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On the 1st of October, when they renewed their leases, a lease was left at my door and I looked at it and was agreeably surprised to find that it was for $50 a month, and I quickly signed it. I lived in that apartment until 1920, and in October, 1920, the apartment changed hands several times. I was in the West, and my wife was there alone and she sent a frantic telegram to me that they had raised, the rent to $75, and if I did not pay it I had to get out. The CHAIRMAN. What did you pay first?

Mr. FARRAR. $55, then $50, and in 1920, two years after the war, it was raised to $75 per month.

Along in November of this last year, 1924, a mimeographed notice was sent around to the tenant of apartment 314, Clifton Terrance, reading:

You are hereby notified the rent is increased to $90 per month.

I paid no attention to that notice, but a little later the tenants of that apartment house, and there are some 1,000 or 1,200 that live in it, had rather an indignation meeting which was fully explained in the papers and I, unfortunately, made a speech. Shortly afterwards I was served with notice that I had been sued for $2,500 and, as I have been a clerk here in the Senate, it was easy enough for me to pay it.

On the 8th of December I received a notice that 30 days from the date thereof application for warrant of eviction would be made, that I was occupying these premises by sufferance. I went to see the parties afterwards and told them that I was a tenant by sufferance and I spoke to a man who claims to be the manager of the place. Well, after some little discussion I told him it would cost me a little more to move, that it was unfortunate to move in the middle of the winter, so I paid him a little more and my own trouble is settled, but I am speaking in behalf of other tenants, particularly Government clerks.

There are very few of the Government clerks who come here with any expectation of remaining for any length of time. Your tenure of office is necessarily short, and the clerk generally can not afford to buy a home and he must depend upon the apartment house; and I believe that all tenants are entitled to consideration on the part of Congress, that they ought to have at least some tribunal before whom they can go, even though they might not get relief, because it gives them the satisfaction of knowing their case has been heard.

Now, in this apartment there is a lady who is present here to-night and who will probably testify, so I won't give her name at this time, who tells me that she talked with the managers of this apartment over the 'phone, and they stated to her that Mr. Friedberg, who claims to be the attorney for Low and Baskin, for that office, had stated over the 'phone that they were raising the rents in the apartments because the other real estate men and men who owned apartments complained and told them they must do it, because the rents in that apartment were lower, room for room, than any other apartments. That naturally would lead me to infer that there was a combination for the fixing of rents. I have not the time nor inclination to go and run that information down. I am giving it to the committee for what it is worth.

Now, with a Rent Commission, the tenants have some place to go, some one whose duty it is to look into those matters and adjudicate

the differences between landlord and tenant. You can call it a rent commission or a board of conciliation or anything else, but the object of it is the same.

There was a statement made last night at this meeting, according to the press, which I, as one of the tenants, bitterly resent. I have been here as a clerk in the Senate some 23 years and I am well known to every Senator present, and I am not given to sabotage or anything of the kind. Members of Congress live in that same apartment, the assistant secretary of the Senate lives in that apartment and they are a high class of people, people who are not in the habit of defacing walls or breaking lights or anything of that kind, and I am resenting the imputations cast by Mr. Low in his testimony last evening.

A few days ago at your hearings there was a statement made that after the Rent Commission went into effect no houses were built for rental purposes. I have spent the better part of 25 years in Washington, and several times tried to break into the real estate game during the summer recesses, and I have never seen any buildings. except in a few isolated cases, but not any general building proposition, that were built for rental purposes. They were built for sale purposes. The house that I occupied before I went into Clifton Terrace was a house the sale price of which was $5,250, and $250 was the commission. There were two trusts-one for $3,500 and one for $1,500, making a total of $5,000. I was given to understand that the first trust covered the cost of the building. The second trust was the builder's profit, overhead, and other things which had to be discounted.

Since this statement was made I have talked to several real estate men who are in the business and they tell me it has not been the custom and that they do not know of any particular instance where any builders have built houses for rental purposes. There might be individual cases, but it was not the practice.

I think that is all I have to say.

I might say something about the value of this Clifton Terrace Apartment, but that will be brought out by another witness.

