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fliPiSlEocoffl 



CopvriK'lit, The Hakdwoou Comtany, I'jlS 

 PuLl.»l.<rJ in llic Inlrrcjl of the American I lardwood Forc.l.. ll.c ProJucI* ll.ereof, and Logjima. Saw 

 Mill and Woodworking Machinery, on ihc lOlh and 25lh of each Month, by 



THE HARDWOOD COMPANY 



Ed(!ar H. Drfebaugh. Presldcnl 

 Edwin N\'. Meeker. Managing Editor 

 Hu Maxwell. Technical Editor- 



itv.nlh Floor Ellsworth Building 



S37 'So. Dearborn Street. CHICAGO 



Telephone.: Harrison 8086-8087-8088 



XL^V 



CHICAGO. SEMPEMBER 25. 1918 



^^^^^^^^^S22^g^; 



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Review and Outlook 



General Market Conditions 



A l.ii-,|s, ye view c.f tin' market sitiiaticui liylit now jirosciits alidiit 

 as many irregularitii-s and uncertainties us does the averaj^e sec- 

 tion of shell-pitted Xo-Mans-Land. As a matter of fact, interest 

 in supiily and demand lias been relegated to a position of minor 

 importance since the thunder-bolt from Washington carrying the 

 new forest products embargo regulations. Keceivers and shippers 

 of lumber are spending the best i)art of their days, and probably 

 nights also, in trying to iron out the many costly com|>lications 

 that sprang into being immediately upon receipt of that very 

 ilrastic order. One comfort that the average Inmberman can get 

 from the whole proposition, though, is that he will now be ablv t(. 

 got a pretty good line on his pet customer who has been stringing 

 him by showing scant interest in i>rices an<I claiming he has all the 

 lumber he needs anyway. Uncle Sam now jmts it up to the con- 

 signee to secure the permit, and if Mr. Consignee really needs the 

 lumber he is not going to bother very much about stringing the 

 salesman, but is going to hop right out and get hold of that permit 

 as fast as he can. 



There are four points of m.-ijor importance which influence th-^ 

 lumber outlook. They are: First, the lumber embargo; second, 

 the total embargo on building construction; third, the drastic regu- 

 hitiou of furniture manufacture; fourth, the very rapid continueil 

 swing of lumber manufacture to direct and indirect war purposes. 

 The last cause has a notable effect upon the other three. In fact, 

 it is indirectly brought out in official ways, although there is no 

 ofticial indication of making a definite statement, that close to 7o 

 per cent of lumber production is now on direct or indirect war lines. 

 If that is the case, and authoritiitive trade reports give even more 

 convincing proof than government estimates that it is so, then: 



The lunilicr embargo docs iint liave serious future aspects, for tlie gov- 

 ernment will positively not Interfere wllli ilirect or luillrect war work. 



The liullilln:; restrictions will nut inl ii severe tlgurc bconusc there is 

 inough war work anyway and nuicli of this is essential war linilding which 

 - .Nemptcd. 



I lie same thing hidds in regard to the furniture ri'gulation. 



Also regarding the furniture restrictions, the very fact th:it the 

 :;u\ernment has given recognition to the furniture industry by 

 going to the trouble of anjilyzing and restricting it, shows that the 

 furniture industry will not be put out of business from a non- 

 essential standpoint. Further, the restriction is not a restriction 

 of quantity but merely a regulation of designs, sizos, patterns, etc. 

 Also, all the usu.al lines of wood are given recognition as being 

 • imitted. So the furniture situ.ation appears stronger or at least 



■ le certain than it did before. 



Altogether, with the lumber industry on a solid foundation of 



.1 per cent or more war jiroduction; with assurance that unn 

 issential lumber stocks will be held back in production by restric- 

 tions of labor, fuel, transportation and other necessities, thus hold 

 ing such stocks to the minimum; with assurance that with the va-st 

 bulk of lumber producing capacity, production will be made cer- 

 tain by government assistance and markets will be assured be- 

 cause of government prescribed essentiality, the lumber trade looks 

 as strong as it ever ilid. Similarly, the man -who slashes prices 

 without his conscicilee telling him that he is absolutely compelled 

 to shows himself more and more plainly to be just an ordinary, 





n: 



Concerning the Essentiality of Lumber 



XTKRESTIXG AND ENCOUR.\GING XEWS comes from Wash- 

 gton this week considerably clarifying the status of the lum- 

 ber industry as far as its relation to essential war work is con- 

 cerned. The War Industries Board has instituted the policy of 

 issuing supplementary bulletins to the preference list, the idea being 

 lo make the preference regulations elastic and capable of fitting in 

 with changing conditions. It has been officially staled that the 

 |)urposc of the first lists was to establish i>reference for those firms 

 and industries which were immediately essential and whose require- 

 ments had to be given important and preferential treatment. 



In conformance lo the new policy of issuing supplementary bul- 

 letins the Labor Priority Bulletin No. 1 has just been issued as the 

 first of this scries by .Judge Parker, Priority Commissioner of the 

 Priority Division of the War Industries Board. Probably the most 

 pertinent and encouraging paragi'aph in tlio bulletin is the follow- 

 ing: 



" Heferring specifically to the lumber industry the essential 

 value of the industry as a whole is, however, recognized, and a 

 large percentage of the present luuib?r production of the United 

 States is required directly or indirectly in the prosecution of the 



It has been officially established that a "substantial percentage" 

 of plant production going to direct or indirect war purposes means 

 at least 75 per cent of the whole output. Therefore it would seem 

 that the reference to the percentage of lumber production going 

 into direct or indirect war purposes must be at least -7.5 per cent of 

 the total sawmill output. 



Thus it can be readily seen that the industry is now ]u-actically 

 on a war footing, and this knowledge generally disseminated should 

 have a distinctly steadying influence upon the trade, for it has 

 been the history of industrial conditions, under tlie present war 



