i8d 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



^ December 10, 1917 



Hon by D. C. Kcclcs, of Ogdou, L'tnh ; the liedwood Association by J. II. 

 Browne, of Sun Francisco. A brief was read to tlie committee, wlilcli took 

 It under consideration and will probably make certain rulings as to the 

 manner In wblch the war prolUs tax shall apply. Questions of the pur- 

 chase price of standing timber, capital Invested, bought good will and 

 built up good will, and the relative status of lumber concerns organized 

 In different manners and under different circumstances arc understood 

 to be Involved In the problems laid before the advisory committee, which 

 Is beaded by Hepreseutatlve Hull of Tennessee, author of the Income tax 

 law. 



Reported Purchase of Airplane Stock 



The Italian government win buy .•(0,000,000 feet of airplane lumber 

 through I he olllce of Director of Lumber Downman as a result <d' the I'un 



cellatlon of a deal that has been pending for some ti which Involved 



New York jobbers and bondeil wi'stern lumber manufacturers for $U.jO.(MIO. 

 That deal contemplated supplying :J2, 000,000 feet of airplane stock to the 

 Italian government at $1'JI1 per 1.000 feet and would have given the Jobbers 

 a profit of about .$.50 per 1.000. or about $1,000,000 in all. Under the new 

 plan of buying with the co-operation of this government the Italians will 

 get the nmterlal for $."i.") per 1.000 at the mill. 



The labor situation and I. W. W. operations in connection with the lum- 

 ber Industry was the subject of a conference In Washington recently be- 

 tween leaders of southern and western lumber inanul'acture. It was re- 

 ported that the situation In (he west is getting better and that a nuni- 

 ber of I. \\. W. aglators are In southern Jails. The southern and western 

 lumbermen are reported not to be in agreement on the question of govern- 

 ment regulation of the hours of labor in the lumber industry. Several 

 bills have been Introduced by westerii members of congress providing for 

 an eight-hour {]ny in mills shipping their products in interstate commer<'e. 



Locust Tree Nails 



In cutting locust timber for making treenails for wooden ships, says tne 

 Department of Agriculture, it is important to get black locust, and not 

 honey locust. The black locust has a very close grain and is described as 

 one of the most durable hardwoods. The honey locust has a coarser grain 

 and is of inferior quality. The black locust, originally occurring only in 

 the Appalachian mountains and adjacent highlands from Pennsylvania to 

 Georgia, but the department says It has spread over a wide area. The 

 danger of selecting the wrong tree is increased by the fact that in some 

 localities the names applied are exactly reversed, the honey locust being 

 known exclusively as black locust and the true black locust being known 

 as honey locust. 



Late Briefs 



J. U. Townsbeud of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association has 

 been busy in Washington taking up the car situation with government 

 authorities. He has conferred with officials of the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission, railroad's war b()ard, shipping board, and other government 

 branches and with lumber bureaus' representatives and others. 



Mr. Townshend Is reported to Imve stated that hardwood mills have 

 to close because they can not get ears. Many cars have been withdrawn 

 from the hardwood trade, it is said, to carry piles and timber to Hogg 

 Island, Pa., shipbuilding yard. Not all of these materials are needed 

 immediately, it is claimed. In fact, there is said to be serious conges- 

 tion of lumber freight near Hogg Island. 



Mr. Townshend has told the commission and members of Congress that 

 the safety appliance law should be suspended so that lumber companies' 

 cars, not equipped with certain safety appliances, may be used to carry 

 logs on the trunk lines to the mills which could thus be kept going. 



More hardwood lumber is needed for the navy, that department an- 

 nounces. It wants the following lots; Ash, white, firsts, air-dry, .30,000 

 feet; ash, firsts and seconds. 10,000 feet: oak, white, firsts and seconds, 

 32,000 feet ; oak, white, green, firsts, l.T.OOO feet ; oak, white, for bending 

 purposes. K2.000 feet ; poplar, firsts and seconds, 48,000 feet ; also some 

 spruce, pine, fir, redwood and cypress. 



At the request of Kobert H. Downman, director of lumber, the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association is now organizing what will be known as 

 the War Service Bureau to assist the V. S. Government and its allies 

 In promptly securing their requirements in hardwood lumber. An office 

 will be opened in Washington early in January, which will be in charge 

 of Frank F. Fish, secretary of the association. Every bona fide owner 

 of hardwood lumber In the United States and Canadi\ will be requested to 

 file an inventory with this War Service Bureau showing quantity, kinds, 

 thickness and gra4les of hardwood lumber owned with location of the 

 stock, which information will be placed on file at the Washington office 

 and be open to all departments of the U. S. Government through the office 

 of R. H. Downman, director of lumber. 



