18 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 25, 191 



biitiou of the tax over a period of years ill the same way as the sell- 

 ing priec is distributed. The wise merchandiser will not let the 

 application of the tax be made in such a way tliat the prospective 

 customer will recognize it as such. 



There has been so much talk about developing foreign tra.le that 

 the actual significance of foreign demand and its effect u\mi\ domes- 

 tic markets have not been given concrete eiiougli thought to offer 

 a proper indication. Today, though, the development of this for- 

 eign demand has progressed far enough so that its effect is immedi- 

 ately apparent. ,It is undoubtedly going to be far in excess of orig- 

 inal expectatioiis and a very .substantial amount of the available 

 -Vmerican hardwoods is going abroad. In fact, the movement now 

 is of such proportions that in some lines the supply for domestic 

 consumption is being rapidly eaten up and consumers on this side 

 must watcli themselves very carcfidly or they will be without the 

 articles they are seeking. 



There is no reason to revise former figures of lumber to lie put in 

 piles this year. In fact, the outlook is even less promising than it 

 was. There is a continuance of mills shut down because of diflScult 

 logging. The supply to be offered consumers during the next six 

 or eight months is going to show constant restriction and very rapid 

 consumption. 



.Vltogether the conclusions arrived at at the furniture meeting 

 first referred to are wise and based on facts too plain and too gen- 

 erally prevalent to be longer ignored. 



Municipal Home Building 



A WARNING OB A PKOMISE, call it whichever is preferred, 

 has gone out from the Department of Labor in Washington on 

 the subject of home building. The department has issued for pub 

 lication an account of the latest phase of the home building cam- 

 paign now being discussed in all parts of the country. It is a warn- 

 ing to real estate men that if they cannot or will not build addi- 

 tional homes to meet the urgent needs of the people, cities or other 

 units of government will take hold of the matter and do it, because 

 the people need and must have houses. Shelter is a necessity, and 

 it has been recognized that to continue to raise the rent is no way 

 to provide houses. Some persons have supposed that the prospect 

 of higher rent would stimulate real estate owners to build houses; 

 but though rents have gone up to unprecedented figures, no marked 

 increase has been noticed in the number of new houses under con- 

 tract. Hence it is, that a department of the government has given 

 the promise or sounded the warning that municipalities may be 

 expected to provide houses for the people, if real estate men cannot 

 do it. It is a warning if addressed to real estate men; but if 

 addressed to the public it is a promise. 



The case of Milwaukee is cited. That city has a building plan 

 under consideration, somewhat radical, perhaps, but it holds out 

 a promise of providing homes for those' of its people who have 

 none and who see no prospect under the old plan of bargain and 

 sale. A feature of the proposed plan includes a home at nearly 

 cost, to be paid for in moderate sums scattered over a long term 

 of years. But the Milwaukee scheme goes farther than that. The 

 circular sent out by the Department of Labor speaks thus of it: 



The problem Milwaukee is endeavoring to meet grows out of the neces- 

 sity of many laborers to change jobs. To own property in tile conventional 

 sense means that if a laboring man must change his employment and move 

 from one city to another, his home owning tends to make him somewhat 

 less free than he would be without his real estate. The Milwaukee idea 

 Is that he shall buy stock in the corporation, have possession and all the 

 privileges of ownership and. In the event of being forced to seek employ- 

 ment in some other city, either the city will buy his stock with a proper 

 discount for rent, or he shall be allowed to sell his stock. This plan Is 

 Incorporated In a bill now before the Wisconsin legislature, and is impor- 

 tant in that it is Indicative of what private building interests may expect 

 of cities if they do not themselves devise some plan whereby a man may 

 buy his home as he i>uys his piano or automobile. 



Surprise has been expressed in more than one quarter that build- 

 ing has not become rnofe active since the close of the war. Investors 

 seem to be waiting for wages to go down and for prices of material 

 to fall. A little decline is noted in the cost of some materials, but 

 the opinion has been expressed far and near that little decline in 



wages is to be expected. Those who wait for a more auspicious time 

 for building will probably have a long wait. Meanwhile, move- 

 ments in cities and towns may be expected to assume more definite 

 forms, to provide houses by municipal laws and operations; for the 

 situation is such that houses must and will be built in the very 

 near future. 



Lumber in Highway Construction 



AN EK.\ OF KOA.D BUILDING lies ahead. Construction of 

 highways may be expected to surpass any like period in the 

 past. Districts, townships, counties, and states have issued bonds, 

 or are about to issue them, for the purpose of financing road build 

 ing on a great scale. 



Dealers with construction materials for sale are not asleep; ami 

 most of them are very much awake to the O])portunities. It might 

 be inquired whether lumbermen are as wideawake as some of the 

 other dealers in road materials. It would be poor business to let 

 the opportunity pass without an earnest effort to make the most 

 of it. In some regions not much lumber is used by road builders; 

 in others, much is used. Culverts, bridges, and bridge floors may 

 be of stone, concrete, wood, or something else. In many instances, 

 wood is proper, sufficient, and satisfactory, and it can be placed 

 if proper effort is made. At least an encouraging prospective 

 market is in sight in that direction. Heavy planking, particularly 

 if treated with preservatives to prevent decay, is the best and 

 most economical material available for culverts and bridge floors 

 in many localities, and handsome orders may be in reach if lumber- 

 men make the necessary efforts. 



It is a mistake to take as granted the claim sometimes heard 

 that concrete has displaced wood in highway construction. If true 

 in some districts, it is not true in others. There are regions where 

 wood is plentiful and cheap while the materials of wOiich concrete 

 is made are costly and scarce. There, at least, advantage is on the 

 side of the lumberman, if he will push the advantage. He can fur- 

 nish the stuff for culverts, bridge floors, and railing along the road- 

 side round dangerous grades. Orders of that kind, if received at 

 all, might be (|uite large. It is at least worth any lumberman's 

 while to investigate opportunities for trade of that kind in his 

 neighborho<id. 



Down and Up Together 



THINGS BALANCE THEMSELVES in this world, if given a 

 chance. No manufacturer can reasonably expect the price of his 

 product to remain high while prices of other commodities are fall- 

 ing; neither should the laborer count on continued high wages while 

 the things he buys become cheaper. It is give and take; gain here, 

 lose there; for business is so constituted and adjusted th.at most 

 commodities rise together and fall together. 



Readjustment is in the air, and everybody is trying to figure out 

 how it will work. Advice is the most abundant thing in the world 

 now. Nearly every lecturer, every reader of a paper before a busi- 

 ness association or board of trade, every speech maker, feels that 

 he has a duty to perform and that he has performed it when he 

 has explained why it is impossible for prices of articles which he 

 has for sale to fall. These prices may not fall, but if they do not, 

 it is certain that cost of what he buys will not go down either. The 

 balance will be adjusted, and it will be adjusted in accordance with 

 a law as old as the world, the law of supply and demand. Let the 

 manufacturer outstrip the demand for his product, and his prices 

 will fall; but when the price drops, so will drop the wages of the 

 workers who make the product, because too much labor is concen- 

 trated in that one place. 



Nobody thinks of hazel as fit for anything but the nuts, which 

 are bought and sold under the name of filberts. Yet, the slender 

 poles are among the best for hoops for small kegs. They are pliant 

 and tough. On some parts of the Pacific coast the hazel attains a 

 trunk diameter of five or six inches and is one of the best woods 

 for wedges. The witch hazel is a wholly different tree and the two 

 belong to different families. 



