Copyright, The Hardwood Company, 1922 



Published in the Interest of the American Hardwood Forests, the Products thereof, and Lagging, Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the 10th and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edwin W. Meeker. \'ice Pres. and Editor 

 H. F. Ake, Secretary-Treasurer 

 Lloyd P. Robertson, Associate Editor 



Seventh Floor, Ellsworth Building 

 537 South Dearborn St., CHICAGO 

 Telephone: HARRISON 8087 



iiiii'ii i [iiiiiiiiiiiuiiii iimimimii^^ 



Vol. LIII CHICAGO, JUNE 25, 1922 --o«..,,.- No. 5 



NEW yo\^7 



Review and Outlook 



The Hoover Program — Its National and Trade 

 Significance 



AT THE TIME at which this editorial is written the smoke 

 lias cleared awa.v from the tirst skirmish line in the hardwood 

 condiet. Casualties are being counted and strategic gains or losses 

 recorded. Be it not understood from this that the atmosphere 

 has clarified, nor the visibility, to use the term made famous by 

 the battle of Jutland, is toda.v materiall.v higher than it was a 

 week ago. In fact a casual examination of the points in con- 

 troversy or examination purely of verbal hearsay evidence, would 

 have proven totally inadequate in defining the lines of battle. 



In approaching its inevitable editorial comment on the peculiarly in- 

 volreil situation confronting the lumber and especially the hardwood 

 industry, H.\rd\vooo Record is prompted by a most thorough, serious and 

 painstaking analysis, not of opinions ( though they have been profusely 

 sought), but of records. To impress the readers of H.ikdwood Record 

 with what we consider an outstanding consideration at the moment, it 

 would be well to recite the last paragraph in an editorial on the same 

 subject appearing in our issue /of June 10. To quote "the outcome of this 

 struggle will depend largely on the altitude which the consumers assume 

 towards the new system. The consumers, as we see it, hold the balance 

 of power, and if they accept the new system it will succeed. If not, it 

 will not be able to overcome the lead held by the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association." 



Thus it is the earnest desire of the editors of Hakuwooo Record to set 

 forth in convincing terms the fact that its desire in this instance is to 

 frankly state a sincere conviction and to present for the perusal of hard- 

 wood consumers, who, while not personally engaged with either side of the 

 controversy, are at the same time vitally interested, the controversial facts 

 with such comment as may serve to emphasize the high spots. 



It is safe to state in the beginning that had Secretary Hoover not been 

 sincere in his determination to carry through the principles and the pro- 

 gram enunciated before the recent Fourth Lumber Congress at Chicago 

 some few months ago. the Washington meeting would never have taken 

 place, and had there been no Washington conference the present abrupt 

 rupture within the hardwood industry would not have developed. But 

 Secretary Hoover has demeustrated to his own satisfaction and that of 

 several other industries similarly involved in similar conferences, that the 

 best way to keep government out of business is to demonstrate before 

 business men those errors which it not corrected give invitation for gov- 

 ernment interference and. with such examples before them, to give business 

 men the opportunity of making government interference unnecessary 

 through correction within their own ranks of those points which need 

 adjustment. 



It is the earnest conviction of the editors of H.\rdwood Record that 

 Secretary Hoover's program is the result of a thorough study of the lum- 

 ber industry. His familiarity with its ramifications as evidenced in his 

 various personal contacts with lumber groups, indicates a comprehensive 

 study of the subject. It is inconceivable that the secretary could have 

 attained this familiarity without a far-reaching personal investigation of 



the subject, and it is equally inconceivable that he would have instituted 

 such investigation unless he felt that it would prove fruitful and pur- 

 poseful in tendering his good offices to the Industry. 



Thus it is safe to start on the premises that Secretary Hoover's instiga- 

 tion of the program specifically presented at Washington was justified by 

 general circumstances with which he had familiarized himself. 



From this conclusion it is proper to establish the further entirely rea- 

 sonable conviction that the program as designed and if carried through 

 will recat permanently and with national significance for the benefit of 

 the lumber industry at large. Indeed, the frequently repeated assertions 

 of both Secretary Hoover and Assistant Secretary Durgin leave no room 

 for doubt on this score. Their assurance is specifically and repeatedly 

 given that when practical unanimity of opinion is reached within the in- 

 dustry as defining its program, the department will accept as its own and 

 prosecute to the utmost the principles and policies laid down in the 

 established lumber policy. 



It becomes patent the more carefully and conscientiously one peruses 

 the official printed records of this meeting that its significance involves 

 not only the national scope of the undertaking, but the unanimity of 

 purpose and intent as expressed by the participating lumber groups. It 

 becomes further most evident that the secretary's sponsorship and moral 

 support will be lent to the effort only if it represents an apparently united 

 industry inclusive of all component parts, and further that if a large 

 portion of the industry presents unity of action and purpose the sponsor- 

 ship of the department will be lent to that portion of the industry and 

 not to the portion which does not specifically and actively endorse the 

 principles of the Hoover program even though some measure of temporary 

 individual sacrifice may be entailed in so doing. 



It is H.1RDW00D Record's earnest hope to impress its readers with the 

 evident and undeniable national importance of the underlying issues and 

 principles of the Hoover program. The purpose of those issues is speci- 

 fically to unite the lumber industry on a set of principles making for 

 advancement within the industry and for a greater confidence and sym- 

 pathy on the part of the public. 



Secretary Hoover is a good publicity man and thoroughly appreciates 

 the advertising value of an apparently unified endorsement by the industry 

 of those principles of right dealing that are enunciated. The whole 

 psychology of the effort demands unity. This demand is predicted first 

 upon the psychological reaction that the public will get, and secondly, 

 upon the specific utterances of the department executives as defining their 

 sponsorship of this movement. To quote from Mr. Durgin's initial pro- 

 nouncement at the Washington meeting, "It is only in event of such 

 unanimous recommendation that the Department of Commerce can accept 



your act as its own. Wc will be very glad to publish it as 



our recommendation, listing the names of the men who unite in making 



the recommendation to us. Afrer that we will write to every 



individual concern asking a letter of acceptance of this as standard 



practice and we will ask them to tell us what percentage of 



their consumption hsTs been according to the practice, and why it was 

 necessary to part from it as to such percentage of their consumption as 

 may not have been according to that practice." 



Now to review what has gone before, it is evident that the Washington 

 conference was conceived in a spirit of governmental interest not inter- 

 ference in business ; that to best foster this spirit the lumber industry 

 should meet the government in as openrainded and unhampered a status 

 as possit)le ; that if the conference became a tangible success the interests 

 of the industry, the public and the individual consumers of the lumber 

 would be materially benefited ; and in view of the repeatedly acknowledged 

 disfavor with which the public views the lumber industry, that such pro- 

 gram should be fostered to the utmost. 



With these conceptions there can be no gainsaying the fact that the 



