Show Housing Plans As Stimulant Court Notice By BRUCE CATTON It is reported in Washington that the huge federal public works program program program pro pro- gram is going to get another shot in inthe inthe the he arm All the fund origin originally llly voted for this program will willbe willi be c allotted by Janu January ry 1 1 It is doing the recovery effort a great deal of good but it begins to look as i if there I is not quite enough of it I So now it is expected that the administration ad nd administration ministration will boost it to a total I of This being so the next question to decide is for what shall the money be used We certainly need few more public buildings such as and courthouses cs Highways and waterways waterways water water- ways received a huge slice from the I original program So did naval con con- There remains however one field fieldin fieldIn in which almost unlimited sums could be used properly a field in which money spent not only revives industry and puts men to work but bul erects a sounder and safer foundation for or all American This of course is the fi field ld of hous house ing There are in American cities today some homes that belong in inor inor inor or close to the slum classification No o program that we could finance now v could replace all of ot them with wilh decent decem dwellings but it is at least evident that hat we cannot take too o big a bit for forthe forthe the he size of the problem involved These slum homes present presenta a job that the nation could work on for years Now spending money on housing housings is s one of ot the most direct of all ways to o promote a business revival I It puts a n great many men to work it restores realty values it stimulates trade in many basic raw raw materials and industries If It we want to get back to prosperity the themore themore themore more money we pour into slum clearance clearance clear clear- ance plans pans the better beller Yet that is only half of it Even in prosperous times money put into slum clearance would be money well spent It is hard to build a healthy society when a large part of ot the society is housed full fully Slums breed crime disease vice and poor citizenship generally They cost us infinitely more than the cos cosof cost of replacing them They are perhaps the greatest single drag on democracy's democracy's democracy's racy's feet If It the public works fund is is to be boosted the administration will vIll do dowell dowell dowell well to pour every dime available into a housing program |