Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-22
continued Prom First page.l

Continued From First Page.)
of men not only on the lots where
operations are under way, but in count
less quarries cement mills. gravel pits
structural steel works, and all sorts OF
| industrial establishments where ma
terial for Uncle Sans new buildings Is
being fabricated.
Where does the Federal construction
dollar go? This is a question on which
there Is some difference of opinion.
Some statiSticianS have estimated that
on the job go per cent goes for material
and 40 per cent for labor, but when
this fabricated material Is considered
as made up Ia considerable part Of Ia
Dor itself the experts go further and
say that 1t is more likely correct to say
that overall 10 cents out of every
dollar spent for a new building goes into
the pocket Of laboring men, 5 cents
goes for transportation and IS cents for
raw material.
Effect Scattered Widely.
These estimates indicate how far one
OF the Governments dollars scattefs,
when it Is thrown into q public build
ing in any part of the United States.
The dollar. of course, BENEFITS the city
which is getting a new post ONCE, by
Then pieces of this same dollar ny far
ana wide into any number Of other
places to benefit those who had part
in material fabrication,
Maj. Heath Is fully aware Of the dt-
flculties of his Job. I'VE have had dur
ing the last two years" he said, "a
steady procession of problems to face
and discouragins conditions to combat
There has never been such o period in
the history of the country when there
has been SO little social disorder; in
fact. there has been practically none
Has that all just happened? Has human
nature changed in the last 10 or 20
| years? Or has there been a more intel
| ligerlt appreciation of the other fellows
point OF view, a more enlightened atti-
tude on the part Of business toward
labor? Is this not situation in which
the party in power can claim some
| credit? The breast-beaters and the
landowners, who for various reasons
disapprove OF the present administra-
ton, have filled the press with what
ought to be done. There has hardly
been q constructive criticism made in
all these months. The only thing YOU
hear Is the call for an enormous bond
issue and a vastly increased expenditure
If this is done. the money must be spent
honestly and without waste"
Maj. Heath realizes that public con-
struction as solution further to re-
lieve unemployment cannot be COM
menced overnight, and only q limited
| ment, because, as he explains 1t, "the
requirements of the Government COM
pared to the requirements of private in
dustry are inf1nitesimal."
Cites Work of Past.
Discussing the disputed question as to
whether the Government or private
architects should design buildings, Mai
Heath explained that there was feel
ing on the part of outside architects
who never before have taken much in
Treasury should do none of its own de-
signing. "For so years" he said, "the
supervising architect Of the Treasury
has designed most of the public build
| ings, and I must confess that some OF
them have been pretty bad, but the
buildings built so years ago, or 25 years
ago, will compare favorably with build
ings built by private architects during
those periods.
"Of course, there will never be agree.
ment reached as to just how much Of
carried on by duly appointed govern
mental employees. 1t would seem to me
| that the supervising architect Of the
Treasury in designing a post office fol
| a small town or large town would not
| be competing with local architects any
more than the Department of Justice il
competing with local lawyers when they
have their representatives handling the
Governments legal problems in State
but there is probably twilight zone be.
yond which the Government should no.
1 AL, III.
| the administration has shown more
sympathy with the feeling Of loca
architects than has ever been shown b!
iany administration since George Wash
| ington laid the corner stone for TIT
Capitol at Washington"
| Referring to the number Of archi.
tectural firms throughout the country
now developing plans for new Fedora
buildings, Mai. Heath said: "It is be.
lieved that the employment Of these
local architects will develop new archi-
teetural ideas which will accrue very
largely to the benefit of the Govern
ment in its buildings for the future"
ClamOr for Local Interests.
Discussing the enormous clamof'
raised by various chambers OF COM
merce and other organizations in cities
throughout the country that the Gov
ernment should use local contractors
local labor and local material, Maj
Heath explained that the law requires
any service outside personal service
must be obtained by competitive bid
ding and that contract must be awarded
to the lowest responsible bidder" Hav-
ing once let contract in lump sum
the Assistant Secretary explained, the
| Government cannot require the con-
tractor to use local materials, "but il
would SEEM" he added, las though local
materials which meet the specifications
| should have a very marked advantage
over materials fabricated at distance
and hauled to the job. I believe that