8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



liave read with interest your article on mahogany in the Hardwood 

 Becord of Oct. 25, and compliment you on having stated the matter 

 very clearly. We notice that this article has been copied into the 

 Timber Tracks Journal of London." 



In view of tlie condition of stocks and the demand for mahogany, 

 the English market can hope for but light log sales to American 

 buyers during the next few months. It is scarcely possible that Amer- 

 ican mahogany merchants and manufacturers will load the market any 

 further until both prices and trade strengthen materiallj', save as 

 they are obliged to take care of their own direct importations. It 

 must be known that today the larger quantity of mahogany received 

 in this country comes no longer tlirough the hands of the Knglish 

 brokers and merchants, as the larger producers are owners of their 

 own mahogany forests and logging operations. 



The conditions noted by the Timber Trades .lournal relative to 

 ,high-class American domestic furniture lumber will certainly contrib- 

 ute materially to an increased use of the wood and speedily assist in 

 a readjustment of mahogany values. But all this will take time. 

 There is no prospect in sight that ever in the future will high-class 

 American woods suitable for furniture and fine interior work be in 

 superabundance, and makers of the better lines must certainly turn 

 to mahogany to supply their growing wants. Mahogany will event- 

 ually have its "innings," but there is nothing in the situation today 

 to warrant handlers in further overloading the American market. 



Furniture Prices. 



There is a manifest tendency among furniture manufacturers 

 throughout the country, in view of the prevailing high prices of lum- 

 ber and increased labor cost, to materially advance the prices of 

 furniture. In fact, many leading factories have already made 

 announcement of an advanced price schedule. As the year's trade 

 has been very satisfactory, no one wants to disturb existing rela- 

 tions between manufacturers and buyers unless compelled by the 

 increased cost of raw material and manufacture. 



Undeniably there has been a considerable overj)roduetion in many 

 lines of furniture for some years. Competition has been extremely 

 close, and the average manufacturer has been put to his wit's end 

 to devise means to decrease the cost of his product to such an 

 extent that he could make prices to meet the severe competition of 

 the many new factories which have entered the business. This com- 

 petition in many cases has been caused by an apparent inability to 

 accurately estimate cost. A number of factories have been continued 

 in operation where goods have been sold at prices that mean 

 actual losses. The owners have apparently hoped against hope that 

 eventually prices could be secured that would recoup former losses. 

 It is a notorious fact that there are scores of furniture factories 

 throughout the United States that have not made a dollar for some 

 years, in spite of the general prosperous business conditions prevail- 

 ing. It is true of this line of manufacture, as of some others, that the 

 jobber and retailer are having decidedly the best end of the proposi- 

 tion. The jol>bers' profits have been fair for some years, and when 

 anyone reasonably well acquainted with manufacturers' prices steps 

 into a retail establishment, whether it be a regular furniture store or 

 a department house, he is aVjsolutely surprised at the prices that the 

 inofet ordinary furniture commands. 



Asks for Tariff on Lumber. 



Lumbermen of British Ci<lunibia are asking llio tariff commission 

 of that government for an imposition of two dollars a thousand on 

 American rough lumber and of thirty cents a thousand on shingles. 

 This action, it is represented by the petitioners, will preserve the 

 market of the Canadian northwest for the Canadian millmcn. 



There is also a manifest disposition on the part of lumbermen of 

 Ontario to make a similar demand for a duty to be applied on lum 

 ber imported from the United States to that province. It is well 

 known that Ontario constitutes one of the very best markets the 

 United States has for yellow pine and cypress and that this sec- 

 tioD is an extremely large buyer of American hardwoods, notably 

 oak and pojilar. It would be a great misfortune to lose this valu- 

 able market to American lumber producers through negligence of 

 just reciprocal relations with our nearby neighbor. 



