Evening star., 1934-11-20
Holds Authority for D. C.
100000 Program Lack.
ing in Relief Act.
ALLEN Is Determined
TO FIND SOLUTION
Decision Comes as Commissioner
Was About to Order Work
on Property Started.

Construction Of low-cost housing on
large scale by the District govern
ment-made possible by an outright
grant of nearly s4oO 900 of the Fed
eral Government, designed to provide
work for unemployed and sanitary
housing for their families-was blocked
today by an adverse ruling by Con-
troller General j. r. McCarl.
The decision smashed plans which
Commissioner George E. Allen has
been whipping into shape quietly over
a period of seven months and came at
a time when he was ready to order
Workmen to start digging on sites on
which options had been obtained.
The matter had been the subject of
the greatest secrecy for fear advance
publicity would have caused an in
crease of prices on the land to be
bought for the developments.
1t was learned that McCarl had de-
cided the money could not be spent
for purchase of land and construction
of houses under the terms of the
Federal emergency relief act. since
no specific provision for such eX-
penditures was included in that
measure.
Allen Determined.
Commissioner Allen, stunned by the
wrecking of his plans, declared. II
am not through yet. There may be
a way out after all" He said he
could not say now what his next step
might be.
Allen had plans already drawn for
construction Of series Of row houses
at unannounced sites in the District.
Each house was to have three rooms
and the cost of each unit, including
land, was figured at $2,695.10. These
houses were to be rented to persons
on the District relief list at a figure
calculated at about SIT month.
The houses were to be modern and
sanitary, strictly complying with all
District building regulations, of brick
construction. They would have pro-
vided new housing for persons on
the District relief list shown by a re-
cent survey to be living in dwellings
lacking sanitary facilities or adequate
space for the occupants.
The cost of the housing to be built
by the District government would have
been amortized at 4 per cent over a
period Of so years, when the money
would have been returned to the Dis
trict government. Allen said it was
figured, after careful study, that this
could have been accomplished in so
years by obtaining rent of S16.48 for
each housing unit, to cover the cost
of taxes, insurance, repairs, manage
ment and amortization of the cost of
both land and construction.
Cites Jobs Relief.
Originally, the housing plans called
for building of l46 dwelling units
which Allen said would have provided
work for 1852 relief clients over a
period Of five months. this number of
workmen having dependents totaling
1886. The relief budgets of these
workmen would have doubled for the
period.
The scheme was proposed as a
means of taking thousands of able
bodied men of the relief list, thereby
reducing the net relief outlays, while
providing sanitary housing for relief
families.
Allen had won whole-hearted ap-
proval for the project from Harry l..
Hopkins, head of the Federal Emer-
gency Relief Administration. That
was accomplished last Summer and as
an agent of the District to handle
the construction work, the District
Rehabilitation Corp. was set up.
Hopkins authorized grant of $685.
484 on october 81 and three days later
a check for that amount was placed