The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-08-29

uOSCu Wy Vic 1l1oG IL AIOA1UAAo "a
this war the Englishman's house in
wartime seems fairly secure place.
Official totals are lacking. but
accounts of various raids published
in the press make it seem very
doubtful whether the German
bombers have thus far destroyed
more than 100 private houses in the
United Kingdom. And that figure
includes houses described as ser
iously damaged"
AS there are about '10,500,000
houses in the country, the coming
blitzkreig, it is felt will have to be
one of almost inconceivable vio-
lence, persistence, and success. if it
it to make many communities
completely homeless. 1t is worth
noticing in this connection that
the town of st. Michel in Finland,
which, as the seat of the Finnish
high command, was subjected to
strong bombing over several weeks,
lost only 80 houses out of 1000.
This was about 2 per cent. And
they were all made of timber, not
brick, as in Britain.
Rotterdam Hard Hit
On the other hand, the German
bombing of Rotterdam, which en-
countered little or no resistance,
would appear to have destroyed a
larger percentage of the houses in
its path. And it is against that
sort of bombing that Britain is
mentally and physically preparing.
In any case. to the 100000
families occupying Britain's 49,
100000 houses, each and every air
raid poses serious financial prob
lem which the government, for
the sake of the. national morale,
has sought to solve by a number
of interlocking measures. These
may be illustrated as follows:
If a 500-pound bomb, dropping
in village street, demolishes two
houses, damages the roofs of three
others and breaks the windows in
say, 20 others, local authorities
have their arrangements made for
dealing with each type of case.
Two families are made homeless
for the duration of the war, for
unless the community is actually
engaged in war work vital to the
nation, no labor or material can
be spared for building new houses.
Three families are temporarily
homeless, for their houses are more
or less uninhabitable until the
roofs have been repaired and the
safety of the walls and floors estab-
ished. Twenty families are faced
with repair bills for broken win
doWS.
Subsistence Is Provided
If the five families driven from
their homes can find homes with
/ relatives or neighborS, they are
expected to do so and to make
their own financial arrangements.
If they cannot khen the local au-
thorities have power to billet them
in other houses the owners of
which will receive vouchers which
they can cash at the local post
Office. For each adult which they
take in, they will receive about 81
week, and for each child accom-
panied by an adult, 60 cents. This
covers lodging only. For an unac-
companied child who is both
housed and fed and cared for, the
owner will receive up to So, de-
pending on the age. These billeted
people must look to the Public As
sistance Board for an allowance
sufficient to cover food and cloth
ing.
OF the two houses totally de-
stroyed, perhaps one was owned
outright, free of any mortgage, by
the occupant. He must fill out a
long QUESTIONABLE, with local au-
thorities covering the cost of the
house, its age, and his best esti-
mate of its value as of March, 1899.
This date is important. The owner
will not get penny until the war
is over. Then, If the damage over
the country is not excessive and
the governments finance in fairly
good shape. the most he can get Is
100 per cent Of the official esti-
mate Of its value in March, 1899.
His private estimate viii not
necessarily be accepted. But even
If he gets 100 per cent Of its
March, 1899, value, can he rebuild
the house with building materials
at their postwar level? This seems
improbable unless he gets a SUBJ
stantial subsidy from the govern
ment. In short. when the war rs
over. Britain will have a housing
problem Of considerable magni-
tude. including the reconstruction
OF destroyed houses and the con-
struction OF new houses 10 over.
take the current arrars.