The union times., 1948-06-12
Conn. Citizens Council To Be
 Established
Twenty Cities, Towns Rep resented At Strathcona
 Hall Meeting

A statewide drive to persu. ade Gov. James C. Shannon to call the General Assembly into a special session on hOus- ing was under way this week as a Conn. Citizens Council on Housing began to take shape.
 A provisional committee to draft the nucleus of the council is being organized in accordance with a resolution adopted Friday night by 50 persons from 20 cities and towns at Connecticut's first statewide housing confer ence at Ya1e's Strathcona Hall. The session was sponsored by the Connecticut Conference of Social Work, Inc.
 SPEAKERS
 | Nathan Sherman. chairman af the meeting, was designated by the group to appoint a provisional committee after talks by Dr. CE. A. WinslOw, professor emeritus of Public Health at Yale and chair. man of the New Haven Housing Authority; B. M. Petit, administra- tor of the Real Assets Division of the State COmptrolIer's office: Henry J. Reis-Elbara, vice president of the Citizens Housing Council. and Louis Feinmark, chairman of the New Haven Housing Council.
 Some of the sponsors of the meet ing hoped that Shannon would be present and expressed disappointment at his absence. Shannon in a letter read to the meeting, wrote he would utilize every element of my personal as well as official influence and action m the interest of program to pro- vide necessary housing for the people of our State"
 SUBJECTS FOR SESSION | While the program of the coun. cil is in its infancy, Sherman said that the subjects which might be considered at a special session of the Legislature would be an in. crease in the SIS, 100000 bond guarantee law under which New Haven and other housing authOri- ties are building mOderate-rentaI units for veterans; Tightening m the eviction laws, outright state sub sidies and enabling legislation to permit communities to follow through on special programs to provide more housing.
 Professor Wi1c1o,,, Jao1o~o1 .L
 ton of the House Banking and Cur rency Committee and key Republicans Tn the House for failure to report the | Iatt-Ellender- Wagner Bill out after its passage by the Senate. Under this bill New Haven could erect 1,4OO low rent units. SHe pinned the responsi- 6ll1ty tor this delay on House Speaker Martin, Majority Leader Hallock and 1 Chairman Wolcott of the Banking and Currency Committee.
 SLUM DWELLINGS
 Millions of Americans, many of them veterans" Winslow said. "are living in wretched slum dwellinqs. ir- sanitary and dangerous, and crowded With their in-laws, or other families under conditions which lead inevitably to serious emotional strain and to the breakup of families evidenced by our divorce rate
 'They must contrive to exise. without the basic decenc;es nf American citizenship, merely at the word of dozen wiIfuI and mis- guided members of the House of Representatives who hold key pos- nOns in the organization of thAf House. l marvel sometimes at she patience of the American DeonIe. and wonder how soon that patience will be exhausted"
 IL the Taft-Ellender-Wag RlI hnally emerges with provisions for public housing stricken out. Winslow sad the legislation would be futile.
 Winslow stressed the point that municipalities are not in a financial position to grant outright subsidies. This help must come from other levels of government Money, planning and determination are needed to solve the housing crisis, he declared.
 NO MAGICAL SOLUTION
 There is no magical solution" Winslow advised. "This is something you can't do with mirrors"
 | Petit held that housing should be a joint Federal -State-municipality re- sponSibility. He called public housing la social factor" He said private housing involves only buildings and land whereas public housing is "con- cerned with people"
 Feinmark argued that the State has been lax in moving toward solution of the housing problem. He recalled how Shannon had de- clined Mayor CelentanO's sugges. tlOn for special session on enabI. ing legislation to allow q non- profit corporation to erect 400 ~ Continued in adjoining Column