Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-18
BUILDING MATERIAL
MARKET INACTIVE
Price Cuts in Basic Products
Fail to Cause Dealers
to Load Up.

The building material market remains
inactive. despite price cuts in basic con-
struction products. according to a state
ment issued by Allen E. Beals of the
Dow Service Daily Building Reports.
Great timidity exists among deal
ers about loading up, as among pros
pective builders in taking options at the
prices now ruling in a ragged building
material market" says Mr.. Beals. "The
prospective buyer believes that il prices
have dropped at all, they will continue
to go lower. The dealer and the manu-
facturer know, on the other hand, that
the weakness in building material quo
tationS is based upon factors far re-
moved from the immediate conditions
affecting building construction.
Building Movement Near.
1.-THE fact is that the entire building
material supply situation is rampant
that a great building movement is IN
the making The start is actually dis
cernible, according to architects and
others in close touch with building prof.
ects in the formative stage. Price re-
auctions at this time merely indicate
the hope of hungry market to get the
first grip on tbs pending new Dusi-
ness 1t represents a scramble for early
orders tradition and trade custom o1ten
being trampled under foot in the great
anxiety to book the business being OF
ferred.
I'm consequence, price concessions
have been made. Some of these nave
been merely casual. Others have as,
sumed the proportions OF general
trade tendency, but whether the ar
rangements have been covert or on the
open market, there has been greater
influence fer retardaton OF plans tnan
mere price. Opinion seems to place the
responsibility for the building inactivity
in a low price market to fear of
general building labor disturbance
While brick was selling at more tnan
20 per cent off the price ruling monen
ago, North Carolina roofers oeing
offered at $3.50, against former
sI5 market. with wood lath dropping
off two dollars thousand; oak nooI-
ing scaled $40 thousand feet, 10 cite
few examples, not one deaier VI
distributor reported at the week emu
that he had booked any greater VOL
umc of business
Labor situation Retards.
"rhey invariably said that the great
damper on building construction al TINS
moment was not the cost or mater,a u.
so much as a fear of the rule OIL raoi-
cal factions in the labor market II IT
were prices there. would long before
this have been a big speculative buy
ing market, but the fear OF hostile
labor dominance, of universal ten
dollar day for building artisans when
the official index figures showing the
trend of living costs is downward
rather than upward.
Contractors say that If the building
construction market Is SO sick that 1t
cannot even show the effect of stimula-
ton from almost general building ma
terial price reduction it certainly has
reached the limit of wage burden It can
carry for building trade artisans. Ac.
cordingly. stop orders have been issued
on jobs that are paving painters over 50
day for a forty -four-hour week and
other trades have taken the same atti-
tude.
'sThere is a feeling that building in
vestors are looking toward the master
employers of the various building trades
to get their wage adjustments made
with dependable artisans OF the type
who abide by their contracts before they
win place general contracts or permit
to be made This senti-
ment applies with equal force to all the
building crafts"