gram, that it is meeting the housing needs of low-income families on an economical basis, and that it should be expanded in accordance with the provisions of the bill favorably reported by your committee.

VII. HOUSING RESEARCH

Research, which has made our Nation's competence in scientific development and industrial skills a subject of world-wide respect, should be more fully used on a larger scale to obtain more and better housing for all American families. In the judgment of your committee, this will require the authorization of a comprehensive Federal research program to the end that the already extensive facilities of our educational institutions, industry, foundations, private laboratories, and of government may be better coordinated and focused on the achievement of the housing objectives stated elsewhere in this bill. It is this kind of a Federal research program that is contemplated by this committee in title III of this bill.

The need for such a program has been emphasized repeatedly over the long period during which this legislation has been under consideration, and was a major recommendation of the Joint Committee on Housing. It has been supported during our recent hearings by witnesses broadly representative of the American people. Among these witnesses were several industry spokesmen who recognized the value of Government research to supplement the results of industry's own activities.

Perhaps the most persuasive argument for the type of research program authorized by the bill is the simple fact that all who have an interest in and responsibility for housing, need and will benefit from the results of such research. The homebuilder who faces the task of constructing more and better homes at lower prices to maintain his market will make better headway if he is in a position to apply the results of research into basic cost factors. Labor employed in home construction will he helped toward the goal of more stable employment at good wages. Better information resulting from research will help the lending institutions in the wise selection of investments for trustee funds, and it will help the producers and distributors of building materials and equipment who have been severely handicapped by the traditional boom-and-bust behavior of construction activity in the past. Governments-local, State, and Federal-need more sound factual information on which to evaluate the actions they should take in carrying out their respective responsibilities in housing.

Last year, Congress authorized a limited program of housing research. Under the terms of the Housing Act of 1948, the Housing and Home Finance Agency has undertaken research in the improvement and standardization of local building codes and in the standardization of the dimensions of homebuilding materials and equipment.

This program has permitted a start in long-needed research in two admittedly serious problem areas. While valuable and tangible results may be expected from the authorization for technical research in these two areas, your committee is convinced that a broader and more comprehensive research authority is needed. The answer to the housing problem will not come from limited engineering research alone. Important as it is to seek engineering and technological progress, we cannot overlook the fact that many of our housing difficulties are

economic in origin. Complementary means must be found to remove these obstacles if full use is to be made of the results of technical research. In this connection, your committee is in agreement with the testimony of the Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency when he stated:

The housing problem has so many facets that it would be unrealistic to place all our hopes on any one field of action. Housing research must be broad enough to disclose the possibility of constructive action in every aspect of housing, whether it be engineering, financing, management, labor, local administration or Federal.

It is my belief that the Federal Government should therefore broaden its research and assume the leadership in analyzing all of the factors that in any way impede housing production, add to costs, prevent the improvement of our housing standards, or cast doubt on the value of housing as an investment. The formula of a progressively higher volume and lower unit costs is too successful in too many other American industries not to work in home building.

The research title clearly indicates that the Housing and Home Finance Administrator is to undertake a vigorous and realistic program of research into all of the recognized obstacles to the attainment of the housing objective set forth in the bill.

In recommending this title, your committee wishes to emphasize certain underlying considerations which will guide the administration of this legislation. In the first place, it is expected that responsible leadership will be exercised by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator in formulating and carrying out a program of comprehensive housing research. At the same time the bill recognizes that other Government agencies are now engaged in studies, experiments, and investigations which bear on one or another phase of housing, either directly or incidentally. The Public Health Service of the Federal Security Agency, the Construction Division, the Bureau of the Census and the National Bureau of Standards of the Department of Commerce, the Forest Products Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor are examples. The bill calls upon the Housing Administrator to consult with and make recommendations to such other departments of Government concerning action which may be necessary to overcome existing gaps and deficiencies in the field of research. In addition. the Housing Administrator is authorized to undertake studies in cooperation with industry and labor, with agencies of State and local government, and with educational and other nonprofit organizations. The committee also expects that the research conducted under the provisions of H. R. 4009 will be directed, insofar as possible, to those problems whose solution holds the best immediate promise of wide application by industry and local governments. It will, therefore. be necessary for the Housing Administrator to give special attention to the task of disseminating the research findings, and to promote widespread acceptance and use of the practical results of such research. This is extremely important, for the benefits sought to be achieved by this program cannot be fully realized unless the practical results of technical housing research are made available in usable form and are generally accepted and used.

