Evening Star Newspaper, April 26, 1935, Page 5

ELLENBOGEN BILL APPROVED BY 600 Meeting at Labor Depart- ment Condemns High Rates Here. Approximately 600 persons gathered in the Department of Labor audi- torijum last night, listened for two heurs to speeches condemning high rentals in the District, voted to in- dorse the Ellenbogen bills for a rent commission and a permanent housing | authority, and then dispersed with the determination to press their de- eision upon the current Congress. And while this sentiment in favee | of control of rents for present housing facilities in the District was gaining | ‘momentum, other lines of attack upon | the housing situation were indicated. | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. Rent Meeting Speakers First of these was the introduction | ° yesterday by Representative Moritz, |, Democrat of Pennsylvania, of a bill | to encourage private building enter- |§ prise in the District by exempting | from the real estate tax for 10 yem-sJ all new houses, apartments and store buildings which might be constructed within five years after passage of the measure. Plans Similar Proposal. Coincident with this action, Repre- sentative Ellenbogen, Democrat, of Pennsylvania, speaking at the meeting last night, announced his intention of submitting a ‘similar proposal to the House within a few days. His bill, he said. would grant exemption for five years. ° At the same time, both Senator Capper, Republican, of Kansas, and Representative Ellenbogen declared themselves firmly in favor of govern- ment construction of low-cost housing in the District and promised to fight | for this development in Congress. | Prospects of all these proposals dur- | ing the present session of Congress hang pretty rouch in the balance pending the scheduled joint meeting of House and Senate District Com- mittees next Tuesday morning to re- view the whole situation. If the com- mittees look with favor upon any of the suggestions thus far submitted, | joint hearings probably will be held, | thus expediting consideration of the bills on the floor. The meeting last night, attended mostly by government employes, was marked by condemnation of local . Upper left: Senator Capper. Upper right: Representative Ellen- bogen. Below: Catherine Bauer of the Pennsylvania State Housing Commission. —Star Staff Photos. DIAGNOSES OF LIVER TROUBLES ARE EASIER WITH ELECTRIC EYE (Continued From First Page.) ftherapeutic measures that influence the physic-chemical properities of the nerve cells in convulsive diseases.” ‘The $1,000 annual prize for a young scientific genius was announced by the American Chemical Society for Dr. Raymond M. Fuoss, 29. assistant i professor of chemistry at Brown Uni- versity. The Priestly medal, which the so- ciety awards only once every three years, and which is considered one of the highest honors in chemistry., was | | announced for Dr. William Albert Noyes, 78. emeritus director of labo- ratories of the University of Illinois Fuoss is a native of Bellwood, Pa., ‘and a graduate of Harvard. The award is for his work in producing the “first comprehensive theory of lendlords and property owners. A feW | gonen, chairman of a rent committee €lectrolstic solutions.” of the latter, sitting to see what would | happen, raised no voice of protest as they heard themselves dubbed “profi- | * teers, chiselers, vested interests” and ! other equally uncomplimentary desig- nations. Housing Crisis Serious. L The sharpest attacks came from the eongressional guests, Senator Capper | and Representative Ellenbogen. The | former, asserting that “this city has never had a sufficient number of decent homes to house the major | part of its people,” said that present | circumstances constitute “a housing crisis perhaps unequalled in the his- tory of the city.” As a solution, he proposed a three point long-time program together ‘with emergency action o correct pres- ent injustices. His suggestions follow: “First, I am convinced that the Government must enter the low-cost housing field in the District of Co- lumbia. Private capital has refused to meet the needs of the public, the Government certainly should. “‘Second, the report of the Public Utilities Commission on its rent and | housing survey showed that there is no adequate regulation of housing from a sanitary standpoint. This is not because the departments of the District are lax in enforcement. It is because the laws and regulations that relate to housing are scattered over a large number of departmental codes. In & number of instances the mini- mum standards are entirely too low. : Because of these low standards. land- lords are able to collect rent on houses, apartments and rooms that are not fit for human occupancy. We need badly a codification of housing laws and regulations that will fix re- sponsibility for administration, estab- lish reasonable standards and provide