The Cordova daily times., 1919-03-12
WHY BUILDING IS NOT ACTIVE
 AT THIS TIME


 l construction work?
 More than five hundred opinions OF
 this question have been received in the last two weeks by the information and education service of the United
 States Department of Labor. Many
 building authorities blame Congress
 others charge the financial interests
 of the country with responsibility. In
 the central west, freight rates are said to be exerting an injurious in- fuence. In the main, high costs of materials are held to be the chief obstacle
 Don't expect private capital to build merely for the sake of furnish ing jobs for workmen," writes we'll known architect from Buffalo. That is the obligation of the government, be it local state or national Let pub lie works be started at once for the benefit of the public. The cost will be high and the public will have to pay the price, but the public will reap the benefit in the reduction of unem- ployment, the absorption of the prod ucts of many industries and the use of many works of which there is great need"
 From Passic, N. J., come the fol- lowing statement: "I am greatly hindered in progress of this work by not being able to procure loans by way of mortgage, in large amounts, say, in the neighborhood of $15O000. The banking institutions and mort gage companies are making only small loans around here and, even where there is ample security, will not consider investing large amount of money i1 one place." .
 Labor conditions and demands are held to be unfavorable to immediate building operations by many of the authorities writing to the information and education service. An architect writing from Lincoln, Neb, makes the following statement, typical of the complaints along this line:
 "Construction work in these parts is now and has been impeded not little, due to the unreasonable de- mands of labor not only for exorbitant wages, but more by the fact certain very undesirable trade rules are being enforced by labor organizations, which run up the cost of doing work enormously"
 Many of the contractors and build CTS in the central west assert freight rates are the chief trouble Typical of these arguments is the following from Greenville, Ohio:
 ''We have no complaint to make in the matter of securing credits, build ing materials, and labor, It is true that wages are quite high and yet not l prohibitive. The greatest detriment | to our industry through the central | west is prohibitive freight rates on sand and gravel. It is not only threat ening to destroy our industry but at the same time it is impeding highway and other building pro jects which demand high grade of these basic materials"
 Lack of cooperation on the part of financial interests seem to be the out obstacle in New York. One of the best authorities on the building in New York sums up the situation there in this fashion:
 "We have in~the United States seri- ous difficulty owing, principally. to the of financial interests to cooperate in building projects with the material and labor market in it's present condition. We are working on a total of nine industrial projects involving approximately 5000 work mems homes, to be carried out by private interests in various important industrial centers, but in each case we are hampered by the building loan situation. The only definite work we expect to carry out without delay is located outside of the United States"
 From St. Louis, Mo, well-known architect writes: T am firmly con vinced that the one thing the building public wants to know is the cost of building today as compared to the next three to five years. If they could be assured that the cost will not drop within that time, there would be a tendency to proceed with the needed work"
 AS for the last question the in- formation and education service of the department of labor, through the di- vision of public works and construc- ion development now Is seeking au- .horitative information as to what can ,e expected in material prices for the lext five years. While the inyestiga- ion lacks completeness at thia time, l