Septembei' 25. IHl'.i 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



protits, is witlnlriiwn from invL'stnieut . in trade, in public utilities, iu 

 railroads, or in other enterprises serving the public welfare, and is merged 

 in the aggregate mass of the governmental expenditures. So far as pos- 

 sible all bu.siness, agricultural, industrial and commercial, should speedily 

 be freed from the tremendous burden of taxation which was cheerfully 

 Jborne during the stress of war. As the benefits derived from the winning 

 of the war will be enjoyed by future generations, its costs should be so 

 distributed as to avoid creating an intolerable burden on this generation. 

 Great economies can be effected by the abolition of governmental agencies 

 created for war purposes, but unnecessary in peace. The government 

 should set for the people an example of frugality and economy in its ex- 

 penditures. Congress should speedily adopt a budget system and limit 

 its expenditures to the sums which are within its carefully considered 

 sources of income. 



9. As possessors of i)2 per cent of the gold reserves of tlic world, and 

 as a creditor nation, to the extent of nearly ten billion dollars, upon 

 wMch annual payment of interest will be due us, the world's exchange 

 markets with the United States have been dislocated, so that it costs for- 

 eign buyers much more than the equivalent of one hundred cents to buy 

 a dollar's worth of American goods. Our prosperity has automatically 

 built up against u.s an obstacle which has the excluding effect of a pro- 

 tective tariff, not of our making. It tends to retard the exportation of 

 foodstuffs and materials for reconstruction, essential to the relief of Euro- 

 pean countries, and iliscourages the foreign trade in Amerii'an goods es- 

 sential to the employment of our workmen and the prosperity of our in- 

 dustries. This conference, therefore, urges upon our government the need 



of u.siug its ri'souucs for stabilizing rates of exchange, and upon investors 

 the desirability of giving fair and careful consideration to offerings of 

 foreign investments. We urge American business men to encourage re- 

 ciprocal buying of foreign goods so far as is consistent with the welfare 

 nf American trade, 



10. There is being carried to the school children and coUeg'- students 

 dangerous un-American teaching inimical to the constitution of the 

 United States, through the medium of text books apd radical teachers. 

 We therefore condemn such action, and recommend that the delegates 

 urge their respective organizations to oppose most vigorously such propa- 

 ganda and combat it with counter efforts. 



11. This conference disapproves of the establislimeut of any depart 

 ment uniler the League of Nations in the intere.st of any special class of 

 citizens. We refer especially to Section 20, establishing an International 

 I^ureau of Labor, and to Part 13 of the Treaty of Peace, enunciating some 

 of the purpose thereof. 



12. The president of the conference is authorized to appoint a com- 

 mittee to go to Washington and urge the resolutions here adopted upon 

 members of Congress and to take such other steps as .shall make these 

 resolutions effective. 



13. The delegates in attendance at the conference express to the Illi- 

 nois Manufacturers' Association and to its able secretary, John M. <_Ileun, 

 high appreciation of tlieir wisdom in convoking this notable Our Country 

 First Conference and further appreciation of their energy, intelligence 

 and skill in can-ying it to a successful conclusion and their unfailing 

 hospitality. 



The Price of Lumber 



Tlie War Industries Board has publislied a biilli'tin with tlie title, 

 ''Prices of Lumber," which was compiled by R. C, Bryant of the 

 U. 8. Forest Service. It is a pamphlet of 112 pages, with numerous 

 tables and loaded with statistics. It is not practicable in the space 

 of a magazine article to summarize all the arguments and data 

 presented, but it may be stated in a general way that it deals with 

 lumber prices during the war, and incidentally it enters into the 

 history of lumbering and lumber prices during a considerable period 

 of past time. 



This bulletin is one of fifty war-time price studies in different 

 industries. These studies aim to make the price quotations gathered 

 by various government agencies available to those concerned with 

 problems of business readjustment, and to provide a permanent rec- 

 ord of the great revolution in prices that accompanied the world 

 war. Besides the pamphlets devoted to separate industries, the 

 series includes group studies of the prices of foods, clothing, build- 

 ing materials and chemicals. There is also a set of international 

 comparisons of price fluctuations, a special record of government 

 control over prices during the war, and finally, a general summary 

 of the whole inquiry in which the methods employed are set forth 

 more fully, and in which the leading results from all the bulletins 

 are drawn together for comparison. 



Considerable interest will doubtless be taken in the figures which 

 .show the quantities of lumber consumed by the government in 

 carrying on the war. These figures are made public for the first 

 time in this bulletin. The amount cut by United States forces in 

 France, England, and Scotland is not included, the figures dealing 

 only wdth American- wood devoted to war purposes. The table 

 which follows gives the amount of different woods used and the 

 purposes for which it was employed: 



For airplanes — Feet 



Spruce 104,351,000 



Douglas flr 72,385,000 



Port Orford cedar 4,513,000 



.\merican mahogany 20,083,000 



African mahogany 6,930,000 



Black walnut 10,999,000 



Cherry 1.006.000 



Birch 663,000 



Oak 311.000 



Gunstocks, black walnut 98,000,000 



.\rtillery wheels, hickory 3,800,000 



Artillery wheels, oak 15,200,000 



Vehicles for animals 77,000,000 



Vehicles, motor 20.000,000 



Boxes anil i-niting 2,000,000,000 



Buildings S.OOo.nOO.OOO 



Shiplniildiu^'. soiitheru pine 355.145.000 



1 luuglas flr 424.427,000 



Oak 2,214,000 



Locust for treenails 2.142,00c) 



Other hardwoods S, 300,000 



( Ither uses for navy 121,875,000 



Total 6,349,344,000 



In addition to the above amounts, a large quantity of wood was 

 used for tool handles and like purposes, for which figures have not 

 yet been published. 



The report goes fully into the history of government regulation 

 of the lumber trade during the war. The purpose of the govern- 

 ment in undertaking such regulation was three-fold. Fixing prices; 

 the promulgation of conservation measures designed to husband the 

 lumber resources of the country; and determining export and im- 

 port restrictions. 



The chief aim in fixing prices of lumber was to insure an adequate 

 supply for the government at a reasonable price; for it soon be- 

 came apparent that the government demand for certain kinds of 

 lumber would be so great as to inflate prices unless some form of 

 control were instituted. 



It is presumed that those who wish to study in detail the history 

 of prices during the war will procure the bulletin which devotes 

 about 80 pages to that subject. It is likely that the Forest Service, 

 Washington, D. C, is prepared to supply copies of the bulletin to 

 all who want them; but the bulletin does not state the terms on 

 which it may be had. The document is No. 43 in the series of price 

 bulletins issued by the government. 



Fall and Winter Cutting 



Timber cut in late fall and winter seasons more slowly and with 

 less checking than during the warmer months, and when proper 

 storage or handling is impracticable, winter cutting is best. Fungi 

 and insects do not attack wood out of doors in cold weather and by 

 the time warm weather arrives the wood is partly seasoned and 

 somewhat less susceptible to attack. It is for this reason that 

 winter cutting is advantageous and not on account of a smaller 

 amount of moisture or sap in the wood in winter as the popular be- 

 lief has it. There is practicallj- no difference between moisture 

 content of groeii wood in winter and summer. 



