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THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



THE PRICE OF OAK. 



Tlip price of oak is tor> low and pspe- 

 cially it is too low iu Chioago. In most 

 grades of oak tlie price is ud higher here 

 and if anything a little lower than it was 

 sixty days ago. We do not know how to 

 account for this. The consumption is 

 large and anyone well posted knows that 

 oak of all kinds and grades is very scarce 

 throughout the country. 



The price.of oak should go higher all over 

 the country and especially it should go 

 higher in Chicago. It has not advanced 

 iu anything like the proportion that other 

 woods have advanced, with the exception 

 of, possibly, firsts and seconds quarter- 

 sawed white oak. Old-time lumbermen 

 can easily remember that, a good many 

 years ago, oak was fully as high in price 

 as it is to-day; and that this king of the 

 American woods should be selling at the 

 price it is to-day is to be regretted. 



Oak must go higher iu Chicago. The 

 last lew years has seen a change in the 

 conditions which, at the present price, is 

 rapidly cutting off the supply of oak here. 

 A Chicago lumberman went South two 

 weeks ago to ship several hundred thou- 

 sand feet of plain oak which he had bought 

 in the Memphis district. He intended to 

 ship it to Chicago, but when he got to 

 Memphis he sold it to a Memphis lumber- 

 man at a price which netted him, he said, 

 $3 a thousand more than it would have 

 netted him in Chicago, so that lot of oak 

 didn't come to Chicago and will not. A 

 large manufacturer of oak, having a mill 

 in Mississippi and a 21-ceut rate to Chi- 

 cago, ^vas in our office the other day and 

 said that he had merely stopped in Chi- 

 cago on his way through. He was not 

 attempting to sell any lumber iu Chicago. 

 His firsts and seconds quarter-sawed white 

 oak is netting him $57. -50 at his mill, so 

 that it was out of tlie question for him to 

 sell it in Chicago. 



The fact is, that the ■ lumbermen of 

 Merajthis and south of Memphis are ship- 

 ping a large portion of their lumber West. 

 The gentleman who was receiving f57.50 

 for his lumber at the mill was selling it 

 to be shipped to San Francisco. All of 

 that western country, including Mexico, 

 furnishes a splendid market for southern 

 oak, at a price which shuts Chicago buy- 

 ers out. That portion of the high-grade 

 lumber wliieh does not go West, goes East. 

 A portiiai of the low grade must find a 

 market in Chicago and other northern mar- 

 kets, but there is rapidly growing up in 

 the South a home market for this low- 

 grade oak, and that market is growing 

 with great rapidity and will soon absorb 

 most of the low-grade product. 



Wisconsin oak is practically exhausted 

 and, with practically all the high-grade oak 

 of Indiana going East, it is a mystery 

 where Chicago gets sufficient oak to keep 

 the prices down where they are. 



It seems that those prices must go 

 higher. Chicago lumbermen who for- 

 merly went to Memphis and throughout 



that territory and bought oak in ccmpe- 

 tition with anybody, now return to Chi- 

 cago from a trip to that territory very 

 much disheartened. They can't find any- 

 thing at a price that will leave them a 

 profit if the stock is shipped to Chicago. 



It seems to us that no one manufactur- 

 ing oak lumber need have a great amount 

 of uneasiness that the present prices may 

 not be maintained, and the Chicago lum- 

 bermen, and all lumbermen, would like to 

 see the time come when the Chicago con- 

 sumers would 1)0 forced to pay moi'e for 

 oak than they are paying at present. 



SOME SOUND SENSE. 



We are in receipt of a communication 

 from Mr. C. L. Adler, president of the 

 Adler Lumber Company of Lyons, Ky., 

 containing the following letter, written by 

 him to the secretary of the Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association. 



He takes the same position in regard to 

 the association wliich the Record takes, 

 namely, that while the manufacturers' as- 

 sociation has it within its power to do 

 its members a vast amount of good, it 

 should not antagonize the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association in its efforts to 

 secure a uniform inspection of hardwood 

 lumber. 



The letter is a concise and forcible state- 

 ment of indisputable facts, and we com- 

 mend it to the careful attention of our 

 readers. 



Following is the letter: 



Lyons, Ky., June 10, a90'2. 



