Evening star., 1939-03-21

DISCUSSES SLUM CLEARAl
Nathan Straus of the United
spoke last night In the Nation
When the Housing Act became law
in the fall of 1887 there were many
doubters. People said its provisions
were unwOrkable, its strict limita-
tionS on costs impossible of achieve
ment. But the fine thing about the
housing program is that it is bene-
fitting even those who had doubts as
to its success.
I am reminded of the story told
me on my recent trip South by a
woman whose cook had arrived
! wearing new and striking charm
about her neck. The cook explained
that this charm would prevent ILL.,
ness and keep off the evil eye. Wher
my friend asked her, You don't
really believe that charm will pro-
tect you from sickness. do you?" the
girl replied: "Shucks. no! I dont
believe any such thing That's the
wonderful part about this charm
Doesn't make any difference if you
/ believe in it or mott works just
the same"
And so the public housing pro-
gram today is benefiting people ir
hundreds of cities, including many
| people who did not believe in it.
Answer Is Simple.
I am often asked: Why have We
slums. and why is there housing
problem?" The answer is simple
Not enough new homes are now
being built. and those that are built
are rented or sold at prices fal
above the means of most of the
people. In 1925 nearly one million
new homes were built. That is about
our minimum annual requirement
in new housing But from then on
new construction declined steadily
until 1884 Since that year there
has been a gradual increase: but
despite that fact. less than 36000C
new homes were built in the entire
Nation last year.
What is even more important, foul
out of five of the new homes built in
/ the last 10 years in the cities. and
towns of this country were bull,
to rent for more than $40 a month
or to sell at price which conSti-
tuteS an equivalent rental. Four out
of five families in this country can.
~ q ~ n q O a
month. Thus, four out of five new
homes built are within the reach
of only one family out of five. Thai
is the housing problem in nut
shell.
You can look at the figures an.
other way. If you divide all of the
families living in the cities and
towns of this country into three
equal groups. one group, that is one
third of the whole, are those families
with incomes of less than $1,000 a
year. One third of the families
have incomes of from 81 900 to $1.75C
a year One third of the families
have incomes of more than Sl.750 q
year. Practically all home building
in this country-Whether intended
for sale or rent-has been within
the means only of that top one-third
OF the population.
Result Is StagnatiOn.
What is the result? 1t is: Idle
ness in the building trades. stagna-
ton in all of the industries that
make products which 60 into build
ing construction; slums in our cities
and delinquency, crime and disease
centering in the slums and imposing
increasing burdens on the tax
payers for reformatories, jails
clinics and hospitals.
All this had been known for a
great many years. For at least Sc
years we had been talking OF the
evils of the Slums, but the first
cropping efforts to do anything about
it were not commenced until 1888
and then only as part OF a relief
and recovery program. The rehous-
ing of families from the slumS was
then attacked as a minor part OF
the problem of providing work for
the unemployed. AS a result, a few
experimental projects were built
on which costs were relatively high.
That fact has been used repeatedly
and is still being used in a few
quarters today-to discredit all pub
lie housing. The argument has
about the same value as quoting the
costs of the first automobile built in
1900 to attack the efficiency of the
automobile industry today.
Homes for 10000 Families.
The United States Housing Act
enacted by the Congress in 1887
established slum clearance and re-
housing on a permanent and more
economical basis.
Today, 18 months later, $3.50, 900, :
600 has been set aside by the United
States Housing Authority for slum
clearance and rehousing projects in
155 cities. These projects, when
completed this year and next, will
provide decent homes for more than
10000 families with incomes rang
ing from an average of about $l,1O0
a year in a few of the larger North
ern cities down to an average of $500
in some of the Southern towns. The
great majority of families in hous-
ing projects erected under the U. s.
H. A. program will have incomes of
from 5000 to $500. A considerable
number of families will be from the
relief rolls.
The mechanics of the United
States Housing Act are very simple.
A local housing authority is created
by resolution of a City Council,
under the provisions of State law.
The Mayor appoints the local hous-
ing authority, consisting usually of
five members. (There are today in
the United States 230 local housing
authorities in 81 States, most of
them created within the last year.)
The local housing authority pro-
ceeds to s%ey its housing needs.