IVant'a il Home? Build

From American Savings and Loan Ncws

I note that you have been discharged and wish to return to your former occupation of building homes. I am glad to explain to you the governmental procedures under which you will have to operate. You can build only when you have secured priorities from the National Housing Agency. They issue these drawing on a pool of critical materials allocated each quarter under the Controlled Materials Plan of the War Production Board. They make these "determinations within the framework of reference after preliminary explorations channelizing construction realistically and factually, although not expeditiously instituted, focusing always on the indispensable inmigrant need." They consult with the Army, Navy, Maritime Commission, OPA, WPB, WMC, SPAM and anyone else in the neighborhood who likes to be consulted with.

You then build housing for "inmigrants"-nsf the Irish, the Armenians, or the Greeks, but just people who go from one place to another. This plan works just fine excepting that vou don't really get to build any houses because the Area Production Urgency Committee-affectionately referred to as A-PUCK-will disapprove most of the recommendations made by NHA.

So upon your return home you must find out whether you are in a War Manpower area classified as 1, 2, 3 or 4. If it is either class 1 or 2 you may get priorities to build H-l housing under Title VI or H-3 housing under Title Ii. You have a choice of Section N3 or 207 under Title II or 603 or 608 under Title VI. If it is a class 3 or 4 area you can't build Title VI under H-I but you can build H-2 or H-3 under Title II. By this time you have become a fullfledged entrepreneur and if there are inmigrants in your parts rvho are 4-F to the draft board they are still 1-A for H-2 or H-3 to the NHA, FHA, OPA, WMC, WPB and SPAM-on a modular dimensional coordination basis. This is a little confusing until you learn that H stands for hardship--and this means you !

A long while ago the WPB decided that if a man moves he be.comes eligible by certification for H-1 ; if his house burns down he becomes an H-3 case, and somewhere in between are veterans who should be 1-A but who are really H-l or H-3 for Title VI housing. My advice, therefore, is to concentrate on building H-1 or H-3 for veterans although it is true that the last Title VI authorization, having brought the total to a mere $1,800,000,000 will soon be again exhausted-so, FHA won't be able to issue you commitments anyway.

As you know, Congress passed a law so that three million veterans could secure homes. llowever, under Title III of this act Section 501 for H-2 housing is impracticable and Section 505 is impossible. This is because construction costs today are entirely unrelated to the "FHA stabilized cost evaluation factor after straining out purely irrelevant temporary low-cost determinations." Last but not least OPA will give you such a low rental or sales price that you may lose money if you do the job although they do protect you by placing ceilings on everything except labor rates and building materials, some of which have nearly doubled in cost.

Looking back over the advice I have given you herein, I am inclined to suggest that the best thing you can do is to re-enlist in the Marine Corps-request assignment to the Far Pacific where life is far more simple and endurable. Sincerely yours,

Frank W. Cortright, Executive Vice-President National Association of Home Builders

Three Loggringr cmd Lumber Compcrnies Merge

Three logging and lumber companies in the Lane County, Oregon, area have merged into the Cascade Plywood Corp. They are the Oakridge Timber Co.; Delaware Corp., with headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and Cascade Plywood Corp., with its mill at Lebanon and iogging units in Lebanon and Sweet Home area.

Add new uses of lveed-v76ed shavings as decorations lor women's hats.

GLEAMING,

WAttS ond CEILINGS

For kirchens, bothrooms, ond commerciol instollotionswherever o high-sheen, eosy-lo-cleqn qnd duroble surfqce is desired. Equolly suitqble for new conslruclion qnd re' modeling; opplied oyer existing wolls, regordless of condition.