i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Fourth Annual M^^ting of the HardWood Manufacture' 

 ers' Association of the United States. 



One of the most satisfactory meetings ever 

 held by the Hardwood Manufacturers ' Asso- 

 ciation of the United States was its fourth 

 annual ivhich occurred at Louisville, Ky., on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 16 and 17. 

 While optimism over the hardwood situation 

 was thoroughly manifested in the expressions 

 of every member present, conservatism backed 

 by wise though aggressive aetiou was taken 

 on all important features of interest to the 

 hardwood manufacturing industry. 



The work of the association as expressed 

 by the reports of oflScers and by the reports 

 of individual members, showed satisfactory 

 progress for the year just closed. The pro- 

 ceedings were marked by entire harmony, and 

 the fraternal spirit that was manifest dur- 

 ing the several sessions of the convention and 

 that prevailed throughout the informal meet- 

 ings in the rotunda of the Gait House un- 

 qualifiedly illustrated the value of these con- 

 ferences. Old friendships were cemented and 

 many new ones made. 



The reception given the retiring president, 

 B. H. Yansant, amounted practically to an 

 ovation, and he has every reason to feel 

 proud of the record he has made as president 

 of the association for the past two years as 

 well as of the encomiums bestowed upon 

 him by not only every member of the asso- 

 ciation but by the entire hardwood fra- 

 ternity of the Tnited States. 



Hardly less enthusiastic was the reception 

 accorded President-elect William Wilms. In 

 him the association knows it has a man who 

 will carry on the work inaugurated by his 

 predecessors in a manner that will add 

 breadth and respect to the Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' Assoi-i.'itinn. 



TUESDAY MORNING SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order at 10:30 

 a. m., in the main audience room of the Gait 

 House, President Vansant presiding. 



The roll call disclosed the presence of rep- 

 resentatives of about a hundred and fifty 

 members of the association. 



President Vansant then delivered his formal 

 address which follows: 



Address of President. 



WKI.COME TO llEMBBItS. 



It affords me nnipli pleasure to sec present at 

 this fourth annual nioetlng so many members of 

 the llardwurHl Alaniifucturers' ARSociatlon of the 

 Tnltcd Statps. II is a complimi-nl. not oniy to 

 the organization, hut to .vour lelirinj; chief ofll- 

 cfr. whom you have so sicnally honoifd and to 

 whom you havi- clven your unreserved conlkleni'C 

 and support for the last two years. 

 HiSTonv i>F riiK Asmoci-vtio.n the Past Yeak. 



The history of the Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association of the T'nlted States during the past 

 year has lieen markerl hy i)roKr<'ss and prosper- 

 ity. It often happens ihal In gontl times the 

 memhera neglect their duties to an firganl/atlon 

 that has brought about such eondltlons ; Inter- 

 est lags and even goes hv default dining 

 periods of eommerelal pr<isiierlty. This has n<it 

 been the case with the Hardwood JInnufactuiers' 

 Association. Its cxeeutlve force has not been 

 unmindful of the ptissibh' approach of dull sea- 

 sons, and Its members have not forgotten the 

 fhaotle conditions that prevailed In the hardwood 

 industry previous to their making this organiza- 

 tion. They are not unmindfnl of the time when 

 tlie jobbing trade dictated to them both the 



grades they should make and the prices they 

 should market Iheir lumber tor; of the time 

 when, if prospei-ity was abroad in the land, they 

 did not hear of It until it was all over, and of 

 the time when it was a never ceasing struggle 

 to "make both ends meet." 



For these changed conditions its members give 

 to the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association a 

 due portion of the credit, and remain loyal and 

 steadfast iu tlieir support. They are determined 

 to keep their organization intact and stand loy- 

 ally by It. 



The cordial relations of our association to 

 the consumer, while tirml.v established, are grow- 

 ing every day, .lust as soon as the large con- 

 sumer becomes acquainted with the systems 

 employed b.v our members in the conduct of the 

 manufacturing, grading, selling and shipping of 

 lumber under our grades, just so soon he becomes 

 an enthusiastic sui)portcr of our association and 

 its methods. 



In furtherance of this object, the secretary's 



BADGE WiiltN .\T LOUISVII-I,!': CO.NVION- 

 TIOX. 



oDicc has In preparation for distribution to mem 

 t)ers and to consumers a list of all legitimate 

 and flnancially responsible carload buyers and 

 consumers of hardwood over the coimtry, with 

 notation of the kinds and quantity of lumber 

 annuall.v consumed by each, which will be fur- 

 nished "to each member of the association : and 

 also, all these manufacturing consumers will lie 

 furnished with a list of the members of this 

 association, of whom they can buy the kind of 

 lumber whlili they use In their business. 



This part of tlie work reipilres considerable 

 detail, and it will be some time before It Is 

 linally completed, but the feature will be viu-y 

 valuable to every member of tlu' association. We 

 feel sure It wilt have your cordial support, and 

 will be very acceptable to our customers; the 

 HCci'etary can so keep before these buyers the 

 amount "of stock In hands of mainit'aclurers that 

 Is ready for prompt shlpmenl. 



