Evening star., 1935-11-19

At the present time our projects re-
ceiye o grant Of As per cent of the
total cost and pay 3 per cent interest.
plus q sum sufncient to amortize the
balance over so years. In Europe.
as O general rule. there Is no grant.
but the interest rate Is considerably
lower. It may appear that our grant
Is an outright gift. As q matter OF
fact, with . 3 per cent interest charge,
American projects return more to the
Government over . given period than
the European.
Subsidy As New Procedure.
This subsidy has been attacked as
un-democratic and un American. May
I recall to the attackers such time
honored subsidies as that which has
kept our merchant marine afioat or
Q rather familiar device known as the
tariff? You may argue that subsidy
for housing Is q new departure. But
is it?
Within the last couple Of years a
number Of studies have been made,
notably In Cleveland, Indianapolis
and Boston, which investigated the
balance sheets of slum areas. The
cost TO the city Of maintaining q slum
area was determined In terms of Jail
and court costs; In terms of free
disqualification and treatment In asy-
lums: in terms Of fire and police pro-
lection. etc. The total of all these
items was balanced against the total
Of taxes paid by slum dwellers. The
answer was In every case written in
red ink. For every dollar In taxes
paid by a slum dweller, other tax
payers subsidized him from 81 to $40
state to which he was-alas!-ac-
customed.
ThuA the subsidy does exist and has
existed in your tax dollar for many
years. If you realize this fact 1t may
seem to you wiser to spend the sub
sidy on decent housing, rather than
decent jails; on supervised play areas,
rather than walled in reformatories:
on healthful homes, rather than the
best municipal hospitals.
The crux Of the realtors dispute
with US lies in the selection of tenants
who will inhabit these projects and
not In the projects themselves. Since
they will be rented at an absurdly low
rate In relation to the class Of accom-
modation offered, they will be most
attractive to the average income
group.
The history Of private socially plan
ned housing projects has always
been that the occupants were of a
higher class than that for which the
projects were planned. This fact
only serves to demonstrate once again
that private enterprise, even the most
enlightened and altruistic, cannot
supply decent housing for the low In
come urban worker.
We should vitiate the whole purpose
Of our program II We permitted in
our projects those who could afford to
pay average commercial rents. This
seems to be q major fear of the real
tors and yet 1t should be obvious that
we would lose even more In prestige
than the realtors, In business, If we
did not insist that these projects be
reserved for the benefit of those who
have never known a decent home.
Selection Of Tenants.
This can and will be effected by
the most careful selection of tenants.
The management branch Of the houS-
ing division is now engaged in the
training Of men with real estate ex-
perience to manage these projects.
If We will not accept for tenants
those whose means are sufficient to
make them eligible for average COM
mercial housing, neither can we house