THE PROBLEM.

After every available means had been utilized to solve the housing problem of the war industries by saturation and transportation, certain communities required immediate construction of houses. This meant suitable land must be found and acquired quickly and at reasonable prices. Houses, dormitories, and apartments, and often other necessary buildings, such as schools, stores, etc., must be planned; streets, blocks, and lots must be laid out, contracts let, houses built, and utilities-gas, electric, water, sewerage systems—provided.

CHOICE OF SITE.

When it was determined that house construction was necessary in any project city two real estate scouts were sent there and spent from one to four days (not disclosing their mission) getting estimates of values of available vacant tracts. This was done as a check upon possible future increases in the asking price for land, which might follow the announcement of the Government's intention to build.

Immediately thereafter a committee on sites, consisting of a realtor, an engineer, an architect, and a town planner (armed with information from the preliminary investigation, from the War and Navy Departments and records of the scout report) went there for detailed study. They considered the cost of sites, the cost of providing utilities and the speed with which they could be provided on each site, the relative accessibility of each to the factory, and the types of houses needed for the war emergency with reference to their ultimate sales value. The architect considered local house types and materials, the preferences of the workmen's wives as to plan and equipment, the prevailing method of heating and lighting, etc., and the cost and available supply of

sand, gravel, brick, lumber, and other building materials. The engineer took up with the municipalities and the utility companies the layout and type of existing water, sewerage, gas and electric systems, and gauged the cost of their extension.

The town planner figured the most economical manner of planning each available site for streets, blocks, lots, walks, open spaces, civic center, etc. The realtor got hold of local assessments, previous sales prices of the sites under consideration and of the adjoining sites, and arranged for appraisals by the mayor, the tax assessor, the chamber of commerce, the board of trade, the Rotary Club, and the real estate board.

A joint report was submitted before a staff conference with War and Navy Department representatives recommending a certain site or sites. Sometimes. the conference recommended that certain matters be further investigated. Generally, the report was accepted, and the Real Estate Division was instructed to negotiate for the purchase of the land.

APPRAISALS AS SAFEGUARDS.

When the appraisals above mentioned were returned to the Real Estate Division they were carefully examined, together with the reports of the tax assessors, the real estate scouts, and such other information as was available. An estimate of the real worth of the land was drawn up, which was called the official appraisal.

As many of the most prominent men in the community had been taken into the confidence of the bureau as appraisers and had expressed an opinion on the respective values of the several properties under consideration, they were in a position to follow subsequent negotiations with intelligent understanding. The press of the community was also in touch with

the situation, every move in the program having been made in the light of full publicity and nothing withheld from the public. The fact was made clear to all that the intention of the Government to purchase land is no excuse for an increase in price.

That these community appraisals were a real safeguard to the bureau almost goes without saying. For example, in a New England city an old hotel was officially appraised at some $90,000, the community appraisals ranging from $85,000 to $110,000. The owners of the property, however, demanded, in substance, $150,000 and the project was abandoned by the bureau without recourse to requisition. The people of the city were bitterly disappointed that the bureau did not take over and improve the old hotel and the buildings adjacent to it, but because of the cominunity appraisals no criticism attached to the bureau and its course in the matter could not but be approved.

Community appraisals operate in the interest of good citizenship and against bad. Conspiracy has little hope of success when confronted by honest opinion. In a southern town, community appraisals put it within the power of the Real Estate Division to reduce the asking price of land selected from $2,200 per acre to $250 per acre. It was community appraisals also that enabled the division to purchase the property of a large estate in New England at 10 cents per square foot in the face of a well-supported asking price of 25 cents per square foot.

ACQUISITION OF LAND BY PURCHASE.

The corporation after the recommendation of the committee on sites, confirmed in staff conferences, would authorize the acquisition of certain lots or parcels of property in a given community. A negotiator was then sent out to obtain this property. The negotiator, knowing the actual values of the sites in question, went to arrange for the purchase of the selected site at a reasonable price not above the official appraisal. His recommendation was submitted to the president of the Housing Corporation. Great care was exercised to make sure that the negotiator approached his task with a full sense of personal responsibility in carrying to the project the true spirit of the Department of Labor.

Although his instructions provided for many contingencies, the outstanding facts were kept constantly before him that he was expected to acquire property in the exercise of his best judgment "within the established limitations of cost" set out in his memoranda; and that while under his certificate of appointment he was clothed with the fullest authority, "the president of the corporation desires

each negotiator to be reminded that the Department of Labor expects him to exercise his arbitrary power as little as possible and to secure results by negotiation rather than compulsion."

