Evening star., 1923-11-10
Day of Small House Dd,uning,
! BabsOn, Statistician, Declares
Finds Present Prices Out OF Reach of
] Majority-Tells Ho,o to Acquire Mil
lions of Buyers-Sees Cut i, Costs.

be in building lower-priced houses,
not high-priced o2es. What is most
needed, today is a}house within reach
of the great 80 yper cent of pros
poets. Necessitysis the mother of
invention Some Jay we shall prob
ably look back oa7 the high cost of
mendous benefit :, because of the
economies and improvements in con-
struction methods It will have caused.
IL present indications are reliable the
next few years will bring forth some
remarkable changes in the customs and
methods Of building houses. If builder
is to keep a continuous flow OF new
business he must lead in this procession.
with the chief aim of producing homes
for the great majofty. Every 10 per
cent that the cost " attractive homes
can be reduced will Increase the field
of poss: Die prospects by 100000 to
100000 people.
During the past few months no less
than a dozen Leading architects have
brought to my attention plans which
much less than the ulual cost Some of
these methods probably will prove inn
practical, but some O. them are going
to help in producing onses vs which al bss the
vary widely in method. but all aim at
the same purpose Moat Of them involve
a saving Of labor. TfNs, by the way, Is
exactly what has happened in every
other industry when iabor costs have
become exorbitantly high.
Ways to Reduce Costs.
Some architects hove found that
certain of the features in the usual
house which add to $he expense can
be successfully eliminated Others
have attacked the problem on the
Much has been doneI in the way of
more economical planning: so that de-
lays and hold-ups in the work are al
most entirely elimina ed.
nF The to ha1s that o 1Sys as noen
in order to get togethE the rentleac
month is absolutely faSlacious. When
n number of people greatly med a
certain thing some oneialways dnds
way to get it for them. Mcfeover.
such service usually carries with 1t
the greatest reward. This present
need for lower-priced dwellings and
lower rents represents such an oppor-
tunity.
the present situation IL the building
industry suggests three,things.
Points for Investors.
Earnings Of the industrial concern
supplying the building Industry will
depend during the nexs few years
upon whether or not the builders
grasp their present opportunities. The
situation should be watched carefully
by those interested in che securities
Germs.
The investment builder faces the
opportunity directly. Taere is little
question but he will profit both by
turning his attention to developments
along the line of groups of less eX-
pensive houses than by continuing his
activities in the higher price fields.
Trend Toward Suburbs Noted.
Finally, the. average Investor has
an opportunity in we'll lbcated sub
urban land. Thousands upon thou
sands of modest homes Will be built
during the next few years. The auto
mobile has broken the tralsit limita-
tion which has heretofore. found our
cities The trend will be in favor of
suburbs and the investor who puts a
part of his funds in we'll selected sub
urban property at a fair prSce judged
on present levels. should prsf1t during
the next few years.
(Mr. Tabson. the noted statistician and econ
omist, will continue his spec al 1articles on
business and financial conditions 4 next Sat