30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



April 10, 1922 



(Continued from page 2S) 

 by the permanent Congress its affairs will be administered by a 

 chairman, secretary and a standing committee of twelve. The 

 chairman, the chief officer of the Congress, will be selected at large 

 by the delegates to the Congress. The chairman will select the 

 secretary. The standing committee "shall be designated at each 

 annual meeting of the American Lumber Congress from its own 

 number, by the delegates then present. The members of the stand- 

 ing committee shall so continue until their successors shall have 

 been designated. 



"The standing committee shall number twelve, including four 

 delegates each, nominated by the delegates representing the lumber 

 manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers respectively. The chair- 

 man and secretary shall be members ex-officio of this committee." 



The officers of the Congjjss, in addition to the chairman, "shall 

 be three vice-chairmeE, seJ ;cted from the standing committee, and 

 a secretary. One vice-chairman shall represent each of the three 

 divisions of the Congress, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. The 

 election of the first standing committee had the following result, 

 in addition to the selection of Mr. Peavy: 



Kirby Heads Manufacturers Group 



John H. Kirby was nominated vice-chairman of the manufac- 

 turers section, the additional members of which will be nominated 

 later. 



From retailers: W. S. Dickason, vice-chairman, Kansas City, 

 Mo.; Frank F. Ward, Clinton, Iowa; J. A. Mahlstedt, New Rochelle, 

 N. Y.; H. G. Foote, Minneapolis, Minn. From wholesalers: L. Ger- 

 main, Jr., vice-chairman, Pittsburgh, Pa.; W. M. Beebe, Seattle, 

 selected by member associations, and divided equally between the 

 cinnati, O. 



The Congress will be made up of not over one hundred delegates, 

 selected by member associations, and divided equally between the 

 three branches of the lumber industry, that is, thirty-three shall 

 represent manufacturers or timber owners, thirty-three retailers 

 and thirty-three wholesalers. The vice-chairmen shall be chosen 

 from these ninety-nine delegates and the chairman shall be chosen 

 at large. 



It was provided that "the meeting of the American Lumber 

 Congress shall be held annually in Chicago not later than April 30." 



There wiU be no fees nor membership dues. 



The Congress is described in its plan of organization in the fol- 

 lowing terms: "An open forum for the consideration, by organi- 

 zations in the lumber industry, of problems of common interest, or 

 production, distribution and use of lumber and other forest prod- 

 ucts; and to encourage the wider public use of lumber and greater 

 efficiency in its manufacture and distribution." 



The Congress "shall consist of all national, regional and state 

 associations of timber owners, lumber manufacturers and lumber 

 distributors, whether at wholesale or retail, which shall appoint 

 delegates to represent them at its annual meeting. * ♦ » But 

 all lumbermen, whether delegates or not, shall be welcome to attend 

 and to participate in its deliberations." 



As a result of the work of its committees on commercial prac- 

 tice, trade extension and legislation and standardization, which 

 was reported to the permanent organization of the Congress by 

 the resolutions committee, the Congress adopted a number of prin- 

 ciples and recommendations to the industry, which wiU be reported 

 here somewhat in the order of their importance. 



Grade Marking of Lumber Approved 



In the matter of "Commercial Practice," or "Commercial 

 Ethics," the Congress approved the "grade marking of lumber, as 

 a mean? of protecting the lumber buyers;" adopted the fourth 

 tentative draft of the Universal Order Blank, as formulated by 

 the National Wholesale Lumber Dealers' Association; endorsed the 

 inter-association arbitration procedure formulated at a meeting 

 of representatives of seventeen lumber trade associations in Chi- 

 cago in December 13, 1921, and adopted a set of ethical principles. 



The approval of the system of grade marking of lumber furthers 



a revolutionary movement for the purification of trade practices 

 in the lumber industry. The principles applying to this plan, as 

 adopted by the Congress, are as follows: 



1. The grade marking of lumber, as a means of protecting lumber 

 buyers. 



2. Marks, in connection with the grade marking, by which the mill 

 manufacturing and shipping the lumber can be identified through the 

 association to which it belongs. 



3. The placing in each car of lumber by the mill shipping such lumber 

 of a card giving a piece tally of the grade or grades of the lumber con- 

 tained in such car. 



4. The rigid maintenance of grades through association inspection 

 and action. 



5. We believe in fair dealing, honest grades and the proper fulfillment 

 of all obligations and contracts. 



The Congress resolved that all br.anche3 of the industry sub- 

 scribe to the following general rules to be applied in the conduct 

 of their business: 



1. We stand for the maintenance of a high standard of commercial 

 ethics and honor In the trade. 



2. We believe in the principle of arbitration. Two methods have been 

 reported to our committee, both of which have worked effectively in the 

 associations maintaining them. Some associations bind their members 

 to arbitration, while other associations leave the same optional with mem- 

 bers, but bind their members to abide by the decisions when arbitrated. 



Adopted by representatives of seventeen associations as principal and 

 start in universal arbitration, we endorse the Inter-association arbitration 

 procedure adopted at Chicago, Dec. 13, 1921. 



3. We desire to promote the lumber business for the general good of 

 the entire industry and the welfare of our country. 



4. We believe in publicity, the education of all branches of the indus- 

 try to the highest standards, and in the dissemination of the proper knowl- 

 edge of the economic uses of each wood. 



The Congress adopted a number of other resolutions, detailed 

 mention or even mention of which may not be made here because 

 of the limitations of space. They applied to such questions as the 

 national forestry policy, national transportation problems, exten- 

 sion of the use of lumber through closer co-operation of the several 

 branches of the industry, etc. 



Kecommend Transportation Institute 



Two of the resolutions applying to transportation were of such 

 importance that they must be given more than passing reference. 

 One was for the repeal of the Adamson Law, suggested to the reso- 

 lutions committee by John W. McClure, and the other resolved that 

 the American Lumber Congress should "recommend and work for 

 the establishment of a National Transportation Institute, finan- 

 cially independent of the Government and under the guidance and 

 supervision of men pre-eminent for their knowledge of transporta- 

 tion throughout the country and of known integrity, and that this 

 institute shall undertake a survey of all phases and problems of 

 transportation and disseminate a wider knowledge of the facts and 

 of the solution of these problems." 



The Congress was opened on April 6 by .John W. Blodgett of 

 Grand Eapids, Mich., the new president of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association, who sounded the keynote of the assem- 

 bly. "We are here for a single purpose," he declared. "We all 

 derive our bread and butter through distribution of lumber, and 

 we are here to do what we can to increase that distribution, increase 

 the efficiency in the method and to heal the sore spots and to drive 

 out any rottenness that there may be in any branch of the trade; 

 unfortunately, human nature is so weak that there is always a little 

 of it, which crops out in unexpected places." 



Following the sounding of the keynote. Dr. Wilson Compton, 

 secretary-manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, who was the directing mind in the tremendous task of 

 formulating a plan and calling the industry together, addressed the 

 delegates and explained the proceedings which should guide the 

 Congress in its temporary organization. 



After this the meeting was turned over to the delegates. 

 Palmer Gives Views on Arbitration 



The first session was given over to a discussion of Commercial 



Practice, and the feature of that which will no doubt be of most 



interest to the hardwood industry was the address made by Earl 



Palmer of Memphis, delegate from the National Hardwood Lumber 



{Continued on page 32) 



