New-York tribune., 1921-07-23
Building Slump
Costs Workers
] A Half Billion
High Prices of Construction
Blamed for Tie-Up i'm
Report of Engineering
Councils Committee
Bad Management a Factor
Group Named by Hoover
Urges End of Wasteful
Labor Regulations Also

Unemployment IN the building in
anstry is costing half billion dollars
YEAR in wages, according to report
issued yesterday by the committee on
elimination Of waste in industry, COM
nosed of members of the American En-
cheering Council and appointed by
Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Com
merce.
The outstanding feature of the in
yestigation, it is declared in the report.
is lack of work and the critical con-
Gition existing in the industry is at
tributed primarily to the costs of con-
struction.
Building, it is contended, ranks sec
ond among the industries and con-
tributes more than sS,ooo,o 900, 900 yearly
to the wealth of the country, including
sI trades and labor Incidental to it.
100000 Men in Industry
Annual averages for the past six
years show that SO per cent of
the activities Of the industry, employ
ing 100000 mechanics and laborers
yearly are devoted to residential build
ings and IS per cent to industrial build
ings.
The chief sources of waste, the report
contends, are irregular employment,
inefficient management and wasteful
labor regulations. Conditions prevail
ing throughout the industry and poor
ly designed equipment are given as sec
ondary causes.
The committees investigation covered
the entire country, special attention,
the report says, being paid to repre-
sentative cities such as New York, Bos-
ton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago.
Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco
THE building trade workman" as
ssrts the report, "is busy on the aver
age about 100 days in the year, or two
thirds of his time. A few contractors
individually or associated. are a++acl-
ing this problem with effective results
ine public also must be educated IN
the need of q sensible distrihnt;on
through the year of its construction
demands and requirements I6,enass
however, S not due entirely to seasonal
demands; strikes and lockouts are an.
preclable causes.
Haphazard management in n,an-
ming and controlling work and lac.t nf
Standards, which often double the To-
Dor cost, characterize most const,uc-
ton undertakings. Here, again, few
builders, recognizing the waste in
money and man power, are ADOPTING
metaods that approach modern factory
management.
Union regulations in the past have
produced enormous losses THROUGH di-
rect or indirect restriction of output.
Workmea and contractors, however.
are beginning to appreciate that re-
duced output reacts in tremendous
fashion upon themselves.
Cooperation is Essential
Greater cooperation between the
~orkmen and the employers is an alb
solute essential. This cooperation must
De attained before We can approach
the elimination of labor difficulties.
such cooperation, however, is impos-
soe without the removal Of causes of
friction and the working out of plans
TO this end"
The total shortage of housing in
WI, it is found, amounts to 53 per
cent Of the total square footage (called
the real measure of value) constructed
m l9lo. TO this percentage must be
added, the report continues, off we
consider the footage constructed in
1918 as equal to the requirements of
that year, ~ per cent which repre-
sents the increment required to cover
lne increase in population.
THE need for building is most evil
dent. The costs are so high, however,
that the householder cannot afford to
buy, nor can the banker loan money
because of the danger of loss through
the inevitable fall in prices.
The high cost of labor and ma
terials in 1920 and 1921 prohibited
bankers from loaning money on ordi-
nary building and dwelling house con-
struction. They reasoned, and cor
riectly, that the price of materials and
labor would drop so that buildings
erected at a later date would cost less,
thus causing fall in the selling prices.
Added to this have been the income
tax conditions, so that the funds
which were at one time available for
mortgages have been forced into tax
exempt securities. Notwithstanding,
therefore, the shortage of housing and
the need for new construction, the
actual work going on has fallen to a
remarkably small figure, and this in
turn has been reflected in unemploy-
ment In certain cases advantage has