20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



greatly benefited by our associations that I am 

 willing to travel further along the road. While 

 every panel maker is a manufacturer of veneers 

 there are lots of people who make veneers that 

 do not make panels, and right here is where I 

 think we have so far acted very conservatively, 

 and there is still a chance for bettering our 

 conditions. A veneer manufacturer proper is 

 one who sells his product as veneers, and those 

 who buy his product make panels therefrom, 

 it you will acquaint yourselves with the prices 

 these different manufacturers are selling their 

 goods tor I think you will find there is still a 

 held open tor advance in prices for panels with- 

 out inviting competition or doing the consumer 

 an injustice. In order to make plain my con- 

 tention I ask you to allow me to lay before you 

 some figures which you are all acquainted with. 

 ., To '""strate, we will take a plain oak panel. 

 •'-Ply, Vi inch thick, that is selling today on the 

 market at $40 per thousand feet. The two 

 outside veneers are usually 1-20. inch in thick ' 

 uess and the center or core 1-6 inch in thick- 

 ness. I>rom what I can learn the veneer men 

 are today getting for oak 1-20 inch thick, f. o 

 l,~ Iact0l 'y. $8 per thousand feet for faces 

 and $0 per thousand feet for rejects or backs 

 this would make the average cost to the buyer 

 *i per thousand feet. Center stock varies in 



?fi5 e ^ , t0 siz ^ from * 12 t0 $ 16 P e '- thousand 

 feet. Taking $13 per thousand feet to be a fail- 

 average price, together with twice $7 for the 

 outside pieces, gives .$27 as the cost of the wood 

 '"/'i-'"* 3 "Ply Panel. To this you should 

 ■ idd the difference between the size von can 

 buy your veneers and the actual size" of the 

 panel when completed, and as this is usually 

 1 v 2 to 2 inches on both side and end, the waste 

 or loss would figure very nearly if not quite 10 

 per cent. This added to the first cost brings 

 feet C ° St mateHal U P to $29.70 per thousand 



t„ T «lro ast of . , gIue va "es. running from $2.50 

 to $3.50 per thousand feet, and we will there- 

 lore assume that $3 per thousand feet for one 

 spread of glue, or $6 per thousand feet for 3-plv 

 work is a fair estimate. With these two items 

 we have an amount equalling $35.70 as the 

 cost of a .(-ply oak panel, leaving $4.30 pel- 

 thousand feet to the maker of panels for his 

 labor, loss ot panels, shop rent and general e\ 

 penses If these figures are correct the panel 

 man should have more money for oak panels 

 otherwise he should sell the veneers he puts into 

 panels t o the trade, for it is hardly possible 

 that anyone here would take the ground that 

 panels can be assembled, stuck up to dry. sawed 

 i" sues, sanded, crated, the veneers "handled 



Per thoSsa^f£et a ' CSl ' V "*"* U "'"" U " t0t 



r lLl h ?K is £ ny pIant that is °f can do it 

 aj£ , nf ff my hat t0 "•• Now t0 m r """I this 

 state of affairs amounts to this : Those engaged 

 m the panel business are not making any profits 

 "leu ever on the panels they are producing On 

 the contrary, if they would sell their veneers as 

 many d o, they would be better oft, for I do not 



b^of^S'ner t? n tUr , n -° ut P»»*'" on the 

 oasis ot $4.o0 per thousand feet without a loss 

 While we are making some money "a of us do 

 not let us delude ourselves with 'the idea that 

 the panel business is doing it. for we are ' 

 using the panel proposition tb market oVv!?- 



If these figures given are facts don't vm, 



a hl s n maU e SS?E. 1,aTe am ' are we D °t entitIed y to 

 iJ , acl T aDCI? over present prices'' We do 



? Lr^ v ^ ate p - uttiDg prices to a figure that is 

 thint t l P °'" m J usti(, e to the buve?, but we do 



nnd if th /» mattPr Should be carefully consi 



and if facts warrant higher prices let us have 



them-and get some return for beta- in the nanel 



must have it. If they should be able o seel, re 

 ^3E^£%*Sr&»3£4 Planet 



many « not alFff us! mfol ' mation «* value to 



than of circumstances that men fail to succeed 

 lhe want of application rather than the means 

 to acquire success results in life's failure. 



