Imperial Valley press., 1942-02-02
CAPITAL TALKS
by
Peter
Edison

AASHIN(ill)N Fto. IN Sptt
4. all iNe confusion and bickerinl
MLUuz government housing agenc}
chiefs in WasAIngtou, a lot OF de
.~u>" Euu~.u1 las bt2n built BY
Feb ! aa ,.tmatca seventy thouS-
ara family GWa..aa ualtS. thrt.
tnOu>unj uuie.~ or portable
houses. uad single ropn dCrmitOrIt>
Tor r:su, thou~~nj war industry
y Uorkers Will huse been completed
Under construction are 10000
n.ore dwelling units financed By
In, government and 100000 financ-
ed privately. but guaranteed by gov
eminent MORTGAGES. On order are
4 total OF 246 600 government fl
naneed homes and Congress has
isl Appropriated another $500 mil
aun tor Stll. mOle war housing.
Some of this housing may be
of the wrong type, and viewed
bv what the postwar standards
and requirements are to be, a
lot of this housing may be badly
situated. In that connection
some housing authorities point To
an interesting parallel. We are
building, they say lot of tanks.
No one has yet suggested that
those tanks be built SO that they
can be used as tractors to pull
pIoWS after the war is over. To
do so would make them abSO-
lut,ly no good as tanks.
Apply that principle to housing
and what Go YOU get? Should
hou,Ses for war workers at ship
YardS and munitions plants be built
so they can be used as permanent
home after the war IS over? Or
should they be Dullt as mere ade-
c,iate shelter lor the duration OF
t..r emergency?
Should they be government own
Cd or privately owned?
Argumeut and indecision among
federal administrators in Wash
lnLton over what the governments
policy would be on these and Other
fundamental questions have sabo-
tagged the housing program for wal
workers more than strikes, prior
l,ies lack OF money Or SLOW motor
in CONGRESS But out of this con-
fusion has come one idea which
NAV meet some OF the demand:
Tor a housing project which Shal
be adequate for WartimeS and car
.tllI be taken oyer BY private capt
tai after tnC war. This IS what!
known as the Mutual Ownership
Han
OCCUPANTS Buy STOCK"
Two federal housing project
have been completed under thl
- r!utual ownership plan as prac
tical test. Largest is the 500 dWell
inc unit Audubon Village at Audu
bon N. j.. built for the Camdei
snipvard workers. The other
Avion Village OF 800 units at Grant
Prairie. Tex, built for workers Il
ne nlW North American aviation
plant near Dallas. Nine other Mu
tual Ownership projects are unde
! construction or have been assign
ed for construction.
Mutual Ownership is not CO.
operative ownership in the sense
that under the old coop apart
ment organizations the occu-
pants built and managed their
own project. Instead, the govern
ment builds and manages the
property, though private capt
tai might do il just as well.
The occupants buy stock. N
down payments are required.
BIC ADVANTAGE 10 the $1,000 to 50,
550-a-year var worker. The occu
gluts maze monthly payment
equivalent to rent but Which reall
5oyer interest on tie investment
insurance maintenance and re
pairs. vacancy reserve, taxes, al
ministration. contingency rescIV
and amortization. For an averag
four-room unit costing $1,000. tn
monthly payment have been com
puted at S29, a lIttle under tn
realtors rule of thumb i per cen
a month.
LIKE MUTUAL INSURANCE
From the occupants point 0
.lew the beauty OF the plan
that he acquires an eQmtG IN nj
aomp The longer ne lives in tn
unit. the larger his stock interes
hut-and this is mpOrtaut-th
D.ytlcipautS can change from
smaller TO larger units as yacanc
lec occur or as the fam.TS de
mands change. and if an occupan
ie forced 10 move out Of tar com
munIty he can cash in his equity
In an emergency ne could borrow
,aqalnst it. The whole thinI IS
s9Cd bit Ike a mutual lie haur
me yolicy. Each participant own
An undivided interest III TIE whole
md he can surrender or 1Alolt
hat interest.
In the case where the occupant
is paying S29 month, If the
family had to move out OF the
community after living two years
il would get back stock interest
of over Sl2O--a third Of the year
lv rent-providing the dwelling
unit had been well maintained
and another family could move
in Immediately.
From the government point o
yicw the BEAUTY Of II" plan i
that Uncle Sam stands 70 get bacl
about 50 per cent Of ..a iuye men
nth lutcrcst. Tho Irm.ia.ng i
gcr cent could b. occurred WItl
.H.htly l.2hcr payments, or
laarqes we're made for 'rerts
@.,Es and other cXterna! and util.
ls.c, improvements. TIL. 70 PEI
cent j. now CHARGED of a. q dc
trl..c expenditure.
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