i6 



THE HARDWOOD RECORD. 



The MaLi\ About Town. 



HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL HARD- 

 WOOD LUMBER ASSOCIATION. 

 (CONCLUDED.) 



With the history of the influence of In- 

 diana iu the maliing of the rules of in- 

 sjjection on oali lumber, and the adoption 

 of those rules by the National association 

 at St. Louis, the history of the National 

 association is practically brought up to 

 date. 



Another chapter would finish the history 

 of the effort to secure uniform inspection 

 rules, which was all that the association 

 was organized for. I sincerely regi-et that 

 I cannot write it now, for it may fall to 

 the lot of someone else to write it. I be- 

 lieve, at least I hope, that in another year 

 the last chapter of the histoi-y of the mak- 

 ing of uniform inspection rules will be 

 ready to be written. The inspection bu- 

 reau was an afterthought, and whether it 

 succeeds or fails the work the association 

 was organized to perform has been ac- 

 complished—all but tliat last chapter. And 

 a great work it has been and will be for 

 the hardwood trade. For if the National 

 association should die to-mon-ow its uni- 

 fonn rules would remain, and the good 

 it has done live on. 



I am only speaking of remote contingen- 

 cies, of course. I believe the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association is stronger 

 In the esteem of the hardwood trade to- 

 day than at any time. The hardwood trade 

 is more nearly united now than ever be- 

 fore. From the lakes to the gulf the old 

 animosities and prejudices have been wiped 

 out. The old practices, which in a meas- 

 ure justified those prejudices and animosi- 

 ties, but which I will not name, have been 

 checked. The changes have not been mude 

 so much by the national rules, or by the 

 inspection bureau, or by any legislative or 

 official action on the part of the associa- 

 tion, as by the bringing of the lumbermen 

 together. When the St. Louis and Chi- 

 cago lumbermen met each was surprised 

 to find the other not nearly so black as 

 he was painted. When the manufacturers 

 met the dealers it was a revelation that 

 they were a fair-minded, broad-gauge set 

 of men, willing and ready to meet half 

 way, or a little more, on any kind of a 

 proposition looking to better understand- 

 ing, better business methods and friend- 

 lier relations. The importance and bene- 

 ficial effect of those meetings, in smoothing 

 out the rough places in the hardwood trade, 

 cannot be overestimated. 



Those meetings also had a moral effect. 

 Lumbermen did not like to meet with their 

 brother lumbermen and feel that they were 

 not respected. Under the old conditions 

 the hardwond lumber business was largely 

 a cvitthroat business, each lumberman feel- 



BY C. D. STRODE. 



ing justilied iu taking every possible ad- 

 vantage, fair or unfair, being certain that 

 such advantage would be taken of him. 



Tinder the old conditions it was impos- 

 sible that a man doing a general hardwood 

 lumber business could avoid getting into 

 trouble. No matter how fair and honor- 

 able his methods, nor how upright his char- 

 acter, he was bound to have trouble. Some- 

 one would ship him stock not up to grade, 

 and because he claimed a reduction he was 

 denounced as a thief. If he called in au 

 official inspector of his market, his only 

 recourse, he was only hooted at. It made 

 very little difference in his reputation 

 whether he was strictly honest or not, there 

 being no way of proving innocence or 

 guilt. It came finally to the point where 

 some of the trade papers took it upon 

 themselves to act as arbiters, and say who 

 was right and who wrong. This led to 

 even a worse state of affairs, for some of 

 the unscrupulous papers (maybe I should 

 in fairness say one) undoubtedly used 

 their power to levy blackmail upon the 

 trade. 



Such conditions placed a premium on 

 dishonesty. Anybody who would subsidize 

 Jhe press could do about as he pleased, and 

 there were, and are, firms in the trade 

 whose reputations, as being worse than 

 their neighbors, were made because, what- 

 ever else they did, they had too much cour- 

 age and self-respect to be blackmailed. 



All this has been changed by the Na- 

 tional association. Under present condi- 

 tions any illegitimate practices are easily 

 exposed, and those who do the fair thing 

 are strongly protected. For bringing about 

 such conditions the National association 

 earned the enmity of at least one paper, 

 find that paper, although unable to oppose 

 the association openly, slinks along in the 

 guise of friendship, but never loses an 

 opportunity to do the association an in- 

 jury. 



• • • 



As for the inspection bureau, Surveyor- 

 General Wall informs me that it inspected 

 more lumber in the first six months of 

 this year than it had inspected in the throe 

 years preceding, and that the prospects 

 for growth are good. 



The trade should support this bureau. 

 With it- in existence and supported suffi- 

 ciently to employ a competent corps of 

 inspecfors, the trade has almost absolute 

 protection. It seems probable that, as the 

 years go by, the hardwood business of 

 the country will come to be done more 

 and more on the National rules and straight 

 grades. At least two departments of the 

 LTnited States government are sending out 

 their requisitions based on the National 

 rules; so, too, is the TuUman Car Com- 

 pany, and others of the lai-gest users of 



hardwood. This is a great gain for the 

 trade at large, as it gives everybody a 

 chance to bid. As yet those concerns have 

 not specified that the National rules shall 

 be applied by a National inspector, but 

 that must inevitably follow. 



Secretary Vinnedge informs me that tlie 

 present demand for inspection i-ules is un- 

 precedented in the liistory of the associa- 

 tion. The first edition of the new rules 

 consisted of 10,000 copies, and is nearly 

 exhausted. It took nearly 5,000 copies to 

 give each member of the association ten. 

 copies each, and aside from those he has 

 sold nearly 4,000 copies since July 1, when 

 the edition became available. The people 

 are buying those rules to use them, and 

 when they get to doing business upon the 

 rules the demand for the protection which 

 the inspection bureau affords will increase. 

 The inspection bureau has, it seems to 

 me, a long and extremely useful career 

 ahead of it. 



The traffic department is a new feature 

 in the association, and has charge of a mat- 

 ter in which I am not posted; but it was 

 deemed necessary by a very intelligent and 

 practical committee, composed of as good 

 and able men as the association affords, 

 and will, we doubt not, be made a success 

 and of great benefit to the trade. One 

 thing about it, as about the inspection bu- 

 reau—it Is no tax upon the association. 

 Membership in the association is $10 a 

 year, and will probably remain at that fig- 

 ure. If a member wishes to use the in- 

 spection bureau he pays so much per M. 

 feet; if he doesn't wish to use it it costs 

 him nothing. It is there for his accommo- 

 dation whenever he needs it. If a mem- 

 ber wishes to use the traffic department it 

 costs him one-tenth of 1 per cent of his 

 minimum capital rating in Dun's agency, 

 a year. If he doesn't wish to join he 

 needn't. And it seems to me it wUl b& 

 the part of wisdom on the part of the 

 members to keep all departments which 

 may in the future be added to the Na- 

 tional association on the same basis. 



The association was established, the uni- 

 form rules agreed upon and the inspec- 

 tion bureau put in working oi-der at an 

 average cost to the members of $5 a year. 

 This was what the association was organ- 

 ized for, and with the dues as at present, 

 $10 a year, the association should be able 

 to maintain itself. If any group of mem- 

 bers believe that some other department 

 may advantageously be added, let them 

 make it stand upon its own bottom, leav- 

 ing it optional with the members to sup- 

 port it or not, and not tax them to sup- 

 port something from which they feel they 

 will derive no benefit. 



With due respect to all the departments 

 which are now, or may hereafter be, es- 



