Show Housing Bill Suffers S Rough Going in Congress 1 Taft Breaks With Conservatives in Backing Administration Measure Range Long S Building Policy Asked By BAUKHAGE News New Analyst and Commentator f t Service 1616 Eye Ere street NW S- S Washington D. D C. C S V WASHINGTON ASHINGTON D. D C. C It Is fully 1 t SZ expected that what Is left of the j j. j plan for settling Americas America's number one problem the problem of findIng findt find find- t Ing a home will home will be cut up by congress con con- conI I 1 gress and pasted together In some new strange shape by now If it is c still in the works when you read p. p these lines there Is a possibility that what finally emerges from the hopper hopper hop hop- per will be more what the patient planners wanted and less like what the various pressure groups wanted The interesting thing to me mc about I the debate on this measure in the the- beginning was this although the administration administration administration ad ad- ministration features of the bill went squarely against the conservative f grain of our conservatively in ingrained ingrained in- in grained congresses It had one champion who usually sits as far faraway faraway away as he can possibly edge from anything of even a pale pink hue I refer to Sen Robert Taft Republican Republican Republican Re Re- publican of Ohio What That Mr Taft says never falls on deaf ears In the senate even if the ears are doubting ones and sprout from the heads of S those cruelly affronted members S once referred to as the sons of wild jackasses Vox Taft to the conservative conservative conservative Is his masters master's VOX The two key features to the ad ad- ministration bill were the subsidy which would grease the way for quick construction of the lower- lower priced type of homes and the price ceiling which would make it cheaper to live in a house than sell re-sell for Cor profit That Is the present owner of a house could sell his property for any price he could get without restriction but owner number two would have to sell re-sell it for what he paid plus of course reasonable cost for improvements These two conditions may have been good or bad Whether they were or not they were opposed for two main reasons first because they were considered government interference and therefore radical and second because powerful lObbies lob lobbies lobbies bies the profits of whose principals Is would have been curtailed put aUthe all aU the pressure they could on congress In spite of the feeling that the spirit of the housing bills biBs was liberal liberal lib Jib I eral if it you prefer that word to I or New Senator I I Taft supported it He had made a careful study of housing and cometo cometo come cometo to the mature conclusion that the administration idea as embraced inthe in hi hithe inthe the bills introduced by Senator Wagner Wagner Wagner Wag Wag- ner in the senate and Representative tive Patman in the house was as nearly the right sort of legislation as could be obtained The CIO dO took tools the same view Now when viewpoints as different as these two arrive at agreement the simple citizen Is Inclined to think that their Joint approval is pretty sound sponsorship S Labor Wants Planned Action The CIO dO has printed a very businesslike businesslike businesslike busi busi- booklet on the subject In which we are reminded that we have always had a housIng shortage shortage shortage short short- age because our cities just grew like Topsy that the shortage is steadily growing and that estimates show that by the end of this year almost three and a a- a half million families will willbe willbe willbe be homeless unless they are taken in by relatives or double up with others others others-as as the President suggested they will have to do meanwhile S The reason that we always had a housing shortage according to the CIO do is 13 because we never had a housing policy We have a public school educational policy a police protection policy a war and navy policy As a result we have a pretty good school system our police I give us reasonable protection to tc life and property we have never neves lost a war nor suffered invasion But we cant can't have roofs roots over our heads That Is what the current housing legislation is supposed to provide One more factor may be Injected I Into this controversy which could affect affect af at feet it materially the veteran chief chie sufferer from homelessness is as yet ye I unorganized Once organized he hi could pressure out the other pressure S groups C C S Since I heard v forthright speeches S of Senator and Secretary Secretary Secre Secre- Secretary tary of State Byrnes which sounded I Ia a sharp warning to Russia that th the e United States was ready to carryout carry carryout carryout out its International obligations and use force to check cheek aggression the following sentence has been before me the American people now in the height of their might and majesty are arc no longer a sovereign nation That sentence Is from Nathaniel Peffer's book Americas Place In Inthe Inthe inthe the World which the Saturday Review Review Review Re Re- view of Literature calls a stubbornly stubborn ly and trenchant discussion I agree with that description of the book and believe that what Peffer Petter says sas is true and that it Is vital for Americans to understand why it Is true Petter Peffer says that we have lost our Independence and our autonomy in that which matters most in the life of the nation peace nation peace or war And then he shows with his stubborn realism how this has come corne about how In the beginning before belore 1776 America had no control over its own destin destiny because it was so weak now because It Is so strong And he shows clearly and convincingly convincingly con con- that no matter how anxious we may be to stay out of foreign broils any major war In hi Europe Europe Eu Eu- Europe rope or Asia will eventually involve the United States Our sincere but romantically futile dream of splendid splendid splendid did isolation Is forever broken Must Lose Life To Gain It Many thinkers have pondered over this question In tracing Americas America's Americas America's Amer Amer- ica's leas International affairs this authoritative authoritative authoritative au au- au- au and provocative writer traces our course through the great crises whose milestones are arc marked with the dates 1776 1787 1861 and I I I I 1941 1911 1917 was the warning that was not heeded We were drawn into a war then not of our own making but hut we did nothing to shape world affairs which followed and which inexorably drew us for the second time into a world conflict in which we had no direct concern It may seem a far cry from diplomatic diplomatic diplomatic dip dip- Intrigue and the vicissitudes of human hatreds organized murdel mur- mur del dei and lust to the world of the spirit but I could not help thinking as I considered the efforts I witnessed witnessed witnessed wit wit- at of a certain text In the Bible the words of Jesus JesusI as recorded in the gospel of St. St Mark h For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels gospel's the same shall shan save it I am well aware of the fact that the devil may quote the Scriptures with the best of us but I do not think one has to be charged with tactics when he traces a parallel between the loss olour of ol our nations nation's sovereignty in the sense which Mr Peffer Petter expounds It and L the loss of our spiritual life in the New Testament sense It Is needless to iterate here that thai t the he principles upon which this nation nation na na- t tion ion was founded derive directly f from rom the Christian philosophy However However Howver How How- e ever ver we have never fully lived up t to o that philosophy since we still feel i it t necessary to indulge in that highly highly high high- l ly y unchristian procedure which I once heard the late Lloyd George de de- cribe as organized savagery war War has always been justified as a measure of defense defense defense-defense defense of our citizens our territory our sovereignty We have now lost our sovereignty In I n that we must be willing to die to save saye it Let me replace the word life lile with the word sovereignty in hi the rest of ot the Biblical text which would then read Whosoever and that means a nation as well wen wenas as a person shall lose his sovereignty sovereign sovereign- ty for my sake and the gospels gospel's the same shall save it Until America and all the nations are willing to sacrifice their sovereignty to a higher high high- er world organization whose tenets arc are square four-square with the gospels gospel's in war var we can never hope to win back a sovereignty in accord with the Christian principles which are the foundation of our na na- na- na tion S S S SA A former fonner American military government government gov gov- government man says our state department department depart depart- ment meat and Britain and France are keeping Russia from searching Nazi assets In foreign countries It seems strange that if Russia has been slighted in hi any way we haven't I heard about it in a loud voice before now I 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