HARDWOOD RECORD 



26A 



National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, 

 representing tlie following : 

 (ieorgia Interstate Saw Mill Association. 

 Nortb Carolina I'ine Association. 

 Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Associa- 

 tion. 

 Mississippi Valley Lumbermen's Association. 

 Uardwood Manufacturers' Association of tbe 



United States. 

 Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation. 

 Wisconsin Valley Lumbermen's Association. 

 Southern Cypress Lumber Association.' 

 Northwestern Uemloeli Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation. 

 Southwestern Washington Lumber Manufac- 

 turers' Association. 

 Wisconsin Hardwood Lumbermen's Associa- 

 tion. 

 Western Pine Shippers' Association. 

 Southern Cypress Manufacturers' Associatiou. 

 Pittsburg Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Associa- 

 tion. 



Southern Lumber Manufacturers' Association. 

 Wholesale Lumber Dealers* Associatiou of 

 Cleveland. 



New Hampshire Lumbermen's Association. 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association. 

 Philadelphia Wholesale Lumber Dealers' As- 

 sociation. 



Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States. 



Massachusetts Wholesale Lumber Association. 

 Lumber Exchange of Baltimore. 

 Georgia Interstate Saw Mill Association. 

 Lumbermen's Exchange of I'hiladelphia. 

 Nortliwesteru Cedarmen's Association. 

 Eastern States Ketail Lumber Dealers' Asso- 

 ciation, representing tbe following ; 

 Xew York Lumber Trade Association. 

 Lumber Dealers' Association of Connecticut. 

 New Jersey Lumbermen's Protective Associa- 

 tion. 

 Ketail Lumbermen's Association of Philadel- 



pbia. 

 Massachusetts Retail Lumber tiealers' Asso- 

 ciation. 

 Retail Lumber Dealers' Association of Rhode 



Island. 

 Lumber Exchange of the District of Colum- 

 bia. 

 Southwestern Washington Lumber Manufac- 

 turers' Association. 



Union Association of Lumber Dealers. 

 Nebraska Lumber Dealers' Association. 

 White I'ine Association of North Tonawanda 

 and Buffalo. 



Buffalo Lumber Exchange. 



In October of last year tbe executive com- 

 mittee called a joint meeting of its members and 

 of the members of the ways and means comm.t- 

 tee, to be held at tbe Auditorium Hotel in Chi 

 cago. 111. The response to that call was very 

 gratifying. The results of that joint meeting 

 were three : 



First, the executive committee was authorized 

 to engage the professional services of Walter 

 W. lioss of New- York as general counsel in this 

 car stake and equipment matter. 



Second, Mr. Ross, through the executive com- 

 mittee, was authorized and directed to file with 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission a complaint 

 against all the railroads within the ofiicial and 

 southern clasfeiflcation territories doing interstate 

 business. 



Third, pledges were made by the various asso- 

 ciations for sulficient money to carry this matter 

 to a conclusion as far as tbe filing of the com- 

 plaint and the pressing of it to a decision before 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission are con- 

 cerned. 



In accordance with the authority made at 

 this October meeting the complaint was filed by 

 Mr. Ross, and through bis efforts a hearing was 

 obtained before the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission in Washington on Jan. 11. It was evi- 

 dent at the commencement of this hearing that 

 the attorneys for the railroads bad not fully 

 grasped the magnitude of our complaint. They 

 presented themselves on the morning of the hear- 

 ing, conceded without any further opposition 

 the justice of our complaint as far as deducting 

 the weight of the stakes from the net weight of 

 the car is concerned, and agreed to make an 

 average allowance of 500 pounds for stakes, on 

 all flat and gondola cars when loaded with lum- 

 ber requiring their use, and then moved that 

 the balance of the complaint be dismissed. The 

 granting of this motion was vigorously opposed 

 by our attorney and the commission denied the 

 motion and ordered the hearing to proceed. At 

 the end of three days tbe evidence produced by 

 the lumbermen was so important that at the 

 request of one of the representatives of the rail- 

 road interests Mr. Ross suggested to the commis- 

 sion that a conference be arranged for between 

 representatives- of the railroad companies and 

 representatives of tlie various lumber associa- 

 tions parties to the complaint, with a view to 

 making a proper settlement of the whole matter. 

