June 25. 1310 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



E. CIIAMr.KULIX. KAST CAMBRIDGE, 

 MASS., DIRECTOR 



GEO. M 



MORGAN, CINCINNATI, O., 

 DIRECTOR 



J. K. 



THISTLETinVAITE. WASHINGTON, 

 LA., DIRECTOR 



In Judge Boyle's address lie scored the statement reported to 

 have been made by Louis Wallis of the U. S. Department of Labor 

 in a recent address before the veneer association in Chicago, to 

 the effect that speculators are holding 1,200,000,000,000 feet of 

 timber for the purpose of forcing up the price of lumber. 



FRIDAY MORNING SESSION 



The meeting was called to order at 10:30 a. m., and the first busi- 

 ness was a report of the traffic committee, appointed by the board 

 of directors last January. The committee 's report was read by 

 W. M. Hopkins, cliairman, and upon vote of the meeting the 

 report was referred to the board of directors for action. 



The report deals with the proposed establishment of a trans- 

 portation department of the association. 



The committee recommended that the association suggest or 

 advocate a plan to Congress for the speedy return of the rail- 

 roads to their owners, and legislation for their proper regulation. 

 The association should then undertake the handling of its trans- 

 portation problems, by the creation of a department of transpor- 

 tation to cooperate with and assist legislative and administrative 

 bodies in all matters pertaining to transportation of hardwood 

 lumber, and at the same time furnish assistance to members of 

 the association in handling their transportation difficulties. 



Inspection Rules Committee Report 



The report of the inspection rules conimittee was read by its 

 chairman, John W. McGlure. The report follows: 



The practicall.v universal acceptance and approval of our inspection 

 rules hy the manufaetuiiug, the tllstrilnitiug and the consuming hardwood 

 trade indicates that in the making and promulgating of inspection rules 

 this association has achieved a success of which even its founders little 

 dreamed. The complaints and suggestions for changes and improvements 

 in the rules which have come to our committee from the members have 

 been fewer in number than ever before ; in fact, may be said to have 

 almost reached the vanishing point. The great demand seems to be for 

 stabilit.v of the rules, proving to your committee the fundamental correct- 

 ness of the theory upon which our work is based and which has been 

 repeated from year to year in our annual reports "that the rules of 

 Inspection do not lead the trade into new merchandising channels, but 

 are only Intended clearly to express and standardize the best customs and 

 practices of the trade." 



The measure of success of our rules is found In the acceptance and 

 approval with which they are received both here and abroad, and during 

 the war by our government and those of our allies. Wherever American 

 hardwood is bought and sold today the National rules are the acknowl- 

 edged standard of inspection. These rules have come about through a 

 natural process of evolution and in some degree may be said to be still 

 subject to the laws of evolution, which may at some future time demand 

 changes In the rules to meet changed conditions in the trade. But for 



the present at least the very few suggestions for changes and improve- 

 ments indicate that the rules have reached that stage of equilibrium or 

 stability toward which the hardwood trade has been struggling for many 

 years. So intricately have our rules been Interwoven into the honest 

 merchandising of hardwood lumber that any radical changes in the rules 

 would destroy the entire fabric of standards and values. It is the universal 

 desire, therefore, that our present condition of stability in the rules be 

 maintained, remembering that rules cannot legislate value into lumber, 

 but are designed to describe clearly the grades so as to place a board where 

 its value entitles it to belong. With a tixcni standard of inspection, prices 

 adjust themselves according to the natural law of supply and demand. 



Inspection Service 



However fair and equitable a set of inspection rules may be, they have 

 not. in themselves, the power to prevent errors in shipping or sharp prac- 

 tices among either buyers or shippers of hardwoods. There nmst be an 

 inspection department composed of honest, experienced, efficient men who 

 will apply the rules fairly and fearlessly when called upon. Our inspec- 

 tion department is organized primarily to act as arbitrator between buyer 

 antl seller in case of dispute. The po.sition of an arbitrator is never a 

 pleasant one, but the continual growth of our organization and the prestige 

 which we have acquired in the consuming trade evidence the confidence 

 which our inspection department has established throughout the trade. 

 That the great majority of official inspections are satisfactory is shown by 

 the small percentage of demands for reinspectlon. 



It is perfectly natural, however, that there should be some criticism 

 of our inspection service, but of constructive criticism there Is very little. 

 The fact that the critics are about equally divided between the buyers 

 and sellers would seem to indicate that our inspection department is 

 following a straight line and keeping In the middle of the road. There 

 will always be a small element of the trade which would like to tear down 

 a system designed to prevent an unfair juggling or manipulation of grades. 

 By subtle innuendo and active propaganda these malcontents may strike 

 at the foundations of our institution, but the knocks of their little ham- 

 mers are growing fainter with the passage of years. There are other 

 critics of our plan who are doubtless sincere in their belief that there are 

 serious defects In our system, but they are so convinced of the correctness 

 of their views that they refuse to admit any evl<lence to the contrary. But 

 never, during several years of experience in the Inspection department, has 

 it failed to convince the open-minded critic who will adopt the only prac- 

 tical means of Investigation by viewing the actual lumber In question, of 

 the fairness with which the rates have been applied. 



The inspection force Is composed of human beings, having no claims to 

 infalllldlity, but our system provides for a recheck or reinspectlon where 

 error has been made and the association stands with all Its financial 

 responsibility behind the official certificate of inspection. The small pro- 

 portion of errors as shown by the actual working of our system indicates 

 Mat the rules are being applied by our bonded inspectors with a reaiarkable 

 uniformity and with the possibility of error reduced to the minimum. 



Scientific Inspection Rules 

 Much has been said regarding scientific Inspection rules, the Intimation 

 being that our present standards of Inspection are in some degree unscien- 

 tific. Your committee pleads guilty to the charge that we are lumbermen 

 and not scientists. The practice of counting detects In the best gradei 



