New-York tribune., 1919-04-07
Builders Happy
Through Drop in
Material Prices
Cement Lowered SIS Cents a
Barrel; National Building
Bank Discussed to Relieve
Present Loan Syste m

Government banking, manufacture
ing and distributing interests are
merging their influences to bring
about quick revival of building con-
struction, according to the Dow ser
vice daily building reports to-day.
Federal pressure on building mate
rial price commodities resulted last
week in 65-cent drop in the price
OF Portland cement delivered in New
York. At the same time price adjust
nents in many other supplemental
lines became effective, all with the
one object Of putting the building con-
struction cost factor within the reach
Of the investor. simultaneously United
States Senator William NJ. Calder, with
She coope eration Of Justus Slater, jr.,
the building economist; Major Fred
erick Hyde, Of the American Bankers
Association; NJ W. Harrison, of the
savings bank section of the same asso-
citation; important officials Of the Fed
eral Reserve Bank and Franklin T.
Miller, supervising director of the
United States Department of Labor,
discussed the matter Of the immediate
establishment Of q national building
bank, to be operated under the exist
ing, banking laws and as 2 part of the
hroush wheh heisxs grsatS Shne
ties might be provided for the removal
of restrictive features Of the present
building loan system, not only for the
present emergency, but to place build
ing financing on q definite basis such
as is provided by other forms of COM
mercial banking.
Conferences to Bring About Bank
Conferences were held on Saturday
morning with the purpose Of bringing
about an immediate realization of this
important factor in the building in
dustry, prior to which it was explained
that the proposal is in no sense real
estate bank, as the purposes of the in
stitution which probably will be es-
tablished are not allied with the real
estate market or it's development in
any way, it merely being an official es-
tablished government branch of the
Federal Reserve system whereby tenn
porary loans on wellsecured building
operations may be obtained without
excessive fees for various brokers.
Senator Calder and Mr. Slater believe
that with the establishment of this
functionary in sthe building industry
the principal factor of delay in build
ing construction will be Immediately
eliminated.
The conference on Saturday was in
formed that if the proposed banking
system could not be perfected under
the present banking laws and if leg
islation would have to be awaited be-
fore it could become an actuality the
emergency will have passed and the
benefits to be derived from removing
the present stringency of temporary
building loan money would be nil. 1t
has been necessary, therefore, to OBJ
tain the Endorsement of important or
CARNATIONS in the project, and among
others that have taken it under active
consideration are the Merchants Asso-
citation, the Chamber of Commerce and
several important building interests.
1t has been learned that the present
banking laws and war emergency
measures give ample powers for the
establishment Of such an institution
without awaiting the enactment of spe-
cial laws.
Portland Cement Drops SIS Cents
To help meet the increasing demand
for new construction and to permit
building work to get started at once
the building material dealers of New
York decided this week to give the
customers the benefit of the price cut
in Portland cement that was arranged
with the Industrial Board at Washing
ton. There was a drop of 15 cents
a barrel in Portland cement and a
change in the rebate price on empty
bags. This latter factor does not af-
feet the consumer, it being merely a
bookkeeping charge between the dealer
and the manufacturer. The drop of
interest to the consumer, therefore,
amounts to Is cents mill, which
works out to a reduction of 55 cents
barrel, price shrinkage that is held
to be artificial, especially since manu-
featuring costs probably have not
reached their high level and the poten-
tial demand is much greater than the
present market indicates. One impor-
tant manufacturer of cement, by way
OF illustration, sent orders to his plant
on Saturday to push production to full
capacity. The present price of Port
land cement in this market, therefore,