Evening Star Newspaper, May 27, 1937, Page 5

- HOMESTEAD PROBE 1S URGED BY BYRD Senator Makes Request After Wallace Refuses to Abandon Project. Bs the Assoctated Press. A request for a Senate committee investigation of the Resettlement Ad- ministration’s expenditures on the Bhenandoah homesteads in Virginia was Senator Harry F. Byrd's answer today to Secretary Wallace's refusal to abandon the project. Byrd announced last night he would ask the Senate Reorganization Committee “to investigate and as- certain the true facts of these ex- penditures.” Wallace said the estimated cost of the project had been reduced from $1,500,000 to $993,000, but Byrd re- ported he was informed Tuesday by the budget director that $1,300,884 was allocated for the project. The proposed investigation, Byrd #aid, would be directed at the appar- ent “discrepancy between Budget Di- rector Bell and Mr. Wallace.” Receives Other Complaints. ‘The junior Virginia Senator, who charged that the Shenandoah project represented “gross waste and ineffi- ciency,” declared he had received “similar complaints of waste” in other States and that “all should be fully investigated.” ‘Wallace announced his intention to carry the Virginia homesteads to com- pletion in a letter replying to one from Byrd of May 21. “For your information.,” Wallace wrote, “‘an average cost of $1,200 per house was set for the Southern part of the country, while the average for the North was established at $2,100. Of course, it has been obviously im- possible to build houses within these limits where construction was too far advanced to make it practicable, but | the large majority of farmsteads now being built by the Resettlement Ad- ministration are within the new low- cost figures * * * “It may interest you to know the total cost of Shenandoah homesteads is now estimated to be approximately $993,000, notwithstanding the amounts previously alloted, instead of the fig- ure above $1,500,000 which you indi- cated. This is being made possible by finishing the last two-thirds of the units on the project at the new cost figures. The total costs of the new units will not exceed $3,755.” Byrd had charged the homesteads cost would run from $6,000 to $9,835 | each. The Secretary of Agriculture said *co-operative farms” were not con- templated at the Shenandoah project and that farmsteads would be made up of individual farms, “which you feel are desirable for these mountain Ppeople.” Wallace said “reasonable” rents | ‘would be charged, based on “the abil- | ity of the family to pay” and “a fair | appraisal for the property.” Not to Furnish Refrigerators. Contrary to informatien which Byrd said he had obtained, Wallace said it was not planned to supply the home- | steads with electric refrigerators and | sald “It has never been contemplated | to deny any families the right to bring whatever furniture they have into their homes.” ‘Wallace thanked Byrd for his view- point in regard to the *solvency of the United States,” referring to the last paragraph of the Senator’s letter, in which he said “The sooner we can discontinue such absurd expenditures | as the one I have referred to the | sooner we can restore the country to financial solvency.” Byrd said last night, after Wallace’s reply, that his reference to “financial solvency was in connection with re- | ducing the deficit by discontinuing all | waste of public money. I appreciate | the importance of this, even though others may not be impressed with it.” Henry (Continued From First Page.) the best residential section of Wash- ington. The photogiaphs accompany- ing this article tell their own story. There's one little item of $30 an acre, Senator Byrd claims, for “surveying,” and making topographic maps, ex- amination of the water supply, etc. ‘That is, it allegedly has cost more to survey the land than it cost in the | first place. ‘“‘Surveying” covers the costs on the land before actual con- struction. Perhaps there is a good deal to be #aid for the Resettlement Administra- tion from the viewpoint of the so- ciologist. Few would agree that the mountaineers for whom the home- steads are intended are a fine type of citizens. Perhaps it is justifiable to charge off quite an item for “experi- ment.” Even so, if these places have cost as much as alleged—and Senator Byrd has Dr. Tugwell's own figures for a large part of it—the thing is un- believable. The Shenandoah homesteads con- stitute, at present, seven projects. ‘They are intended to house and provide livelihoods for approximately 200 families of Blue Ridge moun- taineers. They are scattered through five mountain counties bordering the 6Shenandoah National Park from which these families are to be ousted. Five of these projects call for cheap farm houses—of three, four and five rooms—with from 30 to 50 acres of land. The houses are according to & design made up by the Department