All owners of hardwood lumber co-operating in this work will be 

 requested to keep the National association promptly advised of changes 

 in the original list submitted, as it will be vitally necessary to keep its 

 records up to date. The entire expenses of the bureau (for the present 

 at least) will be borne by the National Hardwood Lumber Association 

 without assessments against the owners of hardwood co-operating with 

 the bureau. 



The services of the inspection department of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association and its force of fifty salaried inspectors have been 



tendered to the U. S. Navy, U. S. Signal Corps and U. S. Emergency Fleet 

 Corporation and the offer has been accepted by the purchasing agents and 

 officers of these departments. 



Banquets and the War 



The demand that banquets be omitted from business meetings ia 

 widespread and insistent. It is pointed out' that a costly meal, 

 ■with the accompanj'ing speeches and smokef contributes little to 

 the success of the meeting, while the expense can be applied to 

 •jrcater advantage along other lines. 



Tlioro is room for difference of opinion on the subject. Some 

 who identify themselves with the negative side of the question 

 cite the experiences of the churches as argument in favor of the 

 banquet. Clubs and societies which have the financial affairs of 

 the church in charge have discovered that nothing contributes 

 more to the typical ladies' aid society than the dinner that goes 

 with it. Appeals have been made to the members and the other 

 patrons to open their hearts and give the money without the meal 

 and thus make the profit greater; but the ai)peal falls on deaf 

 ears. If there is to be no dinner, the people stay away. 



Business men's banquets are not for the purpose of raising money 

 directly, but for the sake of sociability and to secure as large at- 

 tendance as possible. Few men would admit that they attend 

 banquets for the sake of the victuals set before them; yet, it is 

 believed that the attendance would decline almost to the vanish- 

 ing point if the banquet is omitted. The banquet is defended as 

 a business measure, and it is opposed as a piece of poor business 

 and therefore a waste of money, time, and effort. Fortunately, it 

 is not a matter of extreme seriousness, no matter in what light it 

 mav be viewed. 



Money for Emergencies 



The government's demands for very large .sums of money to 

 finance the war have revived the fallacy of fiat money to take the 

 place of real money. Large banks are receiving inquiries as to 

 why the government does not print a few billion dollars with 

 which to run the war "to increase the amount of money in cir- 

 culation," "to save interest," "increase bank deposits," and 

 "make it easier to raise loans." These inquiries are widespread 

 and some of them come from bankers. An excellent explanation 

 of the situation, and answer to the fiat money advocates, was 

 offered in a recent circular from the National City Bank of New 

 York, which says: 



It is strange how persistent are these ideas about the efficiency of fiat 

 money, because there never was a trial which did not demonstrate that 

 they are fallacies. Money in itself is an instrument of exchange, a trade 

 facility ; it is not final compensation for anything. The government 

 wants money with which to buy war supplies and the people who sell 

 the supplies want money to buy things. The satisfaction of all these 

 wants depends upon production, and that depends upon the labor sup- 

 ply, together with efficient organization and equipment. When the indus- 

 tries are already operating at capacity, the output cannot be increased 

 by increasing the supply of money. .\ny further gains must come by 

 improvements in organization, equipment or methods, and by sbiftlng 

 labor from non-essentials to essentials. It befogs and confuses the whole 

 subject to talk of relieving such a situation by printing money. More 

 money or purchasing power in any form can only increase the competi- 

 tion for labor and materials, raising costs in terms of money and debt 

 without making any more labor or materials available. 



This country has plenty of mere facilities for making payments. Indus- 

 try is not halting for want of means to make payments ; it is limited 

 on all sides by scarcity of men and materials. .Xs a matter of fact we 

 make payments with bank cheques rather than money. The correct method 

 of financing the war is by having the individual citizens accumulate banii 

 credit, and transfer this credit to the government, the latter in turn 

 transferring it in payment of its purchases. The transfers are simple 

 enough, the problem is in getting the individual citizens to understand 

 that they must create by savings the means to supply the government's 

 needs. We must create the purchasing power, and transfer it to tb( 

 government, abstaining from its use ourselves. 



The stock sawer in many a factory can make of himself either th( 

 most valuable or the most expensive workman in the place. 



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