Business: Way to a Permanent Housing Boom

SLUM CLEARANCE

DESPITE the biggest construction boom in U.S. history, the nation has notably failed to clear its slums.

Instead of growing smaller, the nation's slums are getting bigger and worse than ever. One reason is that real-estate men have repeatedly raised cries of socialism against Government housing projects that often accompany slum-clearance projects. Another is that do-nothing municipal governments have ducked the problem.

Now mayors and city councils are learning that slums are not only festering eyesores and schools for crimes but heavy burdens on city budgets. For example, Baltimore's slums produce only 6% of the city's revenues but take 45% of all...