davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

duce in the next few years in the
United States:
l. Home mortgage interest
rates will be brought down from
6 and 7 per cent or higher to 4
or AZ per cent.
2. 1t will be possible for the
family which wants to buy a
home to do so by paying down
10 per cent of the purchase
price, and paying the remainder
in small monthly installmentS
over a period of 40 years, or pos
sibly longer, depending on the
location and design of the house
and character of construction.
3. 1t will be possible for the
family which cannot buy home
or does not wish to do so to rent
modern, clean, comfortable
houses or apartmentS-a although
it may take 20 years to work
this out for the millions at the
bottom of the heap-for what
they are paying now for dwell
ings which are just the opposite.
4. More and more there will
be a tendency to get back to the
sort of life millions of Amer
leans knew before the indus
trial revolution brought people
streaming to the cities, with the
family table and family income
supplemented by the product of
a family garden.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Inside Friction

They will be protected further
by publiCly-enforced standards of
construction. And payments will
be stretched over a long enough
period Of years to make the
burden of buying a house even
easier than it l5 now under the
FILA insured-mortgage system.
These are the objeCtiveS of
President Roosevelt and those
who are studying the housing
problem for him.
Except for the Wagner bill,
which the President is expected
to support, the occupant of the
White House is not yet ready to
send his own housing recommen-
dationS to Congress. He is hope
full that a matured. balanced, we'll
rounded plan can be evolved
which will benefit all classes of
Americans, whether renters or
buyers of homes. He sees the
problem and is determined to deal
with it. but there are details yet
to be worked out and there are
frlctlOnS within the official family
to be reconciled before the Ma
tional Government can move for
ward rapidly in carrying out a
comprehensive housing program.
Surveying the whole field and
taking into consideration what has
been done in the United States
and in European countries, and
what Americas housing authori-
ties are working toward here, it
Is possible to predict with reason
ably accuracy the general trend of
developments affecting the ma
tons housing. 1t is already evil
dent, for example, that interest
rates on home mortgages are
headed downward and that this
trend will continue until the idle
investment funds of the country
have found outlets. 1t is clear that
the country is committed to a
lOng-range program of Slum clear
anCe. There are indications that
some Of the cOuntry'S most i'm
portant investors, including such
institutions as the great life-insur.
ance companies, are looking with
increasing favor on loW-rental
housing projects as an unusually
sound form of investment, and
that larger and larger sums will
become available for projects of
this character.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

possible to pay interest on the
mortgage.
1t solved the problem of the
aged, half-heartedly at least, by
the enactment of new laws.
1t fed those who were without
food and found work of sort
for those who were without work
And then it turned to the prob
lem of providing shelter for the
millions who could not obtain
decent dwellings through their
own resources.
Solutions at last are in sight.
The program for achieving them
is crystallizing. Governments
move slowly. Social habits are
not changed overnight. But prog
reSs is being made, and the effort
to house a nation will make faster
headway in the future.
Within a few days Senator Rob
ert F. Wagner of New York will
reintroduce his housing bill. 1t
will not be the same bill which
passed the Senate during the last
session of Congress, only to die
in the House. Its details have
been carefully guarded. But there
are indications that it will be even
broader in scope than its predeces
SOr.
Like the original bill, it will
be aimed principally at the clear
ing of the SlurnS, but it will make
provision also for the building of
garden towns and satellite cities
in areas where they are needed.
And thus will be carried on the
work already begun by private
and public agencies in the low
rental demonstration projects
completed or started during the
last few years.
Meanwhile the further develop
ment of the country'S home
mortgage finance system is being
studied in Washington and else
where by some of the country'S
foremost authorities in this field,
and there is every reason to be-
linVe that before many months
tie home owner, as distinguished
from the loW-income families
which cannot afford a home of
their own, will get better terms
than ever before both in interest
rates and the elimination of fees
and bonuses which have added
SO much to the burden of paying
for home.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Vital to Future

