The membership of the board of control for war construction activities of the Hampton Roads district consisted of Maj. Gen. Hutcheson, Capt. Hicks, Mr. Berlingett, Mr. Hix, Col. Butler, Capt. Krenson, and Admiral Harris, representing the War, Navy, and Labor Departments, Housing Bureau, Employment Service, Shipping Board, Fleet Corporation, Fuel, and Railroad Administrations. This Board brought to the attention of the various department heads the conditions existing in the Hampton Roads district by reason of the concentration of work in that locality: the increase in population, exceeding, in instances, 100 per cent; the shortage of labor, material, facilities of all kinds, to carry out the program; the breaking down of public utilities, transportation and water supply and various other community necessities; the inability of local communities to furnish from their own funds the extensions required. They made the urgent recommendation that the Federal Government provide means for taking care of this industrial community that was built up for war purposes, or curtail its expectations in its war program as regards this port of embarkation. The recommendation was taken before the War Council at the White House, and the President of the United States directed the chairman of the War Industries Board to hold a meeting of the various department heads concerned, or their authorized representatives, to confer and agree on a proper method of distributing the cost of the needed community improvements.

At this conference, which Mr. Otto M. Eidlitz, president of the United States Housing Corporation and director of the Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation, attended, it was agreed that the Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation was to furnish funds and take in hand the improvements of the transportation facilities in the Hampton Roads district. There was included in this program, as approved by the President of the United States, the extension and improvement of the Norfolk-Portsmouth ferries as an important transportation artery between the navy yard, naval magazine, and ordnance embarkation depot of the Army, on the Portsmouth side, and the Engineer embarkation depot, new Army Base, and Naval Base, on the Norfolk side. The estimated cost of the improvements was about $1,100, 000.

In carrying out this project it was necessary to consider the conditions existing, namely, that the ferries, which included the terminals and boats operat

ing between Norfolk and Portsmouth, Portsmouth and Berkley, and Berkley and Norfolk, were owned by the city of Portsmouth and Norfolk County, and under authority of an act of Legislature of the State of Virginia had been leased for operation to a private company, known as The Ferries Co., for a period of ten years, such lease to terminate on October 31, 1918.

In order to take in hand immediately the improvements required in the physical property to handle properly the transportation, it was necessary either to take over the property, under authority to commandeer, and leave the question of adjustment of moneys to the courts, or to arrange for the taking over by mutual consent. Accordingly the Housing Corporation entered into a contract with the city of Portsmouth and Norfolk County to take over the property immediately; to pay into it the same annual rental that was being paid to it under the contract between the Ferries Co. and the city and county, viz, $135,200; to furnish additional boats, improve the terminals, and, if necessary, purchase additional property. All such outlay was to be considered a loan on which interest would be charged at 5 per cent, the Housing Corporation to operate the property without restriction under conditions it might find necessary. The income was to be applied to a reduction of the debt or investment made for improvement, with the understanding that at any time after three years after the declaration of peace an appraisal of the improvements and extensions made by the Housing Corporation could be called for by the city and county, and if such appraisal was less than the unpaid debt of the Housing Corporation, a payment to the satisfaction of the amount of the appraisal would be accepted by the Housing Corporation and the property, as improved, turned back to the city and county. But if the appraisal was in excess of the debt the property would be turned back on the repayment of the debt.

In the same way a contract was made with the Ferries Co., the lessee, the property to be taken over and the prospective profits for the unexpired part of the five months of the ten years' lease, as estimated by said accountants, to be paid to the Ferries Co. in full satisfaction of any claim they might have in surrendering the property.

In accordance with these two agreements, on November 1, the ferries were taken over by the United States Housing Corporation. Barclay Parsons

& Klapp, of New York, were retained as engineers; the contract was let to the George Leary Construction Co. for the improvement of the ferries. The construction and operation of the ferries was at this time under the direction of Rear Admiral Harris, C. E., U. S. N., who was acting as assistant to the President of the Housing Corporation for the Hampton Roads District.

