The Washington herald., 1922-01-08
SPRING PROSPECTS
OF 1922 LOOM Big,
Z :. CHAMBER CLAIMS
Less Favorable in Agri.
cultural Regions-Vi-
tai Reasons Given.
BRIGHT FOR WEST
Report Says Three Factors
Enter Into the Problem
OF Erection.

The United States Chamber of
Commerce yesterday made public q
report II has just received from q
special committee on the building
outlook for :hs coming spring.
Expressions as to the likelihood
OF . general resumption of build
ing during the coming spring
months are naturally colored by
various local conditions throughout
the country. the report says.
They are less favorable In strict
i ~ agricultural regions. more par
tieulariy west Of the Mississippi
River than east OF this tream.
There are several reasons or this.
principally the exceedingly low and
unremunerative prices IN farm
products, which seriously reduce
the purchasing power Of the farm
er. In addition, the banks gen
orally throughout the agricultural
sections are fully loaned up. so
that the farmer fnds II very diff
fcult to obtain either ready money
or credit Under such circum-
stances there is not likely to be
much building in these States, espe-
clally on farms, for the simple rea-
son that the farmer Is financially
unable to do so.
Factors I'm situation.
The report continues: Three
factors enter largely into the prob
lem Of building during the coming
months: the high price of material,
high price of labor and the ques-
ton of obtaining funds for con-
struction. Prices of material, on
the whole, are much the more IA
vorable of the three factors. 1t is
only here and there that there is
any apparent difficulty in this re-
spect- The matter Of too high
priced labor does not stack I'D SO
well as that of material, but run
ming through the reports there Is
a general belief that not only are
matters improving in this direc-
tion but when springtime comes
the long period of probable idle
ness of labor will naturally tend
to bring about a much more ia
vorable solution of this problem
il than is now presented.
There are the usual scattered
exceptions to any general state
A%@OOE - plChlll vi IN SOIne
sections, scarce in others. The
matter OF obtaining money for con-
struction is the most difficult prob
lem of all II is not that money
seems to be so high in price as
that II Is hard to get. particularly
IN the agricultural sections and on
the countryside rather than in the
large cities. There are a number
of comments by observers which
are summed up in two simple
statements, impossible can't be
done and the usual story is
money hard to get At the same
time there seems to be a general
trend toward the solving of thi,
question.
Good likelihoods of construction
lie in the Central West and the
extreme East. but there are a great
many possibilities for building in
the Southern States. more than
seemed likely under the stringent
conditions which prevailed there
prior to the rise in the price OF
cotton.
Low price Of corn has a deter
rent effect upon probable building
in surplus corn States of the Mid
die West. and the situation is prob.
ably even less promising in the
spring wheat sections. because Of
short crops and low prices. than in
any other Of the forty-eight com.
monwealths.
California, the Golden State, in
respect to probable construction
like another Abou Ben Adhem
leads all the rest
Apparently when construction
gets well under way. il will com.
prehend great many dwelling
houses In Its purpose and intent
this because Of the supreme neces.
sity Of more adequate housing al
most everywhere"