HARDWOOD RECORD 



Jdly 25, 1918 



men of small means may acquire homes, that rural life may l)e made 

 attractive and that the problems of marketing and distribution may be 

 solved. 



That the land settlement program of Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary 

 of tlie Interior, as outlined in the letter of this official to President Wilson, 

 under date of May 31 last, be strongly endorsed. 



That the association appoint a legislative committee "to study the land 

 settlement laws of other nations and states with a view to recommending 

 to the legislatures of the states containing lands within the alluvial dis- 

 trict of the lower Mississippi and its tributaries the adoption of such laws 

 as will aid in the preparation, development and settlement of cut-over, 

 swauTp and overflowed lands within this territory." 



That, because the development and opening of new lands are impera- 

 tive to the nation and to the various states, the association "strongly 

 recommends to Director General McAdoo that home-seekers' rates, formerly 

 in effect, be re-established, especially into the alluvial areas along the 

 lower Mis.sissippi, where millions of acres of the richest lands in this 

 country are awaiting the coming of new settlers for development." 

 ' That the a.ssociation "urge upon Director-General McAdoo the import- 

 ance of continuing the agricultural development department of the rail- 

 roads, particularly in this alluvial territory, of permitting the railroads 

 to co-operate with other worthy organizations which are working tor the 

 development of farm lands and the improvement of farming methods, and 

 of appropriating sufficient funds from the operating incomes of the rail- 

 roads to carry on this work." 



The legislative committee authorized in one of the resolutions, as 

 already quoted, was named by President John W. McClure and con- 

 sists of the following: W. H. Dick, Tallahatchie Lumber Company, 

 Philipp, Miss., chairman; P. H, Starks, Lamb-Fish Lumber Com- 

 pany, Charleston, Miss.; W. E. Hyde, Desha Lumber Company, 

 Memphis; J. F. McSweyn, Memphis Band Mill Company, Memphis, 

 and S. E. Simonson, Luxora, Ark. 



The semi-annual was called to order immediately after lunclieon 

 was served at 12:30. There were members present representing a 

 total of nearly 1,000,000 acres of cut-over alluvial lands. 



President McClure delivered a brief address of welcome and then 

 reviewed the activities of the association within the past six 

 months, during which he noted such material progress that he 

 regarded the success of the organization as assured. He made a 

 strong plea for a larger membership, in order that there might be 

 a still stronger organization for the preliminary work wliieh has 

 been undertaken by this organization as well as for the more 

 important duties which lie ahead, including the working out of 

 de'finite and concrete plans for clearing, developing and colonizing 

 these alluvial properties. 



In this connection Mr. McClure called attention to the fact that, 

 at a meeting of the directors held immediately before the semi- 

 annual, each member was charged with bringing in one new mem- 

 ber within the next six months. He did not announce what penalty 

 for failure would be imposed, but intimated that it would be so 

 severe that every member of the association would want to escape it. 



President McClure made a number of recommendations, all of 

 which were acted upon favorably by the resolutions committee, the 

 report of which has already been given. 



P. E. Stonebraker, secretary, said that five new mcmliers had 

 .joined the association since last January and that tlie members of 

 this organization were co-operating, to the limit of their ability, 

 with the Food Administration and with other arms of the govern- 

 ment in everything looking to the winning of the war, and cited 

 instances where owners of cut-over lands had plowed up cottQu 

 in order that they might raise corn and other foodstuff crops. 



One of the principal addresses was that delivered by George H. 

 Sheldon, formerly governor of Nebraska but now a planter at Way- 

 side, Miss., in the heart of the "alluvial empire," He spoke on 

 "Conscious and Unconscious Co-operation" not only in winning the 

 war, which is the main problem before the American people, but 

 also in finding a solution of labor and other problems that must 

 necessarily come with the closing of the present gigantic struggle, 

 the outcome of which he did not, for a moment, doubt would l]e a 

 glorious victory for the allied governments. 



Mr. Sheldon said that, in his opinion, the entire civil population 

 of the United States should be organized into a solid, cohesive mass 

 for buying Liberty bonds and War Savings Stamps, for the raising 

 of Y. M. C. A., Bed Cross and other war work funds, and for carry- 



ing on all activities growing directly or indirectly out of the war, 

 and asserted that $50,000 spent in proper organization is far more 

 effective than $50,000,000 spent in advertising Liberty bonds and 

 other offerings of the government." 



He made an eloquent plea for better relations between white 

 employers in the South and the negro laborers and for more equita- 

 ble division with the latter of the fruits of their labor. He believed 

 that the return of the negro soldiers to the South would present 

 a problem greater than that arising in any other part of the country, 

 and he urged that land owners deal leniently with these men and 

 help them to find work and homes. He pointed out that the negroes 

 are, for the first time in their history, doing their full duty to the 

 government in furnishing troops, in buying Liberty bonds and War 

 Savings Stamps and in supporting the various war work funds, and 

 that this attitude on their part entitled them to far greater con- 

 sideration than they had ever received. He believed that the habits 

 of thrift and saving inculcated by the war should be encouraged as 

 far as possible, and declared that, if this were done, the South 

 would, with the savings of the negroes added to the capital of the 

 land owners, come into its own after the ending of the present 

 struggle. He predicted that owners of lands who are now cultivat- 

 ing these with day labor and with hired hands would, in the not 

 distant future, become landlords, with the greater portion of their 

 holdings worked by negroes on a rental or crop-sharing basis. 



In connection with the clearing of cut-over lands, Mr. Sheldon 

 asserted that the negro was the best labor available for that pur- 

 pose, and he said that he had this important fact in mind in appeal- 

 ing for better treatment of the negro. 



Homer K. Jones of Memphis was to have delivered an address 

 on "Excess Profits and Their Application," but he was ill and 

 unable to be present. 



A delightful feature of the program was an impromptu talk bj 

 Mrs. Roussan, editor of the Osceola (Ark.) Times, in which she de- 

 clared that the developments in her own native county, Mississippi, 

 had been so great during the past few years that they represented 

 the realization of the fondest dreams of her girlhood days. In well 

 chosen language she painted a brilliant picture of the future, and 

 her enthusiasm and her confidence were an inspiration to every 

 member of the association within the sound of her well-modulated 

 voice. 



The program closed with the showing of moving pictures, which 

 gave a very definite idea of the vast improvement that has taken 

 place in the building of good roads throughout the alluvial regions 

 and of the efficiency of the machinery employed for that purpose. 



Larger Hardwood Output Indicated 



Although decrease in production of gum and oak as well as some 

 other items occurred in Memphis territory during the month of 

 June*as compared with sales and shipments of these materials, indi- 

 cations are that there will be considerable gain in hardwood output 

 during the current month and probably through August. 



This view is based on the fact that there are more cars for 

 liandling logs to the mills, that more men are available for work in 

 the woods and that larger forces are to be had for manning hard- 

 wood manufacturing establishments. The laying-by of cotton and 

 other crops is releasing large numbers of men for cutting and haul- 

 ing timber to the rights of way of the railroads, and the enforce- 

 ment of the "work or fight" measure of the government on all 

 men between the ages of 16 and 65 is expected to still further 

 increase the available supply of men for all activities connected 

 with the preparation of timber and its conversion into liardwood 

 lumber. 



In this connection, however, it should not be forgotten tliat tliere 

 is still quite a pronounced shortage of labor and that many plants 

 are unable to operate at anytliing like capacity, even with the 

 increases in labor supply already suggested. Any increase in pro- 

 duction will therefore be relative, since practically every member 

 of the trade is of the opinion that under no conditions can hard- 

 wood production be brought up to normal. 



