Novemljer 25, 1918 



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i Northern Wholesalers in Live Meeting m 



The one thought carried awa.v from the semi-annual meeting of the 

 Northern Hardwood Wholesak'rs' Association was optimism. The 

 meeting was given over entirely to a discussion of future outlook. 

 The question was approached from every conceivable angle. The 

 meeting took place Friday, the fifteenth, at the Milwaukee Athletic 

 Club. President H. C. tlumphrey of Appleton, Wis., was in the chair 

 and spoke as follows: 



llistor.v since our last meeting has been making rapidl.v. The Hun has 

 hcon v;H»|uishctI— an armistice boon proclaimed— the bloody part of the wai 

 is over and now comes the great problem ot readjustment, and getting 

 business from a war to a peace basis. What the Immediate future has in 

 store (or us is the great problem we have to meet. The coming few months, 

 m my uplnion are going to be critical ones and it will be necessary for 

 lumbermen to use their greatest ability and courage in keeping their busi- 

 ness from becoming temporarily panicky as far as lumber prices are con- 

 cerned. 



My uuilorstandiug is that most all consumers are under the impression 

 that there will be a very decided slump in all lumber prices now thai 

 peace is at hand and that they are postponing their buying with that ex- 

 pectation and it is. therefore, necessary for us to keep a tight rein on our 

 sales and use every effort possible to keep prices from becoming demoral- 

 ized. No one can form any idea of what conditions are going to be. One 

 man's opinion is about as good as that of another. 



A few days ago I read a very enthusiastic speech made recently by a 

 prominent head of a large eastern banking concern to the effect that the 

 prosperity of this country would not be affected by the close of the war and 

 that there would be more goods bought than during the war period and that 

 in his opinion this country was to have unlimited business, stating thai 

 we were coming out of this war the richest nation on earth — that we wouUl 

 have the largest merchant marine — that we had been enlarging our foreign 

 trade during the war period — that our factories were in shape to immedi- 

 ately take over a large percentage of this foreign trade. 



Shortly after that I read an article written by an equally prominent 

 man to the effect that the country was about to go through trying times 

 during the reconstruction period — that prices and wages were on an un- 

 natural basis and that it would be necessary to bring about a radical re- 

 adjustment — that the five million men that were in the employ of the gov- 

 ernment would be turned back to peaceful pursuits, which would naturally 

 bring about a surplus of labor and that industrial conditions would have 

 to be scaled down to a lower basis and that when this was attempted it 

 would mean trouble and that it behooves business men to look ahead ana 

 use the utmost conservatism in handling their business. 



Between these two opinions we have that of Judge Gary of the United 

 States Steel Corporation, recently expressed as follows : 



New York. November 12. — Elbert H. Gary, head of the United States 

 Steel Corporation, today warned the American people to be on their guard 

 against "economic demoralization, depression, and possibly panics" which 

 might accomijany readjustments after a world war. 



In a statement issued before he left for Washington to confer there to- 

 morrow with the War Industries board regarding steps necessary to return 

 the steel trade to a peace basis, Mr. Gary cautioned the public to "exercise 

 prudence, deliberation, and courage," as "muc-h depends upon the attitude 

 and speech of men." 



Mr. Gary asserted that there would still be "a normal and certain volume 

 of business." Any attempt 'to secure more than a proper share of this 

 business, he said, would impede rather than accelerate prosperity, so that 

 "we must all trim our sails in accordance with the drift and amount of 

 business." 



The brightest business men in the country differ as to the future, so it is 

 therefore up to each one of us individually to plan out the future for him- 

 self and the one that guesses right is the one that is going to have thc> 

 greatest success. 



It would seem, however, to me that our policy shouhl be conservative and 

 while there may be some readjustments in lumber prices, we should use 

 the utmost endeavor to keep our heads and refuse to demoralize the market 

 during the uncertain period of the next few months. 