FOBESTIIY. 



The forestry tiuestion Is fast coming to the 

 front and will have to be met and solved at no 

 distant day. 



That there has been a markeil ilmngc In the 



perennial How of the streams and in agriculture, 

 by the clearing of the soil and the destruction 

 of the forests, no one at all familiar with the 

 subject will doubt. 



To those whose water supply Is largely con- 

 trolled by the forests of the Appalachian "range, 

 the destruction of these forests has become seri- 

 ously important ; and also in other sections of 

 the tnited .States, but with these I am not so 

 familiar. 



^'arlous ways have been proposed for the pro- 

 tection of these forests, and among these is the 

 appeal to lumbermen to voluntarily and 

 without recompense cease removing the timber, 

 or certain parts of same : and also, one to 

 Congress to enact a law requiring them to do so. 

 In my opinion an appeal of this character or a 

 law of this kind is, imder present conditions, 

 e.vtremely imreasonable, and will be met with 

 the strongest opposition by the present day 

 lumbermen. 



The men who now own these forests of mar- 

 ketable timber have expended vast fortunes in 

 acquiring them, with the laudable expectation 

 of realizing a fair profit on their investment : 

 in fact, a large number of them have the savings 

 of a lifetime of hardest labor wrapped up in 

 them, and to require or ask them to give all 

 they have to a project in which they have no 

 pecuniary interest is, to my mind, unfair and 

 unjust. 



That something should be done all will admit, 

 and, in my opinion, the only feasible plan that 

 would be just to all is for tiie national govern- 

 ment to acquire, by purchase, the tops of these 

 mountains and a sufflciency of the lower parts 

 after the timber now of marketable size shall 

 have been removed, the same to be removed 

 without tiie unnecessary destruction of the 

 smaller timber, to insure the necessary protec 

 tion to the great natural reservoir which waters 

 that vast industrial and agricultural country 

 draining the Appalachian mountains. This, to 

 my mind. Is the only practicable solution of the 

 inoblem that would be fair to every one, and 

 I trust that this, or some other method equally 

 as satisfactory will be adopted in the nea"r 

 future. 



Forest Economies. 



■Without in any wise discouraging the value 

 of forestry, we think the duty that lies nearest 

 the hand of the lumberman is the practice of 

 forest and sawmill economies. The last few 

 years have developed the fact, aud the past 

 twelve months have emphasized it, that there 

 is no wood growing out of the ground which 

 does not possess a value for some purpose. To- 

 day every variety of American forest growth is 

 imder "tribute to minister to the wants of man- 

 kind. 



I'ractical forestry has taken a definite form 

 and as an evidence of this the National I>umber 

 -Mauutacturers' Association at the meeting Iteld 

 at Chicago, iu May, 190,">, decided to raise a 

 fund to endow a chair in the Yale forest school, 

 to teach applied forestry and practical lum- 

 bering. 



.Mr. Wilms of Chicago will later address the 

 rouveutliui on this subject, which is of sullicient 

 importance t(» have our heartiest sui)[)ort. 

 The wise lumberman will learn till that is wortli 

 knowing about these woods now new to the 

 hardwood industry; he will learn the way to 

 liandle them : the uses for whicii they may he 

 n(iai)ted and the way to make mone.v i)ut of 

 them. 



1 am glad to note that many of the manufac 

 turers of Imrdwood are interesting themselves In 

 the possibilities of the dimension business. In 

 the financial ))osslbIlItIes of sawmill economies. 

 This l>ranch of the hardwood business has tip to 

 the present time been much neglected. It has 

 meant loss and failure to the majority entering 

 u^jon it ; it 1ms lacked system, exi)ert knowledge 

 ot tlie requirements of ])roductIon, aud esjiecialTy 

 has it lieen deficient in organization. From all 

 just and logU'al vie\v|»<iiii1s, the dliuension luisl- 

 ness should be one of the best and most lu'otl table 

 features of the haiihvooil luuiber Industry, if 

 correct systems of luantifiu'ture, accurate grad- 

 ing aud just values are allained. 



I'..\KI.V IlAIUlWOOP HlSTOKY. 



'J'he early history of the hardwood lumber 

 business in Ibis roiiulry Is a pathetic and lament- 

 able one. A little more ilinn a century ago the 

 major i)ortlon of the United Stales east <tl' the 

 Missouri rivi'r was coverecl witli a great stand 

 of hardwood timber of variety, richness and 

 density not existing in any other |iart of the 

 world. This growth was also marked by woods 

 that were phenomenal In tlieir growth; woods 

 suitable for all puriioscs, and which, fcu' many 

 .years, have iiiiide this porlbui of America a 

 source of supply for nearly every part of the 

 civilized globe. 



This wealth was so proline as to be utterly 

 nnaiipreclnted. Millions of acres of magnificent 



