Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 December 1945 — Page 22

THE HOUSING EXPEDITER

it only fair to him to stress a fact twice stated in recon version Director Snyder's report to the President:

will really solve the housing problem.” rate, the birth rate and the movement of people to industria

dropped to an average of only 847,000 from 1930 to 1941 * And home construction, except for war emergency purposes . stopped with Pearl Harber,

: _ production of lumber, bricks, pipe and other supplies.

|. for a lot of fast, determined action and get building going. : {

and probably a not too satisfactory measure of relief.

old ones.

in all its branches must be fundamentally reformed. 1

American people's demand for millions of good ~ reasonable prices.

THE MOSCOW CONFERENCE :

to the UNO to enforce them.

since.

war was supposed to have freed us. 50] F . = 8 : fs 9 =» IF THERE is much more delay, it will be too late to

* * Europe today. It is also true in the Far East, where bitter ~~ colonial wars already are destroying hopes of responsible international trusteeship. Therefore, overshadowing all other problems, is the necessity of calling a full allied peace conference to hasten representative settlements and, at the same time, to get the UNO into high gear. That, of course, is as much to the interest of Russia as of any other nation—in some

Ways more.

: If Secretary Byrnes can convince Russia of this, the Moscow conference will be a turning point toward peace . and security. If not, the future is dark.

a ¥ UP TO THE SENATE E DON'T admire the way in which the house of representatives at Washington passed the Hobbs bill yester- | day. There should have been a roll-call, so that opponents of the measure, as well as its advocates, could know which congressmen voted for it and which against.’ However, there was a roll-call vote the day before, on whether the house should consider the bill. And that vote ~-259 to 108—doubtless was a fair indication of the overelming sentiment for the legislation in the house. It is surprising, in fact, that as many as 108 members opposed

it e bill simply seeks to establish the principle that » to interfere with interstate commeree by practici Hobbs bill passed the house once before, in April, H0-107 vote, and then died in a senate comIt should ‘mot meet that fate again.

00 BAD that Wilson Wyatt isn’t a wizard, If he were * one, he might wave a wand, cure the national housing

i But Mr. Wyatt is only an ex-mayor from Louisville, — Ky. In accepting President Truman's —appointmerit as “housing expediter” he is taking a tough and quite possibly a thankless job. Wishing him all success in it, we think

“Nothing less than several years of peak production

This is so because for many years home building has been abnormally low while, during the war, the marriage

cities have been abnormally high. After building an average of 708,000 homes a year from 1920 to 1929, the country

X The country needs two or three million new homes . immediately. “But, as Director Snyder reports, to build even half a million in 1946 will require a huge increase in the supply of materials, It will require more than twice as many construction workers as are now building houses. And an early end to the strikes and other obstacles to high

THE SITUATION calls, surely, for an expediter and to break bottlenecks

The priorities ordered by Mr. Truman, channelling shout half of all available building materials into construetion of homes or apartments costing $10,000 or less per dwelling unit, can be useful. By making available to cities some 100,000 temporary or portable houses, no longer needed by war workers, the government can extend a little

Mr. Truman also wants congress to authorize ceiling prices on old and. new houses. We aren't convinced that ‘price ceilings will be effective either against the housing shortage or against inflation. Unless imposed with extreme care, and with full recognition of the increase in building costs, they will prevent or discourage the building of new homes and so raise inflationary pressures on the price of

We still believe that to insure several years of pesk housing production—the only real remedy for the shortage or for inflation of home prices—the home-building industry

must be brought up to date and equipped to supply the houses at

THE CHIEF issue at the forthcoming Big Three foreign ao ministers’ conference in Moscow will not be the atomic + bomb, as many seem to think, but intérnational organization. Solution of atomic control, like most other world prob: lems today, depends on willingness of the major powers to grant adequate authority to representative world organization—to a full peace conference to make settlements and

5 There is hope in the fact that Secretary of State Byrnes and Foreign Minister Bevin understand this. The discouraging factor hitherto has been that Russia does not. That caused the failure of the London conference, and the deadlock in international decisions which has continued ever

‘Obviously that deadlock is dangerous. It contributes to chaos throughout the world. Desperately needed ' remedial measures are blocked, constructive economic and political steps are prevented, by failure of the big nations to agree, Meanwhile, the world drifts deeper and deeper into the old struggle for balance of power, spheres of in- * - fluence, and the vicious system from which a victorious

get an enduring international settlement or a strong UNO. For things have a way of settling themselves by default and in the worst manner. Once done, they cannot be undone. That is tragically true in Germany and in eastern

also Should pass Tt, as a service to the |

shortage overnight, and make the veterans and all other

shelterless citizens happy in good but low-priced homes. tmwied We'll have to get them over here soon

the mule’s back is brawny and his brain is and he's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak. “Those lyrics, sir, are libelous and slanderous. I have known mules all my life. I love mules.” .

