HARDWOOD RECORD 



soiwion Hint the 

 Mooutive. 



ThurvJay bo inado 



ti-nlh of our poiiula- 

 who lo«o tliplr nil In 



, nn liy ri-a«on of the 



.ol of thr MlulMlppl. yuur commlltpo, like the 

 . K itlvliU-d a* to ilir remedy nnd lu appllcii- 

 ■ •Kid by oue oilier member, la that wo 

 Miic poMlble ovit of the rannmn cnnal 

 tills to the neitlirted MlKHliwIppI In the 

 -■ the canal pufiy an a bimlni'KK enter- 

 • 1 r„i;iiiii;-|. nil.- It :.i.-;.liilcly nlthout fiivom to any one. Wo 

 ■ tielng taxed to iH-neili the ImnineBS of nnnthor with very xlender 

 II slKhl. Wo have had the i-ry dinned In our ears of how much 

 !...i;.ir frilght can be bandied by water, und now that we have provided 

 ihtf water, we arc met by tbo whine that we hiiven'l done enough yet. 

 Olhork of the committee with equal alncerlly favor the exemption of coast- 

 wise trade from all tolls. 



One of our members Is committed to the theory of depending almost 

 solely on additional and enlarged levees for protection aEBlnut overflows, 

 and In this he seems to have the support of many wnlerway I'nEfneers. 

 iithers are quite sure that the i>otter solution l.s by providinK additional 

 iitiets and Iftllnc the water get to the sea fnster. One proposillon seems 

 lulle evident: that Increasing the carrying capacity of the Atchnfalaya 

 river, which forms an outlet of the Mississippi from the mouth of the 

 Red river, would very certainly protect that portion of the valley lying 

 below the mouth of the Red river and reiicTC us from the maintenance 

 of a heavy line of levees on both sides of the Mississippi more than 200 

 miles long. Above the mouth of Red river levees will have to be the main 

 dependence for flood protection, nnd these must be big enough to protect. 



The Intorcoaslal canal is designed to form a protected waterway from 

 Boston 10 (ialveston, enabling vessels engaged In the coastwise trade to 

 avoid the dangers of the open sea and save an enormous annual toll 

 of treasure and human life incident to the .Atlantic coast line. Much of 

 the work has already been done l)y private and slate enterprise, and the 

 naliocnl government is talking a hand, and reasonable progress Is making 

 for Its completion. Its feasibility and usefulness have been demonstrated. 



We beg leave to quote from a recent article In the Sniuiday Evening 

 Po«t, by B. G. Humphreys : 



"The rivers whose improvement and maintenance are provided for in 

 the bill now before Congress floated last year a commerce amounting lo 

 203.;tX3,ia8 tons. This is exclusive of the trafllc on the rivers connect- 

 ing the Great Lakes, and does not include the tonnage of our harbors. 

 These flgures will be more readily understood when compared with the 

 tonnage of other transportation routes. It is estimated that the total 

 tonnage that will pass through the canal in 1915 will be 20,12,'j,120 tons. 

 The freight carried from coast to coast by all our railroad Is .3.000,000 

 tons. In other words, the rivers, large and small, for which we arc pro- 

 viding in our river and harbor bills float yearly as much tonnage annually 

 88 will pass through the Panama canal nnd the Suez crnal, plus the 

 cro.is-country tonnage of the railroads for ten years." 



We submit as our conclusions : 



That the one and all-importunt waterways problem confronting the 

 people of the United States is the control of the .Mississippi river and its 

 tributaries with regard to flood prevention and incidentally thereto the 

 Improvement of navigation. And It is our opinion that this so far dwarfs 

 in importance all other proiects as to call for the discontinuance of nil 

 other than absolutely necessary work on other projects and the concentra- 

 tion of our energies toward the successful accomplishment of this end, 

 even lo the stopping for a time of additions to our public buildings and the 

 limiting of nil other schemes of internal improvement. This Is not a 

 scheme for Just getting money out of the treasury or reciaiining or creat- 

 ing new agricultural territory, but of making safe that which has already 

 been improved and developed, covering an area greater than ail the 

 teclamatlon projects, and lands whose fertility and productiveness arc 

 unexcelled. And after we have made safe this great inland empire and 

 protected its millions of present inhabilants from annually recurring 

 threats of hunger, disaster and drath. that we then turn our attention to 

 tho«e other projects that will lead to Increasing our cultivable area. 

 Rather than grasp after that which lies without our gates and make a 

 mighty slrugglc tor that which, we bare not, let us make a mighty and 

 successful effort to Uoid that which we already have, and protect those of 

 our own people to whom our very acts have been a menace rather than a 



This concluded the business session for Thursday. The meeting 

 adjourned a little before one, in order that the Niagara trip could 

 be started promptly. 



FEIDAY MORNING SESSION 



The session on Friday morning had a considerably greater attend- 

 ance than the session on Thursday, as there were quite a number of 

 visitors who had arrived in the meantime and had registered. 



