New-York tribune., 1918-12-13


nous in denouncing Mr.. McAdoo's
recommendation that Federal con-
troll of the railroads be extended
for a period of five years, with
early release from control as the
alternative, as unnecessary and un-
fair. While there is wide diver
gence of opinion as to the course
that should be pursued with the
roads, bankers, railroad executives
and others who have studied the
question are agreed that salts
factory agreement can be worked
out in the period of twenty-one
months after the peace treaty is
signed. 1t is conceded that imme-
diate return of the roads to their
owners would be highly desirable in
some cases, but there are others in
which that would bring disaster, un-
less remedial legislation were first
enacted. On the other hand, the
general opinion is that extension of
the Federal control period for five
years would be certain to result in
government ownership, since the
carriers would have been completely
unified by that time and it would
be impossible to unscramble them.
AS one banker remarked, twenty
one months ought to be sufficient
time in which to demonstrate the
utility or futility of government
control" Sentiment was pretty
we'll reflected in the stock market,
railroad shares falling an average
of about point on very light
trading.
No industry was harder hit by the
war than building. It was first hit
by high prices, because of fear that
structures erected when wages and
materials were at peak would be
unable to earn interest on the in
vestment in competition. with those
constructed in the period of lower
wages and prices that was widely
expected to follow the ending of
the war. And building was further
retarded by the restrictions i'm
posed with the object of diverting
materials to war uses, and by ina
bility to obtain the necessary cap1-
tai. Conditions in the industry are
made sufficiently clear by Brad
streets report of building activity,
which shows that the value of pro-
jected structures for which permits
were obtained during November
was only $16,096,955, the smallest
for any month in more than ten
years. 1t is less than half the total
for November, 1917, and less than
a quarter of that for the CORE
spending month two years ago.
That probably is the low ebb, but it
is, nevertheless, likely that the re-
covery will be gradual, in spite of
the fact that abandonment of many
restrictions and the lowering of
steel prices will give certain
stimulus to building operations. The
boom that has been predicted
probably will not materialize until
builders are convinced that a rea-
sonably stable price level has been
reached. AS long as there is any
general expectation of drastic
price readjustment operations will
be deferred. But when uncertainty
as to the course of prices has been
dispelled it would not be surpris-
ing to see a sudden revival of
building on an unprecedented
scale. 1t usually happens that when
an industry has been under re-
straint for considerable period re-
moval of the repressing influences
is followed by enormous expansion.
Uncertainty as to the probable
course of prices is also directly re-
sponsible for the lull in general
business that has been so noticeable
in the last few weeks. Christmas
buying is, perhaps, heavier than
usual, but in other lines the slack
ening is pronounced. People are
waiting for the lower prices that