Evening star., 1934-09-23
RELIEF HOUSING,
GARDENPR0JECTS
WILL Be MODELS
D. C.. JobIess Programs
Move Carefully Upon
Firm Foundation.
FINANCING MAY TAKE \
NO GREAT FUND OUTLAY
Slum Clearance Allotment Of
$4,000,000 Might Be Diverted
in Part to Semi.Rural Area.

Plans for developing low-cost hous-
ing and subsistence gardening projects
for unemployed workers on the Dis
trict's relief rolls will go forward
slowly and carefully, Col. Lawrence
Westbrook Of the Federal Emergency
Relief Administration said yesterday.
because he hopes to make this pro-
gram model Of its kind.
Col Westbrook, who is chief OF the
Rural Rehabilitation Division. dis
closed that he and Commissioner
George E. Allen are now in full &C
cord on fundamental features Of the
relief plan which will be financed
from F.. E. r. A. FUNDS. They had
brief but satisfactory conference yes
terday. from which Mr.. Allen emerged
cheerfully to report simply that
progress is being made"
Program Self-Liquidating.
Chiefly because the program is OF .
pioneering nature" Col. Westbrook
explained, considerable time will elapse
before it is ready to be launched.
Without naming figures. he explained
the actual financing would require no
large outlay of funds and that the
whole project would be self-liQuidat-
ing
This program Of the newly formed
District Rehabilitation Corp, Col.
Westbrook indicated, was similar TO
low-cost housing projects being built
on a wide scale by F. E. r. A. in rural
sections of the South and West. AS
nearly as this plan can be adapted
10 city improvements and conditions.
he indicated, it will be carried out
here.
Col. Westbrook has been responsible
for construction of hundreds of So
called subsistence homesteads" in ru-
raj sections, cottages costing 81, 900 or
even less, that are built by labor on
relief rolls in rural communities He
regards a similar program for Wash
ington as an admirable relief meas
ure, as cheap in the end. he said. as
paying full cash relief.
$4,000 for Two Projects.
The Public Works Administration
has set aside a $4,000 fund for
two low-cost housing projects in
Washington, one for colored and the
other for white persons in need Of
better living accommodations. These
are, in effect, slum clearance pro-
grams. District officials believe it is
possible that some of these funds
might be diverted, if necessary, to ap-
ply to the program of the Rehabili-
ton Corp, which will be started IN
outlying sections where land is cheap
and easily available.
Carpenters, plumbers and other ar
tiSans now on relief rolls would be
utilized in constructing the cottage
homes, Col Westbrook explained.
They would be paid the prevailing
rates of wages for such labor and the
expense could be held to minimum,
he said. by limiting the hours of work
per week.
He figured the labor costs at 46 per
cent of the cost of the projects. which
would leave 54 per cent of the entire
cost to be amortized over a period of
years. The District Rehabilitation
Corp. would thus begin with a 46 per
cent equity in the individual units.
Col. Westbrook visualizes, as result
of the carrying out of such program.
a more self-respecting, self-sustaining
form of relief.
e. r. A. has estimated that rural
relief costs sl26 per year for families
on relief rolls. whereas city relief
costs approximately $500 year. The
monthly payments on the houses
would, in almost every case 1t was
believed, be less than the amounts
received in monthly cash relief.
Plans for the farming or gardening
projects, which would dovetail into
the work Of the self-help agencies
being set up in the District, are only
in formative state.
Community Gardens Planned.
The scheme could be worked out in
outlying sections of the city where
given numbers of persons might cul-
tivate vegetables for their own needs
on community plots of ground. In
this way they could grow a major
portion of their food. Produce could
be exchanged, through the self-help
agencies, for other necessities of life.
The whole plan involved in the new
relief program, as Col. Westbrook views
it, is entirely practicable and workable.
One of the chief obstacles Is the
securing of land for the houses. Ex-
periences of Federal officials prove
that it is necessary to guard such
plans zealously so as to keep the price
at reasonable level. Commissioner
Allen, however, does not anticipate
much trouble on this score. He point
ed out that the land for the gardening
projects would involve small tracts
and be in sections where prices are
not exorbitant.