26 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



December 25, 1917 



did not know to whom to go for the material. The 

 one bid they had was from a concern not strictly in the 

 veneer business. 



In talking with the different war boards, none of them 

 seemed to know of whom to secure veneer or panels, 

 and there seems to be a strong desire to know whom 

 to go to to secure information. The feeling seemed to 

 be that they would like to work through an association 

 or war committee representing an association, as under 

 the present conditions some outsiders get in touch with 

 some war board that has a large order to place and 

 accepts the order and then goes around and scalps on 

 it. This is not efficiency; it is not economy; and it is 

 not for the best interests of either the veneer or panel 

 industry, and it is certainly not to the best interest of the 

 government. 



LACK OF INFORMATION 



Another very vital point is that specifications are sub- 

 mitted for material and these specifications may not be 

 submitted with the full knowledge of the actual condi- 

 tions, so that if a practical committee representing the 

 veneer and panel men could confer with these boards, 

 submitting specifications, those specifications could un- 

 doubtedly be modified in different ways to enable the 

 mills to produce the stock better, more economically and 

 more quickly and to save the government a large amount 

 of money. 



The Forest Products Laboratory at Madison is doing 

 wonderful work in its tests and experiments, as it un- 

 doubtedly appreciates the conditions under which so 

 many specifications are submitted, and if this association 

 had a war committee or a war council, it could probably 

 co-operate with the Forest Products Laboratory and 

 might be able to give some assistance in the hard work 

 which the laboratory has in approving or disapproving 

 woods or panels that are submitted to it. 



FOREIGN SPECIFICATIONS 



This country has not had any practical experience in 

 battleplanes and is relying upon the experience that Eng- 

 land and France have had with their battleplanes. Speci- 

 fications for American planes are being made accord- 

 ing to the construction of English and French planes, and 

 while the first object is to have a battleplane safe, and 

 one that will stand the actual tests which it has to go 

 through, still we must take into consideration that the 

 foreign planes are built in foreign countries and are built 

 of what wood and what material are available in those 

 countries. This country may be able to build a better 

 plane with the material we have, and that is preferable 

 to trying to imitate the foreign countries with what ma- 

 terial they have available. This problem, as I under- 

 stand it, is the one that the Forest Products Laboratory 

 has to solve and I think every veneer man and every 

 panel man here should give every assistance possible to 

 this laboratory. 



These are some of the conditions as they appear to 



me. As to the best remedy: Everyone, of course, be- 

 lieves that he can suggest a theory or a plan which will 

 solve all troubles, and the plan which I would like to 

 suggest is not any idea of my own, but is the plan fol- 

 lowed out by most of the large industries of this country. 



WORKING THROUGH COMMITTEES 



The National Chamber of Commerce is forming or 

 has formed a war service board, which is composed of 

 chairmen of war service committees, each chairman rep- 

 resenting a committee which represents an industry. This 

 committee of chairmen works in conjunction with the 

 National Council of Defense and this council of chairmen 

 is able to give the government the co-operation of prac- 

 tically all the industries, and it gives it in such a way that 

 the industries can be of great benefit to the government. 

 On the other hand, when any industry needs cars or fuel 

 or anything of that sort, if it is brought up through this 

 council the government is able to give relief, but it prob- 

 ably will be difficult for any individual concern to secure 

 relief unless the matter is brought up in some such way, 

 for the railroad conditions, fuel conditions and all con- 

 ditions of supply and material will probably become 

 harder and much more difficult as we get further into 

 the war. 



If we win the war it is going to require the combined 

 efforts of all the resources of this country, not only in 

 the fighting forces, but the industrial forces, and it will 

 probably require the greatest efficiency of every industry. 

 The only way to secure that efficiency is by co-operation. 

 As you know^, the Interstate Commerce Commission has 

 recommended forgetting the Sherman act and pooling 

 all railroads. 



ISOLATED EFFORTS WILL FAIL 



It is quite possible that some veneer mills or some 

 panel mills can slip around and pick up desirable con- 

 tracts and make a lot of money, but that is not going to 

 win the war. If we want to do the most good for the 

 country and if we want to win I believe we should for- 

 get our personal interests, we should forget all personal 

 feelings, and we should all work with the one purpose 

 of doing the most good for our country when she needs us. 



In regard to a war service committee to work with the 

 war council of the National Chamber of Commerce, I 

 believe we should appoint a committee that thoroughly 

 represents us, and in which we have absolute confidence. 

 We should have a committee that represents not only 

 this association, but every veneer mill and panel mill 

 in the country. This committee should not be too large, 

 but it should be representative, and that committee 

 should have power and it should have authority, and it 

 must be backed up by every single manufacturer. 



The exports of veneer are not separately shown in government 

 figures. The item is grouped with a miscellaneous collection listed 

 as "all other," and there is no way of telling how important veneer 

 is in the group. It is known that veneer panels are shipped to 

 many countries, some of them going as far as South Africa. The 

 vsual name of veneer in foreign countries is ply wood. 



