Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-08-31
Veterans.Industry
Farley on Housing
'Sta|emate' Urged

The Producers Council today
called on Veterans Administrator
Bradley to arrange a round-table
conference between representatives
of veterans organizations and OF
construction industry groups for
developing solution to the hous-
ing stalemate."
This development in the veterans
emergency housing program came
close on the heels of a demand
from Senator Mead, Democrat, of
New York that a special session of
Congress be called to enact the
Wagner Ellender Taft long range
housing bill.
Senator Mead declared: "The
growing seriousness of the Nation 5
housing problem leads me to believe
that special session of Congress
will be necessary long before the
converting of the 80th Congress in
January. If Congress could be con-
vened for only short session to
enable it to pass the Wagner Ellen
der-Taft bill, it would have a salu-
tary effect upon the country and
upon our housing shortage"
Full Facts" Urged.
Douglas Whitlock, chairman of
the Producers Council Advisory
Board, in letter to Gen. Bradley,
declared that I'VE believe the full
facts about the housing situation
should be placed before the veter-
ans"
In other housing moves yesterday,
the War Assets Administration an
nounced 1t had ordered immediate
disposal of all surplus nails to the
Federal Public Housing Authority
and the Veterans Administration
The agency did not list the amount
of nails thus freed for housing.
WAA also disclosed that $4,000, 900
board feet of lumber will be made
available to FPHA for veterans
housing from about $500 structures
now being dismantled at Camp
Howe, Gainesville, Tex.
In connection with lumber. OPA
served notice that no overall in
crease in ceiling prices for Southern
pine lumber will be granted "at
this time" Decision of the agency
was revealed in a letter to the
Southern Pine Industry Advisory
Committee from Price Administra-
tor Paul Porter.
Suggests Conference Topics.
Declaring that the program of
Housing Expediter Wilson Wyatt
has utterly failed to get results"
Mr.. Whitlock suggested that the pro-
posed meeting take up the follow
ing points:
Ways and means of stepping up
the construction of rental housing:
reasons for continued shortages of
certain building materials: truth"
about the subsidy plan which was
presented at the very heart" of the
veterans emergency housing pro-
gram; way in which the Wagner
Elender- bill would affect the
program, and facts about present.
day building costs.
THE fact that only 10000 of the
new permanent type homes started
during the first half of the year
were completed by midyear as re-
vealed in Mr. Wyatt,s recent report.
came as a shock to the entire in
duStry," the official declared. Even
the building industry was unaware
that the program had fallen so far
short of its goal, although it was
widely known that the goal could
not be reached in the face of exist
Ing housing policies"
81. In an obvious reference to new
and drastic steps ordered by Mr..
Wyatt this week to speed up home
construction, Mr. Whitlock stated:
ut would be folly to continue
without drastic change in these
policies. Governmental housing Of
ficials have been more interested in
setting up controls than in getting
homes for veterans When it be-
comes evident that these controls
are defeating their purpose, new
controls are added, and confusion
and uncertainty are multiplied"
The council Is national organi-
zation of building materials and
equipment manufacturers