H 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Annual Northwestern HardWood Lumbermen's Ass'n. 



The Xortlnvestern Hardwood Lnuiliiinu'ii 's 

 Association met in St. Paul, Minn., on Tues- 

 day, llee. 5, for its seventeenth annual gath- 

 ering. While a few members of the associa- 

 tion were xinavoidably absent, there was a 

 fair attendance, and the discussion at the 

 e.\ecutive session was highly interesting and 

 valuable. Socially, the occasion was as usual 

 a success. A spirit if 'iomradeship and good- 

 will was manifested at the banquet and at 

 the theater party which followed it, and all 

 arrangements were carried through in ad- 

 mirable fashion. 



The meeting was held in one of the par- 

 lors of the St. Paul Commercial Club, anj 

 was called to order at 4 p. m. by President 

 A. K. Peterson, who opened the proceedings 

 with his annual address, as follows: 

 President's Annual Address. 



Gentlemen of the Xorthwestern Hardwood 

 J.'imbermen's Association : On this, our seven- 

 reenth gathering. 1 am pleased to welcome you to 

 the city of St. I'aul and to this meeting. It was 

 in St. I'aul that the first meeting of this asso- 

 r latlon was held seventeen years ago. .Some of 

 I lie men who attended that meeting are not with 

 IIS today. Good and noble men they were, but — 

 iliey are thiougli. they have fought their fight, 

 and have p.issed to the great beyond. 



Much has been done by this association for 

 the betterment of conditions suirounding this 

 branch of the lumber trade ; much remains to be 

 (lone. It seems to me we ought to agree upon 

 some basis of sellin.a terms and then enforce 

 those terms. In this respect we are away behind 

 the pine association. They have promulgated 

 terms that are respected and lived up to. The 

 hardwood men do not insist upon their rights in 

 this matter. We should insist upon settlements 

 within sixty days from shipment, with proper 

 discount for cash in ten to fifteen days. We 

 have been loo easy in this matter and the result 

 is that we are expected to give ninety days' to 

 i'our months' lime, and if we do not accept orders 

 on that basis some one else will. With proper 

 <frort on our part and on the part of sister 

 organizations, working jointly with us, this can 

 be remedied. 



Another matter that should demand our seri- 

 ous consideration is the unbusinesslike practice 

 of many manufacturers In selling direct to the 

 consumer. This may be hard to remedy. The 

 practice is of long duration and has become deep 

 rooted. Ours is the only business, so far as I 

 know, where the jobber or middle man Is not 

 protected. Bv a proper, intelligent and united 

 effort, 1 believe something can be done to remove 

 this evil. 



In the matter of grades, we have, as you all 

 know, adopted the National rules, and the Na- 

 tional association has appointed a salaried In- 

 Kpector for this district, whose services, I be- 

 lieve are only available to members of the Na- 

 tional association. The chairman of the board 

 of arbitration will probably give us full par- 

 ticulars on this point. Without full informa- 

 tion it appears to me that the National asso- 

 ciation could put the nosition of iiispi-ctor 

 unon a better paving basis by extending his 

 services beyond the limit of Its own mcmbir- 

 ship. However, I suppose this matter will be 

 fu'.lv explained later. 



Now, gentlemen, congress has again assem- 

 bled and Important questions will be up for 

 consideration, probably the most Important 

 of which will be the question of governmental 

 rate supervision. This association has already 

 gone on record as favoring the policy of 

 President Roosevelt as outlined In his last 

 message to congress In the following • lan- 

 guage : 



"The Interstate Commerce Commission 

 s'nouia be vested with the power where a 

 Kiven rate has been challenged and after full 

 hearing found to be unreasonable, to decide, 

 subject to Judicial review, what shall be a 

 reasonable rate to take Its place: the ruling 

 of the commission to take effect Immedlalely 

 and to obtain unless and until It Is reversed 

 bv the court of review." 



We sent a delegate to the Interstate Com- 

 merce Law Convention held In Chicago on 

 October I'B last, and his Instructions were In 

 harmony with this policy; since then public 

 sentiment has been cryatall/.lng, and the Issue 

 Is siiuarelv drawn. In the matter of a 

 "square deal for every man." In so far as 

 rates are concerned, shall we trust the gov- 

 ernment or the railroads? 



From IS.ST to 1SU7 the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission actually had the power now 

 sought to be speclricallj' conferred upon It. 

 No attcmj)! was made to put tlie country 

 upon a distinct tariff basis, and never will 

 he. It is well to kesp the highways of com- 

 merce under ,go\'ernment supervision. No ni- 

 jiistice will' be done to anybody. I believe It 

 Is well for our reiiresentatlves In congress to 

 know how we stand on this question. Not 

 that it win have any particular influence in 

 shaping the final result: but, above the 

 mighty roar of the machinery set in motion 

 by the opposition, it may be possible for our 

 representatives to hear a voice from the ranks 

 calling for a square deal. 



At the last session of the Minnesota state 

 legislature we favored the passage of a bill 

 known as the "Nolan Reciprocal Demurrage 

 Bill." This was, in the main, a righteous 

 measure, and passed the house by a majority 

 of about 100, notwithstanding an unfavorable 

 report by a majority of the house committee. 

 It was then sent to the senate committee and 

 public hearings were given to all Interested 

 parties for and against. Mr. W. C. Bailey 

 and myself attended some of the sessions, and 

 Mr. Bailey made a telling argument In its 

 favor. Outside of various firms located on 

 railway rights of way and others under obli- 

 gation to the railroads in various ways, the 

 bill was supported by a large majority of 

 shippers of the state; but, the doctrine of a 

 "square deal" had not penetrated to that 

 committee, and the measure was killed. 



