DEAR SIR: I am sending this wire to let you know that I heartily support the pending bill you are presenting to Congress to allow savings and loan associations to acquire and develop raw land for small builders. As a small builder I fully realize the high costs of land acquisition and utility installations in modern developments faced by the small builder with the need for new housing at such a high level. The savings and loan associations could perform a great service to the American home-buying public and small builders alike if allowed to aid in this costly phase of home construction. Members of the Northeastern Federal Savings League, comprising the Federal savings and loan associations in New England, unanimously urge the adoption of amendments permitting Federal associations to assist small builders in the acquisition of land for development and also urge that Federal associations have the right to invest in certain securities approved by the Home Loan Bank Board. CARTER K. RUGGLES, HENRY BUBB, Executive Vice President, Northeastern Federal Savings League. WHITINSVILLE, MASS., May 16, 1955. Chairman of Legislative Commission, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C.: I am strongly in favor of pending bill allowing savings and loan associations to aid small builders and developers. This will enable them to finance the land and improvements making it possible for me, a small builder, to have good land and improvements at a cost made possible only by larger-scale land developments. ECONOMY HOMES, DELMA KIDD. HENRY BUBB, SPRINGFIELD, MASS., May 16, 1955. Washington, D. C.: Chairman, United Savings and Loan League, Would appreciate an affirmative vote in behalf of the savings and loan bill currently on calendar. BRAD COLLINS, President. SHREWSBURY, MASS., May 16, 1955. HENRY BUBB, Legislative Committee, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C.: Request favorable action on bill before Congress to permit building and loan associations to purchase and develop raw land for resale to small builders. E. G. BUNKER. SPRINGFIELD, Mass., May 16, 1955. HENRY BUBB, Chairman, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C.: Please give favorable consideration re bill allowing Federal savings and loan to acquire land for development. HENRY BUBB, S. N. D. CONSTRUCTION CO., BELLINGHAM, MASS., May 16, 1955. Chairman, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C.: We favor bill permitting savings and loan associations to acquire and develop land for small builders. Small builders' cost of acquiring, improving, and developing of utilities makes it practically impossible to stay in business. Passage of this bill with aid from United States Savings and Loan League will help to keep the small builders in business. HENRY BUBB, NEW ENGLAND HOMES, INC., BELLINGHAM, MASS., May 16, 1955. Chairman, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C. Favor bill permitting savings and loan associations to acquire and develop land for small builders. Small builders are being forced out of business due to large costs of improving and developing land. RICHARD COSTELLO, Franklin, Mass. WORCESTER, MASS., May 17, 1955. · HENRY BUBB, Chairman of the Legislature Committee, United States Savings and Loan League, Washington, D. C. SIR: As a small building contractor I am in favor of passing the bill to allow savings and loan associations to purchase and develop raw lands for builders. High cost of land development is oppressive to builders. Respectfully, MILTON F. MORAN. Mr. BUBB. At least nine States have enacted specific legislation permitting this type of investment by State savings and loan associations. The results have proven very successful, but that is only 9 of the 48 States. This amendment provides ample safeguards for such investment as the money loaned would be backed by a mandatory 100-percent reserve. Further, the amount that could be so invested is only a small portion of the association's savings. The second purpose of the amendment is to permit Federal associations to participate in the urban renewal program. Although urban renewal and urban redevelopment are key parts of our national housing program, Administrator Cole and all others concerned have admitted that their No. 1 obstacle is lack of adequate private financing. In fact, at this committee's recent round-table session, both Administrator Cole and James Follin, head of the Urban Renewal Administration, stated quite flatly that they just can't find any private money available for rebuilding slum neighborhoods. Federal savings and loan associations are uniquely suited to provide a portion of the funds necessary to rebuild declining neighborhoods. Several associations APPENDIX I Mr. E. A. EVERSBERG, Executive Director, Housing Authority, EIGHTIETH DISTRICT COURT, Houston, Tex., December 28, 1952. Houston, Tex. DEAR MR. EVERSBERG: In response to your request that I withdraw or apologize for a remark, made by me on November 19, 1952, to a litigant in the trial of a case involving the custody of a young child, that San Felipe Courts was not a proper place to rear a child which she proposed to keep there, and your subsequent acts, permits me to say in limine, that it is with regret that I quote from the criminal records of this county, because this will revive old memories that can only serve to reflect upon the San Felipe Courts but by your actions in the matter, you leave me no other choice. Let me also say here, that I am not