Evening star., 1937-09-11
MAGAZINE ARTICLE
HITS HOUSING ACT
American Builder Brands 1t
"IndefensibIe Expert
ment in Socialism,"

The Wagner housing act is brand
ed as AN indefensible experiment
in socialism" in the September issue
Of American Builder, widely read
business publication in the building
field
The Wagner housing act passed
et the recent session of Congress
assumes that many persons live in
city slums because they are unable
to pay enough rent to have good
homes" the magazine says. There
fore, it provides for the use bv Gov
eminent of the taxpayers money in
paying large part Of the cost of
providing such persons better homes.
"Slum tenements are to be torn
down and new buildings erected.
Apartments in these new buildings
are to be rented below cost. The
difference between the rentals paid
and the total cost of providing the
buildings will be borne by the tax
payers, and the cost borne by the
taxpayers may be as much as or more
than the rentals paid by the tenants.
The widespread experiment con-
templated in providing some of the
people with homes largely or mainly
at the expense of the rest of the
people raises some important ques-
tlons.
Why are there in this country of
great natural resources people who
are assumed to be unable to provide
themselves with decent homes? Is
it because their incomes are so small
or because it costs so much to build
and maintain housing-or both?
IF 1t is because their incomes are
so small, why not adopt government
and business policies to help increase
their incomes? What policy is better
adapted to increasing all incomes.
including theirs, than that of in
creasine construction and production
the source Of all incomes? What
policy is better adapted to restricting
construction, production and all in
comes than that of reducing hours
of work and restricting the amount of
work each worker may do in an hollrp
Yet our governments that are going
to Use the taxpayers money to help
provide these people with housing
are doing nothing to increase private
construction and reduction and much
TO restrict them.
IF the inability of these people 10
provide themselves with decent homes
is due to high costs of erecting and
owning buildings, to what are high
costs in general mainly due if not to
high costs OF labor in particular?
Labor costs could be reduced without
reducing labor's earnings by reducing
hourly wages and having labor work
more hours per day, week or wear. But
government Is encouraging labor to
demand higher hourly wages and
shorter hours Of work-both tending
TO increase building costs and rentals.
Another natural question is Whv
k 1t assumed in Washington that
minority Of persons should perma-
nently have help in paying their rent
while the great majority should nav
their own rent and help the minority
pay theirs7 If the majority should
permanently help pay the rent of the
minority, why should not the ma
Jority also permanently help buy
Clothing and groceries for the minority?
What have the provident majority
OF the people done besides being
provident, for which they should be
punished by being required to help
provide perhaps better housing for
the minority than many of the provi-
dent majority themselves have?
Another question Why should
farmers and people living in towns
and small cities be taxed to help paw
tbs rent Of the slum populations of
large cities2
Any one aho answers all these
questions to himself honestly will con-
clude that the Wagner housing act
Is one Of the most indefensible expert
ments in socialism ever undertaken in
this country