16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



December 



191S 



advantage of generally, as an exeuse for wholesale wage cutting, it 

 will develop greater efficiency and more zeal for the work. Thus it 

 may be expected that lumber put on sticks during the late winter 

 months may possibly show a slightly decreased cost, but none of 

 this stock will be available for shipment before six or eight months 

 at least, and no buyer can count upon decreasing cost of manufacture 

 securing for him less cost for lumber sold which has been man- 

 ufactured on the present cost basis. 



While producers are being more generally encourageil by the 

 government attitude toward contracts and surplus of high priced 

 materials piled up at the government's orders to handle war work, 

 the machinery is now pretty well organized for handling all of this 

 surplus material in a way that will eliminate any influence on the 

 general market and there is no possibility of radical price reduction 

 to move this material or the dunii>ino of large accumulations so as 

 to disturb the normal situation. 



The business element throughout the country is rapidly getting 

 back to a normal state of mind and is meeting the problems of 

 read.iustnient sanely and in a way that promises successful solution. 

 The whole question of successful outcome is dependent upon proper 

 organization and upon the general mental attitude. Industry is 

 better organized today than ever and it is entirely likely that war 

 organization may be maintained in peace times under proper con- 

 trol through revision of present federal statutes that are disastrous 

 to co-ordinated work. As to the mental state, no one can question 

 the strength of the country from this standpoint. 



Hardwood Manufacturers Are Organized 



WITHOUT THE 8PIK1T BEHIND JT any action .sought through 

 resolution or other parliamentary ways would have little 

 chance of lasting influence. The big thing, then, that resulted from 

 the Louisville amalgamation meeting, the most important gathering 

 of hardwood manufacturers ever brought together in one point, is 

 the fact that the hardwood manufacturing trade is now a solidl.v 

 estalilished body and has put itself in condition to ilo the many 

 things which need to be done in order that the future of the industry 

 may be marked by progress. 



It is true that the most imposing topic on the program was the 

 grading rules question. It remains a fact thougli, that regardless of 

 what action ma.v have been voted upon as regards grades, such action 

 would constitute merely going through the motions of legislation 

 were the final results not fully backed up by the entire membership. 

 This backing up is not possible without a thorough-going spirit of 

 harmony in the trade. Therefore, as the meeting developed such 

 harmony and awakened a unified desire for eo-operation, the manu- 

 facturing element has put itself in a condition or a situation under 

 which a satisfactory working out of the question of grading rules 

 with the vision of one uniform set of rules for the entire trade as 

 the ideal'Of all is more probable than ever. It appeared at first that 

 the minority report counseling further discussions and conferences 

 between the different flements in the hardwood trade and making 

 possible the avoidance of any conflict within the ranks of the indus- 

 try, was the wiser course of the two. However, with the convincing 

 evidence of unity of spirit within the association membership and 

 the evidence that has already developed showing the desire to really 

 accomplish a sound position and solid alignment on the question of 

 grades, it seems that the action taken is the most promising. This 

 seems, true because had the suggestion to defer action and seeking 

 further conferences prevailed, the position of the industry so far 

 as the question of grades is concerned, would have been much the 

 same as it has been right along. On the other hand, with definite 

 action taken on grades, the manufacturing industry now has its 

 attention definitely focused on this question and has behind it the 

 firm resolve to follow the thing through now that the stai't has 

 been made. The process of following the matter out to a final satis- 

 factory conclusion will be directed along more certain channels and 

 will be assured of success by the fact that the resolution bringing 

 the grading question to a head has resulted in making this a definite 

 • issue and on putting the manufacturers as a single, solid organization 

 behind such effort. .Action toward this end will comprehend intelli- 



gent consultation with all elements involved and this consultation 

 would not have been easily possible before, as the manufacturing 

 element was never in a position, due to lack of co-ordination, to 

 lend its voice forcibly and with sufficient weight of authority. 



But the amalgamation has before it the prospects of far-reaching 

 accomplishment in many other directions aside from the question 

 of hardwood grades. Probably the most immediately pressing need 

 is a thorough and intelligent working out of the question of manu- 

 facturing costs. No one thing has a greater liearing on markets, 

 and in the present pei'iod of reconstruction it is evident that the 

 trend of prices in order to intelligently represent value of materials 

 must be governed by changes in the cost of producing the lumber. 

 If these figures are not actually and definitely known, there is no 

 possibility that market changes may reflect anything more than a 

 desire to get business by cutting the other man's figures. If, on the 

 other hand, with the hardwood market in its present strong position, 

 with short stocks at the mills and on the consuming factory yards, 

 the trade can speedily work out a comprehensive cost system that 

 will be elastic and practicable enough to meet every man's individual 

 conditions, a gradual easing down to a more normal state of business 

 will be accompanied by price changes directly reflecting costs'. 



Another consideration involves the matter of conservation — of 

 bringing before the manufacturing trade as a practical business 

 problem, the question of more fully utilizing the product of the 

 forest. Under this head is comprehended a more sane attitude toward 

 dimension i/rodnction; a more thorough-going study of the final utili- 

 zation of the wood so that the tree may be cut up as nearly as possi- 

 lile to fit in with the ultimate consuming market needs. The lumber 

 trade has always been represented as the proverbial tail wagging 

 or attempting to wag the proverbial dog, meaning that lumber has 

 usually been cut merely to pile on the yards and the consumer has 

 lieeu limited in his choice of purchase by the standard grades of 

 stock that have been turned out. With the best brains of the manu- 

 facturing industry now combined and focused on the question of 

 Mualyzing the consumer's cutting problems, boards may in the ulti- 

 mate future and it is hoped in the near future, be cut not to suit 

 the lumber manufacturer's ideas, but to suit the ideas of the man 

 who cuts it up in the shop. If this is accomplished, the millennium 

 in the hardwood trade would seemingly be on the way, for in any 

 business the most successful operation can come and the most satis- 

 fartory prices result only when the needs and problems of the ulti- 

 mate user are the governing factors in production. 



It is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss, but all of us can 

 remember that in the kid days when we wanted to roll a giant 

 snowball, we made as big a ball with our hands as we could so as 

 to get a good start when we began to roll. The bigger the ball 

 grew, the more snow it picked up. The idea of the hardwood manu 

 facturing trade has been organization of the whole industry. Here 

 tofore there have been scattered groups here and there, each repre- 

 senting a different element, but no one of them was big enough to- 

 pick up a membership accumulation merely because of its size and 

 weight. 80 this amalgamation may be considered as a nucleus of 

 such formidable dimensions that it gives promise of becoming truly 

 as its name suggests, an association of American hardwood manufac- 

 turers. As it exists now, it is sufficiently representative that it will 

 be able to do big things in a much bigger way than was ever before 

 jiossible. Plans are on foot to push membership development and the 

 result is surely going to be a gradual taking on of hardwood manu- 

 facturing groups here and there until the organization has a real, 

 national scope. This will enable it not only to carry on the progress- 

 ive administration work outlined in its various resolutions adopted 

 at Louisville, but will help it to carry on a vigorous and extensive- 

 trade extension campaign in behalf of hardwoods that will be pro- 

 ductive of more and greater returns than was ever even hoped for 

 under the present system of limited group campaigns. 



Without question, the Louisville meeting, which was unique not 

 only because of the spirit of organization and of the optimism of 

 everyone present, but because of the cleanness of the entire proceed- 

 ings both in and out of the sessions, will be remembered as the most 

 impressive and result-producing gathering that has ever taken place. 



