Evening star., 1934-08-22
ALL CITIES ASKED
TO BOOST HOMES
Stars Contest Example of
What T. H. A. Suggests
Throughout U. S.
BY G. T. KELLOGG.

eral Housing Administration to or
ganize q better housing program"
similar to the campaign sponsored in
Washington and suburban areas By
The Stars $1,000 Better Homes Con-
test, and issued q booklet telling them
how TO do 1t.
The Government has done its
part: the banks and other financial
institutions are ready TO do theirs"
the booklet said 1T remains only
for you and other leaders in your COM
munity to do yours. The time 70
start is now" st
The Stars contest was started on
April Is. and has been in fun swing
all Summer. The added building and
remodeling activity stirred by the Fed
\ eral agency's insurance Of home i'm
provement loans already has sttnl-
ulated an even greater interest IN this
newspapers contest throughout the
city and suburbs, and many home
| owners who wanted to make improve
ments but had not the money, now
are enabled to borrow the money from
financial institutions under loans
guaranteed by the Government.
Cities Urged 10 Organize.
The 34-page illustrated booklet dis
tributed today declares that every city
wishing to capitalize fully the pos
sibilities offered by the act should
organize Immediately local campaign
| OF undermining and Improvement
under better housing program along
the lines OF similar campaigns success
fully conducted In many municipal
| tiles during the past two years.
This Is the only way, F. H. A. asserts.
that the people Of q community can
be thoroughly informed as to how
they can best use the new financing
feature Of the national housing act
and thus make their residential and
business property the rich and reliable
investment that 1t should be.
Community Campaign" (the book
let's name), which carries the subtitle,
"a suggested plan for organizing your
local campaign under the better hous-
ing program" explains In detail how
the work should be carried on. 1t
contains q chart showing the ideal
! Set-up for the organization. II
/ enumerates the necessary officials and
their duties, together with the IN
dispensable committees: Finance, loans,
publicity, building industry, general
industry. women's planning and con-
| sultation.
This Is followed by o detailed
analysis Of the duties Of each COM
mtttee.
Personal Work Necessary.
The booklet, however, emphasizes
that the one sure way for city
to get results Is through individual
effort, and that all general adver-
| tising, publicity, mass meetings and
other appeals must be followed up by
a personal house-to-house or prop
erty-to-property canvass by q force
Of volunteer workers"
It reminds the public that similar
campaigns held In "a cities during
l932-33 caused an average expendi-
ture fer nodernization of, roughly,
$40 per capita, and points out that
at this time, with loans insured under
the terms Of the national housing
act, q much greater volume Of money
should be promptly put into cfrcula-
ton.
The manual contains, In 30 far as
r. H. A. has been able to foresee It,
the answer to every problem that
would ordinarily confront the or
ganizers of better housing cam
| paign.
It's last three pages explain who
are eligible for loans. the terms and
conditions Of the loan, procedure Of
property owners to get q loan and
how to secure estimates Of the cost
Of proposed property improvements.
"Before-After" Illustration.
One Of the illustrations In the
booklet Is made up Of "before-and-
after" pictures of the house which
the Commerce Building two years ago
as part Of the Board Of Trades
renovize campaign.
Plans are going forward for the
meeting of civic leaders tomorrow
| night In the Board of Trade rooms In
The Star Building, at which the
Housing Administration home i'm
provement program will be discussed
| from both national and local angles.
| The meeting, arranged as part Of
| The Stars contest, seeks to familiar
iZe Washington and nearby home
owners with the possibilities offered
by the Housing Administration in
| surance of loans and the tie-up Of
this with the competition sponsored
by this newspaper.
Prizes in the contest are divided
| into two classes-for improvement to
homes worth $4,000 and less, and
for homes valued above that amount.
| In each class q first prize OF $3.50,
| second of 500 and third Of $50 Is to
be given, in addition to four honorable
mention prizes of $25 each. The
Board Of Trade Is offering 500 for
outstanding landscaping improve
ments of q home, and another 500 Is
to be given by The Star TO the citi-
zens' association whose members show
the greatest interest. measured In
terms of entries.
Realtors Asked to Help.
Realtors Of America have been urged
to give enthusiastic cooperation TO
the Housing Administrations program
by Walter s. Schmidt Of Cincinnati,
Ohio, president-elect Of the National
Association of Real Estate Boards.
Schmidt said that lack Of activity in
the construction field accounted for
many of the jobless men In the coun-
try.
"It Is estimated that 1000, 900 men
normally employed in this field now
have nothing to do" he said. Each
skilled worker carries with him prob
ably three others such as those en-
ployed in the fabrication Of ma
terials, truck drivers, railroad handlers
and the like. It is perfectly obvious
that real revival Of the construction
industry would end the depression
almost overnight"
The American Bankers Association
yesterday pledged its support to the
program Of the housing agency when
Francis M. Law, its president, headed
a group of bankers who called at the
White House and told President
Roosevelt they thought the home Inn