of Agriculture for a cheap farm house, but they have been somewhat cheapened. Such a set-up is supposed to provide a family with its entire lvelihood. One is a “subsistence homestead” proposition. Even cheaper houses of Several of the resettlement housin, THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1937. g groups nestled in the Virginia Rills near Ida. Byrd and Secretary Wallace have failed to agree on the money to be spent on the project. General View of the Ida, Va., Project Senator set up on from 15 to 20 acres of land. The homesteader is supposed to gain at least half his livelihood from day labor. Village-Farm Set-Up. One—the Greene County project— is a village-farm set-up. Esthetically it is the pride of the Resettlement Administration. Practically it has caused more controversy than all the others and apparently was singled out by Senator Byrd for a supposed $20,000 community house” and be- foreign to the mountaineer character. Here is the story, as related by neighbors. For years the United Brethren Church maintained a school mission in Greene County. In 1934 the mission board of the church suffered heavily in a bank crash. | Some of its activities had to be cur- tailed. Another church had estab- lished a mission in the same neighbor- hood, which was tending efficiently to the needs of the people. The county itself built a first-class public high school, open to the mountain boys and girls. For all these reasons, the church decided to abandon its mission. At this point Dr. Rexford G. Tugwell stepped into the picture. He came to Greene County and saw the mission buildings picturesquely situated on a flatiron-like bluff of land with rich farm land below and around them. Dr. Tug- ¢ j‘x"/\'\ well's esthetic (G o 3= sense was aroused T and also, it is 5 charged, his pro- pensity for exper- iment. He envi- sioned a farm community with a central village. This is the sys- tem commonly met with in Eu- rope where the houses and barns of the farmers are clustered into a village. A man may live several miles from his farm. His holdings may be split up in four or five separate plots. The system is quite familiar to Amer- ican tourists in Quebec, which has retained the French system. This way of farm life never has gotten much of a foothold in America. The American system has been for the farmer to live more or less isolated on his own acres. The pioneer, it is alleged, moved on to avoid the crowds when somebody settled within five miles of him. Locally it is charged that the Tugwell idea was grossly impractical. He would build a village whose inhabitants would farm the surrounding five hundred or more rich acres on a co-operative basis, nobody owning any land of his own, but shar- | ing in the common crop. Various Projects Discussed. Various plans were discussed and, of course, the project cannot be judged on what was in the minds of its found- ers, but on its present status. There was some talk of tearing down the United Brethren Mission and erect- ing an elaborate community house in its place. There was also talk of remodeling it. The idea of the co- operative farm, Mr. Zerkel says, has been abandoned. The mission school may be retained as a combination school, community house and county building. It may be torn down and cause the whole scheme is allegedly | yeqs anq kitchen sinks with running a cheaply constructed ocommunity building erected in its place. About all that is left of the original plan is the farm village. It is dif- ferent. Whether it is practical or not remains to be seen. It may be, as Senator Byrd holds, repugnant to the nature of the mountain families. It's pretty, but local people are cynical. They say Dr. Tugwell’s esthetics and mountaineers will not mix. That re- mains to be seen. Here, by the way, is where it is pro- posed to have not only bathtubs, water, but electric refrigerators. Mr. Zerkel understands that the Reset- tlement Administration is to get these for nothing, from some which have been salvaged by the Government. Where the houses are isolated, he says, nobody has ever dreamed of any sort of regrigerators. Here, where they are packed close together, some sort of refrigeration is necessary, and it has been calculated that, with a power line close at hand, the electric type will be the cheapest. .. ROCKEFELLER’S BODY TAKEN TO CLEVELAND Special Car Brings Remains to City Where Magnate Started Career. By the Assoctated Press. CLEVELAND, May 27.—John D. Rockefeller returned in death today to the city where he started his busi- ness career as a $4-a-week clerk. A special car which left the finan- cier's Tarrytown, N. Y., home after funeral services yesterday brought his body to East Cleveland, a few blocks from Lake View Cemetery, where a grave had been prepared between those of Rockefeller's mother and wife atop a verdant knoll shaded by ven- erable elm and maple trees. The simplest of burial services had been arranged for the 97-year-old founder of the Standard Oil Co., who died Sunday at his Winter home in Florida, PRINCEGEOR.GEANADDEb TO RACING COMMISSION By the Lissoctated Press. BALTIMORE, May 27.