In this connection your committee calls specific attention to the fact that the research title of the bill, like other titles of the bill, recognizes the basic local responsibility for housing. Thus, research in local building regulations, sanitary codes, etc., will be pointed

toward the development of better standards and model forms for the guidance of appropriate local officials. Communities will be assisted and encouraged to develop their own market surveys, and the results of major research activities will be made vailable for practical local application.

The foregoing approach does not represent a novel departure for governmental research activities. For a great many years, the Department of Agriculture has been responsible for a broad and continuing program of agricultural research. In discharging this responsibility the Department engages in direct research activities, utilizing the resources of other Governmental agencies where feasible, and works cooperatively with universities and other public and private research groups.

In carrying out a program of housing research, all available investigative devices must be put to work to identify the precise nature of the productive process carried on by housing enterprises. In many cases, it will be necessary to develop entirely new devices, and employ them in developing better methods of financing home production, model building regulations, health, safety, and sanitation codes, adequate guides for layout and planning, and many other such aids to the builder and the local officials with whom he must work. It is obvious that many lines of inquiry must be pursued simultaneously and that many different types of talent must be employed.

The evidence as to the research now being conducted in the housing industry presented to your committee did not disclose any indication that these activities were encompassing all of these problems, or that the results were being widely disseminated. Your committee does not feel that the complex nature of the housing industry permits this kind of a result. No particular segment of the industry is large enough or can have a broad enough economic stake to do the kind of a job that needs to be done.

In this connection, it must be recognized that most of the housing in this country is built by the relatively small-scale builder. In 1938 the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 86 percent of our home building was carried on by builders who constructed between 1 and 5 houses in a year. While the number of large-scale builders has undoubtedly increased since that time, particularly in the large metropolitan areas, all available evidence indicates that the large majority of our building is still done by the relatively small-scale builder. Therefore, any research program, to be truly effective, must take into account the production problems of both large and small builders, and must be concerned in considerable degree with the future development of more economical and efficient building organizations. And it must be directly concerned with getting the results of that research into the hands of the builders for practical application in actual operations.

The typical small builder today cannot afford to engage in research himself, or to overcome single-handedly, for example, the obstacles of over-elaborate building codes. Yet your committee believes that every possible encouragement should be given to these small builders, who comprise a substantial part of the Nation's small business enterprises, to expand their operations, and become better able to deal with. technical, financial, and management problems. The results of technical, economic, and administrative research can be very useful to these

builders if they are made available to them. During its hearings the committee received concrete evidence of how Government research in only two design problems could result in substantial savings to American home buyers if applied by a considerable number of these builders throughout the country.

Your committee is firmly convinced that the research program contemplated under title III of the bill is highly desirable to facilitate housing progress. The research program offers the best promise of attaining real and lasting cost reductions through technological progress in an industry which, it is generally agreed, has lagged behind other American industries in this respect. It will result in a better understanding of complex market factors, and will provide the factual data and statistics needed to evaluate the magnitude of the housing problem and the relative success of efforts to meet it. It is a program which, under Government leadership, will bring real and lasting benefits to all those interested in housing-the consumer, as well as industry, labor, local governments, and the Federal Government.