opposed to public housing, neither do I have any enmity toward the courts or anyone in it but when it becomes necessary to pass upon the custody of a child, I care nothing about what you or any group of persons say or think of my ruling, and do not propose to submit to any pressure or intimidation by anyone. So far as I am concerned, the remark was true and I neither apologize nor retract it. I have told many couples in the past, including some from San Felipe Courts, that their homes were not a proper place for their children and none ever became enraged at this but rather did they seek to improve such conditions. It remained for you to work up such emotion of anger that you completely lost your temper and balance and have sought to make a public issue. On November 25, 1952, you staged a supposedly spontaneous mass meeting after the San Felipe Courts were thoroughly covered by you with written circulars, a copy of which I now have, calling your tenants to action. Your exhortations and language at this meeting would lay a soapbox radical to shame. You evidently accomplished the result you were aiming for, and that is to stir up the emotions of your tenants and fan the flame of class hatred which produced subsequent veiled threats of personal violence to me. You got the publicity you desired and made a hero of yourself for a day. So fearful of the effect of your actions in this matter were some of your superiors that they rushed to your rescue. The mayor says: "It is unthinkable that anyone would make that kind of statement about San Felipe Courts." I wonder if he has forgotten the scandals involving your immediate predecessor and the many accounts appearing in the daily newspapers of crimes emanating from San Felipe Courts over a period of years. His memory is, to say the least, exceedingly convenient for you in this controversy. Mr. Redfield, one of the housing authority commissioners, seems to be similarly weak in memory. The newspapers quote you as saying you might take this matter to Washington. For your information, permit me to say I have no fear of Washington. If you think Washington has any authority over a State district judge, you are grossly ignorant. If you were bluffing, I will relieve you of this task. I shall report it to Washington myself. I hope you are not afraid of losing your fat juicy job from Washington. The last report I had was that this political plum was dropped in your lap and pays $12,000 per year without any requirement as to experience or qualification therefor. Your net salary exceeds mine by $375 per year and it took 25 years of hard work on the bench for my salary to reach this figure. Even at $12,000, your salary is $3,000 less than your predecessor's. And now, as Mayor Holcombe says "facts will tell." Let us see what the official criminal records of Harris County, disclose. The figures quoted herein are not complete because I was unable to locate all the records due to lack of time and opportunity, but I think these will suffice. These records are from the police department, the crime prevention bureau, the probation department, the sheriff's department, and a few from the morals division of the police department and disclose the following: Cases handled by the crime prevention bureau: 1943 to Dec. 1, 1952, total__ 899 2, 078 16 Senator SPARKMAN. About 50 percent? Mr. BUBB. Yes. Many of the savings and loan associations, of course, make FHA loans. Senator SPARKMAN. Do you know what percentage of the savings and loan associations receive loans? Mr. BUBB. I can testify to my own. Seventy-six percent of all our loans are FHA insured and VA guaranteed. Senator SPARKMAN. Any questions, Senator Capehart? Senator CAPEHART. I don't think so. I think the statement is very clear. It speaks for itself. Mr. BUBB. Thank you very much. Senator SPARKMAN. Let me ask you about your second amendment. I am rather intrigued by that. What you propose to do is give the association authorization to use its funds for the purpose of going out and buying a tract of land and developing that land ready to sell individual homesites; isn't that correct? Mr. BUBB. That is correct, sir. Senator CAPEHART. You mean you don't want to do it yourself; you want to loan the money to the other fellows? Mr. BUBB. We don't want to build the houses ourselves. Senator SPARKMAN. The thought is that the individual buyer does not have the opportunity to go out that way in an undeveloped tract, buy a single lot, and bring the utilities to him; whereas, if you bought the tract of maybe 500 homesites in it you could afford to build the utilities? Mr. BUBB. If I may refer to my own town again, it is a town of about a hundred thousand people, and it has gotten down to the fact where there are only two contractors now that can afford to build new housing on any scale because, as you know, it is no different than any other city; all the lots within the city limits have been sold or been built on. Now the city commission has been forced to pass a regulation saying that no land will be taken into the city unless the utilities are already installed. Well, the small home builder that builds 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 houses year can't go out and put in water and lights and gas and streets and sewers. It is just impossible for him to do so. Senator SPARKMAN. Do you have safeguards in your amendments that would prevent the simple buying up of acreage for speculative purposes? Mr. BUBB. Yes, sir; we do. Senator