HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



lu a short lime, uo one knows Just wlicu, the ranamii canal will be 

 open for t raffle. What effect this is going to have ou the iuuiber business 

 Js prohli-matlcal. Far-sighted wholesalers on tlie Atlantic coast are get- 

 ting ready to handle the West coast lumber which will rurel.v move east- 

 ward Its soon as the canal is open. Have we anything to fear from this 

 rearrangement of the lumber traffic? It is estimated that there wlli be 

 vessel capacity tor only IJOO.OOO.OOO tlie lirst year and that the rate will 

 be between $11 and $12 per thousand feet. Add to this the cost of the 

 lumber at shipping point, handling charges and freight from the .\tlantic 

 -coast to the central slates and you have the estimated selling price to 

 ihc consumer. There are those who are inclined to think that hemlock 

 manufacturers have nothing to fenr from this quarter, while the influx 

 -of this lumber might be a distinct benefit by steadying the market which 

 would do away with the extremes In prices that arc so common and disas- 

 trous under present conditions. 



At our soml-annual uicellng I called your attention to the acute rest- 

 lessness in labor circles. This restlessness has been seized upon by So- 

 -clallstic agitators who, by falsehood and misrepresentation, have influ- 

 •enced the minds of men in different localities until at present some of 

 our loading iltdustries have very serious strikes on their hands. The 

 papers of our large cities, ever anxioiis to cater to that part of man's 

 make-up which craves for something sensational in the line of news, or 

 ihrougli the Influence of oi'ganized labor, have not always represented the 

 true conditions In these strike-infested districts. Conditions for the com- 

 mon laborer at present are bad : that is. we must consider them bad when 

 men are out of work and being fed and housed at municipal expense. 

 Most manufacturers arc ijuick to take advantage of these conditions to 

 reduce wages. I am not saying that wages should not be reduced in cer- 

 tain instances, but I believe that it would be to the manufacturer's ad- 

 vantage to increase the elUciency of his plant rather than to take this 

 step, for there is a living wage below which it is dangerous to go. Most 

 of our freak legislation is brought about by just these conditions, labor 

 hitting back at capital for a real or imaginary grievance. At this instant 

 the Michigan Federation of Labor is agitating for an eight-hcur law in 

 that stale. A law of this sort would either increase pay rolls twenty per 

 cent or it would reduce wages. If this law applied to the entire union it 

 ■would probably hurt no one, as we would all be on the same footing. It 

 would, however, increase the cost of living and we would continue to 

 chase ourselves around a circle. I sometimes wonder if we have not 

 reached the limit and if it is not about time for us to reverse and travel 

 the circle in the opposite direction. We have liability laws which if 

 equitable are lust, but do we want an eight-hour law ; do we want a mini- 

 mum wage; do we want old-age pensions? All of these must be taken 

 into consideration before you decide to reduce common laborers' wages 

 below the amount which will support a man and his family decently. 



Following the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, 

 Secretary Kellogg read the report of Treasurer George E. Foster. 

 This report showed a balance on hand January 27, 1913, $3,286.71; 

 receipts during the year, $20,908.14, making the total assets for 

 the year $24,194.83; disbursements, $25,825.16, leaving a balance on 

 hand January 26, 1914, $3,369.69. 



Secretary R. S. Kellogg then read his report, which as usual was 

 full of valuable suggestions and was very closely followed. 

 Secretary's Report 

 It is a pleasure to report a prosperous condition of association affairs 

 on the fourth anniversary of the amalgamation of the Northwestern Hem- 

 lock Manufacturers' .\ssociation with the Flardwood Lumber Manufac- 

 turers of Wisconsin, which marked the beginning of the Northern Hem- 

 lock and Hardwood Manufacturers' Association. You will And on the 

 back of today's program the, names of eighty-two members! — two more 

 than at this time last year, notwithstanding the loss of six members 

 during 191.3. Four of these completed operations and went out of busi- 

 ness, one small firm dropped out because of reorganization and financial 

 difficulties, while one larger firm terminated membership because it had too 

 great an aversiim to paying dues according to the membership contract, 

 although It was very ready to take advantage of association activities. 

 Altogether, we have a very compact, efficiently working membership who 

 can lie depended upon to do their part on the final show-down, although 

 it sometimes requires rather strenuous effort on the part of the secretary 

 to get the results he is instructed to do. 



The regular expenses of the association were $150 less in lOl.T tbMa 

 was estimated at the beginning of the .year. In detail, they were as 

 follows : 



Salaries ; 8,811.41 



Advertising (1913 campaign to date) 3i464.53 



Travel !J,157.B4 



Sales Reports 1.462.00 



National Lumber Manufacturers' Association 1,. 3.^0.00 



Office expense .liST.OS 



Postage, telegraph and telephone .^.'iO.O" 



Stationery and printing ,364.78 



Furniture and equipment 313.10 



Total $in.590.fl« 



These expenses were partially offset by Hie following receipt*: 



Relnspeetlons Kaj-JS 



Rate books 48.00 



Total »Trr.2S 



Consequently, the net expenses were $ls..>sl3.40. During the year a 

 commodious safe cabinet for the protection of our records and a type- 

 writer to help handle the Increased correspondence were added to the 

 office eciuipmenf, and also a small addressing machine to take care of the 

 mailing list. A small addition has also been made to the office quarters, 

 so that we now have plenty of room and facilities with which to promptly 

 liandle a large volume of work. It may also be added that the actual 

 amount of ofllce work done in 1913 was very much In excess of that In 

 any previous year, due chiefly to the heavy Increase In correspondence 

 because of association advertising. 



