16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 25. 1922 



the use of its superior credit. ' ' In other words, he proposes that the 

 Government guarantee the indebtedness required to bring the rail- 

 ways up-to-date. This, he maintains, would not cost the taxpayer 

 a cent. "This is no proposal to take money from the taxpayer. 

 It is a proposal to save him from paying treble the amount of his 

 guaranty in profiteering and losses. It will render a reduction of 

 rates earlier, for unless something is done the improvements will 

 have to be paid for over years and out of increased rates. Nor 

 would he lose a cent on the guaranty, for if American railways 

 can not earn interest on their borrowings let us throw up our hands 

 and prepare for a second Russia." 



"There is nothing that will so quickly start the springs of busi- 

 ness and employment as an immediate resumption of construction 

 and equipment of the railways," Mr. Hoover averred. "... A 

 real program of construction would in its various ramifications 

 give relief to five or six hundred thousand of our unemployed. It 

 would enable even larger numbers to increase their standards of 

 living, and thus give increased market to the produce of our 

 farmers. Our farmers, who look for foreign markets for their sur- 

 plus, should stop to consider that our home consumption of meat 

 decreased nearly seven pounds per capita in 1921, mostly owing to 

 unemployment, and that if this decrease could be overcome it would 

 be worth more than a 35 per cent increase in exports." 



Then Mr. Hoover said in j)assing: "We talk glibly of giving 

 billions of credit to foreign countries in order to increase our farm 

 exports. I wish to say, with all responsibility for the statement, 

 that a billion dollars spent on American railways will give more 

 employment to our people, more advance to our industry, more 

 assistance to our farmers, than twice that sum expended outside 

 of the frontiers of the United States — and there will be greater 

 security for the investor." 



Now this is where the business interests of the country come in. 

 They should strenuously exert whatever influence they have to 

 see that the proposition receives the attention from Congress that it 

 deserves. The railroads must build and build now, and if they can 

 not arrange to do 't alone, Congress should arrange to help them. 



We have pondered Mr. Hoover's advice long and hard and we are 

 convinced that it is vital. We believe that it would be foolhardy 

 to ignore it. 



Repeal the Adamson Law 



DELIVERING HIS ANNUAL ADDRESS to the National Whole- 

 sale Lumber Dealers' Association in Washington the other 

 day, John W. McClure, president, confined his utterances largely 

 to association or specific lumber matters. His chief deviation from 

 this course was to consider the Adamson Law, and this reflects 

 the importance of that problem. Mr. McClure urged that this law 

 be repealed, and in order to assist in giving his remarks the circu- 

 lation they deserve. Hardwood Recokd desires to repeat them 

 editorially. He said: 



"Another year has gone by without any substantial relief from 

 the high freights, which is the largest single factor in the cost of 

 our product delivered to the consumer. Apparently the situation 



has reached a deadlock, which I believe can only be broken by the 

 repeal of the Adamson Law. The heavy increase in wages which 

 was saddled upon the railways through the action of this vicious 

 law was the least of their troubles. The effective destruction of 

 the authority and discipline of railway managers over th.eir organi- 

 zations is directly responsible for the demoralization, waste and 

 increased operating costs which followed. The railroads themselves 

 and the governmental bodies having regulatory supervision over 

 them can do little or nothing to relieve shippers and the general 

 public so long as the Adamson Law acts as an artificial restraint 

 against all natural and economic laws. 



' ' The railroad systems of our country were first saved from the 

 domination of the big shippers, then from the exploitation of the 

 financiers, then from the blight of Government ownership and 

 operation, and now the public must devote itself to the saving of 

 our transportation system from the clutches of the organized 

 workers who are demanding that they be maintained as a preferred 

 laboring class, free from responsibility for their acts and exempted 

 by statute frt^i the natural operation of fundamental laws which 

 govern all business. I have faith in the American people, and 

 believe they will never tolerate the seizure of our railroads for the 

 special benefit of any one class or group of men, whether they be 

 shippers, financiers or employes." 



Now this statement should not be dismissed perfunctorily. It 

 should be remembered and, whenever and wherever the opportunity 

 comes, acted upon. Since the war a great deal has been done to 

 restore our railroads to a normal economic basis, but tliere is much 

 to be done yet. Surely none of the remaining improvements is of 

 more importance than the repeal of the Adamson Law. The 

 passage of this law was a surrender to labor in time of stress. It 

 set up a tyranny of railroad labor which, if it ever had any right 

 to exist, has no right now. This law is a species of paternalism 

 which cannot be reconciled to true Americanism. It must go, just 

 as Government operation of the railroads went. 



A Sure Si^n of Returning Prosperity 



A STATEMENT FULL OF GOOD CHEER for every business 

 man was issued by the Bureau of the Census of the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce on March 23. This statement recorded a marked 

 improvement in most of the "key" industries of the country, and 

 confirmed previous conclusions "to the effect th;it business is 

 gradually working its way back to normal." 



The most fundamental and significant change recorded was in 

 the prices of agricultural products. For months the low state of 

 agricultural values had been retarding all eeonomie betterment. 

 Therefore, such news as the Government now sends out relative of 

 these values should hearten everyone. With the single exception 

 of tobacco, every farm product which is covered in the "Survey of 

 Current Business" made a substantial increase in February over 

 the preceding month. The Government report says; "Compared 

 with December, 1921, the improvement is still more marked. The 

 price of hogs in Chicago increased 45 per cent in two months. 

 Sheep and lambs increased from 40 to 70 per cent. During the 

 same period wheat and corn each rose about 20 per cent. Wool 

 increased 28 per cent, while cattle and the minor cereals showed 

 substantial gains. Cotton, although slightly higher than in Janu- 

 ary, is still below the price attained in the last quarter of 1911." 



Table of Contents 



REVIEW AND OUTLOOK: 



General Market Conditions 15 



A Sure Sign of Returning Prosperity 16 



Repeal the Adamson Law 16 



The Handwriting on the Wall lS-16 



SPECIAL ARTICLES: 



Some Wood Stains and Their Causes 17-19 



Ditnension Stock and Dimension Prices 20 



YARD AND KILN: 



Why Steam Lumber and How? 30-32 



WHO'S WHO IN WOODWORKING: 



J. B. Bartholmew 21-22 



Floyd R. Todd 21-22 



CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS: 



National Wholesale Lumber Dealers Convention 23-26 



Veneer and Plywood Merger Effected 35-36 



Perry Defends Trade Association Work 38 



Miscellaneous 28-32 



HARDWOOD NEWS NOTES 52-54 



HARDWOOD MARKET 54-58 



CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS 60-61 



ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY 59 



HARDWOODS FOR SALE «2-«4 



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