SPARKMAN. Do you require that it be definitely tied to a development program? Mr. BUBB. Yes, sir; and we also have the 5-percent limitation, and we also have the limitation that no association with less than 5 percent of its savings in reserve would be eligible to acquire this land, and they could only do so up to the amount of dollars reserved. So it is protected that way, but I really feel the small-home owner is about to go out of existence if something like this or similar to it is not enacted in the legislation to help him. Senator SPARKMAN. Any further questions? Senator CAPEHART. I think we ought to give a lot of thought to that suggestion. six little boys present and of unnatural sexual acts performed by them and by some of the boys of a nature so base, vile and horrible as to be unprintable. The cases cited above are but a very few of the many criminal violations occurring in San Felipe Courts and by residents of San Felipe Courts that space does not permit giving the details. Now, Colonel, when you talked with me sometime ago, you stated that since you had taken over the courts some 3 months previously, things had gone through a decided change and it was now a model, moral, decent place. As to a great many of the people who now live there, you are probably correct because I know there are many good people, living in San Felipe Courts but let us see what the records disclose as to some of the others. During the months, September, October, and November, 1952, the records of the county show 83 cases from the courts of which 8 were drunkenness, 1 was a sodomy case and 1 was a case where a man raped a 42-year-old little girl in his home in the San Felipe Courts. San Felipe Courts is not known in Houston alone, but the officers in the city of Galveston are likewise acquainted with it. During the year 1952, one girl who had lived in San Felipe Courts was arrested for prostitution there. Three boys were arrested for stealing out of automobiles and one of these boys in 1950 was charged with shoplifting at a store in Houston and was placed on probation at that time. A boy, 19 years of age, was arrested in a stolen automobile with several young boys in his company. These cases are from the police department records in the city of Galveston, and the records were not checked prior to 1952. The records from which the figures above were obtained are now in my possession and if you or any member of the housing authority or the mayor wish to check them over, they will be available to you at your pleasure. And now, Colonel, since you have taken such a great offense at my remark about the San Felipe Courts and claim that it is an insult to the people there, I wish to call your attention to the next paragraph and when you read it, I think you will admit it is not I, but you, who have insulted the good people out there and blacken the fair name of the San Felipe Courts. In the issue of December 15, 1952, of the Houston Press, appears an article by Mr. Carl Victor Little in which he copies verbatim a decree issued over your official signature to the residents of the Houston Authority in Houston (which includes the San Felipe Courts) you used the following language: 66* * * In the face of the acute need for adequate housing for large numbers of the city's population and the growing resentment of the public that we are giving shelter to some illegitimate families *** "*** the Housing Authority of the city of Houston has felt the need to adopt a firm and positive policy regarding illegitimate motherhood of persons living in our projects. "As of January 1, 1953, the following will be the policy of this authority: "Cases of illegitimate motherhood of any member of a family living in any of the projects of this authority will be cause for immediate eviction of the family. This applies to all cases of illegitimate pregnancy occurring after January 1, 1953. "*** We feel that we cannot condone such practices." What greater insult could anyone heap upon a father living in San Felipe Courts than this. It comes as a great surprise to me, your statement that there is growing resentment of the people about you giving shelter to illegitimate families. I had never heard of this and I am shocked to learn it, and I doubt the truth of your assertion. You and the commissioners of the Houston Housing Authority should be ashamed of taking this kind of a position. If there does exist some illegitimacy in your courts, it occurs to me that such a harsh remedy as this need not be indulged in. A more desirable result could certainly be obtained in a more humane, sympathetic, and kindly policy of quietly requesting any such persons as you mentioned to remove themselves from your sacred precincts. The attitude displayed in your letter is indeed a backward step. It takes us back to the Dark Ages when unfortunate girls were branded and cast aside. The more modern method is to treat such cases humanely, with kindness and sympathy and no notoriety. You would by this method of yours put the stamp of shame upon some unfortunate girl whose only sin was that she had loved not wisely but well. If this method of which you speak in your letter is followed, you will place upon the tearful and sad forehead of this unfortunate girl the scarlet letter of shame, you will cast her out of your housing project to the wolves in the cold and cruel world and condemn her to a life of shame, to live the life thereafter of disgrace and make her an outcast forever. I think |