Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-11-09
PEACE TO BRING
BUILDING BOOM
No Reason to Expect High
Costs Will Fall, Says
William II. Barrett
WAGE SCALE TO STAND
Operations Here Cut to Low
Mark by the National
Needs

That Philadelphia will experience a
big building boom soon after the close
of the war and that the volume depends
solely upon the ability of contractors TO
handle the business is tho substance of
statement made today by William H.
. Barrett. secretary of the Master Build
ers' Exchange.
Featuring this statement was an as
sertion that the present scale of wages
will continue.
High wages paid TO brckl;sycrs, car
penters, plumbers, plastercrs and other
building mechanics" said Mr.. Barrett,
"are not due directly to the war. Al
most every year covering the last de-
cade has marked wage advances, and
there is no reason to believe that they
will be lowered The demand for such
labor will be so great that present scales
will stand"
No Oversuppiy OF Labor
That mechanics now in the service will
flood the labor market at the close of
hostilitcs is scoffed at by Mr. Barrett,
for he claims that the work to be done
will require every available mechanic.
since the beginning OF the war" he
continued, CONSTRUCTION has been at a
low ebb, and for the last six months
virtually at a standstill. because the
war industries board, in order to divert
materials and labor to war work, put
ban on private operation, but they
will be renewed when the ban is lifted.
an a word. we must catch UP on
deferred work and also get back to the
normal building pace. That means that
we will start out at the end of the war
something like full year behind schel-
ule. and as q result there will be an
abundance Cf work for men engaged in
building trades. Coupled with new work
there will be the vast accumulations OF
small jobs, for there is scarcely house
owner in the city who won't tell you
that he is holding up a little job because
of the war"
Operations Here Cut Down
How the war has affected building
operations in Philadelphia is emphasized
In the figures of the present year as
compared with those for 1915.
In the latter year 1916 buildings were
erected at a total cost Of $il,55O,' ..
while the figures for the ten months OF
tho present year ending with October
show that only sO63 buildings were
erected at n cost of S16,79s,9SO.
How the building of dwellings was
virtually brought to a stop Is shown in
this years figures. for in the ten months,
including October. only 900 dwellings
have been erected, as compared with
1884 for 1916.
In 1917 there were 4Oil buildings
erected at n total cost of $25,54O,i5O.
These figures were obtained from the
Bureau of Building Inspection at city
Hall During the present year the United
States Government has erected 2OOO
dwellings for war workers, but they are
not listed at City Hall and have nc
bearing on the normal building actiNi-
ties of the city.
The total value of this years con-
struction work is due largely to the eN-
tension of small factories where wal
work is being done. and only for this
work the years building totals would
have struck the lowest level in thirty
years
Cost Problem. Dominant
whether building materials will come
down from their lofty positions is tho
dominant question in the minds of mas
ter builders. They long for a tumble
hut, according to Mr.. Barrett they dc
not expect 1t.
"Ir the unslIilled labor market gets
back TO- normal" he concluded, "th'
price of cement. lime, bricks and lumber
may drop but there is no INDICATION thai
the wars end will restore the unskilleo
labor market to its pre-war condition
Personally do not anticipate any ap
preciable decreases"