32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



your present stocks be sure that you can replace 

 Ihem profitably. 



I would recommend that we have another com- 

 mittee appointed. We might call it a trade con- 

 dition committee, whose duty it would be to 

 report at each annual meeting conditions as 

 they seem to exist. A full and free discussion 

 of this matter would be both interesting and 

 beneticial to our members. 



We have now what may be termed a waiting 

 market. Conditions are such that a lowering 

 of values will not create any new business, and 

 it would be better to curtail your output and 

 hold what you have for a legitimate profit. 

 Good, well manufactured hardwoods are too 

 hard to obtain for you to assist in making them 

 a speculative commodity. 



Chaotic price conditions are so detrimental 

 to us, even including the consumer, that all 

 suffer except that class of .jobbers who carry no 

 stocks of their own and are consequently not so 

 much interested in level prices as are dealers 

 and manufacturers who carry their own stock. 



Legitimate wholesalers and retailers are neces- 

 sary to the hardwood trade. They absorb a 

 vast quantity of stock which would otherwise 

 be thrown on the market at prices which would 

 result in a continual demoralization. 



Hardwood lumber is so different from almost 

 all other commodities that it seems that a legiti- 

 mate level of prices ought to be maintained. 

 You can not replace a marketable tree during 

 your natural business life. When a carload ot 

 lumber goes into consumption the raw material 

 will not be replaced during this generation. 

 Under such conditions can you conceive of any 

 real reasons why hardwoods should not be kept 

 on a firm and stable basis? 



The Indiana Forestry Association is one of the 



C. H. KRAMER, RICHMOND, SECRETARY. 



newest and best of our state associations. It is 

 devoted to a large and unselfish work. We shall 

 have some interesting addresses by some of its 

 members later on. 



The unnecessary waste of such a priceless 

 heritage as our magnificent forests has been 

 little short of criminal, but I am glad to bo 

 able to say that the ideas of reforestation and 

 conservation are making such decisive advances 

 that we may hope to regain much of what has 

 been lost and we shall soon take our place in 

 the front ranks with such other nations as have 

 felt the need of this w'ork sooner than we. 



While it is true that our forests are being 

 rapidly denuded, I do not believe that any of 

 us present will see their practical extinction. 

 The timber supply is and always has been very 

 deceptive. 



We are living in an age of organizations, and 

 while the primary ob.jects of each are for the 

 benelit of their own especial ob.iects, yet fre- 

 quently w-e are called upon to assist in some of 

 the larger matters pertaining 1o the welfare of 

 all as a whole. As an organizalion we have 

 responded to every call, and our representatives 

 have participated in .a numl)er of the meetings. 



The material matters pertaining to our asso- 

 ciation work during the last year will be cov- 

 ered later on by the other oflicors and com- 

 mittees. 



To our guests : we are more than glad to 

 have you with us, we trust your stay will be 

 both pleasant and profitable and upon behallf 

 of the association I extend to you the courtesies 

 of the floor and hope you will avail yourselves 

 of the invitation. We shall look for you again 

 next year. 



To the trade press : we thank you for the 

 uniform kindness and fairness with which you 

 have always treated our association, and we 

 hope that its affairs will always be so conducted 

 as to meet with your continued approval. 



To the members of the various Committees : 

 I want to thank you for the very able assist- 

 ance you have given the officers during tlie 

 last year, and to all ot you I bespeak for my 

 successor the same kindly and courteous treat- 

 ment you have accorded me. 



Secretary C. H. Kramer then delivered his 



annual report, as follows: 



Secretary's Report 



It shall not be my purpose to bring to you a 

 lengthy report or burden you with unimportant 

 facts. I had hoped and looked forward to this 

 meeting that we would be able to present some 

 glowing reports for the year, in that the con- 

 ditions at the opening of the new year seemed 

 favorable to this end. instead we are forced 

 to admit that our optimistic views and asser- 

 tions one year ago were completely darkened 

 and riddled. We felt at that time the busi- 

 ness world was opening on brighter fields. We 

 were looking forward and reaching out with a 

 hope that we might regain a part of the 1907 

 activities, w^hich for a short time seemed true. 

 However, much to our surprise, we were driven 

 out in the desert, as it were, to eke out for a 

 time a mere existence, very much discouraged, 

 but never in the attitude of the pessimist. 



Later the darkness began to lighten, more 

 read.y markets were found in store and we began 

 realizing, along some lines of our industry, a 

 marked degree of improvement and satisfaction. 



In rounding up the year, however, we find the 

 depression has been generally in values, while 

 the volume of trade has been fair. I hope that 

 during the year the improvement will steadily 

 increase, not only in volume but value as well. 



There is now being wasted a large amount 

 of forest material, simpl.v because it is of in- 

 sufficient value to bear the present transporta- 

 tion rates. Not so much so in our own state, 

 perhaps, as we find in other sections. I think 

 the most of us are of the optimistic faith and 

 are looking forward to the time, and that it 

 should be soon, that values of lumber and timber 

 should be more near its worth and that advances 

 be more in lieeping with advances on most all 

 other lines of industry. We learn from reports 

 from those In authority that from 1899 to 190S 

 lumber prices advanced only thirty-eight per 

 cent, while on wheat the advance was fifty-nine 

 per cent ; corn 100 per cent : horses 149 per 

 cent, and it is my belief that if the comparison 

 could have covered the two years of 1909 and 

 1910 the ratio would be quite different and 

 that it would show lumber at a less increase, 

 while that of wheat, corn and horses would show 

 a marked increase. 



