14 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



The MolFv About Town. 



HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL HARD- 

 WOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION. 

 (CONTINUED.) 

 AS TO FINANCES. 



The income of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber A.ssooiatiou for the first .year was 

 less thau $200. It was first organized as 

 an association of associations and no in- 

 dividual lumberman could secure mem- 

 bership in the National association save 

 by joining some local organization. This 

 was done because it was feared, at that 

 time, that the local associations miglit 

 look upon ^the National association as a 

 rival. And' the dues from each constitu- 

 ent association was $1 for each member. 

 The total amount of revenue from this 

 source was a trifle over $100. 



At the semi-annual meeting the first 

 year, it was decided to admit individual 

 members at a price of .'?:i. This was done 

 because there were a number of good lum- 

 bermen so situated that they could not lie- 

 long to a local organization, who wished 

 to identify themselves with the movement 

 for uniform inspection. After this action 

 there were 27 individual members secured, 

 bringing the total revenue up to nearly 

 $200. 



The total absolutely necessary expenses 

 of the first year, for printing and distrib- 

 uting inspection rules, and for other mat- 

 ters, amounted to $040, leaving a deicit of 

 $4.50, which, with the exception of a very 

 few, no one knew anything about. The 

 deficit was carried by Secretary ^■iunedge, 

 he having the assurance of President Ben- 

 nett that in case of failure of the asso- 

 ciation, he, Mr. A^innedge, should not lose 

 more than his share. The bills were all 

 met promptly, but at the second annual 

 meeting they were not all presented to 

 the association. It was thought best to 

 keep up a bold front, so the treasurer's re- 

 port was, made to show a balance. 



The second year the dues were raised 

 to $5 a year for all members, and the 

 membership by associations was abolished. 

 The third year the dues remained at $5 

 a year. Init the fourth year, on the propo- 

 sition to pay a secretary a salary, they 

 were rajsed to $10 a year. 



Thus the highest amount the National 

 association has cost any lumberman for 

 dues is $23, for the four years, and there 

 are only 27 of those. The other members 

 who joined the first year and have re- 

 mained members ever since have paid $21. 

 No association ever gave so much for so 

 little. 



i! A * 



Of course the work could have been 

 done for so small a sum only by someone 

 doing a vast amount of work for nothing. 

 Such was the case, and then the question 

 arises — why should anyone work for noth- 



BY C. D. &TR.ODE. 



ing? Why should Messrs. Bennett. Vin- 

 nedge. Smith, Thompson and others de- 

 vote so much time and attention to the 

 work of the National association, wUeii it 

 has absolutely no more interest to them 

 than it has to others? 



The question is an old one. as old as the 

 history of human progress. The only way 

 I can answer it is that there are such men 

 and that's the end of it. You find them 

 in every community of any size, men who, 

 when they see a thing whicli needs doing, 

 will give of their time and attention to 

 see that it be done — in fact, seem to de- 

 light is so doing. 



There are men in Chicago at the head 

 of the Civic Federation — big men, whose 

 time is worth big money, who have been 

 fighting the corruption of this unclean city 

 for years with no hope or expectation of 

 any greater advantage than would come 

 to any citizen through a better adminis- 

 tration. 



Such people deserve a great deal of 

 credit, but usually, I believe, they know, 

 right down in their hearts that they don't 

 deserve so much as some people might 

 think. I believe that if you should take 

 almost any of them around behind the 

 barn, or to some secret place where no- 

 body could hear, and should there and 

 then press him for the truth, he would 

 admit that he really didn't neglect his 

 own business for the public business so 

 very much (in proof whereof he could cite 

 you to the fact that the private business 

 of nearly all such men is in a prosper- 

 ous condition); that he really didn't do 

 all his public work from pure public 

 spirit; that, in fact, he did such work be- 

 cause he liked to do it more than any- 

 thing else, that it is recreation for him, 

 just as it is recreation for another man 

 to attend the ball game. 



Whatever his reason, it is IncUy for the 

 world that there are men so constituted, 

 and I do not believe there was ever a 

 lumber association which made such de- 

 mands on such men as has the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association, and if the 

 world doesn't owe them such a tremen- 

 dous lot for choosing such a sensilile 

 metliod of taking their recreation, it cer- 

 tainly does owe them for the results they 



achieve. 



* « * 



Chief among those who have contrib- 

 uted freely of their time and attention to 

 the cause of the National association with- 

 out any thought of personal remuneration. 

 I place A. E. Vinnedge of Chicago, now 

 serving his fifth term as secretary, and 

 I believe there is not a member of the 

 association will say no to it. 



Three years Mr. Vinnedge served the 

 association as secretary without pay; two 



years of the time he even paid tlie stenog- 

 rapher. Last year the association got 

 ashamed of itself and paid him the 

 princely salary of $1,.500. And such a 

 secretary as Jlr. Vinnedge has made! 



I had been in pretty close touch with the 

 secretary's office, but I never had realized 

 the amount and quality of work .Mr. 

 Vinnedge had been doing until a few 

 weeks before the last annual meeting, the 

 pressure of his own business being very 

 great, he asked the board of managers for 

 assistance and they appointed me tempo- 

 rarily. 



Of course the time was somewhat ex- 

 ceptional, as the work of advertising and 

 preparing for the general meeting was 

 upon the office, but it was not the first 

 general meeting by several. 



And at that meeting the rules were re- 

 vised, that is. the committee stated what 

 changes it wished made. But to make 

 those clianges entailed the rewriting ot 

 nearly every line of the rules. And there 

 has been one or two revisions each year. 

 His ordinary, everyday, association 

 mail amounts to at least 25 letters a <lay. 

 and it is unlike ordinary business mail 

 in tliat it reipiires more thought to reply 

 to it. 



Some lumlierman down iu the South 

 somewhere will write to ask the price of 

 inspection books. An ordinary secretary 

 would reply in two lines, but 'S'innedge 

 will write him a two-page letter, giving 

 a brief sketch of the National association, 

 what it has done and hopes to do, what 

 benefit he may derive from it. inclose him 

 an application blank and urge him to be- 

 come a memlier. Such work produces re- 

 sults. 



Or some member may get his back up 

 about something and tender his resigna- 

 tion. Mr. Vinnedge never lets him go 

 without a struggle to retain him. And 

 that's one reason there are so few resig- 

 nations. 



W. A. Bennett, president for the first 

 three years, although having less detail 

 work to attend to than the secretary, did 

 all that lay within his power to do with 

 equal thoroughness and enthusiasm. He 

 and Mr. Vinnedge made a gi'eat team, and 

 it is to be doubted whether there are two 

 other men in the trade who could or would 

 have done equally well. 



THE IVI LWAUKf E FIASCO. 

 The first semi-annual meeting, as l)e- 

 fore stated, was held in Cincinnati and W. 

 S. Johnson of Milwaukee, best known as 

 a Jlichigan lumberman, because of his 

 milling interests there, attended, and in- 

 vited the association to hold its next meet- 

 ing at Charlevoix, Mich. ITie invitation 

 was accepted and the date of the meet- 

 ing fixed at .Tuly 13. And here is where 



