Evening star., 1923-03-30
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

| Happy is the man who bought his
| home a year ago. rather than the one
who thought prices were too high and
| that he would wait for costs Of mate
| rials and wages to get back to nor
| malcy.
The index figures show that both
! material and labor cost between %
| and 80 per cent more this spring than
| they did a year ago. On the basis of
| cost Of reproduction, values OF all
buildings might be computed now at
25 per cent increase over what they
| were a. year ago. Rents may not go
up in proportion. if there are fewer
renters now demanding homes.
Lumber which was sold two years
ago for $40, now costs $3.50. Steel.
which sold g. year ago for $40 a ton,
| now costs $68. AS these increases
have not come spasmodically. there
| appears little prospect OF a decline.
Perhaps Uncle Sam will heed Secre-
! tary Hoover's advice to let private
| builders have a chance now and for
| public building to wait for a slump.
! then equalize the pressure by erecting
public works needed.
y :. :: ::
Secretary Hoover has quit calling
| for wheatIess weeks and even for
| sugarless weeks, but now is arrang-
| ing for "better home week" to be-
gin June 4. Everybody all over the
| nation is to get together and not only
wish they had better homes. but
study how to standardize designs and
sizes Of parts, so as to cut out waste
full costs.
! Through Standardization Of win
| dows. doors and even cornices and
| porches. very considerable savings
| can be effected, because more Of the
4 work can be turned out by machinery.
A good demonstration of this princi-
| pie is found in comparing the cost OF
| the material for ready -for-the- ham :
| lner buildings, supplied by central
4 factories, with similar building mate
rial cut by hand.
| !. 4 !: x
| Just as we get the lesson learned
\ that an automobile must never ap-
| proach another machine on the road
! without dimming it's headlights. here
comes the bureau Of standards with
a test showing that TO dim the head
lights adds to the danger. It !s now
alleged that where two machines ap-
4
are dimmed, neither driver can see
beyond the approaching machine.
! The point to keep in mind is that the
| light must be SO adjusted as not TO
throw a glare into q pedestrians eyes
nor the eyes Of an approaching driver.
| The glare must be directed upon the
| ground.
The Secretary of Labor. James John
| Davis. commits himself unqualifiedly
| to commentator of the teaching Of
trades in public schools. He says the
! crying demand OF America is for
! skilled mechanics. He attributes this
demand to increased population which
has grown out of proportion to the
number of skilled mechanics, and to
the advanced methods used in all
trades" 1t requires more technical
skill now to be a skilled mechanic
than it did a generation ago, and
there is not place where youth
! without means can get that sort OF
education.
Trade training should start in the
! He goes further and says that mo
boy or girl should be given diploma
| from the high schools unless they are
| then qualified to become self-support-
ing in a fairly liberal way
| x 4
BY that il is understood that the
Secretary Of Labor wants all boys
and girls to learn tradas-much as
| the cld-t time idea that IL a boy knew
| q trade he would never want for a
chance to earn living. That idea is
| not sound, as may be concretely il
lustrated By the very recent eXpc-