Evening star., 1937-12-19
BY J. A. O'LEARY,

4iC I1OllSC ldsoC l1lS1lU JdSStu
administrations new housing bill t. .
spur business improvement through
home construction, and Senate lead
ers still hoped to get it through be-
fore the special session ends Wednes-
day or Thursday.
Brushing aside a series Of amend
ments from the Republican side,
House Democratic leaders sent the
housing measure to the Senate, first
by a standing vote of 267 to 80, fol-
lowed by a roll call of 325 to %. One
amendment. offered by Representative
Mott, Republican, of Oregon, designed
to make sure rural property would be
eligible for mortgage insurance, won
approval. Representative Steagall,
Democrat, of Alabama and Senator
Wagner, Democrat, of New York are
co-authors of the measure.
But, with conferees on the farm bill
not scheduled to meet before Christ
mas, and the wage-hour bill shunted
back into a House Committee for
further study, the special session is
likely TO close in few days without
having sent any major legislation to
the White House.
Its five weeks of deliberation have
not been entirely in vain, however,
since efforts probably will be made to
get final action early in January on
measures that pass one or both
branches before adjournment.
House Drives Ahead.
Driving ahead to get one more issue
of its waiting list before the holidays,
the House stayed in session more than
eight hours TO reach a vote on the
housing measure, which liberalizes the
mortgage insurance powers of the Fed
eral Housing Administration in the
hope of attracting more private capital
into the construction field as one
means of breaking the current busi-
ness recession. During House debate,
Republican speakers predicted it would
fall short of accomplishing what its
sponsors expect.
Meanwhile, a Senate banking sub
committee that has been wrestling
with the housing measure in executive
session all week, planned a Sunday
illCCOlklS AL SioCi w AiofS toc tSSSht'
mendations ready for the entire Bank
ing Committee tomorrow morning.
When the Senate assemblies tomor-
row the anti-lynching bill comes back
to the center of the stage under
special order, but if the housing bill
is reported out of committee, it is
understood a proposal will be made
to defer anti-lynching to fixed date
following convening of the regular ses-
sion January 3, in the hope the nous
ing bill can be disposed of in the two
or three days before the special ses-
sion ends. Sponsors of the anti-lynch-
ing measure, it has been indicated,
would agree to this course only If as
sured the bill would regain its pre-
ferred status after the holidays.
May Stay Till Thursday.
While leaders have been aiming P
adjournment Wednesday, Senate Ma
jority Leader Barkley indicated last
night that if it appears likely the
| housing bill could be completed in
one more day, the session might not
end until Thursday.
Although numerous amendments
were offered on the floor, the House
made no important changes in the
housing measure as it came from the
Banking Committee. The major steps
by which it seeks to stimulate business
and employment by encouraging home
ownership are:
Allow the Federal Housing Admin
| istration to insure up to 80 per cent
| of the value of $4,000 homes, max
ing possible 10 per cent down pay
ment and a mortgage debt Of 81, 400.
On homes up to $4,000, F. H. A.
| could insure 80 per cent of the first
| $4,000 of value and 80 per cent of
the remainder. At present, insurance
is limited to 80 per cent, leaving a
20 per cent down payment.
Bring back into operation F. H. A.
insurance of repair and modernization
loans, which expired last April.
Seek to encourage formation Of ma
tional mortgage associations win pri-
vately subscribed capital to help
finance home building developments,
buO WlbA4 duUAiOltty 1Ol tllC xOCIOii-
struction Finance Corp. to invest
| $50, 5000 in such institutions.
Would Cut Interest Rate.
The bill also seeks to reduce the
interest rate to home buyers by COM
putting the cost of the insurance pre-
MUM on the outstanding balances
instead of the original principal IS
| now required. This would make the
interest rate, including insurance pre-
MUM, 5A per cent on 80 per cent
insured loans and 51s per cent on
80 per cent loans.
There are other provisions to en-
courage large projects. ranging from
| $4,000 to S250,000, for multi-fam-
lily units or groups of separate homes.
Insurance for the developer would be
limited to 80 per cent, but as units
were sold the home-buyer could OBJ
tain mortgage insurance up to the
new 90 per cent limit.