HARDWOOD RECORD 



54C 



six months we have had a most extraordinary 

 success, ami it lias been very much more suc- 

 cessful than even your committee anticipat- 

 ed, and we have never had it in a more flour- 

 ishing condition than it is today. The new 

 committee that takes hold of this work will 

 find that the pioneer work is done with posi- 

 tions as fast as we can get men to put any- 

 where, where there are enough members to 

 justify it. If he doesn't pay twenty-five per 

 • ent of his salary, we can afford to do it. and 

 I will say to you that the Inspection Bureau 

 will undertake to do it and stand the chances 

 .01 this association standing behind them, if 

 they should happen to run in the hole, he- 

 cause of lack of money. In almost every 

 market in which we have put men. they have 

 not been able to do twenty-five per cent of the 

 work. 1 venture to say our man in Memphis 

 could do four times the amount of work if we 

 had men to help him. I speak more especial- 

 ly of Memphis because I know most of the 

 people for whom our salaried man inspects 

 lumber, and every man who has used him 

 has luul the very greatest satisfaction and 

 has had the comfort of knowing when ho 

 wrote up his little invoice that it was honest 

 and that the bill was going to be paid, pro 

 vided he looked carefully after his credits. 

 There are no two ways about it, we are put- 

 ting this thing through in the right shape. 

 I am emphasizing this a little, perhaps, be- 

 cause about one- fourth of my time lias been 

 put in this year trying to overcome obstacles 

 in connection with the Inspection Bureau 's 

 work and it is becoming easier. We want a 

 surveyor general who can put in all his time 

 at this work. We have been a little unfortu- 

 nate on account of our surveyor general of 

 last year having to resign and one of the 

 members of the association consented to take 

 the position and devote such time as he could 

 10 it. It was a great sacrifice on his part to 

 do so, and if any of you gentlemen don't 

 think so, try it and you will work nights 

 some. We feel that we have done extraordi- 

 narily well. (Applause.) 



President Palmer — While there are 110 

 recommendations contained in the report of 

 the Inspection Bureau Committee, it seems to 

 be a pretty big question, and well worthy of 

 discussion and amplification. If any member 

 has any suggestion or word of praise to say 

 for what has been done or any kick to record, 

 this would be a good time to take it up and 

 thrash it out. We would be glad to listen to 

 any suggestion that might come from this 

 meeting on the Inspection Bureau work while 

 we are considering the matter. While there 

 seems to be no spontaneous response to this 

 call for information, there is one gentleman 

 present who. 1 know, can do us a lot of good 

 by his talk and the chair assumes the respon- 

 sibility of requesting Mr. Maurice M. Wall 

 to say something on this question of inspec- 

 tion. 



Mr. M. M. Wall— Mr. President and gen- 

 tlemen: 1 didn't get in early enough to hear 

 all the discussion and Mr. Thompson's report 

 as chairman of tin committee. But I have 

 heard him talk once or twice and I made up 

 my mind he was saying something, and he 

 has doubtless covered pretty well what I 

 might say. 



1 was pretty familiar with the working- of 

 this bureau four or five years ago when it 

 was started. The surveyor general at that 

 lime was supposed to do something, but 

 along about the first of April or March last 

 our surveyor general having resigned and his 

 resignation having been accepted, the com- 

 mittee undertook to put in somebody to 

 lill out the unexpired time. There was no 

 real surveyor general in sight, and I suppose 

 on account of being somewhat familiar with 

 the work and having done it before, and 

 being "easy," I guess, the committee 



thought I might fo take up the work and liu- 

 ish it tiiis year. 



I have only been surveyor general since 

 April, and I trust that within the next day 

 or two you will put another gentleman in 

 the position who will give it every minute 

 of his time. I know there is enough of the 



work for the best I in f any man who will 



take the office. I hope I have made myself 

 plain. 1 think no man should be made sur- 

 veyor general unless he will agree iii give 

 all his time to the work. There is a big 

 field for his labors. We are called on 

 every day all the way from Xew Orleans 

 to New England to take up cases, and in 

 many of them they want single, individual in- 

 spection. They want a man to go perhaps 

 1,000 or 500 miles, sometimes, to inspect a 

 single carload. 



MW^^j^T 





BRIGHT 



FOR 

 PRESIDENT 



M. M. WALL 



■ 



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^ Lumbermen's Club *1 I H 

 a or I 



MEMPHIS 



TETMN. 



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'ferfir is. 19 



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cx<££j+f>. 



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BADGES SEEN AT THE CONVENTION. 



