April 25, 1919 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



35 



Case Goods Associations Meet 



Full Discussion Brings Out Opinion That Lumber, Labor and Other 



Costs Will Not Be Reduced 



j-^IO HE ANNUAL MEETING of the National Alliance 

 L^^^ of Case Goods Associations with headquarters in 

 P ^EH Grand Rapids, Mich., took place at the Congress 

 hotel, Chicago, on April 1 6 and 1 7. It was the 

 best attended and in many respects one of the most im- 

 portant and interesting meetings ever held. 



Many subjects of extreme importance were discussed, 

 there being a very careful discussion of the labor situation 

 in every part of the country. The plans and methods of 

 different factories and sections were explained by those 

 present and the following motions were adopted on the 

 subject of labor: 1. It is the sense of this meeting that 

 the open shop plan is the only democratic method under 

 which the furniture industry should operate. 2. It is the 

 sense of this meeting that as speedily as may be prac- 

 ticable a basic week of fifty hours be put into general 

 effect. 



There vi^as considerable discussion on the question of 

 the market value for furniture, the matter being gone 

 into pretty thoroughly. It was approached from the 

 angle of cost of production in which is involved the 

 present cost of lumber, labor and other burdens and the 

 discussion brought out the thorough conviction that there 

 is no probability of lumber prices being less and every 

 indication that lumber may cost more. 



A smaller number of hours worked per week and in- 

 crease in the rate per hour has had a two-fold effect on 

 cost: First, it has increased the cost of labor on the 

 individual article, and second, it has increased the burden 

 cost. It was brought out that the total manufacturing 

 burden is not affected materially by the lowering of the 

 number of hours worked, although the present rate of 

 burden per hour or the per cent of burden must be in- 

 creased to provide for the same amount of total burden. 

 It was maintained in the meeting that the increased and 

 increasing cost of lumber, labor and burdens makes it 

 necessary to look very carefully to the cost of producing 

 goods because any furniture sold now or later and much 

 that is now unshipped will cost more than when the order 

 was taken. 



Many manufacturers reported prices improved from 

 five to ten per cent since January 1 , and others reported 

 the prospects for similar improvements in their figures. 

 The secretary was instructed to have the cost schedule 

 of August, 1918, brought up to date and published at 

 the earliest possible moment. 



The indications are that the increase in the cost sched- 

 ule will be from 5 to 1 per cent. 



A discussion on markets indicated that there is no 

 question about business available. Many factories are 

 now refusing to take on more business, and some, on 



account of the uncertainty of the future and the prob- 

 able increase in manufacturing cost, are now accepting 

 orders for future shipment subject to the price prevailing 

 at date of shipment. 



In a pamphlet issued by the National Council of Fur- 

 niture Associations, entitled "The Cost of Making Furni- 

 ture," it is pointed out that four years previous to the 

 big war the average furniture manufacturer did not make 

 a reasonable profit on his investment. Few factories 

 had adequate cost records and those wrho had such state- 

 ments knew only the average cost of their lines of mer- 

 chandise. It is pointed out in the pamphlet that most 

 furniture manufacturers have in their lines what is com- 

 monly known as leaders which are sold at cost or belovk' 

 cost of production. Consequently, it has been estimated 

 that as much as 25 per cent of the furniture manufac- 

 tured in the United States w^as sold at or below cost. 



With increasing cost of all items, manufacturers were 

 compelled to figure their production costs accurately and 

 closely, and since the war has ceased, unthinking expec- 

 tation that furniture values would go back to pre-w^ar 

 prices has been dissipated and the impossibility of any 

 inarked decline in prices has been accepted as inevitable. 



In outlining the increases in cost of production, the 

 pamphlet reveals that during 1918 25 to 40 per cent of 

 the selling price of furniture sold during that year was 

 paid out in wages of furniture employes, and that even 

 in spite of that record the wage scale in furniture factories 

 was lower than in any other industry where skilled labor 

 is required. It is pointed out that there can be no de- 

 crease in the cost of labor until the cost of living is mate- 

 rially reduced. 



Under the subject of lumber it was pointed out that 

 the cost of lumber advanced materially during the war, 

 that production was curtailed and prices followed the 

 natural course as a result of short supplies and greatly 

 increased cost of producing it. As soon as export chan- 

 nels are again opened, the demand abroad added to the 

 demand at home will at least assure the stability of the 

 lumber market, and many manufacturers have made up 

 their minds that cheap lumber is a thing of the past. 



It w?.s pointed out in the pamphlet that the factory 

 overhead expense in the furniture plant usually amounts 

 to as much as productive labor. 



The Indians who formerly lived about the headwaters of the 

 Mississippi jireferred hornbeam before all other woods aa handles 

 for their stone hatchets or war clubs. The handles of their clubs 

 were long and slender, and were tied on with rawhide thougs. 

 The hornbeam used yearly in the United States for handles totals 

 415,500 feet. 



