The Washington times., 1935-01-29
SUCCESS Of FHA.
UP To PRIVATE
INITIATIVE
Only Start Has Been Made,
Housing Official Tells
Contractors ParIey
International News Service

SLAAy pAAN%kS Al11GAdUINC Cd1l uldhC
a lasting success of the Federal
housing program, j. Howard
deputy housing admins
traitor, told the Associated Gen
eral Contractors Of America in
convention here today at the
Willard Hotel.
Declaring a start" toward sue.
cess had been made, Mr.. Audrey
said:
Success in my earnest opin-
lon, will principally be acti-
Vated by the growing con-
sciOuSneSs Of American business
that private initiative, and pri-
vate initiative alone, can bring
to fruitiOn the purposes for
which the FHA was established.
This is no case of Government
lending, nor is it what some
tOuchy observers have termed
competition with private re-
sources 1t is purely a case in
which present and prospective
home owners get together with
the industries handling the
construction and financing Of
homeS-under newly established
Marquis Of Queensbury rules"
Fight for Security
Mr.. Audrey said the idea is to
help all concerned to wage a fair
tight for economic security, with
no hitting in the clinches. The
FILA does not participate in the
donation or distribution of the
purse. He argued it is not the
matchmaker forcing the affair
but is merely the referee. He
continued:
THE plan proposes that re-
Sponsible citizens shall be able
to finance the acquisition of a
dwelling without getting
'gipped,' either in the physical
quality and value Of the dwell.
ing, or in the way it is fl
nanCed."
The mortgage insurance plan,
he explained, under which mort,
cages up to 80 per cent of the
value Of the property are insured,
over a 20-year period, eliminates
second mortgages, refinancing and
other extra costs that have piled
up burdens on the home builder.
Aid to R0rrower
This aids both the borrower, he
said, and the lender, who is as
sured of his returns. And through
the administration, default. l prop
critics may be kept off the market
in times Of depression, thus serv-
ing to maintain the value of prop
erty.
He urged the Importance of a
"long-range" program, saying:
"WhiIe it is true that we need
thousands Of new homes at the
present time, because of the lack
Of construction in the last few
years, it is also true that we do
not need a major boom. To pre-
vent such boOms is one of our
aims. We hope that immediate,
heightened activity will come in
supplying our present needs, fol
lowing which our home cOnStruc-
tiOn and financing system will
settle down to sustained, undis-
turbed and normal activities at
all times"
It is the job Of the highway
engineer, not the railroad en-
gineer, to remove traffic hazards
said another speaker this after
noon, H. O. Sche1merhorn, en-
gineer in charge of New York's
$500, 100000 grade crossing and
highway bridge program.
The time has come, he said, to
wipe out all the grade crossings
and Supplant antique bridges with
modern structures. PWA funds
should be made available to the
States with which to carry out
the projects. A first requisite
learned from New York expert
ence, he said, is that laws be
changed to allow the work to be
done with a minimum of "red
tape"