L946 Sft{OULD BE A Poutez'! Vrl/ 2"y

BY i'ACK DIONNE

The story goes the rounds oI the young lellow who fell crsleep one dcy, trnd drecrmed thct the Great Spirit hcd crppecrred to him ctnd told him he could hcrve whctever he wished lor. He wished thcrt he might get cr chcnce to shoot Hitler. Instcntly he wcs cwakened by the ringing of the door bell, cnd the mail man hcnded him a letter which notilied him thct he hcd iust been clcrssilied One A.

It looks like pcrint, pcinting, pcriniers, crnd pcrint merchqnts had been clcrssified lA in the cnmy of the home lront. Yes sir, it sure looks thcrt wcy. It's what gcmblers call "cr nclurql." And it should last for "the durqtion," crnd then get better.

New building is lorbidden Yet the more thcrn 130,000,000 people who live i1 rhis counEl' must hcrve shelter for themselves and their possessions. And shelter deteriorcrtes. It hcrs to be kept up iust cs much qs crn qutomobile does, il it is to give proper protection" crnd prevent deteriorcrtion of mctericl* Repcirs cre not restricted by lcw, crlthough they ARE by shortcrge of mcrterials. There is one thing crrd one ONLY-the use of which is not restricted either by legislction or supply -but which goes lcrr to solve the problem oI keeping our shelter in repcrir crnd good order during these wcrrtimes, and thct is PAINT.

The country is lull of cash. Read the pcpers crnd you will discover thct the chiel dcrnger ol inflcrtion comes from cn qbundcrnce of buying power, qnd q shortcrge ol things to buy. Thct situation is an cce-in-the hole for the pcrint business. In whcrt we were plecsed to ccll normcrl times one of the ihings thct slowed up pcint scrles ct all times was ihe incrbility ol lhe prostrrect to pcry lor it. Not now. Alnost qnyone who owns <r building ccnr allord to pcint it if he tcrkes <r notion.

So the pcint lolks hcrve crces bcrck-to-back now; c surplus oI buying power, crnd c tremendous NEED for these things thct pcrint lurnishes It requires no silver-tongued orctor to convinee the owner of cr building thcrt is showing sigms oI weqr thcrt cr coct or two of good pcdnt would be c swell investment right now. He rcttles those lcrzy dollcrrs in his poclcet, cnrd the sqle is two-thirds mcrde. So qll over this land, no matter where you live, there is cr grecrt opportunity this yecrryes, this winter-for the pcrint salesmcm to get in his work. In every town cnd hcrmlet there is c supply of pcinting mechcrnics thct fit into that €troove better thcrn they do cnywhere else. They <rre neither wcr industry nor lighting mcrtericrl But they ccn pcint. And they need the worlc

Pcrint selling todcry looks like c pushover. A covering of pcrint meculs protection" insurcnce, becutilication, cnd sctislcrction ol mcny sorts. Paint costs crre not high. Pcrint lcrbor is not high. There is profit in paint to cll concerned with the business. And the grectest profit ol cll is to the building owner who does the buying. Pcdnt is c bcdge oI solvency ct crny time. h these tines it is doubly so.

The lumber deqler who is not pushing pcrint now, is pulling bcckwcrrd in his business hcrness.

FHA Activitie s in 1942

Constructing a substantial volume of war housing in 1942, providing the financing framework for essential repairs and maintenance necessary to keep the Nation's existing housing supply in habitable condition. during wartime, and in general providing a sound financing medium for necessary home mortgage transactions were the principal accomplishments under the FHA program during 1942, FIJA Commissioner Ferguson reported in a review of the agency's wartime operations. The list of FHA achievements include:

Construction of approximately 160,000 new dwelling units was started by private builders under FHA inspection and in conformity with FHA minimum construction requirements. Of these, approximately 156,000 were located in the critical war housing areas.

Loans of approximately $155,000,00O involving 435,000 individual properties were insured under Title I of the National Housing Act. These loans financed essential repairs and maintenance of existing houses, remodeling of existing structures to provide additional living quarters for war workers, and fuel conservation through oil burner conversion and installation of insulation.

Loans totaling approximately $1,125,000,000, representing all types aathodzed under the National Housing Act, were insured during the year. Of these, approximately $770,000,000 financed new dwelling construction, substantially all for occupancy by war workers, and about $200,000,000 represented mortgages on sound existing home properties. The balance were insured under Title I.

On behalf of WPB, FHA field offices received, processed, and forwarded to the WPB more than 60,000 applications for WPB preference rating orders on over 430,000 dwelling units in proposed privately financed projects for war workers. Other important services of like character were performed for,the WPB in connegtion with privately financed war housing and the conservation of critical war materials.

ALAMEDA, STOCKTON HOUSING APPROVED UNITS

Additional war housing has been approved for and Stockton, it was announced today by Eugene Jr., regional representative of the National Agency.