November 25, 1918 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



?^o 



will consist of various meetings by different industries which will deal 

 with their own special problems, and after that there will be a geu- 

 ■eral meeting ui which results will be summarized and a general policy 

 formulated for carrying on the work of the country under the new 

 conditions now confronting the world. This conference will be at- 

 tended by 367 war service committees from all parts of the country. 

 Just before the close of the meeting a call for George A. Hotchkis 

 was responded to by tliat veteran of lumljermen who has spent seventy- 

 one years in the lumVjer business, and who is now in his eighty-eighth 

 year. His talk was rich with reminiscences of early times in mill, 

 forest and market. The meeting passed a resolution of thanks and 

 congratulation, and included in its terms Mrs. Hotchkis, who is only 

 seven months younger than her husband. Thoy were married sixty- 

 three years ago. 



Resolutions Adopted 

 The resolutions committee was composed of forty members rejjre- 

 senting the following organizations: 



The Xntional Lumber M.inufMrturcrs' Associatitm. 

 The Southern Lunibornion's Assru-iatiou. 

 The National Wholesale Liunber Dealers* Association. 

 The National Retail Lumber I>ealers' Association. 

 The Empire State Forest Products Association ol New York. 

 The National Uureau of Wholesale Lumber Distributors. 

 TIic Alabama and Mississippi Emercrency Bureau. 

 Tlie Retail Lumber Dealers' Association of Indiana. 

 The Illlinois Lumber and Builders' Suppl.v Dealers' .\ssociation. 

 The Ohio Association of Retail Lumber Dealers. 

 The Wisconsin Retail Lnmlter Dealers' .Vssociatioii. 

 The resolutions written by the committee and adopted by the mass 

 meeting with a single dissenting vote were in substance as follows: 



Reasonable trade or other agreements tending to Conserve man 

 power, transportation and other facilities, raw materials or other 

 national resources, should be subject, so far as advisable, to approval 

 by some responsible federal agency, and that Congress ought to enact 

 the necessary legislation. It was recommended that a resolution to 

 this effect be presented to the coming meeting of the National Cham- 

 ber of Commerce at Atlantic City. 



The definition of invested capital, as contained in the bill before 

 Congress, was declared to be unfair to lumber manufacturers, and it 

 was declared that the pre-war values as of March 1, 1913, if the 

 propertj' was accjuired before that date, ought to be recognized as 

 the measure of investment ; and lumbermen ought to acquaint their 

 representatives in Congress with tlic unique economics of the lumber 

 business. 



The meeting went on record as opposed to the increases in railroad 

 rates that have been proposed; and on the other hand, it advocated 

 measures for the purpose of relieving lumber of unjust transporta- 

 tion rates which it is now paying. 



The building of wooden vessels was favored. 



The meeting declared itself opposed to any general readjustment 

 of wage scales that are not in keeping with general adjustments of 

 living costs and economic conditions. 



The request of the American Federation of Farmers for representa- 

 tion on wage boards where awards affect the farmers' cost of living, 

 was favored by the meeting, and the promise was made that the 

 request would be duly considered in constituting such boards. 



The woi-k done by the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, 

 Wis., was approved, and lumbermen were asked to avaU themselves of 

 the help offered by the laboratory. Hope was expressed that the 

 government would make adequate appropriations for carrying on the 

 laboratory's work. 



A census of the country's standing timber was approved, and the 

 help of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association was pledged 

 to the bureau of the census and the Forest Service if they undertake 

 to compile such census. 



Reciprocal import duties were favored, to the end that foreign 

 countries cannot ship their lumber in here free of duty unless they 

 admit our limiber free. 



It was the sense of the meeting that lumber interests should be 

 adequately represented at the forthcoming Atlantic City conference, 



and that all region;tl associations lie notified of the importance of that 

 meeting. 



The concluding resolution was in these words: 



"This convention endorses the suggestion made by Judge Edwin B. 

 Parker in his very able address, wherein he stated that the govern- 

 ment'.s program of price fixation should be abandoned at the expiration 

 lit the periods as fixed by the price fixing committee for the various 

 regions." 



Northerners Hold Pre-convention Meeting 

 On Thursday members of tlie Michigan and Wisconsin hardwood 

 manufacturing trade held a nu-cting preliminary to the mass meeting 

 on Friday and Saturday. About a hundred prominent manufacturers 

 from these two states were present, the discussions hinging mainly 

 upon problems and pro.speets pertinent to that particular section. 

 The tone of the meeting was keenly optimistic, there being a total 

 absence of any spirit of pessimism. Northern operators anticipate a 

 short period to cover preparations for great activity in all wood using 

 lines. The entire lumber trade is greatly cheered over growing evi- 

 dence of building resumption, it being, though, the general idea that 

 frame construction will not get very well under way until spring 

 building weather comes on. There will probably be no delay, how- 

 ever, in starting such large projects as public buildings of all kinds, 

 and in fact, permits for immediate construction have already been 

 issued for numerous such large projects in many of the big cities. 



The various speakers dwelt upon the necessity for a closer studying 

 of markets and keeping cheek on changes that may be expected to 

 occur. It is impossible to accomplish the tremendous readjustment 

 that will come about during the next six months witliout radical 

 changes, and the speakers concurred in recognizing the absolute ne- 

 cessity for a close individual study of conditions and for working 

 together on the part of the trade as a whole. 



Among the prominent speakers were H, H. Butts, Park Palls, Wis., 

 chairman of the markets committee of the Northern Hemlock and 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association; J. H. Kirby, president of the 

 National Lumber Manufacturers' Association; W. R. Brown, Berlin, 

 N. H.; Assistant to Director of Lumber Edgar of Washington, D. C, 

 and J. E. Rhodes, New Orleans, La., secretary of the Southern Pine 

 Association. 



Special Training for Woodworkers 



Tlie New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse has sent out 

 a circular letter to some of the larger operators in the forest 

 products industry, placing before them a suggestion concerning the 

 disposition of soldiers who return from Europe and who will be 

 under the necessity of finding suitable work. This applies particu- 

 larly to those who have been wounded and for that reason must 

 give up what they were doing before the war and must find some- 

 thing else. Men may have lost a hand, a foot, or an eye, and on 

 account of it not be able to accept work to which they were 

 formerly accustomed, but who are fully -able to do other things, if 

 given the benefit of special training. For instance, a man who has 

 lost an eye or a hand would not be disqualified from operating a 

 dry kiln, or a man with one foot might qualify as an apprentice to 

 the machine foreman of a paper plant. 



The college above named makes the suggestion that it undertake 

 the special training of such soldiers and assist them in securing 

 suit.able positions. The college has dry kilns, woodworking 

 machines, and miniature plants of various kinds with which to 

 give training in practical work along different lines. Letters have 

 been sent to manufacturers, acquainting them with the proposal and 

 asking them if they have places for any men who may be given this 

 special training. In this way it is believed that a line can be had 

 on the possibilities of the plan. 



Government contracts for housing are being jilaced and new and 

 special types of office furniture are being prepared for the govern- 

 ment. 



Five-ton and ten-ton artillery tractors are now in quantity pro- 

 duction of approximately 500 of each type per month. This produc- 

 tion is being steadily increased. 



