June 25, 191V 



GEORGE E. BREECE. CHARLESTON, W. VA., 

 DIRECTOR 



C. H. BARNABT, GREENCASTLE, IND., 

 MEMBER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



EARL PALJIER, MEMPHIS, 

 CHAIRMAN JAPANESE OAK COMMITTEE 



been idle ; and from all information obtainable it would appear there is very 

 little prospect of relief from this condition for some time to come. 



That official national inspection is permanently established cannot be 

 successfully contradicted, and the difference between the bonded certificate 

 of the National Hardwood Lumber Association and other official hardwood 

 inspections is the difference between a certified check and a past due promis- 

 sory note. 



The attention of this membership is again invited to the splendid results 

 being obtained in our reporting department. Volume No. 5, issued in 

 January, contained the annual requirements of over 600 firms, which in 

 round figures produced a total of 1,500,000,000 feet; and Volume No. G, 

 issued in June of this year, as the second edition of the 1917 work, shows 

 the annual requirements of over 730 buyers, with a total of approximately 

 2,000,000,000 feet. No association or organization operating for profit is 

 able to secure results of such magnitude, but as a co-operative feature, in 

 which the buyer's interests are advanced jointly with those of the sciller, 

 we shall be able to enlarge upon this feature with each issue of the Con- 

 sumers' Register, and numerous letters from members in every section attest 

 to the value of this service, which Is open only to members of this associa- 

 tion. 



The finances of the association during the past year have been in sound 

 condition, and in view of the loss sustained in the operation of the inspec- 

 tion bureau and the uncertain outlook on the transportation question, it is 

 not unlikely that the present surplus will be found very necessary to the 

 maintenance of the service. All bills and obligations of every nature have 

 been promptly met and on June first there was no outstanding indebtedness 

 of any nature. 



The financial showing was so satisfactory that it was moved and 

 ordered that $10,000 of the association 's funds be invested in Liberty 

 bonds. 



A resolutions eoniniittoe was ajipointed by the chair, tlie members 

 of which are Earl Palmer, Memphis, Tenn., chairman; J. B. Wall, 

 Buffalo, N. Y.; J. V. Stimsou, Huutingburg, Ind.; Theodore Fa- 

 thauer, Chicago, and W. C. Hull, Traverse City, Mich. 



The, committee appointed on ofl&cers' reports consisted of E. V. 

 Babcock, Pittsburgh, chairman; J. W. Dickson, Memphis, Tenn., and 

 W. W. Knight, Indianapolis, Ind. 



The National Chamber 



The work done in the interest of general business by the Chamber of 

 Commerce of the United States was made the subject of an address 

 by Gardner I. Jones, Boston, Mass. This national body pushes its 

 activities into all lines of country-wide scope. The fifth annual meet- 

 ing of the body was held iu Washington, D. C, January 31 and Feb- 

 ruary 1 and 2 of this year. Its membership is found in all parts of 

 the country. 



Report of Committee on Japanese Oak 



The situation with regard to the importation of Japanese oak, 

 particularly on our Pacific coast, was made the subject of a report 

 by a committee of which Earl Palmer was chairman. The Japanese 

 are able to lay down their oak in California, Oregon and Washington 

 at prices which cannot be met in that region by the sellers of eastern 

 oak. The Japanese wood threatens to reach other American markets 



—18— 



besides those of the western coast. On account of scarcity of ships 

 and the consequent high freight charges, the imports of the oak from 

 Asia have declined during the past year, and until a change in carrying 

 facilities is brought about it was not deemed necessary to take par- 

 ticular action against the foreign wood; but when the freight situation 

 changes the way will be open for an increased invasion of this oak. 

 Two remedies were suggested by the committee, one consisting of an 

 increase in duty on the foreign wood, and the other calling for a 

 reduction of the freight rate on eastern oak shipped to the Pacific 

 coast; but no steps were taken to put either remedy into effect at 

 this time. The report follows: 



.\t the annual meeting one .vcar ago, a resolution was adopted authorizing 

 the appointment of a committee to investigate and, as far as possible, to 

 combat the invasion of the markets of this country by oak produced in 

 Japan, which, in a large degree, was superseding American oak iu the West 

 coast markets and threatening to become a dangerous competitor in all 

 other markets la this country. 



It is the purpose of this report to set forth what has been attempted and 

 accomplished by this special committee and to submit its views regarding 

 action ou the part of the lumbermen which it believes to be necessary in 

 order properly to protect these markets in the Interest of the home-grown 

 product. 



At the present time no emergency exists demanding immediate action, 

 because during the past year there has been but little importation of 

 Japanese oak into this country. It would be gratifying to me, as cliairman 

 of this committee, if I could truthfully claim that the deluge of this kind 

 of lumber which threatened to engulf the Pacific coast markets had been 

 checked by the efforts of this committee ; but veracity forbids such a claim. 

 In fact, as will later be disclosed in this report, the efforts of the commit- 

 tee were not crowned with any degree of success at any point of the lines 

 along which it worked. The real reason for the diminution which has oc- 

 curred in the importation of Japanese oak is due to the prevailing shortage 

 of shipping. But, while the end to be accomplished by this committee has 

 been achieved temporarily by another cause, it should be fully understood 

 by the lumbermen of the country that the abatement in the importation of 

 Japanese hardwoods is only for the time being — perhaps during the dura- 

 tion of the war. and as soon as ships once more are available to carry this 

 lumber, the process of dumping it on our shores will be immediately re- 

 sumed, unless some effective action is taken to resist the invasion. 



The folly of relying upon any sentimental objection to the use of Japan- 

 ese oak, even when founded on sound business logic, to assist in bringing 

 about its exclusion from our markets is best illustrated by the failure of 

 this committee in three instances to obtain the adoption of American oak 

 as against Japanese oak in buildings which were to be constructed on the 

 Pacific coast. 



The first instance was that related to a nrw office building proposed by 

 the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was to be constructed in San Fran- 

 cisco, and which is doubtless under way at this time. The interior trim 

 of this building was reputed to call for about 150,000 feet of oak, and the 

 specifications originally called for wood of Japanese variety. 



This committee, immediately upon its appointment, sought to have the 

 speciflcations changed to American oak. The matter was taken up with 

 William Sproule, the president of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was 

 urged that of all consumers of lumber a transcontinental railroad, whose 

 business in part was the transportation of hardwood lumber from producing 

 points iu the central stales to the Pacific sialpoard, could least afford to 



