Show INSIDE STUFF By PAUL MALLON 1 W WASHINGTON July 4 President 4 President loosevelt di did l as neat a job of get get- iJ g out of ot the N R A building code iHo dini used to do with a strait strait- That is the whole story behind the thee e cent ent executive order authorizing contractors to bid Cr r. r Roosevelt 15 per r cent less lessi i roves ove nes Peer than the c code cod o d e eU U- U Houdini price on govern govern- I 4 ment and private on IOn o tracts The truth is that the code had sky sky- I building prices up to the 1829 price stratosphere and had wined Mined whatever chance the building had to get back on its feet feets Is s spring Labor costs were upped ay out of ot sight and some materials as much as ns per cent at L at certainly did not encourage peo peo- e e to build The result was was' that in May anc and sic be e the building industry was on a ap aper ip p per r cent basis That is is its busis busi busi- ss s was one-fourth one of what it was wase the e same period of the years 1923 U 4 and 1925 And most of ot that 25 r r cent business was P W A fos fos- ed io o other industry has gone down Igor gex- and stayed down longer in ins s depression The he he president could not very well ch the code or change its price The industry would prot pro- pro t and anyway such a step would an open retreat for the N R A. A So o they fixed up an executive orThe orThe orr or- or r The excuse given for it was wa it t t the contractors were submitting bids to the the government nt on Ious bus projects hc he e tip on the inadequacy of thase that tha use se e is the fact the order provides when a contractor bids down to p p r cent below the code price on projects that price scale mediately becomes becomes' effective to all consuming public Every very insider knows vs th the only ulti ulU Continued on Pace Page Two jI j I 1 I INSIDE STUFF Continued from Put Page One mate male will be to lower building building build build- ing costs generally by 15 per cent It It will give a much needed encouragement encouragement encouragement to private building C One of the few lew remaining brain truster looked over that list of 14 college professors l J summoned urn m 0 n e d by Brain Trust Treasury S Se See e c r e e e- Called Frosh t t a r y the other day and observed I see they have called in the freshman freshman fresh fresh- man team That designation will wUl stick sUck The brain trust will always h le be known in the inner circle cir cir cir- cIa cle as the freshman team That is because only one of them has a college college col col- lege rank above that of instructor The varsity brain brought in by Mr Roosevelt were generally r recognized recognized rec rec- c. c leaders in particular fields of instruction and held high coll college ge jobs S The freshman team will spend the summer looking into corners of ot the treasury where cobwebs have spread unmolested for lor years It will also look under logs for tor- worms and ma may find some As a result it may have some minor minor mi mi- ml- ml nor effect on the reformation ot of the taxing system promised for or some sometime time within the next few lew years Otherwise it Jt will be no more than thana a summer ummer outing for the boys boy with the ferules S SI While these are arC coming in others have been g going irig out ut virtually unnoticed The first was Grace Abbott of the childrens children's bur bureau who went to the University of Chi CM- Many Leave cago It is under under- inner Circle stood there was Very Quietly not room enough for both Miss Mw Perking Perkins Per Per- king kins and Miss Mw Abbott in the labor department It 1 is such a small build build- Log ing Another departure back to coUe college e is Li that of Irwin Griswold justice department department department de de- de- de advocate Who will teach law at Harvard A third is b another justice lawyer Charles CharIes Bunn who will teach at the University of Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wis Wis- law school None of these theu was either a brain truster or a n new Y d dealer al i C Copyright 1934 for or The e Telegram e |