The Washington herald., 1921-02-22
BUILDING TO GROW
.i5lFT4vTf~EIeM'

WITH Gut IN WAGES.
Building will be resumed, through
out the United States just as. soon
as the scale Of wages is, brought
down to a level that is propprtionate
to the now greatly reduced prices
OF commodities In the opinion of E.
W. Reaugh. or Cleveland. tseen a,
the Washington yesterday after.
noon.
Reaugh. who is a member Of tn.
heaush Construction Company, gen.
erai contractors in Cleveland, was
mere Tor few hours with other re-
turning delegates who had been in
attendance at the joint convention
JUST held In Savannah, Ga, of the
National Association Of Builders
Exchanges and the National Build.
ing Trades Employers Association
Charles William Bernhard, OF
Atianta. was. elected national presi
uent OF the builders association
"niie Walter Kley, of Cleveland
VIII serve as national head of the
employers association for the COM
ing year. The next convention
~ncn is an annual gathering, will
be held in Memphis. Tenn.
One Of the big questions which
came before the joint meeting wa.
.ne consideration of recommenda.
.ions Tor the readjustment of wages
70 tne lowered price of building ma.
tterials.
II the government table Of com.
niooity prices shows a reduction OF
~ In
commodities then believe that n
.air reduction In wages would be
80 per cent. said Reaugh. "Thi.
would still give the builder and tht
investor fair working margin"
PROPOSE MAKING
AWARD IN WAGES.
Reaugh is a member of the Cleye-
land Wage Commission, which 1.
making a comprehensive study OF
building and housing conditions In
that city with a view toward max.
Ing wage awards on the basis OF
that analysis.
Everybody having interests in
construction in Cleveland is repre.
sented on this commission" Reaugh
explained. Not only do the buijd
ers and contractors have their rep
resentatiyes, but each of the build.
ing trades has a vote.
several subcommittee are now
making an analysis Of local condi-
tions and win soon make recon-
mendations for wage awards
Among these are our subcommittee
on statistics. publicity. standardiza-
tion of working regulations, agree
ments and differentiation of wages"
4 member of each of the above
committees accompanied the Cleve-
land builders on the trip to Savan-
nah. Benjamin Hubbell. architect,
OF the firm OF Hubbell and Benes,
of Cleveland. was the guest of the
Ohio builders.
I'VE are glad that Cleveland
builders and architects are working
together for bigger and better
Cleveland" Reaugh observed
Reaugh was Federal rent adjuster
for Cuyahoga County, which in
cludes Cleveland, during the war.
The housing situation in Cleveland
Is much better now than in many
other of the large cities of the
United States, Reaugh says. Rents
are very low in Akron since the
subsistence of the great activity in
the rubber business.
Cleveland's rent commission has
been disbanded because of lack of
legal support upon the termination
of the war. An effort was made to
continue the commission, backed
only by public opinion, but this
proved futile, Reaugh says.
Public opinion is not sufficient
when it comes to enforcing rent
and possession decisions" Reaugh
pointed out. You've got to have the
law behind you If you are going to
accomplish anything. We tried it in
Cleveland. but it was a fat failure"
INSPIRED LANDLORDS
TO MAKE RENTS HIGHER.
There were only about IS per
cent of the landlords who were OBJ
streperous, but the agitation
against that IS per cent and the at
tendant publicity we found had a
tendency to inspire other landlords
to raise rents.
"a heard that B was getting $50
a month for the same sort of apart
ment for which his tenants were
paying but $45. The first thing A
did was to raise the rent IS. That
is the inevitable consequence of
giving publicity to things of that
sort; unless you have the power of
the law behind you. agitation gets
you nothing"
Building is becoming active in
Cleveland, especially along the lake
shore. where many cottages are
going up in preparation for sum-
mer. In town the double dwelling
house. has become a popular invest
ment, for the owner may live in
one half and rent the other. Reaugh
says that the cooperative apart
ment house selling plan has not yet
made much headway in that city.
There is big field for women as
architects and contractors, Reaugh
believes.
81 hear that in many cities
women are already in the real es-
tate business" he said, "and there
is no reason why they should not
be successful in the building end.
A woman surely appreciates the
value of convenience in house
and knows much more about these