Good fellowship also indicates good feeling 

 But strong feelings do not necessarily constitute 

 strong character. In our business dealings we 

 must consider the feelings of others if we would 

 not have our own injured. 



By association men improve their talents and 

 strengthen their minds, which leads to new ideas 

 and progression. A fellow feeling makes us 

 K'ondrous kind and a good humor is the health 

 or the soul. Good nature indicates a peaceful 



Carlyle says that "we would not believe in hell 

 were It not for dyspepsia." Our indigestion has 

 muc A^ t0 do Wltn our humor. It appears to me 

 that there are some dyspeptics in the veneer and 

 panel business. 



In fellowship we each share in the gain. It 

 is human weakness to be selfish. Self-interest 

 is the mainspring in our actions, and utility is 

 the test of their value. There are many reasons 

 why every manufacturer should join the circle 

 A strong will and a settled purpose can ac- 

 complish anything. The principal object is to 

 create a more uniform price for our product 

 also to interchange ideas, discuss manufacturing 

 costs, bring about a standard of quality and to 

 promote in every way possible the veneer and 

 panel industry. 



Whoever fears to submit any question to the 

 test of their discussion loves his own opinion 

 more than the truth. Men are never so likely 

 to settle a question as when they discuss it 

 freely, and contradiction should awaken atten- 

 tion. Competition is the life of trade and 

 without organization it invariably means the 

 death of trade. 



Kesvtme of E. F. Sawyer's Speech. 

 Business men of the day are divided into three 

 classes — the men who are behind their times ; 

 the men who are ahead of their times, and the 

 men who are abreast of their times. Of these 

 three classes the first two do not seriously affect 

 their day and generation. The first is a dreamer 

 or a genius, and whatever he accomplishes, if 

 anything benefits only a coming age. The sec- 

 ond operates only as a dragnet or anchor ; he 

 may prevent the craft from being forced upon 

 the breakers, but his only office is to keep things 

 as they are — he never moves anything. It is 

 the man who is in touch with his times who 

 moves the world. 



Our times are peculiar. We all know that 

 our age is the age of the combine. We are 



living ID the dav.S Of mmliinntinna qn^ ,,,,.<.. 



E I'. SAWYER, CADILLAC VENEER CO., 



I M'lI.LAC. MICH. 



L. P. Groffman's Speech. 

 I have been asked by our secretary to resnond 



jV G tnf C» Sh n* nd Why ™hers TCd 

 •join tne cucle. 1 have consented with some 

 reluctance, fearing that I could not do tne sTb 

 i e »™„ J , Ust r' forever, I want to preface mv 

 ^ m d ar f S „ by Vt yius - that jt is fa r easier to be a 

 good fellow than it is to enter into a discourse 



?n t. S U « 30cL A£,Pr makin 8 some inquires Is 

 to the definition of "good fellowship," f was told 



n» a U t ' m , eaDt .." A pocket fu " of money and a 

 nearby saloon." However, my version of it is 

 "To be a good fellow requires but two qua "ties' 

 iow m m y an."° neSty &nd g00d wi " towa ™ ^rS 

 No man possesses honesty, character or good 

 fellowship who absolutely refuses to associate 

 ?fnn e °^ e H a ^ with , his competitors foi -the Promo- 

 tion of business interests. Few things areim 

 practicable. It is for want of application father 



Willi the unprecedented prosperity of the na- 

 tion today rare opportunities are offered, and 

 by fellowship profitable business can be secured 

 by all. 



Opportunities neglected are lost. Success in 

 lite results from seizing opportunities as they 

 present themselves, and this is the golden mo'- 

 inent. Opportunity has a lock of hair in front 

 I m I the back of her head is bald. If you seiz- 

 her by the forehead you retain her. *To miss 

 success neglect your opportunity. 



Our organization now includes some of the 

 leading manufacturers, and it is a foregone con- 

 clusion that the association will continue to 

 grow and prosper, if those of vou among us 

 today who are not already members will join 

 u , s ' , f ° r we n eed your counsel and assistance. 

 Conditions have already been wonderfully im- 

 proved, and the association needs only the com- 

 bined efforts of the manufacturers to reach the 

 zenith of success. 