(By direction of the chairman, there is incorporated at this place the following affidavit :)

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ss:

Jacob Friedberg being first duly sworn according to law, upon oath deposes and says that he is counsel for Maurice Baskin and Maurice Baskin & Co.; that the statement of one Robert A. Farrar hefore this honorable committee that some woman, not identified, had told him that the deponent had told her " that other real estate owners of the District of Columbia had complained about the cutting of rents in the free and open competition prevailing in Washington in the renting of apartments"; that such statement alleged to have been made by the deponent never was made by him to Robert A. Farrar, to any definite woman or any unidentified woman, or to any person whomsoever. Deponent further states that he has made the statement to various people that Maurice Baskin & Co. are not affiliated with any real estate organizations of any nature, and that his policy has been to cut rents below the market, and to keep his apartments rented regardless of how much he had to cut the price on apartments to rent them. This incidentally is a fact well known to all persons conversant with the rental business in Washington.

JACOB FRIEDBERG.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 29th day of January, 1925. [SEAL.]

HARRY C. ROBB, Notary Public, District of Columbia.

STATEMENT OF MRS. R. U. COMPTON.

(The witness was sworn by the chairman.)

Mrs. COMPTON. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I bring my case here, which is not a special case, but, I think, typical of hundreds of cases of Government clerks at average salaries, and I think it illustrates that rents in the District of Columbia at this time are not based entirely on the economic principles of supply and demand or on fair earnings on capital invested.

In 1914 I signed a lease with Swartzell, Rheem & Hensey for $37.50 a month for a very comfortable four-room, kitchen, and bath apartment on East Capitol Street and Grant Road. I lived there until 1917, when I left the city. In the early part of 1918 I came back to Washington and was unable to get an apartment at all. Finally some friends who had an apartment in Clifton Terrace shared it with my mother and myself. They paid $60 a month for this four-room, kitchen and bath apartment.

In 1919 they gave up the apartment and left the city and we took the apartment over because it was the only thing we could find at that time. It was more money than I felt I could pay, but it was the only home I could find, so we took the apartment and rented out a room. We kept that apartment from the spring of 1919-I may be a little mistaken in my dates, but I think I have them exact.

In the fall of 1919 I was asked to submit to a raise of $15. That made it $75 a month. I paid the $75 a month without any objection, because it seemed on a parity with other rents. I think the next year-and it may have been two years after that-I got a notice from Smith, I think in July, that if I did not come down and sign à lease for the apartment at $95 a month by the 1st of August-and my other lease was running until October-they would take over the apartment.

Representative HAMMER. What year was that?

Mrs. COMPTON. I think that was 1921. I would not be positive whether it was one or two years between the $75 and the $95. I would have to check up my rent receipts, but I think it was just the one year between the $15 raise and the $20 raise.

I paid the $95 raise because I had to have an apartment, and when I looked around it did not look like I could do better, and when I compared it with the rents that the Rent Commission had fixed I could not see that I was very much worse off than others, and I thought that it was a war condition and things would adjust themselves. So I did not go to the Rent Commission, but I paid the $95.

In the meantime I had answered ads, these very attractive ads, and I had worn out several pairs of shoes in the three years answering ads and going to the different rental agencies in an effort to better myself, and a year ago last August I took a smaller apartment in the same building.

I knew of a tenant who was leaving and who paid $80, and I asked if I might have the apartment of three rooms, kitchen, and bath. They said they did not know that the apartment was going to be vacated, but they saw no reason why I should not have the refusal of it. So I made my plans to move, but then they said

that the apartment would be $100 a month. I said "No, I could not pay that.

I was paying $95 for four rooms, kitchen, and bath and they would not let me have the other apartment at $80. So I sent them notice that I was going to vacate the $95 apartment. That was a year ago last August. Then, when I sent in the notice, they said I could take the $80 apartment, and we had a little work done upon it. The kitchen walls were kalsomined and the two floors were varnished. The apartment is on an alley and beside three chimney stacks, but it does have fresh air and sunshine and I am not complaining particularly except that I think a clerk on an average salary ought to be able to get a comfortable, sanitary home for less than 50 per cent of his or her income.

