HARDWOOD RECORD 



June 23. 1919 



prices is not yet in sight and it is to be hoped that for the salie of 

 everyone eonceriicd the natural course of events will not force 

 values much higher. 



Looking Ahead 



WHILE THE SERVICE of the Forest Products Laboratory at 

 JI;iiIison, appeals to the average present day lumber operator 

 as an advantage to him, a substantial share of the work being 

 carried on from month to month at the laboratory will be returned 

 in profit for future generations. 



It has been acknowledged by practical men interested in forest 

 conservation that, generally speaking, the only agency which can 

 afford under present day conditions to maintain a general policy 

 of conservative tree cutting or a forest policy involving tree plant- 

 ing is the Federal government. It therefore becomes apparent that 

 the national forests will in the future become a constantly more 

 important factor as a source of supply for lumber consumed in the 

 United States. 



As pointed out in the director's foreword incorporated in a re- 

 cent report on the laboratory progress, each new development that 

 the laboratory makes has an immediate and definite reaction on the 

 national forest practice. The whole forest policy is directly de- 

 pendent upon the usefulness of the various available species. As 

 industrial research may develop new methods of utilization, chang- 

 ing the relative usefulness of the different species, it follows that 

 changes in the national forest policy must be made to conform to 

 these current findings. Shorter rotations in cutting, for instance, 

 might follow developments indicating as feasible the use of younger 

 anil smaller trees. 



Also the various wood using industries will be benefited not only 

 through the immediately available information, but because in the 

 future the national forests must be drawn on to an increasing ex- 

 tent and the species best adapted for individual needs will be 

 available. 



Thus it can be easily seen that every man interested in the use 

 of wood for the manufacture of products of any character owes 

 it to his own business to lend his influence toward consistent sup- 

 port of the remarkably good work the laboratory has carried on. 

 This sui)port is essential not only to maintain the present efficiency 

 of the laboratory organization, but to develop a future forest policy 

 along lines that will actually fit with the practical conditions as 

 the years go on. 



Little Enthusiasm for Metric System 



THEY MEANT WELL, perhaps, who recently started a fresh 

 campaign to have the metric system of weights and measures 

 substituted for the present system in this country and England. 

 Stamped envelopes were distributed widely, with explanatory let- 

 ters, asking the recipients to write to Lloyd George and President 

 Wilson, urging them to use their influence in having the metric 

 system put in use here and in Great Britain. 



The movement is not vicious, but a little foolish, and decidedly 

 premature. Putting out of use a system of weights and measure- 

 ments as widely used as ours is, and substituting another system, 

 is not so small a matter that it can be brought about by writing a 

 few letters to Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson. 



So much is involved in the proposed change that if it comes about 

 at all, it must come gradually, or it will cause much trouble, and 

 cost much money. As a scientific system, the metric is much ahead 

 of the one we use, which is not scientific at all. If the former were 

 in use, it would be found easy to understand. But the change from 

 one to the other should not be undertaken suddenly. Practically 

 every machine in use which involves measuring of any kind would 

 become junk. That applies to sawmills, planing mills, lathes, 

 weighing apparatus, measuring rules, and to nearly every other 

 kind of machine that is based on the principle of measurements. 



The change will come in time, but it will come a little at a time, 

 as it has already come in several lines; and only harm can result 

 from efforts to precipitate action in advance of the demand for it. 

 Engineers replace an old bridge with a new one, by taking out a 



beam and putting a beam in, now here, next there, until the whole 

 structure has been changed without interrupting traffic. By a 

 similar process, the metric system might replace ours without any 

 violence. Some of the sawmills of British Columbia, which cut lum- 

 ber for export exclusively, have put in machinery with metrical 

 scales of measurement. 



National Water Resources 



EARLY IN JUNE the New Y'ork State Chamber of Commerce 

 received a report on the nation's water resources, compiled 

 by a committee on foreign trade. The important point in the re- 

 port was the fact that it outlined a national policy for developing 

 the country 's water resources, including power and transportation, 

 and the Chamber of Commerce adopted the report, with some sort 

 of understanding that steps would be taken to secure federal legis- 

 lation to put the plan, or some other plan, into operation. 



Just what may come out of it remains to be seen. It is recom- 

 mended that as much water power as possible be developed, to 

 lessen the drain on coal. About 54,000,000 horse power flows idle 

 in the streams of the United States, and only 6,000,000 is in use. 

 It is stated that development ought to be carried out under federal 

 laws, in order to escape the vexations due to state lines, changing 

 jurisdiction, local politics, and community jealousy. 



The report states as a fact what may not be generally knowm, 

 that court decisions have ruled that the flow of water down a river 

 is not the property of the owner or owners of the river bed. The 

 establishment of that principle seems to be a long step in the direc- 

 tion of development of water power; yet, the water itself is not 

 worth much without full and free use of so much of the river 

 banks, and adjacent lands as may be needed for power houses and 

 transmission lines; and federal legislation to secure necessary con- 

 trol of such facilities will probably be one of the early moves by 

 Congress, if it inaugurates legislation in that direction. There is, 

 however, necessity and ample room for teamwork between the gov- 

 ernment and the states. ' 



Colored Labor to Be Unionized 



ACTION OF CONSIDERALBE IMPORTANCE to lumbermen 

 was recently taken at Atlantic City, where the American 

 Federation of Labor has been in session. Preliminary steps were 

 perfected toward unionizing the negro labor of the United States. 

 The action was taken at the request of a negro leader, speaking 

 for his race. This is not the first attempt made to include negro 

 labor in union organizations; but former attempts failed, while 

 the present one will probably be successful. 



Two million negro laborers are outside of labor unions, and thus 

 far they have not remained outside from choice. They have not 

 been invited to join, until the present time, and when they have 

 expressed a willingness to become members of unions they have 

 been opposed by labor unions of the South. The turn which the 

 matter has taken is construed as a victory for colored labor. 



The lumber industry in the South will be directly affected. Most 

 of the labor in the woods and sawmills is colored. The men have 

 been earning high wages, because of demand for labor, but they 

 have not been able to take advantage of collective bargaining 

 when disposing of their labor. That will be changed if they become 

 members of labor unions. They will ask for improved working 

 conditions, perhaps shorter hours, but certainly they will insist 

 upon living quarters about as good as white laborers in the same 

 region have. That in itself will be a considerable change in some 

 localities. 



Possibly the unionizing of negro labor in the South will have a 

 tendency to check the migration of southern labor to the North 

 and West. At any rate, it is a matter which southern employers 

 view with much interest. 



Sassafras was one of the earliest American trees to receive a' 

 name in European literature, the name coming originally from 

 Florida. It is not now known what the name originally meant, but 

 it is supposed to have been an Indian word. 



