22 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



for future delivery, from railroads and otber 

 sources, at current prices. 



The reports are all in from the farm pro- 

 ductions of last year : the harvest was most 

 bountiful, and prices were comparatively high. 

 Of cotton, there was a good crop ; and more 

 through the result of the raising of values 

 to an \mnatural height by speculation a little 

 more than a year ago than by reason of last 

 year's large crop, have prices on this commodity 

 gone low. In the "south country." cotton 

 does not constitute the barometer of trade that 

 It formerly did. There was a time when low- 

 priced cotton meant "bard times" in the South. 

 Today there has been such a widening in the 

 commercial development of the land south of 

 the Ohio river that cotton might be sold for a 

 dollar a bale and still the South would be pros- 

 perous. The South has again "come into its 

 own." 



Future of Lumber Business. 



The outlook for the hardwood lumber busi- 

 ne.ss for the next few years Is remarkably prom- 

 ising. The increase in the wealth of this coun- 

 ry per capita is astonishing. Last year's gold 

 production, a permanent addition to the coun- 

 trv's wealth, aggregated nearly .'5ino.00<i.()00. 

 The monetary standard of the United States is 

 thus more firmly fixed than ever. The enor- 

 mous consumption of hardwoods in the United 

 States is gradually increasing. Statistics show 

 that each civilized nation during the last forty 

 years has not only increased its consumption 

 of wood in proportion to the growth of popu- 

 lation, but far beyond. The per capita consump- 

 tion has grown at the compound rate of from 

 two to live per cent per annum, so that civilized 

 man now uses at least, two or three times as 

 much wood as he did forty years ago. when the 

 great industrial development of the modern 

 world began. Even the consumption of wood 

 for fuel has not decreased in the proportion 

 of the increased coal consumption. 



The T'nited States is the greatest and most 

 extravagant wood consumer in the world. This 

 country probably uses as much wood annually 

 as the entire rest of the nations combined and. 

 at least, as much as six or seven times more 

 sawed timber per capita than Great Britain, 

 the most frugal consumer among the industrial 

 nalions. 



The United States consumed wood during the 

 last few years at the rale of about three bun- 

 <lred cubic feet per capita, while Kngland used 

 onl.v about fifteen cubic fed per capita. In- 

 creased values of lumber may possibl.v decrease 

 this consumption slightly as the years go by. 

 hut for the present and for some years t<! come 

 it is likely to be larger rather than smaller. A 

 market for the hardwood product, no matter how' 

 great It may be, is practically assured for 

 years to C(tme. 



The money market is easy. Any man who has 

 a legitimate use for the employment of money 

 can obtain it upon reasonable security at low 

 rates of interest, rommercial failures are be- 

 coming more and more rare, ileneraliv speak- 

 ing, the country is fairly free from fraudulent 

 lumber concerns engaged in the practices where- 

 liy producers are made to snflfer. 



Happily there is practically a cessation of 

 labor tr(uibles which in several large cities of 

 the country became a menace to buililing oper- 

 ations in 10114. liy reason of the builders put- 

 ling up a determined front, the walking dele- 

 gate and his colnu-is have abandoned their work 

 of disorganizing labor. 



We have api)reclahly added to our commercial 

 knowledge since this association was organized. 

 Sensible business men on the basis of their ex- 

 perience will say "We want no booms." for they 

 fear a boom nearly as much as they do a panic. 

 While the lumber values are on the upward 

 trend. I argue that it would not be wisdom to 

 attempt or countenance any effort toward rapid- 

 Iv increasing prices beyond a conservative value. 

 To my mind, this is no time, even on short 

 items of supplies, to rai.se the value beyond 

 legitimate profits. The just and legitimate 

 methods of handling lumber values would be to 

 L'radually strengthen some of rbem that the 

 relative value of ea<'h item may be made just. 

 There are certain woods nmnufactiiri'd liy mem- 

 bers of this association which, hy their fast 

 diniinisliing supply, will command a consider- 

 able increase in price from now on. We must 

 remember that this countrv is lu-acticallv the 

 only available source of the world's supply for 

 many hardwoods and that the hardwood range 

 ' f growth is very much reduced. Tlie decadenre 

 of these sources of snpidv and the constantly 

 increasing demand should certainly insure a 

 pradual increase in price. Evidently, the "high 

 water" mark of the i>rodnct!on of hardwoods 

 has been passed. Krom this time forward the 

 available supply will grailually diminish, and I 

 believe, we never again will encounter the vol- 

 ume of output that we saw In I'.iii:'.. We know 

 the suj)plv is slowlv decreasing and we know- 

 It is eonally *b"' •!,- ■<- d l» grndoally 



"asing. Supply and demand will continue 

 to tell the story ot values to be achieved. 



