Evening star., 1938-02-17
Effort to Subjugate Author.
ity to Wagner-S -SteagaII Act
Finds No Favor.
IHLDER SEEN ZONE UP"
IN FUND ALLEGATION
President Has Never Approved
Straus Plan on Local Unit,
Reports Hold.
BY NELSON SHEPARD.

Efforts on the part OF Housing
Administrator Nathan Straus to sub.
Jugate the District Alley Dwelling
Authority to the radically different
economic policies Of the Wagner
Steagall Housing Act, it was learned
today from reliable sources, have
found no favor as yet in the eyes Of
President Roosevelt.
The President was said to have
made this clear recently when he or
dered Mr.. Straus to give the A. D. A.
an unobligated 81 900, 900 to continue
its present slum- clearance program in
washington, as soon as Congress
makes funds available. He has not
now and never has given his Official
approval, it was said. to the plan Of
Mr.. Straus to strip the local housing
agency Of its Federal status and in.
dependence.
Inc backstage controversy over this
issue between Mr.. Straus and John
Ihloer. executive director of the A, d.
A., has been going on for weeks. Per-
sons In q position to know said TODAY
II the President is asked to intervene
personally and finally in this dispute
over jurisdiction. the pressure must
come from the United States housing
administrator.
Ihlder Held Zone Up."
AS result OF the Presidents recent
aliocation OF funds to the A. D. A.. Mr..
1nloer Is "one up in the controversy
with the Federal administrator. The
sl,00O000 Is considerably more money
than the A. D. A. has expended in tho
past thre years of its existence. Il
should be sufficient, it was said, to pro-
vide for all future needs for the next
year and half at least.
Friends of the A. D. A. claim that
Mr.. Straus wishes to dictate the policy
OF slum clearance in Washington This
was Indignantly denied by his aides,
Proposed legislation bringing the A. D.
"A. under the borrowing clause" of
the Wagner-Steagall Act, they claimed
would merely put it on the same plane
as other local housing authorities in.
cluded within the act.
The U. S. H. A. is nothing more
or less than a little reconstruction
nnance corporation, created to lend
money to local housing agencies"
tney said, The A. u. A. could work
out its own program without any
interference from the U. S. H. A..
'he same as other local agencies"
Eject on Wagner Steasall Act.
That may be true, adherents of the
"A. d. A. claimed, but the terms of
slum clearance and the Federal sub
sldization Of rents are dictated by the
Wagner-Steagall Act. Why they ask.
should the A. D. A. agree to throw
over proven policy of alley clearance
TO subjugate its own independence to
radically different policy?
From all indications. the A. D. A.
Is In hopeless deadlock with Mr..
Straus over the question of policy and
is perfectly satisfied to let the matter
ride Indefinitely. Provided, of course
1t can lay hands on the 81 600 0oo
fund to which, it was said, no strings
are attached.
Even if Congress is persuaded to
pass legislation authorizing the A, d.
A. to borrow on the same terms as
other local agencies. the A. D. A. can
carry on independently for another
two years. perhaps.
Mr.. Ihlder and Mr.. Straus are as far
apart as the poles in their own ideas
OF slum clearance and rentals.
Rent Subsidization Opinions.
The U. S. H. A. administrator be.
heves, and the Housing Act so declares.
it is impossible to rehouse slum DWELL
els without subsidizing their rents.
Mr.. Straus would rent houses at
charges so low that it is necessary for
the Government to provide a substan.
tial subsidy in order to amortize the
cost of construction.
The A. D. A. believes this puts
the U. S. H. A. in the position OF be.
ing semi-relief agency. The A. D. A.
frankly doesn't want to become in
volved in all the problems this i'm.
plies. 1t Is the business Of the estab-
lished relief agencies, it was claimed.
to increase the earning capacity of re-
housed slum dwellers so that they can
pay a rental sufficiently low to make
rehousing project self-supportina.
Back OF Mr.. Straus' urgent desire to
change the legal status of the local
A. D. A. is an equally strong desire
to establish demonstration slum
clearance project in Washington under
the Wagner-steagall policies.
Such program. he said at q recent
press conference. would be important
in demonstrating to members of Con-
gress how q Nation wide program
could be successfully conducted in local
communities throughout the country.
Barrier in Path.
He could make such q demonstra-
tion in Washington only If he succeeds
In removing Mr.. Ihlder from his path
or at least in forcing the A. d. A. to
come in under the big tent
The A. D. A., on the other hand.
1t was pointed out. by friends, has
already succeeded nsdemonstratin ting on
q small scale q successful policy of
Kidding Washington of most of its
worst inhabited dwellings. Its estab-
lshed rents, fixed low enough to f,ll
all the houses it has either built or
reconditioned. are economically based
on rate that eventually will repay
all costs to the taxpayer
There is more to the policy of rent
subsidy than appears on the surface,
1t was claimed. Under the Wagner
Steagall law, Congress each year must
appropriate an increasing sum to cover
interest and amortization costs on
projects, the Federal subsidy covering
these two items Naturally, as the
Nationwide program increases, the
subsidy cost will increase.