March 10. 1922 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



called ti) a r('pi)rt from LuuisviMe, that the board of directors of the asso- 

 ciation had reconiinended that the present organization disband and that a 

 now association be formed comprising manul'actnrers, timber owners and 

 other branches of tlie industry, wliich would collect statistics anil distribute 

 them to the public and engage in other association woric. 



Until the entire new plan is laid before the attorney general he will 

 not be in position to comment on it in any way. 



No surprise was occasioned here over the recommendation of the board 

 of directors of the Hardwood Association that the old organization dis- 

 band. In fact, some such step was anticipated in view of the decision 4if 

 the Supreme Court in the Hardwood Case. This was about the only course 

 the association could take under the circumstances. 



The new association cannot receive a clean bill of health until full and 

 complete information is made available to the Department of Justice. 



Leader of Sash and Door Men Speaks 



W. P. Wilson of W. A. Wilson & Sons, Wheeling, W. Va., presi- 

 dent also of the Wholesale Sash & Door Association, made an inter- 

 esting talk on causes for the original injunction against the Amer- 

 ican manufacturers, in which he traced dovpn through the ages, a 

 period of some 3,000 years, to show how business was gradually 

 built up from the days in which warriors and chieftains were 

 supreme and when the business man was of small interest. Gradu- 

 ally commerce came forward, but in time groups developed and 

 became so powerful through centralization of wealth that they con- 

 trolled dependent industries, and conquest and greed reached a 

 point where it became necessary to have the Sherman Act, which 

 Mr. Wilson claimed was a good law in spite of argument to the con- 

 trary. He held that business generally is far safer today than it 

 was when a few groups could control anything they undertook to 

 control. The Sherman Act in part was to prevent something from 

 happening which might happen, although it had never happened. 

 Mr. Wilson stated that in his opinion the injunction was along the 

 same line. The idea is to prevent anyone from securing excessively 

 low production costs, excessively high selling prices and excessively 

 large profits, which in dependent industries without low costs, or 

 high prices, means lean profits. Mr. Wilson defended the associa- 

 tion men, claiming that they represented institutes of business, and 

 that through them men were trained to a wider and better outlook 

 on business, which resulted in their being too intelligent to endeavor 

 to use gouging tactics. He held that the non-association man, who 

 is not posted on conditions, will gouge more quickly than the asso- 

 ciation man, who knows better. In conclusion he held that the asso- 

 ciation idea was to put business on a scientific basis, and held that 

 the American Association was leading the way, 



W, A. Babbitt, secretary of the National Wood Turners' Associa- 



tion, discussed "Proper Production and rtilization of Dimension 

 Material" at the morning session on Wednesday, In his talk he 

 showed charts to illustrate how better cutting of logs into lumber 

 saved waste, and especi;illy in cutting low grades. He commented 

 on the fact that No, 3 common lumber, considering freight costs and 

 small percentage of material that could be used economically, re- 

 sulted in loss for the producer and small profits for the consumer, 

 and argued for scientific cutting of dimension stock, so that every 

 part of the log possible may be utilized in dimension stock. 

 Statement on the Plan 

 Due to the fact that the original plan as adopted may need some 

 revision, it was decided by the legal department not to give it out 

 and instead a statement was issued, covering the features of the 

 plan, as follows: 



The board of directors of the -Vmerican Hardwood Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation in its unanimous report to the association (being tlie largest gather- 

 ing of hardwood pro<lucers ever assembled in such a meeting), and which 

 was adopted without a dissenting vote at its session this morning, called 

 attention to the fact that: 



The subject of trade association activities, so far as they involve the 

 collection and dissemination, by co-operation of those engaged In any line 

 of industr.v, of statistics covering stocks of goods or material on hand, 

 and past sales, in respect to volume and prices received, is at the present 

 time involved in considerable confusion. 



That this confusion has resulted in large measure from the decision in 

 the case of American Column & Lumber Company et al, vs, the United 

 States, which seems to condemn for all purposes the collection of such 

 statistics by those engaged in any industry, and the distribution of the 

 same to those so co-operating. That the meaning and intent of the 

 opinion of the court in that case are subjects upon which lawyers widely 

 differ, and the actual effect of the decision (as distinguished from the 

 opinion) is likewise the subject of a similar diversity ()f views. 



And that the views of different trade groups and those advising them, 

 and of the trade press and other publications serving them, are conflicting 

 in the extreme. 



Meaning of the Court Not Understood 



It was also pointed out that divergent views are widely held as to 

 whether, and if so, to what e.xtent. the Supreme Court interprets the 

 Sherman Act to condemn and prohibit the collection and dissemination, 

 by such means of these statistics, when their accuracy and integrity are 

 in no way called in question. In other words, question is made whether 

 it is the intention of the court to hold that the fact that a trade group by 

 such means collects and disseminates such data, is in and of itself (and 

 aside from any other circumstance) the proof, symbol and manifestation 

 of illegality. 



The report stated that in the light of the historical development of such 

 industrial agencies, the progress of thought in this important Held, and 

 the necessities of business, not only as business itself knows these necessi- 

 ties, luit as they are recognized by disinterested economic agencies, It Is not 

 believed, it cannot be believed, that it is the law that those engaged In 



Member of the Committee of Nine W. M. Ritter, Another One of the Committee of Nine 



Ralph May, Also o* the Committee of Nine 



