Febiuary 10, 1919 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



Resumption of Building Work a National Asset 



Chief of Division of Public Works and Construction Development Says United States is a "Going 



Concern" with an Assured Future 



By F. T. Miller, Director 



The main issue now before our country is — are we in a state of 

 liquidation, trying to settle up our aiifairs, or are we a going 

 concern? 



This country has $265,000,000,000 of wealth; wealthier than four 

 of the wealthiest nations of the world combined; we have $2,500,- 

 000,000 worth of gold in this country — the greatest amount ever 

 known in the possession of this country, and considerably more 

 than half of the gold of the world. We are over the war. We have 

 shown moral characteristics in accepting the draft that have 

 enabled us to put men on the Western front in numbers second 

 onlj' to France, and our men have fought well. 



The war is over — and we do not expect attack from anybody, 

 but we are still wondering what we are going to do — how we are 

 going to get along. After the Civil war was over, when we had 

 foreign complications and when we had but $133,000,000 in gold 

 against $346,000,000 greenbacks. Secretary Sherman came out and 

 said, "The waj' to resume specie payment is to resume." Payment 

 was resumed and we did business, because the people had faith in 

 the country. 



This is the greatest, strongest, wealthiest, healthiest co\intry in 

 the world and it is a country that should be doing business and not 

 a country in a state of liquidation; and yet, because of a psycho- 

 logical status, everybody is waiting to see if somebody else is going 

 to reduce his price on something. Copper consumption is down. 

 Iron consumption is down. The great question is one of consump- 

 tion. If we do not buy, we cannot exist and do business — this is 

 the issue. 



Now if we had the 4,000,000 immigrants that this country would 

 have received if the war had not commenced — if we had our 2,000,- 

 000 soldiers home again, if adjustments had been made and if we 

 were all working steadily in the pursuits of peace — if we had the 

 three to Ave billion dollars worth of domestic structures of which 

 we are short, and the shortage of which is causing increase in rents 

 (and rentals growing out of this shortage cumulatively increase 

 the cost of every necessity of life) — if we had these things and 

 were all working steadily, and if there were no exceptional draft 

 on our products from abroad, prices might again be what they 

 used to be. 



When the European war broke out we expected it to last but a 

 few months and looked immediately for return to old conditions. 

 In the meantime, different conditions have been arising and we 

 still have our minds fixed on a return to the old conditions. The 

 thought of a nation is one of an ante-bellum character. But, con- 

 ■ditions have come about which have changed this country far more 

 than conditions which came about from the Civil war. We cannot 

 turn the clock back. 



When the armistice was signed in a Pullman car in France, and 

 people tossed a lot of newspapers out of windows here, we all 

 thought we were back to the old conditions. Many now know we 

 are not to go back to those conditions, but it is hard to realize that 

 we must adjust ourselves to new conditions and act promptly. The 

 inertia of economic events is a continuing force and we must all 

 take the new hand of cards that has been dealt to us, familiarize 

 ourselves with them as quickly as possible and play with them. It 

 will do us no good to sit and look at them and hope that in some 

 mysterious way they will change back into the old hand we had 

 before the war. 



After the Civil war, we characterized people who maintained 

 their old ideas as "ante bellum." The darkies said "befo' the 



wah, " but the majority of people in this country now are still in 

 the mental hoop skirts and pantalets of the beforethe-war attitude 

 of mind, and they do not fully realize the strength of the nation 

 or the close political and economic contacts that have been brought 

 about with the world in general, and which will influence all of our 

 future activities. 



We are not going to get the immigrants which we received 

 formerly; prices of labor are higher in Europe than they were; 

 prices of materials are higher in Europe than they have been for 

 years, in some cases higher than they are here, and the influence 

 of the European markets on our prices must be taken into consid- 

 eration. Prices of materials in the building line have increased 

 60 per cent in the face of a declining demand. Prices of other com- 

 modities have increased 109 per cent. 



Former Secretary McAdoo said in substance on November 17, 

 1918, in instructing the supervising architect to commence building 

 for the Treasury Department, "The normal activity of the building 

 industry will facilitate the transition of general industry from a 

 war to a peace basis." 



The purpose of this division of the Department of Labor is to 

 interest the nation in public work and private construction. When 

 figures and principles are submitted to the public, each must use his 

 own judgment as to the prudence of his individual undertaking. 

 We are simply helping to bring about realization in this great 

 basic industry that conditions have changed. 



During the reconstruction period, the labor and materials which 

 might otherwise be idle can be fixed through this basic industry 

 into permanent wealth which has earning power and pays taxes. 

 Otherwise this labor and materials will go to waste. The activity 

 of this industry is literal reeonstructon. Deferred construction is 

 a part of our war debt — the first part to be paid, because through 

 reconstruction we are making good our impaired facilities and 

 putting ourselves into better condition to repay the remainder of 

 our debt. 



This division is composed of men with practical training. Their 

 desire is to present the truth to the nation. Information obtained 

 is being furnished to the public and transmitted directly to parties 

 interested. 



The Labor Department stands for increased production, while 

 preserving the efiiciency of the capital value of the individual 

 worker, as it is only by increased production that the comforts of 

 life may be made more universal. A decrease in consumption may 

 make them cheaper but the comforts of life become thus less and 

 less available to all. All recognize that the working man would 

 have been ground out of existence before now if it had not been 

 for the union, but the value of the dollar received by him as wages 

 is the value he established by the quality of the service he renders. 



It is probable that the cost per cubic foot of modern fire-proof 

 buildings, up to three years ago at least, was less than the cost 

 per cubic foot of the old six-story, non-elevator, non-tireproof buUd- 

 ing of thirty years ago. This is because of the rapid advance in 

 the art, the manufacture of materials in large quantities, and the 

 more ready assembling of the component parts through standard- 

 ization of forms. In the assembling of these materials there are 

 one to two hundred skilled artisans. As inventions and improve- 

 ments occur— as metal lath is substituted for the wooden, reinforced 

 concrete for brick, the kalomine doors for wooden doors, etc., these 

 trades suffer successively and yet the public is benefited. In the 

 adjustment of the incidental trade disputes over such matters occurs 