There are many other reasons whv vou should 

 be one of us. which have been so ably presented 

 in the bulletins sent out by -our secretary from 

 time to time. If these bulletins are carefully 

 perused and acted upon there is no doubt in m'v 

 mind that it will be but a question of a short 

 time when our strength will only be manifest 

 but the mutual benefits to be derived will be 

 far-reaching. 



. . ^et our motto be "Excelsior — higher and 



".... « & ^ ,o tU G « 5 c ui uue comuine. we are 

 living in the days of combinations and trusts. 

 If we had been born a hundred years ago we 

 would nave lived in the days of competition. 

 In those days it was supposed that if you gave 

 the individual fair conditions and opportunities, 

 competition would settle all business difficulties, 

 l'or a hundred years and more competition held 

 full sway ; the eighteenth century and nearly all 

 of the nineteenth was ruled by competition. It 

 prevailed in politics, in religion, in business and 

 in every other line. The nations in the early 

 eighteenth century were divided up, the whole 

 German empire was composed of small petty 

 states, and even our own country, as we all 

 know, tried to divide itself in the latter part 

 of that era. 



But in this age everything Is combining. BIs- 

 mark combined the German principalities, and 

 our own country refused to divide. So it is 

 with politics, with the church and with business. 

 Combination is the keynote of the times, and 

 lias largely taken the place of competition. It 

 originally took its form out of individualism, 

 which necessitated a continual fight, and cer- 

 tain combinations at first fought other combina- 

 tions, and particular individuals. Then came the 

 great era of trusts, which endeavored to swallow 

 everything in sight. 



Now we are moving more rapidly than for- 

 merly, and the day of force is largely gone, and 

 we have reached what might be termed, for 

 want of a better name, fraternalism. I am very 

 glad we have reached that day when we can 

 see fraternalism in everything. For instance, an 

 able representative of one of the large mutual 

 insurance companies has just spoken to you, 

 showing the benefits that are derived from their 

 workings, and even their name — "mutual" — car- 

 ries out the idea of fraternalism. The older men 

 here can well remember when the Masons and 

 Odd Fellows were about the only secret societies 

 we had. but now they are legion. I am glad 

 that fraternalism is in the air. If we are here 

 only as an aggregation in which we are going 

 to fight each other we will not be benefited as 

 we will by a union in the nature of a brother- 

 hood. A combine takes a good deal of the fight 

 out of individuals and organizations. 



We have heard quite a good deal about busi- 

 ness methods here, .but I am not going to dis- 

 cuss details. What has been said here reminds 

 me of the boy with the Bantam hens. He sold 

 a good many eggs to his neighbors, who con- 

 tinually complained that the eggs were under 

 size. He accordingly cast about in his mind 

 for some cause for this defect which might be 



ie .e.|. inn, linding none, lie hit upon .'i plan 



He took a couple of goose eggs and hung them 

 up in the hen house, and between them a placard 

 on which he had printed : "Gaze on these and 

 do your best." 



Now, gentlemen, it is the lumbermen who are 

 producing the "goose eggs," and it is up to us 

 to gaze upon their results and do our best. 



There is another thing about fraternalism 

 which I particularly wish to dwell upon. There 

 are very few secrets in it : it does away with 

 the privacy of the competitive system. It does 

 away with much of the secrecy of the trust 

 system. There was a time when men built walls 

 around their industries. Every one seemed to 

 think he had all the knowledge there was iD 

 the world In his line of business ; in other words, 

 that he was "it." This applied to the veneer 

 business; it applied to the furniture business, 

 and to a multitude of others. The reason why 

 secrecy seemed necessary under the competitive 

 system was because of its isolated conditions ; 

 now under our methods it is volume of trade 

 that counts. If a man produced a particularly 

 fine article it would be almost valueless to him 

 until he established a demand for it in the 

 market, and in nine cases out of ten the best 

 way to do this is by getting his neighbors to 

 make the same thing and fhev in turn will 

 help him make a market. I think the first in- 

 dustry which adopted the open door was the 

 lumber industry. The sawmill is. and always 

 has been, just as free as the open air. And 

 what is the result? Every sawmill is a good 

 one, for if it isn't it has to go out of business. 

 I believe that the greatest injury that can be- 

 fall the veneer business is to keep a closed 

 door. It was supposed a few years ago that 

 nobody should be allowed inside the doors of a 

 glue room, but gradually the veil of secrecy was 