It was made plain to him, further, that all contracts, leases, or other instruments committing the corporation must be taken subject to the approval of the president of the Housing Corporation.

In so far as practicable, the negotiator was expected to preserve and, if necessary, to create legitimate competition between owners of property and to discourage the conviction on their part that. their property had definitely been selected by the corporation. In the beginning the use of options by the negotiator was encouraged, but the practice was later abandoned because of the time required to close options into contracts. The greater part of the property acquired by negotiation has, therefore, been taken under contracts made subject to the approval and ratification of the corporation.

REQUISITION.

The element of speed in the taking over of real property is obviously a controlling factor in any war program, and where it became apparent to a negotiator that certain properties could not be acquired without material delay he was authorized to arrange for their immediate requisition. It has been necessary to resort to this procedure, however, in relatively few cases. The power of requisition was recognized to be a sacred trust, and the Housing Corporation made use of it only after every effort to secure property upon a reasonable basis of price had been exhausted.

Requisition papers were in all cases prepared by the counsel of the Real Estate Division upon the basis of the statements of facts returned by the negotiator and were executed by the Secretary of Labor with full knowledge of the necessitites of each particular case. In all cases of actual requisition the negotiator was charged with the duty of assembling by affidavit and appraisal all the available relevant testimony. This precaution in many instances resulted in an immediate adjustment of the requisition as soon as the strength of the Government's testimony became evident. So carefully, indeed, was the power of requisition handled that the Housing Corporation has no knowledge of a single case of requisition unsupported by sound public opinion.

CLOSING OF CONTRACTS AND TAKING OF TITLE.

Upon the completion of his work in the field the negotiator made return of the several contracts for real property that had been taken for a given project,

and the counsel of the division immediately began to close such contracts as had been finally approved and ratified by the corporation.

The policy of the division was to decentralize this labor as much as possible, and the local attorneys for the project were made responsible for the detailed preparation of a proper settlement record upon which the Fiscal Division made ultimate payment of the consideration in exchange for the deed.

AMOUNT OF LAND ACQUIRED.

The Housing Corporation contracted for the purchase of real estate in 47 cities, comprising approximately 19,000,000 feet of platted land and 2,800 acres of unplatted land. The total cost of such land amounted to approximately $4,879,700. In addition there was requisitioned approximately 5,000,000 feet of platted land and 492 acres of unplatted land, valued at approximately $1,095,918. In all there were 988 contracts and 124 requisitions. The power of requisition had, therefore, to be utilized in only about 12 per cent of all real estate negotiations.1

THE PLANNING OF HOUSES AND SITES.

The preparation of plans for the various housing developments decided on from time to time, on the basis of the investigations elsewhere described, was carried on under the direction of three closely related divisions—the Architectural Division, the Engineering Division, and the Town Planning Division.

COMMITTEES OF DESIGNERS.

The corporation appointed a committee of designers, consisting normally of three persons, jointly responsible for the proper planning of the development as a whole, but chargeable, respectively, with professional responsibility for (a) architectural matters; (b) matters of municipal engineering, including street paving, sewerage, water supply, and, in general, all "public utilities," except transportation utilities (the latter being handled in detail by the Transportation Division); (c) matters of general town planning, and especially the adaptation of the project to the topography, the locating and grading of streets, building lots and public grounds, and, in general, all surface improvements outside of buildings.

For these three functions the men were chosen from the professions of architecture, municipal engineering, and landscape architecture, respectively. The combined work of each committee of designers, like the combined work of the three Design Divisions, constitutes town planning, in a broad sense, but it seemed best to make one division and one member of

1 For detailed statement of the work of the Real Estate and Commandeering Division see Appendix VII, p. 135.

each committee of designers especially responsible for the general site planning and for the definition and record of those general decisions of plan arrived at jointly which control and correlate the special work of all three members of the committee of designers and to designate that one by the term "town. planner."

These designers were employed under contract and compensated for their services by a lump-sum fee, determined in advance, plus the reimbursement of their expenses, as specified and approved by the corporation. The committee was in effect one firm for the purposes of the particular project, jointly responsible through its chairman to the corporation for the efficiency, speed, and coordination of all the designing work. The Design Divisions gave the committee of designers general directions and aided them in every way, but did not relieve them of responsibility for the completeness and efficiency of the design in each particular case.

