The specific charges were (a) that poor contractors were employed, (b) that desirable contractors who were difficult to obtain at that time complained of the superintendent’s treatment, (c) that the superintendent who had done efficient service in erecting the camp cottages, was entirely unfit for his new position because of his unfriendly and unsympathetic attitude toward the applicants, (d) that, finally, the building of the much-needed new houses was unnecessarily slow.
The relation which unfortunately existed between these two, the Department and the committee, is mentioned at this stage, in order to explain in a measure the long delay and hold-up of orders by the committee. It accounts for much of the dissatisfaction that existed among the people and for some hardships endured by not a few applicants. The delays due to friction made it necessary for the housing committee to continue its work after the bonus plan was discontinued.
3. THE NUMBER AIDED AND THE COST
A complete statement of the work done shows that there were 2,098 applications for relief under the grant and loan plan acted upon subsequent to November 1, 1906. Assistance was given in 1,572[210] cases, the total expenditure being $519,723.17. Previous to November 1, 1906, the Rehabilitation Committee, as part of its regular work and without special machinery, had made grants in 163 cases. The amounts granted in these 163 cases bring the total expenditure for relief in grant and loan cases up to $567,300.85. The 1,572 cases in which aid was given subsequent to November 1, 1906, are dealt with in this chapter. Families to the number of 543 had homes planned and built for them by the committee, while 1,029 families were given aid to build according to their own plans. The 543 families for whom houses were constructed by the committee received 543 grants, amounting to $197,942.86, or an average of $364.54 per grant, and 384 loans amounting to $115,558.33, an average of $300.93 per loan. It will be noted that loans were made only to applicants who also received grants. The assistance given to the members of this group amounted in all, therefore, to $313,501.19. In addition, the applicants whose houses were constructed by the committee, themselves deposited amounts aggregating $57,073.16 towards the erection of their homes; but this sum is, of course, distinct from the relief given and is not included in the above total.
[210] This number includes not only the cases in which grants were given by the sub-committee on housing (Committee V) but all cases in which grants for housing were given by any of the sub-committees of the Rehabilitation Committee subsequent to November 1, 1906. Both principal and subsidiary grants are included. See [Tables 40] and [41], [pp. 157] and [158].
The houses were classified, according to the manner in which they were planned and built, as Styles I-VI.
TABLE 83.—STYLE OF 543 HOUSES BUILT BY THE HOUSING COMMITTEE FOR APPLICANTS RECEIVING AID UNDER THE GRANT AND LOAN PLAN
| Style | Houses of each specified style | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1, 2 or 3 | rooms | 78 |
| II | 3 | rooms | 9 |
| III | 4 | rooms | 348 |
| IV | 5 | rooms | 94 |
| V | 4 | rooms | 13 |
| VI | 5 | rooms | 1 |
| Total | 543 | ||
The 1,029 applicants who built according to their own plans, received altogether $206,221.98 in grants, an average of $200.41 per grant. The amounts granted to individuals ranged from $55 to $570.[211]
[211] The apparent discrepancy between this figure and the maximum of $595 given on [page 254] is accounted for by the fact that grants are discussed above, loans previously.