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HARDWOOD RECORD 



way affected by the presence or absence of forests. He said that 

 one objection to the reforestation plan is that for such an 

 immense stream as the Mississippi river, in order to be feasible, 

 too large an area would have to be taken from farmlands to per- 

 mit of the plan being carried out. The speaker advocated the 

 passage of the Humphreys' bill, which he said is purely national 

 and asks for money for concrete purposes as affecting the lower 

 Mississippi river only. 



George H. Maxwell, of New Orleans, then delivered an address 

 on the control of the floods, in which he took the opposite stand 

 from Mr. Caldwell, advocating in a very convincing manner the 

 passage of the Newlands' bill. Mr. Maxwell maintained that 

 other sections are just as much entitled to consideration and pro- 

 tection as is the lower Mississippi valley. He showed conclusively 

 that in order to work the matter out to a satisfactory conclusion 

 it must be done right when it is done, and that the Newlands' 

 bill provides for sufficient money and supervision to work the 

 matter out successfully, without involving it in politics. Mr. 

 Maxwell's address is published as a special article in this issue. 



W. B. Morgan, of the Anderson-Tully Company, Memphis, Tenn., 

 read a paper reviewing the recent fiber box hearings at Chicago 

 and Los Angeles. Mr. Morgan is chairman of the National Classi- 

 fication Committee of the lumber, wooden box, and allied interests. 

 His paper showed that the case of the wooden box and allied in- 

 dustries seems to be in a favorable position as far as a possible 

 favorable culmination is concerned. The proceedings of the case 

 have been reviewed in previous issues of Hardwood Record. 



Mr. , Morgan particularly complimented Charles E. Brower, who 

 for three years has been actively engaged in the work and is now 

 withdrawing. 



Charles E. Brower then acknowledged the compliment paid to 

 him by Mr. Morgan, and commenting on the Chicago hearing of 

 the fiber and wooden box case said that a question of motive 

 was behind rule 14B. He said that large shippers arranged to 

 effect a lower rate, and that the misrepresentation by the fiber 

 box people was a direct embargo on lower grades. He said further 

 that the present classification on goods shipped in wooden boxes 

 was the original classification, and that the fiber container has 

 come in without the consideration of the merits of the package 

 or the advisability of applying different rulings as to classifica- 

 tion. Mr. Brower said that he is confident that the case will go 

 to a successful issue. 



He said that under the western classification, shippers origi- 

 nally claimed that the high cost of lumber was driving them to 

 the fiber box. He said further that because they could not load 

 the full minimum weight car with goods packed in fiber con- 

 tainers they had effected a reduction of the minimum weight to 

 12,000 pounds in the case of lamp chimneys. He said that this 

 one-third reduction in weight was a direct profit to them in the 

 matter of saving freight rates, and hence their claims that wooden 

 boxes are more expensive are not founded on fact. He said that 

 the railroads are not entitled to advances until they recoup losses 

 from shipments in fiber containers. 



J. B. White of Kansas City then recommended that all un- 

 settled features of the wooden and fiber box controversy be 

 referred to the new board of governors with power to act. 



The meeting then adjourned until the afternoon. 



WEDNESDAY AFTEENOON SESSION 



The afternoon session was opened with the paper by George K. 

 Smith, reviewing the track scales hearing before the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission at Washington. This hearing has been 

 covered fully in previous issues of Hardwood Eecord. 



John R. Morehead of the National Federation of Retail Mer- 

 chants delivered an interesting and forceful address on . the 

 subject, "Where the Interests of the Manufacturers and Re- 

 tailers Meet." He appealed for co-operative action in behalf of 

 business, saying that basic principles are at stake in the contro- 

 versy between labor and politicians on one hand and legitimate 

 business on the other. He said that politicians are not cognizant 

 of changing conditions in the business world, not being business 



men and up in business methods and conditions. He said that the 

 forces operating against business success should be met and that 

 in order to meet these forces business must go into politics and 

 see that the right legislation is put upon the books, and that 

 such legislation and acts be enforced, and that business be not 

 oppressed. 



He said that primarily any action must be for all business as a 

 unit, and that for any one industry to appeal alone would be 

 folly. He said that the power represented by business in this 

 country in the aggregate is enormous, but it must be used as a 

 unit to effect any good. 



The speaker commented rather sarcastically on the hue and 

 cry for cheapness. He maintained that cheapness is not desired. 

 He said that the cheapest available thing is the reputation of 

 business men in the hands of politicians and newspapers. 



As an instance of legislation inimical to business the speaker 

 cited the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill, which has been fuUy 

 discussed previous to this issue. He closed with an analysis of 

 changes of distribution of population throughout the country, 

 showing that 6,616 towns in eight states lost population between 

 1900 and 1910. He said that instead of "back to the farm," 

 the slogan should be "back to the small town," maintaining 

 that because of concentration of population in large cities the 

 market for almost all commodities is lessened. 



J. A. Freeman of Pasadena, Cal., gave an illuminating talk, 

 entitled "What the Lumbermen Should Do for Their Own." 

 Mr. Freeman said that the question is broad and embraces the 

 whole range of human responsibility. He said that there are 

 two questions which every well-to-do man must answer. The 

 first question asked him is, how he got his money, whether he 

 used fraud or oppression in gathering it. He said that there 

 has been considerable effort made to evade the question, and that 

 it is still asked and must eventually be answered. 



The second question which the speaker said is asked is the 

 query as to what rich men are doing with their wealth. He said 

 that the opposition in this instance is vain, and that while a man 

 may do with his own money what he wishes, he risks public 

 friendship by so doing. He said that the man who cannot prove 

 he has gotten his wealth entirely honestly is a failure. In com- 

 menting on the attitude of the average lumberman in this direc- 

 tion, Mr. Freeman said that most lumbermen are recognizing 

 their responsibility in a good many ways. This attitude is shown 

 in the erection of club houses, churches, cottages, etc., in connec- 

 tion with logging and sawmilling operations, and also in provi- 

 sions for saving of wages. He said that this attitude will be 

 the factor which will effect the elimination of the mythical g^lf 

 between the employer and employe. 



In commenting on the recent suggestion of John C. Spry of 

 Chicago that the lumber fraternity maintain a house for decrepit 

 employes, he stated that the idea is splendid but that he could 

 not personally determine in his mind a suitable way to work 

 the plan out practically, but hoped that it would eventually be 

 put into practical operation. He requested that a committee be 

 appointed to work the scheme out. 



In commenting further on the National association, Mr. Free- 

 man said that he is realizing more and more the worth of its 

 purpose. He said that, considering the strength of the southern 

 pine and Pacific coast factors, they should get more closely 

 together and should forget the differences which come up in 

 connection with competition of the two classes of wood. He 

 said that the questions suggesting themselves with the pending 

 opening of the Panama canal emphasize the necessity of getting 

 together. 



A motion was adopted instructing the next president of the 

 National Lumber Manufacturers' Association to appoint a com- 

 mittee to look carefully into the question, carrying out Mr. Spry's 

 suggestion. 



The addresses of Prof. R. C. Bryant of Yale Forest School, on 

 what the Yale Forest School is doing, and H. S. Sackett of 

 New Orleans, on the utilization of wood and mill waste, were 



