February 10, 1017 



E. O. ROBINSON. CINCINNATI, O., J. W. MAYIIEW OF COLUMBLS, O.. \v. li. TOWNSEND, TOWNSEND, TENN., 



MEMBER OF OPEN PRICE COMMITTEE MEMBER OPEN PRICE COMMITTEE DIRECTOR 



greater cooperation than ever before. Your ofBcers bave been active in sociations composed of many individuals, companios, and corpora- 

 promoting the interest of your industry through this association and ^j^^g engaged in the same line of business, 

 througli cooperation with other associations and have devoted a great deal 



of time this year to the broader phases of association work. One thing is The records which are kept are not always broad enough. Many 



certain, and that is that lumbermen are giving more attention to construe- lumber manufacturers spend considerable time and money on systems 



five association worlj. They are coming into the associations for the -n-Uf^i provide for a comparison of their own figures only, when with 



benefits they derive and not through sentiment. -ly -j. i 2. j! i ii, 1 1 if 1 *i i „ ,„«*„ 



uniformity and at far less expense they could multiply the benents 

 The year just past has been one of great progress iu association worl\, , . , ,. ^ , in /, ^ -^ ^i • x j. *. „ 



,.",,',. , .7 ■. , „ t •■ ,-■ which they reap from a knowledge of costs, if their statements were m 



but we shall need in the coming year the united effort iil our entire mem- / 1 s. 1 



hership to accomplish the work we have before us and to bring to your :i form which could be compared with statements of other operators. 



association the measure of success that it deserves. Tlniform accounting does not mean the adoption of identical forms 



and books, but it means that the smallest and largest shall follow the 



Treasurer s Report same general cost classification; that overhead expenses be distriljuted 



Bank balance .lanuary 1, lOlt! $ .'!,9S4.02 on the same basis; and that profit and loss statements be in practically 



Cash receipts 22,'Jf<'J.(iT ^, . ' , , , , , , , , x- ^ • , 



the same form. This would develop a lumber accounting terminology 



Total cash $26,9 1 3.69 which would be familiar to managers, stockholders, bankers, and others 



Disbursements as per vouchers on file in secretary's , -t-i, ^ 1, i../. j; i^ j. j^ 



office 25(162.72 concerned, and in that way the exact significance of every feature or 



Balance in bank December 31, 1916 ?1310:97 '"^ operating stiitemcnt would be clear to all. The small operator who 



President Burns then introduced Judge L. C. Boyle of Kansas City. ''"^^ ""^ ''""^ «" 'elaborate a cost system could use only such features 



Judge Boyle, who represented the lumber manufacturers of the United "^ " ^' ""^lit fit his purposes. He might take the logging account. 



States at recent hearings before the Federal Trade Commission, in his °' *« P°"^' ■"'"' '"' ^^'"^^ ■"'™""*' '^ ^^''"' ''"'' ^^'^ P^'*^ "' ^'"'•''^ ^^ 



address, "The New Way and the Old Way," engaged the attention happened to be most particularly concerned. 



of the delegates with what was repeatedly characterized as one of the The lumber operator may have accounting iiroblems which, at first 



most forceful, instructive and interesting addresses heard by the hard- thought, seem difficult to handle on a uniform and comparable basis, 



wood manufacturers' convention in recent years. "The lumber busi- The stumpage problem is one of these. Different operators look at it 



ness needs business men as well as mechanics, ' ' was one of the force- i" a different light. The matter of depreciation bothers them, How- 



ful points brought out by the judge. He said that the lumber business ever, it is not a new or an unsolved problem. The mining men have 



has had an over-supply in the past of men who knew how to produce been up against the same thing for a long time; for the exhausted 



lumber but were not so familiar as need be with business principles. vein of a mine is like the cut-over tract of forest land, and ways have 



For that reason the lumber business has been over-exploited. The Ijecn found for carrying that account on the books. 

 task today is to avoid price fixing and to get down to constructive work. ^he Federal Trade Commission's plan of cooperating with trade 



He warned lumbermen against any plan for the future that takes into ■ ,.■ ■ j. ■ j. ■ j.- ^i. j j 



. , . , . •' '■ organizations is to encourage improvements 111 accounting methods and 



consideration nothmg but prices. , . , „ ,;. . , .... 



business practices; of aiding cost committees of organizations m 



The real problem to be confronted lies in the fact that the per capita t 1 *■ »• 1 1 ■!• ti 1 .0 i • • ,. ^ 



. ^ " " "^ " ^ I'ox ^-••i' "■. formulating practical and unitorm methods of ascertaining costs; and 



consumption of wood is decreasing from year to year. That is why „ ■ t ■ l , ■ • ■>, • i, i- /• 1 • ^ 



, , n 1 ., . , , ,. , . ■ ot indorsing systems which will raise the operations from uncertainty 



business men are needed, so that waste caused by disorganization may ,.,,., 



be ended. '" ^°^"^ foundations, 



Ti ..•,/-- ^ A .. »r .1 J He stated that trade associations as a rule have little or no infor- 

 Practical Cost Accounting Methods x- , , . , „ , , 

 Tr , , , , „ , „ , mation about the business activities of their members in the aggregate. 

 Hearty applause was accorded Judge Boyle when he left the stand. ,n -^ ■ -, ^ ■ ■, , ., • • ,,,.,• 

 President Burns then introduced Robert E. Belt of Washington, D. C, ^''"^' ""^''^^''''^l ='>"1 ««'^'- ^•ommissions are severely handicapped m 

 chief accountant, Federal Trade Commission, who spoke on "True "'"" ^°''^ °* handling problems of industrial welfare of grave im- 

 Costs and the Cooperative Work of the Federal Trade Commission," P"''ta'«e by not having authentic information about business, supply, 

 taking as his text the statement of Edw. N. Hurley, chairman of the Jpmand, capital invested, prices, costs, productive efficiency, etc. 

 Federal Trade Commission that ' ' Wliole industries, iu many instances, • , . 

 are suffering from a general lack 'of intelligent knowledge of cost. ' ' Appointment of Committees 

 Mr. Belt's address was devoted chiefly to a discussion of accounting W. 11, Parker, Ph.D., professor of sociology at the University of 

 and costs and in proposed improvements in methods of keeping in Cincinnati, followed Mr. Belt with an address on "Cooperation, ""Re- 

 touch with business, not only of an individual firm but likewise of as- claring that the lumber manufacturers must keep up with the times 

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