Representative HAMMER. Why didn't you stay at Grant Place? Mrs. COMPTON. Because I left the city, and when I came back I could not get it.

In regard to the situation at Clifton Terrace just now, I notice from the report in the paper this afternoon of Mr. Low's testimony that he said the number of employees had been increased rather than decreased. I do know that when the present management took over Clifton Terrace they dismissed the trained employees only and the service has been very satisfactory until the last few months. As I came out of my apartment this evening I counted five lights burned out going from my door to the front door of the apartment. That is just a sample of the service.

Now, at $80 a month, we should have service.

The CHAIRMAN. Does any member of the committee wish to ask any questions?

(No response.)

STATEMENT OF MISS LOUISE WEIGHTMAN.

(The witness was sworn by the chairman.)

The CHAIRMAN. You have a sworn statement already in the record?

Miss WEIGHTMAN. Yes, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. Can you now add something new?

Miss WEIGHTMAN. I thought possibly you might want to ask me some questions.

The CHAIRMAN. Well, we have not the statement before us now. It is all entered in the record. If you have anything additional that you could present, we would be very glad to have it, but if you have not, we already have your statement in the record.

Miss WEIGHTMAN. And then it will not be necessary for me to add anything more?

The CHAIRMAN. Not unless you have something new that you would like to add.

Miss WEIGHTMAN. Nothing new. I just wanted to say that when I took the apartment I now occupy at the Berkshire it was owned by Mr. James L. Carrick. I paid for it at that time $35 a month. Senator JONES of Washington. When was that?

Miss WEIGHTMAN. That was in 1912. I am very bad on dates, but it was a good while ago.

Representative HAMMER. Come up nearer the present time. Miss WEIGHTMAN. That was the price of it then, and it remained at that price for a good many years. It was then increased to $45, then to $50, and last fall to $75. The apartment has deteriorated right straight along in all these 12 years. The one thing we have gained is a magnificent acquisition of dirt. I have never seen quite so much dirt anywhere as in that apartment, in the entrance and in the hallway and in the basement.

We are supposed to have service, but it is abominable, and every friend I have wonders why I do not move, because they say they are tired of ringing the phone and not getting any answer.

Senator JONES of Washington. Why don't you have them find you a good apartment?

Miss WEIGHTMAN. Well, I do not know. I guess it is because they can't.

I would like to ask these gentlemen if any of them know why it is that such law-abiding and self-sacrificing men as the property owners in Washington City should have to have an occasion of this kind, and why people are so unkind as to come up here and talk about them? It must be that they do not read the newspapers and they do not know how hard these men are trying to please the public and make everything nice and comfortable for them.

I would also like to ask, since they are trying so hard, why they object to any law that assists them in their endeavors to make people happy and comfortable? There are several questions of that kind that I would like to have them answer. If any of these gentlemen feel like answering these questions, perhaps they could tell me some of these things, and I would like to find out several things. I would like to find out why they claim that there is no building going on when the city papers are full of houses being built, more than ever before, because people are forced to build because they cannot afford to pay the rent; and when we hear of the wonderful things they claim to be doing, I am reminded, as I wrote to my friend Senator Ball a few days ago, of a conundrum, and the answer to that conundrum was, "The boy lied."

Mrs. COMPTON. May I add a postscript?
The CHAIRMAN. Yes.

FURTHER STATEMENT OF MRS. R. U. COMPTON.

Mrs. COMPTON. I am not accustomed to giving testimony and I have omitted one of the main points I wanted to give. It was that I found dozens and dozens of apartments on the first, second and third floors with east, north and south exposures, but I could not find anything to better myself at the price, but I did find a number of apartments vacant.

The CHAIRMAN. Now, we have with us the Rev. C. A. DeVaughn.

STATEMENT OF REVEREND C. A. DEVAUGHN.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. DeVaughn, I hope that you will ask your witnesses not to take up too much time. I see by the record here that you have five witnesses that you would like to put on the stand. Reverend DEVAUGHN. Yes, sir.

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