i8 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



/ 



Deccmbc 



r 10, 1917 



may be in direct proportion to the percentage of efficiency revealed. 

 Aside from tlie selfish standpoint is the bigger motive for sav- 

 ing — the realization that conservation of coal is essential for 

 patriotic reasons. Furthermore, there is no excuse for waste, as 

 there is ample information available to any one who is interested 

 in finding moans for fuel saving. 



Changing Over the Factory 



NOBODY KNOWS what may bo the immodiatc I'utuio foi- tlio 

 list of 500 articles pronounced by the government to be 

 unnecessary to the prosecution of war. It is argued in some quarters 

 that the government cannot curtail normal industries or, at least, 

 eliminate them, as by so doing it will eliminate too much revenue. 

 But it is a pretty safe guess that a substantial percentage of pro- 

 duction of these 500 articles will be cut off and the producing 

 capacity thus gained will be turned to war purposes. 



Needless to say the line of war work in which the various fac- 

 tories will be employed will correspond as closely as possible to the 

 type of work wliicli those plants have been doing in the past. Those 

 woodworking factories taken off their normal lines of production 

 will be put onto work that will make possible the utilization of 

 their machines, equipment and employes in the same capacities as 

 they haVe been operating in under normal manufacture. 



Regardless of this, however, any factory taken off from its 

 usual line of production (for instance, if the furniture factories 

 switched from the manufacture of furniture to some form of war 

 material or equipment), will be compelled to undergo radical 

 changes in its methods and in its manner of working new mate- 

 rials, for it is safe to say that in very few cases will the same 

 raw material be emjiloyed as was employed in the production of 

 commercial products. The question then which everj' woodworker 

 should ask himself is: "What is the probable line in which my 

 facilities will be employed if turned to government use," and "In 

 what position am I to most quickly and economically switch my 

 manufacture into that direction?" 



Many factories are undoubtedly in more or less of a groove of 

 production, their knowledge of woodworking being limited to the 

 line to which they have adhered for years. It is up to them, then, 

 first to analyze so far as is possible, the probable direction in which 

 they will be switched, and then to go as far as they can into a 

 study of the raw materials and the methods which will be required 

 in handling the new line of work. 



The planing mUl industry has been brought to a standstill by 

 the cessation of building operations. Have the planing mill people 

 made any concrete effort to ascertain just how their facilities can 

 be put back into producing condition on government business! 



The furniture industry is No. 52 on the list of 500 articles classed 

 as unnecessary. Should not the furniture people as a body then 

 do everything they can to ascertain what the probable immediate 

 future holds for them, and determine how their plants may best 

 be turned to government account if government regulations limit 

 the production in their normal lines? 



It is inconceivable that the government will arbitrarily force 

 into idleness any important manufacturing industry. Sustained 

 production in one direction or another is the basis on which the 

 successful outcome of the war will rest. As it seems inevitable 

 that normal manufacture may be restricted or limited, is it any 

 more than good business for woodworkers who are likely to be 

 affected by government restrictions to take the initiative and 

 ascertain now just how they can continue to make tlieir capital 

 work for them in the future? 



A Time for Working Together 



NEW CONDITIONS IN THE LUMBER BUSINESS HAVE 

 brought on a variet.v of problems and have laid open to 

 criticism some of the present methods of meeting conditions. The 

 last five years have seen a marked development in the local asso- 

 ciation idea. An association designed to effect one set of condi- 

 tions is undoubtedly the logical manner of handling problems 



peculiar to the manufacture or marketing of any one wood, but 

 it seems probable from circumstances developing in the last few 

 months that the progress has not been so marked as had been sup- 

 posed by enthusiastic association workers. In fact, the lumber 

 trade, particularly in its bids on government war business, has on 

 several occasions made itself rather ridiculous and has frequently 

 shown a state of mind that rather puts it in the proverbial glass 

 house wlien it is throwing stones at government purchasing bodies 

 or actuated by purely theoretical knowledge of lumber or lumber 

 values. 



It would be possible to cite many cases where the lumbermen 

 themselves have revealed an astonishing paucity of information 

 as to their own business; of appreciation of proper values for their 

 own goods. For instance: Lumbermen liave been agitating that 

 the government is too low or too high in its figures on fair valua- 

 tion of lumber products requisitioned for government use. How 

 can government officials not in the lumber business state a fair 

 valuation on a class of lumber when a group of lumbermen in one 

 large southern city submitted bids on the same product rariging 

 from $115 to $155. The government officials can draw one of two 

 conclusions from such evidence. Namely, that those bidding have 

 no knowledge of their own product, or what it is worth, or on the 

 other hand that some people submitting bids are endeavoring to get 

 prices far above what the material is actually worth. 



As far as the facts are concerned, though, it is quite likely that 

 the first opinion would be the correct one. 



Lumbermen in the section referred to have had the benefit of 

 association statistics of a very exacting and accurate character 

 covering market values and supplies on just the character of 

 wood asked for by the government. They sliould have known 

 what their product was worth and there should not have been a 

 difference of more than ten dollars a thousand at the outside. 



The whole thing resolves itself into the question of persistent 

 work on cost figures, of analysis and not mere filing of market 

 data and of sales based on such analysis. A more sincere co-opera- 

 tion is necessary and this can be brought about only by more fre- 

 quent informal gatherings for the designation of values on lumber 

 products submitted for government use so that bids at least intelli- 

 gent on their face may be submitted. The situation will be far 

 more serious if left in the present state than as indicated by the 

 mere confusion resulting. 



It is very apjjarent that if the government received such a 

 variety of figures on a lumber product, it will very soon come to 

 the conclusion it is not profitable to use lumber when other mate- 

 rials can be used, and hence government markets for lumber will 

 be restricted to the lowest possible point. 



Illustrating that lumbermen are not using association statistics 

 which they receive, the experience of one large wholesaler buying 

 certain types of heavy oak is striking. He recited recently his 

 observations on a protracted trip through southern producing 

 points, and made the statement that he called on practically every 

 member of the oak association and in every case was asked to 

 name the price which he thought fair. These transactions took 

 place with men who have at their command market statistics 

 covering oak, which should indicate to them the exact market 

 value of the product which this man was purchasing. They should 

 have been in position to immediately name him a figure which 

 they knew to be fair and would adhere to. In place of that, 

 though, they let him do the figuring, and as he was purchasing 

 naturally at as favorable a figure to him as possible, the results 

 varied with the circumstances in each case. 



New associations can be formed every day^ but all will be futile 

 unless each member makes a conscientious effort to adhere to the 

 policies laid down by the associations or the association to which 

 he belongs. 



The best reading room for an employe, or any one else, for that 

 matter, is in his own home. Getting the reading habit is the main 

 thing; the room wUl provide for itself till the man is suflJciently in- 

 spired to take care of it without any urging. 



