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HARDWOOD RECORD 



March 10, 1921 



iCoii tinned from page 24) 

 petitors in making bids for the business of its competitors' custom- 

 ers, and also for the purpose of putting its competitor to the expense 

 of making a large number of estimates from which no orders could 

 follow. 



Thirty days arc allowed to file answer^ after which time the com- 

 plaint conies on trial on the merits. 



* * * 



Without a dissenting vote the United States Supreme Court held 

 the Lever act to prevent profiteering to be unconstitutional and 

 invalid because of its vagueness and the lack of a definite standard. 

 The decision of the court was handed down by Chief Justice White. 

 Associate Justice Day took no part in the case and Justices Pitney 

 and Brandeis concurred in the result, but did not approve the rea- 

 soning of the majority of the court. 



« * * 



Business aud industry for the month of February have continued 

 in a transitional and unstable condition, according to the monthly 

 surve.v of the Fedei-al Reserve Board. Demand for goods by no 

 means firmly has been re-established. Although there are abundant 

 indications that stocks of goods greatly have been reduced and that 

 a large volume of potential buying is in sight, it has not become 

 actual as yet. In speaking of lumber the report says: 



"The market for lumber has shown some improvoraent due largely to 

 favorable weather conditions. Reports from District No. 6 (Atlanta) and 

 District No. 11 (Dallas) state that the value of business in Southern 

 Pine is increasing. Reports from 133 mills in District No. 6 (Atlanta) 

 for the week ending Febriiar.v 4, show actual production still 35.4 per 

 cent below normal and shipments 33.43 per cent below normal production. 



The 28 mills located in District No. 11 (Dallas) received orders equivalent 

 to 72 per cent of their normal production, while for the preceding four 

 weeks the orders booked by 24 reporting mills were only 46 per cent of 

 normal production. The gain in new business resulting in increasing the 

 .Tanuary output for the reporting mills. The production was only 36 per 

 cent below normal, while for the month of December it was 47 per cent 

 below normal. Unfilled orders reported by these 28 mills were 36,783,000 

 feet as compared with 32,358,000 feet reported by 24 mills on December 31." 



Building operations throughout the United States have declined 

 during the past month, the report states. The reduction in the 

 volume of construction is not, however, as great as the figures indi- 

 cate, due to the considerable fall in the prices of building materials 

 this year from the abnormally high levels a year ago. 



* * * 



An almost unanimous demand for repeal of the excess profits tax 

 has been made by the membership of the Chamber of Commerce of 

 the United States, in a national referendum vote. The ballot was 

 taken on a report of the Chamber's committee on taxation, advanc- 

 ing fifteen proposals for changes in the present method of Federal 

 tax levies. 



Although the committee recommended substitutes for the excess 

 profits tax, the vote of the Chamber's membership on these proposals 

 was not conclusive. A considerable majority voted against an 

 increase in income taxes, proposed as a means of substituting some 

 of the revenues derived from the excess profits tax, and at the same 

 time there was a majority vote against any form of sales tax, 

 suggested both as a substitute for and in addition to other forms of 

 tax. A proposal that excise taxes be levied partly to take the place 

 of the excess profits tax, was carried. 



Forestry in the Central States 



The Central States Forestry Conference is on the way to become 

 a permanent organization for the pushing of adequate forestry legis- 

 lation in the lake states. 



A temporary organization, whose main object is the securing of 

 essentially uniform legislation for forest policies for the states of 

 this region was formed at the preliminary conference at Chicago, 

 through the courtesy of the Union League club, on Feb. 24. 



With the conference ended, and plans well under way to make the 

 organization permanent, it is safe to say that this conference marks 

 an epoch in American forestry, for it is the beginning of practical 

 effective legislation to restore the forests of the lake region, legisla- 

 tion to be backed by the best judgment of the forestry experts of 

 the participating states, in consultation with all interests affected. 



The chief speaker of the conference was Col. W. B. Greeley, chief 

 of the United States Forest Service, and the whole tone of his ad- 

 dresses was that the problem of a timber supply is to be solved by 

 making the idle acres produce trees, not by restriction of produc- 

 tion, or restrictive legislation aimed at the present timber land 

 o\vners. Col. Greeley's argument for forest legislation, and his 

 explanation of the Snell bill was that America has been made great 

 by liberal use of forest products, aud to continue great we must be 

 able to produce enough timber to continue this liberal use. 



In passing it may be said that this attitude expressed before many 

 prominent lumbermen who attended the conferences, was something 

 of a surprise to the timbermen who have been accustomed to have 

 every discussion of the forest problem center on an attack on the 

 lumber man. 



Developments of the conference included a general discussion of 

 problems of the various states. It was decided that fish and game 

 protection, use of the forests for recreation, and the value of the 

 forest in maintaining the water table in the soil of agricultural 

 states must not be overlooked in working for future forest laws. 

 Some of the developments reported from the various states were : 



Illinois — An intensive stud.y of reforestation by the state survey 

 has been decided upon, and is provided for by $10,000 a year for 

 salaries and .$4,000 for traveling expenses in the state budget. The 

 purpose is to determine the treatment of nearly 6,000,000 acres of 

 forest land. This will in addition to the state forester, give the for- 



estry force a ranger, two cruisers, an economic forester and a field 

 and a laboratory botanist. 



Indiana — Legislation now pending to encourage forest growth by 

 taxing forest growing land not over $1 per acre, when properly used. 



Iowa — Legislation to encourage forestry by cutting in half the 

 valuation of forest land has been introduced. Improvement of river 

 and lake frontage by tree growth is to be encouraged in Iowa. 



Michigan — Progress in Michigan was reported by all of its rep- 

 resentatives. Possibly the most notable development was the an- 

 nouncement of the formation of a forestry department by the state 

 farm bureau, with F. H. Sanford as manager, to encourage the grow- 

 ing of trees on non-agricultural soil, and for the pooling of produc- 

 tion and marketing of the tree crop. 



Minnesota — This state is in advance of many others in its holdings 

 of state land for forest production. Its handling of state land and 

 timber is essentially on the lines so successfully applied by the forest 

 service on national forests. 



Missouri — Dr. Von Schrenk asked for the advice of the forestry 

 conference in formulating legislation to be presented at once. He took 

 a census of salaries paid state foresters, in order to determine what 

 figure to place in his bill. Prof. Dunlap of the University of Missouri 

 said the cutting of Ozark timber was forcing the state to consider forest 

 restoration. 



Ohio — A general program for state forest legislation, providing 



for state forest purchases, fire prevention, and encouragement of 



private reforestation was reported by State Forester Secrest, who 



said the state was waking up to its needs, but not yet ready to spend 



. all the money needed. 



Wisconsin — An amendment to the constitution has been offered to 

 authorize the state to acquire, preserve and develop state forests. 

 This has to be adopted by two biennial legislatures, and then go to 

 the state for a referendum. Bills are pending to give the state four 

 parks, including state forest areas, for recreational use, as well as 

 future timber production. One such park is to be located in 8,500 

 acres of virgin timber with 2,000 acres of area in 20 lakes, in addition. 

 One city is planning a public forest, and others to plant trees along 

 state highways leading to them. 



