May 25, 1917 





Lumbermen — Look Forward ! 



Editor's Note 



The following is an address delivered by Edward Hines of Chicago before the Northern Hemlock and Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association in session at Milwaukee, April 27. 



Fumlamental facts must bp reckoned with 

 iu wliatever of consideration is given to any 

 subject. Different viewpoints, tlie outgrowtli 

 of various opinions and too often vague theo- 

 ries, unfortunately, not only retard progress 

 but render a really intelligent discussion of a 

 subject, if not well nigh impossible, at least 

 indefinite and leading away from satisfactory 

 and successful conclusions. Of the many illu- 

 sions under which the manufacturers of lum- 

 ber have suffered greatest harms during the 

 past decade, none have been so harmful or 

 so injurious to our progress as the one con- 

 ceived in the too general belief that individual 

 effort counts for as much to the welfare of 

 the industry as the co-ordination of interests. 

 Selfish interests opposed to co-operation of all 

 interests: subordinating the good of the in- 

 stitution to individual desires and the greed 

 for individual aggrandizement have, from the 

 beginning of time, interrupted progress and 

 destroyed opportunities. To accomplish the 

 desired end it is of the utmost importance that 

 the majority be followed by the minority. 



The problems that confront the manufacturers of lumber today, are 

 largely fraught with elements that have always prevented the ad- 

 vancement to which the industry is righfuUy entitled. A too apparent 

 disregard for essentials and a quiescent mental attitude that has 

 threatened to become a permanent condition of the mind, coupled 

 with a general tendency to reject anything that is new and away from 

 the traditional customs of more or less doubtful value, have conspired 

 to render the solution of our difficulties, troublesome and annoying 

 rather tluin pleasing and gratifying. 



General conclusions are too often drawn from too small a number 

 of observations, and fiom an exceedingly limited knowledge of actual 

 condition.-. Failure tc comprehend actual facts and the tendency to 

 be misled by theories and impractical ideas are quite as detrimental 

 to our success as that smug confidence in which so many of us repose, 

 sati-sfied that we have accomplished all that is our's to accomplish, 

 and all that it is possible to do. The inertia of minds at rest; the 

 inclination to stubbornly defend older ideas because at some time or 

 other in the past, they have yielded profit, notwithstanding their ap- 

 parent uselessness in this generation, and the failure to respond to a 

 renewed and more lively interest in the prospects of our inilustry 

 for the future, are every one of them elements that we must meet with 

 determination and strenuous opposition if we expect to succeed in our 

 efforts to establish our undertaking on a level with other great pur- 

 suits in the world's commerce. I cannot too strongly impress upon 

 you the necessity for taking your association work more seriously. 

 There is so much to be accomplished, so much to think about, and so 

 much to do, that while the task seems sometimes to be gigantic and 

 almost insurmountable, nevertheless the duty is ours to perform, and 

 there can be no reasonable excuse for our shirking it or attempting an 

 evasion of our responsibilities. Instead of shooting at pink snakes and 

 purjih' toads, let us direct our aim at something more tangible, some- 

 thing really more vital to our well being as an industry. History tells 

 us what has happened, in the past but not the future, and it remains 

 for us to help mould the future and shape our destinies with a view to 

 knotting \vhat the future shall be. Whoever accepts the past for a 

 guide must expect to be led backward. The world has profited slightly 

 indeed from the resurrection of old records — its astounding benefits 

 have come through the exploration of unventured spaces and the ex- 

 ploitations of unobserved opportunities. Civilization's coatof-arms 



—20— 



EPWAHD HINES. clIU'ACO 



is marked with the surveyor 's transit, the mar- 

 iner 's compass, and the scientist 's test-tube. 

 The barriers in our way have yet to prove too 

 great for courage and reason. 



In our contemplation of the future and what 

 it shall reveal to us, as to the permanency of 

 values of our products and how best to attain 

 that permanency, we must carefully consider 

 the isresent conditions, what has brought them 

 about, and how they compare with added costs 

 of production, and watch and heed the future 

 that affects our costs and probably future in- 

 creases. These added costs of production are 

 elements too for future reckoning in that they 

 may or may not fluctuate in proportion to the 

 market fluctuations of lumber. The recent en- 

 hancement in prices of quite every item of 

 lumber of all kinds, has come about through 

 a combination of circumstances that renders it 

 difBcult to even guess what may happen in the 

 time to come. We can only fortify ourselves 

 with facts as they are presented to us, and by 

 making such comparisons as are necessary to 

 enable us to arrive at a practical solution of 

 what we must do to avoid past errors and future complications. 

 In my investigation of existing conditions I have been im- 

 pressed with the astounding array of cost of materials that 

 have increased our costs of operation far beyond any figures I have 

 considered possible. And in my preparation of comparative costs, 

 relative advances in prices, etc., of the various conunodities of com- 

 merce, I can but feel that whatever of advantage may have accrued 

 to the benefit of lumber, has been decidedly small by comparison with 

 those that have affected nearly every other known product. 



A careful consideration of these advances shows a startling appre- 

 ciation on some articles, a very marked advance on others, and rela- 

 tively a modest advance on lumber and woodwork. They show con- 

 clusively, that lumber is not high in price, by comparison with almost 

 every other product. 



For instance, pig iron has advanced since 1914 about 400 per cent; 

 copper, 115 per cent; 26 grades of metal, 107 per cent; canned goods 

 (where they can be had), 100 per cent; lard, 100 per cent; wheat and 

 flour, over 100 per cent; wrapping paper, 82 per cent; glass, 80 per 

 cent; coal, from $3.40 to $6.50; lumber, 15 per cent; woodwork, 15 

 per cent; woods labor, over 100 per cent and less efficient; mills and 

 yards from $1.75 to $2.50. 



From this you can see that lumber and woodwork have not attained 

 the distinction of having reached to the general level of values of 

 other products. 



Of the numerous items of supplies, provisions, etc., which manu- 

 facturers of lumber must use in their operations, I have found that 

 the average advance in cost by comparison with figures that pr<'vailed 

 in 1914 is about 75 per cent, for instance: 

 Mill brooms that cost 



in 1914 ^ i.r>(} per doz. now cost $ 



Belting 1.7a per doz. now cost 



Babbitt 03 v.! per doz. now cost 



Machine bolts 1.6S 



Riveted chajn 20 



High speed r. M. knives .24 



Lath twine 7.00 



Nails 1.88 



Hexagon nuts 4.50 



Pulleys 3.20 



Band saws 7:^.60 



Rope 10.75 



per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per doz. now cost 

 per iloz. now cost 



7.00 

 3.46 



.10 

 2. GO 



.42% 



21.00 



3.94 (and advancing) 



9.00 



7.08 



110.40 



24.27 



