THE EUROPEAN WAR AND THE LUMBER TRADE 



885 



turn over his property to his creditors. 

 He, therefore, attempts to secure ready 

 money to continue his business by 

 marketing his product at a price below 

 its actual worth. He can rarely secure 

 loans from banks when markets are 

 depressed, because banks then refuse to 

 loan in sufficient amounts on satisfac- 

 tory terms. Overhead charges are an 

 important item in the cost of placing 

 lumber on the market, and a curtail- 

 ment of cut or a total cessation of opera- 

 tions seldom reduces this to a marked 

 degree, hence a large deficit rapidly 

 accumulates and may ultimately mean 

 bankruptcy. 



The manufacturer in some sections 

 of the country, such as the Northeast 

 and the Lake States, often transports 

 his logs to the mill by water, cutting 

 the timber during the fall and winter 

 previous to the sawing season — the 

 warmer months of the year. He must, 

 therefore, anticipate market conditions 

 months in advance, and having invested 

 his money in logging and in placing the 

 timber in the stream he feels forced to 

 manufacture the logs into lumber, both 

 to save them from deterioration and to 

 get them into marketable form. 



Even with railroad operations it is 

 costly to close down since a large 

 amount of valuable equipment becomes 

 idle and must be cared for at consider- 

 able expense, even though it is not earn- 

 ing anything for the owner. 



A large labor organization is essential 

 for the operation of a big lumber plant, 

 and an efficient force may be the result 

 of several years' effort on the part of 

 the operator. A cessation of operations 

 means the dissipation of the crew, who 

 are either forced to remain idle or else 

 seek employment elsewhere. It is 

 usually the case that a total or partial 

 cessation of operations is general 

 throughout a section and all industries 

 are more or less affected, hence the 

 labor supply exceeds the demand and 

 there is but little opportimit}' for even 

 a good workman to earn a living. Many 

 lumber manufacturing plants are lo- 

 cated more or less remote from the 

 large centers of population, and fre- 

 quently the hmiber manvifacturing plant 

 is the onlv industrv of the communitv 



and the sole means of earning a live- 

 lihood for the citizens. Under these 

 conditions an added hardship is laid 

 upon the woods or mill worker who 

 finds himself \vithout employment. It 

 is greatly to the credit of many lumber- 

 men that today they are operating 

 their plants at least on partial time, 

 chiefly to provide employment for their 

 workmen who have been faithful to 

 them, although it means a financial 

 loss to do so. 



Another reason why the large lumber 

 manufacturer who caters especially to 

 the domestic trade cannot cease to pro- 

 duce lumber is that he has built up his 

 trade and customers demand some 

 hmiber even during periods of financial 

 depression. If the manxifacturer ceases 

 to produce hmiber, buyers seek out 

 other sources to supply their needs and 

 the seller may lose in a short time many 

 desirable customers. A resumption of 

 business on the part of the producers 

 means the development anew of trade 

 connections, since old customers who 

 have been lost seldom return in normal 

 times. 



Extremely low mill prices, such as 

 prevail today, mean greater waste both 

 in the forest and in the mill, since the 

 poorer grade of lumber cannot be sold 

 at a price that will even approximate 

 the cost of manufacturing and selling it. 

 It is of direct interest, therefore, to 

 each and every citizen of the United 

 States that some steps should be taken 

 which will make it possible to market, 

 without loss, the poorer grades. Poor 

 grades can be marketed only when the 

 supply of all grades is not in excess of 

 the demands of the country. In times 

 of business depression this means a cur- 

 tailment of cut on the part of the larger 

 operators, as well as scientific marketing 

 of the product, both of which are largely 

 dependent on close cooperation among 

 manufacturers. This does not exist 

 today because the members of the lum- 

 ber industry and lumber trade associa- 

 tions of the country have been harassed 

 during recent years both by courts and 

 by the Federal Government, with the 

 result that such cooperation as formerly 

 existed has largely been destroyed and 

 both the industry and the public have 



