Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 100, no. 2592: Articles]: November 17, 1917

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REAL ESTATE AND (Copyright, 1917, by The Record and Guide Co.) NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 17, 1917 ORGANIZATION TO FURTHER THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE BUILDING INDUSTRY FORMED Will Cooperate With Existing Associations A T the rooms of the Building Material -*»■ Exchange, Woolworth Building, last Monday, a permanent organization was formed, having as its purpose the ad¬ vancement of the building industry, for the general welfare of New York City. The work of the association will be wide in scope, and will cover a field not hith¬ erto attempted, except spasmodically, by various individuals and associations identified with building. It is not the purpose of the new association to inter¬ fere in any way with individual organiza¬ tions, but it has been felt for some time that if these various interests could co¬ operate, to a far greater extent than is at present possible, much good would result. Various Organizations Included. With this idea in mind the membership of the new association will include rep¬ resentatives from various organizations whose interests are in specific branches of the building industry, but without sup¬ planting them. Through cooperation with similar organizations in other cities, and with the National, State and city government, improved conditions affect¬ ing materials, labor, transportation, mort¬ gage loans, real estate and other sub¬ jects relating to building, can be obtained, and legislation suggested which should better conditions generally. The temporarily depressed state of the building industry in Greater New York prompted a recent mass meeting in the office of the President of the Borough of Manhattan. Out of this meeting a general committee and various sub-com¬ mittees were appointed to study the sub¬ ject from the several important angles of supply and demand of housing and other buildings, supply and demand of build¬ ing loan and permanent mortgage money, supply and demand of labor, supply and cost of materials, and the bearing which the building laws and ordinances may have on the subject. Sub-Committees in Accord. The various sub-committees as of one accord have realized that their studies, conclusions and recommendations would be in vain unless a well-planned, modern and permanent association was immedi¬ ately formed to carry out the sugges¬ tions and findings, through a whole¬ hearted cooperation between all the in¬ terests engaged in this great industry, be they builders, financial institutions, capitalists, architects, general contractors, sub-contractors, material manufacturers or others. The business men in a trade can no more proceed intelligently without joint study, mutual education and united ef¬ fort than an individual firm can progress without conferences between the mem¬ bers of the firm or the heads of depart¬ ments. By the same token it is just as essential that an industry composed of a number of trades and interests be amalgamated and co-ordinated. It is through a concerted study of problems bringing about a well balanced perspective _ of the relationship of one trade and interest to the other, and a standing together of all trades and in- tf^rests for the adoption and carrying out of wise recommendations and policies, that a true economic progress is to be made in the building industry. A S the outcome of the mass meet- ■**• ing held several weeks ago in the office of Borough President Alarks, a permanent organization was formed this week, having as its object the general welfare of the building industry. Cooperation with existing associations and in¬ dividuals is the desire of those back of the project and in no way will the new association conflict with the older organizations, but rather it is designed that help be given in those matters which are really beyond their scope and province. As already announced in the Record and Guide similar movements have been started in several cities throughout the coun- tr}'. The ultimate object is to cre¬ ate a national organization which will be in touch with conditions throughout the country and be of service not only to those interest¬ ed in every branch of the building trade, but also to the federal au¬ thorities, should occasions arise. Important as were the disclosures brought to light in the recent mass meeting ?nd in the deliberations of the respective committees regarding the present times upon which we have fallen, these serve merely to accent the outstanding fact that each one of the various conditions now somewhat a-kilter is sure to return to normal and then we shall be confronted by the question as to whether or not this great building industry will be in shape to meet the demands that will be made upon it. If there had been in past years and still existed an amalgamated association such as has just been formed, there would not have been need for the re¬ cent mass meeting: there would have been no confusing and dissimilar beliefs as to the causes of the momentarily de¬ pressed state; there would have been no placing, by respective groups, of the entire blame, one on the prices of ma¬ terials, one on the high wages demand¬ ed by labor, one on the disinclination of the money interests to advance loans, one on transportation congestion, or on Government priority demands. Function of Organization. On the contrary, the organization, through its respective committees, bu¬ reaus and experts, would have known the true situation with respect to each stage of the past years. It would have recorded and would have published cor¬ rect statements regarding the true facts and all interests including the special buying public of the building trades, would have maintained a true concep¬ tion of the inter-related conditions. Each trade would have been assigned its proper station in the business bat¬ tle, would have been told what course to pursue, over-supply of construction in some directions would have been controlled and the under-supply in other directions would have been brought up to standard. The fundamental ills in the building business existed long bef'ore the pres¬ ent war and have only been made more graphic and more unbearable by the war. Many other industries within past years have gone through just such ex¬ perience and each year has seen some new great industry added to those which have organized and formed per¬ manent organizations, each with a won¬ derful machinery for the upbuilding of the trade "From experience and observation in organizing other trades," said Franz Neilson at the meeting, "it is funda¬ mental that the new association should have as its keynote the object of sell¬ ing the building idea. The more people understand the building idea, the more the timid capitalist learns of the true economy of building now as against waiting for the future, the more help he knows he can get from an organiza¬ tion in working out his building policies and plans, the more intelligent inves¬ tors there will be in our field and the more intelligent will be the extension of our activities. Maintain Public Confidence. "If we can foster legitimate increase in demand for our output, if we can develop cooperative planning and exe¬ cution of various methods leading to this result and if we can encourage the harmonious and intelligent relations be¬ tween the various interests, we will in¬ deed go a long way towards establish¬ ing the industry in the highest confi¬ dence of the public and maintaining it as a vehicle for our future solidity and prosperity. "VVe should be an intensively active organization with executive and active heads in our various bureaus. We should reach the buying public with building facts, we should reach supplying indus¬ tries with a true knowledge cf our de¬ mands, both present and prospective, and we should give to our own several divisions true pictures of what each can profitably do and what it would be un¬ profitable or unwise to undertake. Qualifications of Officers. "Our organization should have a president who is disinterested, or per¬ haps we should say who is interested intensely but commanding the confi¬ dence of the greatest number. We should have vice-presidents represent¬ ing the largest interests. There should be a general manager and bureau secre¬ taries ; an executive committee should be made up of preferably a small com¬ pact set of men of ability and resource¬ fulness who can work in effective team- play and without being cumbersome; a board of directors or representatives from each of all the interests, no mat¬ ter how small, yet with interests repre¬ sented by members of the board in pro¬ portion to the number of individuals and firms engaged in the interests, due regard to be had to the importance of the respective interests. "The association should engage in re¬ search work and should collect and dis¬ seminate accurate building information, getting it officially, authoritatively and interestingly before the public and the trades and interests taking up the in¬ dustry." Many of the leading industries were represented at the meeting last Monday, including building material supplies. (Continued on page 644.) RECORD AND GUIDE: IS I.N ITS FIFTIEl H VEAR OF CONTINUOUS PUBLICATION.