South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-08-12
CHANGE TREND Of
BUILDING WORK
War Affects Direction of 0p-
erationS Rather Than Cur
talIment of Activity.


its issue of Aus. II concerning tie
kind OF construction work to be ex- s
pected during the continuance of =
the war
Business conditions have changed
almost as much during the last few
months a m the past two years 4
This applies to nearly every indus .
Try I'm the country. Tie fmdamen-
tai factors Influencing business have :
taken on a radically altered aspect s
due TO the assurance of this ma
lions fixed determination TO stay IN {
this fight to a finish. The comine ,
industry of this country is war o1
as Il has been stated Business
but not as usual" For most in 5
dustries this change means Bust
ness more than usual" with one inn
pertant qualification which is that :
growing emphasis VIII be put on ,
the necessities and utilities No one
can study the tremendous financial 1
preparations. the estimates Of which ,
daily become larger. without realiz-
ing that business must CONTINUE in ]
immense volume however changed I
in character This is what is in
Piled in the phrase "readjustment
- a war basis"
Change i'm Building Trend
II is useless to argue that such a
fundamental industry as building !
will not be affected by this change. Z
Some of these effects are already in
evidence. Today we speak of cur :
tailed building operations" which !
is the popular Interpretation of the
wars effect on building. But this
does not tell the whole story. Rath- I
er should We say change in the
building trend"
1t is altogether probable that the .
total volume Of building operations ,
during the war will continue great
The thing TO bear in mind, how
ever, is that much of this work Will 8
be war construction in all it's var
ious ramifcations. Particularly :
ought factory construction 70 pros 4
per in the changing order Of things.
This tendency toward industrial
building is already apparent as the |.
following figures covering the cen
trail and eastern sections Of the
United states will show: .
June, 1917 June 1916
Manufacturing or
Increase-5SG5 9
Reside n { al op- .
traIlOns ......-. -ho0lI'H o5'tf o,UO
Decrease $40. :
Miscellaneous Op
Increase-7Oe5
From the above data IL will be ]
seen that manufacturing and miscel-
laneous work is rapidly growing.
whereas purely residential building
(Which has a greater tendency TO :
be speculative is less active. The
factors underlying the present in
clination TO forego speculative in :
vestment in building are of the :
same nature as those which keep !
investors out of the stock market 4
ON the other hand, the increasing
demand for manufacturing struc :
lures and various allied work 4
(classed as rniscellaneous) l. due 70
the same causes that are stimulating
the various industries of the coun-
try TO maximum production In 9
other words. activity now tends to-
ward the work necessary to supply
the basic needs OF the country. =
These are the lines that will flourish
most during the war. and this APP
plies TO building as well as 10 all =
other types Of industry.
Government Operations.
In building circles, attention l. =
now fixed primarily upon the
various government operations.
which have a direct and imme- Z
date military bearing. These are
proving TO be Of greater magnitude
than was at first estimated. and viii \
require the employment OF a vast .
volume of labor At the present
the greatest importance at
taches 10 this work. ,
AS the war progresses however. -
We shall see an increase in other
phases OF building activity less di- >
rectly though no less Fundamentally q
related to the carrying on Of the :
war This means that increased =
plant capacity must be provided for, \
and various other industrial work
will prosper Farmers Will be
obliged 10 provide proper store q
houses. bins cribs, etc. for their -
arge crops In fact, il is not i'm
probable that the country may en- ,
-er upon quite an active period OF n
agricultural building.
War is the most costly undertak- -
ng in the world, and these disturb a
ng readjustments are part OF the I
price we pay. II is a short-sighted =
Jew. however which can find no
of encouragement in the :
present outlook. r