38cl 



HARDWOOD RECQRD 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON SESSION 



President Barnaby opened the afternoon session by calling ujmn 

 Secretary Fish to read certain communications which had been re- 

 ceived. Among these was a wire from Fred A. Diggins of Cadillac, 

 Mich., ex-president of the association. The esteem in which Mr. 

 Diggins is held by everyone in connection with the hardwood trade 

 was thoroughly attested by the welcome response the communication 

 received. 



The committee on overweight claims, of which .James E. Stark 

 is chairman, reported substantial progress in establishing a basis 

 for the weighing of carload shipments, which it is believed will 

 1 e entirely satisfactory both to railroads and shippers. Attention 

 was called to the movement to this end originating at the Memphis 

 meeting in 1911. and the action taken by the Grand Kapids 

 Lumhermen 's Association in filing a petition with the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission for a general investigation of the weighing 

 of carload shipments. 



Investigation showed that the weighiag of cars hail been grossly 

 and irregularly handled, the scales were not inspected regularly, 

 and in many cases the railroads had no record or knowledge 

 of the accuracy of scales. It also developed that cars were 

 weighed in motion without being uncoupled. 



The committee is firm in the belief that the evidence presented 

 in bocialf of shippers will result in a decision that will be just to the 

 shipper. Attention was called to a final conference on this 

 subject which was held at "Washington on April 26. The railroads 

 were largely represented, as well as large shipping interests. 



Specific rocontmendations for accurate weighing of cars were 

 recited. 



Harry A. Wheeler, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the 

 United States of America, talked on the object of that association, 

 emphasizing the necessity for the work which his organization is 

 carrying on. His talk made a serious impression on the minds of all 

 those in attendance, and was listened to with the greatest concen- 

 tration. The appreciation of the address was manifested by the 

 applause with which it was received. This address will appear in full 

 in a subsequent issue of H.\BD\vooD Rkcord. 



Edward T. Miller then reported as follows for the waterways com- 

 mittee : 



Report of Waterways Committee 



Your committee on waterways hcgs to ii'iioit that tlio (|Vinstion of water- 

 ft-ays resolves itself into two distinct y<'l chiscly related phases, tlie nuiinte. 

 nance and prnniotion of navigation and llie protection of lands from over- 

 How. The past year has shown no diminution of energy or determination 

 on the part of the friends and advocates of the deveiopmeul and improve- 

 ment of our national waterways, several enthusiastic meetings having been 

 held, notably in Little Kocli, Memphis and Washington, hut in spite of the 

 fact that enough money has Ijeen spent on waterway convention in the 

 last few years to equip and operate a first class line of steamlx>ats and 

 enough on levee congresses to construct u very respectable line of defence 

 there yet seems to have been very little accomplished for the good or the 

 ultimate settlement of a policy fur navigation or protection. 



For various reasons the last decade has witnessed a decided decline in 

 the business of our inland waterways, perhaps the most important reason 

 l)eing the competition of railroads, and it is doubtful if this will ever 

 be materially overcome so far as freights are concerned. The railroads 

 deliver freights either at the consignee's warehouse or at an accessible 

 point for drayage. while from the very nature of things the vessels must 

 deliver at unhandy points, sometimes almost inaccessible, and it has been 

 demonstrated that most people would rather pay the higher rates to the 

 railroads to secure this better delivery. 



Most of us can remember when there were through lines of steamboats 

 on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers between St. Louis, Cincinnati and New 

 Orleans ; but today the voyage involves a chiingo of boats at Memphis and 

 Vicksburgh, a through packet being a rarity as against former regular 

 service. All the old lower river lines have gone out of business and have 

 had no successors ; the only exception being the Lee Line of Memphis, 

 which has been growing and expanding steadily for the last ton years. The 

 apparent success of this line furnishes much food for thought with refer- 

 ence to the decadence of other lines. 



At the time of our last meeting in this city the lower Mississippi was 

 in the grasp of the most disastrous flood in lis history, the crest havin'g 

 passed out of the Ohio ; and now we arc just able to begin to figure up the 

 damage of what was the most serious flood in the valley of the Ohio and 

 what threatened to l)e a repetition of the disaster of 1912 in the lower 

 Mississippi valley, the never-to-be-forgotleu flood of 1913. Owing to 

 breaches In the levees In 1012, 1,700,000 acres were flooded in the state 



nf Louisiana alone, and a property damage conservatively estimated at 

 $25,000,000,00 was inflicted. In .Arkansas and Mississippi the damage and 

 loss amounted to fully as much more, and it is doubtful if .|100.000.000,00 

 is too high an estimate to place on the total loss of this great flood in the 

 states of Ohio. Indiana, Illinois. Kentuclcy, Missouri. Tennessee, Arltansas, 

 Mississippi and Louisiana, In fact, it is impossible to successfully estimate 

 the injury of such floods, as it is botli 'cumulative and continuous. One 

 man's loss is not coutined to the value of the goods destroyed at one time 

 but is augmented by the fact that it may be several years before he again 

 leaches his former standard of production, When we consider that the 

 flooded area in Louisiana alone was 30 per cent greater than the area of 

 the state of Delaware it is possible to form a more concrete idea of (he 

 territory covered, and of this at least one-third was in cultivation, much of 

 it iu a very high state of cultivation. 



