Sc|ltllMlilT, 1(1, 1'.I21 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



A "Hawk" in the Furniture Barnyard 



{t'untinind from jfiuv IG) 



s; 



Wiili' .viiui' siimtnr iim.i rrpii'siMitatlve l<i(la.v iiml tu'lp snvc the public 

 inillioiiK. 



The wrilcr iil Ihis liiiir Is n lover of precious woods, untlqucs auil 

 niiidcrn furniture who hopes this (anioullnge In furniture will soon be a 

 thing of the past. 



Yours ver.v trul.v. 



iSltineil) E. S('0(ii:i.\. 

 Home aildress. 1702 Valence St., New Orleans, La. 



Tlii.s letter was sent out at the opening of the July Furniture 

 markets. One of them fell into the hands of A. C. Brown, secre- 

 tary of the National Alliance of Case Goods Manufacturer.s, and 

 after consultation with members of his association, he made a lirief 

 reply to Mr. Scoggin, as follows; 



I have before me (dippings from several papers and Inasmuch as they 

 all read alike and .vour name is signed to one of them, I assume that .vou 

 are authority for all the letters. 



I also assume from .vour statements that there is a bill before fongress 

 requiring furniture manufacturers to place their nan[es on their furniture, 

 also to stale the kinds of wood used in its manufacture. I have heard no 

 objection to this, and I hardly think that furniture nianufftcturers gen- 

 erally would object, although I am not writing with authority. 



I would like to say that the reading of your letter wouhl indicate that 

 you knew very little, if anything about furniture. Otherwise your state- 

 ments could hardly be excus("d. 1 should like very much to have you 

 give me the name of a wood cheaper than common pine that could l>e used 

 In making furniture, and whether you think SO per cent of our people would 

 be in a position to pay the price of solid mahogany, solid walnut, etc. 



I am not criticising your letter, but I should like very much to hear 

 from you giving me the reas(uis for this bill, where it now is, wdio introduced 

 it, etc. 1 am not at all sure but that furniture manufacturers might be 

 in favor of this bill if a safe and sane proposition. 



Mr. Scoggin apparently did not relish the insinuation that he 

 didn't know mueh about furniture and on July .5 made a somewhat 

 lengthy reply as follows: 



Your letter of ,Tuly 1 is before me and 1 think ymi will Hud that the 

 letter which you mention does not state that any bill is befow Congress 

 re(iu'iring furniture manufacturers putting their names on their furniture. 



In your third paragraph you compliment nic on the knowledge I have 

 or haven't of the manufacture of furniture. I will admit, Mr. lirown, 

 I do not know but very little about the manufacture of furniture, but it 

 nia.v be surprising to you to learn that I have in my possession letters 

 from our very best manufacturers of furnitiu-e indicating that what I 

 say in my letter Is the "gospel truth" and I have not the slightest doubt 

 but that these same manufacturers are memlters of yoiu- good asscjciation 

 and in the very highest standing, th(nigh 1 nuist admit 1 have not a list 

 of your members. 



Now, Mr. Brown, I think that you will tind on investigation that manu- 

 facturers are using sap gum (.$35 per M delivered i and making tables, 

 desks, case goods, etc., and possibly putting thin layers of real mahogany 

 or real walnut on top and the,v are putting these goods out as mahogany 

 and walnut, and you know, and we all know, and I'ncle Sam will verify 

 the fact that this is not playing fair with the public or with the dealer 

 and the practice is going to be stopped. I haven't the slightest doubt, and 

 possibly stopjjed a whole lot sooner than some people realize. 



Take for instance the Philippines, Y'ou know there is no genuine 

 mahogany that comes out of the Philippine Islands. There Is a very good 

 substitute, the U. S. (Jovernment says, for mahogany coming from the 

 Philippines. There is one manufacturer I have In mind who Is putting 

 out S(did nuihogany furniture and he Is making it out of the IMiilipplne 

 substitute and he Is calling it genuine solid mahogany and is shipping it 

 Interstate, and trouble nu(y overtake him before he realizes it, as the 

 government has requested infcu-nuuion along these lines and the govern- 

 ment is liable to get that iuforniatlou. 



Don't think for a minute that I am arguing anything against sap gum. 

 If a mauufacturer wants to manufacture gum furniture, all right. If he 

 wants to manufacture birch furniture and sell it as such, all right, but 

 when a manufacturer nmnnl'actures gum or lurch furniture and sells it as 

 walnut or mahogany, he is not. in my opinion, playing fair and If I was 

 the secretary of an ass(ici:(tion like your good self, I certainly wouhl send 

 out the hurry-up call to your meml)ers to be sure that it is distinctly 

 stated In all Iit(n'ature scut "Ut, all invoices mailed, that it is Imitation 



furniture with such and such a ven • on the fnuil or the top and where 



both walnut or mahogany is used in connection with gum (W birch, let them 

 state that It is combinatinn furnitiu'e of walnut and gum or nnihoganj' 

 and gum and if they arc dning this, Mr. lirown, they will have nothing 

 to worry about, but if they are not, then we will have to see how they are 

 going to come out, 



i have the situation possildy a whole lot better in hand than you mav 

 imagine in spite of the cunipliment you give me about my knowkMtge of 



furniture. One thing let me l(dl you about my knowb'dge of furni- 

 ture. No nnmufacturer or dealer can unload on me gum or tdrch 

 furniture as walnut or nuihogauy unless 1 want him to because I know 

 walnut when I see it and I know mahogany when I see It even If I have 

 to take my knife out and cut off the black or brown Hnlsh to see the grain 

 of the wood. 