The Investigation being made In New Yoi'k 

 by the Armstrong committee throws some 

 light upon the methods used by certain Inter- 

 ests In shaping legislation. What Is true iri 

 New York is true to a greater or less degree 



A. K. riOTEUSON, UE-ELECTED PUESIDENT. 



in other states. There appears to be a great 

 awakening of the public conscience, and the 

 time may soon come when grafting and 

 grafters will have to go. God speed the day. 



Hearty applause at the conclusion of the 

 address showed that the members indorsed its 

 sentiments. 



Secretary ,J. F. llayden then read the 

 minutes of the last annual meeting in Minne 

 apolis, which were approved, after which he 

 Iiresonted his report, as secretary, which fol- 

 lows : 



Secretary's Report. 



Mr. President an<l .Members of the North- 

 western Hardwood I.umbcrmon's Assojiutton : 

 I think you will nil agree wKh me that the 

 past year has been one of pj'osperlty In the 

 liardwood lumber trade, as It has In trade In 

 all lines and llinl the close of our association 

 year llnds more dollars In the iiockeTs of the 

 hardwood lumber dealers than did the close of 

 the previous year, rresent jirosnects also seem 

 to warrant the prediction fhat the coming year 

 will be even belter. 



Including the annual meeting, the associa- 

 tion has held eight meetings during the year, 



and each of them has been productive of some 

 good for the hardwood trade. At the second 

 meeting; of the year, held b'eb. 11, a change was 

 made in the Inspection rules, providing that the 

 minimum car of hardwood lumber sbould be 

 12,001) feet, and that for any amount over that 

 the inspectors should be paid at the rate of 

 30 cents per thousand feet or fraction thereof. 

 At the meeting of J^arch 29, a committee was 

 appointed consisting of P, W. Strickland, W, 11, 

 Sill and A. E. I'eterson, to be known as the 

 Kailioad Committee, whose duties It should be 

 to handle claims of members against the rail- 

 roads. At the same meeting W. C. Bailey was 

 appointed a committee of one on forestry. A 

 lesoUitlon was also adopted at this meeting re- 

 quesllng 1). V. Clark to ask the surveyor general 

 of the National Hardwood Lumber Association 

 to appoint as a national inspector for this sec- 

 tion such a man as this association shall recom- 

 mend. Ai the meeting of Oct. 21 A. 11. Barn- 

 ard was appointed a delegate to the Interstate 

 Commerce Law convention at Chicago, Oct. 27 

 and 28. 



The price list has ilot needed bracing up 

 very often during the J'ear. and neither have 

 the members, for It has been easier to get full 

 list quotations most of the time than ever be- 

 fore. As compared with the last list issued 

 before the annual meeting a year ago the list 

 now in effect shows the following advances on 

 Inch firsts and seconds : Ash, .'i;2 : soft elm, 

 *2 ; rock elm, $6 : red oak, .$0, and white oak, 

 .•JS : but it has not been the list advances that 

 have counted so much as It has been the fact 

 that It has been possible to adhere mpre closely 

 to the lists In making sales. 



At the last annual meeting the Vernon Lum- 

 ber Company and E. I'ayson Smith of Minne- 

 apolis became members of the association. 



At this time it is Impossible to state the 

 amount of dry stock m the hands of hardwood 

 lumber producers and wholesalers In tills terri- 

 tory, or to determine the amount of hardwooo 

 that win be logged during the winter, liut It 

 appears s.ife to say that the sum of the two 

 amounts will not be large enough to consti- 

 tute a drug on the market, nor a menace to 

 good prices during the coming year. All of the 

 largest crop ever known in the hlsi(u*y of the 

 country has not yet been turned Into money, 

 but It Is coming to market as fast as the rail- 

 roads can haul it, and the farmers and those 

 who are directly or indirectly dependent on the 

 prosiuM-ily of the agrlculturiil sections feel that 

 r.Hli; rsliimld set some ni.w records lu trade. 



Eeport of the Treasurer. 



The report of the treasurer, C. F. Osborne, 

 was then read. It stated the financial condi- 

 tion of the association as follows: 

 Keceipts. 



Dec. 6, 1904— Cash balance $67.92 



Dues from 15 mem- 

 bers 45.00 



Extra plates and 

 tickets 9.00 $1'.'1.92 



Expenditures. 



Dec. G, l!t04— Cigars, banquet $ 2.40 



Secretary's ex- 

 penses, 1904 2.20 



" " Balance due. sec- 

 retary's salary . . 5.00 

 Commercial Club... 30.00 



Theater tickets S.OO 



Dec. 19. 1904— Printing 2.25 



June 6, 1905 — S e c r e t a r y's ex- 

 penses 5.00 



Dec. 4. 190.5 — S e c r e t a r y's ex- 

 penses 2.40 



" " Secretary's sal- 

 aries 25.00 $ 82.25 



i .■!9.()7 

 To cash on baud $39.67 



Board of Arbitration Report. 



I>. I'. I'l.irk. I'liairman of the board of 

 arbitratinii. then prcsciiled (he following 

 rcjiort : 



Gentlemen: \\'e lia\'e hail inspected this 

 year, by the Northwestern liardwood Lumber- 

 men's Association Inspectors. L'o carloads of 

 lumber, as follows: 



Hy A, E. Itiicr, 1 car, 



Hy Olaf OpperuiKi, !i cars. 



Hy August I'alinqulst. 14 cars. 



This Includes both Minneapolis and St. 

 I'aul. All of this Inspection was made for 

 members belonging to the association. There 

 was no work done for any outsider. In most 

 cases the Inspecttir.s collected their own fees 

 and reported same to me. 



After Aug. 1. 1905. th(> National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association appointed August Palm- 

 qulst of St. Paul as the National Inspector 



