The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1958-09-25
with Rep. John Henderson
Congress and Housing

Ill6 congress ana the recent SeS-
sion was no exception Three
major housing bills were con-
sidered with two of these meas
ures passed into law and the
third failing to win approval.
The first bill was the Emer-
gency Housing act written to
stimulate residential housing
construction and to work as an
anti-recession measure during
the early months of 1858. The
bill provided SIT billion to
assist in the financing of an
estimated 100000 new houses
during 1858, although it was not
mandatory that all this money
be used if economic activity i'm
proved.
Generally, the bill lowered
down payments to go on the
first $l3,500 of value of house
purchased under the program.
The Federal National Mortgage
Association was authorized an
additional SIS billion to pur-
chase FILA and Veterans Admin
istration insured mortgages, a
feature of the Federal Housing
Program which was intended to
promote private investment in
insured mortgages. In addition
the Veterans Administration was
given more funds to make direct
housing loans to veterans and
the VA and FHA housing pro-
grams were extended to July
25, 1860.
Passage of this legislation had
the intended effect. Construction
of houses increased greatly and
by midsummer, the housing
slump which had been recorded
earlier in the year was over
come. This required the second
Housing Act of the year which
increased by 81 billion the mort
gage insurance program of the
FILA to carry through until June
of 1859.
This was followed by a third
proposal which was known as
the Omnibus Housing bill con-
tanning wide assortment of pro-
grams and provisions and re-
quiring several billion dollars to
support them. This was, again,
an anti-receSsion measure offer
ed at a time when initiation was
replacing recession as the ma
tons number one economic
problem Although the bill pass
ed the Senate it was not agreed
to by the House Of Representa-
tives.
Past Twelve Years
What has happened In the
housing industry during the past
twelve years is indicated by
some interesting figures. Private
financing leads government as
sistance in housing by sub
stantial figure. From January
1916 to June 1858, new homes
privately financed numbered
over Is million. Under FILA, the
figure was slightly over 3 mil
lion with pa million homes fl
nanced under the Veterans Ad-
ministration's loan guarantee
program.
Some idea of how much the
Federal government is involved
in the housing program can be
obtained when we realize that
the total FILA liabilities are now
about $25 billion.
The u. S. Clinical Center
l have received letters from
Southeastern Ohioans suffering
various diseases and disabilities
asking for information on how
they might receive treatment at
the National Institutes of Health
in Bethesda, Maryland. How
ever, this arm of the u. S. De-
partment of Health, Education
and Welfare is not primarily a
hospital, but a clinical research
center where the purpose is not
primarily the treatment of patti
ents but the advancement Of
medical knowledge of better
methods for preventing, diagnos-
ing, and treating the major
diseases of mankind.
The Clinical Center is COM
posed of seven Institutes, each
with a specific field of research.
Although its hospital is huge
building, most of the space is
taken up by laboratories and
clinics to accommodate the re-
search work being done on a
| variety of diseases. At full capa-
city, the hospital can take only
500 carefully selected patients.
All patients admitted for treat
ment are chosen because their
own private physicians have dia-
gnosed their cases which have
been found to be particular dis
eases required for an Institute
research study. Therefore, all
| patients must be referred to the
Center by their own doctors who
must furnish detailed informa-
ton about their conditions and
the treatment that has been. If,
in the opinion of the staff of the
Institute, the condition meets the
requirements of particular