March 10. 1922 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



Department of Commerce is the only Government department show- 

 ing any concern about the welfare of the business man." 

 In Sound Financial Condition 



Mr. Pritchard gave a report of the finances of the association 

 covering the last two years, showing that the organization is in 

 sound financial condition with a comfortable balance in the bank. 



Mr. Gadd's report in addition to taking up the suit on the open 

 competition, featured the Revision of Income Tax Laws, "The 

 Question of Inventory Values and Definitions of the Word Market," 

 the Distribution and Interpretation of Federal Tax Decisions and 

 the Hardwood Tax Committee, he listing the more important activi- 

 ties of his department under the five headings. 



In regard to the decision in the Hardwood Case Mr. Gadd said 

 that "lumbermen are urged to conserve the forest resources, but a 

 strict interpretation of the Sherman Law would force them to pro- 

 duce lumber blindly, stupidly and regardless of market require- 

 ments. I predict," he said further, "we will all live to see the day 

 when the Government ivill insist upon the intelligent production 

 and marketing of lumber in the light of a full knowledge of eco- 

 nomic conditions, because intelligent production and distribution is 

 vital to conservation of our forests and to the proper conduct of 

 our business as a part of the great industrial system of our nation 

 in the conflict of world markets." 



Following these reports President Carrier made a short talk 

 thanking both men for the excellent work they had done, and fine 

 co-operation given his oflSee. He then named the following com- 

 mittees: 



Nominating— E. L. Jurdeu, H. B. Curtin, Ealph May, B. F. Dul- 

 weber and John Kaine. 



Resolutiens — M. W. Stark, Leon Isaacson and Max Miller. 



Carrier Calls For Discussion 



This brought the program down to a point where a discussion 

 of the convention's dominate work was brought forth. Mr. Carrier 

 announced that the plan had been carefully considered by attorneys, 

 lumbermen, and had been argued two days by the Board of Di- 

 rectors, placed in the hands of a committee and reported back to 

 the Board. It had then been placed in shape for presentation. He 

 held that the industry, and the men who had worked on this plan, 

 realized that the industry had to have statistics to operate intel- 

 ligently, and believed that a plan had been found that would do the 

 work. However, he asked members to think the matter over and be 

 ready on Wednesday to argue it from all points. 



B. F. Dulweber was called upon to read the draft of the plan. Due 

 to the fact that some matters had not been fully agreed upon, it 

 was decided not to give the press copies of the report, or allow it 

 to get out of members' hands, until the next day, as any misunder- 

 standing at the start, might cause irreparable damage. 



Mr. Dulweber read the report, outlining the plan of organization 

 of the corporation. The report stated information available was 

 to the effect that Secretary Hoover and Attorney General Daughertj' 

 had in correspondence evidenced the belief that a plan which was 

 available to the buyer as well as the seller could not prove objec- 

 tionable in any way. 



F. T. Turner of Memphis asked a number of questions concerning 

 the plan, especially in connection with proposal of handling in- 

 spection matters through this organization as well as handling the 

 statistical information. 



Gen. Boyle Gives Opinion 



Gen. L. C. Boyle, attorney for the organization, took the floor and 

 discussed the original injunction, the decision of the Supreme Court, 

 and the question of the legality of preparing information or keep- 

 ing statistics on production, stocks, sales, etc. He read a section of 

 the decision of Justice Clark in connection with two sections of the 

 charges, one of interchanging information and compiling records 

 and sending out information. In this connection Justice Clark held 

 that such information, being more or less of a secret nature, broke 

 down competitive relations. He held that genuine competitors do 

 not make daily, weekly or monthly reports of their operations for 

 the mutual aid of a competitor. Judge Boyle held that if these 



matters relative to compiling and distributing the information, were 

 not at all secret, and available to buyer as well as seller, there 

 could be no objection, as it would be within the legal side of the 

 case. He also read abstracts from letters of Secretary Hoover 

 and Attorney General Daugherty, in which both express a belief 

 that if the information was available to buyer as well as seller, it 

 could not prove objectionable to the Department of Justice, Federal 

 Trade Commission, etc., as it would not be in violation of the Sher- 

 man Act in any way. 



With a corporation to handle this work it would be the business 

 of the corporation to handle this information in a business way, 

 the corporation being merely a vehicle for bringing the data to- 

 gether and distributing it. Tliis would make a scientific contact 

 between buyer and seller. Stockholders would elect their officers 

 and the latter would secure the best men available for the work, 

 with the result that it would work out on a satisfactory basis from 

 every angle. 



W. M. Eitter, E. B. Norman, W. A. Babbitt, M. W. Stark, B. B. 

 Burns, F. T. Turner, Ralph May and several others asked ques- 

 tions and offered suggestions concerning the matter. Mr. Eitter 

 stated that he was fully sold on the idea and had worked on it for 

 some time, and considered every side of the question. He stated 

 that personally he would be willing to go ahead with the plan as 

 it stands, but for safety it would be better to rest over night and 

 take the matter up carefully the next morning and call in other 

 legal talent before taking any action, which then woidd not be 

 binding unless every phase of the situation was disposed of in a 

 satisfactory and legal way. 



It was explained that unless the plan was absolutely legal in 

 every respect it would not be carried further than to the point 

 where a real question of its legality blocked it. 



Secretary Fall Discusses Forest Service 



Discussing the reasons for transferring the Forest Service to the 

 Department of the Interior, Secretary Fall is reported to have 

 recently said that the forests were originally in his department, 

 and as they are a part of the public domain there is no reason why 

 they should be withheld. 



According to the secretary there are millions of acres in the 

 Forest Service that have no trees and some tracts covering miles 

 are entirely barren. This unforested land. Secretary Fall asserts, 

 is rented out to stock raisers for grazing purposes from which an 

 annual fee of $2,600,000 is collected. Oflicials of the Department 

 of Agriculture concede that of the 120,000,000 acres of forest lands 

 there are approximately 26,000,000 which are unforested, a large 

 portion of which is said to be above the timberline on the moun- 

 tains. 



Summing up what he regards as the reasons for Department of 

 Agriculture oflicials wanting to retain the Forest Service, Secretary 

 Fall said: "In plain words, it is that the Forest Service wants the 

 large grazing fees that it collects annually from land that hasn't 

 a tree on it. The grazing fees, of course, are collected from land 

 in the L^nited States and do not apply to Canada. But thej' do 

 apply to this country, and as long as the Forest Service gets good 

 fees from cattlemen for grazing permits, issued on public lands, 

 there is no incentive for it to open the land for settlement or for 

 development of resources." 



Glued-Up Handsaw Handles 

 One of the large manufiutunrs of hanils.iws is experimenting with 

 iLincUes built of two pieces glued together instead of the solid wood. A 

 handle requires a piece 9 inches long, 6 inches wide and 1)3 iocbos thick, 

 and apple wood Is use<l for the best grade of saws. In order to offset the 

 increase In price in this material, as well as to conserve the supply ot it, it 

 is proposed to glue two pieces together to get the desired tlilckness 



Imitation Coccobola 

 A Connecticut manufacturer "f small screwdriver handles has found 

 that hickory can be used as a satisfactory substitute for ooco-bolo. The 

 hanillcs are turned, then soaked for a few hours in a hot, red dye, after 

 which they are dried on wire screens and polished with wa.x. The imitation 

 is good, showing not only variation in color, depending on whether heart 

 or sap is used, but also producing a striped effect as a result of the differ- 

 ences in density of the spring and sumnuT growths of the annual rings. 



