The state herald., 1919-08-08

house the same principles Of Standardization.
machine, factory and quantity production that
are employed by all other great industries.
Most experts agree that the real crux Of the
Industrial housing problem lies not In land cost.
taxes or interest rates. but In the house Itself
the cost Of construction. The investment In
building II anywhere from three to ten times the
cost Of the land and IL therefore the dominant
item and the most potent factor in the entire
problem II In all very well to eliminate the
waste In the other factors-waste Of time. labor
or materia-but II the productivity Of human
labor and capital In construction can be increased
the result would be q real step toward the solu-
tion Of the difficulty and the dement's of such
economy would accrue to all parties involved.
THAT the 'ready-made' house will come event.
ually s evident from the progress made. The
first experimental building designed to demon
strate the principle of Standardization and fac
tory production was successfully erected In 1909.
Since then the work Of demonstration and de-
velopment has proceeded, with the general result
always pointing, In my judgment, to the sound
ness Of the principles and their ultimate success.
"The help We need ought to come from a gov.
ernment research department established for that
purpose. This department would have to bear
the same relation to housing which is commodity.
that the department Of agriculture bears to wheat
or the bureau Of mines to minerals. In other
words the housing OF the industrial arrny is
important In peace that Of the munition work.
ers in war times or the fighting units themselves.
And for these purposes the government spent
hundreds Of millions Of dollars-and established
n special department II is fair question whcth.
er the Importance of the problem today does not
Justify the establishment Of a permanent burenu
Of housing"
"what effect will this Increased activity Of the
iumberjnck have our lumber supplyi" In an i'm.
portant question.
The expectation OF American lumber on the
scnle likely TO result from the European demand
for material will. unless accompanied by provi.
sion for regrowth. seriously dcpletc the supplies
needed by home Industries and impose hardships
the consuming public here. IN the view OF Henry
s. Graves. chief Of the United States forest serv-
Ice.
The department OF agriculture has issued a
pamphlet by Colonel Grnvcs warning the wood.
using Industries. the lumbermen and all Interested
In home supplies of forest products foreign
tra,tc In them TINT the question Of lumber ex.
ports cannot snfely be left TO the cnre Of itself.
The situation is especially critical he points out.
with certain of our highest grnde woods. such M
nsh. onk. hickory, yellow poplnr md black walnut.
which nrc the support Of important industries
and with southern yellow pine. Of which tho
main bulk Of supply IL approaching exhaustion
md which II likely to he exported In lnrrc qunn.
titles to meet nftcr.thc-wnr demands.
Tho situation. Colonel Graves holds, In one of
omipous possibilities. "Aost Of the lending In.
dus,rial nations Of the world" he says, whether
lightly wooded md dependent upon Imports or
heavily wooded md exporters. nre taking steps to
safeguard md develop their timber resources Tho
United Stntcs nionc nppcnrs To he content 10
build M n grcnt export trndc without considering
the ni,imn'c effect upon domestic timber re.
sources md their cnpnciy In the future 10 supply
tho home mnrkei."
Sound public policy does not. however. ncccs.
snrily demand tho discournRems Of exporfa