Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-16
Circulation Every 1OI00
Evening Yesterday lL4OO
MONDAY, JULY II, 1918
Good Times and Fine Prospects.


The information contained IN the letter
Of our Washington correspondent N
Yesterdays Every Evening giving details
of tho expenditures for new ships and
homes for those who arc 10 build them,
as recommended Ia The United States
Shining Board. was of especial interest TO
tho people Of Wilmington II showed to
what extent Wilmington IS 10 share IN
tho sum total expenditures for these inn
portant purposes
From the lluidng fund, Wilmington
: 10 receive S2.5OO,OO0 THIS, IN ad-
d,tlon to the other money to be expended
m the building enterprises now under
way NJ Front and mon streets, will
mean 4 very largo expenditure OF money
N wages and FOR building materials, all
oi uhIctp VIII tend 10 advance the ma
nal Prosperity Of our city In addition,
tic large building enterprise Of the du
Font Go at WawaSct Park tor the pur-
rose of providing homes for its employees.
w:l add II tho total Of the operations
arising from the new Shipping program.
These two. IN connection with tho ordinary
s.rt Of local operations. should serve to
,n.k, largo addition "a the population
IT Wilmington IN tho census 20 bc taken
u 1870 Ry that ccnSts our city. now
bcvo,.d The 100, ,0o0-mark should enter
inc 125G0N class. 1t least
In the nov ship operations, also Vii
mine'on will have liberal SHARE The
contracts to bo awarded 10 the two local
concerns the Harlan & Holhngswor1h
plant of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation
and the Pusey & Jones plant will re-
celve ship contracts 10 tho amount Of
nearly S29.0O0.000 Work on these
contracts viii DC prosecuted with All
possible dispatch, and the good effects Of
the expenditure 81 this large sum Of
money should he apprcciahly fclt ~ gen
cral business circles, from the beginning
TO the end Of the operations.
But II is not to be assumed hat these
large operations ar merely instances of
what may bc called war prosperity.
While shlpbuilding contracts on such 3
large scale. and under such stress of
progress, arr not 10 be expected after the
war comes to an end, il need not hc
feared that Wilmington viii fall INTO a
s.oueh Of industrial depression when that
most desirable object tho close of the
war with complete victory for the Allies
5 accomplished There viii still be work
10 do tho work of reconstruction and
rehabilitation and Of supplying the needs
Of a large section Of Europe that has
hccn devastated by war : ravagcs and
educcd 10 the most severe straits ty
extreme deprivation In this work the
Industries Of Wilmington Will he called
upon TO dc their part
Whining, on has eva been a CITY Of
progress Up 10 the h~eaklnC out O! the
Urea: Nar tins progress was not phe-
nomcnal N any manner. hut II was con
>lstent Each decade showed, by the
figures Of the census, steady advances ID
population and prosperity And while
the extraordinary activity inclted by the
war NAV not continue indefinitely there
Is no doubt gratifying prosperity viii
cont inue for years, and that our city will
continue to show not only its steady
progress of the past, but a material ad-
vancenent.
The most encouraging feature Of the
enterprises to which We have alluded is
the assurance that one of them means
solution of the housing problem This
problem has been a serious drawback to
our city for long time Now II is about
TO bo settled And the settlement will
he one of the best things that ever hap
pened TO our city.