 This suggestion met with favor and the case 

 was coniinued before the commission subject to 

 the result of this conference. 



On the first day of February the committees 

 representing the two parties at interest met at 



the New Wlllard Hotel in Washington. It was 

 deemed best by our counsel and by tbe chairmen 

 of the executive committee that a full repre- 

 sentation of lumbermen was very much to be 

 desired, so that the railroads might be thor- 

 oughly Impressed with our determination to press 

 this matter to such a conclusion as would give 

 to us all that we had asked for. We therefore 

 invited all the associations parties to this com- 

 plaint to send representatives to this conference. 

 .\gain we were gratified with tbe presence of 

 aliout twenty-live representative men from all 

 over the eastern half of tbe United States. The 

 wisdom of tills large attendance was fully justi- 

 fied when we finally met the committee from tlie 

 railroads in conference. It was evident to us 

 that the railroads were not altogether prepared 

 to carry out their request for this conference so 

 far as trying to effect a final settlement was 

 concerned. The presence of so large a number of 

 representative lumbermen and tbe arguments 

 brought to bear upon the committee prevailed in 

 tbe end, and after a two days' session the rail- 

 roads proposed tbe following resolution, which 

 was adopted : 



"That a committee of fourteen, composed of 

 seven from each side, be forthwith appointed to 

 consider and recommend promptly changes in 

 the Master Car Builders' Rules relating to load- 

 ing lumber, and to make practical experiments 

 on one or more railroads with cars equipped with 

 some form or forms of permanent stakes : the 

 hearing before the commission to be continued 

 a reasonable lime to await the results of these 



W. W. KNlcriT. INDIANAPOLIS. IND 



experiments ; this special committee to report to 

 tills general conference committee, at whicli time 

 the representatives of lumbermen and railroads 

 respectively shall have full powers to state defi- 

 nitely what action shall be taken toward the 

 settlement of the complaint now pending. 



"The committee may appear with counsel." 



A meeting of this conference committee has 

 been called for tomorrow, March 9, in this city, 

 at w-hich time we hope that a definite plan will 

 be agreed upon to carry out the provisions of 

 tbe above resolution. 



Since the conference above referred to was 

 held one further question has received our care- 

 ful consideration, viz., what step is it necessary 

 for us to take so that the final decision on these 

 matters will be effective not only in the terri- 

 tory east of the Mississippi river (this being the 

 territory covered by our complaint), but also 

 I bat the decision will apply in all the territory 

 in which the affiliated associations are interested, 

 w-hich really means all of the United States ami 

 Canada. We are pleased to state to this conven- 

 tlon that such steps have been taken as will 

 insure this result. 



Whether or not tbe final result of these con- 

 ferences secures to the lumbermen all that has 

 been asked for, it must be evident that tbe work 

 done in this matter has been altogether profita- 

 ble. In the first place, we have secured from the 

 railroads not only tbe allowance of 500 pounds, 

 which, if made in good faith by railroads and 

 which we think will be made in good faith, will 

 result in the saving of a considerable sum of 

 money each year to the lumbermen, but w'e have 

 further secured two very important results, the 

 first of which is that we have demonstrated to 

 tlie railroads beyond question that the lumber- 

 men furnish to the railroads a commodity, the 

 transporting of which results in very large profit 

 to the railroad companies and is second in that 

 respect to no other commodity with the possible 



exception of one that is transported by the rail- 

 roads, and because of this we have placed our- 

 selves in such position that we cen secure proper 

 attention when we go np to the transportation 

 companies with questions that are deserving of 

 the attention of their higher oflicials. 