5. Government subsidies for
housing those who cannot house
themselves will be extended un-
til this problem is definitely
solved. and the "other half"
decently sheltered.
1t it too much to ask? Is there
anything unreasonable or unfair
about it? Let's answer those
questions by asking another: Can
it be assumed that American
democracy can survive unless it is
possible for the masses of the
people to live comfortably and de-
Gently?
1t is a bigger problem thon
slum-clearance alone. 1t is big
ger problem than that of provIG
ing a sane, reasonable system of
home finance alone. 1t is a Big
ger problem than protecting the
innocent investor against tne
racketeerS who would sell him a
house which in five years would
be ready for the junk heap, and
take his life savings to pay Tor
the junk. 1t is bigger problem
than simply getting construction
costs down to the point where it
doesn't take a lifetime to pay for
it. The larger problem compre-
hendS all of these. 1t is the prob
lem of making America secure by
making its people secure in the
possession of their homes.
Here is the way the spokesmen
for the American Federation of
Labor look it it, as expressed in a
circular sponsored by it's housing
committee, soliciting support for
the Wagner bill:
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Box Car Sums

The building and loan associa-
tions.
The real estate interests gen
orally.
The National Association Of
Housing Officials.
The National Association of
Manufacturers.
The governors of most of the
states.
The mayors of most of the
larger cities.
The country's religious and so
Cial workers.
Out in Iowa the State has
learned to its shame that it has
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Desert Comes Back

Within a single generation 1t
has seen the last of its tillable
public lands occupied and mil
lions of acres of desert waste con-
verted to the purposes of produc-
tion, only to revert once more to
desert before the fury of affronted
nature. In spite of convulSionS Of
nature and losses resulting from
violent swings Of the economic
pendulum, America has produced
from it's wealth a surplus of most
of the things required by man to
serve his convenience, his comfort
and his tastes. To a greater eX-
tent than any other nation, the
United States has achieved a bal
anced, self sufficient economy,
with industry and agriculture par
ticipating alike in the common
abundance.
But it has not been smooth sail
ing, and the sweep of the storms
and surge of the economic tides
have left a residue of social prob
blemS which did not exist while
the country was younger and grow
ing more rapidly than at present,
with more outlets for its labor.
From condition in which
wealth was widely diffused, the
country has suddenly discovered
that there are 100000 American
families at the bottom of the heap
whose income is under $500 a
year and whose total income is
less than that of $4,000 families at
the top. This is not a rhetorical
exaggeration-one of those wild
statement made sometimes by
writer's and speakers for the sake
OF effect-but the cold, naked, un-
adorned truth, based on census
and income returns.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
PLENTY SMOKE
BUT NO FIRE

Six fire companies responded to
a fire" at Sibley Hospital early
today and promptly laid hose and
made all preparations to check the
blaze when it was discovered that
the fire was nothing more than
excess smoke from an incinerator
recently installed in the nurses
home, which adjoins the main
building.
Among the equipment respond
ing to the blaze under the COM
mand of two chiefs were four
engine companies and two truck
companies.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

a new kind of Slum-"box car
slums." To provide shelter for
people on relief who had been
evicted from their homes the pub
lie authorities some time ago be-
gan to buy Worn-out box cars from
the railroads. These cars, for
merly used for grain and livestock,
are now used to house human be-
ingS. This in a State which in
cludes some of the richest farm
lands in the world. 1t is that sort
of thing which has served to
Startle America-not part of the
country but all of it-into a reali-
zation that something must be
done.
There is something approximate
ing unanimous agreement among
those who have expressed them
selves publicly, speaking for the
foregoing and other groups, that a
broad-gauge, large-scale housing
program would be not only socially
and economically sound, but can
not be avoided if America is to
endure as nation of self-reSpect-
ing, self-governing people. content
to live under the governmental
forms which have brought it to
its present position. AS the family
is the basic unit of society, so the
security of the home becomes the
security of society, and that which
threatens the one threatens the
other. There will be no quarrel
with this viewpoint.
There are so agencies of the
Federal Government which are
struggling with the problem of
making it secure. They are pull
ing and hauling among themselves.
An effort to coordinate and con-
centrate their activities is being
made by the Central Housing
Committee of which Frederic A.
Delano, the Presidents cousin, is
chairman. 1t is making progress
slowly. But the purpose is there,
and the result should manifest
itself before many months.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

