Evening star., 1940-11-14
Realtors Tackle Issues
Of Defense HOUSING
And Equitable Taxes
More Than so District
Real Estote Men Attend
Session in Philadelphia
BY JAMES Y. NEWTON,
Star Staff Correspondent.

BY JAMES Y. NEWTON,
Star Staff Correspondent.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 14.-Three
important issues-providing ade-
quate housing for defense workers,
maintaining the flow of peacetime
goods while the Nation is being
brought to wartime strength and the
fight 10 lower real estate taxes to
a more equitable position in the
national tax structure-occupied
delegates today at the biggest con-
vention of the National Association
of Real Estate Boards since 1925.
More than go Washington real
tors were attending the convention
and many of them were serving as
leaders in meetings of the many
specialized groups of real estate
men affiliated with the national as
ISOLATION Waverly Taylor, preSi-
dent of the Washington Real Estate
Board, is chairman of a committee
seeking better representation for
home builders in the national real
estate picture.
Fairer Realty Taxes Seen.
Hugh Potter OF Houston, past
president of the association, pre-
dicted IAN era of the highest taxa
ton our people have ever endured" !"
but said real estate would enjoy
a relative advantage"
while the total national tax bur-
den is inevitably going up, there are
emerging several influences which,
it is believed, will cause these in
creases in taxation to settle more
heavily proportionately on forms of
wealth other than realty than they
will on real estate itself, thus in
creasing the relative desirability of
real property as an investment"
Discussing the defense program,
he said that certain signs already
served as warning that we are
heading into rapidly increasing
costs, and some of these advances
are much too abrupt for the good
of the construction industry"
U. S. H. A. Abolition Suggested.
Yesterday the delegates heard
the introduction of resolution
calling for abolition of the United
States Housing Authority. Arthur
W. Binns of Philadelphia, well
known in Washington. made the
proposal that private industry as
sumo the responsibility of housing
low-income groups. He declared
that the Government should stay
out of the housing field except in
an indirect way, as the F. H A.
is doing. Presented as strictly the
American way" of handling the
low-cost housing problem, Mr..
Binns said that private builders
could take care of low-income
groups by rebuilding the decayed
areas Of the country's cities. He
suggested as substitute for the
U. S. H. A. remodeled Govern
ment agency which would supervise
and assist private redeve1opment
companies to create low-rent hous-
ing.
The Government should exercise
its powers of land assembly and
after ASSEMBLING blighted areas
convey the assembled land TO pri-
vate redevelopment companies and
take in return preferred stock in
the company, the primary financ-
ing to be supplied by ordinary pri-
vate channels, Mr.. Binns said.
Defense Housing Needs Cited.
Charles F. Palmer of Washing
ton, housing co-ordinator for the
National Defense Advisory Commits
sion, declared that housing for de-
fense workers is mainly a job for
private enterprise. He said the Ma
ton will need about 100000 900
worth of dwelling construction in
connection with defense. There are
$500 900 900 of public money to use
where necessary, and it will not be
used anywhere that private enter
prise can do the work Therefore,
he said, private builders have the
immediate job of supplying half
billion dollars worth of defense
housing. He said the Government
will not countenance a shortage Of
housing in key war industrial areas
such as existed in World War days.
Declaring that 35 per cent of house
rentals and % per cent of business
property rentals go for taxes, Myers
Y. Cooper, former Governor of Ohio
and president of the National Con-
ference of Real Estate Taxpayers,
said there would have to be sharp
downward revision of taxation on
real property.
Earning Bases Proposed.
In this connection, President
Roosevelt, in a letter to the con-
vention, indicated that he feels the
question of real property taxes would
properly come within the scope of a
national tax study such as has been
proposed by Secretary Morgenthau
and the organization which Mr..
Cooper heads, an affiliate of the
national real estate organization.
The national association feels that
taxes on real property should be
based on earning power of the prop
erty rather than on arbitrary assess
ment.
The committee, headed by Mr..
Taylor, president of the Washington
board, has as its problem a better
representation of operative builders