20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



February 25. 1922 



he antagonizes and discourges the buyer, and that it is best to let 

 the buyer find out for himself by the inescapable evidence of actual 

 conditions. 



As to the contradictions, there were reports of good and bad busi- 

 ness during January, but all agreed that January, 1922, was better 

 than January, 1921. Reports of falling off of business in February 

 were dominant in the discussion of February conditions, but it was 

 assumed that there would be a steady fluctuation of good and bad 

 weeks and months and that one bad month did not necessarily mean 

 poor demand for any sustained period. 



Besolutions were adopted extending the deepest sympathy of the 

 association to W. S. Thom of the Adams-Thom Lumber Company, 

 in the death of his wife, and also sympathy to Secretary Hayden, 

 who was absent because of illness. 



President Jones was thanked for his efficient service during the 

 past year and wished the best of luck with the new company, the 

 T. T. Jones Lumber Company, which he recently organized. 



The meeting was held in the afternoon and was followed at 6:30 

 in the evening by the annual dinner and entertainment in one of the 

 large ball rooms of the Athletic Club. This affair was arranged by 

 a committee composed of H. E. Christiansen, chairman, William 

 Kelley and Robert Blackburn and proved highly enjoyable. 



The meeting was addressed during the afternoon by Albert Ben- 

 jamin Cone of the Lumber World Review on "Sawing Hardwoods 

 Into Strictly Clear Dimension," and by Edwin W. Meeker, editor 

 of Hardwood Record, on the decision of the Supreme Court in the 

 Hardwood open competition plan case. Brief talks were also made 

 by Robert H. Kerr of American Lumberman, C. A. Carpenter of 

 Lumber and L. P. Robertson of Hardwood Record. 



Several new firms were admitted to membership. They were: 

 A. C. Quixley Lumber Company, Chicago; Schwerke Lumber Com- 

 pany, Wausau, Wis.; H. A. Walker Lumber Company, Chicago. 



In the absence of Secretary Hayden, Robert F. Duncan, Duncan 

 Lumber Company, Minneapolis, presided as secretary and read the 

 secretary's annual report. He spoke, among other things, of the 

 admission since the last annual meeting of the Adams-Thom Lumber 

 Company, Bryant & Masten Lumber Company, T. T. Jones Lumber 

 Company and the Maffett-Graef Lumber Company. 



Mr. Duncan on his own behalf suggested to the members that 

 they give some thought to the problem of the cost of wholesaling 

 lumber, his idea being that cost methods might be applied to mer- 

 chandising as well as manufacturing, tending thereby to stabilize 

 conditions in the wholesale branch of the industry. 



Association Activities Are Charted 



t lytttt iitufd from p'^ilt ISj 



Eleven Cal^egorical Questions 

 With these observations, which have been extended at greater length 

 than I intended, I <lesire the informal expression of your views as to the 

 following activities on the part of trade nssociations and their members 

 wherein neither the form of the association nor the actlvltj'. which appear 

 perfectly fair and lawful on the surface. Is used to hide or conceal some 

 contract, ronibination, conspiracy, agreement, or understanding, secret or 

 otherwise, on the part of the association, the membership or any part 

 thereof to actually restrain trade or otherwise violate the Sherman Act : 



(1) May a trade association provide for Its members a standard or 

 uniform system of coat accounting and recommend Its use, provided that 

 the costs so arrive<l at by the uniform method are not furnishetl by the 

 memt>ers to each other or by the members to the association and by the 

 latter to the individual members? 



(2) May a trade association advocate and provide for uniformity In the 

 tlse of trade phrases and trade names by its respective members for tlie 

 purpose of ending confusion in trade expressions and for harmony of con- 

 struction as to the meaning of trade phrases, names an<l terms? 



(3) May a trade association. In coiiperatlon with its members, advocate 

 and provide for the standardization of quality and grades of product of 

 such members, to the end that the buying public may know what It Is to 

 receive when a particular grade or quality is specllled : and may such as.-!o- 

 ciation. after standardizing quality and grade, provide standard form of 

 contract for the purpose of correctly designating the standards of quality 

 and grades of product : and may It standardize technical and scientific 

 terms, Its processes in production and Its machinery ; and may the asso- 

 ciation cooperate with its members In determining means for the elimina- 

 tion of wasteful processes in production and distribution and for the raising 

 of ethical standards in trade for the prevention of dishonest practices? 



