Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-03-12

AS one of the many property owners
and District taxpayers who do not be-
lleve the propaganda line that Is being
peddled throughout the country by the
organized real estate industry to kill
rent control, wish to register my pro-
test at the e-sidedness of your March
editorial, Let Rent Control Die"
You state: mo evidence was pro-
duced to justify fear that death of
rent control would cause cataclysmic
upheaval adverse to tenants. On the
contrary there was testimony indicat-
ing that no housing emergency of the
sort that warranted imposition of con-
trolls during and subsequent to World
War II exists in Washington today"
The facts are that there was also
strong testimony presented by organized
groups of D. c. citizens that the hous-
ing shortage here is still severe and
that lifting of controls now, when there
Is an unfair bargaining" position i'm
posed on the tenant, will probably
bring the same heavy rent increases
which have followed the lifting of con-
trolls under similar circumstances
throughout the country. Rent hikes of
500 or more have been imposed on
the lowest income families, who can
least afford such an increase, in nearly
all cities where rent controls have been
prematurely killed by organized real
estate industry preSsures.
Rents in Washington have always
been among the highest in the country,
and there is no question in my mind
that one OF the main reasons for the
recent shift of population to suburbs
and the increasing deterioration of the
city has been the high-rent policy of
many District landlords. The Star does
not foster the continued growth of
Washington by advocating conditions
which permit rent-gouging that will
only speed up the race to lower rental
units in nearby communities.
Milton Plumb.
really am surprised that your edi-
torial agreed with what took place at
the rent control hearing. It does not
smack of your very fine editorials these
many years. I do believe that Mr..
Cogswell is the man who really knows
whether or not there is a shortage of
rental housing here in Washington.
The tenants looked to him to champion
their stand in as much as they cannot
very we'll appear at these hearings.
Let rent controls expire at this time
and people will feel the effects of the
atomic bomb" that will descend upon
them with such tremendous increases
in their rents.
Now do not get me wrong. There
are landlords who need relief, and they
should be given relief. But there are
those who have waxed richer and richer
and are getting a fine return-too
fine. They do not do thing for you.
B. L.
With regard to the proposal to extend
rent control only until June 80, 1853,
I seriously question the testimony of
the District Commissioners that no
housing shortage exists in the District
of Columbia.
A statement was made pertaining to
the number of advertisements for
available apartments appearing in the
newspapers. If an examination were
made of the advertised apartments,
think it would be found that those that
aren't luxury apartments are in Vir-
ginia, Maryland or outlying areas in
Southeast, which are inaccessible to the
average person without an automobile.
A further statement was made to the
effect that wages have been increased.
However, a great many tenants receive
pensions of approximately $1,000 a
year, so am at loss to understand
how the adjustment Of rent control
could ultimately benefit such people.
1t must be common knowledge that the
minute the rent controls go off, another
increase in rent will be assessed against
tenants. 1t is my belief that the pro-