The Washington herald., 1918-04-08
BUILDING WORK
ALMOST CEASED
Railroad Directors Not AZ
fected by McAdoo's Com
mand. Holland Says.

Had the European war been in
progress and were the United States
participating in 1t at the time Col.
DUPONT planned the construction Of
the largest office building In the world
on the block upon which formerly
stood the Equitable Building. he would
In all probability have been compelled
to defer operations until peace came.
Col DUPONT was able to finance the
construction Of the new Equitable
Building in part by means OF loans,
millions in amount, which he obtained
from the insurance company. The
building is now completed and Is re-
ported to contain a tenantry. includ-
ing clerks and suoordinates, agsregat-
Ing about 1900 and the income from
the rentals provides a reasonable
pront upon the heavy Investment.
Today no one of the plans con-
templated for the construction OF
large office or loft buildings as well
as apartment houses in New York
City Ia likely 10 materialize until after
the war IL ended unless. OF course, the
promoters Of these building PROPOSE
tions can command sufficient private
capital For II Is one Of many some
what unexpected effects Of the war, of
money market conditions and OF the
call by the government upon the
people for billions in the form of
loans. that the great corporations. es-
pecially the insurance companies
which have heretofore been relied
upon for funds with which to pay for
the construction OF large buildings,
are now abstainlng from making loans
Of that kind. They are not calling
In loans. They are protecting those
with them. But the management
shakes its head when applications are
made for loans by those who have IN
contemplation the construction Of
large buildings.
Almost at StandstilI.
The result Is that building constTuc-
tion upon n large scale In Greater New
York. Is brought almost to a stano-
still Meanwhile, probably on account
Of the war, there is coming weekly
into New York large population and
this Is making an unusual, even un-
precedentei. demand for apartment
rents. In obedience to the law Of de-
mand and supply many Of the owners
of apartment houses have felt justified
in increasing the rents charged here
tofore fog the apartments. Therefore.
the population is to some extent being
driven into the suburbs reaching far
into New Jersey, also to the north of
New York City and into Connecticut
as far east as Bridgeport.
Bridgeport Crowded.
Bridgeport's population has in
creased q hundred per cent since the
war began so that the city is over
crowded. Therefore the munition
workers and others who have secured
employment in the great factories in
Bridgeport are spreading out here and
there up and down the Connecticut
line, trying to secure homes so sit
uated that they can conveniently
commute upon the railroads between
their homes and Bridgeport.
Late in the fall there was suspension
Nof some large building operations in
New York due entirely to the inabil-
ity to secure structural steel. The
colossal hotel which the Pennsylvania
Railroad Comps ny Is building across
the street from its station In New
York was put back several months be-
Now the steel is coming in so that
this structure Is rapidly approaching
completion, as also is the even greater
hotel to be called the Commodore
which the New York Central Railroad
Company is putting up adjacent to
the Grand Central terminal. Work
upon these structures will not be IN
tCrfeTed with on account OF the impOs-
sibilty OF securing loans. The rail-
road companies are financing with
their own funds the heavy cost which
this construction entails.
Labor Released.
There is to be one advantage, pos
sibly, in the curtailment of great
building operations in New York City
and elsewhere. for by this means labor
in considerable numbers will be re-
leased so that the government can
take advantage of this loan supply op-
portunity.
None Of the chairmen Of the board
of directors of railroad companies
whose chief offices are in New York
City will be seriously affected by the
command of Director General Nc
Adoo. which, IL his meaning is under
stood here will deprive these chair
men Of salaries for services OF this
kind. Many of them, IL not all,
possess, as Is believed, excellent in
comes so that the looping off Of their
salaries as chairmen Of the board will
not seriously distress them. In fact
some Of them may now be serving
without remuneration.
In some cases the division Of re-
sponsibility, so that the president OF
the railroad company was placed in
direct charge Of the operating depart
ment while the chairman of the board
paid exclusive heed to the financing
and to the working out of important
plans. was looked upon as an economic
necessity. That Is believed to be es-
pecially true of the st. Paul Railroad
Company and also the Chicago &
Northwestern.
Responsibility Split.
In many of the banks the custom
has prevailed for some years Of split
ting the responsibility which in early
years was exclusively upon the sh0ul-
ders of the president OF the bank. But
IL has always been assumed that when
one who had been president Of the
bank resigned to become chairman of
the board, was with intent to tighten
NO NEED TO HAVE