246





RECORD   AND   GUIDE





August 21, 1920





is brought down substantially,  either by  natural process     in the wage scales of labor may be anticipated, but not
or by Governmental action, or both, a proportional reduction     before.

Many  Plans  Proposed   to Relieve  Housing  Shortage





SENATOR CHARLES C. LOCKWOOD, Chairman of the
Joint Legislative Committee which has been holding pub¬
lic hearings to find a solution of the housing shortage, is
preparing recommendations for legislation to be considered
by the Special Session called by Governor Smith for Septem¬
ber 20.

Senator Lockwood believes that the rent laws are working
about as well as could be expected and do not need amend¬
ment. He will urge several measures to furnish "more money,
more men and more material for home building purposes."

Among his proposals will be the exemption of mortgages
from income tax, a measure which failed of passage at the
last regular session by a small margin, and a bill to exempt
all building improvements for dwelling purposes from ta.xation
for a period of ten years also is under consideration.

Legislation which would discourage general commercial
building in favor of construction of dwellings until the emer¬
gency is passed is looked upon as a possible means of di¬
verting labor  into  the  business  of  building  dwellings.

Henry H. Curran, President of the Borough of Manhat¬
tan, proposes an amendment to the Constitution which would
permit the city to go into the business of building and rent¬
ing dwelling built with city money on city owned land.

F. H. La Guardia, president of the Board of Aldermen, fa¬
vors a similar arrangement, but does not believe that an
amendment is necessary to give the city the authority. Other
measures suggested are that both the city and the State be
authorized to lend money to builders and that bonds be issued
for that purpose if necessary.

The State Banking Department will suggest a bill placing
the bonds of State Land Banks under the head of "State in¬





strumentalities," which automatically exempts them from in¬
come taxation, thus offering a special inducement for the in¬
vestment of capital in mortgages.

This proposal is advocated by Charles O'Connor Hen¬
nessy, President of the Franklin Society, former President
of the National League of Co-operative Savings Associations
and a director of the Land Bank of New York.

Mr. Hennessy suggests "that at the coming extraordinary
session of the Legislature a declaration be made that, in
view of the present public emergency, bonds of the Land
Bank of the State of New York, when properly secured by
dwelling house mortgages deposited with the State Comp¬
troller, be regarded as instrumentalities of the Government
of the State issues for a public purpose.

"This declaration will, it is believed by competent legal
authorities have the effect of exempting the bonds from the
Federal income tax. In addition to this, it will be urged that
the Legislature authorize the direct investment of State funds
by the Comptroller in the purchase of Land Bank bonds,
whenever these bonds are issued in response to the mort¬
gage money and loan associations of the State. These bonds
would  be  issued only up  to $20,000,000.

"The effect of this legislation undoubtedly would be a
great and immediate outflow of savings and loan association
funds for the accommodation of home seekers who are now
turned away."

Frank Mann, Tenement House Commissioner, favors the
exemption of mortgages from income taxation and the ex¬
emption of new construction from local taxation for a lim¬
ited period, as indirect subsidies to builders, so that money
will  be  induced  to  enter  the  mortgage market.





Last  Link  in   Complete   Interborough   Subway  to   Be  Opened





E.\STERN PARKWAY and Xostrand avenue subway
routes of the Interborough system will be opened to¬
morrow morning. These extensions to the Interbor¬
ough system in Brooklyn total about seventeen miles of single
track. With these extensions running, the only uncompleted
part of the Interborough system will be the extension of the
Queensborough subway line from Grand Central west to
Times Square.

Train schedules for the extension provide a seven-minute
service from the terminal at Flatbush and Nostrand avenues
and from Utica avenue and Eastern Parkway and a nine-
minute service from President street and Nostrand avenue.
The running time between the Utica and Atlantic avenue sta¬
tions, a distance of 3.90 miles, will be nine minutes, and the
4.67 miles between Flatbush and Atlantic avenues will be
covered in fifteen minutes. The running time from the ter¬
minal at Utica avenue to Van Cortlandt Park and 242d street
in the Bronx will be one hour and eleven minutes.—Transit
Construction Commissioner.

All the stations on the extensions will not be ready when
the trains begin running, and no attempt will be made to use
the unfinished stations until they have advanced far enough
toward completion to make them safe for the heavy traffic
expected.

The first station stop after Atlantic avenue will be at
Franklin avenue. Other stops on the Eastern Parkway ex¬
tension will be at Nostrand, Kingston and Utica avenues.
On the Nostrand avenue extension the stops will be at Presi¬
dent, Sterling and Winthrop streets, and Church, Newkirk
and Flatbush avenues.

A statement by Frank Hedley, president of the Interbor¬
ough Company, said, in part:

"Trains will enter Manhattan through the Clark street ter¬
minal  and go  northerly over  the  West Side  route, touching





stations at Wall street, Park place, Chambers street, 14th
street, 34th street (Pennsylvania Station), Times Square and
the theatre district, 72d street, from which point part of the
trains continue north through Washington Heights to Van
Cortlandt Park and part turn to proceed to the Bronx and
Bronx Park.

The transfer point in Brooklyn for Brooklyn passengers
desiring to go to the East Side lines in Manhattan, to Bowling
Green, Wall street. City Hall, Brooklyn Bridge, 14th street.
Grand Central Station, Lexington avenue points, Jerome ave¬
nue or the Bronx or Queens is at the Nevins street station in
Brooklyn.

"At the Nevins street station there is an 'island' platform
and passengers wishing to go on the East Side lines in Man¬
hattan have only to step across the platform from the new
West Side trains to the East Side trains."





THE U. S. Geological Survey reports coal production and
transportation as follows:
Despite a decrease in production of 1,523,000 tons as
compared with the previous week, due to the strikes of mine
laborers in Illinois and Indiana, the end of July found bitu¬
minous production since the beginning of the year to have
reached 302,727,000 tons, an increase of 44,500,000 tons over
the  amount  mined up  to July 31  last year.

Anthracite production also compares favorably with 1919,
having reached 50,575,000 tons cn July 31, as compared with
47,307,000 tons at the  end of July of 1919.

Tidewater shipments during the week of July 31 estab¬
lished what the survey believes to be a new record for coal
handled over tidewater piers in a single week. The total
tidewater dumpings amounted to 27,461 cars, an increase of
1,771 cars over the previous week. A total of 104,826 cars
for the month of July was divided among the various  ports.