12 



HE HARDWOOD REC 



n 



wonltli of tliD nation iind tjikos nrtllilnt; 

 nwiiy. It Is Bliiiply tlio crTiirt t>f :i l>aiul of 

 sliJiriMTS. "p't rii-li <iiil<'k" iiicn wllli ^'Ikhu- 

 tic rc-iiiiirci's, atl(<iii|iliiit; to kiiIii i-oiitml of 

 great piviKTlit's of tin* i-ouiitrv. i-spo- 

 daily the nillrtiatls. and It Is tin- opinion of 

 the illslnterestod onlooker that they have 

 hitlen olT more than they can chew. 



The most illslresshiK feature of their 

 operations to legitimate business Interests 

 is the faet they have, in their trememlotis 

 paper deals, tied np alxint all tlu" surplus 

 money in the country. The banks of New 

 York and nio.st of the larpe cities are 

 stultwl full of these Inflated securities, 

 taken as collateral for loans, with the result 

 that any linancial disturbance would 

 cramp leirltimate business interests for 

 funds. 



As the first of May approaches we are 

 threatened on all sides by serious labor 

 troubles, but somehow we slip along from 

 day to day by what seems sheer good luck, 

 without bumping into anything serious. 



Meanwhile we are humming along at a 

 high rate of speed, as did the man who 

 caught tlie bear by the tail. I^ike him. «•■ 

 can't stop and don't dare to let go. 



But you can never tell how things arc- 

 going to terminate, and we may come out 

 all right. 



We have always been a lucky people. 



WOKK OF THE TBAFFIC DEPART- 

 MENT. 

 The work that .Mr. W. I>. llurll)ut. man- 

 ager of the Traffic Department of the Na- 

 tional Hardwood Lumber Association, is 

 doing is a revelation to those unac- 

 quainted with the ins and outs of the rail- 

 road business. Not only does the showing 

 he makes cause the success of the Traffic 

 Department to be assured, but it indicates 

 that the field for that work is so broad 

 and fruitful that the Traffic Department 

 will be one of the strongest features of the 

 association work. The amount of money 

 he has made and saved, and is making and 

 saving, for the members of the Traffic De- 

 partment is astonishing. Of course, he 

 can do nothing for a member if he is not 

 called upon, but no member who consults 

 him freely regarding his freight matters 

 fails to profit by it. 



Mr. Hurlbut is conceded to lie one of 

 the best posted traffic men in the United 

 States. He has no superior in the knowl- 

 edge of railroad tariffs, and the substance 

 of the Traffic Department proposition is 

 that for a comparatively small .sum a 

 member of that department may have his 

 freight matters looked after by an ex- 

 pert. And he will be surprised to find 

 how such there is in it for him. 



A lumberman accepts the rate wliicli a 

 railroad makes him. without knowing 

 whether he is being charged above a legal 

 rate. We know of one case where a lum- 

 berman joined the Traffic Department un- 

 der pressure, paying $35 for a year's mem- 

 bership. As soon as Mr. Hurlbut got to 



Investigating his freight alTairs he dis- 

 covered that the member had Ix-en paying 

 a rate of 'J cents a hundred over the legal 

 rate for three years. As most of his prod- 

 uct had been shipped on that rati- he was 

 entille<l to a neat l[ltle rebate of fully 

 .f.'>.0(Xi. And Mr. Hurlbut will got It for 

 him. 



There Isn't any use having any uneasi- 

 ness over the future of the Traffic Depart- 

 ment. -Vll that Is necesasry to have faith 

 that it is going to develop itiio the biggest 

 and best thing in the business, is to un- 

 derstand it. 



Uniform Inspection Is a good thing, a 

 mighty good thing, in a general and In- 

 direct way. but the returns from the Traf- 

 fic Department are immediate and direct. 



THE FLOOD OF IMMIGRATION. 



During the first three months of iliis 

 year all the records of immigration to this 

 country from Europe have been broken. 

 In one day more than 10,0(X) landed in 

 New York. These immigranrs came from 

 all parts of Europe, Germany. Holland, 

 Scandinavia. Italy, Greece. Ireland, Itussia, 

 trnly a wonderful mi.xture of people. And 

 under our present immigration laws they 

 are neitlier paupers nor criminals, but 

 thrifty, hardy, industrious citizens the 

 very cream of the population of Europe. 