VIII. FARM HOUSING

Your committee regards the farm housing title of the bill as essential in dealing with the phases of the national housing problem covered in this bill. Heretofore, farm housing has been largely ignored both in our housing and our agricultural programs. It has been treated as a byproduct of efforts to increase production, improve the soil, provide power, or as a mere supplement to town-and-city-housing programs. The result has been, as all of the facts before your committee indicate, that the quality of farm housing as a whole is considerably below the standards of nonfarm housing.

Your committee is aware that the higher level of agricultural income in the past several years has raised the standard of living on the farm, and that a considerable amount of home improvement has resulted. However, despite this relatively improved financial position for farming as a whole, a large proportion of our farm families is still unable to obtain adequate housing. The committee is informed that even in 1947 more than 2,000,000 farm families produced farm products valued at less than $1,500. It seems evident that most of these farm families would not be able to improve their housing conditions without financial assistance along the lines provided for in this title of the bill.

In 1947, also, 19 percent of our farm housing was in need of major repairs, as compared to 8 percent in the case of nonfarm housing. Overcrowding, which is usually associated with cities, was proportionately twice as prevalent in farm housing as in nonfarm housing. Only 1 out of 5 farm dwelling units had both private bath and flush toilet compared to 73 percent of nonfarm housing. Two-thirds of our farm dwellings lacked running water. Only 3 out of 5 had electric lights.

Improvement of farm housing standards is essential to a sound and secure rural economy, and to attract and maintain on the land a productive type of person.

One reason that farm housing problems, as such, have received less attention thus far than those of urban areas is the peculiar and specialized nature of farm housing. The farm home must be considered as

part of the income-producing property and plant from which the farm family derives its livelihood. Measures designed to serve nonfarm housing needs are therefore not adaptable to meet the different basic conditions with respect to farm housing needs.

The farm housing program provided for in the bill, while small in relation to the need, will make possible a significant start in the improvement of farm housing. At the same time it will provide positive experience through which this approach can be progressively developed and improved. In recognition of the particular considerations which surround the farm housing problem, title IV has been designed to meet the three major types of farm housing situations, and its administration has been placed under the Department of Agriculture, where it can be appropriately related to other farm services and programs, in particular to the farm rehabilitation programs of the Farmers Home Administration.

The three types of assistance provided under the bill are:

1. For owners of self-sustaining farms who are unable to obtain from other sources the financing needed to provide adequate housing for themselves or their workers, or for other farm-building improvements, loans are provided with terms up to 33 years and at not more than 4-percent interest. Such loans may be secured by the farmers' equity in the farms.

2. For owners of farms not self-sustaining at the time but which offer reasonable prospects that they can be made self-sustaining, by improved farm practices or by farm er largement or development, loans of a similar type are provided, with annual contributions available as a supplement where needed for a period of not more than 10 years.

3. The third type of assistance proposed relates to farms that offer no practical prospect of being made self-sustaining. Small loans, and a limited amount in outright grants, are made available for families residing on such farms. The purpose of this assistance is not to provide new or even adequate housing of a permanent nature, but to make it possible for families to make such repairs and necessary improvements to their substandard housing as will furnish them and the rural community at least essential health protection and decent minimum shelter. Such loans and grants are limited in amount and are to be used for such purposes as proper sanitation, a pure water supply, screens, tight roofs, and similar minimum repairs or improvements. Your committee calls attention to the fact that this is the section of the bill which offers a little help to those who unfortunately are now living in slums on farms.

To provide the necessary funds to carry out the above three types of assistance, this title of the bill provides for loans increasing in amount annually through the fourth year to an aggregate of $250,000,000. The amount of annual contributions provided would increase annually over 3 years to reach a yearly authorization at the maximum of $5,000,000, with such contributions to be paid to any beneficiary over a period not to exceed 10 years. These contributions would be limited to a maximum of the annual interest, and one-half of the payment due on principal in any one year.

The bill also provides authority for $12,500,000 in grants for the third part of the program. The maximum grant for any one dwelling or building would be $500. A loan or combination loan and grant is