F. A. Diggins of Cadillac moved at the opening of the Friday 



It«port of Inapection Bulea Oommittoe 



W, E, Chamborlin, chuirinnn of the inapcction rules oommitt<-c, rend 

 tho report of thnt body aa followi: 



Since our la«l annual convenllon, thla roinmlliee ha* lo«t the valuabi* 

 servlcvii of IIh former chairman, Ji'lin M Tilt. hard, who haa oervrd M 

 ably and conxclenliouiily for a gr' in liihnlf of the com- 



mltlee, I want lo express our H n «f .Mr. I*rltchnrd'a 



splendid work nnd devotion lo lii' in«(M'ctloD matter*. 



The rules as submitted a yi'ar ■■> ■ .•i.rship of Mr. I'ritcb- 



ard, the committee feels have U-en -i -:itlNfnri.,ry, for the reason that 



there has been less conipialat nnd recommendnlions •ubmltled lo the 

 committee during the year than for several years past ; and, under the 

 business conditions which have existed, this Is especially gralifylng. 



We have at times, recommendations for special changes which we ore 

 always glad to consider, but the work of the inspection rules commlltee, 

 as we understand it. Is to make standard grades — n grade that Is good to 

 Maine aa well as In Texas; nnd while the coinmlllec would be only too 

 glad to make riiicK for each Individual member If that were possible, we 

 must consider the rommodlly we arc handling, nnd recommend only rules 

 that arc practical to buy and eeii on: as oniy^ In this way can we estab- 

 lish standard grades. This has always been the aim of this committee, 

 an.: I trust it always will be. We niUKt consider In our deIII>eratlons the 

 manufacturer of iumt)er on one side nnd Ihe consumer on the other, and 

 travel as nearly as possible in the middle of the road, so to speak. The 

 rules of the National Hardwood Lumber Association cannot govern the 

 growth of timber, nor the seasoning of lumber: neither do they have 

 anything to do with of whom the lumber shall be bought, or to whom It 

 shall be sold, nor do they control Ihe price of lumber. Its only function, 

 nnd its great value, is tin' siandnrdlzing of grades, nnd the absolute pro- 

 tection to both buyer and seller of these grades. 



Many times a shipment of lumber that is made out of an Inferior lot 

 nf logs will survey out up to the standard grade as speclfled by the rules. 

 If such shipment is unsatisfactory, the buyer Immediately flnds fault 

 with the rules, while as a matter of fact. Ihe trouble is not with the 

 rules, but from Ihe fact thnt a good lot of lumber cannot be made from 

 Inferior logs. We often forget that the rules specify only the poorest 

 piece that can go Into a grade, and lumber made from good logs will 

 nlways produce a large percentage of lumber In ench grade ihnt will run 

 better than the rules specify. It Is therefore up lo each bu.ver who wants 

 high-class lumber to specify Just what he desires to get, and not to expect 

 the rules to be a cure for all unsatisfactory shipments. 



To go back previous to the formation of the National hardwood Inspec- 

 tion rules, we arc all aware that there were a great many dltferent ideas 

 as to what the grades of lumber should l)e. A shlpmrnt made In good 

 faith, it was found the customer's Idea was such that a discount of sev- 

 eral dollars a thousand was necessary in order to get paid for the ship- 

 ment. On the other hand, an Inferior shipment might be made to a 

 customer who had lo use the stock Immediately upon Its arrival, to fill 

 an order: and while he realized that the grade was below what was 

 customary, he was unable to wait for satisfactory adjustment, on account 

 of the condition of his business, and had to use the shipment the best he 

 could, and pay the bill In full at a loss to himself. The idea of having 

 a standard set of rules, and the general use of the same, which prevails 

 today, has entirely overcome these unfair business methods— not In an 

 arbltrarj- way, but by entirely fair and equitable means. 



The statement has been made that on account of the present rules the 

 same article manufactured today costs quite a good deal more than It 

 did under previous rules; therefore Ihe Inference would lie Hint the 

 rules are responsible for this condition. Let us consider the conditions 

 twent.v-flve to thirty years ago. Many of us recall the kind of lumber 

 that was then being produced. It was no trouble to get cherry and black 

 walnut running prnctlcaiiy 10 to ,30 inches wide, that wag almost clear, 

 at the price we are now paying for the common grades. In quartered 

 oak we could get practically clear lumber, running from 7 to 20 Inches 

 wide, at the price, or even less, than we are now paying for the common 

 grades. Did the establishment of the rules chenge these conditions? Not 

 l)y any means. The kind of timber that produced that kind of lumber Is 

 all gone. In those days, we got poplar with all the 18 Inch nnd wider 

 nt the regular price, and In the qiinrlercd oak. all the 10 Inch and wider 

 at the regular price. Today these iliings are entirely changed— and why? 

 On account of the rules? Not by any means. Simply to meet the demand 

 of new conditions. Supposing that the rules first established had never 

 been changed. Under the present condition of timber supply and demand 

 of lumber, what do you think would be the price of firsts and seconds 

 or even No. 1 common quartered oak and other woods? Many mills would 

 not l>e able to supply any, and those that could supply it would be entitled 

 to get a price that would be prohibitive for anybody to pay, on account 

 of the supply and value of timber conditions. 



It would therefore seem logical that if the grades of lumber have been 

 lowered in the last sixteen years, that this fact alone has tended to keep 

 down the cost of the higher grades of lumber. As a matter of fact, the 

 cost of lumber today is much less than In 1912, but this condition is. to 

 my mind, not so much on account of the rules as It is In spite of the 

 rules, due very largely to the lack of business, and the consequent cur- 