With resard to the moneys invested in the protection of lands from over- 

 fluW', Louisiana alone has since 1882 expended of state and Itoard funds, 

 ti'gether with national appropriations over Ii;.''t0,000,000,(t0, to which may 

 lie safely added $2,j,000,000.00 more expended by private individuals and 

 corporations. This state alone has LCJO miles of levees. As to the value 

 of the investment, it is only necessary to state that in 1SS2 the total 

 assessed valuation of Louisiana was $197,417,000,00. while in 1012. the 

 latter assessment being made after the recession of the flood, it was $5.'>0,- 

 ,"il7,000,00. The other states of the lower Mississippi valley will show cor- 

 responding figures. 



The drainage and reclamation of vast bodies of land iu the entire Missis- 

 sippi basin, which includes nearly one-half the area of the I'nited States. 

 has materially increased the total vnlume of the stream annually and it 

 does turn into the river in a much shorter time than formerly a greater 

 <!iiantity of water: and to this fact alone is owing the ever increasing 

 height of the floods, the natiiral conformation of tlie land making this one 

 river tlu' only outlet for this vast territory. Should it ever occiu* that 

 ,such floods as this year came out of the Ohio should at the same time 

 come from the Missouri, Arkan.sas, and I!ed, as well as from the upper 

 Mississippi, the terrible destruction is beyond thought limit, 



your ccuumittee submits that there is no other class of produiers that 

 is more concerned with the stippnrt and imi>rovement of navigation than 

 are (he lumbermen, by reason of the nature of their product adapting it to 

 water transportation ; 



That by reason of the interstate nature of most of the large streams 

 their satisfactory and uniform care and improvement must rest with the 

 national government : 



That in r)rder to make navigable stri'nms of value there uuisl be a suc- 

 cessfully cultivated territory immediately trib\itary to these s(reams and 

 (hat this cultivation may be made bo(h possible and remuneraiivi* i( is 

 necessary thai (his lerrKory be as fully protected frotn disastrous overflow 

 as is humanly possible : 



That the interstate nature of onr streams Is such as to make It impern- 

 (ive that the national government shall take direct and complete control 

 ftf all measures for flood prevention, their efforts to l)e seconded by the 

 continuance of appropriations by the individual s(a(es affected, more par- 

 ticularly as refers to the Mississippi river, which by furnishing drain.age 

 to a large territory to which it is in no wise a menace (bus l>ecomes a 

 source of great clangor to a people who occupied this <'oun(ry and estab- 

 lished for themselves homes and enterprises long prior (o (ho existence of 

 present conditions ; 



That this is (he most iinpoi-(an( quesdon before the American people 

 today, and that should (he nadonal (.'luigress fail (o give (he ina(ter as 

 speedy attention as is possible and arrive at a solution of the problem and 

 arrange for an immediate application of the remedy it is guilty of criminal 

 carelessness in tlio superlative degree. 



Finally, your committee recommends that each and every member of this 

 association use his uitermost influence with the Congressman from his dis- 

 trict to secure action along (he lines above indicHled, firs( for elflciout 

 flood control of our river,s, and after that has l«>cn accomplished for the 

 improvement of navigation and the rehabilitation of our river commerce. 



We also recommend that till members protest earnestly against appro- 

 priations of the public moneys for tlie purpose of public buildings and other 

 uses of which the country does no( stand in urgent need, and that tliese 

 sums be rather used for rendering safe a large portion of ovu- coimiry that 

 is already inhabited, (bus enabling these people to care for themselvi's and 

 add to the wealth and greatness of our nation and relieve the country of 

 the burden of caring for those who are rendered homeless and poverty 

 stricken by these recurring and prevcnlablc dangers. 



Following Mr. Miller's report, John M. Pritehard of Memjihis. 

 Teun., submitted the report of the grading rules committee, tnerely 

 reading it, and afterward requesting that the members make no 

 coniment in the meeting until the session of Friday morning. 



Adjournment followed. 



FRIDAY MORNING SESSION 



The convention was called to order Frid.-iy morning at eleven 

 o'clock. After n great deal of discussion on various features of the 

 report submitted tiy Chairman Pritehard of the grading rules com- 

 mittee, it was finally carried. The report as it was carried attests 

 to the broadtnindedness of the members of the lumber trade situ- 

 ated in various sections of the country, and operating in the different 



