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HARDWOOD RECORD 



species botanically. The principle difference is tliat Circassian walnut, 

 as the wood is known to the trade, comes from forest-grown trees 

 in their native home among the mountains of Turkey, Persia, and 

 southeastern Eussia, while the others are planted stock, the wood of 

 which never equals that from the native range. 



A point touched somewhat incidentally in the Forest Service circular 

 is worth attention. It relates to imitations of Circassian walnut, 

 and two well-known American woods are shown to bear close resem- 

 blance to the oriental product. They are butternut and red gum. 

 The former does not appear to have been much employed as a sub- 

 stitute, but its color and grain match well with those of the eastern 

 species, except specimens of the finest figure which may be readily 

 distinguished from the best butternut. Eed gum has been extensively 

 employed as a substitute for Circassian walnut. The figure when 

 carefully selected needs no doctoring to make it pass for the genuine 

 article. Experts can tell the difference upon close and careful 

 inspection, but the ordinary observer cannot. Large quantities of 

 red gum successfully and satisfactorily pass as Circassian walnut in 

 the markets of this and other countries when worked into products, 

 such as furniture and interior finish. 



The question may naturally be asked why it is necessary to sell 

 red gum as a substitute or imitation. Why cannot the wood stand 

 on its own merits? If it is as handsome and as serviceable as the 

 genuine Circassian walnut, and such seems to be the case, why not 

 sell the gum under its own name, on its own merit, and let it achieve 

 a reputation for itself? It has been exploited under other names 

 long enough and it is time for it to come into its own. It has been 

 bought and sold in Europe for a long time as satin walnut, though 

 botanists know of no tree by that name. The evident purpose of 

 those who use the name is to pass the gum as some form or variety of 

 Circassian, English, French, or Italian walnut, all of them being the 

 same wood under different names. It is sold across the water as 

 hazel pine or hazel wood also, which is clearly an attempt at dis- 

 guise, though, strictly speaking, it is not a misrepresentation because 

 red gum belongs to the hazel family, and is a first cousin of the 

 small witch hazel of this country. 



An Unfair Influence 



THE FORWAED PEOGEESS of civilization is necessarily marked 

 by changes in methods of manufacture and in the raw materials 

 used in all lines. These changes sometimes result in a distinct advan- 

 tage to humanity but occasionally, on the other hand, the substitution 

 of one character of raw material for another means the introduction 

 of a commodity which is not as well qualified to meet the requirements 

 as is the deposed raw material, and this introduction effects an unjust 

 hardship to the manufacturers of such raw material. At any rate, 

 the question will eventually resolve itself into a proper adjustment 

 according to which each material will find its proper sphere of useful- 

 ness, and its encroachment on the domain of some other raw mate- 

 rial will be limited. But this process of evolution should be natural 

 and not stimulated artificially. It is to be regretted that any body 

 of men possessing power of a certain kind but not directly interested 

 in one class of raw material as opposed to another should throw its 

 weight in the interests of the producers of one of those classes. 



It has been suggested that the leading architects of the country 

 through their organizations are lending their support to reinforced 

 concrete construction as opposed to mill construction, the idea being 

 that the less efficient architects are not equipped to design and super- 

 vise the erection of intricate reinforced concrete construction. The 

 result of such a plan, if it were successfully carried through, is 

 apparent. With the powerful influence of the big architects of the 

 country working for the elimination of mill construction as far as 

 possible and adhering to concrete construction, the effect upon the 

 lumber business would be tremendous. 



Must the Lumberman Be a Banker? 



CONSIDERING THE WAY in which terms of sale are treated, the 

 answer to the above query would be "yes." This is a ques- 

 tion which has commanded the attention of the trade for a long 

 time and it seems as far as ever from any concrete solution. Vari- 

 ous associations at various times have inaugurated terms of sale 



which govern the question theoretically very satisfactorily, but it 

 seems to be an impossibility to legislate into the purchasers of 

 lumber the practice of adhering to the terms of sale on which they 

 buy their stock. The present and generally prevalent practice of 

 ignoring discount terms and taking from ten to thirty days' ad- 

 ditional time with the discount is a serious thing with the lumber 

 trade and means in the aggregate immense loss of actual money. 

 The average lumberman is forced to carry a considerable percent- 

 age of his trade for indefinite periods beyond the period of 

 discount. 



It would seem that the ideal terms of sale would provide for no 

 discount whatever, although it is conceded that this idea is some- 

 what Utopian. It is presumed when the lumberman sells a bill 

 of lumber that the stock is worth the price that he charges for it. 

 Hence, it is difficult to see, considering the question in a theoretical 

 way, why he should be forced to strike off two per cent discount. 

 It is recognized that such a procedure, however, would be out of 

 the question when applied to practical business methods. The 

 reason for the discount provision is partly with a view of weeding 

 out the good accounts from the bad. It is partly a matter of 

 custom and partly a mere recognition of that human proclivity 

 to consider the prompt payment of just debts something which we 

 are not in any way morally bound to carry out. 



Looking at the question from the first standpoint, the discount 

 is a good indicator of whom not to sell to. As a general thing, a 

 man who makes a practice of ignoring terms of sale and of not 

 discounting his bills should be watched pretty closely in other 

 matters. The habit of overlooking discounts would indicate either 

 that he has insufficient capital or that he is morally a little off 

 color in his business relations. Of course, if he is at fault in the 

 latter particular, there is no apparent remedy. If, however, he is 

 operating on an insufficient capital, but is sound morally and 

 generally trustworthy, it would seem that the logical thing for him 

 to do would be to borrow sufficient additional capital on a four to 

 six months' basis to discount his bills. He would find that the 

 difference between what he had to pay on borrowed money at six 

 per cent annually and the saving he would effect through securing 

 two per cent discount for payment within fifteen days of the 

 shipment of lumber would be considerable. 



As Predicted 



A T VARIOITS TIMES IN THE PAST, Hardwood Record has 

 ** had occasion to comment editorially upon the character of 

 a certain so-called lumber company operating under the style of 

 the International Lumber and Development Company, with head- 

 quarters at Philadelphia. Hardwood Record was never able to see 

 anything in the nature of an honest, straightforward business 

 proposition in this company and said so emphatically. These pre- 

 dictions have been backed up by proceedings against this concern 

 during the past year, the latest news emanating from the court 

 room where these proceedings are being held, being dated March 3. 

 United States District Attorney Swartley on that date outlined 

 the government's case against this company, proving beyond any 

 reasonable doubt that the defendants defrauded stockholders out 

 of $6,000,000 by false representation and misleading literature 

 circulated through the mails. It was shown that the reported 

 immense holdings of the company in Mexico were fictitious and 

 it was further proven that the semi-annual dividends paid by the 

 company were paid out of money received for stock sales rather 

 than out of profits. The district attorney submitted evidence to 

 show that no actual dividends were earned in two years' operation. 

 It was further shown that the reported cut of this company 

 exceeded by two-thirds the actual cut, and further that the lumber 

 manufactured was sawed from timber not cut on the company's 

 lands, as had been claimed. The ridiculousness of some of the 

 defendant's claims is instanced in the widely circulated reports 

 of its immense international fleet; it was shown that this fleet con- 

 sisted of one steamer, one launch, two sailboats and two rowboats. 

 There is only one possible outcome for these proceedings, and 

 they serve as a striking illustration of the fact that "murder will 

 out." 



