HARDWOOD RECORD 



ly 



ever the market conditions required. I hope 

 (hat they are going to hold their meetings and 

 change the list whenever the conditions warrant 

 a change. The committee Is supposed to know 

 more ahout these things than s<jme of the rest 



EDWARD .1. 

 VOIXU 



YOlNti. BKITTI.NGIIAM & 

 COXirANY, MADISOX. 



of us, simply hecause it is their business to 

 study the conditions." 



Freight Rates on Westbound Lumber. 



rresideut Arpin then addressed the conven- 

 tion on the suhjecl of the freight rates on hard- 

 wood lumber to the I'acific coast. He discussed 

 at length the iuetiuality and injustice of the 

 present schedule as compared w'ith eastbound 

 shipments. In part he said : 



"The rate now Is .S.5 cents a hundred, whereas 

 the rate on cedar and white pine coming this 

 way is only 60 cents and on lir ."tO cents : the 

 lower rate on tir being because of the larger ton- 

 nage it affords the railways and the claim of 

 the manufacturers that otherwise they could not 

 reach the eastern markets with it. There was 

 a very general movement by the manufacturers 

 to secure a 4(i-cent rate <jn fir and to increase 

 the rates on lumber moving westward to .$1 on 

 rough and .t;i.l*.'> on linlshed product. They had 

 the matter well in hand and appeare(J before the 

 transcontinental committee in Chicago, with a 

 good many petitions reinforcing their position. 

 Their idea was to open a wider eastern market 

 for their product and' very unseltishly at the 

 same time to shut out the lumber from the east. 

 It so hapneuel that at the same time a commit- 



WILLIAM J. WAGSTAFF, OSHKOSH. 



tee from this association, appointed by the chair, 

 consisting of O. O. Agler, G. J. Landeck and W. 

 J. AVagstaff, who came to secure a hearing before 

 this same committee and do what could be done 

 to secure a reduction of the rates going west. 



I am sorry Mr. Agler is not here : he was the 

 only one they would receive in any way. The 

 most they would di> was to listen to Mr. Agler 

 tor a few minules and then simply put the mat- 

 ter off. I think, however, the effect was to 

 show that the people at this end were awake, 

 and to slop the propused movement." 



R. F. .McMillan then interrupted the speaker 

 with the (piery. ■'Isn't it a fact that ,71m Hill 

 was asked when they would make a JiO-cent rate 

 on lumber coming east and replied 'When you 

 load our cars going west ';' " 



I'resident .-Vrpln responded and continued: 



■'Yes. that is true: and you can readily see 

 the ajiplication. We havr^ paid as high as $:>!{) 

 Irelght on a car of lumber to the coast: and 

 you can look at any freight bill you want to on 

 liuuber coming east and you will not Hud It more 

 than IfJ-jO a car. Birch weighs four pounds 

 and lumber comin); east v.-eighs two and a half to 

 three pounds. Therefore our commodity wonld 

 give them one-third more revenue at the same 

 I'.ite. 1 have letters here that go to show that 

 under the existing rates thev find it r-heaper to 

 buy Australian woods than to buy our woods. 

 We can take our lumber today and' deliver it to 

 the Mississippi river and send it by water route 

 to l.os Angeles for 2."> cents a hundred, and thev 

 charge us .s.", cents. We tried to get the Nationa'l 

 association to i-ooperate with us in this move- 

 ment : but Jlr. raimer refused to do anvthing." 



A. I.. Osborn — Did he give any reason'.' 



The t'hair — None that I considered a good 

 reason. 



.Ml'. Osborn — Then he did give some reason? 



The ihair read an extract from Mr. Palmer's 

 letter, as follows : 



l(- I-. Ill Ml'lll;i:V. G. W. .70XES UMBEI! 

 GOMI'AN'Y, Al'I'LKTON. 



"I very much doubt whether the time is pro- 

 pitious to make such demands. Western ship- 

 pers I'ecently have been denied a reduction to 

 eastern points and the eastern shippers could 

 hardly hope for belter things. * • » Then 

 again a reductii ii has recently been made from 

 southwestern points and it is hardiv Hkely that 

 a further reduction in that territory woiild be 

 considered at the present time. In o'ther words, 

 they have got what they wanted from the South 

 and are indifferent as to whether we get what 

 we want or not. Some of the roads, like the 

 Missouri I'aclUc, would be glad to cooperate in 

 such a reduction. 1 have a letter here from one 

 of my western customers and it seems that they 

 don't like to have the inside Hnish come in on 

 the same rate as the rough lumber. It works 

 against their home manufacturing establlsli- 

 ments." 



Mr. Arpin read the letter referred to, which 

 among other things said that Australian cherry 

 could be bou.ght delivered at .$8-5 a thousand 

 tor firsts and seconds, which was similar to the 

 ('omestic wood, but much more beautiful. For 

 liircli $72 was asked, about twenty per cent of 

 which was sap. The S5-cent rate applied from 

 New York to Arizona, except from certain Lou- 

 isville & Nashville and Nashville, Chattanooga & 

 St. Louis railroad points. The letter closed by 

 stating that numerous petitions for a reduction 

 in lumber rates from the East could be se- 

 cured if the eastern people would consent to a 

 differential between rough lumber and finished 

 products. 



A. L. Osborn then spoke suggesting that pos- 

 sibly it might not be policy to attempt to secure 

 a reduction on hardwood freight rates from 



Mississippi valley points to the Paciflc coast, 

 as a reduction in this rate would tend to still 

 further reduce the Pacific coast rate to the 

 castei'u markets, and more seriously interfere 

 with the ('astern distribution of pine and hem- 



T. R. WALL, WALL-SPALDING 

 COMPANY, OSHKOSH. 



LUMBER 



lock. He stated that already ordinary sized 

 dimension in fir was reaching Minneapolis terri- 

 tory in competition with Norway and hemlock. 

 He took this \ lew of the matter' from the fact 

 that the larger number of hardwood operators 

 in Wisciuisin were also more or less interested 

 in building woods. 



F. 11. I'ardoe took issue with the speaker, 

 saying that he had lost sight of the competition 

 of Australian and IMi lippine hardwoods. 



Mr. Osborn responded that if he were a manu- 

 facturer of nothing but hardwoods he would 

 (crtainly he in favor of a lower level of west- 

 bound freight rates. 



Mr. I'ardoe stated that he was in favor of 

 opening western markets to eastern hardwoods 

 as against imported woods, and that there were 

 no local woods on the coast to compete for like 

 purpo.ses. He noted having .seen Australian 

 and eastern oak piled side by side in San Fran- 

 cisco yards, and tiiat tlie eastern stock was much 

 the better and would have a much larger call 

 if it should be delivered on a reasonable freight 

 rate. lie further believed that eastern building 

 woods would take care of themselves even in 

 the face of a further reduction of 10 cents in 

 rates from the coast. 



G. J. LANDECK. PAGE & LANDECK LUliUlti! 

 COMPANY, MILWAUKEE. 



B. F. XlcJIillan then pointed out the incon- 

 sistency of the transcontinental lines in hauling 

 empty cars west rather than hauling them 

 loaded, which they could do if they would make 

 a reasonable rate on hardwoods. 