for proper inspectional work. | Control of Relations. “Third, there is ample evidence of the need for controlling contractural relations between landlords and ten- ants. Every variety of unfairness is now' practiced in the District at the expense of the tenant. Promised re- pairs are not made. Deposits of rent | are confiscated on the most flimsy | pretexts. Notes of eviction are served as a means of intimidation. I favor a permanent commission with power to protect the renter. [ “Besides these ideas, we must effect & plan for early and immediate ac- tion, which will protect the public of ‘Washington until permanent laws can be enacted. “In conclusion, let me urge you not to be swerved from a course of action bv requests for investigation of the | rent situation. It has been thoroughly investigated, and the results are public property. Ask Congress for action; I am confident you will get it promptly.” An equally vigorous condemnation of existing conditions was expressed by Representative Ellenbogen. Term- ing present rental conditions ‘“op- pressive and intolerable,” the speaker pictured the “rent profiteers demand- ing exorbitant toll before they will permit the newcomer to occupy living | quarters in apartment, house or hotel.” He proposed: “First, temporary legislation during the duration of the emergency and until the housing shortage has disappeared and rents have become stabilized on a fair basis. H. R. 3809 is designed as such emer- | gency legislation. It establishes a Tent commission in the District, to have power to incresae or decrease rents after full consideration of the fair value of the property, of its char- acter and condition and of the char- acter of service, if any, furnished in connection therewith. The commis- sjon shall allow the owner a fair re- turn upon his investment. “If this bill fails of passage, the city of Washington will experience, after the adjournment of this session of Congress, an increase of the present lJevel of rents to fantastic heights. Need of New Homes. “Second, Washington needs the building of new homes, the building of low-cost housing available to Gov- ernment empjoyes. Modern low-cost housing can be constructed only with the aid and assistance of the Federal Government and of local housing suthorities. H. R. 7399 sets up the sdministrative machinery and pro- vides for the necessary funds for this ‘We must have a permanent, independent housing agency in the |- United States.” Responsible for the arrival of about 30,000 new employes in the District during the last two years, the Fed- eral Government has a duty to pro- tect these people, Mr. Ellenbogen said, against “the exorbitant demands of rent profiteers.” | Other speakers last night were Catherine Bauer. former executive secretary of the Housing Committee of the State of Pennsylvania; Wilbur ’v of the Central Labor Union: former | Representative Charles 1. Stengle of What the American Federation of Govern- ment Employt N. P. Alifas, Inter- national Association of Machinists, 2ad John L. Donovan of N. R. A. Lodge. Clem Maples of the Central Labor Union presided, and John Simpson of the A. F. G. E. intro- duced the speakers. Resolutions indorsing the Ellen- bogen bills for a rent commission and for a permanent housing authority. and declaring the sentiment of the meeting to be against raising of any rents above their level on January 1, 1935, were adopted unanimously by the gathering. Others approved were in commendation of the efforts of | Capper. Ellenbogen and Miss Bauer in behalt of better housing. It was announced that a meeting of_ delegates from various labor organiza- tions will be held next Tuesday night to consider the next step in the cam- paign. As those present last night arrived at the auditorium they received a blank questionnaire asking their rental figures, home conditions dnd other in- formation connected with the problem. MILITIA BOYS VISIT HERE About 50 boys of the Junior Naval Militia, a private organization not con- nected officially with the Navy De: | partment, yesterday ate lunch in the cafeteria at the department. In trim sailor uniforms, the boys attracted considerable attention. - i Officials said they were from Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey and combined a sightsee ing trip to Washington with a tour of the Navy Department. They are now at Curtis Bay. Md. Geography with Your Milk THE cow is a lesson in geog- raphy. v She is rich in local color. She moved in before the wide open spaces became real estate developments. She be- lieved in seeing America first. She is proud of her Euro- pean ancestry. i For generations the Scotch, and the thrifty folk on the channel islands and in the “low countries” have jeal- ously guarded the purity of their native breeds. And here in America the trust is faithfully kept. No strains are bluer blooded than the Ayrshires, Guern- seys, Holsteins