Report of Committee on Resolutions National
Conference on Concrete House Construction
The United States and Canada are now con-
fronted with an unprecedented housing fam-
ine, so universally recognized as to need no empha-
sis. This originated in governmental allocation of
labor, materials and capital to war needs, and has
been confined and accentuated by the diversion of
labor, materials and capital to the production of non-
essentials. To such an extent is this true that the
public demand for these non-essentials and even
for luxuries, is raising the cost of housing, while the
people are bidding against each other for the houses
which exist.
The effect of this housing shortage is not merely
to inflict hardships on the people, but to excite to
higher pitch those feelings of discontent so wide-
spread in the country since the war.
We deem it our plain duty as citizens to offer
to our countrymen such advice as our professional
and trade experiences qualify us to give, as to the
best methods by which the problems may be solved
and normal conditions restored. Only by an analy-
sis of the factors entering into house building can
we hope to arrive at an understanding of either
the problem or its remedy.
Before entering on this analysis, reference must
be made to the effect of the depreciation of the
dollar which hangs like a cloud over the whole
business horizon. To the mass of people this is
still a mysterious phenomenon. It began before the
war, due to great increase in gold production, and
has, of course, been intensified by the inflation of
the currency. While the people at large are think-
ing in terms of high prices they would be nearer
the truth if they were thinking of lowered standards
of value. The public view of this matter cannot
soon be altered and we must, therefore, treat it
for the present as an established fact.
The main factors with which we have to deal
are more numerous than is the general belief; they
involve among others, Land, Materials, Labor Fi-
nance, Transportation, Design, Legislation and
Building Ordinances. Clearly relief can come only
through the construction of mere houses of the
right type. All building is for a profit in some form.
Unless profit can be reasonably assured in residence
construction the building of homes will be limited
to prospective owners who are but a small fraction
of the population of large communities. Houses
must be provided for the great mass who can only
afford to rent or to buy on long term installments.
If, as will be generally conceded, after food sup
ply, houses are the most fundamental need of the
people, housing supply should take precedence over
all other use to which capital can be put, and that
we are justified in urging that all possible steps be
taken to make investment of private capital in
house construction more attractive than any other
form of investment. Investment can be encouraged
but cannot be forced.
Private initiative has in the past always been
found competent to solve the problems of the
country, and with proper encouragement and in-
centive can be relied upon to successfully grapple
with the present emergency. Federal governmental
methods, even with the utmost efficiency of direction
and handling, are slow, cumbersome and costly.
Experience seems to show that every dollar which
government puts into a competitive business, drives
out $10 of private capital.
In most of the States constitutional obstacles
defer the possibility of help from these sources for,
at least two years. Prudence, therefore, dictates
that the hope of such aid even were it desirable
must be discarded from our calculations. What
State governments can do, however, is to remove
the obstacles which, in the form of taxation, they
now place in the way of constructing new buildings.
Since the housing scarcity is the result of govern-
mental restrictions and taxation, preferential alloca-
tion of materials and cars and governmental ex-
emptions must be enlisted to restore normal condi-
tions.
Land.
Taking up the related factors, we may say in
general that price and availability of land at present
are such as held at low figures because of the diffi-
culty which its owners find in putting it to profi-
table use. This condition in reality should act as a
stimulus to building.
Materials.
The widest latitude in the use of approved ma-
terials should be encouraged. Especially should
this be emphasized for the purpose of relieving
transportation congestion and the lowering of
building costs. Because numerous sources of supply
can generally be drawn upon, concrete is one of the
most readily procurable building materials.
There is now a famine of houses. There is also a
heavy demand for building maerials for other and less
important uses. Materials needed for home construc-
tion shou'd be given preferred consideration in manu-
facture and distribution. Manufacturers of such
materials should give priority in shipment when in-
tended for this purpose, as opposed to other uses less
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