Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-10
BY BEN NI'KELWAY.

In the opinion of those familiar
with the commercial life of the city
the Government is launching it's TO-
year building program here at an OPP
perfume time, and the material bene-
fits to be expected are many. There
are few industries which support so
| many dependent branches as does
| building. A slump in building causes
corresponding slump in other lines
of business. while a period of healthy
building activity is a boon to many
allied trades, the prosperity of which
| depends upon the e<tent of building
| in progress. Construction through
out the country is slowing down after
a feverish period of activity since the
end of the war. The slump has been
| felt in Washington as well as in
| other cities throughout the land. Some
| experts figure that the decrease in
| general building here this year COM
] pared to last will be as much as 81
| per cent, and that the decrease in
| purely speculative building will be
| greater. This diminished activity has
been expected from year to year. The
causes are easily assignable to a nat
| ural decrease in demand. Yet it has
had it's effect. Men are out of work
Steam shovels are cold. Less money
I
with consequent decrease in it's cir
culation through the money chan
nels which give it outlet during Pc
Rod of brisk building. The slump
here is nothing extraordinary nor is
it regarded as dangerous. But the
Government is entering the local
| building field when it's stimulus Is
| most needed. 1t is about ready to be.
gin operations in Washington alone
which contemplate the expenditure
of approximately S1OO,O00,O00 or more
over period of 10 years.
One common impression, rather err
! rOneOus, is to the effect that Wash
ington will stand on the sidelines and
watch this building go forward with.
out sharing materially in the pros
perity which is to accompany it. AS
a matter of fact. the lions share of
the money spent on Government
building for Washington will be spent
in Washington. The contractors may
be out-of.tOwn firms and much Of the
building material will be secured out.
side of Washington. But the center
of activity will be in Washington, and
Washington will benefit thereby.
When the Government building op.
erations actually get under way, a
host of artisans and mechanics will be
attracted to the city. The construc
ton companies which contract for the
work will bring their foremen and
"pushers" with them, if they come
from out of town. But the greater
| part of the labor itself will be hired
for the job. Mechanics who watch
the map for building activity will be
drawn to Washington. One estimate
is that between 5000 and 1000 me
chanics will be employed here at one
time when construction on a large
scale gets under way. These men are
highly paid and their wages must nee
essarily be spent in the Capital
Wages, in fact, constitute a large per
centage Of the total expended in build
ing projects. One common method Of
calculating building costs is to SCI
aside 60 per cent for labor and 40 pei
cent for material. A large portion oil
this so per cent of the 500, 200 900 viii
be spent in wages here in Washing
ton.
\ y
While much of the material which
goes into the building will come from