GEO. n. BURGESS, MEMPHIS, CHAIR- 

 MAN COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS. 



F. B. ROBERTSON, MEMPHIS, MEMBER 

 COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS. 



FRANK F. FEE, DERMOTT, ARK., MEM- 

 HER COMMITTEE ON ARRANGEMENTS. 



Possibilities Shown. 



These figures reveal the possibilities of the gum industry and it 

 would seem that the railroads and lumbermen have a mutual interest 

 in developing it. Furthermore, the utilization of this great natural 

 resource means nuich toward the development and prosperity of these 

 southern state. If made a profitable business, it will furnish capital 

 for developing the cut-over lands for cultivation. Development of 

 the gum lumber tonnage does not measure all the benefit which tliis 

 industry offers to the railroads, for it will increase the demand for 

 all the necessities of an increased population wliich will furnish a 

 "back haul" to the railroads. 



The object of the Gum Lumber Manufacturers' Association is to 

 study all the conditions surrounding the industry and to disseminate 

 such information as will promote its welfare. An advertising cam- 

 paign is one feature of its work. The satisfactory results obtained 

 thus far leave no doubt that if tlie association receives the proper 

 support of the railroads and gum manufacturers, a profitable market 

 can be created. 



Another point which should be kept in mind is that if conditions 

 are not brought about whereby all the gum stumpage may be util- 

 ized along with the other stand of hardwoods, it will be to a great 

 extent wasted in developing these lands for cultivation, and in clear- 

 ing these lands tliere is a period of from three to five years, during 

 which time the lands are unproductive of tonnage either from lumber 

 or farm products. 



Logging Cost and Manufacturing Conditions 



The paper and exhibits prepared by W. B. Burke, vice-president 

 and general manager of the Lamb-Fish Lumber Company, Charles- 

 ton, Miss., was by far the most valuable as offering tangible evi- 

 dence of the necessity for favorable action by the railroads. It 

 occupies a space by itself as a special article, together with repro- 

 ductions of all the exhibits, on pages 26-26C. 



The Effect of Competitive Materials on Lumber 

 C. E. Brower, of Mempliis, gave some valuable arguments in his 

 paper imder the above caption. It was devoted particularly to the 

 relationship between railroad freight rates and the campaign for 

 the substitution of other materials for lumber. The nub of the argu- 

 ment was based on the fact that railroads usually charge the same 

 rates for high and low grades of lumber. The high grades being 

 more valuable are able to pay the rates and pass through the markets 

 to the ultimate consumer; but the low grades cannot pay the rates 

 and leave any profit. Consequently the low grades, in many cases, 

 cannot be handled. The stuff that would cut into stock of that class 

 is left in the woods, or if it reaches the sawmill it gets no farther, 

 and is either consumed as fuel under the boilers or is disposed of in 

 some other way that produces little profit. The result at the other 



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end is that substitutes often push in where cheap hinibcr could have 

 been used if at hand. 



The cry so often heard, particularly from exploiters of substitutes, 

 that the forest resources of the county are on the verge of exhaustion, 

 is a false cry, the speaker declared. What is needed is a way to get 

 the cheap grades to market. The railroads could well afford to give 

 rates that will move this stuff. The increased business would more 

 than make good the shrinkage of revenue due to lowering the rate 

 on that class of lumber. 



The manufacturers of lumber from a number of species have carried 

 on campaigns of advertising and have acquainted the public with the 

 merits of these woods; but the opportunities for increased business 

 are greatly restricted because of freight rates which shut much of the 

 wood out of market. 



The instance of eastern oak's competition on the Pacific coast 

 with Japanese oak is cited as an example of what an excessive rate 

 may do in the way of killing the business for an American wood and 

 giving it to a foreign competitor. For a time after Japanese oak 

 began to arrive on the western coast, the eastern oak was able to com- 

 pete with it. The railroad rate for the eastern oak at that time was 

 seventy-five cents; but the railroads thought they saw an oppor- 

 tunity to increase their revenues on this article and they raised the 

 rate to eighty-five cents. The advance killed the business in eastern 

 oak and gave the market to its competitor from Asia. The railroads 

 not only did not increase their revenue on that item, but they lost the 

 business, and also caused the eastern oak shippers to lose theirs. 



The morning session was concluded by an interesting oratorical 

 triumph, presented by Joseph Norwood, editor of the Magnolia 

 Gazette of Magnolia, Miss. Mr. Norwood's theme was the changing 

 attitude displayed by the shippers and travelers towards the rail- 

 roads, and the changing attitude in the other direction also. When 

 Mr. Norwood, who is state senator for Mississippi, concluded, there 

 was no doubt in the minds of anybody that Magnolia surely must be 

 some town. 



The meeting then adjourned for a rather elaborate luncheon, served 

 in the main dining room, which was given over to the lumbermen for 

 this occasion, the Memphis lumbermen being hosts. 



AFTERNOON SESSION 



F. R. Gadd, vice-president of the Wisconsin Lumber Company of 

 Chicago, opened the afternoon session with his paper entitled ' ' Equal- 

 ization of West Side Bates. ' ' The following is a summary of what 

 he said : 



The Iilatory of rates and rate making In the South, both east and west 

 of the Mississippi, shows thnt the charges nre not based on the length of 

 the haul, but are fi.\ed arbitrarily or they are hnsed on erroneous claims. 

 In those nrrnngemontB, the district west of the Mississippi gets the worst 

 of the deal, and there Is no reason why such should be the case. The 

 principal market for the hardwood lumber of the Southwest Is In Illinois, 