In the two short decades which
have elapsed since the book ap-
peared, the United States has die
tated the terms of a world peace,
set new standard of interna-
tional relationships, welded
heterogeneous population into a
new solidarity, and become a bull
wark of democracy in a world
seething with revolt and torn be-
tween the rival systems Of Com
munism and FaScism.
1t has survived the surgery OF
postwar deflation. followed few
years later by its severest and
most prolonged panic. Out of a
maelstrom of currency manipu-
lation and frenzied international
finance it has emerged in the
strongest financial position Of any
nation in the history, with more
than half of the worlds reserves
of monetary gold locked in its sub
terranean vaults.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Army and Navy Union
Dance February y

The first annual ball by the
Army and Navy Union will be held
at the Willard Hotel, February %,
in celebration of George Washing
toms birthday anniversary. Half Of
the proceeds will be turned over
to the Red Cross for flood relief
purposes.
The program of the evening will
include special novelty numbers
and a contest to determine the
best waltzing couple The winning
dance team will receive as prizes
a tuxedo and a formal evening
gown. Members of the Purple Heart
honor organization will be special
guests at the affair.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Problems Multiply

Problems! Problems of exist
enCe. Problems of food and
shelter. Problems of employ
ment. Problems of which Ameri-
ca never dreamed and to which
it had never given thought in
the days of its burgeoning youth
sat dolefully on its doorstep and
refused to go away.
AS in every crisis of the past,
America rolled up its sleeves,
pulled in its belt tighter and went
to work.
1t solved the biggest problem
of the farm by the seemingly in
sane device of destroying crops.
But it worked. Prices bounced
back from lows which meant
bankruptcy to highs which
brought new hope, and made it
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

housing authorities of the country
are in agreement.
And although there are conflicts
of view here and there, as in the
opposition of the real estate inter
eStS to the PWA building program,
it may safely be said that aside
from the American Federation OF
Labor, the following groups ana
organizations are not only sympa-
thetic toward the conception of a
national housing program, but &C
lively and aggressively working
for it, each in its own way:
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
MARSHALL ASKS
BIG STADIUM

Among the plans suggested for
auditoriums and stadia is that of
George Preston Marshall, owner
of the Palace Laundry, president
of the Roosevelt Raceway owner
of the Redskins, professional foot.
ball team, and nationally known
sportsman.
Mr.. Marshall's plan is a combi-
nation stadium and auditorium
with a patented roof of steel and
glass which may be opened or
closed, according to the weather.
1t would be more than 300 feet
long and 500 feet wide and would
cover some 10 acres of land. 1t
would cost $3,000,00O to erect.
Would House Anything
It would be of steel and concrete
construction. 1t could be used
either as a stadium or as an audi
torium. 1t would house anything
from a national convention, or an
Inauguration, to a Legion conven-
tion or Shriner's parade.
AS a stadium it would accom-
modate an Army-and-Navy game,
an olympic meet or BraddocS-
Louis fight. 1t could be used also
for international horse shows, cir
cuses and for either swimming or
skating.
The patents are owned by Mr..
Marshall and Jean de Sibollr.
While Mr.. Marshall has a per.
sonal interest in the proposition,
ne also has great terest e., the
city of Washington, itself, and
wants the city to be sure that,
when it does get stadium o" audi
torium, or both, they will be what
the town really wants and proper
institutions il 1very way for the
Nations Capital.
Mistakes Made
Says Mr.. Marshall:
Great mistakes have been
made in this connection in vari-
Gus places and probably will be
made again.
Every few people really know
anything about large-scale stadia
or auditOriumS.
"WhiIe 1 should like to see my
proposition in Washington, what
1 am really certain of is that
once one of these combination
stadium auditorium institutions
is in operation it will be the type
used everywhere"
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

the Government to apply to
it whatever power is necessary
and appropriate to check the
menace"
AS shown in yesterdays article
of the present series, the purpose
of the States and cities is clear.
From this point on the extent
and the rate of the progress to be
made is in the hands of the Presi-
dent, of Congress, of the States
and municipalities, and of private
agencies which have concerned
themselves with the housing prob
lem. And back of them all is pub
lie opinion. What the people want
they can have. The answer to the
housing problem, finally, is in
their hands.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

pIicated activities have that
simple end in view. Its power
plant for the purpose consists of
the power of taxation, the police
power and the power of eminent
domain.
whenever there arises, in the
State, a condition of affairs hold
ing a substantial menace to the
public health, safety or general
welfare, it becomes the duty Of
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Flag SaIuting Law
Held Constitutional

