[lecembor 



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HARDWOOD RECORD 



29 



Question- !1. Compare lumber with lumber products and with other 

 classes o£ tralflc with respect to liinds of cars used, car shortage, expedited 

 movement, etc. 



Answkk. Lumber requires no special eciuipment. The greater propor- 

 tion of the products of lumber manufjicturing plants can be and are loaded 

 In any kind «)f cars, wiiether flat, gondola, stoclv or box, and in many in- 

 stances equipment too damaged to carr.v other commodities can be and is 

 utilized. AVheu tlat and gondola cars are furnished, llie shipper is com- 

 pelled to furnish, at his own expense, tlie necessar.v stakes, etc., to permit 

 the use of such cars. Generally speaking, lumber moves the .year round. 

 There is very little susceptibility to damage, and (he average car loading 

 Is high. Lumber receives no expedited movement, but carriers give prefer- 

 ence to the movement of other classes of traffic. Lumber In Itself does 

 not produce car shortages. It is when seasonable or abnormal movements 

 of other classes of traffic create car shortages that the lumber industry 

 suffers. 



(JUKSTio.N 10, Should all grades of lumber take the same rate without 

 regard to inherent qualities of value? .\re rates lower on low grades than 

 on the upper grades of lumber practicable and desirable? 



A.NSWEU. It is impracticable to differentiate between the grades be- 

 cause of the Inability of carriers to efficiently and expeditiou.sly police ship- 

 ments of lumber. Different rates on different grades would be productive 

 of endless cl.'iinis. cause delay in handling, offer opportunities for under- 

 billing, intentionally or otherwise, and materially disturb markets. 



No. Such rates would discourage maximum car loading, prevent the pur- 

 chase of mixed cars, cause retailers to carry a lesst?r variety of grades and 

 sizes, and would enhance the cost to small consumers of the lumber required 

 in the building of homes. 



QuESTio.v 11. Should a distinction l)e made between so-called woods of 

 value and ordinary woods, and, if so, exactly what are the woods of value 

 and what are their values? 



Answeu. The term "woods of value" Is a minomer. Values vary with 



commercial conditions, and what might be termed a wood of value at one 

 time might be classed as an ordinary wood at another time. 



QuE.sTiON 12. In so far as the information is available, give the quantity 

 of movement, the average loading per car, and the value of 1,000 feet or per 

 ton of different kinds of lumber and lumber products. 



Ax.sWER. The information required in answer to this question is reported 

 by some regional organizations. Statistics which should be supplied by the 

 carriers will furnish a complete answer to questions as to quantity of move- 

 ment and average loading per car. Figures upon total lumber production 

 and average value per thousand feet are in government reports. 



QuiosTiox 13. Which are the routes of heaviest movement? 



Answer. Carriers alone have the complete statistics with which to 

 answer. 



Question 14. What are the provisions for carload mixtures of wood 

 articles or lumber products and lumber in the various classifications, classi 

 fication exceptions and in the carriers' individual and agency tariffs? 



.KxswEii. This information should be turnhshed by carriers. 



Qt'ESTiON 15. To what extent should carriers provide for carload mix- 

 tures of wood articles or lumber products and lumber? 



Answer. Lumber and lumber products should be universally permitted 

 to move in one car at the carload rate. 



Question 1G. In what respect do transit [u-ovisions vary for lumber and 

 lumber products? 



Answer. This question will be primarily answered by tariff references 

 and comparisons showing provisions thereof to be furnished by carriers. 

 The variation is considerable. Carriers' answers will show that in some 

 sections of the country such provisions are very liberal, in others restricted, 

 and that in some sections no privileges exist either as to charge or extent of 

 service. 



Question 17. Should transit provisions be made universal and upon the 

 same terms; 



Answer. They should be. 



