22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



paucity of profits resulting to the hardwood manufacturers during 

 the last two years is making operators very chary about increasing 

 output. It is likely there will be a diminution rather than an in- 

 crease in hardwood production for the year to come. 



It is equally manifest that the shortage in many standard items 

 at the present time will surely cause an advance in prices, based 

 on supply and demand alone, on nearly every item of No. 1 com- 

 mon and better lumber. 



Hardwood manufacturers and the hardwood trade generally 

 have their stock and marketing situation very much better in 

 hand than the Pacific coast, yellow pine and other softwood 

 operators, although there is no great apparent surplus of stock 

 even in softwoods. 



In some special items of both hard and soft woods, there lias 

 been a marked increase in price during the last thirty or forty 

 days, and there is no evidence of a possibility of lowering prices. 



On the whole, the general lumber situation looks mighty well 

 from a producer's viewpoint, and lumber of nearly every kind 

 is surely n good purchase at the present time. 



Forthcoming Lumber Association Meetings 



The Nashville Lumbermen 's Club will have its annual meeting 

 and a dinner to sundry guests on Tuesday evening, January 16. 



The Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Association will hold its 

 annual meeting at Evansville on Thursday, Januar}' 18. This is 

 the annual home-coming of every loyal Indiana hardwood man, 

 and will doubtless be well attended. 



The National Lumber Exporters' Association will hold its an- 

 nual meeting at Washington, D. C, Thursday and Friday, January 

 25 and 26. 



The Hardwood Manufacturers' Association of the United States 

 will hold its annual meeting at the Sinton hotel, Cincinnati, O., on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, January 30 and 31. Secretary Doster 

 promises a program that will make every hardwood lumberman 

 "sit up and take notice." 



The Yellow Pine Manufacturers' Association will hold its an- 

 nual meeting at New Orleans on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs- 

 day, February 6-8. 



The annual meeting of the Lumber Sales Managers ' Association 

 will be held at the Auditorium hotel, Chicago, on Thursday and 

 Friday, February 15 and 16. Secretary Klann and the committee 

 having the program in charge promise a function that no lumber 

 sales manager can afford to miss. 



The National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association will hold 

 its annual meeting in March, at Louisville, Ky. The Louisville 

 Hardwood Club will be host. 



Decline in Railway Building 



Railway statistics for 1911 covering the United States, Canada 

 and Mexico indicate a marked and almost unprecedented decrease 

 in railway improvements as compared with recent years. 



The report shows that only 3,066 miles of new railroad were 

 built in forty-three states, compared with 4,121 miles during 1910. 

 This was less than for any year since 1897, when only 2, 109 iiiili's 

 were built. 



The largest amount of mileage built in one state during the year 

 was in Texas, where 413 miles of new line were constructed. 



In the totals for cars and locomotives ordered, the record indi- 

 cates retrenchment. 



New equipmetit ordered during the year as comjiared with 1910 

 is as follows: 



mil. I'.iKi. 



l-niKht cars i:i:i.ll7 141.:;o-l 



I'assinKcr carH '2M'2'.', .'t.ssl 



I.octmiotlvcs li.S.'iO :!.7HT 



The number of cars actually iMiilt during the year shows the 



following: 



1!)11. I'.IIIP. 



KrelKht cars 70.!t:il Ixii.-il.-, 



rasscnjcer cars 4,;i4(» 4.41:; 



Locomotives 3,530 4.7."i."p 



Only five roads went into the hands of receivers during 1911, 

 and, exclusive of the Wabash, involved only ninety-one miles. 



However, the Wabash receivership brought the total mileage up to 

 2,606 miles, and the total funded debt of roads going into the 

 hands of receivers up to $116,351,496. 



Undeniably the halt in railway development has been largely 

 due to business conditions in general. Those who arc reluctant 

 to admit that the special conditions which have been affecting the 

 transportation business for the past years have anything to do 

 with the present situation, naturally attribute it entirely to gen- 

 eral business conditions. The state of public opinion regariling 

 railways and the sort of regulation they have been subjected to 

 at the hands of state legislatures and Congress, and of state and 

 interstate commissions, has not tended to stimulate railway de- 

 velopment. 



The majority of prominent railway officers think that business 

 in general is likely to be somewhat better in 1912. Towards the 

 close of last j-ear several roads placed large orders for equipment. 

 These orders will keep the car and locomotive builders busy well 

 into the calendar year, and that in itself is apt to stimulate 

 general business, as well as that of the railways. 



Plan of the National Monetary Commission 



In 1908 Congress created a National Monetary Commission to 

 collect data and make recommendations for a reform of national 

 banking and currency systems. The commission consisted of mem- 

 bers of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. 

 The chairman of the commission is Nelson W. Aldrich, who at the 

 time of his appointment was a senator from Rhode Island. The 

 vice-chairman is Edward B. Vreeland, ex-representative from 

 New York, and the author of the well-known Vreeland bill. The 

 other members are Secretary of State Knox; ex-Senator Burrows 

 of Michigan; ex-Senator Hale of Maine; ex-Senator Teller of Colo- 

 rado; ex-Senator Money of Mississippi; ex-Senator Flint of Cali- 

 fornia; ex-Senator Taliaferro of Florida; Senator Burton of Ohio, 

 and Senator Bailey of Texas. From the House of Representatives 

 the commission has Messrs. Weeks of Massachusetts; Bonynge of 

 Colorado; Padgett of Tennessee; Burgess of Texas; Pujo of 

 Louisiana, and Prince of Illinois. 



The commission is thus a distinctly Congressional affair. It 

 engaged in a careful study of the various monetary systems of 

 this countr.y and Europe, and has had the assistance of I>r. A. 

 Piatt Andrew, assistant secretary of the Treasury. 



Perhaps the average business man is less familiar with both 

 the theory and practice surrounding the national banking and cur- 

 rency system than almost any other feature of commercial affairs. 

 The subject is a very important one and is worthy of careful study 

 and analysis by every lumberman. The plan proposed by the 

 National Monetary Commission should be carefully revieweil. 



On the face of the report, it looks as though it might solve 

 many of the perplexing problems of monetary affairs, and be the 

 means of future avoidance of disastrous panics. On the other 

 hand, there is an open suspicion in the minds of the majority of 

 the public against any scheme of which ex-Senator Aldrich is at 

 the head. The public has had its lesson from Mr. Aldrich 's legis- 

 lative and financial plans in the past, unil no matter how well- 

 balanced and excellent this monetary ))lan may be, before it is 

 enacted into a law, the average business man will want to know 

 that it is in no wise a political scheme, or that the country's 

 finances are going to Ije dominated by AVall street. 



The general text of the report has been imblished in the leading 

 daily newsjiaiiers of the country during the last few days, and 

 should be carefully read. 



Why the public should be interested in the report; what the 

 chief defects of the present system are; in what way the new plan 

 "jiroposes to remove these defects; and the iirobable result of the 

 scheme if i>nt into operation, is the subject of an important |>ai)er 

 by Kdwin 1{. A. Seligman, LL.I)., McVi(diar professor of |iolitical 

 economy at ('olumbia fniviTsity, imblished in The Outlook in its 

 December 30 issue. Its iktusmI is most heartily rccoininciuli'il li\ 

 llAHDWnon Hkcoiid. 



In the same issue of 'I'lir 0\illiMd(. c.lituriallv. there is a little 



