The Detroit tribune. (Detroit, Mich.) 1935-1966, 1945-01-20
statement
By Thomas


mendous potential market de
mand- Even by prcwar standards
OF minimum INABILITY, the very
conservative figures submitted by
the National Husing Agency be-
fore your committee last week
showed need Of over l6 million
kunits, including : million that
were already suhstandard IN 1870,
those which viii become subsiau-
dard in the neat decade, and
those that viii Dc needed 90 meet
The moods Of additional families.
particularly those established by
returning ser,iccmen.
Building construction
ANY study al ALI OF the
changes brought about by this
war viii reveal an almost UNI
believablc degree OF stepped IN
capacity OF our production la
cilitIes,' he continued / want TO
emphasize that except IN tho com
Struction field and especially IN
The home building this process
/ has taken place prscticaly IN an
fields Of production our analy-
SIS Of the oNfr-all problem ndi--
Gates that the one major iield
for employment expansion lies
IA that of replacing the cconomi-
cally and socially obsolete plant
structures Of this country. We he-
lic,e that ultimately as a nation
we viii not be engaged upon just
program Of home building but
rather upon planned program
~ rebuilding our cities towns and
ether living facilities
Must Care For Masses
citing statistics 70 show chat
over half Of All American fami-
lies in the year OF le4s had ans
nual income OF less than $.aou
he pointed OUT that IT Nc are TO
solve the market phase az our
housing problem We must begin
to mink and act in terms OF a
housing program that Will pro-
idc decent safe, now living ac-
commodaiiun for these low Inc
come families that make NJ such
a large part Of our population
I'm order 20 reach and sustain
high production and high cmp'os
mcni the home building indus
liy will have 20 necessarily rc-
oteanlzc rs pai attitudes and
practices in otd,r 20 serve low
er income groups Than u has
ever SERVED before In order 10
reach the mass pock,lbook the
one and thrcefoufth million new
i houses must 10 sold or routed III
prices lower than The great ma-
I iority of our families haze been
paving lp TO Eow most ncw reni.
al and sales houses haze hoon
produced to meet the need for
the upper ~ paving more
$50 a month with the vast ma
ioriiy Of people being folc ed 10
live in substandard hand -me-down
housing
Dollar Too High
Thomas continued Nv emphaSiz-
ing that costs must be reduced
il the huildlng industry is 40
compete successfully with other
ministries for its proper share
~ the consumer dollar. The dol
lar spent for housing must offer
as much value as a dollar spent
for autos refrirclaiors. radios
movies. etc Al the present time
It docs not II must prepare now
70 become a mass production ~
dus'ry by adopting "a more clfi-
Gent Organization Of operations
and through better utilization
or the available marpowcr. cquip-
menl and material resources.
II We are 70 have progressive
~ higher standards IN community
housing and Development he
went on 20 SAY 1--WE musi cary
cut coordina,ed rtoefam OF re-
search in design. planning. con
st'uciion. land uses financing.
marketing. management ana COM
nuniiy services
We are hopeful that broad
national postwar program OF
housing and community develop
ment will be evolved that viii
simultaneous make substan-
tial contribution 10 our goal OF
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