The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1945-12-21

Washington, D. C.-The American
Federation of Labor opened an all-out
campaign before the Senate Banking
and Currency Committee for prompt
adoption of the Wagner Ellender- Taft
Housing Bill.
Main witnesses at the opening OF
public hearings were AFL President
William Green and Vice President
Harry G. Bates, head of the Brick.
layers Union and chairman of the
AFL's Housing Committee.
Housing is the core Of the nations
postwar economy and will provide the
very foundation of our standard OF
living in the next decade, Mr.. Green
told the committee.
He emphasized that passage of the
Wagner -Ellender- Taft bill is indis-
pensable to the assurance of full en-
ployment in the years to come.
"If we fail to launch a comprehen-
sive attack on postwar housing, an
attack against repetition of past fail
ures, an attack toward clearly
stated objective of decent home fol
every family, we cannot escape large
scale unemployment and we cannot
avoid another destructive and disas-
trous depression" Mr.. Green declared
War has brought the problem to a
head, the AFL chief pointed out
Shortage of decent living quarters is
acute in every major city and return
ing servicemen are unable to find
homes.
at is for Congress to decide now
upon it's answer to the servicemen,'
Mr.. Green continued. "Is it prepared
to tell the returning serviceman that
his inability to live in a good home is
none of Congress- business and none
of the business Of us for whom they
fought? Is that the answer to 3,000,-
900 veterans who are in the immediate
need of establishing new homes and
setting up new families? Will Con-
gress give this answer to over 6,O00,-
600 of the 100000 veterans who
will be in dire need of housing within
a year?
'Nor will labor accept any tenn
porary or makeshift program for the
provision of housing to meet the I'M
mediate emergency as the real an
swer to the veterans demand for per-
manent homes. Stop-gap housing
must be provided at once on tenn
porary basis to relieve the immediate
pressure for dwelling accommoda-
tions. But let me impress upon this
committee that the real solution is
the long-term solution, the bold and
comprehensive solution which S. 1892
provides. Housing will continue to be
a perennial and permanent problem
for the families of veterans, for their
children, for those for whom they
fought-housing which is not make
shift, but durable, livable and within
the reach of the incomes these fami-
lies will earn.
''The need to answer the veterans
demand for postwar housing is ur-
gent and pressing. Let US make
quick provision of needed temporary
housing for the veteran. But let us
not fall into the error of stopping at
a temporary solution for what is pat
emily a permanent problem. As serv-
icemen become civilians they share in
the need for housing with all other
civilians. The homes they need are
not for themselves alone, but also for
their families, relatives and depen-
dents. The homes they now ask for
are homes which are adequate to
serve them over many years. They
are homes which should be good
enough to bring up their children in.
"This demand for a large-scale
long-range housing program is Amer
icas order of the day."
MI. DdCeS Ioiu Tic CeHdtS Gull
mittee:
"Workers have a vital concern in
housing as producers, as consumers
and as citizens. 1t is the function and
the duty of the AFL Housing Com
mittee to place before Congress the
views which are representative of the
largest single group Of Americans
who have had the opportunity to con-
slider and give democratic expression