, 1934-11-18
WASHINGTON
BY George DuFnO

WASHINGTON
by George Durno
COdes-It may be only the deadly
quite that precedes e r hour but 4
lot OF astute washington observers
believe NRA is suffering from a
case Of acute stasnation.
The five-man administrative board
which collectively stepped into the
shoes Of General Hugh johnson Is
concluding its seventh week on the
job. 50 far as settling any OF the
long pending problems OF future
major policy Is concerned the
boards silence has been deafening.
or course there Ia 70 be con-
sidered the defense OF those partial
to the e setup. who claim No
many controversial matters were al
lowed to accumulate during the
Johsnon regime that IL will take
months to dust them off and IN
ravel them.
Industry Is still trying 10 get q
final ruling on code assessments.
Many businesses are sufficiently
diversified TO win placement under
as many as half "a dozen and more
codes. The owners have been squak-
ing for months about being forced
to contribute to the maintenance OF
so many code authorities.
Labor Is ~yearning for q definite
ruling on its demand for ~repreSen-
tation on code authorities. Some
codes provide 1t: the bulk do not.
What to do about the so-called
service industries : cleaning. dye
ing. laundries. hotels. restaurants,
etc. etc.-is as puzzlins as ever.
Keystone-StrateRists OF the u. 3.
Chamber OF Commerce think they
see the handwriting on the wall.
The chamber Is busy taking a
referendum OF It's membership on
the future OF NRA. The way the
questions are presented the out
come could be anticipated by an
infant. Business Is going TO vote
10 let the National Industrial Re-
covcry Act die and pe replaced by
a sesup which permits industry to
regulate itself - with safeguards
against intrusion BY the American
Federation OF Labor.
Meanwhile. the American Fedora
ton Is sharpening It's axe for ;.
Clay Williams. chairman OF the new
NRA board. Williams, as a tobacco
magnate. aroused the ire OF organ
ized labor by blocking n cigarette
code before he stepped into the
government job. This code Is still
unsigned and labor has pledged it.
self 10 get Williams scalp.
And high I'D above all IN Donald
Richberg. former counsel for NRA
now big boss Of the National Emer-
gency Council. When a new MIRA
policy finally res the light or day.
you a lay odds It's was prepared
In the quite OF his office rather than
the quite OF those housing the five
man board.
Shortage IL probsoly will be
late summer or next fail before any
construction work OF consequence
gets under way as q result OF the
+. II. A. new-home building drive.
Administrator Moffctt opened his
publicity campaign the first or this
month with en- original idea Of
getting lots OF us into a homebuild-
ing mood by spring. That old
DOGGY. the frozen mortage. has pop
ped up to delay the wheels OF pro-
greSs.
Under the Housing Acts terms.
Uncle Sam Is authorized both -
refinance existing mortgages. and
guarantee new ones up 70 80 per
cent when used for new construc-
ton.
Financially minded officials OF ".
III. "A. find II viii be necessary fur
Their to thaw out our national
mortage structure before building
and Joan associations. insurance
companies. banks. etc. can 5e in
terested In investing further money
In new home construction.
II Is estimated there are n BIZ
lion dollars In mortgages III the
United States. The Home Owners
Loan Corporation has been tackling
distress mortgages. 10 has handl-
cd 2 billions out OF 8 billions re-
ceived IN applications and from now
on must go very slowly because it's
money A. running short. That
leaves 4 billions-and no statistician
will venture a guess on how much
more-that the Federal Housing
Administration potentially must re-
vitalize before prudent men can get
into a lending mood again.
Quandary--The head OF Washing
tons biggest bank told w. III. AS
officials his institution intended TO
qualify Is n MORTGAGE under the
Housing Act. But whether II will
90 In for home underwriting is still
a question.
The banker explained that never
in his banks 9O-odd years OF exis-
tence had u handled mortgages.
Instead. II handled millions In de-
posits OF real estate firms, etc.
SdLlu:S Sdllies