Evening star., 1922-05-21


lie good"'with viii H. Hays as
arblter. construction interests Of this
country have announced they will meet
in Washington shortly to form an
american Construction Council, of
which it is planned to make Franklin
ID. Roosevelt, former assistant secretary
| Of the Navy, the directing head
This Is believed to be the first in
! stance Of a complete union Of all ele-
| ments Of large ndustry-manufactur-
ers. laborers and professional branches
/ in a concerted movement to raise the
| standards and efficiency of the indus
try and improve the service rendered
the public. The step taken by the mo-
| ton picture men constitutes the nearest
! precedent, but in this case the organi
| zation was not so far-reaching.
Purpose Is TO Protect
Welfare of Public.
The construction council, "details for
the organization of which are COM
| pleted. is intended TO dip down into
the industry and bring together for
betterment of understanding and for
! common action the engineer. the achi-
| tect, the material manufacturer. the
| labor contractor. the dealer. banker and
insurance man-aH concerned in any
! way with building work. including the
construction of public works. railroads.
bridges and irrigation projects.
| Setting forth as its policy protection
1 Of the public welfare, the contemplated
| council has interested. government Off
| Gals deeply. Secretary of Commerce
Hoover. whose department is closely al
, lied with building activity of the coun-
l try. has been announced as the presid-
/ ing officer on the occasion OF the or
ganization meeting here June 10 and 20.
! 1t is stated that Mr.. Roosevelt already
(; has agreed to accept the presidency
| of the council.
tMany Activities Come
Under Construction Head.
It is considered that the possibilities
of such an organization are vast. Con-
struction to the average persons
| means merely housing or plant con-
struction and commercial building or
"higIways and bridges. railroads and
canals or terminals for railroads and
ship ira ffie' or irrigation and reclanla-
tfpn enterprises AS a matter of fact.
all OF these are simply divisions of
single industry.
Construction. 1t has been pointed
out. must be thought of as is agri
culture or mining or manufacturing
as one0 of the great creators OF per-
manent wealth and as one of the
foundation stones on which civiEZa-
tion is built. Instead of thinking of
houses as the individual expression of
the fancy of the individual citizens, of
the building of highways and rail-
roads as merely the means of indus
cry called transportation. Of factory
building and ro-electric construc-
tion as isolated projects promoted by
groups of individuals for private
gain, a broader view must be taken.
| Constructien Reports Now
Prospe rity >BarOmcters.
That this development of the indus
| try is impending is evidenced by
events about to take place and by re-
ports of the industry. Construction
reports have become equal to crop
REPORTS as barometric indicators of
| the material prosperity of the coun-
| try. On their rise and fall depends
the wellbeinE of millions OF persons.
the success of great enterprises and
| the future welfare of countless citi-
zenS.
can industries has included agricul-
ture. manufacture. transportation and
communication and mining and for
estry. to the exclusion OF the coun-
try's second most important industry
construction.
When considered from the standpoint
of the yearly volume and money involv
ed the construction industry has been
demonstrated to come second to agri-
| culture. and. when expressed in terms
of labor employed. among the first of
industries Investigation has shown
that the number of workers who. to-
gether with their families, depend
upon the construction industry for
| livelihood totals approximately H.
| 0O0.00 persons. 1t was conserva-
| lively estimated that "a per cent of the
| annual capital accumulation and over
| so per cent of the national savings
are absorbed by this industry every
| norma. year. Approximately nine
| tenths of all iron. copper and zinc and
approximately 95 per cent of all the