We would note in this report that the coming 

 of the automobile has not very materially in- 

 creased the price of lumber, but seemingly has 

 made a marked increase in the horse market. 



CONCEKNINQ LuMBEK TRUSTS 



We note in some of our trade papers that 

 Investigations are going on to ascertain as to 

 whether there are any lumber trusts. I do 

 not know if any Indiana lumbermen are to be 

 looked after or not, as the investigations now 

 seem to be going on outside of Indiana. ,Tust 

 along what lines these investigations have been 

 prompted I have not learned, but surely not 

 along the line of high prices. All lumbermen 

 know quite well that prices are much too low. 

 They are nothing in comparison to the cost of 

 reproducing the timber. No doubt many of us 

 are experiencing at this time that prices in 

 many cases are not in excess of cost and manu- 

 facttjre, while in many they are below the cost 

 and manufacture. When that great law of sup- 

 ply and demand is more evenly balanced the 

 manufacturer will then be able to market the 

 short and odd lengths and the low grade stocks . 

 to a better advantage. 



The national government forbids combining 

 to restrict the output : also forbids combining 

 to boost the price. When the market becomes 

 burdened with stock, the buyer seems to dic- 

 tate the price and when the demand for stock is 

 greater, the conditions are vice versa. 



The Indiana lumbermen ma.v well feel proud 

 of the recentl.v organized Indiana Forestr.v Asso- 

 ciation. No doubt a great deal will be "aceoni- 

 plished along the line of reforestation and con- 

 servation. We look forward to the day that 

 each and every land owner may be induced to 

 plant some forest trees, not onl.v on the waste 

 land but along the highwa.vs, tlius beautifying 

 our homes and thoroughfares. I ask a careful 

 consideration b.v the individual members of tlie 

 movement along this line and feel sure that 

 after we have listened to the very able addre.ssos 

 on forestr.v this afternoon more consideration 

 will be given to the forestry interests. 



Your board of managers have had two meet- 

 ings during the year ; also a number of com- 

 mittee meetings have been held and matters 

 pertaining to the association were cared for. 



Interest among some of our membership dur- 



ing the last .year or so has waned considerably, 

 some I fear to the point of lapsing, and perhaps 

 we can contribute a part of this seeming lack 

 of interest to the depressed condition of the 

 lumber industry for the last few years. Some 

 have allowed themselves to become uninterested 

 through non-attendance to our annual meetings. 

 We hope that a goodly number of this class have 

 come here today to renew themselves in the 

 spirit of the association. 



We have lost a few members by their having 

 gone out of the lumber industry, some firms 

 consolidating and some as referred to above. I 

 have to present to you for your approval for 

 membership — the board of managers have al- 

 ready approved — the applications of the fol- 

 lowing : 



Anton Brucken, Evansville, Ind. ; G. W. 

 Brusher. Richmond, Ind. : John Brier, Bath, 

 Ind. ; Capitol Veneer Company, Indianapolis, 

 Ind. ; East Side Lumber Company, Conners- 

 ville, Ind. : Arthur Ferris, Brookville, Ind. ; 

 Thomas Hill Lumber Company, Clifford, Ind. ; 

 Putman Veneer & Lumber Company. Uoachdale, 

 Ind. ; B. B. Williams, Richmond. Ind. ; H. H. 

 Martin. Norman Station, Ind. ; Wheatlay Bros. 

 Lumber Company, Roachdale, Ind. ; Maley & 

 Wertz, Vineennes, Ind., and J. D. Wetz, Colum- 

 bus, Ind. 



There are many who are eligible to member- 

 ship, who should and ought to become mem- 

 Iters. Perhaps a good, live membership com- 

 mittee would accomplish much along this line. 



To those who may have overlooked remitting 

 for their annual dues, I shall be glad to see you 

 at the close of this session. 



I wish here to ask permission of the inspec- 



JAMES BUCKLEY, BROOKVILLE, TREAS- 

 URER. 



tion committee to add that this association is 

 on record as having always advocated uniform 

 rules of inspection and has passed resolutions 

 urging other branches of the hardwood trade to 

 make concessions. Much has been said in and 

 out of associations and through the press along 

 this line, and I hope that the time may not be 

 too far distani that we shall have but one 

 rule of inspection, whether that be known as 

 standard, union, national, uniform, universal or 

 any other name, it will he welcomed by all. 

 When once we reach this point the long step 

 will have been taken to eliminate the juggler 

 and the propensity to mix. If ninety per cent of 

 the lumbermen are honest, we should move that 

 the other ten per cent be corralled. So let us 

 coiiperate with and encourage movements along 

 the line ot uniformity of inspection. 



The question ot arbitration has been brought 

 nut quite freely during the last few months. It 

 is a plan that has been followed along most all 

 lines of trade for ages and has proven to be a 

 K"od rule. At our last annual meeting we in- 

 dorsed the code of ethics as formulated by the 

 Lumber Trades Congress, which stated that arbi- 

 tration methods should be employed whenever 

 IKissible in the settlement of all matters of dis- 

 pute. I would urge that arbitration methods 

 be recognized as the ethical plan of settling 

 disputes, but as to the matter of enforcing 

 arbitration I think it very unwise. 



.■\s we are in session today we are open for 

 action along this line as you think best. 



I wish one and all a prosperous business year 

 and trust you will accord your loyal support to 

 my successor. 



