a portion of the land which is saved by the erection of a multi-family house for lawn, playground and garden. By the same token a building, both in interior and exterior (front and rear) design, should permanently give to its occupants the greatest benefits of sunlight and air in addition to all other conveniences.

Any modern industrial company calling for the concentration of large numbers of employees in a given location is obliged to see that adequate housing accommodations already exist in the neighborhood. Likewise where living accommodations are poor, a company may reduce its labor turnover and increase the health and efficiency of its labor by building homes for its employees, thereby profiting enough indirectly to offset any direct losses caused by rents being too low to give a normal return on the investment.

Building to Suit the Need.-The main factors affecting the problem are whether the need is temporary or permanent, whether the situation is isolated or in or near existing settlements or cities, the class or classes of labor to be housed, and the climate.

Temporary housing is needed at times in isolated places where the work to be done is of a temporary nature. If only

1 Henry R. Brigham, Boston, Mass., is a Lawyer specializing in the management of trust property and housing problems. He was with the United States Housing Corporation in Washington, 1918-1920, first as assistant manager of the Homes Registration and Information Division, having special charge of the houses commandeered in the City of Washington for housing War Workers, and later, as manager of the Real Estate Division, having charge of the appraisal and sale of all the houses and real estate bought and constructed by the Corporation, during the War. He was a member of the special committee to investigate the housing situation in the District of Columbia, in 1922, and for two years a member of the Rent and Housing Committee of the City of Boston. Member of the Housing Committee of the City of Cambridge; chairman of the Housing Committee of the National Association of Real Estate Boards; and secretary of the Housing Company of Boston.

unskilled male labor is used the housing often consists of rough shacks or cabins. In such cases the employer not only provides the housing, such as it is, but feeds the employees and has general care and supervision over them. If the work does not arouse any spirit of adventure, the men must be attracted to it, usually, by wages higher than they can earn at the same time in their home communities, and in order to retain them they must be reasonably well fed and provided with necessary clothing and medical attention. A large cabin, to be used in common for meals and recreation, is usually necessary. Men are not willing, and should not be obliged, to live under such conditions for more than a few months at a time.

When the work is to last a year or more, or when a more skilled class of labor is required, greater attention must be given to the housing. Log cabins may be best if suitable trees are abundant and lumber is hard to obtain. If it is necessary or advisable for the men to bring their families, the cabins should have two or more rooms, facilities for cooking, and a good supply of water. It may be possible to care for a large number of single men in single cabins with a common dining and living camp, but the longer the work is to last the greater the care that must be taken of the help. If the work is to last several years, the employees must be furnished with the essential comforts, at least, nearly equal to those to which they have been accustomed. This means that the houses and other buildings must be similar to permanent structures in plan and design, although they may be of light, temporary construction. Water and apparatus for cooking and heating are absolutely necessary, and bath-rooms and good sanitary arrangements are desirable; but electricity, gas, paved streets, etc., may be omitted except in very large settlements.

Types of Building Construction.-Temporary construction is ordinarily of frame without plastering or basements. Other economies in construction should depend largely upon how long the buildings are expected to last and the climate, although much may depend upon the class of occupants. Tar paper exteriors may, in some cases, be sufficient, but they are

unsightly and cannot stand severe weather very long. For comparatively short use, paint may be omitted, but if buildings are to be used for several years, painting the outside pays, both as a preservative and by making the buildings more attractive. There is great temptation to economize in plumbing, because of its comparatively great cost, yet too much economy is unwise, as health and comfort must be considered first. Even for temporary work the health and comfort of employees is essential for the best results. Often, even for temporary use, it may pay to build houses which are attractive in appearance and as comfortable and well built as permanent houses. The longer the houses are to be used the more important is the matter of appearance. A house which is attractive in appearance is apt to be a better investment than an ugly structure. Temporary frame buildings should not be over two stories in height, should not be very large, and should be well separated from each other in order to reduce fire risk.

Building Communities.-In large settlements, even of a temporary nature, where men and families are assembled, provision must be made for recreation, education, and religion, as well as for the necessities like food, clothing, medical care, etc. All the buildings may be of similar frame construction, provided due care is taken to avoid fire hazards. The question of streets and sidewalks depends upon the size of the settlement and the extent to which the structures are likely to be used. The point is that when the employees are to be drawn from towns or cities where they have many advantages, the most important ones must be provided in a temporary community, even if the buildings themselves are of light construction.

Another call for temporary housing is where the buildings have been destroyed by fire or other disaster. The inhabitants may sometimes be sent to neighboring communities, but, if the town is small and most of the people work for one large company, immediate housing is necessary in order to keep them sufficiently near their work. If climatic conditions allow, rough shacks, or even tents, may be sufficient, provided the construction of permanent houses is begun at once. Small,

portable ready-made houses may fill the need better, but they are comparatively costly. The construction of the permanent houses to take the place of those destroyed must be begun at once in order to induce the employees to put up with the discomforts of tent and shack life, as well as for the sake of preserving their health and maintaining their efficiency.

Where houses are needed in a growing community or to take the place of so-called permanent dwellings, it is probably best and cheapest, in the end, to build solid, well-constructed houses even though haste may be necessary. Temporary housing is more expensive in proportion to the result obtained than permanent construction, and the saving from cheap construction is only justifiable from an economic viewpoint when the use is to be temporary. Even for temporary use, should the buildings be in or near a city, they should, as a rule, be well built. If not, they are liable to become slum property as soon as their temporary use is over, besides being a menace to the health and morals of the community and lowering property values. Experience has frequently proved that temporary buildings in a growing community are not torn down and discarded so soon as they should be.

It pays to build well any building that may be used for a number of years, and too rigid economies are dangers to be guarded against. Even when a company knows that it will need houses in a town or city for only two or three years, the salvage after those years from well-built structures will doubtless be greater than when the houses are of poor or temporary construction. The fact that the prospective occupants will treat the houses badly is an argument for strong rather than for flimsy building.

Building Codes.-The building codes of the country show a great lack of uniformity as to minimum requirements in construction, and many of them have unreasonable provisions which unnecessarily increase the costs of construction. For instance. it is common to find one city requiring an 8-inch brick wall where a neighboring city requires one of 12 inches for the same purpose. Eight inches may be too light for safety, but very likely 12 inches may be unreasonably heavy. The difference in cost both of material and labor is obvious.