and Jerseys to which the milkmap regu- larly looks for his stock in trade. Thanks to the dairyman’s ac- tive citizenship the cow has been usefully Americanized. Types and blood lines are care- fully selected to assure milk of the highest quality. There are no scrubs on the dairyman’s team. Fol}ufl;hodspelk disparagingly of “her cholo, don’t know the l:-zk busg:u. The cow that makes a first class dairy herd is sure of a place in cowdom’s social register. Lyt PRESIDENT CHESTNUT FARMS- . | CHEVY CHASE DAIRY Before his work it was only known’ happened to. water solutions when an electric current was passed through them. Dr. Fuoss found out what probably will happen in any kind of liquid. Prof. Noyes 15 one of the best known | chemists in the profession. He taught chemistry at the University of Ten- | nessee and Rose Polytechnic, and was | with the United States Bureau of | Standards before going to Illinois in 11907 ‘The high cost of pernicious anemia ‘ has dropped to nearly nothing with a treatment described by Dr. William P. Murphy of Harvard Medical School | and one of the three American Nobel Prize winners in medicine for 1934. | The latest way 1s & hypodermic. in the muscles, of a liver extract. This extract, Dr. Murphy said, costs about $117 a month. For that price, plus a small charge for the physician giv- ing the injection. a pernicious anemia victim can remain well indefinitely. . Express Business Increases. DENVER, April 26 (#).—L. O. Head. president of the Railway Express Agency, said yesterday his firm ex- pects to re-employ during 1935 every man and woman who has been placed on the furloughed list. He said 20,000 employes were dropped from the pay | rall in 1932, but that business is in- creasing. * | campaigns POLITICS CHARGED IN NAMING SCOTT Former Howard U. Dean Says Cobb Has Filled Office Faithfully. To the Editor of The Star: President Roosevelt has at last been persuaded by his political advisors to replace Judge James A. Cobb of the municipal bench by Armond W. Scott, whose only claim to superior quali- fications over that of the incumbent whom he supplants is his political availability. A number of years ago |Mr Scott espoused the cause of the | Democratic party and during several has rendered yeoman service on the hustings. He is among the first colored men of standing to shift his political allegiance to the Democratic side. He is not an over- night Democrat who saw the new light on the eve of the last campaign. For 20 years he has been a successful practitioner before the bar and has maintained a reputation of an up- right and honorable citizen, He richly deserves whatever political reward this faithful allegiance entitles him to. Judge Cobb was listed as a Repub- lican at the time of his appointment | nine years ago. Previous political allegiance, however, is not supposed to count against a judge who faith- | fully performs the functions of his | office. Judge Cobb has so faithfully | and efficiently performed the duties of his office as to secure practicallv | the universal approval of the public which he served without regard to poiitics, race or color. Few public | servants have received such general | approval and recommendation for re- | tention. The bar associations, whiie | and colored, the newspapers of the {city, organizations and individuais who reflect public opinion have united in requesting his retention at | the hands of President Roosevelt, Move Held Regrettable. | The admirers of President Roosevelt and advocates of the New Deal, among | whom the writer wishes to be re- corded, deeply regret that in this in- | stance the President has allowed poli- tics to invade the judiciary. During his entire administration, even if ex- tended for another quadranium, he probably will never be confronted with a clearer case of politics versus effi- ciency, experience and merit in filling a judiclal position than the instance now in’point. During the last presidential cam- paign Candidate Roosevelt casually remarked that the Republican party had a majority of the members of the Supreme Court. President Hoover seized upon this remark as occasion to brand Mr. Roosevelt with the in- tention of intruding polities in the judiciary in case he succeeded to the | presidency. Candidate Roosevelt pre- | served a salutary silence on this point during the rest of his campaign, though he was repeatedly pushed for response by the opposing candidate. His supporters and well-wishers had ! hoped that this was merely an un- guarded remark which carried with it no serious purpose or intention. No act of his administration has seemed to give color of justification to Presi- dent Hoover's criticism except the re- placement of .Judge Cobb. A clearer nstance is hardly conceivable It has been the practice from the beginning of the Government until now, under both Republican and ! Democratic administrations, to allow political