JO 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Inly 



liii: 



from varloui c«u»m. Tlu-ivfon-. tin- liiiliislry In llw North Ciirolliiii lifit 

 la based upon tlic utllltntlon of llio ri'pnidiuilnn of tlniliiT which hiix 

 bivn r>'|irmUic«-<l. not \>y ili'slKn or liili'nl ii» iiiiuli ii» liy tin- foroi' of clr 

 cuinstuucfs brouKht on by thi- wiir nnil ih.' ill'iii»l<T Hint followi-il It. mid 

 Iwcniiso of the fact Ibnt tin- (ilno cntwii vi-ry riiiildly In thnt country. 

 Till- nr»-« have l>>>on the Kn-iitrnt ib'otructlvc forn-. Thrrf Iiuk boon nioro 

 llnilH<r burned tlipro, I iirrsuiiif, ihiui has bi-i-n <'iit. 



Therefore, wo are di'ulhiK with a Hitnntlon that wimlil follow In a 

 .lone relation, at lensl, Bhoubl the preKent iiiiiniifaeturern of lumber Iw 

 tiiiiblnl to reproduco their lunib.T by Krowtli. whi.li would be n lilKlily 

 ■ b-^lrable thlnR and a cri-at eoononileal ciiln to iln- eounlry. However, 

 It would be Impossible lo earry on any sysi.in of reforestation or con- 

 servative method of lumberhiK which would result In the seeoutl growth 

 or the return of the stunipase value to the laud umhr the present eon- 

 dlllouii of the Industry. We are selllne luiiibc>r below the cost of produc- 

 tion, which Is an ludlvldual loss to the Industry or the uieniberH of the 

 Industry. But to sell It below the cost of reproduction Is a Rreat econ- 

 omic crime to the public, because there must come a time when the 

 supply of timber In this country will be at the vanishlnc point, and unless 

 It can Ik' reproduceil by means of capitalists who can alTord lo do so, tin- 

 end will be disastrous. 



Now the situation In North Carolina Is complicated by compptltlon 

 from all sources. Lumber Is the only t'reat commodity that Is sold by 

 niensurc and carrlwl by weight, and that brlUKS about the need and 

 necessity of a delivered price, so thnt a dellvereil jirlce at any point can 

 be readily ascertained, and thus the active means of competition comes 

 with any merchant. If he does not know what the fieliilit rate Is from 

 any point, he can always get a delivered price Instantly, so that the 

 forces of competition are actively and constantly at work, so that we 

 meet not only the competition of every lumberman but we meet the com- 

 petition of the Rovernment, especially of Canada and now of the fnlted 

 .states. Inasmuch as they supply timber which has only to be paid for 

 when cut, so thnt the United States government and the I'nnadlan gov- 

 erument are direct competitors of every manufacturer. 



They arc .selling their timber under contract to be paid for as cut, and 

 If It burns, the government bears the loss. In other words, a nianufuc- 

 turer who has one of those tracts does not have to provide the source of 

 supply or raw material for a long period of years. .\nd that Is one 

 peculiar condition of the lumberman, he must have a supply of raw 

 material for an extended period, and he must keep all his machinery and 

 mills and so forth in the highest state of efficiency until the last log is 

 sawed. 



KlBEK Box CllMPKTlTlc.S- 



We meet not only the competition of the various luniiiermen, but also 

 meet all sorts of substitutes. And that Is particularly so in North 

 Carolina pine, inasmuch as a great percentage of that lumber Is used in 

 the manufacture of boxes and shipping cases, and the box makers have 

 domlnal.?d that marki't for forty years, and their competition has been 

 very keenly felt, inasmuch as they now meet the demand of people for 

 lighter shipping cases with the fiber box. 



The costs of production have increased very much, the principal item 

 being the cost of extending the railroads into the timber. The more rail- 

 roads we build, the more are to be kept up and maintenance charges are 

 higher. The cost of hauling in a long distance Is very much greater. 

