THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



»3 



Miiy nlli'iuiit to Juggle the gi-;uli'S will bo 

 ilct('<-ti(l by the. National insiKH-tors; and 

 in tlieii' work these lusiiectoi'S make no ilis- 

 linction. The members of the assoeiation 

 make Ihc rules. That- is a matter with 

 w hicli the inspeetors have nothing to <lo. 

 ir Ilie rule produce too good a grade that 

 isn't the inspector's fault. It is his l)nsi- 

 ness to apply the rules fairly and .instly. 

 and that is what he does. And we are 

 informed that it pinches pretty hard some- 

 tiuies — but it is the onl.v kind of an in- 

 spection worth having. And it is .just tliis 

 difference of absolute fairness and iinjiar- 

 tiality that makes it the superior of any 

 Iniuber association in tlie United States 

 ind gives it dignity and standing Ijefore 

 the trade. 



The National Hardwood Lumber Asso 

 elation stands easily at the head of the 

 Uunber organizations of the United States 

 Ijotli by virtue of achievement and by the 

 respect and esteem in which the entire 

 trade holds it. 



And its chiefest glory is the enemies it 

 lias made. 



SHAKE HIM OFF I 



We are glad to note that through the 

 ■■ta])-line case" the Southern Lumber Mann 

 facturers" Assoeiation is beginning to get a 

 line on Jlr. J. E. Defebaugh. 



Mr. Defebaugh has been very careful 

 heretofore to keep his liest front toward 

 that association, for it has been of great 

 service to him — it and its members. He 

 has plowed many a furrow with it and 

 them. We have always believed that the 

 gentlemen comprising that association were 

 fair and reasonable men — that they were 

 not deliberately narrow and prejudiced. 

 We have always believed it to be the in- 

 rtuence of Defebaugh — that they took liis 

 \\ord for that which they did not them- 

 selves understand or care to investigate, 

 and for that reason Jliave allowed him to 

 use the prestige of their organization and 

 its inllnence to do his dirty work witli. 

 r.ut although they h^ve supported Defe- 

 baugh and stood by him in his scheme of 

 in.instiee, vindictiveuess and spite, un- 

 knowingly, or at least without understand- 

 irig the devilment he was aiming at, thai 

 does not wholly excuse them. It is their 

 work that a man of his character Is to-day 

 at the head of the leading lumlier paper of 

 the T'nited States. 



It was astride of the yellow pine inter- 

 ests that he rode down Judson, as white 

 a man as any in the world, and forced him 

 lo take the vicious, snapping, little red 

 devil into partnership. 



And sucli a partnership! It was and is 

 the traditions and reputation of the old 

 Northwestern Lumberman that gave and 

 still gives the American Lumberman its 

 standing and opportunity. The Tinilier- 

 man brought the combination nothing but 

 the support of the yellow pine Interests 

 and its vicious little editor. 



The Hardwood Record has no (iviaricl 

 with tlie American I>umbernian. This 



p i|.t'r has its field and covers it to the best 

 01 its ability, and with a fair degree of 

 satisfaction, wc Impc and believe, to the 

 hariii\(iod lumber trade: but we would like 

 10 Si I iho premier lumber i)aper of the 

 country domin.-ited by a man of dignity as 

 well as force of character, and its editorial 

 policy conducted in a spirit of fairness and 

 tolerance. That such a paper, with its 

 hest possibilities, should be dominated by 

 .1 man of Defebaugh's obnoxicnis personal- 

 ity, is a misfortune to the entire trade and 

 a misfortune for which the yellow pine 

 trade is largely resiionsible, and esjx'cially 

 that lu-anch of the yellow pine trade repre- 

 sented b.v tlu^ Southern Manufai'tiirers" As- 

 sociation. 



That Defebaugh dominates llial paiirr 

 and i-ules its destinies witli a I'cid of iron 

 no one well informed doubts. .Indson, a 

 better balanced man and of better im- 

 pulses, is less bold .and aggressive and is 

 shoved aside; and so long as Defebaugh 

 dominates the American Luniberman the 

 hardwood trade expects nothing from it. 

 He nullities all Its great possibilities for 

 good and indeed makes of it an active evil. 

 Snili [irogress as the hardwood trade 

 makes in an.v directimi it recognizes that 

 it nnist make not onl.v without assistance 

 from the American Inndiernien. but in the 

 face of its active opposition. 



