U 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



makes grades that are acceptable to the consuming elements of the 

 trade. 



Fourth, that inasmuch as the great bulk of hardwood lumber is 

 used for cutting-up purposes, both sides of the board shall be taken 

 into consideration in determining grades and values. 



Fifth, that the ' ' give-and-take ' ' system of measurement on the 

 half -inch is just alike to seller and buyer. 



Sixth, that the increasing value of lumber makes it a matter of 

 economy to utilize odd lengths. 



There are now scheduled early meetings of both the big hard- 

 wood associations, and it is sincerely to be hoped that at these 

 conventions the same spirit of conciliation will prevail which char- 

 acterized the Indiana meeting. The olive branch should be held out 

 by everyone who has the interests of the hardwood trade at heart, 

 and while it doubtless is eminently desirable that both the national 

 associations retain their individuality, it is merely a matter of comity 

 and common sense that they get together and agree upon a set of 

 uniform inspection rules and organize a competent, disinterested, 

 impartial bureau to carry on the work of reinspection in all cases of 

 dispute. This should be the logical outcome of inspection agitation 

 and surely will be if a few radicals in both associations will do the 

 right thing. 



Reciprocal Demurrage Natters Progressing. 



On Jan. 16 President Roosevelt received the Executive Committee 

 appointed by the National Reciprocal Demurrage Convention at its 

 session in Chicago Jan. 5. Various members of the Committee laid 

 before him facts and conditions regarding car shortage — the great 

 and steadily increasing delay of shipments, the loss of custom by 

 shippers, the damage caused thereby, and the actual suffering ensu- 

 ing to residents of certain sections of the country, notably the 

 Northwest. Abundant testimony was presented to show that the 

 above conditions actually exist, and to convince the President that 

 some decisive steps should be taken at a very early date to amel- 

 iorate the situation. The hope was expressed that he himself would 

 take the initiative in such action. 



The Executive Committee presented a comprehensive brief in which 

 the grievances of shippers were recounted. Fifteen lines of trade 

 were represented in the complaint, which showed that lumbermen 

 had perhaps been the chief sufferers from inadequate transportation 

 service, while consignors of coal, grain, hay, and food products — the 

 essentials of every-day life — had been scarcely less inconvenienced. 



Stress was laid upon both phases of the transportation matter — 

 the failure of the railroads to provide suitable cars for the movement 

 of commodities, and their habitual delay in forwarding them to 

 destination when provided and loaded. The Committee explained 

 that they had prepared no bill for presentation to Congress and 

 wished to make no arbitrary demands, but placed itself on record 

 as recognizing the justice of the demurrage rules and charges which 

 the roads enforce upon shippers at the present time, and as of the 

 opinion that the roads themselves should recognize a corresponding 

 obligation to move with reasonable promptness the tonnage accepted 

 by them. 



President Roosevelt called Judge Knapp of the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission into the conference, with the result that a special 

 session of the Commission was called to discuss the question with the 

 Committee that day. This special hearing lasted several hours, and 

 on the following afternoon the joint body assembled before the 

 President, who listened carefully to the conclusions arrived at by the 

 Commission after hearing the evidence presented. Several of its 

 members voiced the opinion that the Interstate Commerce Commission 

 should be given further powers that they might meet like difficulties 

 which may arise in future, and that they should be authorized to 

 prepare rules regarding car interchange and other features of the 

 situation, which would be applied after a suitable time, during 

 which the organization of associations for car interchange and the 

 inauguration of other measures looking to prompt remedial action 

 could be undertaken^ by railroads. 



The opinions. expressed at the instigation of President Eoosevelt 

 showed to the entire satisfaction of the Committee that the Com- 

 mission's support is an assured fact. The President indicated that 



he would expect the Interstate Commerce Commission to formulate a 

 bill for presentation to Congress, to be supplemented by a special 

 message from himself, in the very near future, which would relieve 

 the situation and tend to prevent a recurrence of like conditions. 