The committee of designers was called to Washington for instructions before beginning work. All the information on the work to date was put at the disposal of the designers, and they were made familiar with the general procedure of the corporation and furnished with copies of general instructions and standard information. They went first to the site of the project, studying it in detail on the ground. They then prepared and submitted personally, in conference at Washington, preliminary plans and estimates showing what they agreed should be done under the circumstances and what the total cost should probably be. These plans and estimates were gone over in detail by each designer with his respective division, and the whole problem was then discussed in staff conference.

When the general scheme was approved, the designers proceeded to make final plans, specifications, and estimates, incorporating any modifications made by the corporation, and working out details, eventually submitting their work again in personal conference in Washington, to be finally checked and sent out for bids by the corporation.

While the work was under construction each designer still remained in touch with it by having a representative on the ground to act in an advisory capacity to the works superintendent, explaining the plans and specifications and arranging any necessary modifications without loss of time and without undue change in the original intent of the design.

ENGINEERING REQUIREMENTS.

To economize time and effort in the building of homes for war workers it was necessary to take

large tracts of land, subdivide these into lots for the erection of houses, instead of building on hundreds of scattered lots throughout the city. The use of large tracts, though it provided the advantages of concentrated operations, necessarily involved the construction of new roads and the extension of sewerage systems, water supply, electricity and gas, provision for drainage, street lighting, fire protection, and other municipal improvements. This necessitated the employment of engineers who had had specialized training in municipal problems. Engineers were first employed to make investigations of proposed sites in order to see if economical and quick development of the municipal improvements was possible. Many proposed sites were abandoned upon the advice of the Engineering Division because their use would involve too great expenditure of time or money.

PROJECT ENGINEERS.

Standard instructions, specifications, and drawings were drawn up for the use of engineers employed in the local projects, and the work of the project engineers was directed and closely supervised by the Washington office. Some sixty of the leading sanitary and municipal engineers of America were employed under contract and at fees less than those ordinarily earned in private undertakings. The average of fees and overhead allowance has been but 1 per cent on the cost of utilities. In addition to his fee, the project engineer received the actual cost for his assistants, traveling expenses, and such other obvious expense as could be readily checked by the Fiscal Division.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH MUNICIPALITIES.

The construction of municipal utility improvements to the extent of over $13,000,000 was contemplated under the war program. Negotiations were, therefore, necessary with the mayors, city councils, and city engineers of over 60 cities in order to establish a satisfactory working understanding with the municipalities. Patriotic cooperation of the municipalities was solicited and in many cases was generously extended. In some cases loans to municipalities were necessary to make it possible for them to extend their improvements to the housing developments.

Assistance in securing permission from the Capital Issues Committee for issuance of securities was often essential, and in most cases the Housing Corporation had to assist the municipality in securing priority orders for material from the War Industries Board. Through the negotiations of the Engineering Division aid was secured from municipalities for contemplated utility and municipal work to the extent of $3,103,000, or 24 per cent of the total cost of such improvements.

Assistance in the form of construction service was actually provided to twelve municipalities by the Housing Corporation to the extent of $367,682.50, repayable by the municipality with interest at 5 per cent.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANIES.

Gas, electric light, and water supply, and in a few cases heating facilities and telephone service, had to be secured generally through negotiations with private.utility companies. In all there were some 250 negotiations of this character. Extension of these utilities could be financed through the approval of the Capital Issues Committee, where good banking loans could be had, but where they were not available such utilities have at times been financed by the corporation direct, making loans upon such collateral as was available. Such negotiations were conducted with 48 gas companies, 40 water companies, and 67 electric companies, or a total of 155 utility companies. Aid in financial investment from the utility companies to the extent of $1,600,000, or 12.3 per cent of the total cost of the utility investment was secured. Loans at 5 per cent interest were made to five companies to the extent of $664,525.99.

TOWN PLANNING.

While negotiations were being made for the purchase of the selected sites, the Town Planning Division was devoting careful attention to the general site planning, that is, the arrangement of blocks, lots, streets, and public open spaces, so that all the requirements of convenience, economy, and appearance should be as well served as possible in the circumstances. This division was concerned, for instance, in determining the proportion of land under consideration which was available for development as house. lots; the necessary density of occupation in view of the probable cost of land and of development; the existing available facilities and possible necessity for increased facilities in respect to schools, playgrounds, public open spaces, recreational facilities, stores, and other neighborhood services of a public or quasipublic sort. It was responsible for checking in detail. the general plans, construction plans, specifications, and estimates by the town planner members of the committee of designers.