Second, we have for the first time been able 

 to consolidate the lumber interests in a move- 

 ment for mutual benefit, and if no other result 

 had been obtained than the bringing together in 

 friendly cooperation of the lumber interests 

 through the various associations, this result will 

 have justified all the effort that has been ex- 

 pended in this matter. We have shown conclu- 

 sively to the lumbermen themselves that their 

 interests are mutual and that while each indi- 

 vidual organization has a field in which it can 

 work alone, that there is a larger field in which 

 the associations not only can work unitedly but 

 that such a union will produce very much better 

 results than a division of effort even though such 

 efforts may be directed toward the same end. 



When this car stake and equipment matter is 

 finally disposed of, it does seem as though an 

 organization of the united associations should be 

 maintained until two or three further matters 

 of difference as between the transportation com- 

 panies and the lumbermen are adjusted. We 

 refer particularly to the securing of a proper 

 method of weighing the cars ; also to a proper 

 basis of settlemeut of claims by the railroads, 

 and to the question of a proper and adequate 

 supply of cars, not to mention other matters 

 which will readily suggest themselves to you. 

 It would not be proper at this time to further 

 take up vour time by going into the details of 

 these and other matters. The suggestion of 

 them, however, will readily bring to your minds 

 the importance of the matters involved and 

 necessity for concert of action. 



The railroad and transportation committee 

 feels that it is not only proper but eminently 

 fitting that it should refer to the loss which this 

 association has sustained in the death of Ernest 

 M. Price, and while the association will doubt- 

 less in the regular way take such action as is 

 customary, we wish to pay our tribute of respect 

 to Mr. P"rice, who was for several years chair- 

 man of that committee and who was at the time 

 of his death a useful and efficient member of the 

 committee. 



Respectfully submitted. 



F. R. Baecock, Chairman Committee on Rail- 

 roads and Transportation. 



R. W. HiGBiB, Chairman Committee on Legis- 

 lation. 



The report was adopted, and on motion of 

 Frederick S. Underbill a vote of thanks was ten- 

 dered the committee for the excellent work it 

 had performed for the association. On motion 

 of Lewis C. Slade the report was ordered printed 

 as a separate document for distribution among 

 members of the association. 



Walter W. Ross, counsel tor the association on 

 car equipment matters, then addressed the asso- 

 ciation as follows : 



LumlDer Car Equipment and Interstate 

 Commerce Law. 



Traveling in Mexico a few years ago I ob- 

 served that many ancient customs were still 

 being followed in that couutry ; one of these 

 was the method of transporting lumber — a few 

 pieces of lumber were tied to the back of a 

 donkey, and a number of donkeys thus ladened* 

 were driven along the road by a Mexican — 

 picturesquelv attired in a sombrero and sitting 

 easily upon 'the back of another donkey. We are 

 somewhat advanced in this country in our 

 method of transporting lumber, but we are still 

 compelled to tie lumber to the back of a car. 



When railroad companies were first incor- 

 porated in our country but little more than sev- 

 enty-flve years ago. tbe right among others of 

 eminent d'omain, the power to take property by 

 condemnation was granted to them upon the 

 theory that it was for the public good to have 

 the railroads constructed. It was then con- 

 templated that these corporations would build 

 public highways over which anyone could drive 

 upon payment of the tolls prescribed by statute. 

 These charters provided that all net earnings 

 above 8, 10 or 12 per cent should be paid by 

 these corporations into the school fund of the 

 state, which shows that at tbe very inception of 

 these corporations the public nature of tbe busi- 

 ness was understood and the special privileges 

 granted recognized by the state and the incor- 

 porators. Some of our great carriers are still 

 operated under these old charters. 



This was before the day of the steam engine. 

 These highways were constructed of wood with 

 wooden fails of proper width to hold the ordi- 

 nary carriage or wagon in place. Tbe public 

 used the highway and the company also car- 

 ried passengers and freight in wagons or car» 

 drawn bv horses or oxen. 



Very soon, however, steam engines came into 

 use : the iron rail supplanted the wooden rail, 

 and small cars were provided by the railroad 



