16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



August 10. 1922 



Endorse Forestry Committee 



Herman Lunden of Bay City, Midi., made an interesting and 

 earnest appeal to members for more active interest in tlie ques- 

 tions of forestry, taxation and reforestation, mentioning that the 

 lumbermen of all people are vitally interested. Mr. Lunden ex- 

 pressed the thought of Chief Forester Graves of the United States 

 that the primary essential in reforestation is to prevent forest 

 fires. There was considerable discussion of Mr. Lunden 's speech, 

 Boy Eichardson advocating forestry practices and reforestation but 

 strictly as a civic, state or national project and not as a private 

 undertaking. He suggested that the state purchase potential forest 

 lands and pay for them in bonds of long maturity'. 



Mr. Lunden interjected the thought that the matter of supreme 

 importance at the moment involves the probability of strict and 

 possibly unjust forestry and taxation law, requesting that the 

 whole influence of the lumber industr}' be placed behind his com- 

 mittee not for the purpose of gaining unfair and undue advantage 

 for -lumbermen, but merely to forestall any radical or unfavorable 

 taxation. The matter was finally left to Mr. Lunden with full 

 support of the membership. 



Walter N. Wrape, Bay City, reporting for the maple advertising 

 committee, said that that body is about to employ an expert for 

 the purpose of exploiting northern hardwoods, his activity to be 

 confined not only to maple but to include birch and beech as well. 

 He stated this man will be at work within sixty or ninety days. 

 C. H. Sherrill Addresses the Meeting 



The usual attractive luncheon was served at adjournment of 

 the formal session, the chair calling upon Mr. Sherrill after luncheon 

 had been consummated. Mr. Sherrill expressed his appreciation of 

 the opportunity of personal contact, saying: 



"It is unfortunate there has been a rift in the present progres- 

 sive i)rogram among the hardwood manufacturers who are at 

 present affiliating with different associations. I fear the language 

 that I used at the memorable standardization conference held in 

 Washington the week of Ma_y 22, 1922, has been misquoted and 

 in that event it is easy for me to understand why there should be 

 some unfavorable criticism regarding same. But those of you 

 who have taken the time to read the verbatim stenographic report 

 of that Washington conference, cannot misunderstand the English 

 that I use which is thoroughly expressive of my thoughts and my 

 position even until this present moment. Concretely speaking, it 

 was to this effect that I heartily endorsed the program .so ably 

 set up by President J. W. Blodgett of the National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' Association in his opening address after calling the 

 Washington conference to order, and also, by the splendid review 

 of the necessity of the hour given to the conference by the Secre- 

 tary of Commerce Mr. Hoover, of the real need by the lumber 

 indu.stry as a whole of taking such actions as would allay public 

 opinion in its destructive criticism with respect to the com|)licated 

 method employed in establishing the nomenclature and s|)eeifica- 

 tions covering quality, grade marking, to protect the purchaser, all 

 of which is to so simplify the merchandising of lumber that 

 even the inexperienced could understand in a comprehensive 

 manner the character of material desired for apjilication to which 

 it might be intended." 



Government Will Endorse United Program 



Mr. Sherrill appealed primarily from the viewpoint of the laymen 

 who being unfamiliar with the manufacture, merchandising and 

 consumption of lumber are confused. He stated that it is the 

 purpose of Secretary Hoover in connection with this movement 

 to simplify practices in all industrial and commercial life to such 

 an extent that the average citizen can treat freely in all items 

 of commerce with a full understanding of what their purchase 

 includes,- and that a correct status of affairs in the lumber world 

 can not materialize unless all manufacturers of wood standardize 

 all items of common interest which can only be brought about when 

 all manufacturers enter into this progressive program, and "sit 

 in conferences until a practical simplified set of grading rules and 

 practices can be prepared and presented to the Department of 

 Commerce for endorsement, which will be given when the entire 



lumber manufacturing industry unites in the presentation of 

 such a document to Secretary Hoover." 



Mr. Sherrill stated that no question of mutual interest can 

 appeal alone to manufacturers of hardwoods, western woods or any 

 other forest production. Under this category he instanced re 

 forestation, timber conservation, manufacturing, conservation, log 

 ging problems, sawmill, railroads, labor costs, supply costs, selling; 

 cost problems, and many others. He said: 



■'To my knowledge up tci date there has not been a hardwooil 

 manufacturing organization national in scope through whose offices 

 wi' could seek for all statistical information that is of vital im- 

 portance to the manufacturing industry including statistics as 

 would cover stocks on hand and any other information that is 

 strictly within the law that we can have and should have in order 

 to intelligently manufacture and merchandise our lumber." 



He then went on to say that while the regional association would 

 liavc a distinct part in the picture, full satisfactory statistical 

 results can never be accomiilished without one national clearing 

 liimse for gener.al hardwood information. Furthermore, according 

 to Mr. Sherrill, a proper jjresentation to the public with consequent 

 benefits can never be made without a united industry. He said 

 tiiat with a common set of inspection rules, equalized and sim- 

 plified, open to non-members as well as to members on practically 

 thi> same basis, all of which the major portion of manufacturers of 

 the United States endorse, the hardwood industry can count upon 

 the full endorsement of the government department in further car- 

 rying on the work, thus giving to the industry a stamp of approval 

 sanctioned b}' the Unitrd States government. 



WUl Not Scrap Present Eules 



In explaining the grading rule plans of the Institute, Mr. Sherrill 

 said: "Our plan is to continue the use of the same inspection rules 

 we have been using, to build up our inspection service fast as pos- 

 silile with as high a class of men as we can obtain." 



He here interjected the remark that proponents of present sys- 

 tems of inspection rules have argued that there is no objection on 

 the part of the lumber manufacturer and consumer and for this 

 reason they should not be changed in any way. 



Cites Consumers' Objection to Present Eules 



-Mr. Sherrill expressed tlic iqiiiiion that this opinion is not in 

 accord with the facts, citing various points to bear out his argu- 

 nu'nts. The most pertinent of these was the statement issued by 

 the National Council of Furniture Associations on July 15 in 

 reference to rejection of the recently adojited sales code of the 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association. This statement was 

 carried in full in Hakdwood Record's issue of J'uly 25, on page 46. 

 It contains the arguments presented by the National Council in 

 explanation of its negative vote and cites those specific demands 

 for grading rules changes as enumerated by the furniture industries. 



.\tr. Sherrill quoted from that report that part in which it is 

 ■^tatiil that "what the buyer wants is a standard set of grading 

 rules that will enable him to know what to order in the way of 

 hardwood lumber that would specifically suit his particular re- 

 quirements, and having a measure of value whereby he can secure 

 what he orders, and an inspection service based on these rules 

 wliieh will be a proper check against any infringement." 



Further continuing his discussion of the functioning of the 

 Institute, Mr. Sherrill stated that training school for inspectors 

 will be established, the ap]ilieants to be selected as far as possible 

 from young men with a certain standard of education, the idea 

 lieing to try in every possible way to raise the type of men em- 

 I ■loved in inspection work and thereby raise the standard of 

 inspection. 



He further instanced as part of the function the producing. 

 -liipping and logging departments, statistical bureaus organized in 

 i rict conformity with the laws, department of trade research and 

 ' ; ansion. 



V'r. Sherrill explained in greater detail at this point his con 

 I' I'lion of the true value of statistics gathered in connection with 

 tlb jiroduction and marketing of hardwood lumber. He stated 

 (f'outinufd on imilv 20* 



