IS-: 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



September 10, 1919 



Thinkers or Workers 



ABOUT ONE HUNDEED and tliirty years ago when the French 

 Revolution was at its height, and the top seemed to be blowing 

 off and the bottom dropping out of everything, the authorities adver- 

 tised for "thinkers" to come forward and think a way out of the 

 troubles. The call met immediate response, and France was deluged 

 with pamphlets, every writer offering the remedy which he had 

 "thought" out. Such a jumble of theories the world never saw be- 

 fore, without any practical results; and in course of time it began to 

 dawn on the people that it was not thinkers but workers that were 

 needed. 



We are in pretty much that state in this' country now. There is no 

 end to the people who want to think a way out of the business obstacles 

 that lie all about, and the country is filled with reports of comm'is- 

 sions, committees, councils, boards, and private investigators. It begins 

 to look as if everybody wants to investigate, examine, and make re- 

 ports. So many of these investigating bodies are in the field that no- 

 body can keep track of them. 



It must be about time now to begin to realize that what is worst 

 needed is output of merchandise and other usable commodities, and a 

 diminishing flood of reports and investigations. The real thinkers, 

 those who possess practical knowledge, already see clearly enough that 

 what the country needs is more work, increased production, active 

 factories, busy people, and a little less investigation and advice. The 

 highest priced thing in America now is investigation. The investigat- 

 ing commissions should be called off in nine eases out of ten and set 

 to work; and if people generally would pursue the policy of large 

 I reduction, the worst phase of high cost of living and conducting busi- 

 ness would disappear in due time. The remedy lies in producing 

 plenty so that every man who spends a dollar will get fair return. 



Putting Up the Bars 



MILLIONS OF PEOPLE are preparing to migrate to the United 

 States as soon as possible after peace has been declared and 

 restrictions have been removed. Many of foreign birth who are 

 already here are preparing to go back to their native lands, in the 

 belief that opportunities are better there than here; but where one 

 is expecting to go back, several are preparing to come to our shores. 



The problem is regarded as so serious that President Wilson has 

 asked Congress to pass a law, temporary in character, to cheek im- 

 migration to this country until we have had time to determine 

 whether or not this flood of immigrants is wanted. He has asked 

 Congress to extend the passport-control act of May 22, 1918, for 

 one year after peace shall have been concluded between the United 

 States and the Central Powers of Europe. If that extension of 

 the law is made, our gates will be practically closed during the 

 specified time against immigrants seeking to enter this country. 



It is only a temporary measure in its present form, but it will 

 afford time to look into the matter. The president explains that 

 some of those who are planning to come may be of a class which we 

 do not need or want. It does not appear that the object is to shut 

 out laborers as such, but to close the door against agitators, 

 anarchists, bolsheviks, and disturbers who may seek to carry on 

 unwelcome propaganda in this country. We have enough of that 

 kind here now. 



The labor question is bound to loom large in the discussion of 

 this proposed measure. Those who want to see lower costs of pro- 

 duction may argue that the way to get it is to encourage laborers 

 to come in, and persons who take that view will be inclined to 

 oppose shutting the gates in the faces of immigrants, but an argu- 

 ment equally as strong may be offered in favor of the exclusion 

 of immigrants at this time. There is a rumor of a movement look- 

 ing to a supply of labor by removing restrictions on Chinese im- 

 migration. That measure was openly suggested during the war 

 when our labor supply was running low, and the movement appears 

 to have some life in it yet. Doubtless the president had this and 

 other similar matters in mind when he sent the ifiessage to Congress 

 asking for an extension of the passport-control act. 



The Past Year's Lumber Output 



THE DECLINE OF FOUR BILLION FEET in the lumber produc- 

 tion, when the cut of 1918 is compared with that of 1917, should 

 not be construced as marking a permanent falling off in lumber output. 

 The remarkable thing is that the decline was not greater, when the ad- 

 verse circumstances are considered. New building has been nearly at 

 a standstill, and the large demand for lumber for new construction, 

 which formerly was of great importance, has not materialized this year. 

 It is believed that, under normal conditions, aljout one half of the 

 sawmill output goes into construction work, either in the form of 

 rough lumber or as house finish, while the other half supplies factories 

 which make furniture, agricultural implements, railroad ears, and fifty 

 other kinds of commodities. Demand in many of these industries has 

 been literally "shot to pieces," and the surprising thing is that the 

 country absorbed thirty-two billion feet of lumber last year. That 

 is within about twenty per cent of the high water mark in lumber 

 consumption. 



Few other large industries have come so near up to the highest limit 

 set in prosperous years in the past. From this fact it can be argued 

 that the hmiber business occupies a particularly strong position in the 

 industrial world, and that it is well fortified to hold strong ground 

 during the coming years and the industrial changes which seem in- 

 evitable. 



Danger Not Imminent 



EUROPE HAS ONLY ABOUT A DOZEN important native trees, 

 our country has hundreds. Probably Europe once had as 

 many, but all except a few were killed by cold during the glacial 

 age, while America's survived that cold. Ignoring the cause of 

 the few kinds of trees there and the many here, the warning is 

 often given that we are in danger of having our forests reduced to the 

 same poor state as those of Europe, by losing certain of our trees. 

 It seems to be taken for granted that several of our valuable species 

 must soon go, and some persons are busying themselves picking 

 out those doomed to go first. Some guess that it will be white pine, 

 because its commercial range has been so enormously reduced; 

 some pick southern longleaf pine as the sacrifice, because it is being 

 cut so much faster than it is growing; others point to yellow poplar, 

 whose output is decreasing rapidly; black walnut is named by some, 

 cherry by others, and red cedar by still others as trees doomed to 

 early disappearance. 



Much is being taken for granted. Who knows that any timber tree 

 is doomed to disappear? Not one that was of any importance has 

 disappeared from our forests during the past three hundred years. 

 It is claimed as a fact that since the discovery of America only a 

 single tree, so far as is known, has dropped out of our forests, the 

 franklinia, which has not been seen in a wild state for 130 years 

 and was never abundant. 



The record is pretty good — 642 kinds of trees in the United States, 

 and only one, and an insignificant one at that, has disappeared dur- 

 ing more than three hundred years. The fact that Europe' has so 

 few kinds of native trees cannot be held up as a warning or a threat 

 that ours will drop out till only that number shall be left. It is not 

 known that man has exterminated, or has been instrumental in 

 exterminating, a single tree species in Europe during the 20,000 

 years of his occupancy there, since the aboriginal Mongolians 

 roamed over France and England. 



The huckleberry is one of the last things to be thought of as a 

 tree; but it is well to bear in mind that there are several kinds of 

 huckleberries. Some are very low bushes or vines, others attain 

 heights of several feet, and the largest may have a trunk ten inches 

 in diameter and thirty feet tall. The wood is hard and strong and 

 some use is made of it for handles, and tanners take the bark in 

 leather making. It attains its largest size near the coast in east- 

 ern Texas. The fruit of the tree huckleberry is dry and not very 

 palatable, though the flavor is pleasant. The berries may hang on 

 the trees all winter if the birds leave them alone. 



