The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-08-16
Politics
 -in- Passing
ny RAYMOND I.F1TzPATEICk

By RAYMOND ,. y.FTTZPATRICK
 one of the best ways of weaken frr an argument is to start arguing nbotit something other than the sub aest in hand. This little platitude IS offered to introduce bit or com nient about our city plumbing m- |epector. James R. Walker, and his relf-stimulated controversy with the sU. s. government.
 Inspector walker, you may recall charged some weeks ago that plumb fnp being installed in the homes at khe defense housing projects on r ,one Hill road and Hamilton avenue sWas below the standards set by the kitv ordinances. In series of pup lic statements that followed, he Claimed that plumbing facilities aC Ahe two sets of defense homes would bring health hazards through their absence of modern sanitation prn- ciples. He even appealed to the board of public works to revoke the licenses of the plumbers at the pro 3ects. despite government claims Fhat the same type of plumbing had been installed in projects in other cities and had been found satisfac- tory. The works board gently Sloe- stepped by setting down a nearing uIa his charges for Sept. 2, when most of the work will be completed, but MT. Walker renewed his pro tests A conference was held this week at the office of Mayor Vincent Ecully, with housing officials insist lng that they had to follow specin- nations from Washington ana Wllh Inspector walker repeating his com plaints.
 So far, so good. There can be only praise for Mir. Walkers de- Termination to carry out the duties
 of his office; no one can criticize his opposition to plumbing install
 lation which he believes to be so
 obsolete as to create health dan
 gers. For his stand he deserves credit which no one can gainSay.
 Certainly he should get nothing but praise for looking out for the interests of the city whose peo- ple pay his salary or for insisting
 that plumbing at the housing nroiects should be kept up to standard.
 Unfortunately for Mir. Walker and his attempt to mold pubic
 opiniOn in what should have been
 an Open-and-shut case, the
 plumbing inspector didn't stop
 there.
 No, instead of stopping when his noint was clearly won, Inspector Walker decided to go afleld into realms that are either politics or so close to what we recognize as poll ttcs that there wasn't any apprec1- nble difference. He truculently 1n- nuired. in another of his voluminous statements to local paper, as to who or what Waterbury agency had asked for a defense housing project here. He claimed that the housing Ahortage here was not as bad as m lb16, implying that construction or the defense housing units was large W a waste of money. Then he went on, finally, to dismiss the housing nroiects, as if with scornful wave nf the hand, as extravagant and un- necessary brainstorms on the part of Ehe New Deal administration at Washington.
 If we are any judge, MT. Walker snnderestimated both public knowl- aElge and public opinion in Water bury. He may have his own feel ,ings about the New Deal; that's purely his business. But when he pooF-poohs any housing shortage he finds hundreds of local fam lilies ready to puncture his wild claims with facts.
 If MT. Walkers claim that the
 housing shortage has been over
 emphasized is true, we can refer
 him right now to several scores of
 families who would be very glad flor him to find them rent. Not
 Unnecessarily a palace, just 8 place
 then can call home, with decent
 surroundings and passable living
 conditions. There isn't one of these
 families that wouldn't say Thur
 ray" for MT. Walkers fight
 against unsanitary plumbing, but
 there isn't one of them that
 doesn't say 'Nertz" when it hears
 any talk about there being suffl-
 cient living accommodations.
 
 Inspector Walker. should meet them sometime when he's thinking of issuing statement that housing facilities in city whose employ ment is double that of several years ago are adequate. He should meet them when they are boring over the pitifully few vacancies listed in the Eant-ad columns: he should meet them when they are tramping from one part of the city to another, hoping against hope to see For Rent" sign; he should meet the fathers of those families when they drive in mornings from Bristol, Themaston, Torrington, and even Hartford. He should meet the fac-
 y worker whose rent has been eAcreased $10 month because the AAdiord knows that if he doesn't nay 1t someone else will. He should meet the factory officials who have Been dozens of badly-needed tool makers and machiniSts pick Up their kits and head for the road when they couldn't find homes here.
 History win prove, we are con-
 Eident, that the greatest single faiI-
 ure of the City of Waterbury these
 past few years was that of pro-
 viding adequate housing for its
 people. A gift horse, in the form
 of a million government dollars,
 was looked at and cOldly turned
 down. The blame can't be pinned
 on any one party; Democrats and
 Republicans joined to turn down
 the proposed FILA project in 1899.
 Do the gentlemen who turned