24 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



printed on the head or back of a letter or order 



sheet, and the courts in two or three insta 



have made a point that those conditions were 

 printed in such a manner that there could be no 

 claim made, that they formed a part of the 

 contract or quotation. Respectfully submitted. 

 W. YV. Knight, Chairman. 



The repori of the M bership Committee 



was read by Chairman M. S. Tremaine. 



Report of Membership Committee. 



The trusters just previous to the last annual 

 meeting of the association had an exhaustive 

 discussion as to the effect an increase in dues 

 would have on the membership. At that time 

 the opinion prevailed thai we might perhaps los- 

 fifty members on this account and that we would 

 be doing well if the association did not show a 

 net loss of over twenty-five members at the end 

 of the association year. 



The association is to be congratulated on the 

 fact that its membership has been maintained 



and thai we did not have tl xpected loss 



owing t" the fact Hun the wholesale dealers 

 realize more fully than ever its value and In- 

 creasing benefit. 



while the Hoard of Trustees and the Mem 

 bership Committee are entitled to credit for 

 their efforts, we believe that the satisfactory 

 results are due in a great measure to the fad 

 that this association is becoming more and more 

 important, and that the members realize thai 

 the enrollment of their tninies is well worth 

 the price of the dues. In fact, several iiient 

 bers have indicated this: one man went so fat- 

 as to say that it helped to keep his bank bal- 

 ance out of red ink. 



The secretary has been especially diligent 



GARDNER I. JONES OF BOSTON. 



in keeping before us prospective names, anil 

 the office has sent out frequent communications 

 io the members urging them to be on the look 

 out for desirable additions. The committee 

 has written upwards of 200 letters from their 

 respective offices in an effort to keep the asso- 

 ciation before the people who could use anil 

 appreciate ijs benefits. We believe that the 

 resignations were due almost entirely to the 



usual cl ges in business lirms. 



The figures are as follows: 



ASSOCIATION. 



Membership March 1. 1906 366 



Applications received since 3G 



Elected :;:; 



Rejected 2 



In hands of committee 1 



399 

 Withdrawals :;i 



Membership March 1. 1907 : . . 368 



BUREAU. 



Subscribers March 1. 1906 197 



Subscribers joined since 14 



211 

 Withdrawals 1:; 



Subscribers March 1. 1007 fas 



Respectfully submitted, 



M. s. Tiu'.maim:, Chairman. 



Tito reports of' the officers ami the various 

 committees as given were on motion for- 

 mally accepted ami adopted. 



On motion President Dill appointed the 

 following Committee on Resolutions: F. E. 

 Parker of Saginaw, R. C. Lippincotl of 

 Philadelphia, K. II. Downman of New Or- 

 lens, R. D. Baker of Pittsbvitg, W. J. Oath 

 out of Newark. 



Also, on motion, the following Committee 

 on Nominations for Hoard of Trustees was 

 named: .1. L. Lytle of Pittsburg, H. C. 

 Riley of Philadelphia, M. S. Tremaine of 

 Buffalo, F. S. Morse of Springfield, Mass., 

 H. C. Corwin of Edenton, X. C, C. 11. Carl- 

 ton of ( leveland, .1. V. Stimson of Hunting- 

 burg, 1ml. 



The chair announced that tin invitation 

 had been received from the Eastern States 

 Retail Lumber Dealers' Association to at 

 tend a reception at Rooms 103-5, New Wil 

 lard "Hotel, tit 2 p. m. tin motion the invi- 

 tation was accepted. 



Presiden! Hill .also announced that a re- 

 ception and supper would be tendered to the 

 lad\ visitors at the convention, on Thursday 

 evening, ami a banquet to members of the 

 association and guests at 7:30 the same 

 evening. 



On motion adjournrr.t at was taken at 1 :30 

 for the day. 



THURSDAY MORNING SESSION. 



At 11 .-t. m. the convention was called to 



order for its sec I session. A very large 



and increased audience was ooticeable, and 

 the registration showed the attendance to be 

 tie- largest in the history id' the association. 



R. \\. II igbie piesi lited t he report of the 



Conjmittee on Legislation, of which he is 



Chairman. His report was accepted and its 



recommendations adopted. 



Report cf Committee on Legislation. 



The Committee on Legislation begs leave to 

 submii the following report: Since the last 

 annual meeting several matters of considerable 



importance have had the attention of j - 



i ' iniiiitt i Legislation. 



