Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-06-03

with utter abandon. Every few
the administrative organi-
cation il shuffled from top TO
bottom, so that no one ever may
obtain an authoritative audit OF
costs and results.
One scarcely can count on the
fingers of both hands the number
of new federal agencies launched |
since 1893 10 build low-coSt houses |
and assist home ownership.
Through these the federal gov
eminent in 10 years extended 4
loans of S5,000.000,000, and direct 4
grants totaling another $1,000 \
100000 The net result OF this
S12,000,000,000 pump-prlming en-
terprise, as measured in new
dwellings for the people, is found
in the official figures of the de-
partment of labor.
In the six years, 1933-193S in
elusive, new dwellings built in the
United States, public and private,
averaged 203.833 each year. as
compared with S07 ,666 a year in
.1923-192S, when there were no fed
eral subsidies to housing. THIS
gives a deficiency of 36-mlllion
new dwelling units for the first six
New Deal years. as compared with
the corresponding years OF the
previous decade.
At our rate OF population
growth, we require 100000 new
dwelling units a year TO maintain
the national housing standards set
in the years of free enterprise.
The annual average for the first
six years of the New Deal was
far less than half this minimum
PROJECT ABANDONED
Only once has the story of a
particular housing project been
made available for public scrutiny
II is the story OF Kingstord
Heights, a 755 acre tract of rich
Indiana farm land purchased by
the government from Ia farmers,
covered with 2,974 war houses. 18
miles of streets and u miles OF
sidewalks, stores. school, water
works. sewage system. police and
fire equipment-and then aban-
doned
Details of this demoraliZing
waste and eXtravagance-all in
the name of the war effort-are
found in the Congressional Record,
Nav Il, 1914. The story was
pieced together from official
records and reports of the Ma
tlonal Housing Agency by Rep.
Robert A. Grant of Indiana.
Late in 1871 the army placed a
great shell loading plant in that
region. Then, in January, 1912,
the defense housing co-ordinator
decided new city should be built
nearby 10 house the anticipated
10000 workers at the Kingsbury
Ordnance plant. The community
was called Kingsford Heights.
II cost S13,000,000, and the first
units were ready for occupancy
on March 20, l943.
But only 324 families moved
into the project, leaving $3.50
empty dwellings of one, two, three
and four rooms. The Kingsbury
ordnance workers, as it turned
out. preferred to live in La Porte
and other surrounding towns
UNITS MOVED
The Federal Housing Admins
tration decided to diSmantel the
KingSford houses and move them
70 other federal projects through
out the country. But the 18 miles
of streets and ~ miles of side
walks are still there in the once
rich corn fields of Indiana!
The average cost of moving
these houses to new locations
after they had been ready for &C.
cupancy at Kingsford Heights was
approximately 81 200 each-a very
high salvage price for houses
which originally cost only $4,000
each. So when the New Deal
Homes built in Kingsford at $4,000
finally were occupied in Detroit,
Indianapolis, South Bend, Newton,
Ia, or wherever they cost the
taxpayers $4,000 each.
That's how the money goes
when our eager young world-of-
tomorrow men get their hands on
the u. S. treasury and the gov
ernment's borrowing power.
TOMORROW M andRs