Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-02-07
The Increased Cost of Building.

NcSt VI SuSIl Oil ulIeieitdNiuS' Hr u uth
must not be lost sight of that before
such a new structure could be erected
the cost would run far beyond the orig
inal estimates. This has been the eX-
perience in every other state and it
would certainly he the case here in
Maine. 1t would not be a matter of
half a million dollars or million dol
lars. but at least 100000 or $1,000, 900,
and the taxpayers OF Maine would have
to pay the bills for all this outlay.
Comparisons have been made with
1889 when Portland made one of its
periodical attempts to capture the
State capital, and when the people Of
Maine through their representatives
decided with much emphasis that such
a change was no. desirable. At that
cost Of replacing the present State
Capitol or at least of building new
structure in another city in place of
the present one, and it has been as
suned that the cost of such replacement
at the present time would be no greater
than it would have been at that time.
This assumption is not at all in ac-
cordance with the facts of the case.
Since 1889. as everybody knows who
has had any experience in building.
there has been great increase, both
in the cost of material and of labor. To
get some definite facts regarding this
increase the Journal has secured def
mite figures from men we'll qualified in
such matters and whose statements
nobody will question:
First, there is the matter of granite,
a material which would figure very
largely in the work of building a new
Capitol. l.. D. Merchant of Hallowell,
for many years the secretary of the
Hallowell Granite Co., tells the Journal
that the cost of dressed granite is at
least % per cent. more at the present
time than it was in 1889. This increased
cost comes almost wholly from the in
creased cost of labor, since the cost Of
the raw material il the same. In 1889
quarrymer were paid $l.75 per day,
where now the average wage is s1.90;
cutters received $2.75 per day where
now the average wage is s3.OS; team
sters, engineers, etc, received an aver
a of 81 in 1890 raI
with s2.24 at the present time. These
are actual figures and are substantially
the same at the other Maine quarries
as they are at Hallowell. Moreover, it
is to be remembered that in 1889 days
work consisted of 10 hours where now
it consists of hours. These different
granite cost % per cent. more at the
present time than in 1859.
The Journals interview regarding luln-
bei was with Ira II. Randall, president
of the Augusta Lumber Co., a man IF
long experience in the lumber business
and whose figures nobody will question.
The increase in the cost of lumber over
1889 is much more than in the case of
granite. In 1889 two-inch spruce plank
was selling for S12 per NJ, where it now
sells for s22 per NJ; spruce boards Cor
SO per NJ where they are now sold 1T
the mill for SIS per NJ. The increased
cost of spruce lumber is less, however,
than the increase in the cost of other
woods which would figure much more
largely IN the construction of a build
ing like q State Capitol. Southern pine
cost from SIS to 500 per NJ in 1859 where
its present cost is $50 to s35 per NJ.
The woods mainly used in such a
structure would be cypress, quartered
oak, and whteTood for purposes of
finish. and the cost of these is fully
100 per cent. more than in 1889. 1t is
Mr.. Randalrs conservative estimate
that the wood work of a new Capitol,
considering material and labor, would
be from 100 to 12J per cent. more at the
present time than in 1889.
Consider in the third place the in
creased cost of labor at the present
time over 1889 Our figures regarding
this are from A. A. Nichols, the secre-
tary of the Maine Federation of Labor
They are not for any particular local
ity, but are a general average for the
wages throughout the State for brick
layers, plastererS, masons. masons
tenders, carpenters, etc. Where brick
layers, plasterers and masons We're get.
ting $500 in 1889. the average wage is
$3.50 at the present time. Where
masons' tenders were getting $3.50 to
$1.75 in 1889 they are now getting Sis
to $500. and where carpenters We're
getting from s1.15 to $3.50 in 1889 they
arc now getting from $3.50 to $500.
These are the average wages, let it be
remembered, and Mr.. Nichols states
that the union wages for all this class
of work are higher in Portland than in