There was quite a disposition in the individual remarks to consider 

 the future of the lumber business as a distinct proposition, for there 

 seem to be enough influencos that have a direct bearing primarily on 

 lumber that the outlook for lumber may justifiably be considered by 

 itself. Viewing the matter from this standpoint, one must take into 

 consideration such elements as certainty of large export business for 

 lumber already developing, export demand for many products such as 

 furniture made from lumber, and the certainty of immense building 

 prospects, and the fact that so many industries using wood have been 

 closely restricted will now expand to the utmost with increasing need 

 for their products. The discussion covered all of these points thor- 

 oughly, each being considered according to its separate influence upon 



—22b— 



the future of hardwood lumber. It is certain, judging from the 

 reports and opinions advanced, that lumber stocks are low and will 

 contiuue low and with future demand assured, the combination leaves 

 no room for doubt as to prices. There was some little discussion of 

 the effect of the peace announcement on market values. Some cuts 

 in price have been made, but as a whole, it seems that only those 

 stocks which are of a special nature and have been used primarily for 

 strictly war purposes have suffered noticeably. It is very natural for 

 holders of such specialized materials not readily adapted to the 

 normal commercial market to unload at the first reasonable oppor- 

 tunity, and it is quite likely that this policy will continue until stocks 

 and production are entirely switched back to commercial lines. How- 

 ever, in the standard boards which do fit commercial purposes, the 

 tendency is to hold tight, and judging from the sentiment expressed 

 at the meeting, members present went back to their respective offices 

 with a much firmer determination to sit tight and a much greater con- 

 fidence in tlie future of their business. 



More Regarding Philippine Mahogany 



Readers of Hardwood Eecord have shown considerable interest 

 in the Philippine mahogany discussion which has been carried on 

 for the past few issues. The discussion is between prominent 

 iiandlers of Philippine mahogany in this country and S. J. Record 

 of New Haven, Conn. 



The following is a letter received by Hardwood Record, which 

 is in reply to a letter from Mr. Eecord published in our issue of 

 October 10: * 



New York, October 18. — Editor Hakdwood Recokd ; 

 We have read with interest S. J. Record's letter of October 10, defend- 

 ing his former criticism on Philippine mahogany which appeared in your 

 magazine recently. 



We are gratified to note in Mr. Record's last letter that he "does not 

 wish to give the impression that the Philippine woods are without merit 

 because such is not the case." We are sorry, however, that it required our 

 letter of protest to bring out this statement (or admission). 



Mr, Record originally claimed, at least by implication, that Philippine 

 mahogany was an inferior wood as compared to other mahoganies on the 

 market. This we most vigorously deny. On the contrary, for many pur- 

 poses It is preferred to either of its principal competitors, notably in boat 

 and shipbuilding, passenger cars, pattern work, and trim for large build- 

 ings, and many other uses. 



Mr. Record, we believe, stated in his former article that Philippine 

 mahogany had caused much trouble on account of the difficulty in sort- 

 ing it out from other mahoganies with which it had become mixed at 

 some propeller factories. He then went on to show how the inspector 

 could, by cutting the pieces and giving it some sort of microscopical ex- 

 amination, decide which was Philippine mahogany and which some other 

 sort. Now he states that Philippine mahogany bears only a "superficial 

 resemblance" to the other mahoganies. 



We submit that if it is necessary for the inspector to make laboratory 

 tests on each piece "suspected" of being Philippine mahogany, that the 

 resemblance must be somewhat more than "superficial" as Mr. Record 

 claims. Under separate cover, we are sending you some cuts which will 

 give .vou an idea of the appearance of the wood, as they are taken from 

 photographs, and also, will show you the character of buildings into 

 which the wood is going. The entire woodwork of this beautiful building 

 is Philippine mahogany. 



Mr. Record, we are sorry to see, is displeased with us for selling 

 Philippine mahogany as Philippine mahogany. This name was used by 

 common consent ot our customers and ourselves when we first began to 

 import it some twelve years ago. This name was used not with the 

 slightest intent to deceive (any unsuspecting botanist) or to trade on 

 the names of other mahoganies on the market, as we sold always by 

 sample, but simply because the name "Philippine mahogany" was more 

 accurately descriptive, in the judgment of all the people handling and 

 using the wood, than any other that could be thought of. It seems to 

 us that Mr. Record's pain at our crime in continuing to use the name 

 "Philippine mahogany" is somewhat overdrawn. If it would distress a 

 botanist to find the underside of his new mahogany dining table labeled 

 "Tanguile" we should think finding there a name like "khaya sengalensis" 

 or say "recinodcniron ajricanus" would probably prove fatal. 



Seriously, when African mahogany was first Introduced a number of 

 years ago, and sold as a substitute for "true" mahogany, it was sold not 

 on the grounds of any botanical relationship however tenuous, but be- 



