Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1946-02-01
Washington
LaborReport
BY Bradford v. Carter
HOUSING FIASCO

The strikes have crowded
off the front pages the gov
ernments handling of the
housing situation, which in
other times could easily have
assumed the proportions of a
public scandal. The only
reason it is getting noticed at
all is because of the desperate
plight of veterans living in
discarded buses and chicken
coops.
BY the end of 1946, under
the best possible circum-
stances, 100000 families will
have to double up with other
families, if they are fortunate
enough to find somebody with
whom to double up.
Now, this state of affairs
goes back many years to the
basic inability of the govern
ment to develop and carry
through a thorough-going
housing program. Not that it
can't be recognized that the
real estate and banking lobby
operated against any such
decent solution of our housing
mess.
A serious housing situation
has, now, however, been made
desperate by transition pol
icies of federal gencies. Loom
ing large is the back to nor
malcy" push of the War Pro-
duction Board and its success
sor agency, the Civilian Pro-
duction Administration.
RESPONSIBILITY
Under the direction of j. A.
Krug and John D. Small, the
WPB must bear the brunt of
responsibility for knocking out
the underpinnings from an in
telligent housing program.
Their contribution consisted in
the abolition of L-41, the WPB
order which controlled the
kinds of construction which
could be undertaken. 1t re-
quired no major prophet to
foresee that with the lid off,
scarce building materials
would go into more profitable
channels than decent housing
for veterans and workers in
the lower income groups. That
is precisely what has hap
pened.
A belated attempt has been
made to reinstate controls
over construction. This new
control gives priority for
building materials TO housing
projects scheduled to sell for
under $4,000 or rent under
$50 a month. Again, it's pretty
clear what is going TO happen.
The a-gest volume of con-
struction will take place at the
upper limit--namely, $1,000
sale price or $50 rental.
How does this compare with
what people can afford to
pay? Budget experts say a
family ought not spend more
than a weeks earnings for a
months rent-or more than
21s times its annual income
for the purchase of a home.
That is, if it is not to deprive
itself of other essentials.
In other words, the veterans
who can afford the new hous-
ing will have to earn between
$50 and 500 a week. You
can get an idea of how many
veterans will be helped when
you know that the current
average weekly earnings arc
on the order of $40 a week
just one-half of the amount
necessary to afford the prior
tiles housing.
RED TAPE
AS if this isn't enough, vet
erans are being submerged In
20 feet of forms which is re-
quired by the Veterans Ad-
ministration under the CT Bill
of Rights. And the real estate
crowd which controls the Fed
eral Housing Administration
is making it as hard as it can
for the veterans to get FILA
help in buying house:
Wilson Wyatt, q former
mayor of Louisville, KY, has
been given the job of "expe-
diting" housing progress. How
much success he is going to
have can be cleaned from the
positively hostile reception
which he received at the hands
of a congressional committee
in advocating OPA Ceilings on
home purchases. The real
estate lobby got there first.
1t is the same real estate
lobby, helped by the bankers,
which is doing its best to de-
feat even the watered-down
version of the General HouS-
ing Bill introduced by SEN
ators Wagner, Ellender and