At first thought one might be inclined to claim that contract-letting is not a matter of economics, but a little reflection will soon convince him that it certainly is, because if contracts be badly drawn, or if the modus operandi of compensating the contractor and his workmen be faulty, the work of construction will assuredly cost more than it would under ideally perfect conditions. During the last few months the author has been writing a series of papers on contract-letting and profit-sharing, culminating in a lengthy discussion of a paper by Mr. Ernest Wilder Clarke, published in the August, 1919, Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the said discussion appearing in the October- November- December Proceedings.

As this discussion is in reality a complete treatment of the subject, and was intended as such (although for good and sufficient reasons presented as an adjunct to another paper instead of being offered as a separate memoir), it is here reproduced practically verbatim.

The importance of the subject of this paper, to owners, contractors, and the entire American nation, cannot well be exaggerated; for, until there is reached a satisfactory compromise between owners on the one hand and contractors on the other concerning the vital questions of contract-letting and profit-sharing, the business of the country will fail to recuperate to the extent that it should at this critical period in the readjustment of all constructional activities-which activities were so fundamentally upset throughout the whole world more than five years ago by the advent of the World War. The opportunity now within easy reach of the American people to secure the bulk of the world's trade is unique; but, apparently, our leaders in diplomacy, manufacture, shipping, business, and finance are either unaware of its existence or indifferent about taking advantage of their good fortune. The Latin-American nations are now knocking at our door asking to do business with us and begging us to lend them money for the development of their as-yet-almost-virgin lands, mines, and water powers, and their other more or less embryonic resources; and the leading peoples of Asia, Africa, Australasia, and even Europe are to-day much more willing to enter into business relations with this country than they have ever been before. They all recognize that, for the present at least,  the  European  countries  are  in  no  condition  to  lend  money,  being

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