The work of the town planner began at the very moment of his inspection of a proposed site by the exercise of his knowledge and his power to visualize. Whatever the existing condition of the area under consideration, he had to see what it offered as a developed site; how its exposure would suit its occupancy; whether the topography was such as to afford convenient, economical, and agreeable disposition of com

munication and subdivisions. He had to see what natural features, if any, might be retained or improved to serve as recreational and breathing spaces, if not fit for development as house lots. Further, though the design of the buildings might not be his task, yet their grouping would be, as well as their immediate setting, and he had to have enough of architectural knowledge to realize the architectural possibilities. These were the things that his trained eye had to perceive at once; the confirmation of his judgment was to come when, with a close topographical survey before him, he made his plan of roads, lots, parks, and other communal features, worked out his grades and established the balance between cut and fill which is essential to the economy he must never lose sight of. The town plan largely controlled the necessary cost per house for sewerage and other utilities and for foundations, cellars, and the grading and improvement of lots, the work of the town planner being done in close cooperation with both the architect and the engineer. Just as in the design of a building the practical, the sensible, the convenient are the best possible foundation for the good appearance which comes from the artist's touch, so in the town planner's layout, grading and planting, those same elements were necessary. The curving street that minimizes cost of grading and gives picturesque interest to the buildings along it must be a convenient means of circulation and make for the most advantageous subdivision of the lots on which those buildings are set. This work, no less than that of the architect, was controlled by practical considerations, such as the cost of moving cubic yards of earth, the percentage of rentable area to be got out of a given site, the convenience of access generally and individually, the share of the total cost to be borne by each housing unit, and its relation to the paying power of the lessee or buyer. (See Report of Dec. 3, 1918, pp. 73 and 74.)

STANDARDIZED ARCHITECTURE.

American designers had had but limited experience of industrial housing. The question was how they would rise to the emergency when placed in possession of all such material as could be gathered together and reduced to available form for their guidance and speedy use, for it was plain that when work began no time should be lost. Whatever experience American and European designers had had was sought, and outside of actual construction they had given much thought to the problem expressed in papers and discussions at meetings and in a variety of designs. Everything of the sort was collected, including numerous plans put forth by manufacturers and contracting companies. Special type designs were in

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vited from architects, who responded generously, and similar designs were made by our own staff. There was thus collected a great amount of valuable reference material now in the files of the corporation.

The next step was in the preparation of standard designs for those buildings which investigation indicated would be the most prevalent types. These were bungalows (three to six rooms), houses (four to eight rooms), apartments (two to six rooms), boarding houses, dormitories, hotels, cafeterias, recreation buildings, stores, schools, etc., and were intended to serve as condensed practical guides to architects employed rather than as hard and fast forms to be rigidly adhered to. In short, the idea was that the architect, while thus held to a proper limitation and given a satisfactory basic solution, should be free to exercise his own inventiveness both as to improvement of the plan and as to its executed appearance. Besides these there was prepared a very complete set. of standard details for such items as window frames, trim, doors, blinds, stairs, cupboards, and the like; also hardware, plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, etc., and a printed statement of minimum requirements. The desirability of such uniform standards was twofold. First, within the strict requirement of economy in construction but little latitude in the variety of these details was permissible or could be of advantage; next, uniformity is a necessary factor of quick, large-scale production. (Report of Dec. 3, 1918.)

EMPLOYMENT OF ARCHITECTS.

In creating an organization to handle the work of design and construction of housing for workmen and their families as a Government function, one of the many questions to be determined was the method of design. Of two main lines of policy, one was to be chosen to act as architect for all the contemplated work or to employ therefor the architects in private practice. For reasons of economy chiefly, the latter course was adopted.

Upon coming to Washington for instruction concerning his project, the architect had interviews with each of the divisions concerned: Architectural, Engineering, Town Planning, Requirements, Construction, and Operating. He also received the following documents: General instructions, directions to committee of designers, instructions of field staff, copy of contract form, insurance letter, housing standards, prints of standard types of houses, supervision of construction letter, standard details, lighting-fixture standards, hardware standards, millwork details, specifications for electric wiring, standard general specifications, and various bulletins. Sketches were then prepared by this architect and forwarded to the