And her(> again we hokl the yellow pine 

 trade, and especiall.v that portion of the 

 yellow j)ine trade represented by the South- 

 iTU Lumber Manufacturer.s' Association, at 

 Innll. They have accepted Defebaugh's 

 dictation or suggestion in the attitude they 

 liave assumed toward the hardwood trade 

 without sufficient consideration. Within 

 the ver.v recent past the hunber trade has 

 been entertained by the spectacle of the 

 secretar.v of the Southern Lumber .Manu- 

 facturers' Association being paraded about 

 the countr.v as the star attraction in one 

 of Defebaugh's side shows, designed en- 

 tirely by him to annoy and ve.x the hard- 

 wood lumber trade. This action on the 

 part of the .yellow i)ine association was 

 nndignitied and uncalled for. as well as ex- 

 tremely discourteous to the liar<l\x<)od 

 lir.anch of the trade. 



Rut as before slated, we believe and 

 liave always believed th.it the yellow pine 

 lumbermen re))resented in the Southern 

 .Manufacturers' Association are not so nar- 

 row, prejudiced and discourteous as Defe- 

 baugh's manipulation of their friendship 

 has made them appear. Not knowing him 

 they have accepted his representations in 

 lieu of facts and he has misled them and 

 maile them appear to be that which they 

 are not, 



The hardwocid trade knows Defebaugh 

 thoroughl.v and dislikes him thoroughly. 

 'He has been at no pains to hide his real 

 nature from the hardwood lumbermen, for 

 from the nature of their business they 

 could not be liberal supporters of his vari- 

 ous costly schemes for separating lumber- 

 men from their money. Krom the nature 

 of their business there was not even the 



semblance of an excuse that it could be 

 made to pay. So Defebaugh has been at 

 little pains to keep liis cleft hoop hidden 

 from the h.ardwoud trade. 



The h:irdwO(id trade dislikes Defebaugh. 

 It isn't a matter of trade newspapers. It 

 is a personal matter. The harilwood trade 

 recognizes that the American Lumberman 

 is the premiiM- lumber paper of the coun- 

 try, as was the Northwestern lAunberman 

 before it. but it also recognizes that so 

 long as Defebaugh's intluence donimates 

 that papi'r that no good to the hardwood 

 Ir.-ide is to be expected of it, and it has 

 made up its mind not onl.v to get along 

 without its .assistance, but in the face of 

 it-i cipjMisitiun. 



And for Defebaugh personally it h:is 

 no use. 11 prefers to have nothing to do 

 with him. It prefers that he keep away 

 ri-oni its conventions and gatherings so that 

 it may be spared the necessity of denying 

 liiin that courtesy to which his position 

 entitles him. 



As we said at the beginning of tins 

 .article, we are pleased that the yellow pine 

 lumbermen, and especially those repre- 

 sented in the Southern Lumber Manufac- 

 ttu-ers' Association, are getting a taste of 

 Defebaugh's (inality. There is something 

 ver.v familiar in the wa.v he lays his "lasli " 

 about, calling this man a liar and that man 

 a thief. The man's monstrous vanity and 

 egotism have near uidiinged liim. He feels 

 strong enough now that he can drop his 

 pretense with the Sinbad who carried him 

 over the river. He feels strong enough to 

 show himself in his true colors. 



This liitic Old .Man of the Sea is a 

 \icious little old man. tuid in the position 

 he occupies a dangerous one. And the 

 sooner the lumber trade shakes him off an<I 

 crushes his head with a stone, as Sinbad 

 did with liis little old man. the better it 

 will be. 



HARD"VSrOOD DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 



H.ii'dwood lunilici' liu.vers are insisting 

 strenuously on lower prices, citing labor 

 troubles. Wall .street conditions and much 

 of everything except that there is an over- 

 supply of hardwood lumber. For it is so 

 manifest that there is no oversupply of 

 hardwood lumber that even the consumers, 

 jsnxious as they are for a reduction, are 

 not even chuining it. There is some sli.ght 

 accumulation of stock in poplar, but asid' 

 Iroin that, in (piartered and plain oak. Cot- 

 tonwood, basswood, maple, elm, and, in 

 fact, almost without exception,- there is a 

 shortage rather than a i-urplus of dry 

 stock. 



And the prospects for a large production 

 in the immediate future are not bright, and 

 while we believe that, as a genenil prop- 

 osition, the cost of raw material to luanu- 

 lacturers is too high, we do not see how 

 in the case of hardwood lumber they can 

 go any lower. 



With possibl.v one exception, the present 

 prices on hardwood lumber are not in any 

 sense the result of manipulation. Tliey 