The campaign of letters tlien proeoeded in the following order, 

 the letters now being signed by li. S, TIawke: 



FirEt Letter to Dealers 



I have been retained to secure evidence and to bring criminal actions 

 against retailers of furniture In the I'nited States who .sell furniture made 

 of gum or birch under the unlruc stateroenl of fact ilnd the same Is walnut 

 or mahogany. 



With the assurance that your communication will be treated as strictly 

 contidential, will y(ui kindly at once give me the nann* (»f any retailer in 

 your section whom yioi liavr rcasnn In bclli>ii> Is uullly i>r Ibis practice. 



Second Letter to Bealers 



.\galn addressing you on the subject of fraudulent represeutatbuis In the 

 sale of birch and gum furniture as walnut and mahogany my investigators 

 are now instructed to follow Ihis rule in securing evidence: 



If called mahogany or walnut, the p<jsts, the division rails, the standards, 

 mirror frames and stretchers must be mad<r of genuine solid mahogany or 

 walnut lumber. The remainder of the piece, such as table tops. bufTet 

 tops, dresser inps. chifTonier tops, ami drawer I'nds, can be maile of built- 

 up pidiel stiM-k with genuine mahogany or walnut veneer (Ul the outside. 



If called SOI. II) mahogany or SOIjIO walnut, no veneer can be used, 

 and this means that geinune sulld mahogany or walnut shall be used In 

 making the mirror frames, standards, posts, drawer fr(mts, slab tops, 

 and panel ends. 



If gum or birch furniture is referred to as mahogany or walnut, even 

 if the word "linlsh" Is usimI, evidence of this class of deception will also 

 be secured. If the word "imitation" Is used there can he no cause for 

 action. 



Would you be willing to give assistance in a strictly confldeutial way 

 to our investigators in the event they rr'(|(]irc it when working in .vour 

 section ? 



Leister to Manufacturers 



X surprisingly large n(unber of retail furniture dealers have written to 

 me In the last ten days, suggesting that in c(mnection with our investiga- 

 tions of the fraudulent sales of gum or birch furniture as mahogany (»r 

 walnut, we should also proceed against tlie manufacturers who are guilty 

 of the same olfense, and the retailers have promised to assist us In 

 getting the necessary evidence. 



In strict contldeuce, will you kimlly send me the names of manufacturers 

 who might warrant investigation. 



In additkpn to the requests (d' the retailers, the I.. S. Federal Trade 

 Commission luis asked for this evidence, which we will gladly furnish to 

 It. as well as using the same evirlence as a basis of our ciuitemplateil 

 actions. 



Third Letter to Dealers 



.-\gain addressing you nn the subject of framlulent mlsrepresentathtn 

 of birch and gum furniture as mahogany or walnut, I want to submit the 

 following to you : 



When you refer to a buililing with nuihogany uv walnut "Ilnlsh" you 

 refer absolutely to the solid wimd in wdiich It is tinlshed. When you speak 

 of a manufj(cturer of "interior tliiish or a manufacturer of 'tlnlsh'." you 

 certainly do not mean a varnish or a stain manufacturer. You refer 

 to a woodworking plant manufacturing doors, baseboards, etc. 



Now, how can any honest person stretch his imagination so far as to 

 say he has no Intention to deceive, when he refers to nuihogany "finish" 

 or walnut "linlsh" In furniture and (daiiiis to nu'an Just the reverse'^ In 

 luie case, the real artl(de In the (dher case — abs(dutely an indtatlon. 



In spite of tills you cannot pick up a m^wspaper an.vwherc* that does 

 not refer to furniture that has not one iin-li of real mahogany or walnut 

 in it, and still it is called a dresser, mahogany tlnlsh. or a bi-d, walnut 

 finish. And yet thi dealer maintains hi' Is not trying to deceive the 

 liublic — that the public Is widl posted so that the buyers know that they 

 mean "imitation" mahogany and "imitation" walnut and It Isn't necessary 

 even to inentum It : that the public is also as well informed that they 

 further know that it is made of birch or gum. and therefore It Is not neces- 

 sary to mention that fact. Before the days of profiteering imitation ma- 

 luigany furniture and Imitation walnut furiiituri* were refei-re<l to as 

 indtation. Since the days nf proliteering it is calle(l "tlnlsh." 



Again, we tlud furniture dealers who claim that when a piece of furniture 

 has two or three per cent mahogany or walnut on It and the remainder 

 of some other wood. It is quite In order to refer to this as mahogany or 

 walnut furniture, when In reality there is only a very thin sheet of veneer 

 stuck on the top to hide the wood that the piece of furniture Is actually 

 made of; and we all have had experience with this by having It peel or 

 iContinurA nn i>ayc •^^) 