Wants to Ride Sidewise HE THEN recited the following information— The mule is a good flier, as well as a good sailor. All he asks is that he travel sidewise. Otherwise he may get sick. A mule is not easily excited, He knows when to keep his mouth shut. A soldier hiding in brush with his mule need not fear the animal will give him away. Not 80 with & horse, "Ee : The mule is sure-fooled. He can tread the brink a complete security, -1f the path isn’t safe, the mule stops. A mule needs less food than a horse. He won't let himself get over-heated, nor will be over-eat or over-drink. A mule matures later than a horse and lasts longer, Mule skin resists sun and rain better than horse skin. : Missourl, Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio are noled for mules. Those states grow big, smart ones. Italian mules are small. In 1944 the army bought about 8600 mules at an average price of $214. That year there were 3,530,000 mules on American farms, ‘Their average price was $143, The average farm horse price at the time was

$78. Demobilized to Farmers ARMY MULES in.the United States are being demobilized. They're already down to 10,000. Most of those mustered out went to the farmers, -

’

In the last five years the quartermaster general issued seven mules and 113 horses fo the navy and

WORLD AFFAIRS—

Relief Funds

By William Philip Simms

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“tearing into us. Maybe we'li-get around to SUR

asked in the House of Commons re- : Condy indicted that Whe estou ! / mines is nearly four times greater than in Gress Britain. The. price of British coal, 7 Fame f. 0. b, is nearly twice thet of similar American quality, What is the reason for this spparens Amer- By ROS Te a ies wats. bught 1 Aa wala PARIS, D ; were . the, ot Tey 3 The Sate 2 more § caps to nationalize the British coal industry itself during snrolied 1a | | this parliamentary session. Informed opinion con- versities to s siders that st this stage, nationalisation required to ’ He year of ¥ #0 even this far is #0 enormous that the governments trars have } will not have the time to carry coal nationalisation | dents than to the ancillary industries (such as coke oven and War len gas works) for at least another two years. ; many of the ~~ ‘The late conservative government appointed » how crowdin committee under the chairmanship of Charles Oar~ of those wh low Reid, director of production, ministry of fuel and many were | | power, and formerly general manager of the Fife cent. were de Coal Co., Ltd, to report on the coal industry, This forced into 1 report, known as the Reid Report, was presented ts Nazis. the conservative government on March 14, 1945, and Many of ¢ has since been accepted hy the Labor government as own the basis upon which the British coal industry should ized, who be reorganized under nationalisation. French army : liberation. 4 Use Rope : dreds who THE REID report shows clearly that owing to ait | state school ferent. geological features mo true comparisons cam | the end of t be made between the coal industries of Great Britain what courses and the United States. Underground conditions sre The Paris Waly ficient sad Suh I Sek of Amilo $ Arh vi i main, British cosl machinery is 2 As Well as good. The British problem today is the transport the colonies of coal underground. ‘Tha is the bottleneck, Much sprinkling of of the coal is at present conveyed from the coal face Who are taki to the pit bottom by & succession of rope haulages Una! opps along steeply inclined gradients. The United States Li enjoys much better natural conditions. Coal seams Chief head are flat and haulage by locomotives is largely em- ties is the pr ployed. : quarters for - In the United States one haulage worker is em- ars who swe ployed for every 50 tons of coal produced while in lation. So fi Great Britain the figure is one haulage worker for placed by th ) five tons. & Eh) education. In order to understand this extraordinary differ~ || Governmer SN . ence in efficiency we must consider the history of | Cite Universi , British coal fields going back in some cases to early : ed housing fi : Victorian times, _ Thess Were th dats of the plontenk entitled to si * “I who i ee with w —hgrdworking, adventurous men, who set out to ges of their war Hoosier Forum sombasiidm at, [aoe g hoiod sein mit foo wu - 28 death your right to say it. the ery was for. cuiput. Planning was on a short- Second an “PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW imes readers are invited [eoing to get us home. We started bk Struck at the bottom of the vertical the universit ARMY.NAVY MERGER FACTS" I thei views in [counting points, remembering birth | Bib Saft was followed along the winding eontours of ng $3 30 43 81 Jobn K. Combs, ex-saptain sir corps, | these columns, religious con- dhtes 0d We used congressional and osm, et Jpiee J news concerning the proposed merg-| volume received, let- writing us, wen 104 souid_sp greater each tiny ro er of the army and the mavy ft| ters should be Kmited to 250 Only we forgot. : : these tortuous under- In despair seems that the actual facts instead| words. Letters must be | We forgot how important prope- ponies and requisitioned of personal opinions should be laid| signed. Opinions set forth [ganda is and we forgot the selfish. | °F 0% T0Pes. The result is that today many British ters for sle before the public to let the nation| here are thase of the writers, [ness of man. The war was over, but | outs hope of tai aly badly laid out. The students ca know the whole truth. and publication in no way we had forgotten thet there wers| 0. re Of 8 modern system of under- dormitories | Why not let some of the common implies with these |® few million home front favorite ground transport is to sink the shaft farther and is, however, G14 io help wih Wis was and pions by The Ten. The [ns and heroes that needed first Ear MA. x Tiois SIPS ging fretliies are gol to have to bear the crack those post - burden of the staggering debs, the assumes no responsi. Te: patos JULY kin We American conditions in the last half of the nine- The wy guys who really did the fighting and | DIY for the return of manu- |nigh brass in the army who could | [*0t entry were probably no different from those brighter. Si the ones who saw the terrible need-| 5STiPfs and cannot enter cor- never make as much money in| oC riDed above; but there was one essential differ- , less loss of life, some of the men| respondence regarding them.) [civilian life once this heroic job had | TC, 12 the geological features underground. who have seen and know the mase : folded up. We forgot the home folks | o the American seams are fiat, of of red tape involved in s simple “WE WON'T BE HOME needed naval parades so they could | Lh ickness and transaction between the army and |FOR QUITE SOME TIME admire all the ships they'd built,| 2 Phamrd though it may the navy, some of the boys who sew (ny Sst. Wesdell B. Vandivier, Phitippine | While We sat here and waited. Yeah, ® horizontal level at right sngies their buddies needlessly killed be- “0 |we forgot ® lot of things and we) yu.) TIDING technique improved cause of conflicting policies of the| Dear Mom: _ *ltold you not to write, that we'd be | YC Simple ma army and the navy express their| It's bee over two years now that [coming soon. improve these level roads to views and their experiences to the |my only with you, dear, has| We forgot, and we are that | 0date modern haulage locomotives, gating committee, and yet this 18 give us and please start writing once | 29°73 to British underground Why not stop the arguing about | he hardest letter I've had to write |again ‘sause we won't be home for| Of (he Ruhr and the how many navy vessels or how many [in all those weeks. I did not even quite some time. It seems there are teresting fo note that one-half air force planes it would take $0 mind the letter telling you that I [10 ships—there are no orders—there | Rory r¢ owned by the state. adequately defend our nation and lye, heading out to ses away from |*7® BO Dlsnes—there is no room fn | Ye! 1aid out and efMebntly how much duplication, how much [Y0¢ DSIf as much. Though I @Md| esting out like you've been told. . £6 —— red tape and how much inefficiency |20t say it then, I kept remembering We heard about bureaucratic gov- | {N WASHING TON— and lack of co-ordination will result | that perhaps that letter was “good. |ernment that did only what it chose, tare font have & merger of the by” instead of just “so long.” g/[but we did not believe it tll they \ off * dspartmenis. hated writing that Showed us. : p Lets look back to some of the |, i00 WEEE th day awlully and| vy were dumped on Liberty ships aper al horrible and pathetic situstions that | NER TAY eves were dry the tears|yuy o sew sticks of Jumber to build) be happened in this war because of so- [00 SONTEE Firouh my heart, No. (our gun lutrines to hang out over called custom and tradition bar- || S08 Be 1 didn't mind |o, 040 and were carried into By Robert C. Ruark riers of one kind or another. Was 8 purpase In my, secieq waters, 1000, sometimes ; litle more than Just to win the SEV: NS People and the plants that yee ‘not’ fig for troops until war and I'd like to see the first[FVS 0 SUE We Were fo use—|,.oq 45 catch one home. slaps towards preserving the peace erly oly i tor neration thag| We, thought we'd be given preferanpretsed > Jormation needed out protection; and oUF $00 |uyiegiay replacements some. $0 or compassing aircraft, land craft and hat Je ere sites qualined than rg ed opp ide rp isda water craft under one efficient com- 1 Jo wi shells Were | 1a agree 10 stay in & peaceful mand. One only needs to look to the |f81line. I didn't mind, I was wor- | ole ear. ried, o little scared but awfully Joab, disasters of Pearl Harbor, Tarawa . We thought the air corps bombers and countless other blunders of the |PToUd hat even If yOu | ld carry some of us back until separate army and navy system to|™ hat YOU) we ssw them stand row on row 49 the answer, vo Nome of|!%k of crews and orders. “LEAVE MILITARY TRAINING igtibons “vet hat. aipy ers here wow TO REFERENDUM VOTE" tte reat fell home until we found - that Jap By Otis B. Male, Kokomo . had to smell |PFOWS had to be gotten back to . You're always so cocksure of your men who had | their island snd until h editorial opinions and Td say al short day [Merchant officers who. most as bad as Walter. Winchell, to—oh, well, [Pare crew space Why don't you really be fair about that part's |iiey bad military training and leave it - offer, We a referendum vote at the next elee- we sti) [ment had tion? Surely the country won't we waited, | Harbor until we is now and really have headlines tell- | After statement. democratic way. were| We thought a lot ; We Were xrong and Carnival —By Dick T a ees a arnival— By Dick Turner day wi ho hem hat = thinking, s long, lon i dear, "Wi that seat ) a great big grain really kidding and sides laughing.