Evening star., 1938-01-23
BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.

Washington soon will witness a wild
scramble among thousands of pro-
spective tenants at Langston Terrace
to take advantage of rents which the
Government assures will be the lowest
for any Federal housing in the coun-
try.
Langston Is the $l,855 900 subdi-
vision built by P. w. A. at Benning
road and Twenty-first street NE and
which the United States Housing Au-
thority now has taken over to sabsi-
die for limited number of colored
persons whose incomes are scratch
above those Of families on public re-
lief. After three years of planning
and setbacks. Langston Is scheduled
for occupancy about April IS.
In few weeks the Government will
reach ow benevolent hand and select
from the thousands in this underpriv-
ileged class q group Of 274 families rs
the chosen ones to share the benefits
Of a planned Utopia which overlooks
broad sweep Of the Anacostia River.
To those fortunate few will be pro-
vided the decencies and utilitarian
comforts Of modern housing denied
them without the proffer Of govern
mental assistance
No wonder then that this promised
bonanza has stirred sharp competition
among the colored lower-income
groups, who see no other opportunity
of relief from subnormal housing and
overcrowding In the slums and poorer
sections of the city.
Files Already Bursting.
Already the files of the Housing
Authority are bulging with the appli-
cations of more than. 2.700 pros
pective tenants. Twice or thrice that
many more are expected when an an
nouncement is made of the low
scaled rental charges that remain to
be fixed for apartments and one-fam-
lily houses at Langston.
Administrator Nathan Straus has
assumed an obligation to rehouse slum
dwellers and those in the low income
groups who cannot afford to rent
decent homes That is an obligation
imposed by Congress.
Through process of subsidies, he
Is planning to reduce rents, or amor
tization charges, at all of the 81 hous-
ing projects formerly undertaken by
the P. w. A. to the lowest possible
point within the reach of this class OF
tenants. Recently at Indianapolis
the original schedule was reduced
$2.10 per room, providing an average
rent OF $3.50 per room per month.
including heat, electricity and gas, or
$4.43 per room without utilities.
Other comparable rents that might
serve as gauges for charges to be fixed
at Langston are $6.87 per room at
Atlanta, 1882 in New York's Harlem
homes and a $6.18 average for two
projects at Louisville, KY.
Central Heating Plant.
From statements at the Housing
Authority the rents at Langston will
be fixed at a lower level than any
Of these, with payments including
heat furnished by central heating
plant, and electricity for lighting,
cooking and refrigeration. At such
rates private enterprise cannot even
hope to compete.
The Government doesn't expect to
get out of Langston Terrace over an
period of not to exceed
go years all that it puts into it. Before
that period has expired the units at
Langston will be renovated time and
again and some of them possibly re-
built. The families that occupy these
homes need not be. concerned with
present or future expenditures so long
as they keep up their rent payments.
With respect to the latter, however,
Uncle Sam is going to start out, at
least, as an exacting landlord.
How then are these 274 families to
be selected and what are the neces-
sary qualifications of financial re-
sponsibility, conditions of present liv-
ing and citizenship to make them
eligible as tenants?
Franklin Thorne, newly named
manager Of Langston, has
laid down the standards. They are
not too exacting, but the process of
wedding the chaf from the wheat,
with the resultant disappointments
to hundreds who must be passed over,
no doubt will prove q heart-rending
task.
Manager Native Of d. C.
The new manager Is native Of the
District, . graduate Of New York Uni
versity and Hampton Institution and
schooled also at Howard University.
BY training he Is well fitted for the
Job. AS assistant management super
visor In the old Housing Division Of
the w. p. A., he took part in the
initial management Of projects for
Naeroas IN Atlanta. Atlantic City and