26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



January 25, 1918 



purpose of helping the government end as an expression to tlie govern- 

 ment by the lumber trade of their willingness to furnish lumber or timber 

 at their plants whenever It Is wanted. 



But, while direct orders from the government are small and are going 

 to be small, indirect requirements in the way of lumber and timber and 

 lumber products are going to be tremendous, and you gentlemen shciuld 

 begin to develop your business along such lines as will enable you to take 

 care of those requirements, which may be summarized as follows: 



First: Boxes. The demand for these will tax the entire capacity of 

 existing plants to Oil them. They are needed to ship food, ammunitions 

 and various supplies to the soldiers of the United States and her allies. 

 This demand Is just beginning, but it will grow very rapidly, and every 

 foot of lumber you can manufacture In the way of box material will be 

 needed. 



Second : Wagon and subsidiary manufacturers, including wheels. The 

 government placed an order for 70,000 escort wagons In August. It has 

 placed another for 70,000 within the past two weeks, and it has also 

 placed one for 20,000 two-wheel wagons. I am told by Mr. Parsonage, 

 representing the vehicle industry, that all manufacturers are participat- 

 ing. But he said they must have the co-operation of the lumber manu- 

 facturers In supplying the necessary material, practically all of which 

 had to be bought after .Tanuary 1. 



I am authorized to make the statement that prices on thick oak have 

 not been fixed by the government. These wagons are not made on the 

 "cost plus" plan, but the contracts therefor have been let out at fixed 

 prices. The contractors have used certain estimates for the Cost of mate- 

 rial beyond which they cannot go, but Mr. Parsonage was unable to give 

 me this price. The buying committee will not buy the materials for these 

 wagons except when the contracting firms are not getting the material fast 

 enough. 



Thikd : Handles. The day before I left Washington the ordnance 

 department asked the bureau about handles and said that millions of 

 them would he required, from hammer handles up. The lumbermen will 

 be called on to furnish the necessary material. 



Fourth : Aeroplanes. I have in my hand now a telegram which has 

 just reached me. It is from the signal corps and wants the bureau to 

 compile figures covering firsts and seconds, 2, 3 and 4-inch white ash, 12 

 feet long and up. There is a big demand for oak, ash, spruce and walnut 

 for the manufacture of aeroplanes to put a big fleet in the air. There 

 are erroneous ideas abroad about how many aeroplanes the government 

 is going to build. I do not know how many, but I know that the quantity 

 will be large. It would be bad policy for the government to give out 

 information on such a topic. A great deal of quartered white oak is going 

 to be needed. 



Lumber requirements for the allies will come through the director of 

 lumber, and will be limited to what can be spared and by the ocean ship- 

 ping space available tor Its transport. The allies are in the market now 

 for aeroplane stock, principally spruce, poplar and ash. 



The foregoing covers the trend of what the government will need. But 

 the big orders will not come from the bureau but from the manufacturers 

 of boxes, wagons, trucks and other government requirements. And the 

 government will not fix any price unless prices for lumber run away and it 

 Is necessary for it to take over your plants. 



Ordinary requirements are going to have to take a back seat and become 

 secondary to government needs. Demand will therefore be less for lumber 

 for building purposes, for the manufacture of furniture and for the pro- 

 duction of many other commodities. Building operations are now only 39 

 per cent of normal, while the comparatively small demand for flooring is 

 another indication of slackness in building. 



There Is no antagonism between the Southern Hardwood Emergency 

 Bureau and the bureau maintained by F. F. Fish, of the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association, but there is more need for two hardwood 

 bureaus In Washington than there is for two presidents. It is proper that 

 the lumbermen should be organized so as to take care of the needs of the 

 government, but it is going to cost a great deal to maintain one bureau, 

 much less two. Rates on rents at Washington have advanced from 25 to 

 500 per cent, and many of the people coming there to help the government 

 are unable to find places to sleep. 