Mr. Lewis Doster, Secretary, Columbus, 

 Ohio. — Dear Sir: — We are in receipt of 

 your favor of June 7. requesting our ap- 

 plication for membership in the Hard- 

 wood Mautifacturors' Association of the 

 United States. Ueplying to same will say 

 we have not for the present decided to 

 .ioin the association, inasmuch as we are 

 not in fullest accord with all of the prin- 

 ciples you have adopted. It was evident 

 to the writer when ho attended the early 

 part of your meeting, that the primary 

 ob.iect of your association was for the 

 benefit of those who are strictly lumber 

 manufacturers. This was really the sense 

 of the original motion requesting enroll- 

 ment, and inasmuch as we are dealers, as 

 well as manufacturers of lumber, the 

 writer felt that he could not conscien- 

 tiously sign under tJie terms and wording 

 of the motion and, therefore, left the mept- 

 ing. He has since learned, however, that 

 a more liberal construction of your terms 

 of eligiliility may be given by your mem- 

 bership committee. 



As stated above, we are manufacturers 

 of hardwood lumber and to that extent, of 

 course, will be benefited by any action 

 taken by your association, but we are also 

 dealers and in that capacity have various 

 contracts out for the purchase of lumber 

 under the rules of the National Hardwood 

 I>uml)er Association, of which we are 

 members. 



Anyone having passed through the his- 

 tory of the hardwood lumber business dur- 

 ing the last ten years is conversant with 

 the very unsatisfactory conditions that ex- 

 isted before the National association was 

 formed, when there were innumerable sets 

 of rules on the market, all in variation to 

 a gi'eater or less degree, causing dissatis- 

 faction and distrust in trades between 



dealers and manufacturers. Knowing this 

 and having experienced these unfavorable 

 conditions, we cannot feel justified in 

 joining any association which may again 

 put the hardwood lumber market in this 

 same condition. 



. Most of the members are or have been 

 inembers of the National Hardwood Lum- 

 ber Association. They have sanctioned 

 the rules adopted by the National associa- 

 tion, by their meml)ership, and, iu fact, 

 many of them have worked with zeal 

 toward the welding together of the various 

 sets of rules which had existed heretofore 

 and the adjustment of the new rules to 

 conform as nearly as possible to the prac- 

 tical, or manufacturing end, of the hard- 

 wood lumber business. We feel, there- 

 fore, that the adoption and pulilication of 

 rules with any radical changes from those 

 recently adopted by the National associa- 

 tion will bring about a great deal of dis- 

 satisfaction, and thereby disrupt the re- 

 cently established pleasant condition that 

 exists between the dealers and by far the 

 largest percentage of manufacturers of 

 hardwood lumber in the United States. 



Your memborsliip at this time is small, 

 and while it is true they manufacture a 

 large quantit.v of lumlier, it is indeed a 

 small portion of the entire quantity pro- 

 duced, and it does not seem right to us 

 that a few manufacturers should, at this 

 time, promulgate rules of inspection that 

 may indirectly effect transactions between 

 dealers and all manufacturers, of which 

 you are a small minorit.v. 



Tlie fundamental principle of your asso- 

 ciation, I believe, is that the maiiutactur- 

 ers of lumber should make the grades. 

 This is true, but due consideration should 

 be given to other features of this very 

 large lumber industry. 



We are confident that if the Hardwood 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association of the 

 United States will adopt rules, as they 

 have done, and offer them at the next 

 meeting of the National Hardwood Lum- 

 ber Association, but presenting them early 

 in advance of the meeting for due consid- 

 eration, the National Hardwood .Associa- 

 tion will undoulitedly adopt them. This, 

 however, should be done sufficiently early 

 that dealers can make contracts with the 

 'fact in view of the ultimate adoption of 

 such rules. 



We believe that this will work no hard- 

 ship to the manufacturers' association, in- 

 asmuch as anyone who has traded with 

 many of your members will know that 

 rules similar to those you have adopted 

 have been in force and have Ijeen applied 

 under the title of "Special contract." 



We see no reason why this same plan 

 cannot be carried out for the balance of 

 this year and avoid what we consider a 

 dangerous feature in the work you have 

 accomplished so far, namely, the promul- 

 gation of two sets of inspection rules on 

 jthe lumber marlcet. 



■\^■e submit these suggestions with the 

 jiitmost respect and with a full knowledge 

 of the great amount of work that has been 

 done by your members toward forming 

 your new association. We believe con- 

 scientiously that some conciliatory plan 

 similar to above should be adopted for the 

 best interests of all. 



The condition of business in our line 

 is now at highest tide and we all feel the 

 strength of our position. l)Ut there is no 

 certainty of its continuation, and the time 

 ,may not be far distant when each of us 

 will need the help and sympathy of others. 

 For that reason I believe tliat matters 

 should be handled calmly and the rights 

 of all carefully taken into consideration. 

 Respectfully. " C. L. ADLER, 



Pres. Adler Lumber Co. 