TRENTON, Feb. 6 G.N.S).
New jerseys law compelling chill
dren in public schools to salute
the American flag had been up
held today by the State Supreme
Court. Mr.. and Mrs. John Herring,
members of a religious sect, Je-
hovah's Witnesses, had claimed
that the law was unconstitutional.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Program Outlined

Beyond this, as a pure predic-
ton. based on factors discussed
from day to day in this series Of
articles, it is a fairly good guess
that in the absence of a Cataclysnl.
these innovations will be intro-
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
No.. '21

NOs Z i 1rhich began in The Washington Times on
1npunru H. An isalnent has appeared in each days ed
ton since that date The rhole touched erery phase
of this important question and has presented for the first
tme comprehensive picture of the condition which eristS
of the remedies already applied Of those vhch are IN the
minds of high officials and of Enropes solution Of similar
problem.
IN pnbishno these articles The Washington Times has
had but ono Purpose reoc To enghten its readers and
stimulate interest in the most rital problems before the
country.
If vou liked the SERIES and fod constructive crte to
the editor of The Times and say We shall be glad to hear
from you.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
By T. A. HUNTLEY

About % wears ago an obscure author published
book in which he outlined the workings of biological law
through which he saw America rising succeeding to
it's oftes pinnacle of power and national unity and achiev
ing along the way something of the glory that was Greece
nd tne that was
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
Ohio Parents Silent

Ohio Parents Silent
COLUMBUS. Ohio, Feb. 6
G.N.SO.-Parents of Ohio'S 49,
year-old flood refugee bride re-
mained in seclusion today, re-
fusing to discuss the marriage of
their daughter, Isabel, to a 81
year-old crippled Adams County
farmer.
The parents, Mr.. and Mrs.
Miner Carter, previously dis
closed, however, that they will
seek annulment of the marriage,
performed in Annapolis, Md,
upon their return to their home
in Portsmouth, Ohio, hard hit
by the flood. They have been
living at the home of relatives
here.
The marriage was disclosed
when the bridegroom, Henry
Monroe, summoned police to the
home of the Carriers relatives be.
cause the parents refused to al
low him to take his child wife
home. He said the ceremony was
performed January 13.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
CHILD BRIDE
AN OUTSIDER
HILLSHEAR

SNEEDvILLE, Tenn, Feb. 6
GN.S0.-NeighborS of Eunice
Winstead Johns today were
aroused by reports that the child
bride of Charlie Johns, %, was not
of the bona fide hill folk"
These reports, unverified, were
that the 9-year-old flaxen-haired
wife is native of Bloomington,
Ill, which is outside" of Tennes-
see hillSmen.
Despite efforts of the Tennessee
legislature to preclude such mar
riages in the future, it was indi-
Gated the union would not be dis
solved. In repeating a marriage
notice clause from the statutes
several years ago the legislators in
advertently left the remaining
marriage provisions without an age
limit.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

recently celebrated their twenty
seventh wedding anniversary.
The Washington times., 1937-02-06

ADVERTISE N ENT
The Washington times., 1937-02-06
HOUSING VITAL PROBLEM
IN FEDERAL PROGRAM

This article conc1udcS the housing series
1rhich began in The Washington Times on
The Washington times., 1937-01-02
New Sea Pact Signed
BY Ita1 y, Britain

mare noStrum" (our sea-, was
signed by Sir Eric Drummond, the
British ambassador, and Count
Galeazzo Ciano in the Chigi
Palace.
The signing was without cere-
mony other than a fervent hand.
shake afterward.
An official statement described
the pact as "a declaration by
which the Italian and British
governments have exchanged re-
ciprocal assurances regarding a
Mediterranean agreement"
The signatories, it Is under
stood, agree not to disturb the
status quo" in the Mediter
ranean, although no specific ratios
of naval or military strength ir
the sea are fixed.
Freedom of the sea lanes Il
guaranteed to Britain and Italy
and Britain is understood tt
pledge unrestricted passage
through the Straits of Gibraltar
and the Suez Canal to Italiar
vessels,
The Washington times., 1937-01-02
EX-K|NG PLANS
HIS MEMOIRS