I think, then, gentlemen, that we can con- 

 gratulate ourselves on the outcome of the hard- 

 wood lumber business for 1904, and felicitate 

 ourselves on the prospect of a splendid business 

 for the vear to come. I think most worthy of 

 congratulation is the situation in which the 

 hardwood manufacturer now finds himself, as 

 compared with that which prevailed a few years 

 ^o. Most of you need to go back but a little 

 time to recall the serious financial stituation 

 which encomnassed vou. You can remember the 

 time when but few hardwood manufacturers 

 had the confidence of the banking fraternity. 

 The bankers then cared little for hardwood se- 

 curities. You can remember, in sections where 

 vou were operating that our industry was prac- 

 tically wrecked, and was represented only by 

 abandoned sawmills. Conditions have every- 

 where improved and they have improved more 

 markedly than ever in hardwood lumber indus- 

 try since the advent of the Xational Hiirdwood 

 Manufacturers' Association of the United 

 States. 



While our manufactured product has advanced 

 during the past few years, timber and stumpage 

 values have also advanced : the cost of mill sup- 

 nlies has advanced : the cost ot logging and 

 logging supplies has advanced : the price of labor 

 has advanced, and everything else has advanced 

 even in greater i)roportion than has lumber. 

 Hardwood lumber is still a relatively low-priced 

 c<:imniodity. 



Before closing this address. I desire to thank 

 my associates of the executive board for the 

 very prompt and able assistance they have rend- 

 ered me in my labors: and also the various com- 

 mittees of ttie association for their efficient co- 

 operation. And especially do I wish to return 

 my personal thanks to our worthy secretary 

 who. by his untiring Industry for the associa- 

 tion, has so largely contributed to its succesSj 

 and who, by his close relation with me during 

 the past year. has. if possible, increased my 

 admiration for him personally and my confidence 

 in his ability for the work he has in hand. 



I want to again thank you all for the en- 



Secretary Lewis Doster then presented 

 his annual report as follows: 

 Secretary's Report. 

 Mr. Tresident : In submitting this report to 

 be read before our third annual meeting: I shall 

 cover in careful detail the work during the 

 year of 1904, and as the results of all previous 

 work of the secretary's oflice is of record I will 

 refer to them only tor purposes of comparison. 

 At the time of our organization, in June, 1902, 

 we had 46 members, which at that time repre- 

 sented an annual output of approximately 300,- 

 olHl.lMin feet. 



Bv .Tan. 1. 1903, we had increased our mem- 

 bership to 14.") firms, representing an output ot 

 l.oni.iion.ooo feet. 



By the time of our second annual meeting we 

 had further increased our membership to 195 

 firms, with an annual output of approximately 

 1. I'll I.I "II 1. 000 feet. 



At our present or third annual meeting we 

 assemble representing an increased membership 

 list, showinsr a total of 210 members, with an 

 approximate annual output of 1,250,000,000 feet. 

 During the past year a number of members 

 withdrew from the association, mostly because 

 they were retiring from business. A few have 

 been dropped from the rolls for non-payment of 

 dues, and a few withdrew for various reasons. 

 However, we have still increased in the number 

 of members, and also in the representative pro- 

 duction, and hope during the year 1905, by the 

 increasing Interest which is being added to_ our 

 association work, to still further siiow addition 

 to our membership and output. I desire to say 

 that a great deal ot our successful increase may 

 lie placed to the credit of tlie members in dif- 

 ferent sections of the country, who became inter- 

 ested fiu' the purpose of strengthening the organ- 

 ization in territories which they reilized would 

 be beueficial to the interests ot all. and which 

 assistance this oflice appreciates thoroughly. 



.\ ctimparison bv states of membership and 

 output for .Tanuai'.v 1st of 1903, 1904 and 1905 

 is given below : 



1 4r> meinbors. 

 Jan. 1. l!)o;i. 

 Stale. I'eet. 



Arkansas .TO.OilO.oOO 



Illinois .'iri.OOO.OOO 



iMilliinu 140.000,000 



Kcnlnckv l.'i.s.ooo.DOo 



MlBsl.BlppI .-iO.OOO.OOO 



.M issourl .-i^.OoO.orM 



Ohio )i>ii noo.ono 



Tennoisee ISO.000.000 



Virginin ij.oOn.OOO 



Went Virginia 0,1.000.000 



WIsctinslii .to. 000.(100 



X'lrtli Caroltnn 75.ooo.ooo 



Soulh I'anilinii lO.OOO.WIO 



(Jcorgin 



JjA] Isiii nn 



in'» inembers. 