—Gov. Harry Nice said today he has decided to name Frank Small, Prince Georges County, to the State Racing Com- mission. Small will succeed Edwin Warfield, jr., whose term expires July 1. He is & Republican and is a Washington automobile dealer. PONTIAC DELIVERY WE NEED USED CARS Flood Motor Co. Direct Factory Dealer 4221 Connecticut Ave. Clev. 8400 Na. 2300 about the same general structure are @ ESTABLISHED 1865 @ REAL SUCCESS Takes Years to Win Confidence must be created through fulfiliments of tasks, not merely promises. Barker’s leadership in Washington has been ac- complished by the practice of fair dealing for 72 years. No short cuts, just better service . . . each and every doy. GEO. M. BARKER o COMPANY o LUMBER and MILLWOR 649-651 N. Y. Ave. N.W. 1523 7th St. N.W. NA. 1348, “The Lumber Number” NN\ AU AN I A 7 7 W (00 ) 0\ EW RN ~ WEEK-END SPECIAL Two pounds our best assortment, $1.25 (Regular $1.60 Value) Holiday Boxes Red, White & Blue Mints, 50¢c Ib. 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Acheson told some 200 Yale alumni assembled in the Mayflower Hotel that in his opinion the system of freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior classe: Wwill be discarded by many colleges be- cause “undergraduates are no longer boys” and should be encouraged to develop along individual lines. Other speakers agreed that the modern undergraduate has a more adult viewpoint than his predecessor, and is apt to be a serious student of world affairs, eager to broaden his knowledge of social, political and eco- nomic problems. Those who addressed the alumni in- cluded Attorney General Cummings, Representative Wadsworth of New York, Wayne Chatfield Taylor, As- sistant Secretary of the Treasury, and James M. Landis, chairman of the Se- | curities and Exchange Commission. The Attorney General said a stimu- | lation of free debate and free thinking | among undergraduates would aid 1n the preservation of the democracy. and Wadsworth told of being im- pressed with the keen interest in cur- rent issues exhibited by Yale students he addressed recently. Taylor declared that the United States will be better governed in the future because students of today are better informed on current issues. LET WASHINGTON’'S OUTSTANDING RUG CLEANER Clean Your Rugs The Institute of Carpet Manufacturers of America, Inc., recommend taking your cleaning problems to a professional, responsible rug cleaner. They say “* * * the cleaning should be entrusted to the hands of an expert who is provided with adequate and modern equip- ment * * %" BRITAIN ABANDONS SPAIN TRUCE PLAN Plea to Humanize War Has First Place on Agenda of Powers. By the Associated Press. LONDON, May 27.—A British plan for an armistice in Spain was virtually abandoned today. ke The disclosure was made along with plans for a simple plea to both sides in the Spanish civil conflict to “hu- manize the war.” This was put in first place on the agenda of the European Non-intervention Committee. Previously, a truce to permit the withdrawal of all foreign fighters in Spain had been suggested by the British. Russia Blocks Move. Soviet Russia’s members of the com- mittee yesterday blocked immediate dispatch of an appeal to Spain when the non-intervention body attempted to extend the note beyond a mere request to Spaniards to cease the bombing of ‘“open” towns. A new draft of the note will be considered by the committee Friday for final action. It was understood the committee also wanted to ask the Spaniards to refrain from all aerial bombing. Soviet delegates objected. ‘Will Study Technical Plan. The Non-Intervention Committee, after sending the “humanization” note to Spain, is expected to consider a technical plan now in the hands of member governments for the with- drawal of volunteers without an armistice. Informed sources said if all govern= ments agreed to withdraw volunteers then the question of an armistice might be returned to the committee’s agenda. FIERCE ATTACKS RENEWED. Rebels Again Try to Close Bilbao's “Back Door.” HENDAYE, Franco-Spanish Fron- tier, May 27 (#).—Paving the way | with a dawn strafing of Basque lines by fleld guns and airplanes, insurgent | forces on the Bilbao front renewed | flerce attacks today to close the | Basque capital's “back door” to Cen- | tral and Western Spain. Hard fighting was reported along the Nervion River and in the hills | around Orduna—scene of a Carlist defeat in 1836—where insurgent Gen. | Emilio Mola's present-day Carlists struggled with allied units of his me- chanized forces to choke beleaguered Bilbao. 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