Evening star., 1943-09-04
MIA 10 Start Drive
To Seek War Housinu
In Private Homes

1AS A'oVioilo1 l1ouSlilS AstilCy Will
start campaign to seek additional
living quarters in private homes for
Immigrant war workers at ITO pri-
mary industrial centers, Philip M
Klutznick, assistant administrator
announced today. The Washington
Metropolitan Area will be directly
affected by the program, and local
efforts to find accommodations in
private homes will be continued, it
was said. For many months several
agencies have been doing as much
as possible to find suitable locations
for workers coming to the city.
The present Share Your Home
Campaign will head up to the War
Housing Week." which begins Octo-
Der 8, and will be conducted through
local war housing centers, Mr..
Klutznick said.
Advertising Proposed.
During the current fiscal year, he
explained. large part of the 1,100,-
900 Immigrant workers needed in
the centers must be housed in exist
ing structures. Accommodation
will be sought in private homes and
rental properties for at least 200,000
workers with families. and 100000
single workers. An additional 80 600
accommodations are expected to be
found through conversions of exist
ing buildings to living units.
While this area has a fully or
ganized "home-finding" staff at the
housing center at Fourteenth street
and Pennsylvania avenue NV
augmented by a number of private
assisting groups-it is proposed that
as part of the coming campaign fur
ther efforts be made through public
addresses, radio talks and news
paper advertising here.
Volunteer workers are being re-
cruited to assist the staffs of the
local war housing centers in this
intensified effort. Mr.. Klutznick
said, and the full cooperation of
all civic and community organiza-
tions is being sought.
Promotional materials used in the
campaign will support three
point program:
ID To encourage property own
ers and tenants to open their
homes to war workers and list with
the local war housing center all
vacant or potentially vacant space
available in houses. fats and
apartments which can be utilized
without any expenditure of critical
materials.
(2D To encourage other owners,
whose properties are not now suit
able for additional use, to convert
them into additional living accom-
modatio for war workers-using
either their own funds or conver-
sion loans secured from private
financial institutions.
90 To encourage property owners
who are unable to convert their
properties on their own RESPONSE
bility. to lease their houses and
buildings to the Government and let
the Government do the job.
Critical Materials Saved.
The campaign is being supported
by the War Advertising Council.
which has been cooperating with
the National Housing Agency and
the Office of War Information.
More than 1.50o 900 war workers
already have been taken care of in
existing housing" Mr.. Klutznick
said. This has saved a great guam
tity of critical materials and man.
power. The war housing centers
and home registration Offices
throughout the country-and the
citizens who have operated them
deserve a great deal of credit.
But We still have a tremendous
Job ahead. At the outset there
were vacancies in almost all COM
munities. Today those ordinary
vacancies have disappeared and in
many communities it will mean
some sacrifice to take in war
workers and their families Never
theless, this program is the only an
swer to the war housing problem in
many communities.
The migration of labor to meet
the demands of our war industries
was due to the fact the Nations
vast war production program re-
quired the building of new plants
and the conversion and expansion
of existing factories in hundreds of
communities. scores of which lacked
local labor supply.
This forced huge migration of
labor to places where enough hous-
ing did not exist. Plant production
and expansion still continue. and
so does the migration of lahor- hn.
the shortage of critical war nate
rials makes it impossible to provide
new housing for all the migrating
war workers and their families.
The result is thousands of war
Industry workers are desperately in
need of living quarters. If they are
unable to obtain housing, they will
give up their essential war Jobs.
Thousands more must be recruited.
but they will not go where they are
needed unless assured of proper
housing for their families. War pro-
duction cannot reach full opacity
while this critical condition is
allowed to exist" he added.