 Jan. 1. 1!)04. 

 F'cet. 



7,'i.O::o,niio 

 :iri.oni),(«iO 



150.000.000 

 1,->0.00I1.I«I0 



fio.oiKi.noo 



75.(iOII.O(K> 

 2oi> mio.ooo 

 215.00O.o0o 



10.<HH>.lhH> 

 ll.'i.OlMl.OOl* 

 4O.OOO.0iKI 

 75.000.oOO 

 lO.IHHI.IlOO 



Totals 1,018,000,000 



l,21O,0O'».000 



210 members. 



Jan. 1. 1!KI5. 



IVct. 



•SO.OilO.OOO 



35.IIOO I 



l.lS.fhHt.OIIO 



160.000,01 III 



GO.iliHi.ooo 



1011. OOO. MOO 

 1«0 (MXI.IMHf 



22n,O(X1.0>10 



12.0IMI,0IMI 

 12O.fHMl.IMl0 



2.'*. OOO. Olio 



.SO.OOII.OIMI 

 lO.OOII.IWHI 

 lO.lMMl.OOO 

 5,000,000 



1.252.0110.000 



couragement and assistance you have given me 

 in mv work as president of this association dur- 

 ing the past year, and trust tliat my successor 

 in oflice may liave the same loyal support that 

 you have given me. (Jentlemen, I thank you. 



On motion of John B. Ransom, the presi- 

 dent's aililress was referred to a committee 

 of three. The president ajipointed as sue"! 

 committee: .John B. Itansoni, Nashville; 

 A. J. Gahafjan, ('hattanooga, and C. M, 

 Crawford, Coal drove, O, 



Treasurer's Report. 



Owing to the absence of the treasurer, 

 F. C. Fischer, Mr. Dostor read liis report, 

 as follows: 



UECEIPTS. 



Cash on hand January 1, 



1904 $599,49 



Cash receivei! from Secre- 

 tary's otlice January 1, 

 1904, to December 31, 

 1904 $22,626.44 



Total 



EXI'EXDITURES. 

 Voucher-checks paid out 

 January 1. 1904, to De- 

 cember 31, 19(14, No. 

 350 to No. 431, old 

 series ; No. Al to No, 

 A228 new series 



'.)3 



$23,141.47 



Cash on hand January 1, 



1905 $84.46 



Attached to this I also hand you an exhibit 

 made by the .Auilitor appointed by your I'resi- 

 dent, which .sta'tes that the Books and Balance 

 Sheet are absolutely true and correct. 



1'. C. I'lSciiEK. Treasurer. 

 Coal (Jrove, Olilo, January 2, 1905. 



Tlie small output for the mills In the river 

 district, which represents a large per cent ot 

 cur product, is explained by tlie lack of suf- 

 ficient tides to produce anything like a normal 

 supply of logs, the increased output coming 

 from members in newly developefl territory ot 

 various states, but is not as large as anticipated. 



Stock 'Wanted And For Sale Sheets. 



In my n-pori iil our last annual meeting ref- 

 erence was made to our system of issuing to 

 memliers a monthly stock sheet, showing there- 

 on stock that certain members are short on, as 

 well as items of surplus sloik for which tliey 

 desire a market. This system lias been of great 

 benefit In assisting to unload stork for which a 

 ready market had formerly been unobtainable, 

 and also enables members to fill orders f<ir 

 stork on which they are oversold, or unable to 

 produce. Owing to the fact that certain kinds 

 of stocks were scarce during the past year, the 

 importance of this bureau was felt, and its use 

 became more general. 



We have endeavored to show on these stoclc 

 sheets all the information possible, in regard to 

 desirability and location of the stock, with 

 through rates to important consuming points, 

 and with the co-operation ot the members using 

 this system, we hope in the future to make It 

 niore complete and secure results wliicb will be 

 of greater value than heretofore. 



To give you an idea of the amounts of stock 

 that have been advertised to all members for 

 quick movement and sale in this way, we have 

 compiled the following statement, showing the 

 amounts of the different kinds of wood offered : 

 For Sale, Wanted. 



Kind. l'"eet. I"o#t. 



Asli 1.174.000 I.lSfl.OoO 



BasswrxKl 140.000 75,000 



Birch 45.000 ••■■ Ai: 



r-hestnut 3.174.011 250.000 



Cottonwood 1., 100.000 500,000 



Cherry 201.000 



Cypress «,'>5.000 



Elni 150,000 620.000 



Glim 5.09S.O0O 085,000 



