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HARDWOOD RECORD 



November 25, 1917 



main been prepared by men who know wliat is required. The gov- 

 ernment would not ask for such specifications if they were not 

 needed. Practical lumbermen at Washington are every day, through 

 revision, bringing government specifications closer and closer to 

 practical operating possibilities, but in the meantime the trade must 

 realize that its obligation is to make an honest effort to meet gov- 

 ernment calls and to charge prices made not at random and grossly 

 inflated because specifications are unusual, but rather based on a 

 t'.'iir analysis of actual increased cost of getting out the unusual 

 orders which the war work requires. 



When the individaul lumbermen and the associations collectively 

 reach the point where the spirit of patriotic resolutions actuates 

 them in their operations, then these resolutions will have a purpose. 

 Until then they are mere empty expressions and are worse than 

 useless. 



Will the Sherman Law Die? 



IT IS NOT IMPROBABLE that the war will kill and bury the 

 Sherman law; for all practical purposes it seems to be about the 

 same as dead already. It had its origin in a time when there was a 

 superabundance of hysteria and fright, lost business men might form 

 combinations that would restrain trade. During that time associa- 

 tions were afraid to talk about prices for fear of prosecution by anti- 

 trust laws. Anything that looked like team work was taboo. 



The letter of the Sherman law is still on the books, but the spirit 

 has flown away. The courts, politicians and people are not so easily 

 frightened at teamwork and combinations as formerly. The war has 

 brought the change about. The conflict is being carried on and it 

 will be won by teamwork and close and extensive combinations. The 

 tjuestion will naturally be asked, why combinations are so valuable in 

 'tvar and so dangerous in business. 



It is fairly certain that the Sherman law, which forbade certain 

 combinations and mutual understandings among men engaged in the 

 same line of business, will be repealed, and that in its place laws will 

 be placed on the books permitting many kinds of combinations for the 

 betterment of business. The days of abstract theories in such matters 

 are drawing to a close and the time for common sense has come. The 

 preachers of conservation have been abroad in the laud, and one of the 

 truths which they have drummed into the public consciousness is that 

 it is poor conservation for one man to knife another and hinder him 

 from succeeding. It is better to stand together, one helping another 

 instead of hindering. The Webb bill was the first step in that direc- 

 tion. It meant to legalize combinations to promote foreign trade. 

 Other steps will follow and they may be expected to encourage combi- 

 nations for the promotion of domestic trade. If combinations are 

 good for foreign business, they should serve equally well for home 

 business, and it should not be difficult to provide adequate safeguards 

 to protect everything that needs protection. The war will be blamed 

 or blessed for many changes, and indications are that not the least of 

 these will be the attitude of the country toward the restrictive fea- 

 tures of the Sherman law. 



Earnest Call for Lumbermen 



WHEN THE TWEXTIETH EN'GINEERS has been fiilly recruit- 

 ed it will be the largest regiment in the world and will contain 

 17,000 men. It will be made up very largely of experienced lumber- 

 men, and so important is the work which awaits it in France that 

 the War Department is willing to transfer practical lumbermen 

 from other regiments to this one in order to fill it quickly. Its work 

 will consist in providing lumber for the fronts in Europe. The 

 problem of furnishing enough lumber for the trenches, roads, and 

 bridges in the fighting zones is one of the most difficult that the 

 War Department has to face. Though plenty of lumber is available 

 in the United States, ship room is so valuable that it is more eco- 

 nomical to send lumbermen across the sea and cut the lumber on 

 the other side. The search for suitable men continues, and lumber 

 operators in the United States whose employes are in the army 

 have been asked to assist the government in locating such of these 

 soldiers as are experienced lumbermen in order that they may be 

 transferred to the regiment that provides the lumber on the other 



side. The importance of the log cutter and sawmill man is appre- 

 ciated in this instance as perhaps never before. 



Money for the War 



IT WOULD BE NATURAL if some one were to ask by, what 

 process the United States can borrow money to finance th'e war, 

 when the amount needed will probably exceed all the cash in the 

 country, if all, down to the last copper cent, were gathered together. 



The total amount of cash in the United States, including gold, 

 silver, and paper, is about $6,000,000,000. On the face of the fig- 

 ures, it appears strange that the people have $21,000,000,000 on de- 

 posit in the banks — fifteen billion more than all the money in the 

 country. 



Congress has authorized the government to spend $7,000,000,000 

 in prosecuting the war. Some of this will be raised by borrowing 

 and some by taxation. Again the question comes up: Where will 

 the seven billion come from when the country has only six billiont 



The methods of financing are various and sometimes peculiar 

 and might be compared to the problem of "squeezing blood out of a 

 turnip ' ' — where there is no blood. Before coming to the conclusion 

 that it is impossible, it might be well to look at what some of the 

 countries now at war have done in the way of raising money for 

 loans. Take the case of Germany for an example. The total sum 

 of money in Germany when the war began, or shortly before, was 

 $2,787,100,000, including gold, silver, and paper. Germany has 

 spent about $20,000,000,000 in carrying on the war, approximately 

 seven times as much money as the whole empire contains. It has 

 raised it by loans and taxes; but howf Where does the money 

 come from? 



When a loan is floated there, the people turn in most of the cash 

 they have and take government bonds. The government quickly 

 spends that money for supplies and soldiers' pay, and it goes right 

 back to the people. Little of it passes out of the country. Then 

 another loan is floated, and the government gets the same money 

 back, and again paj's it out in the same way. It thus goes round a 

 circle, and again goes round, and keeps going round, and there is no 

 telling how much longer it may continue to go round. Apparently, 

 the same money has been spent six or seven times over by the Ger- 

 man government, and it owes $20,000,000,000 to its own people. 



If our government follows the same plan to some extent, the 

 consolation is that it has more money than Germany to begin with, 

 and will not need to go round the circle so often. Our government 

 will buy at home and the money will stay here, and while in rapid 

 circulation, it will be plentiful, and an abundance of money in circu- 

 lation always makes business good. 



Housing for Mill Hands 



MANUFACTURERS are giving more attention to such questions 

 as proper housing for their help. This is proper, for the best 

 work is done by satisfied and contented employes, and proper living 

 arrangements are necessary to contentment. 



Lumber mill towns have been looked on in" some cases as merely 

 temporary establishments, and for this reason comparatively little 

 attention has been paid to housing. But in most cases the community 

 established by lumber manufacturing is permanent, developing its own 

 reason for existence and remaining after the lumber operation has been 

 completed. 



Consequently there is good reason why housing should be looked on 

 as a permanent problem, and why some attention should be paid to 

 giving mill hands living quarters which will make them satisfied with 

 their jobs. 



If agricultural products continue high throughout this year, the 

 farmers of the country will be able to set up some loan banks of 

 their own instead of needing the aid of the government loan banks. 



The band ripsaw is a persistent candidate for attention in the 

 wood-working institution, basing its claim to recognition upon the 

 saving in kerf it is able to effect. 