VIENNA. Jan. 2 GN.s).-The
self-exiled Duke of Windsor began
today to lay the foundation for
what posterity may regard as the
worlds most valuable memoirs.
He has begun to collect news
paper articles concerning his ro'
nance with Mrs. Wallis Warfield
Simpson and his ensuing abdica'
tion, as well as printed copies
and phonograph records OF songs
written in the wake Of the affair.
With regard to newspaper clip
pings, he has expressed prefer
ence for British and American
publications, instructing his new
aide, Commander Lamb, to watch
for all important items particu-
larly bearing on his conflict with
the Church of England.
The Vienna Tageblatt today
credited Lord Scott, British peer,
with the declaration the duke will
visit Kitzbuhel in February.
While there, it was said, he will
meet his brother, the Duke of
Gloucester, who plans a vacation
at San Anton nearby.
The Washington times., 1937-01-02
HELD
IN KIDNAPPING
CONTINUED from Page ~

CONTINUED from Page II
whisked away, and probably will
be released in a few hours.
The search of the woods near
Olympia followed a report that a
man was seen "hustling" a boy
along there Monday night "a hours
after the abduction.
Highway patrolmen found ashes
Of a fire, apparently where the
pair camped Sunday night, and
empty food tins.
Cash Note Found
Also, a detective magazine was
discovered which bore on one page
some written notes in pencil read
ing:
Eight thousand dollars in
tens, twenties and fifties, big
bills for $1O,O00.".
This was somewhat similar to
q demand made in the ransom
note left in the Mattson home by
the kidnaper as he ran out with
the boy, that the money be in GER
tain denominations.
More light was shed on the ran
som note by persons who said they
had seen it. They declared it in-
Structed DR.. Mattson to pay no
attention to letters not printed IN
the same ink as the note. an ink
of a peculiar hue, probably made
by mixing several colorS of ink.
There were also other ways, it
was said, to identify a letter from
the abductor. who signed his ran
som note Tim"
Parents Discouraged
The missing boys parents still
waited, grief stricken. They now
showed encouragement for a con-
tact so they might pay over the
ransom, which is ready and obtain
the little prisoners release.
The want ad in the personal
column of Seattle afternoon
newspaper ran again yesterday for
the fourth consecutive day, de-
signed to tell the desperate the
physician is ready to pay. 1t read:
"Mable-we are ready. Every
thing in accordance with your
deSireS-Ann."
But there was no move by the
kidnaper and fears were grave
that the mystery will never be
solved, or at least that the boy
may never be returned unharmed.
The two men most prominently
mentioned as Intermediates, Paul
H. Seva and 1t. Col. Gus B. Apple
man, declared absolutely no ran
som had been paid, setting at rest
rumors that the money has been
turned over. Appleman declared
"This will be no Lindbergh
case. No money will be paid un-
less that boy is produced alive"
The Washington times., 1937-01-02
PAIN IGNORED
BY MRS. NICE

ANNAPOLIS, Md, Jan. Mrs.
Harry W. Nice, recovering from q
broken bone in her foot, helped her
husband, Governor Nice Of Mary.
land, receive officers Of the Ma
tional Guard at Annapolis at the
annual New Year Day reception
yesterday.
Despite her pain, the first lady
of Maryland shook hands with a
long line of officers, headed by
Major Gen. Milton A. Rockford,
Brig. Gen. Amos w. WoodcocE
and Brig Gen. John Phillip Hill.
The Washington times., 1937-01-02
Shipment
Is Speeded Up

House Foreign Affairs Committee
who will lead the Administration
fight with Senator Pittman CD
of Nevada, chairman Of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee. said
that drastic neutrality legislation
may deal the nation a heavy blow
McReynolds said:
"The President must have dis
cretiOnary power in imposing
embargOes upon shipments of
materials of war as distinguished
from munitions. favor a man.
datOry embargo upon munitions
shipments.
But if we embargo all mate
ials and other nations follow in
writing irOn-clad rules, we might
find it difficult to obtain such
articles as tin, nickel and man.
ganese in protecting ourselves.