Evening star., 1946-02-05

Louisville, KY. Lowell Meiiett.
Wyatt. now in his middle 40s,
has just completed notable four
year term as Mayor of his home
town. He has had only slight ex-
perience in national affairs, a few
months in the summer Of 1943 spent
making an economic survey of
Northern Africa. But the impress
sion he then made on Washington
was such that he has been offered
Q number Of hard jobs, including
one that would have put him In
charge Of the Army's whole Service
Of Supplies, with the necessary num-
ber Of stars decorating his shoul-
ders. He preferred, however, to COM
plete his commitment to Louisville.
Business Is Business"
Now, with no money to spare, he
has elected to throw his talents
against one of the hardest Govern
ment jobs in sight and to accept the
Governments modest pay rather
than the large rewards available in
the commercial world. Al point is
made of this, since Mr.. Wyatt soon
will find himself locked in battle
with other talented men who have
a different philosophy, who think
the place to go is where the money
Is. He will find that many such
men have preceded him to Wash
tngton-but not to work for the
Government.
He has found already that every
body is in favor of better housing.
Not being utterly innocent, he un-
derstands that in the case of some
this merely means they are for bet
ter housing-for what they can get
out Of it. They'll agree that it's a
shame that young fellows coming
home from the wars, already mar
ried or wanting to get married, can
not find decent, or, in some cases,
even indecent, shelter. They'll agree
that the foundation of American
life Is the home. But, regardless
of such considerations, their deep
est conviction is that business Is
business, not anything to get senti-
mental about.
Outlining the problem, as he sees
1t, for the House Banking and Cur
rency Committee, Mr.. Wyatt related
that he had spent two weeks in con-
ferences with groups representing
everything that goes into housing
He had talked with representatives
Of bankers, labor, contractors, man
ufacturers and real estate men, with
Mayors and Governors, with veterans
and with civic planners. He had
got their ideas, their problems and,
above all, their assurance of cordial
cooperation. He indicated that he
proposes to earn and keep this CO.
operation, because he recognizes
that housing Is not q one-man job
and that it Is local as well as ma
tional. -,-,-.7 se.se ezees ~
Sets His Sights High.
He'll have to have this promised
cooperation II he Is to make even
a partial success Of his big under
taking. He has set his sights high,
a million new homes In q year, but
even If his hopes should be realized,
the country viii still be lacking
several million needed homes.
VIII he get the cooperation?
Based on experience to date, there
is room for pessimism. Bankers sim
cerely believe that labor in the
building trades should cooperate In
a way 1t never has. Labor Is con-
vinced that the money lenders need
whipping into line. And so all along
the line. Everybody sees where the
other fellow is seeking to cash In on
the present situation. Nobody quite
sees the point at which his own pri-
vate interest conflicts with the COM
munity's and the Nations best in
terest.
And every element of self-interest
is well represented In Washington
and even better represented back
home, where most OF the houses
must be built.
Maybe the shrewd ex-Mayor can
keep his co-operators to their pro-
fessed high purpose; maybe he can
persuade Congress and the admin