The Council of National Defense has no legal status. It was organized 

 because It was believed that it was vital that facilities should be provided 

 for supplying the government. There are men on the War Industries 

 Board serving the government, presumably at $1 per day. They are 

 passing on largo contracts find have saved the government millions of 

 dollars and rendered a wonderful service. But everything is now being 

 Investigated. Your humble servant may be the subject of investigation at 

 any time. The Council of National Defense may be done away with and,. 

 If that Is the case, the bureau will go too. 



You can't be in Washington without feeling what a big thing the govern- 

 ment has undertaken, something no other nation has ever attempted, 

 namely, to transport 5,000,000 men across the ocean to put down Germaa 

 Kultur and deviltry. The men connected with the conduct of the war 

 are working long hours and are bending their whole energies toward bring- 

 ing about a glorious victory. 



And It doesn't make any difference whether the bureau is maintained or 

 not, but the attitude of the lumbermen toward the government and the 

 part they will play In helping to win the war are vital and do make a 

 tremendous difference. 



The report of F. E. Gary, treasurer, showed a net worth for the 

 association of $4,41.5.06. Dues, derived from assessments, amounted 

 to $39,815, while total receipt.s were $41,38'2..39. The biggest single- 

 item of expenditure was $16,796..54 for advertising. 



Reports of Committees 



1'. K. Conn, chairman of the menibcrsliip committee, reported 26 

 new members during the year, with a loss of eight by resignation or 

 otherwise. 



John W. McClure, chairman of the assessment committee, made a 

 verbal report. He said that dues amounting to $39,545.33 had been 

 assessed on 324,809,709 feet of lumber; that the members had 

 responded promptly to requests for production for assessment pur- 

 poses; that they had reported fairly in all eases and that, in some 

 instances, they had reported more than their actual cut. He said 

 that it was estimated last year that there would be an increase of 

 approximately 50 per cent in production, but that it had been as 

 high as 60 per cent. But he declared that the association had kept 

 the market in healthy position to absorb this increased output and 

 that its services could not be exaggerated. 



In his report on uniform costs T. L. Hoskins, chairman of the 

 costs committee, pleaded for more serious consideration of this 

 question, which with constantly more involved conditions surround- 

 ing us has from day to day an increasing importance to the hard- 

 wood manufacturer. He said that too close application to the 

 lessons taught by standardization of business and improvement 

 of methods could not be given and particularly urged a more 

 tliorough research into the influence of stumpage values on all 

 phases of cost and income figuring. 



In his report for the advertising committee C. L. Harrison 

 sketched briefly the full process of growth of the idea of advertis- 

 ing gum. He showed how starting with the inspiration of two- 

 firms it had grown to a point where it was now covering the whole- 

 structure of national advertising media. 



The report of the committee of fourteen then came up for action. 

 Its introduction resulted in considerable discussion, as noted in pre- 

 ceding report of the merger session. When put to a vote the report 

 was unanimously adopted and the proceedings adjourned sine die. 



Rotary Gum Makers Also in Merger 



Members of the Commercial Eotary Gum Association, which is 

 afaiiated with the Gum Lumber Manufacturers' Association, held 

 an executive session at the Hotel Gayoso, Memphis, Saturday, Janu- 

 ary 19, ratified the report of the committee of fourteen, and decided 

 to join the American Hardwood Manufacturers' Association as a 

 body by becoming one of the divisions or departments of that 

 organization. 



. This action on the part of the Commercial Rotary Gum Associa- 

 tion means that it has ceased to exist as a separate organization. 

 It has twenty-two members who will come into the American Hard- 

 wood Manufacturers' Association on the divisional or departmental 



basis indicated. This action will entitle the rotary gum makers to- 

 all the benefits of the parent body, but will leave their particular 

 problems for their own solution. 



Ralph L. Jurden, who was elected president of the American 

 Hardwood Manufacturers' Association, has been president of the 

 Commercial Eotary Gum Association during the past two years. 



Members of the American Hardwood Manufacturers' Association 

 have expressed themselves as much pleased with the action of the- 

 Commercial Rotary Gum Association, the first organization, aside- 

 from the Gum Lumber Manufacturers' Association and the Amer-- 

 ican Oak Manufacturers' -^.ssociation, to join. 