 That has brought about an Increased cost of production and a reduction 

 in price. Those extra costs hav.' also tended to unscientific methods of 

 merchandising and manufacturing. We ought to be able to utilize a 

 great deal of the raw product that we do not. We have to leave a great 

 deal in the wood. The value received from the manufacture of Uimlier 

 does not enable the manufacturer to undertake any other business or 

 the production of any other by-products. 



SM.VM, MlI.I.S IX BlSI.VESS 



Of the mills that are llst.'d in this particular belt, the census figures 

 are the best that can be furnlshi'd. There are something like 40(111 mills, 

 of which the great majority are the small plants. We never have been 

 able to obtain any statistical Inlorinntion from them. There are sup- 

 posed to be about -iC billion fe.'t of timlier in that licit. Tlie annual 

 production for the past five years Is something in excess of three billions. 

 The excess in cut-over shipments has lieen running for the last four jeurs 

 about thirty to thirty-flve million a .vear. The average cost of logging 

 and manufacturing and marketing It Is Impossible to obtain in any such 

 accurate figures as Mr. Keith has presented, but tiie statement which 

 has been prepared for me sliows $12. .HO. but it unfortunately does not 

 .say whether that includes rlepreclntion or interest or whether it Is on 

 lumber measure or log scale. The averagi' mill price, exclusive of stump- 

 age, will probably run about Sl.'i to $l.">.."iO for that time. 



I cannot see any solution, gentlemen, for this problem in our district 

 at present, except t<» place some reasonnlile restriction upon the produc- 

 tion, and to have it put upon some fairly reasonable and operative sales 

 agency basis. 



If we could regulate tile pr(Kluction of the lumlier that can be marketed, 

 it would be a long step towards the solution of the problem. But, It is 

 not only that we are forced to market it at any price we can get, liut 

 because of the furtlier reason tliat w-e cannot liold it. A great number 

 of saw mills down there arc right on the water and they have no lumber 

 yards, and their lumber must be shipped out on vessels as soon as it is 



maile. furthermore, our lumber will n<il slaml In the nlr long. We liiiv.. 

 a very large percentage of nap lumber. It Is IniposNibb' to gel nnyllilng 

 like a fair wilvngc. If there Is a Ntain or a check or any ollii'r wi-nlh.-r 

 effect, because that riMluces the grnile to n vi-ry low value. The dlff.-r- 

 I'Uci-, for lUKiance, betweeu good boards and pour IraardH la about flio.iHi 

 a thousand. 



.1. U. Toole of Missoula, Mont., iiresiilont of tlie WcHteru I'iiie 

 .MaiiufactiirerH' .Xssociiition, was lo linvo lieeii |ir('S(.ut, hut in hi* 

 aliiw.nec .Mr. Downninn called u|ioii the next H]ii'Hk<'r. 



Redwood Men to Present Statement at San Francisco 



(':i|.t:iiii !■:. .\. .'.'ell ri.lye, ,1 r.. |iiesi.leiil ol the i ;iliroiiii!i Ki'.lwoii.l 

 .\ssoeiati<iii, rec|Ul'^t('ll tluit he lie ^iveu an o|i|iiirtunit,v of inure fully 

 |irt'|iarin^ his iliita to lie |iresi.|itod liy him lit this cuiiiinission 's 

 hcariii|r in San Kriiiiciseu AiiKUst 2(1. TliiH roi|urHt wuh Krniiteij. 

 Briefly Captnin tM-lfriilnP Hiiiil the present coii.suniption of redwooil, 

 iiieludiiit; both cxjiort and domestic shipinentM, is but sixty per cent 

 of the piitential capacity of tlio ipilwood mills. 



