These purely manufacturing considerations were enough in themselves to explain the prevalence of the cost-plus contracts. Another element was the time required to prepare specifications and advertise for bids--time not to be spared in war. But there was still another reason to account for the cost-plus contract, a reason in war finance, even more cogent. The successful prosecution of the war meant that practically the entire industrial equipment of the United States would have to be devoted to the production of war supplies. Before the war only large concerns with great financial resources were able to put through great government projects in which the delivery dates were far removed from the dates of starting the work. A war contract often involved a tremendous preliminary expenditure of money in factory expansion and in commitments for raw materials. The Government’s practice was to pay for supplies only upon their delivery. Under such conditions the small manufacturer could not work for the Government. In normal times, perhaps, the possession of a government contract might have enabled him to finance his operation through the banks in the usual way, but with every manufacturer needing special financing, the effect upon the banks was to make them less liberal in their commercial loans. The banks had their own solvency to look out for first. The cost-plus contract proved to be one of the solutions of this problem. Most of the cost-plus contracts provided that the War Department could pay the manufacturing costs as they accrued, in installments. Thus, by securing partial advance payments from the Government, the small producers, and the large, too, were able to finance their projects and even to take advantage of the cash discounts in their purchases of raw materials. Naturally, the War Department was careful to make such arrangements only with contractors of recognized probity, men who were deserving of confidence, but who often lacked working capital to enable them to become successful producers of war supplies.[6]