The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1937-10-28
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY

By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
ONE of Prof. Rexford Guy
~ Tugwell's principal ITO
pias is now open for business,
and some say it's good and
some say it's bad. At any rate,
the first families have moved
into Greenbelt, Md, model
town" of the resettlement adj
ministration formerly headed
by Tugwell, and perhaps we
shall one day see just how eff
fective the cooperative, slun-
less community can be.
A year ago this time Greenbelt
was the target of much criticism
concerning high costs, waste and
venture of the federal government
into "collectivism," Communism, {"
and other horrible social and eco
nomic isms which, during the heat
ed days of the last presidential cam
paign, were grouped under one gen.
eral head-"Tugwellism." Friends
of the project usually had defenses
for these charges; what you believe
is probably greatly influenced by the
trend of your politics. The impor-
tant thing today is that the expert
ment is definitely under way, and is
soon to be followed by counterparts
in other sections of the nation
Greenbelt, with its 835 housing
units, rests on crescent-shaped
plateau, IL miles outside Washing
ton, D. c. Standing sentinel over
the town is belt of green trees
from which it gets its name. Mir
roring it is an artificial lake of some
Is acres.
Here 1856 families, hand-picked to
give the project the greatest chance
of success, will find homes at rents
varying from $18 to SAL a month.
Their local government will be run
by an ultra-modern city manager,
under the first city manager char
ter to be granted by the state of
Maryland. All the community
business will be directed and con-
Quoted by a Rochdale cooperative,
which was sponsored by the late Ed
ward A. Filene, Boston merchant.
Settlers who buy shares in the "con-
sumner distribution corporation" will
receive rebates at all the stores in
the community.
Inhabitants Carefully Selected.
1t is not easy for a family to be
admitted to life in Greenbelt. The
resettlement administration has talk
en- every precaution in selecting the
tenants and, purportedly, political
pull doesn't mean thing. First,
all persons with incomes of 81, 1000
to $1,000, who were interested, were
asked to register with RA, giving
name, residence, income and other
information; hundreds were dropped
Immediately on the basis of this
preliminary data. Those whose ap-
plications survived were asked for
more detailed information about
themselves, and this was checked
by officials. The candidates were
/ tiICll NlSltCo LII IliCll ilOlIlGS, tll6lT
character and credit ratings investi-
gated and their references verified.
The final selections were made on
the basis of a summary of all these
findings. If Greenbelt is to succeed,
the durability of it's buildings must
be matched by the integrity and sin
cerity of its inhabitants.
These tenants will be living in
the most completely planned COM
munity in America. Where they may
have lived in city slums, with poor
environment for their children, they
are now set down in the rolling
green hills of Maryland, where fresh
air is plentiful, where there is a
good school, where their budgets
will allow them to live as well as
their much weather. city neighbors.
Greenbelt's citizens can go to and
from work in the city, if they like,
by bus. At home in the evening
after the days labors they can put
ter around in garden. They will