Evening star., 1933-09-30

nent value and easily set up in quotas
and measured. we might be able to get
the whole attention Of the country
directed to it," the authors Of the plan
set forth.
Speed Necessary.
'It must be universally applicable
and something that could be gotten
under way quickly and would not cost
the taxpayer anything to maintain over
q long period of years.
I'VE believe we can suggest such
plan to fulfill all of these conditions.
1t is not new, but has been tried sue
cessfully Fifty-six and two tenths
per cent Of the population Of the
United States live in cities. All old
American cities are built on frame
work of obsolete transportation facili-
ties. Before about 1895 the crowding
was due to absence of anything but
horse-draWn vehicles or walking. Then
came the electric car, and the study of
any city map will show definite growth
along these car lines. This spread
the cities over a somewhat larger area.
Since 1920, due to the many magazines
stressing gardens and yards, together
with the advent of the cheap automo-
bile, large proportion of the well-to-
homes with yards and space around
them, but the smaller salaried man
and mechanic have not to any great
extent been able to do this.
"UnnaturaP' Life.
For the worker to live in city as
now built is not only an unnatural way
to live but is uneconomic as well, be-
cause even with seasonal unemployment
l,3e nf1H oh on
on with no possible way Tor him to
make any money.
"One suggested plan based on these
known facts Is to build near every city
of say $4,000 or more new group OF
houses located on at least three to five
acres of land, with electric lights, water
and plumbing, so that the total cost
is low enough to first rent and then
sell to the man of average pay this
small homestead
An analysis of this plan as source
OF employment shows that there are
more varieties of men required and more
man hours per dollar expended than in
any other type of work. Not only does
this type Of work give direct employ
ment to a great diversity of men in
their usual line of work, but it furnishes
the greatest possible collateral employ
ment ever to the white collar class in
that it gives work to all kinds Of mills
and factories from the lumber mills to
the paint and hardware factories. All
of these activities are in normal lines
and will stimulate general trade condi-
tions tremendously.
Small Units Planned.
THE project being composed of small
units, the plans can be prepared quickly
and work gotten under way quickly.
While the cities have been reluctant
to borrow money from the Public Works
Administration for the purpose OF
building streets, sewers, water lines and
other municipal work because prac-
tically all this would entail an addl-
tional tax burden for many years, the
building of these houses does not entail
an extra tax burden or liability. but
actually brings in additional taxes in
the localities selected for the develop
ment 1t does give the city slight
blow in that it will undoubtedly make
vacant many OF the dumps now used
in the cities for houses and these will
certainly have to be torn down and be
rebuilt later with more modern homes.
but in the long run the citizens and
cities will reap real benefit.
With electricity available and coun-
try schools using buses and the cheap
automobile and the bus line, living in
this type of village will have all the
advantages of the city as well as of the
country. This type of development has
been used in Belgium for 40 years.
In order that this thing get under
way quickly, We would suggest that a
definite sum of money be set aside and
the quota given to each State advisory
board with complete authority to get
these projects started under general
specifications which could be written in
two days. In this way the task would
be set that could be understood and
measured by each locality and definite
progress could be measured. We sug-
gest that the specifications provide that
the houses could be bought on easy
terms or rented for period not ex-
ceeding two wears at very low rental"