Evening star., 1933-06-18

Almost as much money was spent last
year for repairing old residence build
ings as was spent in the erection OF
new ones, a survey OF the Bureau OF
Labor Statistics reveals. This is the
first time in the history of extant sta
tistics that such q situation has OBJ
tanned. In view of the fact that in
many cities of the United States cham
bers Of commerce, commercial clubs,
boards of trade and civic organizations
generally are carrying on campaigns
urging the renovation and remodeling
of dwellings, it seems likely that the
current year will see the national re-
pair bill greater than the investment in
new construction.
The building industry has fallen to
lower ebb than any other major in
dustry because Of the depression and. in
spite of the fact that the repair bill is
SO high in relation to total expenditures
on buildings, 1t is below every previous
year for the last twelve: that Is, since
the last period of hard times. That
statement serves to emphasize how far
the drop in new construction has gone.
What is Of vital Importance to the
country now is the knowledge that this
tremendous deficit in construction and
repair must be made up. 1t has been
pointed out by q number Of commenta-
tors on earlier depressions that recovery
has been built largely on the develop
ment Of some new field. Railroad build
ing, the rise Of corporate business, the
automobile, the radio, and so on, 1t Is
claimed, have furnished ladders on
which the Nation could climb back to
prosperity. 1t seems not unreasonable
that this extraordinary deficit in both
new construction and in alterations and
repairs may result in so expansive a
boom in the building line that the whole
country will be benefited.
There is scarcely any industry which
can aid others so much as the building
industry. Development stimulates land
dealings and appreciation of values.
Depressions Call for Repairs.
1t has been estimated that for every
man actually employed on the imme-
diate task Of constructing a building
10 have been put to work by the prof.
ect. Men must be employed in iron
The timberlands must be logged of and
the sawmills set spinning, while the
quarries must echo to the blast. Brick
kilns must be fired and blast furnaces
set going. There Is an almost endless
chain Of activity set In motion and, not
least In national importance, such ac-
ton would provide car loadings for the
railroads
Repair bills 60 up in depression times.
People do not want to lay out money
before they know how things are going,
provided they have money, while those
who lack are unable to undertake any
thing but temporizing repairs. In 1921,
for example. when the Nation had not
yet emerged from the 1920-21 depres-
sion, the amount of money spent on
repairs and alterations was up to 15.2
per cent Of total expenditures Of the
construction industry. Then times
grew better and, Immediately. the re-
pair bill sank. BY 1925 1t was down to
only So per cent Of the total, and
normal can be regarded as somewhere
between 5 and 10 per cent.
This does not mean that people
ceased to make repairs. The low percent
age means that often, instead OF spend
ing money to repair old buildings. they
built new ones. The building industry
is quite comparable to the shoe busi-