Two ferryboats were purchased from Reed & Rogers, directors of the Ferries Company, and two were purchased in New York and brought to Norfolk. A parcel of property adjacent to the Norfolk terminal was purchased and arrangements were made with the city of Portsmouth and an agreement entered into with the Seaboard Air Line Ry., through the Railroad Administration, to use the foot of High Street, in Portsmouth, the intention being to build an additional rack or slip in Portsmouth, and an additional rack in Norfolk, to rebuild the old racks and extend and rebuild the terminals.

On August 20,1919, the entire supervision of the Norfolk ferries, both operation and construction, was placed under the full charge of Mr. William A. Mellen, manager of the Transportation Division of the United States Housing Corporation, at Washington, D. C.

To date, December 31, 1919, there has been repaid to the Housing Corporation from the earnings of the ferries the sum of $115,000, payments being made in accordance with the terms of the contract between the owners of the property, the city of Portsmouth and county of Norfolk, and the United States Housing Corporation, dated October 8, 1918.

At the time the ferries were turned over by Rear Admiral Harris 30 per cent of the proposed improvements had been completed. The work as of December 31, 1919, is approximately 70 per cent complete. WM. A. MELLEN,

Manager, August 20, 1919, to date.

501, 036. 72 669,299.96

$34, 343. 20

ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS.

The Real Estate and Commandeering Division of the Bureau of Industrial Housing and Transportation was formed March 1, 1918, at which time William E. Shannon, of Washington, D. C., was asked to organize it and was appointed its manager. Its functions were chiefly advisory until the acts authorizing the President to provide housing for war needs and giving appropriations for such housing had been passed. It was then intrusted with acquiring for the bureau, and later for the United States Housing Corporation, the real properties determined to be necessary in carrying out the provisions of said acts.

To acquire real property quickly, at reasonable prices, and in parts of the country where living conditions were most congested, was a problem requiring the expert services of realtors and builders. They were best qualified to ascertain values, to make negotiations, to advise as to the most practical choice of sites and their probable investment value, to make the necessary contracts, to attend to problems of title, and later to negotiate and execute sales and dispose of the properties acquired. This division through them has tried to conduct its work in accordance with ordinary business policies.

COOPERATION OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REAL ESTATE BOARDS.

Some time in the early part of January, 1918, Mr. William M. Garland, of Los Angeles, Calif., president of the National Association of Real Estate Boards, after considering in what way and to what extent the real estate men of this country might best assist in the work of the war with respect to housing demands, tendered the services of 150 war appraisal committees, which were selected by the association from as many cities, to the Hon. Otto M. Eidlitz, then chairman of the housing committee of the Council of National

Defense. Experienced realtors from all parts of America were drawn to serve as investigators, negotiators, and as members of appraisal committees.

RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO GENERAL POLICY. One of the original policies of the bureau, as decided upon in May, 1918, was to lend money to housing companies to be formed in communities where housing was determined as needed. Some cities had already formed such companies and other cities were ready to organize them on a large scale, provided this bureau would cooperate in financing them. The Real Estate Division did not favor the policy of lending to one local organization, believing that it would be better policy to lend in such a way as to stimulate building organizations, individuals, and property owners to build houses. Neither of these policies was finally adopted, but the questions raised by them are of interest, and a copy of a statement by the Real Estate Division regarding them is given in Chapter III.

ACQUISITION OF PROPERTIES.

The final policy of the bureau as adopted was to. lease, buy, or requisition lands to provide the necessary housing itself. In order to do its part in carrying out this policy a general procedure was formulated and adopted by this division, which has been continued without substantial changes in all cases of the acquisition of properties.

The preliminary step in acquiring lands was to send two scouts or investigators, selected from the list of realtors furnished by the National Association of Real Estate Boards, to a community where the bureau had been requested to build houses. Invariably the scouts came from a community other than the one to be investigated and did not disclose the nature of their mission. It usually took from one to four days to size up the situation and get an estimate of the value