Vi ^gmaiEros 



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>.<*ii3yi>5tKM(MwatTOViro!JtM!Wiiti:!aiat^^ 



The LaFollete Seamen s Law 



xjx 



Editor's Note 



Till' provisions of the Seamen's Law which was 

 ently the subject of discussion by business men 



la I h, 'red l)y La FoUette and usually bears his name, was re- 

 .., ■ , ■.,.,,,. T T.7 ^ «. »{, .1 , , ' , '-'""''"Sli.. yVis.. before a meeting of the Candlelight Club. The 



address of William J. Wagstaff. the well-known lumberman of Oshkosh, on that occassion follows : 



Tt has been tlie custom for several years of active forward move- 

 ment, called the Progressive age of legislation, to call it all con- 

 structive and dedicate it to the public with great pomp and ceremony. 



The two gentlemen who preceded me have had the pleasure of 

 spreading before you and extoling what they believe to be a descrip- 

 tion of the subject under discussion, and the constructive side. Few 

 have had the audacity to discuss the destructive side, and Progressive 

 legislation has been passed out to the public as a thing of beauty 

 and a joy forever. 



The La Follette Seamen 's Act is one of the recent things of this 

 nature that have l^een dedicated to American ship owners without 

 ceremony, apparently more honored in the breach of thought than 

 in the observance; the biU in question being thrown like a blanket 

 over praeticall.y all classes of marine transportation companies both 

 of the ocean and the Great Lakes alike, disregarding the difference 

 in conditions. 



The avowed purpose of the act is "to promote the welfare of 

 American seamen. ' ' One feature of the active operation of the 

 iaw, according to a recent editorial in the San Franci.tco Chronicle, 

 leads: "Its first notable result was to put all Pacific Mail em- 

 ployes out of business, and it appears that these now manning 

 American ships must find some other way of getting a living. That 

 • is a queer way of helping American sailors. As a rule sailors have 

 little knowledge of other lines of work, and if half of them are 

 turned out of their jobs, the Sailors' Union is likely to have to call 

 for outside assistance in maintaining its soup houses. ' ' 



fu a letter to the editor of The Xation, a correspondent says that 

 Mr, Furuseth. apparentl.v much interested and very active as presi- 

 dent of the Seamen 's Union, had much to do with the formation 

 of the bill. This correspondent says much more so than the one 

 who is given credit as being the father of the bill, who confessed 

 that he knew nothing about ships and obtained his knowledge second- 

 hand; but that Mr. Furuseth had been haunting the gallery of the 

 senate for the past nineteen years, apparently on this subject. 



While we live in the interior, and the working of this law does 

 not have so direct a bearing on our transportation problems and 

 business interests as it does on either coast, we are one country and 

 one people, and questions that affect any considerable part of the 

 country have their influence on the whole. 



Between the two coasts we have the great Central West that is 

 known as the Mississippi Valley, a great agricultural region of vast- 

 resources, which extends to the watershed of the Allegheny Moun- 

 tains and the watershed of the Eocky Mountains. This central area is 

 a great producing country, and anything that contributes to the 

 broadening of the markets, and the prosperity of the countr.y, and 

 the stability and equilibrium of business conditions, is of vital inter- 

 est to us. Sound practical navigation laws would do much in secur- 

 ing a broader market for our products and so would play a large 

 part in the economic prosperity of the Mississippi valley. 

 Affects thk Whole Codntrt 

 While our personal interests are largely in the Middle West, we 

 are obliged to consider this question in the light of world condi- 

 tions, and when we go out onto the high seas we meet competition 

 from every part of the world. We cannot get an intelligent view 

 unless it is a wide view. It is a national question, affecting our 

 relations with foreign countries. 



In speaking of the operation of the law, I want to consider first 

 its operation as to the Great Lakes, where the conditions are much 

 different in every way from ocean service. One authority states — 

 no such thing was ever known on the Great Lakes as flogging and 

 imprisonment. The betterment of conditions for the men as to 

 sleeping quarters, baths, proper heating of rooms, practically all 

 supplied without question. 



The arbitrary reqirements of the number of men to operate 

 is that the.v shall carry three crews of firemen, oilers and water 

 tenders. The provision that permits members of the crew to quit, 

 and receive their pay whenever and wherever they like regardless 

 of contract, making it impossible at some places to replenish where 