The Executive Committee was exceedingly gratified by the receptive 

 attitude of the President and Commission, and left Washington con- 

 fident iu the ultimate adjustment of matters to the entire satisfaction 

 of both the railroads and the vast numbers of shippers throughout 

 the country. 



The "King of Trusts." 



If Senator Kittredge of North Dakota could but realize what an 

 ass he is making of himself, it would lie an excellent thing — for that 

 gentleman. Washington dispatches, under date of Dee. 16, quote 

 him as delivering the following harangue on the "king of trusts" 

 before the Senate, which is reproduced in part, not so much because 

 it furnishes amusing reading for lumbermen as that they may recog- 

 nize one of the sources from whence spring the absurd statements 

 now being scattered abroad regarding the trade: 



"In its far-reaching effects there is none to compare with ii. 

 It is remorseless in its grasp on the people, and the only change 

 which it contemplates is to increase the price of its products 

 at frequent intervals. The consumer not only bears the burden 

 of its aggressive monopoly in advancing prices but also of the 

 profits of intervening agencies. For him there is no escape 

 from the avarice of this monopoly. To him the lumber trust 

 is a tangible, living reality. 



"When he sees these advancing prices without reference to 

 increased cost of production he needs no argument to convince 

 him that the government to which he contributes his support 

 and renders true allegiance is derelict in its duty unless it em- 

 ploys all the resources at its command to relieve him of these 

 oppressions. 



"The people demand this as a right and not as a favor. The 

 trust has become so bold in its operations within the last year 

 or two that it has eliminated in many localities all semblance 

 of competition and from a central point controls both the whole- 

 sale and retail trade and fixes the price to the consumer. 



"Its prices are identically the same, whether in Minnesota or 

 Arkansas, Illinois or Texas, Indiana or Missouri, or in any 

 other portion of the country. * * * It costs $10 to manu- 

 facture the lumber at the mills and it yields to the trust a profit 

 of at least 200 per cent. According to the last census the value 

 of timber products in 1900 was $566,600,000. 



"The retail dealers are not alone in the clutches of the trust : 

 if the wholesaler sells to an unauthorized dealer, he is subjected 

 to boycott and other penalties. The millmen are also subject 

 to like domination. * * * 



"Within the past live years the prices of lumber and timber 

 products have been arbitrarily advanced from 100 to 500 per 

 cent. This is nothing better than robbery and is, in fact, the 

 plunder of a commercial outlaw. * * * 



"This criminal combination is a menace to the whole country 

 on which it preys, of all the trusts this is the only one of 

 which it may be truthfully said that it is literally with us from 

 the cradle to the grave. The federal government alone has the 

 legal authority and judicial power to punish and dissolve it." 



The Furniture Season. 



The furniture season is in full swing at the great exhibits both 

 in Chicago and in Grand Rapids. From the fact that it has been 

 well known to the buying trade for some months that values would 

 be advanced 5 to 15 per cent on many lines the first of the year, a 

 good deal of buying has prevailed for some months. It is therefore 

 more than likely that the volume of sales at the semi-annual exhibits 

 will not be quite as great as it was a year ago. However, the fac- 

 tories are largely loaded with business and the total quantity of 

 goods turned out on both old and new orders will doubtless be in 

 excess of any other period in the history of the trade. 



While the increased cost of the production of all lines of furni- 

 ture is a marked feature of the situation, it is also observable that 

 the higher price of lumber is cutting a comparatively small figure 

 in this augmented expense. The average manufacturer is learning 

 to decrease his total cost on most lines of production, but he is up 

 against one thing that is a constant menace to cheapness — the labor 

 proposition. The general increased cost of living has made it neces- 

 sary to advance wages. However, new and improved woodworking 

 tools -which effect considerable economy are constantly being placed 

 upon the market until apparently the maximum of efficiency and of 

 capacity has been reached. Some few operators profess that they 

 are making their lines as cheaply as they did when labor and material 

 cost were much lower than at the present time, but on the whole the 

 advance asked by producers of furniture is comparatively small when 

 the largely increased values of all materials entering into furniture 

 construction and the high cost of labor are considered. 



