February 25, 1921 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



records of the administrative body so that all expenses in connection with 

 the development thereof and returns therefrom may be accounted for on a 

 business basis to the people of the state who furnish the funds for the 

 undertaking and enjoy its results. 



Chief Forester Addresses Conference 



Inasmuch as the Snell Bill formulates the policy of the United 

 States Forest Service, Colonel Greeley participated in the after- 

 noon meeting, which resulted in the formation of the interstate 

 forestry conference. Following .the formation of the conference, 

 he formally addressed the Union League Club in the evening. 



The chief forester declared that the housing problem is only one 

 of the problems resulting from the decreasing national timber sup- 

 ply. "The United States has reached the turning point in its forest 

 resources," he said. "Either we must quit using wood as our 

 social and industrial development demands, or we must find a way 

 to grow wood upon our millions of acres of idle land. The problem 

 ia a challenge to our American common sense, to our capacity for 

 co-operation, and our ability to adapt old conceptions of private and 

 public interest to present-day needs of national efficiency. ' ' 



Proceeding with a general discussion of the country 's forestry 

 problems and the means of solving them. Colonel Greeley concluded 

 with the declaration that "a nation-wide campaign to put out the 

 forest fire ia the first and most urgent need, but not all. What we 

 need is the production of timber. ' ' 



The following other illuminating remarks were made by Colonel 

 Greeley: 



During the past two years the normal use of luiuber in our rural dis- 

 tricts dropped off from 20 to 50 per cent. What will be the effect upon 

 rural America, upon the efficiency of our great basic industry, agriculture, 

 upon the effort to get people back to the land, if this restriction upon, farm 

 improvements becomes permanent because lumber is not to be had in ade- 

 quate quantities? 



It is fruitless to decry the generous use of our forests. It has been a 

 part of the growth and commercial supremacy of the United States. We 

 like to refer to hard work and steady production, as the lasting cure for 



economic ill. Production from land is Just as important as production by 

 human labor. 



This is peculiarly a national problem. Consider the beehive of manu- 

 facturers of wooden products within a radius of 200 miles from Chicago. 

 They would have to shut down in a few weeks if their supply of lumber 

 wore shut off. 



The every-day incentives of business and self-interest will accomplish 

 much in reforestation as in other economic movements. We should give 

 every reasonable encouragement to the land owner to grow timber on his 

 own account. But more is needed. The vast public Interests at stake can 

 not, as I view the problem, be left to the turn of profit or loss for each 

 individual land owner. We must extend the public forests. 

 Tax Adjustment Indispensable 



The public must recognize that the present methods of taxing young 

 forests in many regions are equivalent to taxing farm crops twice a week 

 during the growing season. With the fire hazard reduced, and the taxes 

 adjusted to a crop requiring 40 or 50 seasons to mature, the public may 

 rightfully insist that the owner of land adapted to timber growing shall 

 keep his land steadily at work. 



It would seem questionable to discard our many state foresters and con- 

 servation commissioners with the technical organizations which they have 

 built up. Rather than sweep them aside it would appear to be the wiser and 

 more expedient course to build these state agencies right into a general 

 plan which will accomplish the end sought. It is my judgment that the 

 national government will make the most headway if it chooses the path of 

 co-operation, rather than the road of direct authority. 



The conference in Chicago was the result of the recognition by 

 the Union League Club of the need for forest protection, if the 

 wood-using industries of the Middle West are to survive, and Chi- 

 cago continue to be the greatest lumber market of the world 



While in Chicago Colonel Greeley also addressed the Chamber of 

 Commerce. This address was delivered at a luncheon Feb. 23. 



In addition to his Chicago addresses Colonel Greeley spoke in 

 Milwaukee on the evening of Feb. 23. 



Mr. Kellogg spoke at the evening meeting of the Union League 

 Club. He was accompanied to Chicago by Warren B. Bullock of 

 New York City, the secretary of the National Forestry Program 

 Committee, who handled the publicity of the Chicago and Milwau- 

 kee meetings. 



Rate Conference Comes After March 4 



The conference between officials of the Southern Hardwood 

 Traffic Association and the representatives of the principal rail- 

 roads in the hardwood producing area, which will have for its pur- 

 pose discussion of readjustment of rates on low-grade forest prod- 

 ucts so that these may move to market in normal volume, will not 

 be held until after March 4, 1921, according to announcement made 

 today by J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager of the organization 

 which is the moving spirit in bringing about such a readjustment. 

 No date has been set even after March 4, but it is reliably under- 

 stood that it will be held as soon after that time as possible. The 

 association makes its calculations very intelligently and very care- 

 fully, and it may be stated that it has good reasons for deferring 

 this movement for correcting the tense situation which has devel- 

 oped, so far as the lower grades of hardwood lumber are concerned. 



The association is keenly interested in the effort the carriers are 

 making, through the executive committee of the American Eailway 

 Association, to secure abrogation of the "national agreements" as 

 a step in the direction of bringing about more efficient service on 

 the part of those railway employes who are working under these 

 agreements. The association, as disclosed through the recent 

 address of J. H. Townshend, chairman of the traffic committee of 

 the Lumbermen's Club of Memphis, is very much in favor of assist- 

 ing the carriers in their efforts to adjust the wage controversy now 

 pending before the railway labor board. 



Further proof of this attitude is found in the following telegram 

 forwarded over the signature of S. M. Nickey, president, to Judge 

 E. M. Barton of Memphis, chairman of the labor board at Chicago: 



The Southern Hardwood Traffic Association, representing over 500 

 shippers of forest products, whose annual shipments ordinarily amount to 

 over 500,000 cars, hereby supports application of the carriers for termina- 

 tion of the "national" agreements and other wartime working arrange- 

 ments still governing railroad operation. It is our view that such termina- 



tion is in the interest not only of economical and efficient operation of the 

 roads required by the Transportation Act, but is the essential first step 

 toward reducing operating expenses to a more normal level. We further 

 feel that justice to the great body of labor and employers in outside indus- 

 tries demands that this step should be taken with the least possible delay. 

 We are not urging this course in violation of the unquestionable right of 

 labor representatives to be heard, but in our opinion the necessity for 

 prompt action is so great that we trust the labor board will use all proper 

 measures to render a prompt decision. 



Want Wage Question Answered 



The association fully appreciates the difficulty in which the car- 

 riers are placed by the operation of the national agreements and 

 other war-time measures affecting railway employes, and it like- 

 wise appreciates the fact that settlement of the present wage con- 

 troversy on a basis satisfactory to the carriers will be an important 

 step in the direction of furnishing relief from the prohibitive rates 

 which now apply on low grade forest products, as well as on other 

 commodities in which the lumber shippers of the hardwood terri- 

 tory are particularly interested. Desire to see the way for such 

 readjustment of rates "smoothed" by settlement of the wage ques- 

 tion is doubtless one of the reasons the association is not arranging 

 for the conference at an earlier date. 



In the meantime, it is noteworthy that there is almost no move- 

 ment of low grade hardwood lumber to market. Part of this falling 

 off in such movement is due to the dullness of demand for hardwood 

 lumber in general, incident to the industrial depression in all parts 

 of the United States, as well as in Europe and South America, but 

 it is conceded by members of the trade here that the biggest factor 

 in the restriction of the movement of the lower grades is the pro- 

 hibitive tariff which has been saddled on these and the destruction 

 of all the rate relationships, as between the producing and consum- 

 ing territories, brought about by the unscientific manner in which 

 (Continued on page 26) 



