22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January 25, 1921 



Building Cost Investigation Urged 



A resolution reeommending that the conference on housing con- 

 ditions to be held by the Chamber of Commerce of the United 

 States, at Washington, Jan. 27 and 28, "thoroughly investigate 

 and publish the relative costs of producing building materials, the 

 recessions in prices of building materials, the relative costs of dis- 

 tribution of building materials, as based upon increased freight 

 rates and comparison of wage scales, and efficiency of building 

 trades labor," was the chief result of the conference of building 

 material industries held at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, Jan. 

 21 and 22. 



This conference was held upon invitation extended the building 

 material interests of the nation by the National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' Association, pursuant to a request made at a mass meet- 

 ing of representative lumber manufacturers from every producing 

 region of the country, in Chicago on Jan. 5 and 6. In conjunction 

 with this request for a meeting of the makers of other building 

 commodities with lumber manufacturers, it was stated that "we 

 (lumber manufacturers in mass meeting) call upon all other indus- 

 tries and labor, which furnish the essential elements entering into 



reducing its scale of compensation, that it would accept nothing 

 less than $1.25 per hour for the next three years. Steel failed to 

 participate officially in the meeting; plumbing and other building 

 commodity lines also failed to furnished representation. 



Those who did appear for their interests denied in the main that 

 it was possible for them to further deflate their prices, and were 

 reluctant to commit their industries to any plan based upon the 

 assumption that prices of commodities might be further deflated. 



Statements made by Gerhardt F. Meyne, representing the Build- 

 ers' Association of Chicago, pointed to the fact that labor has 

 grown remarkably inefficient in the past four years, the decrease in 

 efficiency being even greater than the increase in compensation,, 

 and that costs which will permit of a substantial revival of building 

 can not be hoped for while labor remains extravagantly inefficient 

 and receives an exorbitant wage. 



Banks can not finance building until it is definitely shown that 

 building values are upon a sound economic basis, George M. Bey- 

 nolds, president of the Continental and Commercial National Bank 

 of Chicago, told the conference. 



Resolutions Resulting from Housing Conference 



WHEREAS, The Nation finds itself with a shortage of approxi- 

 mately two million homes as well as a vast number of other 

 huildings necessary to the comfort and wellbeing' of the people, 

 and 



WHEREAS, The construction of houses, as 'well as of facilities 

 for the conduct of commerce and indiiatry has been deferred on 

 account of the hig'h cost of building', and 



WHEREAS, A variety of causes have combined to make costs 

 of building too hig'h to be attractive to either the investor or the 

 home builder, and 



WHEREAS, Chief among' these causes have been the hig'h prices 

 of building materials due chiefly to the excessive cost of produc- 

 tion, as well as the increased wag'es paid to all classes of building 

 trades labor, -which constitutes from 65 to Sc;';. of all the cost of 

 construction, and 



WHERIIAS, The building industry is, next to agriculture, the 

 chief basic industry of the country capable of g'iving' employment 

 to more people directly and indirectly than any other vocation, 

 and 



WHEREAS, The g'eneral resumption of building will prevent 

 serious unemployment, by furnishing occupation to the thousands 

 of men who have been recently released from less essential work, 

 and 



WHEREAS, The resumption of building activities depends upon 

 the return to costs, in the reasonableness of which the public may 

 have confidence, and 



"WHEREAS, This conference of building material Interests 

 called by the National Iiumber Manufacturers' Association for the 

 purpose of considering measures by which the building program 

 of the country may be expedited, ■which conference, and its objects 

 was heartily endorsed by President-elect Warren G. Harding, he it 

 therefore 



RESOIi'VED, That we call upon all persons engaged in the busi- 

 ness of manufacturing building materials of every class and 

 character, as well as upon builders and contractors, to exert their 

 utmost efforts to see that conditions are brought about which will 

 result in Immediate reductions in costs of construction. 



'We call upon the retailers and distributors of building materials 

 to do their full share in meeting the demand of the peo;jle for 

 cheaper building materials. We call upon labor engaged not only 

 in the construction industry, itself, but in the making of the great 

 variety of materials of all kinds entering into construction, to do 

 its full share, in increasing output and hastening construction, to 

 the end that labor costs which constitute so large a proportion of 

 the total cost of raw materials and of building, may decline to a 

 point -where it -will be possible to proceed with construction which 

 is so essential to the health, comfort and wellbeing of all the 

 people, be it further 



RESOIi'VED, That we endorse the conference of housing condi- 

 tions to be held by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, 

 at ■Waslilngton January £7th and 28th, and recommend that that 

 conference thoroughly investigate and publish the relative costs 

 of producing building materials, the recessions in prices of build- 

 ing materials themselves, the relative costs of distribution of 

 building materials as based upon increased freight rates, and com- 

 parison of wage scales and ef&cieucy of building trades labor, be it 

 further 



RESOIi'VXD, That the building materials whose producers are 

 represented at this conference, pledge themselves to take such 

 action as they legally and conscientiously can within their own 

 industry and in co-operation with others to bring about conditions 

 which will make possible the early resumption of construction to 

 the end that the health, happiness and the general and profitable 

 employment of the American people may he assured. 



the costs of construction, to join with us in contributing their just 

 part toward the resuscitation of the activity of this needful 

 industry. ' ' 



It was believed by the lumber men at the original mass meeting 

 that deflation had not been carried far enough in all building com- 

 modities other than lumber to encourage the prospective builder to 

 go ahead with his project. It was hoped that the manufacturers 

 of the other essential commodities, and labor, might be induced to 

 agree to hasten the processes of deflation. In short, that by a meet- 

 ing of the minds of the leaders of all the industries concerned, con- 

 ditions might be brought about that would have the effect of set- 

 ting in motion the vast latent building operations of the country 

 and thus begin the solution of the increasingly serious and alarming 

 housing shortage. 



But those to whom lumber issued its call failed to respond whole- 

 heartedly and concertedly enough to permit the working out of a 

 plan of sufficient authority and force to cope with the vast lethargy 

 of building. Labor did not appear, and at a meeting of Chicago 

 building trades just one day prior to the convening of the building 

 material conference, it was declared that labor could not consider 



The conference was presided over by John H. Kirby of Houston, 

 Tex., president of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Associa- 

 tion. During one stage of the meeting Mr. Kirby said that few 

 optimistic notes had been struck, but that the men present and 

 others like them, could surely find some constructive way of uncov- 

 ering business. 



"One of the beneficial results of the present meeting," he con- 

 tinued, "is that some of those who have been disposed to knock 

 will no longer do so. The frank discussions of this meeting have 

 shown each of us what the other fellow's problems are." 



Making clear the purposes of the meeting, Mr. Kirby said that 

 no understanding as to prices could be attempted, but that those 

 present could arrive at an understanding of the economics of all 

 industries concerned. "In everybody's mind there is the idea of 

 deflation, however," he said. "But please do not let it get into 

 your minds that the lumbermen through this meeting, or in any 

 other way, want to administer a rebuke to the manufacturers of 

 other building commodities. Our primary object was to get at the 

 truth and learn what might be done, if anything, to revive build- 

 ing." , 

 (Co-ntinued on page 30) 



