The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-12-05
America Must First
Set House In Order
Then, Full Steam Up!
BY RICHARD sPILLANE.

Oy hI01An1 Is-A.Stssee
We hear much about construction
and reconstruction work In Europe.
but not so much about that here at
home. There is q tremendous amount
Of 1t to do.
A short time ago a textile exhibition
was held in New York. at which mill
machinery orders aggregating $16.-
100000 were closed Or tnis total,
$11 ,00O. 900 was for the Japanese.
1t would have been better II Amert-
can establishments had taken all
SIG, 100000 Of the equipment
Few Americans ap preciate the mag
nftude Of their country. Take, for ex-
ample, what must be done to put the
textile industry in order. There are
1880 textile mills in America en-
ploying nearly 100000 operatives.
They include cotton, wooden, worsted.
1ute, linen, flax, hemp, silk and other
establishments Since 1913 there has
been little new machinery bought and
since 1916 the industry has been
working to capacity.
Depreciation In this field IL esti-
mated normally at 10 per cent per
annum. II you split that in half it
leaves a monster total OF replacement,
not to mention extension work in this
Industrial Plants Need Overhauling.
Practically every other department
is in the same general condition. For
some years we have been working most
OF our plants of every kind and char
acter to the limit. War needs de-
amnded it. Repairs had to be post
poned. Speed was everything. Now
there must be overhauling. The work
will be thorough because many plants
in being transformed to war work and
back again have suffered severely.
The same story on Y more SO is true
of ships. The world has had reports
of the destruction of vessefs by u
boats, by raiders and by wreck. 1t
has been appalling. The world. too.
has had report Of construction here
and abroad to make good the losses
and has been cheered by the fine
showing made.
But one big Observation-Disclosures
has not been considered.
There are thousands of ships In SER
vice today that would not be permit
ted in ordinary times to sail the seas,
for insurance would not be written on
them.
They viii go 10 the hospitals or
graveyards of the deep SO soon as
newt tonnage is built to relieve the
strain on SnlpplnE.
It is modest to say that Of the A.
100000 tons Of ships today, 5000, 100
must be junked
The railroads OF America represent
approximately $4,000, 900, 900 OF in
vestment. Ordinarily the expenditures
for maintenance ana .Iew equipment
go to staggering totals.
The life Of freight car is ten
years. There are 100000 box cars.
That means a need of 100000 a year.
For five years the building Of cars
has been on q one third of normal
basis.
It is the same IN relation to locomo-
tfves. We have stripped ourselves to
supply our allies.
Judge by present facts railway
equipment concerns will have their
hands fun for years supplying the
needs OF American lines, to say moth
ing Of foreign demands
Building Needs Are Enormous.
Think of the building that must be
done in America There has been Mt
tie or none since 1914.
November 1. 1917, the population OF
continental United States was 104,-
$4,000. On November 1, 1918, 1t was
LOG, 414,000, an increase OF L.
722,0o0. You can figure with rea-
SOnaDle accuracy me pOpuldIVOu Oh
this country for any day or any year.
At present our population growth is
at the rate OF 47cO day, 80, 900 a week
and 143,500 a month.
We add a young town to ourselves
each and every day and have been
doing itfor nearly five years without
building structures to house our
swelling population. This is one ex-
PLANTATION Of high rents.
America needs new buildings, thou
sands, tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands of them. It needs repair
work done in tens Of thousands Of in
stances. 1t needs furnishings innum-
cradle, ranging from pins and needles
up and through the whole vast list of
unending items that man and woman
in their varying ways find necessary
or think are necessary to the making
of places to work in or places to live
in.
If America had no other work to do
than rent and furnish and refurnish it
self it would have enough to engage
its attention.
When you add the foreign needs
the job is huge.
But America is a whale of a ma
ton. 1t has fashion Of doing pretty
well any work it undertakes. It has
years of work in sight. First it must
get it's house and shop in order. Then
full steam ahead!