Evening star., 1937-09-21
Trio in Race for Position
As Housing 'Spender in Chief
John Ihlder Is Reported
to Haze Backing of
Mrs. Roosevelt.
BY BLAIR BOLLES.

One OF the leading Washington
mysteries of the moment is:
Who Is going to be spender in chief
of the 1926, ,00o, 900 in the new hous-
ing act?
The candidates are three, and each
has his hackers, thus:
Nathan Straus, New York City mil
lionaire, entered in the race by Sena-
tor Wagner of New York, co-author
of the housing act, and Mayor La
Guardia Of New York City.
John Ihlder, Washington housing
expert, executive secretary Of the
Alley Dwelling Authority. Mrs. Roose-
welt is on his side.
Howard Gray, chief of the housing
division Of the Public Works Admin
istration.
Comment of Ickes.
1t is whispered that Gray is sup
ported by Secretary Of the Interior
Ickes, P. w. A. head But when
Ickes was asked yesterday at his
housing conference at the Interior
Department whom he favored for the
job he replied:
Il haven't recommended anybody
yet"
Straus is said to have the inside
track. Senator Wagner went to Hyde
Park, N. Y, yesterday to see PreSi-
dent Roosevelt in Straus' behalf.
Another vigorous Straus man is
Langdon Post, president of the Ma
tional Association Of Housing Authori-
ties, who disagrees wholly with Ickes'
housing ideas, even though he an
nounced at yesterdays meeting:
Il want you TO know the Associa-
ton of Housing Authorities is ready
to cooperate in any way"
Frederic Delano. head of the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission, an Ihlder supporter. also
was at yesterdays meeting. Ihlder
himself WAS on hand, talking TO
delegates. However. Delano is said
to have conceded victory to Straus.
The chief point at issue between
Straus hackers and Gray hackers is
the Wagner-Post view that Ickes and
his followers have too idealistic an
outlook on the housing program.
Post. whom many consider the
country's first expert on housing,
feels slum clearance should be un-
dertaken as business proposition
and should be done quickly.
He did his best to have the United
States Housing Authority set up by
the Wagner housing act made an
independent agency, but Ickes sue
cessfully insisted on having the au-
thority kept in his domain, where
1t could carry on the policies OF the
housing division of the p w. A.
Foley Ickes' Emissary.
1ckes' chief emissary to the Capt.
tol during the fight on whether he
would or would not remain in con-
troll OF housing was Edward H. Foley.
jr.. chief Of the legal division of
p w. A.
One day in the midst of the fight
Senator Wagner walked out of tine
Senate and saw Foley. He greeted
him:
We'll, how is the P. W. AS chef
lobbyist?"
John Ihlder is considered one of
the best slum clearance men in the
United States. For three years he
has had the duty of turning the
Districts 200 inhabited alleys into
parks, Fairgrounds, streets or busi-
ness properties.
Before he was named to his A. D. A.
post in 1894 Ihlder had gathered
voluminous data and designed many
plans on Washingtons alleys in his
position as consultsnt for the Ma
tional Capital Park and Planning
Commission.
Ihlder is Baltimorean. who en-
tered the housing field in 1908 after
eight years as newspaper man. He
has been in Washington since 1920.
Wrote on SIum Clearance.
Straus, young man with so many
millions Of dollars that he has
flnanced two low-cost housing devel-
opments almost alone, is the author
OF several booklets on Slum clearance.
Mayor La Guardia sent him to Eu-
rope In 1885 to study. continental
housing ideas
Gray has been with Ickes since the
housing division was set up in 1898.
Until 1885 he was the assistant of
Col. Horatio B. Hackett, who was the
first P. w. A. housing administrator.
To date the P. w. A. has opened