Evening star., 1941-03-10

on its program outside inhabited
alleys arose When Miss Mtnnie
KeyeS, ia Seventh street S.W..
refused to surrender possession
OF parcel of land, Ddnted as
site for IolC-inconle houses, on
the contention that it tDnS not
connected NTH an alley and,
therefore. did not come under
the jurisdiction OF the Authority.
The Alley DlUeLltng Authority
argued that this 1GaS necessary
part OF its program.
ConStitutionality Of the amended
Alley Dwelling Authority Act was
sustained today by the United States
Court of Appeals in an opinion that
upholdS the entire scope of the local
slum clearance and low-cost housing
program. An important point in the
opinion validateS the agency'S acts
in going outside inhabitated alleys
in forwarding its housing program.
This is said to be the first time the
validity of the statute has been up
held in the higher courts.
Asserting that slum clearance
alone was not the test, the tribunal
laid down the proposition that the
law empowers the acquisition mot
only of property in squares contain
ing inhabited alleys, but also Of
other property necessary to provide
accommodations for persons de-
prived of homes by the demolition
of alley dwellings,
This was interpreted to mean that
the A. D. A can acquire sites in out
lying districts, as it has done.
Two Tracts Involved.
The case arose when Minnie Keyes,
TIA Seventh street SW., declined TO
surrender possession of her land
when the Alley Dwelling Authority
sought to secure it for the construc-
ton of dwellings for families and
persons of low income. The de-
velopment is known as the CAROLS
burg Dwelling Project, a low-rent
housing expansion for colored, be-
tween Third and Fifth, I and l.
streets Sc. and Miss Keyes' two
parcels involved are located within
this area.
Oflcials recalled that one of Miss
Keyes' tenants died several years ago
and on the back of matchbox
wrote: Minnie Keyes, you have
been good to me. All I have is
yours" and left her a large number
of parcels of land, including the two
involved in this case.
When the Attorney General
started condemnation proceedings,
she objected, contending that the
property could not be taken under
the District of Columbia Alley
Dwelling Act because it was neither
in a square containing an inhabited
alley nor necessary to provide ac-
commodations for persons deprived
of homes by the demolition of alley
dwellings because there was no
showing either that the property was
insanitary or unsafe. or that the
project included the demolition OF a
number of unsafe or insanitary
dwellings substantially equal to the
dwellings to be constructed; the
legislative declaration on the un-
healthfulneSs of alley dwellings was
based on a mistake or on facts which
no longer existed and the act was
unconstitutional in that 1t author
ICES the condemnation of private
property for other than public uses"
Answering the contention as to
the acts constitutionality, Chief
Justice D. Lawrence Groner, who
wrote the opinion. after considering
the case with Associate Justices
Justin Miller and Fred M Vinson,
said that in the District Of Colum-
bia, Congress has "plenary legisla-
tive power-all the power that q
State has within the territory of the
State and more and there
can be no doubt that a State Legis-
lature may validly provide for low
rent housing projects and authorize
the condemnation of land for that
purpose.
Kentucky Case Cited.
Miss KeyeS had relied on Circuit
Court of Appeals decision that held
that the Federal Government had
no power to condemn lands in Ken
lucky for the construction Of low
rent housing.
Representing the Government in
the case was Alexander H. Bell, jr,
principal attorney in the Lands Di-
vision of the Justice Department.
In its five-page opinion today, the
Court of Appeals said that the al
ley dwelling statute vested in the
Authority power to condemn sites
for low-cost housing projects in ad-
dition to and wholly independent of
the provisions of title l of the act
to provide facilities to persons whose
alley dwellings have been demol-
iShed"
The court asserted that the pro-
visions of the National Housing Act
declare the policy of the United
States to be to promote the general
welfare by employing Government
money to remedy the acute shortage
of decent, safe and sanitary dwell
ings for families of low income in
rural and urban communities in
furious to the health, safety and
morals of the Nation.
Under the Alley Dwelling Act, said
the court. there is no requirement,
as Miss Keyes contended, that the
property to be acquired must itself
be unsafe or insanitary, or that 1t
can only be acquired in connection
with a project that includes the
demolition of unsafe or insanitary
dwellings. The tribunal asserted
that the two parts of the act are re-
lated and that the elimination Of
slumS. in the interest of public
(see ALLEY DWELLINGS, Pg. A-4)