HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



with the dcvUloDS which It rouordeil, n 

 all human experience. He could tliliik 

 that time so compact as to fall to iiii 

 could not forget, the son of Nancy Hi 

 prophet of our democracy, and the ili 

 of every lund, of what we mean lu Aui 



No luTlml In my life slves me the 

 service lu (he Union Army docs. We 

 history. To this splendid body of piii 

 neccKHiiry. I know for all of you as wi 

 the question may he asked, "In the gri 

 ■ecu for liberty and democracy, what i 

 eni'h one of us can stand up 

 •■' t. hand on our heart, and 

 ^^.■r, "I did my full duty ti. 

 ! Mud country." 



Secretary's Report 



.\t the conclusion of the 

 aMdross by President Woods, 

 the secretary-treasurer, Frank 

 P. Fish, presented his report, 

 as follows: 



On the occasion of our fornur 

 meetings, reference was made In 

 the secretary-treasurer's report 

 to the fact that our country was 

 at war. Today we may go a 

 step further and note with no 

 little feeling of pride and gratu- 

 latlon that our country Is not 

 only at war. but that It Is In 

 the war. One year ago the war 

 was an abstract proposition, 

 something that was still remote 

 and far away from our hearts 

 and homes ; but. during the past 

 year, as you all well know, the 

 war hos become a very concrete 

 thing to all of us, because It has 

 come very close to every fireside 

 In this whole land, and each on., 

 of us Is paying toll, not only In 

 treasure, but also In anguish ok 

 heart for those young men who 

 have gone over there to grapple 

 In a death struggle with the 

 llun. But It Is not the anguish 

 of despair, but rather the an- 

 guish of Intenslfletl pride. W. 

 are so proud of those boys in 

 khaki that It hurts, because wi 

 know what the result Is to in-. 

 There Is no doubt whatever in 

 our souls as to the ultimate out- 

 come of the struggle. The Ger- 

 man Beast Is going to be beaten 

 to his knees and a punlshmeni 

 is to be meted out to him which 

 will be fully commensurate to 

 the nature of the crime which 

 he has conimlttetl against hu- 

 manity. The only uncertain 

 factor In the retributive etjua- 

 tlon Is the length of time that 

 Is going to be required to do the 

 job ; but the job is going to be done, and 

 to do our part to bring the thing about a 



This spirit of helpful determination is i 

 but Is embraced by many organizations : 

 slon of its attitude toward the war. the 

 by resolution, at the last annual meeting, i 

 to subscribe to the Liberty Loan and tc 

 scriptlons were mad- 



niong the outstanding peaks In 

 ' no compendium u( hlatory of 



aiii.ing chose whom the world 

 is. .Vliruhani Lincoln, the great 

 ■n Interpreter lo the upcomem 

 lii by freedom and opportunity. 

 Isfaitlon that the three years' 

 ' making national and personal 

 itlc business men no advice Is 

 as myself. In future time when 

 •St struggle the world has ever 



you do to help':" I feel that 



In per«on. who entered upon an exhaustive research with regard to the 

 prospective requirements of the government and Its allies for hardwood 

 lumber ; the methods proposed for obtaining the stock ; the sources of 

 supply, etc., etc. In this work the secretary-treasurer came In Intimate 



contact with the lieails of the various <le 

 liurchnse of lumber, and was able to ren 

 location of stocks for which the demand i 

 In addition to this service, a tender 

 Inspection service of the association, and 



Intents having to do with the 

 substantial assistance in the 

 especially urgent. 



.s made and accepted of the 

 a result many million feet of 



of this 



HON. JOHN M. WOODS. BOSTON, MASS., RETIRING PRESIDENT 



well done, and we arc all going 

 : quickly as possible, 

 ot confined solely to individuals, 

 s well. To afford some e.xpres- 

 membership of this association, 

 uthorlzed the secretary-treasurer 

 the Red Cross Fund, and sub- 

 to the First Liberty Loan of $10,000, and $1,001) 

 to the Red Cross Fund. 



But in another manner this association has rendered far greater as- 

 sistance to the government than Is implied by Its modest financial support. 

 When It became evident that large supplies of hardwood lumber would 

 be required by the government for various purposes connected with the 

 prosecution of the war. the good offices of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association were promptly tendered to the government to assist in making 

 these purchases. Owing to the lack of definite organization In Washing- 

 ton, this offer was not finally accepted until October of last year, wbe^ 

 the newly appointed director of lumbe'r invited this association to open 

 a war service bureau In Washington. This bureau was opened January 

 2 ot the current year, and was presided over by the secretary-treasurer 



irchased by this government and its allies, using the 

 ssoilatlon as the s<de basis for settlement In full for 

 I' discount period. In most cases before the stock so 

 paid (or had arrived at its Initial 

 destination. This Is a service to 

 tbi' lumbermen and to the gov- 

 ernment that cannot be dupli- 

 cated by any other organization, 

 anil should be appreciated for Its 

 reliability and convenience, by 

 all parties engaging In such 

 transactions. In conducting this 

 work at Washington, the as- 

 sociation has attempted and ac- 

 complished two main objects. It 

 lias brought those who are In a 

 position to supply stock suitable 

 for governmental requirements 

 in touch, with those who are 

 trying to locate such stock ; and 

 It has provided a system for 

 cirtlttcatlon of grades and 

 quantities of lumber In a man- 

 ner wholly satisfactory to both 

 parties to the transaction. At 

 this date the offices ot this as- 

 sociation command the highest 

 respect of the government and 

 Its allies, and no day passes 

 without a request ot some nat- 

 ure coming from them for ad- 

 vice or assistance In meeting the 

 problems of supply and delivery 

 by which these governmental de- 

 partments are confronted, and 

 all ot these requests receive the 

 most prompt and careful atten- 

 tion possible to bestow upon 



.\fter the war service bureau 

 had been maintained in Wash- 

 ioKton tor about two months, 

 the secretary-treasurer believing 

 tliat he was sufficiently familiar 

 with the requirements ot the 

 situation from close personal 

 contact with the departmental 

 heads, and that the work could 

 lie continued quite as efficiently 

 from the Chicago office of th« 

 association as by a continuation 

 ot a separate office In Washing- 

 ton, with the permission of the 

 iliiector of lumber, the Washing- 

 ton office was closed and the 

 Hies and records pertaining to 

 the bureau were moved to Chi- 

 cago. This change in location, 

 •owever, made no change In the work being performed by the association 

 in the interests of the government and ot Its own membership, as the 

 number of transactions passing through the office every day amply wit- 

 nesses. 



V.VLUABI.E SEHVICES 



in this necessarily brief outline of the small part lu the great national 

 program which this association has taken, mention should be made ot 

 the invahiahle service rendered both the goveramcnt and the entire hard- 

 wood Industry by some of our directors and active members. I refer to 

 Horace F. Taylor of Buffalo, N. Y. ; Walter E. Chamberlin of Boston, 

 Mass.; Charles B. Worcester of Chicago, andM. E. Philbrick ot Boston. 

 These gentlemen, acting as assistants and advisers to Robert H. Downman, 

 director ot lumber in the Council of National Defense, have made unsel- 

 fish sacrifice of their own business interests. They have spent months In 

 Washington at their own expense, without any compensation whatever, 

 and have labored under the most trying working conditions. George E. 

 Breece, our director from Charleston, W. Va., who Is now Major Breece, 

 has been placed in charge of the production of spruce tor airplane con- 

 struction on the Pacific Coast, and, as a result of his careful study and 

 scientific reseni'ch, our government is now securing greatly increased 



