Evening star., 1933-06-18
NATIONS HOUSE REPAIR BILL
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

ness The prosperous man seldom
thinks of having his shoes haf-soied.g
When the soles wear through he toSsea
the shoes away and buys one or two
new pairs. But in hard times he has
the shoes newly soled not once but as
long as there are uppers left to attach
anything to. So It is with building.
To be sure. there are a great many
old houses, residences. which the own
ers would not raze under any considera-
ton. They would far rather spend
twice the cost Of new dwelling on
repairs for the old because Of the mel
lowness and beauty of its design and
its very atmosphere. In general,
though, Americans, especially In the
West, have fondness for shiny, Cutlery
things which give an impression OF
at discount west Of the water tower.
and when the repair bill runs up 1t
means that the people simply cannot
afford the new.
Huge Sums Spent.
In 1880, the first depression year. the
percentage of money spent for repairs
Jumped to lat, or just under what 1t
had been for the 192o-21 depression.
Had times improved as speedily as they
did at that earlier period there Is no
doubt that the percentage would have
abruptly dropped again. But 1881 saw
it climb to 1873 and last year to the
record figure of 21.2-nearly per cent
in single year.
Most repairs are for residential struc-
lures. While some Of the money Is
spent on commercial buildings, 1t Is not
as much and not listed separately. Of
flee buildings constructed Of steel and
concrete last as they are, as rule,
| until yYI1f1nd d0un To hn fhHrQ
are always minor repairs for plumbing
and the like, but so far as the major
repairs are concerned the residential
buildings require more expenditure.
Residential structures. Of course, in
clude apartment houses.
| In the high year Of 1925 the sum Of
| So, 461 ,546. 900 was expended for the
construction of new residential build
ings. This was 81 per cent Of all the
that year-office buildings, post offices,
theaters, hotels and everything.
The squirt of building caused the
| deficit. of the previous depression to be
| caught up and there was decline from
the high point, but still activity was
maintained at high level. In 1928,
the last year Of full prosperity, expendi-
lures for residential buildings amounted
to the huge sum of 81 ,859, ,429 900, and
/ IIidIly lcducIS III Tie industry tuOuSQb
that such pace would be maintained.
In 1880, the first depression year. ex-
penditures had dropped to $601 ,269, 900.
The next year this figure had declined
to s426. .270,000, and last year only $103,-
452, 900 was expended on new resi-
Dental structures
Although the repair cost percentage
is the highest Of record. the actual cost
last year was only sl02,249,0oo. The
high year in cost for repairs was 1927,
when the bill was s340, ,815, ,000-more
than three times what 1t was last year:
but in 1927 the per cent was only 9.S,
as against 212 in 1892.
Lower cost Of material and lower
wages have great deal to do with the
smaller cash outlay, but that does not
alter the percentage relationship. The
houses Of the country seem to be
tumbling down, and there's q big lob
for somebody right around the corner.
It may be only to mend the corner.
But that appears quite q job In ITSELF