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Show Mr. T, C. Knapp, president of t'i l'enlnsular Lumber company Jn the nuslnoss Digest published by tlio United States National Bank of Portland, Oregon, sayg. "A frank itatemont of tho pres- : cnt lytnbor situation mnkes an?- ! thing but cheerful reading. Tho foreign market has dwindled to al- I most nothing becauso of unsettled1 financial conditions and belief thnt all commodity prlceo aro duo to como down. Tho domestic market 13 shattered for theso and other icasons, Including recent freight rate advances which have worked o material hardship to tho Pacific northwest. Undoubtedly theso conditions, condi-tions, both foreign and domestic, will contlnuo during the balance of tho ear 1920. "Dut the darkest hour Is before tho dawn. Tho great po'rlod of after war building that the world has anticipated an-ticipated stneo tho signing of tho armistlco Imb not yet actually begun. be-gun. Meanwhile requirements for world construction are piling up every ev-ery day. A cumulatlvo demnnd must break some tlmo. Tho vast Mtnt ol tho building program by tho British government for England alone, will require an expenditure of approximately four billions of doallrs. "Referrlnc to our domestic needs, carefully prepared statistics show an actual shortago today of 2,500,000 homes and 1,000 hotels. The erection of theso buildings will draw from tho lumber mnnufacturora of tho country tho equivalent of tho entlro Ipioductlon of inllls In Oregon and Washington for a four year period. Add to the' above tho requirements for factory construction and for rehabilitation re-habilitation of the railroads, and you have a demand which will tax I tho capacity of the lumber manu I faqturer ocr an extended period. I believe wo will enter this period or t prosperity about January, 1921." f |