Evening star., 1937-08-07
BY ]. A. O'LEARY.


ing bill is on its way to the House
today, where the Banking and Cur
rency Committee still has the subject
under consideration 1t may not be
ready for House action before the end
OF next week.
Almost Immediately opposition be-
gan to show itself in the House to
some OF the jor Senate alterations,
particularly the Byrd limit-of cost
amendment Representatives Nc
Keough of Illinois and McGranery of
Pennsylvania announced they would
urge an increase in the limit of cost
from Senator Byrd's figure Of $1,000
to At least $500 per room.
In other quarters on the House side
there were signs of controversy over
placing the Housing Authority in the
Interior Department., and requiring
local housing agencies to put up per
cent of the amounts sought from the
Federal Government as loans and
grants
The House Banking Committee COM
pieted hearings on the subject as the
Senate was passing the bill
When it passed the Senate yester-
day afternoon, 64 to Is, it bore the
following changes from the form in
which it had come from the Educa-
ton and Labor Committee two weeks
ago:
i. General supervision of the pro-
gram given to Secretary of Interior
Ickes, instead of making the proposed
United States Housing Authority an
independent agency.
2. Cost Of projects limited to 81 900
per room, or $4,000 per unit. one of
the major restrictions the Senate i'm
posed.
Elimination Guarantee Provided.
3. A requirement that State and
city housing officials, in obtaining
Federal loans for new houses, agree
to eliminate substantially the same
number of slum properties, the pur-
pose being to insure elimination of
Slums.
4. A requirement that the States or
cities agree to put up per cent of
the Federal loans for construction of
the houses. and per cent of the
rent subsidies to be furnished by the
Government over a period of from
20 to 60 years after the houses are
built.
S Elimination of the section under
which the Federal agency was au-
thorized to initiate Government dem
onsuation projects
g. Adoption of compromise audit
Ing plan under which the existing
general accounting system will apply
to the administrative expenses of the
new agency, but would exempt the
loan and grant contracts from pre-
audit. The Controller General could
make post-audit and report to Con-
gress.
Public Status Required.
T. Elimination of the provision for
loans to limited dividend organiza-
tlons, thereby conflning the projects
10 those sponsored by public housing
agencies of States and other political
subdivisions
The term "State" is described as
including the District of Columbia
which is expected to make the Alley
Dwelling Authority eligible to seek
the assistance of the new agency in
carrying on its local slum- clearance
work. A Photographic display of what
already has been accomplished in
washington by the Alley Dwelling
Authority was exhibited on the walls
OF the Senate chamber during the
week, as an illustration of what may
Be done throughout the country on
the pending program.
The Housing Authority would con-
xist OF board composed of an ad-
ministrator and two directors. Dur
ing the next three years, the Author
Hy would be authorized to make $780,
600 900 worth of loans, the loan money
10 be obtained by sale to the public
~ bonds guaranteed by the Federal
Government. The loaning power Is
limited to 5000 100000 for the first
year. and $3.50 900 900 for each of the
succeeding years.
S26,0000,000 Provided.
For grants and administrative ex-
penses, the bill authorizes an appro-
priation Of $26,000000 to cover the
frst three years Thereafter, the an
nual obligation for grants or annual
contributions to insure maintenance
Of low rentals would be $4,000 900
year II the entire s700,0OO,O0O worth
Of projects are built.
Senators Wagner of New York,
Walsh OF Massachusetts and La Fol-
latte OF Wisconsin took leading
part IN steering the bill through the
Senate. They sought vainly to keep
the authority as an independent agen-
cy and also tried yesterday to obtain
more liberal limit on the unit cost
of the projects. Senator Byrd, Dem
oc1al OF Virginia held firmly, how
ever, 70 his contention that $4,000,
exclusive Of the cost of land and
clearing the site, is an ample allow
ance for each family unit in slum-
clearance work. Byrd succeeded in
having the move. to reconsider his
limitation laid on the table, a to 80.
It probably will take the House
committee several days to consider the
bill in executive session before 1t is
ready to come up on the House floor.
Project Called Failure.
81. LOUIS. August tHD.-ManaRer
J. A. Wolf of the $4,000 Neighbor-
hoods Gardens slum clearance project
here today labeled the work q failure
and asserted, There is no such thing
In the United States as low-cost hous-
ing or low-rent housing"
He made the statement in a letter
to the st. Louis Housing Association,
headed by Mayor Bernard F. Dick
mann, after he announced rents would
be increased
1T is apparent that enterprises like
Nedghborhood Gardens cannot be car
rted on unless there is Federal sub
sidy." Wolf wrote. A Federal subsidy,
he eontended, was necessary because
lov-income groups could not afford
rents required by private capital The
Wagner housing bill provides such a
oaske