A numiier of final reports of 1913 shipments have not yet been re- 

 ceived. Consequently, no exact statement can be made of tbc present 

 balance of association funds. It appears, however, that the balance will 

 not be less than .f3,300, after deducting the appropriation of $2,500 for 

 the Forest Products Kxpositlon, and advertising expenses on present con- 

 tracts to the first of April — the board of directors having authorized an 

 increase of $000 in the advertising appropriation over the amount allowed 

 at the annual meeting last year. Our dues to the National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' .Association are also paid in advance until April 1. ^Considering 

 these oxtia expenses, this approximate balance of $:{,.'!00 compares most 

 favorably with a balance of approximately $4,000 a year ago, and of only 

 $400 two years ago. So far as can be determined at this time, the net 

 over-run of dues on 1913 shipments will be about $2,000. 



The large statistical report which you have in your bands is altogether 

 too long to be given detailed discussion. I hope very &tieh, however, that 

 every one present will preserve his copy long enough to examine it for at 

 least one-tenth as much time as was required for the compilation of the 

 sheet in the secretary's office. In a nutshell, there is more lumber on 

 hand than there was a year ago by perhaps ten per cent. On January 1, 

 1913, iiowever, stocks were thirty-five per cent lighter than on January 1, 

 1012, so we are by no means yet back to a normal supply of lumber ready 

 for shipment. 



The detailed report of stocks held bj sixty-seven firms on January 1, 

 this year, specified by grades and thicknesses, should receive especial 

 attention. It is the first time that we have compiled such a report. It 

 should be of great value in indicating the relative supply of various items. 

 There is a lot of work in the compilation of such a report, but it will be 

 gladly undertaken by the secretary's office just as often as desired if the 

 members will do their part in furnishing the information. Discussion of 

 this subject today will be appreciated. 



In addition to the ordinary routine of the association office, especial 

 mention should be made of several prominent features of association 

 accomplishments in the year just closed. 



We were well represented at the annual meeting of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association in Kansas City last June and had an active 

 part in the work of that organization throughout the year. Since the 

 scope and character of the National Lumber Manufacturers' -Vssociation 

 makes it possible for this organization to deal only with the broader, gen- 

 eral problems which confront the lumber industry, individual manufac- 

 turers often question whether they receive direct benefit from affiliation 

 with the larger organization. No one who ever attends a meeting of the 

 National association and really learns what it is doing ever raises this 

 question. It is worthy of our heartiest moral and flnancfal support. In 

 the preparation for the Forest Products Exposition by the National Lum- 

 ber Manufacturers' Association, your president and secretary are having 

 an active part through membership on the committee in direct charge of 

 operations, Moreover, our association members have subscribed for a 

 larger number of shares in the Forest Products Exposition Company than 

 have been taken by any other organization affiliated with the National 

 association. The plans for the exposition are going forward in a satis- 

 factory manner, and our own sliare In It will be a subject for consideration 

 today. 



We were also well represented at the National Conservation Congress 

 in Washington in November. Although the Congress proper got into the 

 perennial mix-up on the qnestlnns of state's rights and water powers, the 

 forestry section of the eongress brought together the most practical series 

 of reports and discussion* upon lumbering and forestry that have ever been 

 comi)iie<l. The work of the forestry section was made possible through a 

 fund of $r..(}0O fomiRhod by a number of the most public-spirited lumber- 

 men of the coontry. The proceedings, including ten valuable committee 

 rep^irls, the addresses on forestry and lumbering, and the more important 

 discussion*, are now being published in a bound volume, which all lumber- 

 men gbonld have. It Is my recommendation that the association be author- 

 ized fo boy 1110 copies of this report at a cost of fifty cents each, to be 

 (li»lribn»ed to our members. To do -so would be to give only a very small 

 reeognUUm on our part to the valuable work which has been done by the 

 mtmt prominent lumbermen and foresters in the country. 



The Eau Claire meeting on October 29 unanimously authorized the 

 president to call a meeting of logging superintendents In ttreen Hay. and 

 also gave the bureau of grades authority to call meetings of the yard 

 foremen and graders of the members at the most convenient points during 

 the slack period at the beginning of the New Year. The logging meeting 

 held at Oreen Bay was one of the largest meetings ever held by the asso- 

 ciation officers, and it developed far beyond expectations both in interest 

 nt that time and In the foundations laid for future work along this line. 

 The committees appointed at the close of the meeting have reports to pre- 

 gent today. 



