New-York tribune., 1920-11-01
Materials Pile
u p in, Spite of
Reduced Costs
Price Cuts Recently Made
Fail to Bring About
Action by Builders to
Begin New Operations

fENtAVh by 1ukkNCAS ~
Begin New Operations
Caution is beginning to mark the
movement CT building material prices
and new building projects. according
to the current Dow Service Daily Build
irg Reports
Recent price cuts have been found
to be Intellectual in bringing out new
building work. Therefore there is
we'll defined disposition in some lines
to cease price cutting
Brick, for example. which receded
from S25 thousand, wholesale, to $15,
has become a drug on the market at
the low price. That which is still avail
at that price lies untaken at the close
of the second month, with better grades
selling much more rapidly as high as
SIS without interruptions Therefore
the paucity cf SIS brick and the
strength OF the SIS product put the
market quotation for common brick at
SIG to SIS a thousand, wholesale, as
the week closed
In the lumber situation most Of the
departments are reasonably steady on
Price. the distributors having found
that at the bottom levels now prevail
iNg there has been no increase in buy
ing In such lines as North Carolina
ceiling and partition half ceiling, yell
low pine flooring, oak, white pine,
maple flooring and quartered oak price
cuts continued to mark the retail sales
market as October closed, because
there was q slightly more general buy
ing movement in these lines, with n
greater tendency on the part Of buyers
to shop. Incidentally these are the
lines in which the greatest stocks are
being carried, due to heavy postwar
y. ~
been delivered to distributors.
Price Reductions Continue
Price reductions in turpentine and lin
seed oil also continue, but the effect of
these price changes in the paint may
6et will not be felt by paint users un-
til some time next year. and they may
Of cans. Plate glass discounts have
increased, largely because of greatly
impoverished market.
Manufacturers of building materials
closely watched the effect of lowering
prices on building materials during the
last two months. They viewed the pos
slble outcome with doubt. The price
shrinkage came at the end of the build
ing season. It also came, they noted,
simultaneously with an Improvement
of railroad transportation facilities. 1t
was also remarked that it was hcralded
at time when immigration was be-
ginning to become noticeable in indus
try. 1t was coincident with the general
discharge of great numbers of factory
and mill employees and closing of
building material manufacturing plants
notably brick kilns, lumber mills and
cement manufacturing plants for one
reason or another.
Gaping all Of these influences tend
ing to focus attention upon the effect
Of building material price reduction tc
the consumer was the election cam
rs!gn. which unsettled building con
structon plans, the acts of the special
session of the New York State l.egis-
lature concerning the rights Of build
ing owners and the subsequent an
nouncement Of the official state investi-
cation of the building construction in
dustry in this market.
Caution Likely to Continue
The caution that is now character
istic OF the building material buying
distribution and manufacturing mar
ket is likely to continue pending the
life Of the investigation, which will be
j life is extended.
, Those who are actuated by disposi-
ton to wait and see the effects of the
. inquiry, either in the form Of new
building laws or the creation Of a state
2 board or commission to pass upor
building projects Of all kinds, and con
stituting an official New York state
board Of arbitration and appeal in al
labor disputes, for the registration anC
supervision of all building contracts
for supplies of building materials, a,
and employer and between owner anc
architect, fnancier and broker, do not
believe that such laws can be drafted
and enacted before the 1921 building
season formally gets under way.
The period of so-called free con
struction, therefore, is limited ere cor
rective legislation is applied to the
conditions that have been revealed in
the building industry of this city.
1t is conservative to assume that
once the prospective building horizon
public, or that part OF it that can
finance its own way without depending
upon the aid Of the recognized lending
Institutions, Will rush into the marics
with new projects By that time there
VIII be more yokeless workmen. build
ing material manufacturers will have
had an opportunity TO catch up with
the backlog orders and non-deliVerles
and the cost of production we'll as
hanGilng OF materlalS Wlll nave Deeh
drawn nearer to normal basis.
1t must be remembered, however
that there is nowhere in the building
industry a large surplus of building
material supplies. Outside of the lum
be- dealers, distributors in this mar
ket have no reserve stocks.
Couple this condition Of building
material supply with a prospective
! stampede TO anticipate the more o.
less governmental application of nev
laws as applied to construction in al
its details, and at the same time bear
ing in mind the application Of recen
, attempts to legislate for or agains
| building construction, and it become
| apparent that building material price
| have not yet come down to stay.