exigencies to have weight in filling high judicial places which carry with them interpretation of the pol- icies of the administration. Abraham Lincoln, in one instance at least, C.. Annoyed COMPLAINS ABOUT LOOKING LIKE MAE WEST. Copyright, A. P. Wirephoto. EVELYN OLSON, ‘The 22-year-old beauty operator, complained in a recent letter to Mae West that, because she re- sembles the film actress, autograph hunters make her life miserable “At first I was flattered, but now it nearly drives me crazy,” she said. majority in its favor. Commission decided the choice of a President in 1877 by a strict party vote: members of the Supreme Court, along with the rest. voted according to party predelections. Procedure Apparent. The New Deal has been sustained by several recent decisions of the Su- | preme Court, by a five-to-four ma- Jority. Although this split has not been along party lines, every one knows that in case a vacancy occurs on the Supreme bench, the Pre: dent, the author of the New Deal. will FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 1935. D. C. RANKS EIGHTH IN AUTO FATALITIES 183 Deaths in Metropolitan Area for Year Ending April 13 Reported. The 183 deaths from sauto acci- Cents in the Washington metropoli- tan area during the year ending April 13 placed this region eighth on a list of 86 major cities in the United States. the Department of Commerce reports. ‘The Electoral | asaresult of accidents occurring out- | side the city, the department says. Toll of lives in car crashes in all places reporting to the department for the period is 9,073. . The 10 deaths in Washington for the month ending April 13 ranked the District fifteenth, New York leading with 77. All told the month cost 630 ives. Death rate from automobile acci- dents per 100,000 of population in the District is 37.1 for the 52-week period, increase above the 31 a year ago. Fifteen cities were ahead of Wash- ington in this category, led by Cam- den, N. J.,, with 71.3 deaths per 100,- 000. ¥ A_S reported for the previous four-week period. The most fatal period for car drivers and riders since January 1, 1930, was the month ending April 15, 1933, when 890 persons in 86 citles lost their Il\&:, e 7 Asks Eye for Election Work. EAST ST. LOUIS, Iil. () —Roy L. Owens, s Negro, wants a reward for electioneering—a glass eve. He peti- tioned the City County for the eye, asserting that while driving a car in which he was taking an administra- tion voter to the polls, a pedestrian Total number of auto deaths in | walked into the side of the machine, the 86 cities for the month ending | breaking a glass door. Many persons died in the District | April 13 was 630, less than the 678 | glass pierced his eye, he said. Get Wiselo Hi, HENRY! DIDNT See {ou AT T™E PARTY LAST NIGAT. SICK O SOMETHING-T fill that vacancy with a candidate of | his own economic, if not political per- | suasion. But in case of a judge of small causes. whose decisions can have no conceivable affect on governmental policies, there is no excuse for inject- ing politics into the equation. The Municipal Court of the District of Co- lumbia has jurisdiction over civil causes of limited monetary value. Its decisions are not of record. therefore, they can have no influence or bear- ing upon the broader issues. as ha pens in case of courts of superior juris- diction. President Roosevelt will have to face | frankly the issue before the American people, whether it is the policy of his administration to make judicial ap- pointments to courts of inferior juris- diction for purely political considera- tion. The flagrant instance of the replacement of Judge Cobb is calcu- lated to have an influence upon pub- lic thought and discussion far out of proportion to its inherent importance. KELLY MILLER. Retired dean of College of Arts and Science, Howard University. Russian Teacher to Speak. Prof. George Gamov of the Uni- versity of Leningrad will speax at a nanquet of the Chi Psi Omegza Fra- ternity of the Graduate School of American University at the Army and Navy Club tomorrow at 6:30 p.m Gamov is a visiting professor of theo- retical physics at George Washington University and is a world-renowned authority on nuclear physics. If You Suffer With Kidney Trouble played politics of the shrewdest sort | 4. in the appointment of a justice to the Supreme Bench. The party in power always fills a vacancy on this high tribunal so as to preserve a political ¢ IN AMAZING VARIETY o Thirty styles o Brown and white ‘e Blue and white © Black and white o Brown and beige e High or low heels o Pumps, step-ins, Sig e S i ok C 1115 F STREET N.W n Valley Mineral Water 1105 K St. N.W. CROSBY SHOES « America’s Greatest Value/ BUILT-UP Joithe " SALE OF HOSE Full-fashioned, first 9 NOVELTY BAGS $7.00 Colorful aopios of exponsi Spring novelty styles. 2 SHOES Saturday Open Until 9 P.M. 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