i:^ 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



ulliiiinto tiilJviKtnu-iit will lirlni; Jii-t 

 I. ...I luucli less. 



The triide lins lonriiod tlint It ilocKn't 

 luiittor wlmt the rules lire so for iis nf- 

 feciinK the value of the lumber Is coii- 

 ■ eriieU. The pnillt to the trade eoim-s hi 

 hnvlnt; a clearly understxoil standard 

 whii'h wUl be uiilforin throUKhout the in- 

 tire country, tlius doing away with inu< li 

 expensive contention, nilsunderstandln;; 

 and litlpition. 



The chief dillUulty with which the Na- 

 tional Hardwood Lumber Association has 

 had to contend in its work of securln;r 

 uniform inspection of rouKli hardwoo !■; 

 has been in the fact that its work was imi 

 begun soon enotigh. The proposition to 

 establish one standard of grading for llie 

 entire counti-j- was not made until each 

 market and section had evolved a standard 

 of its own, varying from every otlier 

 standard. 



And while it was recognized early in 

 the light, if we may call it such, that it 

 wouldn't matter much, if any. in the end, 

 Trhat standard was established, it was evi- 

 dent that radical changes from the custom 

 prevailing in any market or section would 

 put that market or section at a disadvan- 

 tage for a time. So eacli faction in the 

 trade was anxious that tlio standard 

 adopted as the universal standard should 

 be the one already adopted and in use by 

 the said faction. And it took five yeai-s 

 of compromising to get the differences ad- 

 justed. 



Those who are now entering upon, or 

 who have already entered upon, the manu- 

 facture of dressed gum lumber had this 

 experience as a warning, and they havo 

 wisely taken time by the forelock. 



Another thing which we believe the 

 hardwood trade has learned regarding the 

 standard of in.spection. is that once that 

 standard is established the thing to do is 

 to let it alone. At the last annual meetini; 

 of the National Association held at Indian- 

 apolis the recommendation of the rules 

 committee that no changes be made was 

 passed unanimously and without debate; 

 and that is a good sign. 



We personall.v know- a number of e.x- 

 cellent gentlemen, engaged in the hard- 

 wood lumber trade in various sections of 

 the country, who would like to have 

 changes made in the present rules, think- 

 ing that they could derive pecuniary ben- 

 efit from such changes; and while there 

 are a few inconsistencies in the rules 

 which should be straightened out, we be- 

 lieve that the gentlemen are mistaken. 



Should a change be made in the rules 

 to meet the ideas of one man or one sec- 

 tion, other changes would need to be made 

 to meet the ideas of other men in other 

 sections, and the first thing we would 

 know we'd have a completely new set of 

 rules, the standard now so generally ac- 

 cepted and so familiar to the inspectors 

 would be disarranged, and there "would be 

 just as many objections to the rules ris 

 there are at present. 



I lif rules of (he National llardwuod 

 l.umluT .Vssoclntlon, as at pn'sent in force, 

 lire t-oncedetl by most well-poste«l and fnlr- 

 iiilnih'd men to be the cleart'sl, most con- 

 .-isicnl and licst set uf inspection ruli's 

 > \i'r iilTcrcd to (lie trade, and there is a 

 M>ry slmng .scnduicnt in favor of letting 

 'Ihiii alone. 



W'l- cautioned our readers a couple of 

 years ago that If they wante<l to get their 

 ideas into the national rules they had 

 better do it while tlie.v were in a plastic 

 slate, for after they got "set" attempts to 

 eh:inge them woidd be like an attempt 

 ici cliisel granite wth a "Harlow" knife. 



Hut. as said in the beginning of this ar- 

 ticle, a world of trouble and annoyance, to 

 say nothing of mone.v. would have been 

 .savetl to the hardwood trade had it takeu 

 lis action looking to uniform inspection 

 at the beginning of the hardwood business, 

 as the association organized at Cairo has 

 ilone for di'cssed gum. 



The proceedings of that meeting will 

 be found elsewhere in this issue, together 

 with tlie rules adopted. 



A SPLENDID CIRCULAR. 



We are in reooipt of a coniniunication 

 from the "New York Board of Trade and 

 Transportation," in which that excellent 

 body expresses a desire to secure the 

 "freest and widest possible discussion as 

 to methods for the rehabilitation of our 

 merchant marine." The letter 'doesn't 

 come right out and say, but we infer that 

 the desire of the eminent Board of Ti-ade 

 and Transportation is to secure the sup- 

 lioi-t of the press for the ship subsidy bill, 

 which will no doubt come before congress 

 again at its next term. 



