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Show of waxes, measured by the factor of about 2. In other words, waces should fit" down faster than commodity prices. We may look, moreover, for the abolition of governmental gov-ernmental price fixing to let play once more natural factors that will be salutary. salu-tary. "Many changes of those kinds will institute in-stitute themselves before the troops begin be-gin to come home. Their return will Introduce In-troduce new conditions that aH yet nobody no-body can well foresee. It is certain that many of these men will have experienced such alterations of habit and thought during their lief In the field and In the LOSS OF MAW-POWER IS VITAL FflCTOR, Engineering and Mining Journal Discusses Conditions Condi-tions to Follow War. In Last Analysis, Labor Is Held the Question That Underlies Everything. In the leading editorial of the KnKlncer-ing KnKlncer-ing and Mining Journal of last week ia to be found a careful and comprehensive dlecufislon of the conditions that follow the signing of tho "world peace" agreement. agree-ment. It wa written while the conflict was still raging! but the article gives evidence evi-dence of bo much clearness of Insight that Is aoema eminently worthy of reproduction, re-production, not alone as to Its bearings upon the vast Industry of mining, but likewise as to conditions in general. The editorial follows: "The great war Is drawing toward Us close ; and a victorious close It will be. Every kind and honest heart is rejoicing that the suffering of Europe's pcoplo will not be prolonged much further. But with the prospect of peace within a year, our thoughts ure hound to turn to l he changes In economic conditions that are Impending. Impend-ing. The problem Is so confused and complex com-plex that there Is no one who Is ahle clearly to forecast events. Tho best minds are almost as much in the dark as they were in August, 1914. We say 'almost' rather than 'Quite.' for without any doubt we have learned during he last four years to think more broadly and with better knowledge of fundamental factor? than we used to. Suffering Is Potent. "Wo can see, for example, that the groat underlying factor is labor. We have suffered from shortages of material, and concomitantly high prices, owing to lack of men enough to get It out of naturo's stores; nor have we had sufficient time to provide adequate mechanical power to replaco the deficit of man -power. W e could not make tho necessary war material ma-terial and at the same time manufacture the former supply of peaceful material, and therefore we have had to forego the latter. Not only have we had to deprive ourselves of many very desirable things, but, also, wo have had to deplete the stocks In warehouses and retail stores. When t he war industries board boasts of saving leat her, rubber and paint by reducing the number of sizes and shades that may be manufactured. It does not mean tha t IL saves any consumption of those things, but simply that it reduces the stock that dealers previously had to carry. As soon as dealers can obtain supplies freely again, they will naturally stock up, and there will furthermore be a great demand for and consumption of all things for delayed work. Similar conditions con-ditions will exist In Europe, besides which thero will be the immense demand for mn tiirial for rppnnst rurt inn In rlp.vas- t re nemos that they will not be willing io return to their former occupations. They will be far more used to mechanical work, and their whole outlook upon life will have been changed. In such ways did tho men of this countrv become different after the civil war. Who will venture to prognosticate wha t the veterans of tho groat war will do? Much Man-power Lost. "Rut there seems to us to be a fundamental, funda-mental, far-reaching economic condition ahead of us that will eventually dominate domi-nate everything else, and that is the net loss of man-power. The world will have more work than ever to do and will have fewer men to do it. Every country of Europe and North America will be staggering stag-gering under a tremendous load of debt; some more than others. How are they going to carry and discharge those loads except by Increasing the efficiency of their depleted man-power . by means of mechanical power? For examples, imagine the national electrification of Great Rrltain and the more extensive use of hydroelectric power In the United States, which would release men from the polleries, from transportation, and so on down the line, and set them free to build houses, to mske machinery for Siberia and China, etc. Whence would come the capital for such colossal undertakings? By national provision. Tt Is hardly conceivable con-ceivable that nations that have been spend 1 ng many billions annually In destruction de-struction would hoggle over a few billions bil-lions for construction. "Thoughts of this nature cause us lo be optimistic respecting the position of the metals after the war, barring the probability of a depression, perhaps a sharp one, during the period of readjustment. readjust-ment. All of the metals should be regarded re-garded favorably in this view, but not all just alike. Copper is probably in the best position, for the reason that natural demand has been most severely repressed during the last year, and lead probably stands next to copper, for a similar reason. rea-son. Iron and steel may be slower In responding, and zinc Is likely to lag last. Indeed", the zinc producers will probably have to do something to promote their market. So long as we are unwilling to let gold go to the orient, and until we can exchange goods freely with that quarter quar-ter of the world, silver ought to keep high." tated areas. These premises, which appear ap-pear reasonablj' safe, indicate a strong demand for raw materials, and especially the metals. "But It does not follow that such a demand will develop Immediately upon the coming of peace. On the contrary, we must inevitably contemplate a period of readjustment, and much will depend upon how things are handled during that period. pe-riod. The governments will undoubtedly possess large reserves of metals at the termination of the war. Will they resell re-sell those supplies, or will they reserve them for national use in reconstructions and Improvements? How long will It take private contractors who have converted con-verted their machine shops Into shell factories fac-tories to get back to their ordinary industrial in-dustrial basis? What Is going to become of the swollen, congested populations of Bridgeport and similar places when their present occupation ceases abruptly? Tt is easy to foresee that such necessary changes will produce dislocations that will curtail temporarily the consumption of raw materials. Manifestly such dislocations dis-locations will be Irregular. Compromise Inevitable. "We are not among those who look for the arrogance of labor to continue unabated. Labor supply will continue to be abort, considering the broad needs of the world, but there will no longer be the pressing need of granting labor's every demand lest the great cause be jeopardized. jeopar-dized. Wo shall continue to build ships, locomotives and other things In great quantities, but when on a commercial basis, and when time is not so vital, the employer may talk more upholdingly to his men. and the day will come when fifteen will not have to be hired to do the work of ten. This will In itself ease the labor supply, as will the migration of thousands from the munition factories. Even If basic commodity prices u nd e rgo no alteration, there Is a large lost-motion lost-motion between the increase in the cost of living, measured by the factor of about 1.5, and the increase in the rate |
