Message to Congress on War Housing Needs.

To the Congress:

From time to time I have indicated to the Congress the need for adequate housing facilities for the workers moving in vast numbers into areas of expanding war production.

This war involves a total national effort and industrial mobilization. Industry cannot effectively mobilize and plants cannot expand with sufficient rapidity unless there are enough houses to bring the worker to the job, keep him on the job, and maintain his efficiency and morale. More than ever before in our history, we need houses to help win the war.

Thus far, Congress has shown a full appreciation of this need, and has made $1,020,000,000 in appropriations available for the construction of war housing. This figure reduces to its true perspective when we realize that it is less than 1 percent of the funds made available for war purposes. The allocation of war funds for the shelter of the men and women leaving their homes to serve our war industries is a wise and established national policy.

That policy should continue. War production is now increasing in geometric ratio. Plant capacities are expanding faster and faster. Consistent reports from all over the country indicate a rising need for housing, running far ahead of the supply and threatening seriously to reduce the effective use of these plants unless remedied at once.

It is clear that the increase in employment in war industries, during the fiscal year 1943, will amount to several million workers. To reduce the amount of new housing required by this expansion, all reasonable recourse are being earnestly pursued. These include conversion of local plants to war purposes, transfers of local workers to war jobs, and drawing upon new sources of local labor supply. While in some cases adequate housing should be provided to keep families together, particularly where there are small children or where the breadwinner cannot afford to maintain two separate living units, there are other cases where workers may find it feasible not to move their families to the locality of their war jobs. It is estimated that the volume of war workers migrating to centers of war activity will be kept down to about 1,600,000 during the fiscal year 1943.

These 1,600,000 war workers need housing. Existing structures are being counted upon to absorb a large portion of them, despite present overcrowding in many industrial areas. Private enterprise is being relied upon to serve a large proportion of the remaining need, and toward this end Federal legislation has recently been enacted. But beyond these methods, there remains the irreducible requirement for a volume of new public construction, largely temporary in nature and designed to serve the lowerincome brackets of war workers.

The main vehicle for such public housing construction has been the Act of October 14, 1940, as amended, known as the Lanham Act. The funds under this Act, and under other Acts to provide war housing, are practically all committed. They are being relied upon to meet needs arising before the end of the current fiscal year, and also to meet a part of the need for the fiscal year 1943.

To meet the minimum needs of the 1,600,000 war workers migrating to war centers during the fiscal year 1943, I am suggesting to the Congress the enactment of legislation providing an increase of $600,000,000 in the authorization contained in the Lanham Act, as amended. A large portion of these funds will be returned to the Government in the form of rents during the national emergency and through sales thereafter.

There is of necessity a period of several months between the authorization of funds for housing and the completion of living quarters. In view of the urgency of the need, which is a matter of common knowledge, I suggest that this proposed legislation receive the early consideration of the Congress.