New-York tribune., 1921-07-11
Material Cuts
Still Unheeded
BY Builders
Delayed Projects i'm First
Half Of 1921 Result in
Construction Barely 40
Per Gent of Normal Year
Changes on 1919 Plane
Operations To Be Deferred,
1t Is Believed, Until
Wage Scales Are Lowered

Something besides building material
price-cutting is required to give sea-
sonable impetus to the Eastern building
construction industry, says the current
Dow Service Daily Building Reports.
The first half of 1921 has developed
building construction actually rsauir-
ing delivery of building material barely
~ per cent Of a normal year. There
mas been no gain in building material
demand propo:tionate to the extent of
sne prlce-cutting That has been resort
ed to as bid for business Even the
price cuts that have taken place since
the first of the month have checked.
rather than stimulated, building mate
RAJ purchasing, with prospects, at this
"rlting, Of reactionary effects upon
oulidfng investors as this price read
lnstment movement downward con-
tinues.
Wage Scales Big Obstacle
There is one phantom influence that
seems to stand out with unmistakable
distlnctness in analyzing the events Of
the last six months: a silent protest
against existing wage scales. BUILDING
investors will not relinquish their in
sfstent demand that building cost be
lowered before they will authorize con-
ssruction work Building costs EN-
brace both building materials and their
assembly into finished structure.
AS expressed in the cubic-foot cost
Oh walk-up type OF non-fireproof
construction tenement or apartm emf
To-Day, the cost may be generally stated
20 De 40 cents net, as against As cents
IN 1919 and % cents in 1912. For a
slx-story elevator apartment the cost
IS roughly SO cents, net, per cubic
1900 to-day, as against IS cents in 1919
and ~ cents in 1912. For ten-storv
hlgh-class elevator apartment the price
to-day will approximate 80 cents, net,
as against 80 cents in 1919 and AZ
cents in 1912.
whether the position is legitimatelv
taken Or not, the investing builder looks
at the unchanged post-wartime wage
peak still operative in New York. ond
notes that building material prices
have receded, though grudgingly, in the
same length Of time He promptly
blarnes both the building trade EN-
ployer as we'll as the building trade
employee for keeping the cost Of con-
struction so close to the post-war-peak
levels.
Hold Back on Operations
In the absence of action on either
side more and more projected building
operations are being deferred until
wage scales are cut. Unless some ac-
ZION is taken this condition will 90
from bad to worse. Certainly the turn
precipitated by the present building
| material price cutting policy is not
making the situation better. Building
material price cutting cannot success
fully bear the burden of the entire
overloaded construction cost item Even
IT building material price cutting were
to be carried on to point of ruination
building could not be permanently
slim ulated until existing wage levels
are lowered The building Investing
public demands it. 1t is willing and
prepared to wait until it's demands are
at least partially met.
Current price changes bring 1921
building material cost levels to plane
comparable with those Of 1919:
Alxs