort.
While organizations representing
single trades or industries viii help the
movement along, working alcne they
cannot hope to reach the desired goal"
he said. The maximum of accom-
plishment can be effected only through
the co-ordinated and energetic effort Of
all the building trades and suppliers Of
material. with the support Of civic
minded citizens and public officials The
project IS one Of immense magnitude.
1t is no job to be assigned to the office
wy VI SCIACLd4 DuL CdllS lOI
the whole-hearted personal interest of
the chief executives OF the various in
dustries involved.
"A central co-ordinating organization
should be established, operated and
financed by business. The cost of a
central Office would be negligible COM
pared to the benefits or in relation to
the collective sums, running into the
hundreds of millions of dollars, an
nually expended for sales and sales pro-
motion in normal times by the constit-
uent units of the construction industry.
The work cannot be subordinated to
other activities or be lost in Office de-
tail, but there must be q specific de-
partment continuously officiating in this
movement Of primary Importance"
Koehler also pointed to the financial
obstacles in the way Of this movement,
and advocated the principle Of Federal
aid.
DIR. Parker stressed the low costs at
which property rehabilitation can be
carried out at present, putting the re-
duction at 40 per cent from war times.
He went into details on the reno
vizing" campaign In Philadelphia, en-
phasizing that it had boosted business
and aided employment.
'1f soundly conceived and properly
co-ordinated under the aegis of the
Federal Government" DR.. Parker said,
"the ambit Of a national 'renovize
campaign were extended to include
communities of 5000 population or over,
undoubtedly two billion dollars of ad-
ditional purchasing power could be
turned into the channels Of national
business serving as q convenient and
effective stimulant to our lethargic
business machinery"
MACHINE GUN Definition