The coiiiinissioii re(|ueMtecl at the sujiUPstion of Cuptniii SSelfridKO 

 that (ieorije X. Weiidlint;, also of Califoniin ami representiin; the 

 California White and Suj;ar I'iiic Association, lie periiiittod to present 

 Ins statenicnt before the coiiiiiiission nt tlie same lieariiij; at San 

 Francisco, Hr. Wendliiig haviu;; been eompelleil lieeaiise of illness to 

 ahnnilon the jiroposecl trip to Chicago. 



George Watson Presents Position of Cypress 



The ailclress as given by .\lr. Watson before irieiiibeis of the i-oin- 

 iiiission was in substance as follows: 



In presenting a report of the Irend oi the cypress lumln-r Industry for 

 the past several .Vcars, consideration must be given to a number of fac 

 tors which have exerted but a minor Inlluence In other woods, the leading 

 two have been the tr"mendous Increase In the production, and lb.- 

 rapidly changing market for the products of the cypress sawmills. 



To tinote figures from those submitted li.v the XT. S. Koresl Service, 

 compiled in «;o-operatlou with the' lUireau of Census, we find a total 

 cypress p.-oductlon during l.*.!)!! of 4!iri.S;i«.000 feet. During IbO.S It was 

 743,297.000 feet. Iturlng lili:'. (being the latest figuns avallabli'i II 

 was l,0i)7, 247,000 feet. This gives an increase In production during the 

 period of lOOS to lOlo, inclusive, of about forty-seven per cent. 



Beginning during 1007 or I'.IO.S, a decline In the sales ift cypress to 

 factories (largely sash, door and blind factories) set In, tlie.se factories 

 finding it possible to buy other lumber which would suit their rei|ulre- 

 mcnts nt much lower prices. An Impending condition of under con- 

 sumption became very apparent, and as there was no legal method avail- 

 able of decreasing the production, demoralization was threatenfKl. .Mioui 

 this time, however, it occurred to the manufa<*turcrs tliat there would 

 be a market for the dealers who put cypress In stock, this Incentive to 

 be produced iiy creating what mlglit be called a n-ad.v-made markel, or 

 educating the consuming public In such a way that if would <l.Tniind 

 cypress for those uses for which cypress Is adapted. 



Cypress Advertising Camp,\ign 



Tims liegaii the cypress advertising campaign, which .advertising was 

 addressed to home builders and the actual consumers of lumbi'r, the 

 effort being to create a desire for cypress and to cause an increasing sale 

 of cypress through retail lumber yards. This campnign of advertising 

 has been continuously and cfuisisteniiy followed liy the cypress manu- 

 facturers with the result that this wood has probably suffered sinaUer 

 decline in volume of business and in prices than have other woods. It 

 must be admitted In all candor, however, that some of the trade now 

 going to cypress would have gone to other woods had the public not 

 been thus educatid. although cypress must take some slight credit for 

 having done creative work, in tliat in a great many Instances the use of 

 liimijcr was incited. 



The latest available figures as to stock coodltlons (meaning unsold 

 lumber on hand) give Ihe condition as of ,Tanuary 1, 1915, and It will 

 be at least another thirty days before the statistics showing slock on 

 hand ,luly 1, 191,"i, are avallalile. These later figures can at that lime 

 be submitted to the commission It desired. The condition .lanuary 1, 

 1915, Is a comparison with the preceding .vear at the same twenty-nine 

 mills, and they show that the stock of cypress lumber had Increased 

 during the year 1914 almost exactly four per cent. The stock on hand 

 at these twenty-nine mills .lanuary 1, 1914, was 448,920,172 feet, and 

 on .lanuary 1, 1915, It was 467,038,889 feet. 



During the first six months of 191,'., It is known that stocks of cypress 

 mills, and tiicy show that the stock of cypress lumber had increased 

 already stated, is not known. It Is believed that the 1915 production of 

 cypress will show a grain over the year 1914, hut these figures also are 

 not available, this opinion being expressed merely through knowledge of 

 new sawmills which are beginning operations this year. 



No figures have been prepared indicating logging and operating costs, 

 but it will be possible to compile these figures and submit them to the 

 commission if desired. 