. The Edward Mines Lumber Company ol i In 

 cago and Eastman, Gardiner & Co. of Laurel, 

 Miss., speaking for themselves and a large num- 

 ber of others engaged in the lumber trade, asked 

 our association to indorse their petition to the 

 i ongress of the United States in which they 

 asked that the government take over the port 

 located at Gulfport, Miss., making it a govern- 

 ment harbor, and also asking that a suitable 

 appropriation be made for maiutaiuing it as 

 such. 



This matter was carefully investigated and 

 commended itself so strongly, not only to your 

 committee but also to some of the executive 

 officers of our association, that a circular letter 

 was seni to all tie- members of our association 

 under date of January 23 asking our members 

 to urge upon 'their representatives in Congress 

 the importance of this matter and to ask for 

 their support. 



Your committee is pleased to report that the 

 appropriation bill known as the rivers and har- 

 bors bill contains a provision that the govern- 

 ment should take over Gulfport. and contains an 

 appropriation for the maintaining of the same. 



During the latter part of the year a call was 

 issue.] for a convention of shippers to he held 

 in tie- city of Chicago early in January for 

 tie- purpose of urging on Congress the necessity 

 ami importance of passing some law to compel 

 railroads t" furnish cms for loading more prompt- 

 ly ami to move loaded cars to their destination 



more pr ptly. This convention has since been 



known as the Reciprocal Demurrage Conven- 

 tion. » »ur association was represented at that 

 convention by Edward nines of Chicago and 

 St cretarj Perry. 



While our representatives at ibis oonvention 

 believed in the importance anil necessity of the 

 prompt vement of freight and did what in 



their judgment seemed for the best interest of 

 all concerned, it is perhaps not unwise to say 

 that owing to circumstances over which they had 

 no control they were in the minority at that 

 . .invention, and yet the reports which have 

 come to your committee as to the outcome of 

 that convention will bear out the statement 

 that the action of our representatives had a 

 most wholesome effect upon its proceedings and 

 deliberations. This matter is subsequently re- 

 ferred to at length in this report. 



Our association was invited by the Foreign 

 Commerce Convention, which was held at 

 Washington on the 14th and loth of January, 

 to send a representative delegate. We were 

 fortunate in having our association represented 

 at that convention by William E. Litchfield of 

 Boston. Mr. Litchfield has been invited to 

 make a report to you at this convention and 

 will be heard at the proper time. 



At our last annual convention you w T ill re- 

 call that we indorsed the movement to repeal 

 the compulsory pilotage bill now on the statute 

 hooks of the United States. This matter was 

 referred to a special committee of which Rob- 

 ert R. Sizer of New York was made chairman, 

 and Mr. Sizer has been invited to submit his 

 report on this matter. 



Inasmuch as there have always seemed to 

 be many opinions on the question Who owns 

 goods iit transit ? and as our association has 

 received many inquiries from members cover- 

 ing various phases of this subject, this ques- 

 tion was referred by our association to Walter 

 W. Loss, general counsel to the Car Stake and 

 Equipment Complaint Executive Committee and 

 also an experienced railroad attorney, for his 

 opinion. This opinion was published by our 

 association in July. 1906, in a .paper called 

 Lumber Legal Opinions." 



The Board of Trustees of our association at 



J. V. STIMSON OF HUNTINGBTJRG, IND. 



a meeting held in the association rooms in 

 January of this year referred to the commit- 

 tees oil railroad and transportation and on 

 legislation for their joint consideration the 

 question of car shortage and other kindred 

 matters, which may all be embraced in what is 

 known as the railroad problem. 



This railroad problem is not easy of solution. 

 The present conditions existing between the 

 railroad companies on the one hand and the 

 traveling and shipping public on the other hand 

 are the result of years of growth, and any at- 

 tempt at radical changes in these conditions 

 would result disastrously to one or both of the 

 parties interested. 



It is undoubtedly true that there seems to 

 have always been antagonism of interests exist- 

 ing between the common carriers on the one 

 hand and the public on the other. This ought 

 not to have been so. because the interests of 

 both are largely identical. This is not the 

 time nor the place, however, to enter into a 

 discussion as to the why and wherefore of this 

 antagonism. A brief review of the situation 

 may perhaps not be amiss. 



just twenty vears ago, as a result of sev- 

 eral vears of agitation. Congress passed an act 

 known as the Act to Regulate Commerce. Ten 

 v.ars later the Supreme Court of the United 

 Shii.s rendered a decision which, from the view- 

 point of the shipper, largely nullified the bene- 

 fits which the shippers had hoped to derive 

 from the passage of that act. In 1000 there 

 began, at a convention held in St. Louis, an 

 agitation tor the further amending of the Act 



