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Copyright, TuE IIardwood Company, 1918 



Publl»hed in llic InlcrrsI of the American Hardwood Foresli, llie Products thereof, and Logging. Saw 



Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on the lOlh and 25th of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Edgar H. Defebaugh. President 

 Edwin W. Meeker, Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell, Technical Editor' 



Seventh Floor Ellsworth Building 



537 So. Dearborn Street. CHICAGO 



Telephones: Harrison 8086-80tt7-«0fte 



Vol. XLV CHICAGO, MAY 25, 1918 



No. 3 



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Review and Outlook 



T 



General Market Conditions 



HE I'KOBALE FUTURE OF THE LUMBER MARKET was 

 clearly brought out iu that memorable convention of the Xa- 

 tiuiial Lumber Manufacturers' Association which occurred in Chi- 

 cago this week. The high point that stands out in a mental bird's- 

 eye of the proceedings is the fact that direct government and ac- 

 cessory war business and the relations of the trade to that business 

 occupied every minute of the three extremely crowded and inter- 

 esting days. Xo one who attended these meetings will doubt for 

 a moment that the spirit of the entire American lumber industry 

 was represented at this epoch-making gathering. Therefore the rev- 

 elation of the complete domination by war work of the mind of the 

 convention clearly epitomizes the true situation of the industry 

 throughout the land. In short, the business which has come because 

 of the war and the necessity for efficiently handling it is now the 

 big consideration of our national lumber producing body. 



That result comes not alone through war necessity, but just as 

 surely reflects the economic necessity of the present situation — the 

 time honored influence of supply and demand. Patriotic motives 

 alone would undoubtedly have sufficed to have brought the lumber 

 trade to its present organization in support of war work, but the 

 effectiveness of purely patriotic motives is enhanced by the fact 

 that from the standpoint of markets, w-ar work so strongly domi- 

 nates the lumber industry as to demand primary attention to that 

 phase. 



The industry is committed to such a program for an indefinite 

 period ahead and the sincere utterance of many of the best posted 

 men within the ranks of the lumber trade leave no room for doubt 

 that manufacturing capacity will be filled to overflowing just as 

 long as our national war program carries on. 



Statements of the degree to which manufacturing capacity will be 

 ntilized during the year were in the main based on normal manu- 

 facturing possibilities. But when the sickening seriousness of the 

 labor situation is taken into account there is an even more clean- 

 cut reason for anticipating shortages. Shortage and inefficiency of 

 labor have become much more than a source of annoyance or a cause 

 for worry; they constitute today a direct menace to the national 

 production of lumber which has become one of the most important 

 of raw materials for war purposes. Indeed the threat of serious 

 interruption is very real and the lumber industry as a class is still 

 entirely in the dark as to means of effectively meeting it. 



The actuality of the threat was emphasized at the convention by, 

 in some cases, apparently radical recommendations coming from 

 clear-thinking and efBcient producers. It is apparent that satisfy- 



iiii; inducements must be offered to labor if mill and woods opera- 

 tions are not to be curtailed or even possibly shut down. Some of 

 the most clear-thinking and successful men in the industry seem 

 to feel that drastic changes in the relations of the trade to its labor 

 are certain to come about eventually. Thus it would seem that the 

 trade should be the gainer in the end by anticipating the inevit- 

 able and putting these changes through now, thus reaping immedi- 

 ately what advantages would otherwise accrue in the future. 



No one in reckoning or attempting to analyze the condition and 

 prospects of his individual business should discount the general 

 effect of the national situation upon the lumber industry as a body 

 simply because for the present he himself may not have experienced 

 either advantage or disadvantage from the war. It is true that 

 the hardwood trade has not yet reached the point of importance 

 to war prosecution that has come to the building lumbers, but it is 

 a safe prophecy that the time will soon come when every branch 

 of lumbering will be concerned primarily with the production of 

 war supplies. Even now the call of the nation has come home to 

 the hardwood trade either directly or through its many diversified 

 points of indirect contact. 



War needs which are evolving and which will evolve will so far 

 outweigh what has gone before that hardwoods contribution to the 

 war cause in the way of material supplied so far will appear insig- 

 nificant. Just as an instance, it is predicted that building construc- 

 tion which would not have come about except because of the war, 

 ■ivill call for anywhere from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000 feet of hardwood 

 flooring during the coming year. This does not seem a very large 

 item in itself, but it is a very significant one. 



Another illustration that means something is the statement by 

 one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the country that fac- 

 tory production runs now about 75 per cent to furniture for the 

 government and about 25 per cent to regular commercial lines. 



Still on top of all of this, the usual commercial channels for 

 hardwoods are kept fairly well filled, and in fact, in some cases 

 are filled to the limit, although the buying trade is pursuing the 

 wise policy of not lajang up any more than is necessary in the way 

 of raw material. This policy seems due not so much to lack of con- 

 fidence in its own trade as to the possibility of being called upon 

 to assist in meeting the national requirements which might necessi- 

 tate entirely different descriptions of lumber. 



Isolated items of hardwood have gone on record as having moved 

 recently in important markets at less thah was gotten for them 

 two weeks ago, but in the broad sense lumber values are seeking 

 and still finding higher levels and the top wUl be reached only when 

 the apex of producing cost comes. 