(4) May a trade association collect credit Information as to the finan- 

 cial responsibility, business reputation, and standing of those using the 

 products of the industry ; and may the association furnish such information 

 to Individual member upon request therefor, providetl such information Is 

 not used by the association or the members for the purpose of unlawfully 

 establishing so-called "blacklists;" 



(5) May a trade association arrange for the handling of the insurance 

 of Its members, Including fire, Industrial. Indemnity or group Insurance? 

 In other words, can the members of an industry, through the agency of a 

 trade association, arrange for or place all of the insurance of the members? 



(6) May a trade association. In cooperation with its members, engage 

 In cooperative advertising for the promotion of trade of the members of 

 that csscelatlon engaged In the particular industry; and may the associa- 

 tion engage In such form of promotion by furnishing trade labels, designs 

 and trade-marks for the use of Its Individual members? 



(7) May a trade association, for and in behalf of its members, engage 

 in the promotion of welfare work in the plants or org-anizations of Its 

 members, which welfare work Includes sick benefits and unemployment 

 Insurance for employes, uniform arrangements for apprenticeship in trade 

 education, the prevention of accident, and the establishment of an employ- 

 ment department or bureau for coiiperatlon with employes? 



(8) May a trade association, in coiiperatlon with its members and act- 

 ing for and In behalf of Its members, handle all legislative questions that 

 may affect the particular Industry, regarding factories, trades, tariff, taxes, 



transportation, employers' liability and workmen's compensation, as well as 

 the handling of rate litigation and railroad transportation questions? 



(0) May a trade association, in cooperation with its members and act- 

 ing for and in their l)ehalf, undertake the promotion of closer relations 

 between the particular industry and the federal and the state departments 

 of government which may have administration of laws affecting the par- 

 ticular Industry In any form? 



(lO)-A. May a trade association collect statistics from each member 

 showing his volume of production, his capacity to produce, the wages paid, 

 the consumption of his product In domestic or foreign trade, and his dis- 

 tribution thereof, specifying the volume of distribution by districts, together 

 with his stock, wholesale or retail? 



I!. Ami may such trade association, on receipt of the Individual reports 

 of ejich member, compile the information in eacli report into a consolidated 

 statement which shows the total volume of production of the membership, 

 Its capacity to produce by districts of production, whi<-h, in some Instances, 

 Include a state or less area, the wages by districts of production, the con- 

 sumption in foreign or domestic trade by districts, the volume of dis- 

 tribution by districts, and the stocks on hand, wholesale and retail, by 

 districts? 



C. And If, after compiling the information as aforesaid, the informa- 

 tion received from the members as well as the combined information is 

 not given by the association to any other person, may it then file the com- 

 bined statement with the Secretary of Commerce for distribution by him 

 to the members of the association through the public press or otherwise, 

 and to the public generally and to all persons who may be In any way 

 interested in the product of the Industry, It being understood that the 

 individual reports for the members should cover either weekly, monthly, 

 quarterly, or longer periods as may be deemed desirable by tlie members, 

 and, when a period is adopted, the report for each member shall cover that 

 period, and the combined report shall be for that period? 



(ll)-.\. May a trade association, at the time it collects the production 

 and distribution statistics above outlined, at the same time have its 

 members report the prices they have received for tlie products they have 

 sold during the period taken, specifying the volume of each grade, brand, 

 size, style, or quality, as the case may be, and the price received for the 

 volume so sold In each of the respective districts where the product is sold? 



B. And may the association, without making known to any person the 

 Individual price reports of any member, consolidate all of the reports into 

 one, and show the average price received for the total volume of each, 

 grade, size, style, or quality, as the case may be, distrihuted in each distrirt 

 covered by the distribution statistics for the period covered by each indi- 

 vidual report? 



C. And may the association, after making such compilation, send the 

 compiled report as to average prices, as aforesaid, to the Secretary of 

 Commerce, to be by him distributed to the public, and to any or all persons 

 who may be Interested in the particular industry making the reports? 



In order to avoid repeating this question In connection with each one 

 of the activities outlined in the eleven preceding questions, may trade asso- 

 ciations engage in any or all of the activities named without violating 

 the law, jirovlded the organization and the activity engaged in are not 

 for the purpose of hiding or concealing stjme agreement, contract, etc., to 

 actually restrain trade or otherwise violate the anti-trust laws? 



