20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 10, 1917 



AVe need, in manufacturing organizations, permission from the national 

 government as associations to endeavor to Iseep production consistent with 

 consumption ; tbii subject, however, to the supervision of the Federal Trade 

 Commission. We need to invest more liberally and intelligently in the 

 advertising and exploitation of wood, all of which will, I think, be of 

 material benefit to the industry in 1917. 



In closing, I desire to thank the officers and members of the association 

 for their hearty and loyal support, and to express my appreciation of their 

 efforts in behalf of this organization. 



Following the address of President Burns, which, judging from 

 the warmth of the applause accorded him, made a deep impression 

 upon the delegates, the reports of the secretary and treasurer were 

 received and adopted. These were not read before the convention, 

 being printed in pamphlet 

 form previously and distributed 

 among the delegates. Secre- 

 tary W. H. Weller briefly out- 

 lined the advancement and 

 perfection in methods of in- 

 spection that has been at- 

 tained through the efforts of 

 the association. The report 

 points out the uniformity and 

 sincerity of the inspection 

 service, attention being called 

 to the fact that in each and 

 every case where consumers 

 were asked regarding the 

 merits of the inspection, the 

 answer was tlat the inspectors 

 always inspected the lumber 

 as they found it and in the 

 strictest accordance with the 

 grading rules of the associa- 

 tion. The report details the 

 efforts of the association to 

 standardize the grading rules 

 and recites that in 1915, upon 

 recommendation of President 

 Himmelberger and President 

 Babcock, of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion, a joint committee reached 

 an agreement which was rati- 

 fied by the Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' Association but re- 

 jected by the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association. 

 Last summer, however, an- 

 other opportunity presented 

 itself to standardize the in- 

 spection between the two asso- 

 ciations, the Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' amending their 

 rules conforming with the Na- 

 tional association, without, 

 however, surrendering the fun- 

 damental principle of the 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association in taking into consideration both sides of a board in 

 establishing a grade. The detailed reixjrt, together with the treas- 

 urer's report, follow: 



The Secretary's Report 



Trade associations are. or should l>e. organized for the purpose of 

 accomplishing certain definite things. The Hardwood Manufacturers' 

 Association is not different from others in this respect. The purpose for 

 which it was fo^'med is set forth clearly in the following paragraph quoted 

 from its constitution : 



The objects and purposes of this association shall be to secure a full 

 understanding of conditions surrounding the hardwood lumber industry ; 

 to estaldish uniform grades for the inspection of hardwood lumber ; to 

 establish uniform customs and usages among manufacturers of hardwood 

 lumber ; to adopt sucli measures as will provide for improved methods of 

 manufacturing and marketing their product ; and to disseminate such 

 information as will tend to promote the general welfare of manufacturers 

 of hardwood lumber. 



F, R. G.VDD. CIIU'.VGO. WHO 1I.\S BEEN .M'l'lllNTED TO NEW POSITION 



.\S ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHO WILL HAVE 



CHARGE OF ALL .ASSOCIATION AFFAIRS 



Many of the activities necessary for the accomplishment of these 

 objects are expressed in routine work, which varies little from year to 

 year, and a detailef' report of what has been done in the secretary's office 

 in the last year in this respect would be more or less a repetition of the 

 reports of past years, with which you are all familiar ; and special 

 emphasis will be laid only on one or two phases of what might be termed 

 our cvei'y-day association life. 



It will only be necessary to say that the work in connection with the 

 report of actual sales of hardwood lumber, monthly stock reports, com- 

 mercial reports, mill instruction work, inspectors' schools and the inspec- 

 tion department has been kept up with the usual vigor and to the entire 

 satisfaction of participating members. 



I should like to illustrate here the benefits of mill instruction work. 

 A short time ago letters were sent to members who had. during the .year, 



availed tbemseives of the serv- 

 ices of the chief inspector, ask- 

 ing the results of this Instruc- 

 tion and whether or not they 

 had been benefited by it. In- 

 variably the answer was that the 

 result was greater uniformity 

 in grades shipped by their vari- 

 ' ous inspectors and closer ad- 

 herence to the rules, with fewer 

 claims from customers for dif- 

 ferences in grades. 



Letters were sent at the same 

 time to numerous consuming 

 customers for whom we have 

 made inspections, asking wheth- 

 er the services given them by 

 our inspection department im- 

 pressed them as being based 

 upon justice and equity and a 

 desire at all times to inspect 

 the lumber on its merits, re- 

 gardless of who shipped it or 

 who received it, and upon the 

 strict interpretation of the 

 rules, and whether they found 

 our Inspectors always ready and 

 willing to explain any applica- 

 tion of the rules that was not 

 clear to them. In every case 

 the answer was to the effect 

 that our inspectors' work had 

 been such as would inspire con- 

 fidence and respect, and in no 

 instance viere they accused of 

 not inspecting the lumber as 

 they found it and in strict ac- 

 cordance with their understand- 

 in gof our grading rules. It 

 matters little what the rules 

 may bo for grading lumber if 

 they are not correctly inter- 

 preted by those representatives 

 of the association who apply 

 them. 



(ilHUINf, UlI.ES COXTIlOVERSy 



Perhaps no one thing is of as 

 vital importance to hardwood 

 lumbernum as that of uniform 

 grades, and this subject has 

 been up for discussion a num- 

 ber of times the last several 

 years, but gave more hope about 

 two years ago than ever before 

 of being brought to a successful 

 culmination. President Him- 

 melberger, in his address at our 

 annual meeting on Jan. 28, 1915, said that he felt there was great need 

 of uniform inspection rules for hardwood lumber. President Babcock, of 

 the National Hardwood Lumber Association, who was present at the meet- 

 ing, said that he felt the same way. .^s a result of these remarks by 

 the presidents of the two hardwood associations, a committee meeting 

 was held in Chicago, Feb. 18, 1915, at which an agreement was made as to 

 a set of rules which was satisfactory to the committees that represented 

 the two associations. 



As related by President Himmelberger in his address of Jan. IS, 1916, 

 the agreement reached by the committees, and which was to be submitted 

 to their respective associations, was accepted by the board of governors of 

 the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association but rejected by the rules commit- 

 tee of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, thus closing the nego- 

 tiations through which it was hoped the rules controversy would be for- 

 ever ended. 



What looked like another, and a real opportunity to bring about uniform 



