THE PRICE OF FOREST PRODUCTS 



By Frederick S. Underhill, Phila. 



iWANT the duty on Lumber re- 

 duced," declared a Member of 

 Congress, "that the mechanic 

 may build his home cheaper !"' 



The duty on lumber was reduced by 

 the Payne-Aldrich bill from $2.00 to 

 $1.25, and after a year or more we find 

 the price of lumber higher instead of 

 lower. 



What is the reason ? There must be a 

 "Lumber Trust" asserts the demagogue 

 and the Yellow Journal. The search of 

 the Government utterly fails to find a 

 "Lumber Trust" ; and what is more, the 

 men who are in actual competition in 

 the sale of the product of the saw, know 

 that there is no man or organization of 

 men who do or can control the price 

 of lumber. When it comes to fixing 

 lumber values the sole arbiter and 

 rulers are those, intangible, yet efifective, 

 autocrats: "Supply and Demand." 



At a recent Economical Conference 

 in Philadelphia, a well known Single 

 Taxer risked the unsupported declara- 

 tion that Frederick Weyerhaueser was 

 the Autocrat in whom was personified 

 "The Lumber Trust" upon whose 

 whims the price of lumber went up, up, 

 up ! When he wanted a little more 

 money he just raised the price of his 

 timber, and every manufacturer was 

 thereby forced to raise the price of his 

 lumber. 



That Frederick Weyerhaueser has 

 been far-sighted and wide-awake 

 enough to acquire, while others were 

 indifferent, large forests of timber, at 

 times when they were inaccessible and 

 therefore cheap, is an undisputed fact, 

 and it is further true that much of it 

 has since become accessible, marketable 

 and valuable. The writer does not 

 know the man, but I see no reason why 

 in this matter he is any diflferent from 

 Philadelphia's great Philanthropist, 

 Stephen Girard, who when certain large 

 sections of Philadelphia were away 



656 



from the business center of his day, was 

 far-sighted enough to see that Phila- 

 delphia would grow and bought largely 

 of real estate which was valued lightly 

 at the time but which has since in- 

 creased in valuation many hundred-fold. 



Mr. Weyerhaueser is interested in 

 several lumber manufacturing com- 

 panies. He and his associates can fix 

 the price on the lumber they saw, but 

 there their price-fixing power ends. 

 Every other lumber manufacturer and 

 dealer fixes his own prices and sells at 

 whatsoever prices he will without any 

 regard to Mr. Weyerhaueser. If he 

 wants to sell lumber in the markets 

 where our firm sells lumber he must 

 meet our competition ! 



The producer of one kind of lumber 

 cannot afiford to disregard the capacity 

 of the producer of other kinds of lum- 

 ber. Scarcity of White Pine and con- 

 sequent advanced values affords an op- 

 portunity for cheaper Short Leaf Yel- 

 low Pine to secure a foothold which it 

 never relinquishes. Scarcity of Poplar 

 and higher prices affords an opportunity 

 to Cypress to demonstrate its value as 

 a substitute and once established it be- 

 comes a competitor and not a substitute. 

 Scarcity of Oak, Walnut, -Mahogany 

 affords similar opportunities to Birch, 

 Chestnut and Red Gum. 



Well, how is it that prices are ad- 

 vancing? Something more effectual 

 than legislation has caused it. You 

 cannot legislate value into a board or 

 plank, nor out of it ! 



First, in point of influence in affect- 

 ing present prices, were the disastrous 

 floods in the Mississippi Delta: destroy- 

 ing numerous saw-mills ; wiping out 

 logging camps and destroying equip- 

 ment ; washing out main and branch 

 railroad lines and logging roads, and 

 effectually closing down a large number 

 of saw-mills for many months, aff'ecting 

 Yellow Pine, Cypress, Oak, Ash, Gum 

 and other lumber. 



