Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-04-23
BUILDING WORK
now UNDER WAY
Contracts Let Last Month
Show That Construction Work
is Now Spreading

WASHINGTON. April 23,-Con-
tracts let in March show conc1usiveiy
that building and construction works
are getting under way despite h
talk Of high prices. With the March
record-it is better than the March
record in any year since 1911. except
ing 1917, when Government construc-
tion made the record abnormal-in
mind, the results of a study of build
ing and construction conditions made
by the Division of Public Works and
Construction Developments In the Uni
ted States Department of Labor takes
on new significance. This study is
based on 6.44s building and construc-
ton projects known to be contem-
plated at the signing of the armistice.
The construction costs involved are
ST. 49, .275,00o. and 1t Is q safe con-
ciusion that 80 per cent. OF these pro-
jects. involving more than half the
total construction costs. are yet to be
started.
With March showing a remarkable
increase over January and February
In contracts let, and with approzi-
mately a billion dollars worth of pro
jecss known to be contemplated, there
appears to be justification for the
prediction hat 1919 will prove one
of tho greatest in American history
for building and construction work.
+, The war brought building and con-
struction work. except for Govern
iment and war purposes. to a stand
still. To develop the attitude OF in
vestors and builders on these defer
tHnl 0x-NSanfo a frnCfinnnafr uraa oAnf
to 6.446, of which 2.8S2 were public
projects. OF these public pro-
jects rs were Federal undertake
inss, 279 State. sos county and 1882
municipal. The average date-if it
may be referred to as such for
these questionnaires Is February 1,
and they are, therefore. recent enough
to clearly Indicate the situation in the
districts from which they were
drawn. To speak in general terms.
high prices of material, wage scales.
and difficulty in financing are the
chief obstacles to building as indi-
Gated by the tabulation of the CUES
tionnaire information which has just
been completed in the Department of
| Labor. II Is not represented that
these questionnaires cover all the de-
ferred building in the country: rather
the effort was only to study enough
deferred projects to establish clearly
and definitely the trend in the in
dustry and the sectional conditions.
From Ohio sos projects are report
ed: of these only 291 state tina ma
terials are high, while So specifically
state materials are not high. Again.
AZ show a shortage of material, while
163 specifically state there is no short
age of materials. The comparison of
these conflicting statements suggests
the prevailing conditions. and also in
dicates the sectional or local devia-
tons from the general situation. Ma
teria1 shortages. for example. must be
held to be determined by artificial and
local conditions rather than by a gen.
eral and widespread rule.
The questionnaires asked for infor-
] nation on b nature of the project.
its estimated value, whether there
was a shortage of material and labor.
II the prices OF material were high,
also wages. and asked a detailed state
ment as to what materials were short
and high in price. when the project
was expected 10 start. whether any
loan difficulty was experienced. IL the
interest rate demanded was high. IL
bids had - taken, and what per-
| centage the bids were IN excess OF the
ESTIMATED cost or previous bids