C. 11. KRAMEH, RICHMOND, INU., WALTER CRIM., SALEM, IND., FIRST VICE- DANIEL WERTZ, EVANSVILLE, IND., SECOND 



PRESIDENT PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT 



S!SSSf!S(iS!b^aYmiX>^iirSSS!iSSaS!&i».- 



Probably no iirorainent group of lumbermen in the country is more 

 closely linkcil with bonds of friendship and goodfellowship than are 

 those manufacturers who now operate in the Hoosier state and those 

 ■who started their lumber careers cutting Indiana's famous timber. 

 Once a year the departed sons and those who remain in the old state 

 gather at Indianapolis for the annual handshaking. This event oc- 

 curred again on Wednesday, .January 20, at the Hotel Severin, this 

 being the sixteenth annual meeting. It was marked by good fellow- 

 ship and optimism among seventy-five or eighty members who at- 

 tended. The members of the association were so anxious to visit 

 in the hotel lobby that the business sipssion ilifl not st.'irt until about 

 three o'clock in the afternoon. 



President C. H. Kramer of Richmond callt-i tlie meeting to order 



and delivered his annual address which is reproduced in part as 



follows : 



President's Address 



Indications from many angles point to a betterment in many lines; 

 we hope for a realization of same. Many banking institutions over the 

 country are reporting favorably, they are holding up well and are com- 

 ing from under the industrial and financial crisis wlilch has been exist- 

 ing for mouths past, very favorably and with much credit, although they 

 have been very harshly criticized for the tightening of the purse string. 

 The great centers are gradually working from under the financial bur- 

 dens, the rural districts have ne%'er been more prosperous. The Almighty 

 for several years has given us an abundance of crops, and has largely 

 favored us In a great many other ways. Through it all may we be 

 thankful, nnd uo into the new year with more vim and vigor and en- 

 deavor to bring success and prosperity to our fellowmen — have business 

 patriotism, talk business — don't boost war. 



We look back at the opening of the past few years, and we remember 

 similar conditions as to a betterment in the lumber and allied interests, 

 the outlook being that we would get back into normal activities, but 

 much to our regret the looked-for prosperity did not come. We hardly 

 feel that these <'onditions will be ruling during the coming year; some of 

 us are dissenters and pessimists, passing out quinine pills, but many 

 are of the I ■lief that we are at and in the beginning of a hearty and 

 distinct tradi: revival. Many of you are experiencing an Increase In 

 demand, an increase in orders and some a sligbt increase in price. 



I dare say many of you have experienced some contract breaking by 

 yoor customers when they could buy the same stock your contract called 

 for at a less price. They seemed to disregard any trade ethics whatever, 

 and cancelled with you or required you to le.?sen your contract price. 

 The same sort of customers also attempt to lake discounts at very 

 extended periods. I am quite sure you have some designating mark of 

 remembrance for such. If you must lower your prices in order to move 

 your stock, to protect quality and for financial returns, do so by giving 

 yoor tried and true customers the benefit. They will appreciate the cir- 



cumstance and understand the necessity of your doing so; selecting 

 strange and untried customers in order to gain this end, may be com- 

 mitting business suicide. 



With a good many of us the marketing of our product for some time 

 past has seemingly been not how much profit we could obtain above 

 costs, but how much can we dispose of at any price, regardless of the 

 loss In the transaction, the goal seeming to be to get the orders at any 

 cost. This system Is one of the most hazardous to the lumber interests. 

 Quite true, some of our stock cannot be held too long, owing to depre- 

 dating tendencies, and when the market is off or the prices a little on 

 the downward trend, many begin to cut and there seems to be no end. 

 The trouble largely Is not so great an over-production as It is lessened 

 demand. This applies to other commodities as well as to lumber. By 

 this, stocks accumulate at the manufacturing end, and then the old 

 policy of price cutting suggests Itself. If we must liquidate, let us do so 

 in a way, as far as possible, to the best advantage of the lumber inter- 

 ests. We hope that the consuming field of every nature using our prod- 

 ucts may get into their normal state and remain so indefinitely. 



.Mthough the general trade conditions have been all but good, we 

 were given aonther burden to carry in the granting of the 6\e per cent 

 increase in the rate to the common carriers. In the Central Freight 

 .\ssociation territory this Increase no doubt will be granted to them in 

 the trunk line territory, and as well In all the southern section. I am 

 firmly of the opinion that the lumber and timber rates were, prior to the 

 increase. In a very large per cent greater than they should have been, 

 as In comparison with many other commodities, and, were lumber and 

 timber taken on a correct basis, risk In loss or damage, etc., there would 

 be a lessening in the rates in a large number of cases. I am very much 

 of the belief the former rates netted the carriers a handsome profit. 



There Is no legitimate business but that should have, and Is entitled 

 to, a Just and equitable return on Its investment, but the returns should 

 be derived on an equitable basis from all those who must buy the priv- 

 ilege. The rate problem Is a complex riddle, a regular labyrinth. It was 

 said before the five per cent increase came along, "What the ordinary 

 shipper doesn't know would fill a volume, and what a traffic man is sup- 

 posed to know about them would fill a whole row of books," and this 

 was only too true. With this five per cent Increase we have the added 

 burden of fractions, which only deepens the entanglement. We hope that 

 some day not far distant the Interstate Commerce CommLsslon, with the 

 railroad authorities, may work out some system of rate making that the 

 «rdinary shipper may have reasonable assurance of his correctness In 

 figuring rates. As it is now we are very much at the mercy of the 

 agents' correctness, and two agents with the beet intentions will often 

 give widely dilTerent readings of the same tariffs. Let us hope for a 

 satisfactory solution. 



To the trade press we hope that our association will continue Its 

 methods along the plan that we can command your spirit of kindness, 

 and were it not for your spirit of fairness In the use of printers' ink, we 

 and the lumber game would not have the measure of success that we 

 now enjoy. We most heartily welcome you and wish you a full measure 

 of success. 



30c 



