Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1944-07-14

lic Housing Conference, held
in st Louis, Mo-, March rs,
1914.
Politics has been aptly de-
fined as the science of How,
Who Gets What, and Why.
In our Democracy, all great
social issues are resolved in
the arena of politics: The
pressing problem of Housing
has been drawn into this
arena, ana is now becoming
one of the chief political issues
of the day.
If we have any doubt about
this we need only consider the
barrage of controversial pub
lie statements in the press,
the partisan testimony being
offered before important con-
gressional committees, and
the biased and irresponsible
mouthings of the nations
latest radio star, the present
day Baron Munchausen, Mr..
Fulton Lewis, Jr.
Governor Bricker of Ohio,
taking an uncomprom1Slng
stand against government par
ticipation in Housing, and as
serting that all housing is the
business of private enter
prise.
Waving the flag of private
enterprise, they (private en-
terprise) prepare for a post
war repetition of former
boom-time practices. They
noisily oppose the building of
Public Housing for a large
group of people they have
never been able to build for
and have no serious intentions
of building for in the postwar
period
Climbing on the slum clear
ance bandWagon, they (pri-
vate interests) are trying to
hoodwink the public into buy
ing city Slum areas at a high
price and turning such areas
over to them at a fraction of
such cost to the public.
While on the surface these
tactics are directed against
postwar housing programs, &C
tually they are part and parcel
of the present reactionary at
tempts to embarraSs the Ad-
ministration, regardless of the
war, in order to defeat the
Administrator in the coming
election.
do not forsee such i'm
provement in economic con-
ditions after the war to cause
me to believe that all family
incomes will permit the pur-
chase or rental of decent pri-
vate homes supplied at a
profit. The lowest income
groups will still need to rely
on publicly subsidized rentals,
and an even larger group will
not be able to pay more than
an economic rent, which is a
rent without profit. 1t is for
these groups that public hous-
ing programs must be created,
and no amount o. promises
or claims by private builders
should be allowed to lull us
into the false hope that pri-
vate enterprise alone could,
or should, build for these
groups.
The only reason l have per-
haps labored the point of pub
lie responsibility for low-rent
housing, is that it is on this
point that the current political
attacks are levelled.
This policy of meeting our
war need through temporary
public construction, should be
continued until such time as
labor and materials are avail
able in such quantity that a
sound permanent building
program can be launched.
Our cities and towns must
be rebuilt from a community
interest point of Jew. Our
urban areas must be made
good places for all members
of our communities to live in.
We recognize that the out
come of the present political
struggle will have great bear
ing on the advances made in
housing. We in Labor, there
fore, have already determined
our course of action. Housing
is major plank in the plat
form of the CIO Political Ac-
ton Committee; and as such,
Housing will be used as one
of the measures for determin-
ing the fitness of all candi-
dates who aspire to public
office.
We have confidence that
people, who in time of war
will send their sons and
Il -