Evening star., 1937-08-22

buys an ordinary Washington DWELL
ing house from private contractor
at anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000.
Supposing that house is still stand
ing at the end OF three generations.
what cost does it actually represent?
Upkeep Is Tremendous.
Statistics show. Mr.. Richards says.
that it is not $1,000 or $4,000, but
s2l 900 or $4,000. That is it actually
has been rebuilt, piece by piece, at
least twice in that time Thus, he
calculates. a $4,000 house at Green
belt would have represented an actual
building cost OF close to $4,000 at
the end OF the 6O-year period. where
as with the type of houses set up it
will be restricted rather closely to the
original construction charges.
To good many Washington house
owners this argument will have con-
siderable support from bitter ex-
perience. It's something that real
estate salesmen forget TO mention
Sometimes it seems that the rebuild
ing pace is little faster than twice
in so years.
The validity OF this novel argu-
ment depends, OF course, on the facts
Are the houses at Greenbelt more
substantially constructed OF better
materials than the average house?
This is question which only engineers
could answer after careful study
From the outside and in their raw
state they actually look flimsy. This
look disappears from those upon
which the finishing touches have been
placed. Once inside there is feel
ing" of substantially about one Of
them. This is augmented By COM
parison with the feeling" OF one
Of the pre-fabricated houses set up
experimentally at Greenbelt Out
side, it looks substantial enough. In
side, there is an inescapable sensa-
ton Of flimsiness.
Actual Cost $500.
The actual cost of building one OF
the brick or cinder block houses at
Greenbelt has been not $4,000, but
$500, But at the end OF so years,
Mr.. Richards maintains, 1t still will
represent construction cost Of little
more than $1,000, instead of the ap-
proximately s21 1000 which such 4
building would normally represent.
This novel argument is presented for
what it is worth.
Whv ca knn },etaoL oF onno M
terials were contracted for at fixed
prices. The labor proved about as ef-
ncient as 1t was expected to prove
which was pretty bad q lot Of the
time. The great difhculty, it Is al
legged. has been the delay in obtaining
materials. Lowest bids, sometimes
made in desperation by hard-pressed
nrms, were accepted, and when the
time came some Of these were unable
to deliver at all. Business revived
There was rush of orders from pri-
vate contractors at better prices. The
Government orders were set aside It
was an election year. Dealers banked
on the reluctance of the Government
to sue for deliveries or their ability
to make favorable settlements If suits
actually were brought.
AS = result, week after week VA
wasted, with labor standing around
idle. Plans had to be changed, or were
changed, 10 that q lot of effort went
for nothing. But in spite of 1t all, re.
settlement ofncials claim, the original
project as laid down by DR.. Rexford
G. Tugwell was 50 sound that it still
remains sound, even with almost every
thing going wrong that could 60 wrong
This claim may, or may not, be based
on rationalizations. Perhaps only time
will tell.
Whole World Invited In.
Perhaps, in justice to the Resettle.
ment Administration, 4 good deal Of
the criticism heaped on their head.
would have been averted If they hadn't
been 10 frank about 1t and invited the
whole world to drop In on 0reenbelt
and see what they were doing. It re.
quires 4 stretch Of the Imagination tt
look beyond red clay, piles Of brick,
and cement bags, steam shovels anc
puddle-filled cellar holes to the lawns
groves. Fairgrounds and house rows Of
dream city" Even yet the canva,
is daubed. The appearance of Green.
belt Is deceptive
In the completed section OF Green
belt, as Mr.. Richards was discoursina
on the advantages Of this feature
and that, the present writer had on
OF those vague, indehnable feelinsl
Of having been there before. Not
until few hours later was thers 4