14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



October 10. 1922 



modity as it is sold to determine, first, if it has been properly classi- 

 fied according to specifitations, and secondly, if shipment has 

 Deen made according to original correct classification. 



Thus when the program is belittled because it is based on "high 

 sounding nomenclature — scientific grading," — it is complimented. 

 Eecourse to such acknowledged authorities as Webster's New In- 

 ternational Dictionary is never amiss. This notable work says that 

 science is: 



"Knowledge; knowledge of ixrinciples or facts; knowledge classi- 

 fied aiid made available in work, life, or the search for truth; oom- 

 prehensive knowledge." The same work says that "scientific" means 

 "agreeing with or depending on the rules or principles of science." 



Thus from these definitions it clearly appears that the whole 

 meaning of this standardization program and its correlated pro- 

 gram of determining scientific grades, contemplates only that the 

 true facts of production and consumption of lumber may be known 

 and may be so accumulated, systematized and formulated that they 

 may be available in correctly manufacturing and in correctly util- 

 izing lumber. It would seem that this would be an excellent basis 

 on which to run almost any business. 



The fact that the adoption of this standardization program has 

 resulted so far as hardwood is concerned, in a bitter controversy 

 has, of course, no bearing upon the correctness of the principles in- 

 volved. The resistance which has been set up within the hard- 

 wood industry against the program is the natural result of the fact 

 that the development of the new movement must, by virtue of ex- 

 isting and unavoidable circumstances, be in opposition to a power- 

 ful organization which through highly efficient management has 

 functioned with notable success as an agency through which hard- 

 wood lumber has been marketed. It does not exactly follow that 

 because that agency has been efficient and successful as a business 

 organization that the basis of classification which it controls, com- 

 ing as it does as an evolution from the crude classifications in the 

 beginning, must be the best it is possible to evolve. It would seem, 

 in fact, that as the average fabricator of hardwood products bought 

 under those classifications is wasting in his factory anywhere from 

 thirty to seventy per cent of the material purchased, tha there 

 must be something fundamentally wrong. It is not claimed in the 

 program that its adoption would raise the quality of timber or 

 logs being cut in any section of the country. The log will remain 

 as at present with continuance of gradual decrease in quality. The 

 effect though will be a change in the method of classifying the 

 product of the log and possibly some attention to the way the log 

 is cut so that its contents may be more accurately aligned with 

 such new classifications as are eventually put into effect. It should 

 not be overlooked, though, that these classifications are proposed 

 as an accurate representation of efficiency of consuming require- 

 ments, and this in turn involves a thorough understanding of the 

 pro.ieet on the part of consumers and a reasonable measure of co- 

 operation from them in order that such utilization values in lumber 

 classification may be correctly established. 



Among the soft wood groups this consumer participation is as- 

 sured through the earnest co-operation of consuming interests. In 

 the hardwood group this participation has not yet been formally 

 authorized, probably because the program has been represented to 

 the consuming industries as just another attempt to muddy the 

 hardwood waters with inter-assoeiation jealousies and antagonisms 

 and that this nefarious attempt is but thinly veiled with the cloak 

 of the standardization program. Hardwood Record repeats that 

 because the progress of standardization in hardwoods has developed 

 the opposition which has naturaly materialized, it does not follow 

 that the principles on which the program is based are incorrect. 

 It, in fact, is significant that thus far such opposition has appar- 

 ently concerned itself with personal incrimination, the crimes alleged 

 being jealousy and disloyalty. There has as yet been no constructive 

 or intelligent analysis or criticism of the program — except that it 

 is a new conception of what has long been considered by the best 

 element in both producers and consumers as good hardwood merchan- 

 dising, and that it is apt to disturb the status quo. 



The peculiar thing about the current hardwood controversy is 

 that the bone of contention represents merely an effort to unify 

 and adopt as standard practice, a custom that has been individually 

 followed by a coterie of buyers who have thoroughly understood 

 their product and the raw material required in its fabrication. Con- 

 sumers are urged to ignore the controversial phase with which the 

 introduction of standardization in the hardwood industry has been 

 met and to investigate the project on its merits as something which, 

 if ultimately evolved, will redound to their notable and pecuniary 

 advantage. This program can be consummated only when con- 

 sumers have analyzed and standardized, and through this means 

 grouped their requirements in such manner as will enable the classi- 

 fication of grades on the basis of those groups insofar as it is prac- 

 ticable. In the end it will be found practicable to go almost one 

 hundred per cent in this direction. The consumer will then benefit 

 directly and in dollars and cents through having available a classi- 

 fication of lumber which, because designed for his needs, will effect 

 real economy in working witli a minimum waste and with a price 

 made more stable through the fact that from the millman 's stand- 

 point it has not, as at present, taken the very cream of the log. 



It is a fact worth emphasizing that the program has been urged 

 in the past with great sincerity and as a logical mark of progress. 

 It is not a matter of arbitrary revolution but merely an intelligent 

 attempt to meet a vital issue which confronts the industry. The 

 startling spread between firsts and seconds and lower grade valua- 

 tions, has presented an insurmountable problem. Decreasing per- 

 centage of firsts and seconds is a fact and not a myth. The ac- 

 cumulating percentage of lower grades, which in the main are de- 

 void of stable and dependable markets, has made it a matter of 

 necessity for the millman to secure for his small percentage of 

 uppers sufficient to carry a less than cost price on his lowers. That 

 situation is an economic crime from the standpoint of production, 

 utilization and of greatest importance, conservation. It has been 



Table of Contents 



REVIEW AND OUTLOOK: 



A Few Lights on the Hardwood Tangle 13-lS 



General Market Conditions 15 



SPECIAL ARTICLES: 



Lumber Standards Commitlee Formulates Creed 17-18 & 20 



Southern Car Supply Unimproved 16 



What the Institute Insignia Means 19 



Rosin and Lampblack vs. Red Lead and Oil 22 & 24 



Tentative Victory Pleases Townshend 35 



Marked Improvement in Veneer and Panel Market 42 & 46 



CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS: 



Miscellaneous 26 & 2« & 30 & 32 



Northern Manufacturers Will Thoroughly Canvass Input 



Possibilities of Coming Winter IS 



Business Improved, Chairmakers Report 21 



Foye Wins Memphis Golf Championship 21 



Walnut Manufacturers Meet in Kansas City 36 



HARDWOOD NEWS NOTES 32-34 & 51-53 



HARDWOOD MARKETS 53-56 



ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY 58 



CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS 60-62 



HARDWOODS FOR SALE 62-64 



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