HARDWOOD RECORD 



that has been granted by the government to labor and farmers 

 organizations, which has resulted from the desirability of the vote 

 of these vast bodies. He stated that the efforts of business men 

 to present their fair side of the case in many instances had been 

 met with ridicule, and that previous efforts toward consolidation 

 of business interests with the idea of having a fair representation 

 at Washington had failed because of improper methods used. 



He stated, however, that with the present effort a different 

 result is anticipated, as the association is entirely democratic and 

 is operating on an entirely unselfish basis. 



He stated that the labor element of the country has not yet come 

 to a fair appreciation of the efforts of the business men as rep- 

 resented in the National Chamber of Commerce, but that the move- 

 ment seems bound to increase in its scope and unity of purpose to 

 the point where it will be a representation of the entire business 

 community throughout the United States. At that time, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Wheeler, labor will be forced to recognize this element 

 as a factor and will be compelled to confer with it rather than 

 fight the business men individually, with the result that all ques- 



31 



tions arising between business and labor will be adjusted on an 

 amicable basis through arbitration. 



Mr. Wheeler foretold the only element wliieh could work dis- 

 astrously to the proposition, this being the tendency to withhold 

 moral and financial support after the proposition has gone along 

 for two or three years. He appealed for a continuance of such 

 support not for any specified period but for all time to come, stat- 

 ing that only through such support could the best interests of the 

 business men be fairly conserved. 



Following Mr. Wheeler's splendid address the regular business 

 session adjourned. 



ENTERTAINMENT 



The delegates attending the convention were treated to an excep- 

 tionally pleasant banquet and cabaret performance at the South 

 Shore Country Club following the business session. They went in 

 a body, arriving in due time. Covers were spread for about sixty 

 members who were fortunate enough to attend. The whole affair 

 went off smoothly and will be long remembered as a most pleasant 

 and profitable function from a social point of view. 



^::m{aiKe>:HmaimiOT6^«>;iWWiTO mi^i)^^ ■ .■k' 



It is not possible to furnish positiva proof that the output of lumber 

 in the United States is declining, yet statistics point strongly that 

 way. Figures showing the annual cut of sawmills are collected yearly 

 by the government; but the plan is changed so often that one year 

 cannot be compared with another. At one timQ practically every 

 sawmill in the country is included; at another time from 5,000 to 

 20,000 mills are left out of the statistics. It is evidently misleading 

 to compare totals reached in such a way, and ufe such comparisons 

 to show an increase or a decrease in output. The following totals 

 for the several years given will bring this point \out clearly. 



Number o£ Active Lumber Cut. 



Year. Mills }teportiy>g. iFeet B. M. 



1S99 1 ai,833 35^084,166,000 



1904 V . . ■ - 18,277 34,135,139,000 



1906 22,398 37,550,736,000 



1907 28,850 \ 40,256,154,000 



1908 31,231 \ 33,224,369,000 



1909 •. 48,112 44,509,761,000 



1910 31,934 40,018,282,000 



1911 28,107 37,003,207,000 



1912 29,648 39,158,414,000 



The foregoing figures leave the question in doubt, whether the out 



is actually increasing or decreasing. On the face of the returns the 

 cut was greater in four former years than in 3911, and larger in 

 three preceding years than in 1912. In 1904 the cut of 18,277 miUs 

 exceeded the product of 31,231 mills in 1908. If all the mills were 

 reported every year, the totals would constitute a reliable basis for 

 determining whether the output is increasing, diminishing, or standing 

 still; but the partial returns are not conclusive. What they seem 

 to show is that the lumber output is practically stationary. If one 

 year apparently runs ahead, another drops back, leaving the general 

 average in doubt. 



On one point there seems to be no doubt. The per capita use of 

 lumber in the United States is not increasing. A decline has set in. 

 As yet the decrease is small, but there is no reason to suppose that 

 it is temporary and that a few years hence will see a larger use of 

 wood per capita. It is doubtful if that time will ever come. 



It would be interesting to know, though it is impossible to find out, 

 just what the use per capita has been during past years and decades. 

 Prior to 1899 statistics of lumber were much more fragmentary than 

 they have been since. Once in ten years the United States Census 

 compiled figures, and these go back a century, but no one ought to 

 suppose that such figures were complete. In early times the mills 

 were usually small and in remote districts, and the compilers of the 

 censuses doubtless missed more than they found. 



If forest products are considered as a whole — the finished, the 

 rough, and the unmanufactured — it is highly probable that the per 



capita use has been declining for a hundred years; but nobody can 

 prove it. The log houses of the pioneers contained more material 

 than modern frame houses of the same size. The old rail fence 

 demanded 75,000 feet of logs per mile. The modern board fence, 

 including the posts, can be made with less than half of it, while 

 the wire fence will take less than one tenth. There was at least 

 three times as much fencing used seventy-five years ago as now, in 

 proportion to the number of people. There were proportionately more 

 farmers then than now. 



The modern farmer, however, uses more buildings than his grand- 

 father did. The pioneer seldom built sheds for his cattle; sometimes 

 not even for his horses; occasionally his hay was stacked in the 

 fields rather than under roofs; and as a general thing he was not 

 much of a buUder of anything except good fences, for which he cut 

 material with no i<lea of economy and no thought for the people who 

 were to follow. 



The farmer is now learning to use lumber wisely and well. Agri- 

 cultural schools and lectures have taught him the economy of shelter. 

 The roof is the best investment he can make, next after good ma- 

 chinery. There must be barns large enough to house all the crops; 

 sheds for the cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, and poultry; silos, granaries, 

 and cribs. The progress along that line is remarkable. 



There lies the lumberman "s chance to increase his sales. He does 

 not need to create the demand. It already exists. What he needs to 

 do is to take advantage of the opportunity, and see that the farmer 

 uses wood instead of cheap substitutes, like roofing paper, wall board, 

 metal siding that will rust out in three or four years, and other 

 makeshifts which the substitute people are pushing in wherever 

 possible. 



There are 7,000,000 farms in the United States, and every one of 

 them is a prospective market for lumber. There is urgent need now 

 for 500,000 additional silos. In the small item of farm gates — gates 

 ready to hang — the farmers of Minnesota alone buy the equivalent 

 of 4,570,000 feet of lumber a year. A few years ago the farmer 

 patched up the best gates he could, of poles, rails, slipgaps, or what- 

 ever he could get, but now he buys the best. 



Everything points to the farm as one of the lumberman 's best 

 prospective markets. The agriculturist is prosperous. He is able 

 and willing to buy whatever will prove to be a good investment, and 

 better buildings, fences, and shelters appeal to him. If every farmer 

 would buy only 2,000 feet more lumber a year than he is now buying, 

 it would increase the sales 14,000,000,000 feet a year. That would 

 absorb one-third of the whole lumber cut of the country. That appears 

 to be the most promising field wherein to increase the use of lumber. 



