January 25, l'J19 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



Working to Develop Export Shipments 



The export trade at Baltimore is greatly interested in the out- 

 iook for the resumption of foreign shipments. So far nothing has 

 been done to facilitate the movement, and the British government 

 is holding down the lid as closely as ever. Although it might be 

 supposed that the embargo imposed for so long a time vrould have 

 resulted in reducing the stocks on the other side to proportions that 

 made additions imperative, the authorities of the United Kingdom 

 have so far given no indications of a relaxing of the impediments, 

 in spite of the very distinct murmurs of protest from English 

 importers and the growing impatience of the American exporters. 

 The latter have been urging the Washington officials to take some 

 action, so far without success; but they now see a chance of get- 

 ting results. At a conference which Harvey M. Dickson, secretary 

 of the National Lumber Exporters' Association, had on January 16 

 he obtained a statement from the railroad administration that it 

 was expected at a time in the near future lumber would be placed 

 in the same position as cotton with regard to through bills of lad- 

 ing, such documents being now issued on cotton, which elicited 

 complaint of discrimination. Members of the shipping board, with 

 whom Mr. Dickson also conferred, stated that as soon as possible 

 American slmis would be put in service, and that when this was 

 done lumber^would be among the freight received for shipment 

 to foreign countries. 



The failure of the British authorities to raise any of the prohibi- 

 tions against the importation of lumber from the United States has 

 given rise to many protests and is beginning to be interpreted as 

 part of a deliberate plan to keep such lumber out of the United 

 Kingdom by the exercise of the arbitrary powers conferred under 

 stress of war. The British importers as well as the American 

 exporters are now beginning to demand that, since the purposes in 

 the furtherance of which the prohibition was imposed no longer are 

 to be subserved, the trade should be freed from the checks that not 

 merely limit business, but prevent it altogether. It is being sug- 

 gested that the British authorities are actuated by a desire to dis- 

 pose of the 15,0(!^0,000 to 17,000,000 feet of lumber bought by them 

 for war purposes and left on their hands by the rather sudden 

 ending of the conflict. Some of this lumber is in the United King- 

 dom and other stocks are still on this side of the Atlantic; and in 

 this connection it is charged that the officials are arbitrarily using 

 the powers which they wield to retain a monopoly of the market, 

 not merely in the United Kingdom, but also in the United States. 

 This latter purpose is accomplished by means of refusal to issue 

 permits for the shipment of stocks to British ports, so that private 

 shippers are entirely out of the running. Moreover, the British 

 government enjoys an enormous advantage in the shape of a 

 freight rate, which makes it impossible for private exporters to 

 compete. Regular shipments are excluded, and only dunnage is 

 allowed to go forward. But it has been observed that whereas it 

 takes very little lumber to dunnage a steamer, five or more carloads 

 have been put ashore from some vessels, which furnishes ground 

 for the suspicion that large quantities of lumber not intended as 

 dunnage go over under this classification. Dunnage is controlled 

 absolutely by the government, the purchase of such stocks having 

 been taken away from private parties, so that no one is in the 

 market except the British ministry of shipping or other oificials. 

 To make the advantage in favor of the British government still 

 more decisive, no room is to be had for the shipment of other stocks, 

 the ten per cent of space on steamers, which has recently been 

 increased to fifteen per cent, .ivailable for general cargoes, being 

 taken up with other freight, laigoly for the government. Besides, 

 the steamship companies are asking a freight rate of not less than 

 $3.50 per 100 pounds, or approxinintoly $140 per 1000 feet on lum- 

 ber; while the government is getting stocks put over on the other 

 side at twenty-one shillings three pence, a reduction of late from 



forty-one shillings three pence, or about $9 per 1000 feet. Under 

 these circumstances there is absolutely no chance for private ship- 

 pers to get any of the business. 



The grievance of the exporters here, however, goes even further 

 than this. There can be no very well-founded objection to the 

 British government desiring to get rid of the lumber purchased and 

 for which it now has no use; but it is rumored that purchases in 

 the United States on government account are being continued, and 

 that the British authorities are engaged in nothing more nor less 

 than a big scheme of profiteering. The situation has still another 

 angle, this being its relation to the use of the American merchant 

 marine. Although this country is stated to have some 3,000,000 

 tons of vessels, not one of this vast fleet has so far been available 

 for the transportation of lumber, which in turn suggests that 

 England is endeavoring by artificial means to sidetrack American 

 ships and reserve the business for her own carriers, apart from the 

 opportunity afforded by absolute control of the British market for 

 dictating prices here and getting stocks on her own terms. 



This is the view expressed by exporters who have given the mat- 

 ter serious thought and who have followed developments as far as 

 they can be followed from the information available. It is giving 

 rise to suspicions involving the good faith of our ally, and is 

 regarded by many as calling for a decidedly vigorous and emphatic 

 assertion of American rights. 



The foreign situation, of course, will receive thorough considera- 

 tion at the annual meeting of the National Lumber Exporters' 

 Association, to be held at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans 

 next Wednesday and Thursday. At this meeting, it is expected, 

 Frank Tiffany, the foreign representative of the association, will 

 make an exhaustive report on export conditions, which he has had 

 exceptional opportunities for studying at close range. Mr. Tiffany 

 is now on the way over, having sailed on the steamer Lapland. 

 He was to have gone on the Mauretania, but an accident to that 

 vessel caused delay and a change in plans. 



Baltimore will be represented at the meeting by John L. Alcock, 

 John L. Alcock & Co., the treasurer; Mr. Dickson, the secretary, 

 and D. W. Hartlove of Price and Heald. It is also possible that 

 Frank Heim of K. P. Baor & Co., who is now in Bogalusa, La., look- 

 ing after the completion of the new sawmill there, will join the 

 party in the Crescent City. 



Building Code Revision Campaign 



E. S. Whiting of the engineering bureau of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers ' Association is on an extended trip through the 

 South in the interest of a campaign for building code revision in 

 those cities where lumber is discriminated against in municipal 

 ordinances affecting construction work. 



The need for material changes in the building laws of many cities 

 throughout the country is urgent, now that an unexampled era of 

 construction appears about to set in. Lumbermen everywhere have 

 complained of conditions in their localities, and the subject has 

 been repeatedly discussed at national gatherings, until finally action 

 of the right sort is in prospect. 



Mr. Whiting is one of the best known architectural experts in the 

 country, and has been making a special study of the municipal build- 

 ing ordinary problem. It is his purpose to get into touch with 

 leading men of the industry in the various cities vnth the idea of 

 making constructive suggestions concerning such legislation. 



When basswood received its name the bark was more important 

 than the wood, as the name means "bark wood." The inner bark 

 was used to make ropes and cords. 



