American Forestry 



VOL. XX 



SEPTEMBER, 1914 



No. 9 



THE WAR AND THE LUMBER 



INDUSTRY 



Bx Bristow Adams. 



DURING the Balkan war, which 

 is now looked upon as a minor 

 affair in the light of the pres- 

 ent European conflict, it was 

 reported from Germany that the price 

 of certain kinds of lumber had risen 

 as the result of the demands for ma- 

 terial for ammunition cases. With 

 many times the demand at present, it 

 is a fair conjecture that some lumber 

 prices, in common with prices for other 

 commodities, will rise, not only in war- 

 ring countries but everywhere. At the 

 same time, the activities of peace, now 

 at a standstill over a large portion of 

 Europe, have ceased their demands, 

 and in addition, war imposes difficulties 

 on commerce, which will hamper or 

 even actually prevent the passage of 

 goods from those who produce to those 

 who want. 



These, then, are the main fields of 

 conjecture as to the war's effect on 

 lumber: What depression is going to 

 follow in the train of war, and where? 

 Also, to look on the hopeful side, what 

 are the possible increased demands due 

 to war, and where may they be expect- 

 ed to arise? 



THE DEPRESSING EFFECTS. 



There may be, in countries at war, 



an increased demand, as with the Balkan 



ammunition boxes. But it is scarcely 



likely that the lumbermen of the United 



States can profit through these de- 



^ mands, because all such lumber w^ould 



Q^ be contraband. Ship timbers have al- 



*~ wavs been regarded as contrab& ul by 



'^ 



c 



Great Britain, and Germany is not 

 going to be far behind in taking a sim- 

 ilar view. In the contraband lists al- 

 ready made public it has been shown 

 that all lumber which might even re- 

 motely be utilized in war or in dis- 

 tantly related projects is seizable. For 

 example, railroad ties which might be 

 used in repairing torn-up tracks, or in 

 extending trackage for troop trains, 

 would be seizable even in neutral ships. 

 Any such material will be presump- 

 tively contraband if consigned to a port 

 where military or naval equipment 

 might be used. Even neutral goods in 

 neutral bottoms may not enter block- 

 aded ports, so, on the whole, little can 

 be looked for except losses when it 

 comes to questions of exports to na- 

 tions at war. 



LOSSES THROUGH COMMERCE. 



There is no conjecture about this 

 part of the situation. Already the 

 shipment of lumber from the southern 

 ports is entirely paralyzed. Great 

 losses have already been sustained 

 through the seizure of vessels which 

 were on the high seas when war was 

 declared, or through cargoes diverted 

 to points at which the timber cannot 

 readily be sold, because lumber intend- 

 ed for export to one country is very 

 seldom in such shape as to be readily 

 salable in another. Thus hewed tim- 

 bers generally demanded by Great Brit- 

 ain find little market in a country 

 which habitually takes sawed lumber. 



This diversion of freight is going to 



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