There is also some printed matter en- 

 close<l with the letter which conveys the 

 melancholy information to anyone taking 

 the trouble to read it, that there is a "Des- 

 perate Situation to Be Remedied," that 

 "Something Must Be Done Quickly;" also 

 tliat there is "Vast Foreign Tonnage" and 

 "Small American Tonnage." In fact, that 

 there is a terrible to-do generally. 



.\nd we kept looking through to ascer- 

 tjtin why the Board of Trade and Trans- 

 portation of New York city should go to 

 all this trouble, and we finally came to a 

 l)ortion of the circular headed: "Laboring- 

 men and Farmers Interested." Then it 

 was all clear. They are trying to help the 

 Ijoor laboringmen and farmers. 



The letter doesn't come right out and 

 ask the laboringmen and farmers of the 

 West to support the ship subsidy bill. Not 

 in this letter and circular. The man who 

 got up that communication is unquestion- 

 ably a very shrewd man. The proposition 

 that the West shall vote to tax itself a 

 billion or so, the money to go largely to 

 -Morgan's shipping trust .so that the stock 

 and bonds of that combination, which have 

 shrunk about 75 per cent in six months, 

 shall be salable at a good fair price, is not 

 calculated to arouse enthusiasm when put 



to the I |>1<- In M crude ami uiipr)llKh,Ml 



stnte. 'I'licy must be prepared ainl Mii< 

 llrat clrcnbir Is fur that pur)iose. 



It scfiiis to be the idea that the fniiinis 

 and laborlMk'nK'ii should tirst be wrotig'.it 

 up to a plli'li of e\lrenie iiiieaslr.t'ss ov<'r 

 the "l>espi niti- Situation lo He U<-nie4lied," 

 and to Miiilerslaiul that ".'Nunieihlng Must 

 Be Itone (Juickly," and tln-n when the 

 aforesaid farmers and laboringmen are ca- 

 vorting around and walking the lloor and 

 tearing llidr hair In a fren/.y of alarm 

 withoiil Knowing what the dlckeiiK to do, 

 this sliri'wd manipulator of public .senti- 

 ment, who can play on th<> hearts and 

 minds of the jicople as I'aderewskI jilays 

 upon the piiino forte, will, :it the psy- 

 chological moment when the tension is so 

 great that It seems that unless relief i.s 

 had immediatel.v something will give 

 way— at this'treinendous moment, we say, 

 this individual will no doubt come to the 

 front sniTLiesting that the farmers and la- 

 boringMJcn supi)ort the ship subsidy bill 

 as the only means of saving the situation. 



We may be wrong in our surmise as to 

 how he is going to handle the matter. The 

 Board of Trade and Transportation reas- 

 sures us it is seeking light, and it may bo 

 that the next circular will be a veritable 

 trumpet blast calling the farmers and la- 

 boringmen to oppose the ship subsidy bill 

 Willi all their power. But, somehow, we 

 incline to the other -belief. 



Anyhow, this is a mighty fine circular. 

 AVe have seen the initial circular sent out 

 by a "green goods" man, said to be the 

 most finished artist in his line, but we feel 

 it our just duty to state tliat this commu- 

 nication from the Board of Trade and 

 Transportation is superior in every respect. 



You see the proposition presented by 

 the green goods man was so much more 

 attractive that it took less skill to make a 

 favorable showing. He proposed that he 

 would exchange anywhere from .$."")(»0 to 

 .^o.OCKl in new bills, guaranteed to pass 

 muster at any bank, for a merely nominal 

 sum. This was, on the face of it, a most 

 attfaetivo proposition, and the onl.v skill 

 required was in glossing over or explain- 

 ing away the fact that it would .save a lot 

 of trouble for the green goods man if he 

 would take his new money to the bank an<l 

 pass it himself. This was a bit awkward, 

 to be sure, but he had the advantage that 

 lie was appealing to the victim's self-in- 

 terest and apparently giving him an op- 

 portunity to make something for himself. 



The proposition of this Board of Trade 

 and Transportation man is much more dif- 

 ficult to iirescnt. He is trying to arouse 

 enthusiasm among the farmers and labor- 

 ers over a proposition to tax tliemselves 

 to give money to people whom they will 

 never see nor come in contact with, on the 

 remote possibility that maybe tliey will, 

 some day and some way, get something 

 out of it. It is a diflijcult proposition to 

 present, owing to the tendency of people 

 to believi' tliat they can get more out of 