There is nothing compulsory about a man 

 using tiie national inspectors, and for a 

 long time they didn't use them unless thej 

 got into trouble or thought tiny were going 

 to have trouble — then they wanted a national 

 certificate back of it. It is a nice thing to 

 have, and within the last six months every 

 member of the association lias been using 

 the inspect inn bureau and the inspectors be- 

 cause he believes it is a good thing fur him. 

 He knows that the majority of our inspectors, 

 at least, are competent, honest men. who in- 

 tend to give a fair inspection, and I believe 

 that ninety-five per cent of the men of tin- 

 country want only fair, honest inspections. 

 If they get I hat they are satisfied, and that 

 is why they choice the national inspectors, in 

 give the 11 impartial and fair inspection. 



Once in a while our inspectors go wrong 

 We have had some of them who did. We 

 have something like seventy-three inspectors 

 under bond, licensed to inspect, and out of 

 that number we have only five or six mi sal 

 uries. I think we picked mil prett) good 

 men, and I am satislied we have funds 

 enough ami strength enough to put anywhere 



from twenty to thinv inspectors mi salaries 

 throughout tic country. While they tijaj 

 n.it all be self-sustaining, the association has 

 money enough in bark them ami pay their 

 salaries. 1 1 we need their sej 1 ices 1 III \ ire 

 there, and we might to have just as maiiv 'n- 

 we ran possibly afford to canv mi the list. 

 That is where the surveyor general can do 

 good. He ought lo be amongst the men a 

 guild part of the time, mil in the fieW and 

 sic what they are doing. Surveyors general 



iii the past have had 1.. spend a good deal of 

 time iii their offices — too much time there. 

 But a man .-an be honest and yet not under 



stand the rules thoroughly. I havi t been 



able to go out and see each inspector do In- 



Work, l.llt I belli v.- if we call get Up mill.' 

 System HOW am! I believe before this meet 



ing adjourns it will conic about — we call give 

 tic surveyor general some assistance so that 

 his detail work can be cleaned up. Let liim 

 stay out on the road long enough to see that 

 the inspectors do good work; let him per 

 sunnily start off the inspectors and get 

 around among them and see that they are 

 doing their work. The bureau has the right 

 ideas and the money now. and they are 

 going to do things, this is a beautiful, fas- 

 cinating work. We get the other man 's 

 troubles, however; we have very little of 

 our own unless we get it frmn the other 

 fellow. If I were looking for a job ami 

 didn't have all I could do in other direction-, 

 there is nothing I would like better than to 

 lie surveyor general of this association. | like 

 the work, but 1 haven't time to give tc it. 



President Palmer — Any further remarks mi 

 this great question of Inspection! It seems 

 to me every gentleman down in front there 

 ought to have some ideas on this question. 



F. W. Lawrence of Boston — Mr. Wall took 

 the words out of my mouth, and as Mr. 

 Thompson and he have said, I don't think 

 any member of this association can give the 

 lime to the position of surveyor general. 

 1 think we should select, possibly through a 

 committee, some competent inspector to be 

 surveyor general. 



Mr. Stimson — This is a pretty big assoeia 

 tion of hardwood lumbermen. They handle 

 a good deal of business, and there is no rea- 

 son why this association should not have an 

 able, capable man in this position who will 

 devote his whole time and his energies In the 



work aad d ithing else. We should have 



.1 man with talents, who is competent to do 

 the business and adjust controversies between 

 the buyer and the si Her. and such a one 

 would lie worth the money we would have to 

 pay as his salary, and we are certainly able 

 to do it. (Applause. ) 



President Palmer — We would be glad to 

 hear from nlln is. 



Mr. Lloyd — Mr. President: I think it is as 

 little as we can do to express our apprecia- 

 tion, and I wish to express my appreciation 

 of the work done by the members of this 

 bureau. They are practical men and they 

 have done a great deal of hard work, and I 

 think we might to thank them for it. I sec- 

 ond the remarks of Mr. Stimson. I think 

 we ought all to thank tin 111 for the time they 

 have taken from their business to devole to 

 this will, 



President Palmer — Gentlemen; If you are 

 in I disposed to talk voluntarily, the position 

 ,.f tlie chair will simply resolve itself into 



the position of Ihe toastmaster and he is 

 gi ing to rail on you. We have one gentleman 

 with us who lias always had a lot to say 

 at all mil meetings, and 1 haven't heard him 



a his month today. We would like to hear 



from Bennett. 



William A. Bennett — Mr. President and 

 gentlemen of the association: I don't think 

 tiiat I can add anything to what has already 

 been said by Mr. Wall. Mr. Thompson and 



