28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



June 25, lftl9 



J. L. 



Sl'lIEVE, ST. LOUIS. MO., 

 DIKKt'TOK 



EAUL r.VLMEK. MEMriUS, TEXN. 

 UIKECTOIt 



BltOWN, CHICAGO, 

 DIRECTOIl 



t'Cs.sfuM.v coiitr;nUctt'(l. Thi" (iiil.v daii^'t'i-s that liave ever really seriousl.v 

 threatened us as an indnstr.v have been the dangers of division, the clash 

 of seldsli interests, the growth of a elass spirit, temporary gains to a few 

 by malfing sacrifice of others. Never in history has this great hardwood 

 industry stoo<l to gain more by unity of thought and action than right now. 



After reading his report, Secretary Fish announced that applica- 

 tion of four new nicmljers liad just been received, and though the 

 applications had not yet been acted upon, the announcement was 

 received with applause. 



The meeting then took up the subject of committees to handle the 

 business coming before it, and Chairman Goodman announced com- 

 mittees as follows: 



CoMMiTTKK Its OFi'icEiis' Kei'outs : .lohn M. Woods, Boston. Mass., 

 chairmnn ; II. I!. Lusch, Chicago, III. ; Orson E. Yeager, Buffalo, N. Y. 



CoMMiTTEK ON Kesoi.itions : F. S. Underbill, Philadelphia, Pa., chair- 

 man ; M. G. Truman. Chicago, 111. ; John A. MeBean, Toronto, Ontario ; 

 Edward L. Davis, Louisville. Ky. ; Geo. C. Ehemann. Memphis, Tenn. 



Co.MMiTTKK o.\ NoM I \.\Ticixs I Walter E. Chamberlain, Boston, Mass., 

 chairman ; John W. liicks(m, Mi'mphis, Tenn. ; W. W. Knight, Indianapolis, 

 Ind. ; Leiand V. .Vrthnr. Chicagu. 111. : S. E. Barr, New Y'ork City, N. Y. 



Report on National Chamber of Commerce 

 The convention then listened to a report by Earl Palmer, coun- 

 cillor to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. The 

 report was extemporaneous, the speaker explaining that he had 

 prepared a written report but he was not satisfied with it because 

 it went into too many details concerning labor and statistics. The 

 councillor constitutes the point of contact between the association 

 and the national chamber, which is compos?d of representatives of 

 general business organizations and trades in all parts of the United 

 States. The speaker explained the workings of the national cham- 

 ber and in what way the hardwood association benefited by its con- 

 tact with the larger body. He stated that the National Hardwood 

 Association is the largest trade body represented in the National 

 chamber. 



AFTERNOON SESSION 



The Thursday afternoon session was called at 2:.S0, and th- first 

 business was a report by the committee on officers' reports. John 

 M. Woods spoke in behalf of the committee, stating that the 

 addresses by Chairman Goodman and Secretary Fish had been 

 indorsed in their entirety, and beyond that, the committee had 

 nothing to report. 



Harry A. Wheeler, who was no stranger to most of those present, 

 and who was formerly president of the National Chamber of Com- 

 merce, addressed the meeting on the toi)ic or double topic, "What 

 is our world relationship?" and "What are our domestic rela- 

 tions?" 



He took up the first question by declaring himself a believer in 



the league of nations, believing such a league to be a necessity in 

 the present state of international affairs. He announced, however, 

 that he had doubts concerniug the power of any league that might 

 be formed to render war impossible, nor had he sufficient faith to 

 believe that good alone could come from the league formulated by 

 the Paris conference. He even went so far as to express his belief 

 that in past much good had resulted from wars between nations. 

 He summed his conclusions on that subject with the declaration: 

 "A league of nations will retard the possibility of war, and that 

 is as far as it ought to go and as far as it will ever go." He added 

 that it would be cowardly for us to deny our people the right of 

 participation, simply because we could not see through to the end 

 what the result might be, or to assure ourselves that no national 

 advantage might result from such alliances. 



Near Bankruptcy 



The speaker declared that the nations of Europe are face to face 

 with bankruptcy', and some may alread.y be in the bankrupt state. 

 The man power is at a low stage, and industry is paralyzed because 

 of destruction of plants and material, and the confusion in business. 

 Agriculture is in a condition almost equally deplorable. Those 

 countries are thus forced to depend upon some one else. 



Mr. Wheeler discussed bolshevism, explaining its origin, describ- 

 ing its progress and growth, and i)ointing out the results which must 

 inevitably follow. 



It should be our policy to treat Europe as a whole when we enter 

 upon the work of reconstructionn. It lies with the American people 

 to finance this great work. The patriotism, unselfishness and ideals 

 that animatod the people of America in going into the war to save 

 the world from a dire fate will nave been valueless unless that same 

 spirit leads business men to shape their course and use their wealth 

 to finish the work. 



Concerning the railroad situation, the speaker said: 



We have got to put the railroads back where they were before Decem- 

 ber, 1917, but how are we going to do it? Private ownership under exist- 

 ing conditions means receiverships for probably two-thirds of the mileage 

 of railroads in the United States. So, that is not an easy job. It is all 

 right to talk about resumption of private ownership, but there is some- 

 thing else that you have got to do before that resumption can be suc- 

 cessful. 



At the conclusion of Mr. Wheeler's address, the chairman an- 

 nounced that one number on the program would have to be passed, 

 because Senator James E. Watson of Indiana, who had been 

 expected to speak, was unable to be present because of urgent busi- 

 ness in Washington. 



An address by L. P. Boyle of Kansas City covered a number of 

 c|uestions of law in which the association is interested, and he like- 

 wise touched upon the labor situation in this country as well as in 

 the world at large. 



