Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-09-29
hiding NOW
Ind after THE
WAR IS ENDED
bvernment Work Has First
Call al Present, but Private
Enterprise Will Get
Its Turn.

An Omaha builder OF wide expert
ace sums up the building situation
. terse phrase: Serious, but not
npeless." He realizes all the diff
uities thar are in the way OF pri-
ate construction at present. and the
disappointment OF investors at the
clay in realizing the completion of
heir plans. But he also sees that
when government acquisitions are
Filled, the building industry will
quickly recover from the present en-
breed depression. Speaking in gen.
sral terms OF the outlook. he says:
Building contractors. other than
the favored few busy with great war
undertakings. are having hard sled
ding indeed these days. The last sea
son has shown but one-hfth OF the
private work done in normal times,
and the situation 10 growing worse:
Everything seems to have consplred
TO depress the building industry.
Effect of Government Activity.
"The government has put the stop
per upon the financing OF many en-
ferprises, so that without money
there naturally can be no building;
the government. has asked that 'un-
essential projects be kept over until
after the war and the people exag-
Rerate that request and imagine they
are forbidden TO build anything The
!. government is engaged in so tremen-
dous . building program that it has
eaten I'D the greater part OF the
available building supplies and ma
terials and men; the latter who are
not with the government directly
seek 10 get into the employ OF gov,
eminent contractors. the high-paid
positions, and their certainty and the
general theory that they must work
upon war work or fight attracts them
and the result 10 that private work is
almost At a dead standstill. One
uidwestern building organization
has lost IS per cent Of its men, and
syen ita officers. in all probability,
may BE- gathered into the military
fold this next draft.
"The situation is q serious one.
Those who can still carry on build
ins 10 some extent are being dis
eourased by the opinion, expressed
by the highest authorities, that with
in 50 days not a hammer tap will
be heard, save upon government
work. They naturally think that
there 10 little use in starting any
thing II il will have to be held up so
soon.
How Prices Soar.
These upseatings have a most Sc
rsous effec, upon general business.
The element OF cost alone would be
sreyous enough besides all this
hampering OF the second biggest in
dustry OF the country. BUILDING
materials generally have incrceased
IN cost from 20 to ESQ per cent, not
alonk above normal times, but even
aboye 1915 prices, while in the same
5sttsr period labor has increased ~
70 80 per cent.
"In all OF this there 10 rather an
omalous situation In that although
building materials are necessarily
used in government work. still their
production 10 elapsed largely as non
essential, 80 that the supplies are
being used up (for the government
has something like 81 500, 100000 OF
general construction under wayl
wi,hou, much effort being permitted
TO replenish them, hence the GER
tainsy that even after the war neces-
siies no longer confront US there
will be little or nothing to build
with.
"Despi.s the fact that the situation
10 most serious, for Il means great
losses and even disruption in some
caaes in the ranks OF the contractors,
they accepted philosophically and pa
trio,ically as but part of the sac
rihces necessary to win the war.
Unfinished Buildings.
@Ali this affects every other line
Of business in the land; one great
industry cannot be injured without
rsacting all along the line of related
and even unrelated industries, and,
perhaps most OF oil, 10 finance dis
turbed.
"A manufacturing plant (tor some
thing that 10 now deemed unessen-
tiaD may have been started before
the war. financed and planned to
have been in operation long ago. All
these conditions have since sprung
up; the company has TO build very
slowly or stop work altogether. So
with an apartment house, a hotel.
o store or theater, anything that has
not been given priority rights on
railways and put in the line OF pref
erential work. Naturally If the
building eanno. be completed, the
purpose for which 1t 10 intended can
not be fulfilled, the plant cannot
make the goods. the hotel cannot
house its guests, the theater its spec
tators, that each building was being
built to do. The owner finds him
self with an unproductive invest
ment on his hands, or the stockhold-
ers with stock that can pay no divi-
iends.
Investors Disturbed.
1T cannot be wondered at If some
OF the more tjmid investors, men of
little faith in the final outcome, men
Of scant business vision, who think
this is the end of things or are even
fearful the war may go against us,
clamor to get their money back and
attempt even to force the investing
companies into receivers hands in a
wild effort to Immediately realize
something out OF their investment
regardless OF the effect of such &C
ton upon that project or upon bust
ness as whole.
"Of all times, this is one when we
should all stand together; our main
and best effort is to win this war.
Then-for our own sake as well as
the sake of our allies-our next is
to keep conditions here as normal
40 possible, precipitating no internal