The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-02
No Substantial Increase in Production Anticipated, Says Head of Sloss-
 Sheffield Go.
WAR ORDERS TO TAKE ;, PREFERENCE OV FER
 ANY STEEL BUSINESS
Little to Be Gained by Con tracing Ahead as Pro- ducers Will Ship Where
 War Requires
By HUGH w. ROBERTS


 Washington, July 1.-(Spe- cial. )-Waddill Catchings, chairman of a committee of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, cooperating with the council of national de- fense, in a statement issued to- night declares that war de- mands for steel will increase and that the utmost the United States can produce will not be sufficient for the requirement of this government and it's al- lies.
 MT. Cntchings urges that instead of steel for domestic purposes, lumbef and concrete be ,fsed He adds that unless n substitute for steel be found, | many manufacturers may be obliged to curtail or even suspend operations States in the European war.
 "No substantial increase in produce tion is anticipated. continues MT.
 Catchings. Even maximum produc-
 tion from existing facilities cannot be expected because transportation, labor and material conditions will interfere with the full operation of plants. On the other hand, 1t is evident that war requirements will continue to increase.
 DEMANDS OF WAR Steel is needed in war for ships. railroad cars and locomotives. rails. trucks, and containers. It must be had for shells and other munitions works requirements large in tonnage far be- yond what is generally supposed In l,addition, business producing govern ment materials and supplies, the nec- essities of life and the materials tor producing the necessities of life, re- quire steel in great quantities for buildings, machinery, tools and con- tainers. When all these requiremen are met little, if any, steel will be left for so-called general business. Materials which can be used in sub : stitution for steel are plentiful in com parison. Lumber may be expected to meet all needs and cement may be had in quantity for concrete work. While there may be delays in getting supplies Iof these materials. hopeless shortage does not exist.
 The course for business men to pur- sue is clear. Every effort should be made to use wood and concrete in place construction and development work re- quiring steel should be postponed wherever possible.
 WAR ORDERS FIRST Apparently little will be gained by contracting ahead for steel. Experi- be necessary for producers of steel to ship their product where required in connection with the war rather than to fill such contracts as they may have on their order books. When the pro- duction of railroad cars and locomo- 1 tives is interfered with because nec- essary steel is going to industries pro- ducing pleasure automobiles, steel fur niture, and buildings for amusement purposes. the situation cannot be ex- pected to continue.
 Business men will probably make plans in the expectation that scon there will be established an order of distribution of steel, and that the wild scramble to enter orders for future de- livery will be ineffective. In fact it will occur to many that failure to recognize this situation may lead to unfortunate results. Tn business re- quiring steel, if contracts are placed for future delivery. not only for steel but for other materials, the manufac- 1 turer may find that he cannot get the steel but can get the other materials. In this case he might find that he had on hand large quantities of materials which he could not use because he had no steel"