The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1918-08-24
FRIEDMAN IS POSITIVELY
AGAINST COUNTY DIVISION

be seen when one takes into consid-
Grafton the scarcity of material to-
gether with the abnormal cost thereof.
A great many building materials can
not possibly be had at any price at this
time, and an attempt at building at
once would without a doubt result in
contracting for the building at these
abnormal prices OF material, and then
not being able to get great portion Of
1t until after the war (as all contracts
for building material now are being
made subject to war orders), so that
we would not have a courthouse any
sooner than by waiting until after the
war, but at a cost of at least three
times of what II will cost later. Nails
have advanced in price 140 per cent,
black pipe has advanced 174 per cent,
lime has advanced 56 per cent, ium-
ber has advanced s5 per cent, steel has
advanced 22s per cent. and all miscel-
laneous hardware such as pipe fittings,
valves and plumbing supplies have
advanced from 500 to 1000 per cent,
and most of this material cannot be
had at any price, as our government
does not allow II to be used excepting
for war purposes, and when I speak of
these matters do so from actual eS-
perience, as this war caught me In the
construction of milling plant, the
completion of which has now been de-
layed for the past nine months for the
want of less than $4,000 worth of ma
terial, even though the total cost of
the plant is $500 900, and 1t is only dur
ing the past three weeks that owing
to the special desire on the part of the
government to produce all silver pos
sible. that / have received a priority
permit from the government for this
material. which allowed the manufac-
turers 10 furnish II so as to complete
the plant
Some people are OF the opinion that
building material will not materially
decrease after the war. but such cam
not be the case, as there are enormous
stores Of materials Of all classes on
hand, which, however. must be held and
increased by our government until the
war is ended. at which time It will all
be released, and 1t is a well known
fact that in former wars material of
all kinds advanced in price the same
as II has now. and just so with food.
During the Civil war wheat sold as high
or higher than II does now, and yet
Immediately after the war II became
very cheap, as invariably one extreme
Is followed by another, and history al
ways has and always will repeat it.
self But a courthouse is a necessity
and must be built some time. and I
shall. IL elected. introduce legislation
to provide the necessary funds so as
to be ready to build a courthouse at
Winnemucca as soon as the war is
ended, and the men and material are
available, as the end of the war may
come early after the close OF the legis-
lature, which would unnecessarily de-
lay the construction for a long time
unless the money was provided and
ready.
Another matter worthy of serious
consideration in attempting to build
before the war Is ended is the required
labor. AS stated in the columns of
your paper before. over 80 per cent Of
all factories throughout this country
have been converted into manufactur-
ers OF war material OF one kind or
other, and are at this time employing
millions of people at that work. Just
as soon as peace is declared these fac
tories will all close down and the ma
chinery not suitable for other purposes
must be discarded and new machinery
must be made and installed for the
manufacture of articles for legitimate
port trade. This readjustment will
take from a year to eighteen months,
during which time the greater portion
of these people will be idle, to say
nothing about the millions Of the real
workers of this nation who will return
to us from France at that same time,
and having devoted their time TO our
country at practically no pay, will all
be In need OF employment. so that
without a doubt II will be up to the
governments of state and nation TO
provide employment at a good scale
of wages for them, as these men who
have been bleeding for our country for
several years with practically no COM
pensation are surely entitled to that
consideration on the part of those of
us who remained at home. so that any
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