12 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



be said of ash and cliestnut. Both red and tupelo gum are low- 

 priced woods which will eventually show a little gain. Maple, bass- 

 wood, birch and beech, of Michigan hardwoods, will surely stand 

 a little advance to put them on a parity in price with other like 

 woods. Cypress has not yet recovered to the price it is worth, and 

 will doubtless show three to five dollars more in price at a date 

 not far in the future. Cottonwood, in spite of its having become so 

 scarce, is relatively low in value, while cherry, walnut, quarter-sawed 

 oak and elm seem to be commanding about all the price they will 

 stand for a good while to come. 



There is a temptation right now to hoist values to too high 

 a plane, and for the good of the trade it is to be hoped that no 

 attempt at radical advances will be entertained by lumber producers. 



The Year 1904. 



The year 1904, as a business year, was peculiar. It was not a 

 year in which to make much money. 



During the first six months there was a constantly falling market. 

 There was no apparent cause for this except that prices had been 

 too high. The period of liquidation which occurred in the stock 

 market six months before, in January, had just reached the hard- 

 wood field. 



There was an essential difference between the depression of 1904 

 and every other slack business period. The failing in lumber prices 

 was altogether sentimental. Looking over the condition at the 

 end of the year, one must say that there was no justification for 

 it. Lumber was affected by the downward tendency of commodities 

 in general. 



At the opening of the year there was no burdensome surplus of 

 hardwood lumber on hand, and save in a few instances, prices were 

 not high, on a legitimate basis of values. 



Former periods of depression had been preceded by a succession 

 of bad crops and low prices for farm products, and the country 

 had no recuperative power; and their approach was usually heralded 

 by strikes and labor troubles of all kinds. 



The failing of lumber prices in 1904 occurred in the face of a 

 succession of big crops at big prices, that had left the farmer 

 in a most prosperous condition; and in the face of a generally sat- 

 isfied labor element. There was some labor trouble, it is true, 

 but there always has been more or less diflSculty of this sort. Con- 

 sequently the depression did not last long — only six months or there- 

 abouts. 



Then, slowly and surely, came a reaction. For a period prices were 

 stationary. Then slowly they began to climb until the close of 

 the year found a part of the loss regained. If the decline was 

 without reason, the recovery was also without apparent cause. In 

 spite of being in the heat of a presidential campaign, prices advanced 

 steadily. A Chicago lumberman recently said that this was the only 

 December in his experience, covering a period of fifteen years, that 

 there has not been a softening in prices as the holidays approached. 



The people seem to have suffered from a fit, not of poverty, but 

 of economy. Things were too high, it was said, and for a time 

 buying ceased. The condition was brought about by too great pros- 

 perity, rather than the reverse. 



As a result of several good business years which had raised 

 the average of wealth higher than it had ever been in this country, 

 the public indulged in a period of speculation, for which his- 

 tory scarcely affords a parallel. Everyone had a surplus of money, 

 so men fell easy victims to the sharpers of Wall street and 

 elsewhere. 



As an example of what was done, there needs only to be cited the 

 case of the "shipbuilding trust." This corporation, according to 

 the testimony of Charles M. Schwab, represented an actual invest- 

 ment of approximately $12,000,000. Against this was issued alleged 

 securities aggregating $70,000,000. These stocks and bonds were 

 offered to the public and actually sold. Of course the industry 

 had to default on the interest of this vast amount of money. It 

 worked hard and did a great busine-ss, but it could not achieve 

 the impos,sible. A few experiences of this kind had the effect of 

 sobering and frightening the people. When they came out of their 



orgy legitimate business suffered with the illegitimate — the lumber 

 business based on actual values, with the shipbuilding trust based 

 on artificial values. 



As most lumbermen strike their 1904 balance care still sits on 

 their brows and they have a look of dissatisfaction. The balance 

 iu their favor generally is small — very small — and in some instances 

 is represented by a blank. The year 1904 was not a good one in 

 which to make money. 



But a good year is upon us. 



The Chicago Hardwood Market. 



Chicago is the greatest market in the world for hardwood lumber. 

 Everyone engaged in the trade throughout the Mississippi Valley is 

 competing for a portion of the Chicago business. Anything there- 

 fore that affects the stability and safety of this great market is 

 keenly felt by the hardwood fraternity. That this market should 

 have been made a safe and satisfactory place in which to do busuiess 

 was of vital importance to every hardwood lumberman in the middle 

 west and south. 



Ten years ago things in this market, to say the least, were 

 mixed. There was a coterie of lumber buyers here that took 

 the shipper by the throat and robbed him of a good part of the 

 just value of this lumber. Since that time a great reform has 

 been accomplished. 



The change can be ascribed to three causes: The Chicago Hard- 

 wood Lumber Exchange ; the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion and to the Hard'svood Record. Without speaking illy of any 

 man or men, but chiefly by putting them on their honor to do that 

 which was just, the refoi-m was accomplished. By bringing lum- 

 bermen together much good has been done. 



You can make men good by believing them good. The old say- 

 ing that you can give a dog a bad name and hang him is truer 

 when applied to men than to dogs. 



The hardwood contingent of Chicago today is generally made up 

 of bright, clean and commercially active young men whose para- 

 mount aim is to deal fairly with all men. As a result this market 

 lias become as safe a jjlaee in which to do business as any in the 

 world. • 



Theodore Roosevelt, President. 



The American people have usually been fortunate iu their choice 

 of president. In Theodore Roosevelt they have been excep- 

 tionally fortunate. There was something about the man which 

 appealed directly to the people. Graft hid its head and was 

 ashamed. Dishonest corporations quit their ghost-dancing, came in 

 on the reservation and asked to be controlled." 



The work that has been done in the interests of forestry and of 

 r.'.ilroads and corporation control, and, more than all, tlie great 

 forward stride the people have made in civic honesty, has placed 

 the United States farther ahead of the nations of the world than 

 ever. While McKinley was a good man, he lacked the force to 

 move things. When he died national character was at low ebb. 

 Corporations were robbing the people, and the people were plainly 

 submitting. 



Roosevelt has a dynamic quality, and, as the electric spark passed 

 from him to the people, every man shook his neighbor 's hand and 

 said : ' ' Here is a man. ' ' He is doing things for his country and for 

 his countrymen, and not among the least of these is his work 

 tending to the conservation and rebuilding of .4,merican forests. 



Do Your Duty and Reap Results. 



A great many hardwood manufacturers and wholesalers seem to 

 think they have done their entire duty to the trade and to them- 

 .selves when they have joined one of the associations, and paid 

 their dues. These are only steps in the right direction. It should 

 be the obligation of every memlx-r of a lumber association to not 

 only attend its annual meeting, but to participate in its delibera- 

 tions. From such a course only can just results accrue to the in- 

 dividual, and a high and satisfactory standard lie reached in asso- 

 ciation work. 