The cau.se for this great exodus from 

 ICurope is twofold: first, there is the ex- 

 cessively hard times they are having in 

 all parts of Europe, and second the exces- 

 sively prosperous times we are having in 

 this country. 



For they are having hard times in 

 Europe, and they are going to have harder. 

 The peojjle ot Europe are being ground be- 

 tween the upper millstone of increasing 

 taxation and the nether millstone of de- 

 creasing profits. 



The agriculturists of Euroi)e must have 

 protection against the cheap food products 

 of America and Asia, or. they say, they 

 will be ruined: and the European manu- 

 facturer says that if a tariff is put upon 

 foodstuffs so that he must pay more for 

 the sustenance of his help than he is now 

 paying, he will be ruined, because compe- 

 tition is pressing him to the last gasp as 

 it is: and the European mechanics and la- 

 borers are beginning, through their unions, 

 to say things for themselves. And it looks 

 like ruin almost any way you fix it. 



And all the time the soil is growing 

 thinner, the mines more nearly exhausted, 

 the armies and navies are being increased 

 and taxes becoming heavier. No wonder 

 the people -who can get away are coming 

 to America. 



-Vs to whether or not it is desiralilo that 

 they should come here in such numbers is 

 a matter upon -wiiich the people of this 

 country are somewhat divided. With busi- 

 ness conditions as i-iey are at present, we 

 certainly have room for them. From all 

 sections comes the same report of scarcity 

 of help. They are short-handed in the log 



camps in the North, on the docks In ('hi . 

 eago and in the saw niills of th<> South. 

 .\nd II Is the same In all lines of trade. 

 It is as much as a tramii's life is worth 

 to atlempl to go through an agrh-ultural 

 district. For the farmers would be ajit to 

 kldinip him and jmt him to work, which 

 would. In many cases, probably prove fatal. 

 .\jid not only Is there at present a strong 

 demand for the services of the male immi- 

 grant; the demand for the services of the 

 female for all kinds of employment Is 

 stronger, If possible, than the demand for 

 the men. As yet, we seem to have plenty 

 of room for them all. 



And so long as conditions are as they 

 are, the distressed people of Europe will 

 come in ever-lnereasLng numbers. The 

 working classes of Europe, notably of 

 France. Holland and Italy, have been try- 

 ing the experiment of "striking" during 

 the past year without success. Those who 

 employ them are paying all the wages they 

 can afford; and that all. so the working 

 people s;ty, is not enough to enable them 

 to live. So there is nothing left for them 

 but to go away. And where is a better 

 place to go than to golden America, where 

 wages are high and living cheap? Where 

 there is no compulsory military service: no 

 landlordism, no nobility, and where It is 

 easily possible for every thrifty, industrious 

 man to own a home? Where every man 

 has an equal chance with every other, 

 where the poor immigrant may grow rich 

 and great, and where his children may 

 win to the highest places in the land? 

 Oh, there is no place like America, great, 

 free, golden America! 



And they are coming. Coming in troops 

 and battalions. How long we will be able 

 to take them in and assimilate them and 

 make them rich, and happy, the Uecord 

 has no idea. So long as our present 

 double-jointed. ball-bearing prosperity 

 lasts. How long that will be we have no 

 idea. We admit that we are lost In the 

 shuffle. That we are clattering along the 

 highway with the rest of the people, with- 

 out knowing where we are going, or why. 



A LOST OPPORTUNITY. 



When Wm. Clancy, proprietor of the 

 Lumberman's Credit Association, bought 

 the stock of the Foster Lumber Mercantile 

 .\gency and closed the concern, he had a 

 golden opportunit.v to establish himself and 

 his Lumberman's Crtnlit Association for- 

 ever in the good graces of the lumber 

 trade. lUit he let the opportunity slip by 

 him, and now, alas, it is too late. 



When he purchased the Foster Lumber 

 Mercantile Agency it was a fairly prosper- 

 ous, dividend-paying institution, with over 

 TlMi snb.scribers. most of whom had paid 

 their subscriptions in advance. If. when 

 lie had bought the stock of the concern. 

 Mr. Clancy had written the subscribers 

 asking their permission to fill out their con- 

 tracts with the service of the Lumbermen's 

 Credit Association, probalily !•."> per cent of 



