The first definite housing resolution agreed upon by the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Relief and Red Cross Funds was an effort to advance through its Department of Lands and Buildings 331⁄3 per cent of the cost of a home to be built on the ground owned by any resident of the city whose house had been destroyed, with the provision that in no instance should the amount granted to any one person exceed $500. This was the most generous housing offer made and was limited to those who were to rebuild within the burned territory. It was known as the “bonus plan.” The offer was announced to the public through the newspapers in August, 1906, by the Department of Lands and Buildings, and remained open until October 1, 1906, being reopened in February, 1907, for two weeks. Originally, $400,000 was set aside for the bonuses. In February, 1907, an additional $100,000 was appropriated.
The bonus, or gift, offered to anyone who desired to rebuild on property owned by him in the burned district was granted to 885 persons. The total amount granted was $423,288.17.[193] In slightly over 10 per cent of the cases the amount actually given as a bonus to the applicant was less than $500, due to the fact that he had received aid from other departments, or because the cost of the house was less than $1,500. In one instance the amount of the bonus was as low as $83.
[193] This total included an expense item of $761.17, incurred for investigating titles, etc.
The general procedure was for an applicant to submit his plans to the Department of Lands and Buildings for approval, and when approval was obtained to begin to build his house. Little machinery was required, for no attempt was made to investigate the actual needs of the applicants. The Department satisfied itself that the person was eligible under the terms offered, and before making payment received assurance from its inspector that the building was located at the place designated by the applicant and represented a certain value. The length of time between the granting of an application and the completing of the house varied from one to 14 months. When the second appropriation of $100,000 was made, consideration was given to the question of fixing a maximum limit upon the cost of the houses to be built by the receivers of bonuses, but no definite action followed.
During the early stages of the relief work the great question was, how soon will the burned district be rebuilt. Houses must be rebuilt if residents temporarily living in the nearby cities were not to be permanently lost. Stores and warehouses must be rebuilt if the small tradesmen and lodging-house keepers were to return, to attract, in their turn, other industries. Labor leaders asserted that a large number of those who were living in outlying districts or outside the city were workingmen who were handicapped both by loss of time and by increase in expenditure in having to go to and from their accustomed places of labor. Four or five thousand workingmen were said to be anxiously waiting to make use of a liberal offer to re-establish their homes on their own lots in the burned area. The number was over-estimated, for only 885 bonuses were granted, many to persons who owned their own business and were not workingmen on a daily wage. If such a large number ever made application for the bonus, they either did not possess sufficient savings or enjoy an income large enough to avail themselves of the Corporation’s offer. Capitalists were also anxious for rebuilding to begin as rapidly as possible; so the plan, when announced, was gladly received by all classes. It is possible that the expenditure of the first $400,000 appropriated for bonuses at the moment when many were debating the wisdom of rebuilding, turned the tide of decision in favor of immediate action. As early as March, 1907, 470 bonus homes had been built at an expenditure of $200,147.17.
Home built by a letter carrier
Home of an elderly U. S. Government employe. Bonus, $250
Bonus Houses