As a matter of fact, Canada will not have any white pine lumber 

 to export longer than five years, as the local demand is increasing 

 to such an extent that it will require the totality of the Dominion 's 

 output to take care of its own trade. There was undeniable justice 

 in the imposition of a two dollar duty against Canadian lumber when 

 it was enacted by the United States. Are not conditions now changed 

 to that extent that the logical and just course for this government 

 would be to abrogate the duty on Canadian lumber? By this means 

 and by this means only can the valuable Canadian market for hard- 

 woods, yellow pine and cypress be retained for our manufacturers. 



Shortage of Vehicle Material. 



At the meeting of manufacturers of vehicle lient-wood material 

 lield in Chicago Nov. 21 and 22, the •important matter coming under 

 discussion was a consideration of ways and means of fostering pres- 

 ent supplies of raw material suitable for bent-wood stock entering 

 into vehicle construction, so as to make them last as long as pos- 

 sible. The scarcity of grades of oak and hickory suitable for this 

 purpose has become a serious problem to those engaged in this line 

 of production. The continued advance in the price of raw material, 

 caused by this scarcity, is also a matter of deep concern. 



The question of making uniform grades under a s-tandard system 

 of inspection was thoroughly discussed, and means adopted to carry 

 out, under a corps of inspectors, a thorough uniformity in this par- 

 ticular. It is expected that the standard grades adopted will mate- 

 rially facilitate the conduct of the business. 



It is a good thing when prominent Woodstock concerns like the 

 Vehicle Woodstock Company are aroused to the inimical situation 

 that confronts the future of this industry. The high-class oak and 

 hickory of the United States is certainly very much depleted, and it 

 behooves not only this company but other concerns that have need of 

 oak and hickory of the best physics to exercise great care and con- 

 servatism in the handling nf tliis fnre«t ernwth. 



Germany Ends Reciprocity Treaty. 



On November 29 the German government formally renounced at 

 the department of state the reciprocity treaty between the United 

 States and Germany, entered into under the provisions of the Ding- 

 ley tariff law. This action will undoubtedly result in a large falling 

 off of American exports to Germany and will particularly affect the 

 exporting of lumber, especially dimension stock, to that coun- 

 try. Unless satisfactory new arrangements can be made, it will 

 undoubtedly precipitate a commercial war between the two nations. 



This country 's foolish policy and practical abandonment of 

 reciprocal trade relations between itself and the other great nations 

 of the world is bearing fruit. If there was ever a demand for both 

 a readjustment of tariff duties and for reciprocal treaties by this 

 country, the time is certainly now. The "stand pat" proposition 

 sounds all right, but practically this country is "up against it" 

 and is going to suffer in its foreign trade unless overtures are 

 ]irnin|it!y made toward j\ist and sensible trade relations. 



Kindly Congratulations. 



It is not often that a newspaper publisher is the recipient of such 

 kindly and encouraging commendations from a contemporary as are 

 expressed in the following paragraph from the Pacific Lumber Trade 

 Journal of Seattle, Wash. Coming as it does from A^ictor 11. Beck- 

 man, one of the most astute trade paper editors in the United States, 

 it is doubly appreciated : 



Editor Henry It. (itlisnn. of the Hauiiwikiu ItiicuKU, very modestly 

 celotjrated llie tendi aniilversjiry <if his IhnroUKlily exeelh'iit trade paper 

 last liionttl. Fnv a pilldisln'r tllal lias aeliieved a class liy hliiiself In Ills 

 ]>arli('iilat' tield Mr. Ulbsun is entirely Jiistitled In Ills anniversary piide. 

 fur It' ever there was a newspaper luthlished with dignity, eieverness 

 and I'alrncHs it 1ms boon llie lI.Miiiwixio Ukiiikp since the present edi- 

 tor took charge of the property last January. Here's long lll'i' and pros- 

 Iierlty to It! 



The President and Railroad Freight Rates. 



FrniM :i ji.Tiis;il nl I'lrshiriii l;.iosi\ I'll 's i iniFirii'l:it inns to Con- 

 gress on the subject of the correction of the evils of excessive and 

 discriminating freight rates it would almost seem thiit he had become 

 imbued with the tenets of the Chicago "rump" convention. Between 

 freight rate making and freight rate regulation there is a distinction 

 that qualifies as a difference. 



