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Conditions in the Lumber Industry 



Editor's Note 



The following is an excerpt of the interesting paper read at the recent annual meeting of the National Lumber 

 Manufacturers' Association by Samuel J. Carpenter, president of the Yellow Fine Manufacturers' Association, and 

 constitutes a very complete analysis of the adverse conditions now affecting the lumber industry. 



The student of adverse conditions affect- 

 ing the lumber industry at the present time 

 soon realizes that many of the vicissitudes 

 through which we have passed in recent years 

 have been largely on account of the lack of 

 collective co-operation on the part of the 

 producers and sellers of lumber. 



We protest vigorously against vicious leg- 

 islation, against competition from substitutes 

 for wood, and other influences beyond our 

 control, and we sit supinely by, undertaking 

 to satisfy ourselves and our stockholders with 

 the thought that we are conducting our busi- 

 ness with ability and eflficiency, buoyed up 

 by the hope that at some future time, pos- 

 sibly after thirty to forty per cent of the 

 present standing timber has been exhausted, 

 we will be able to realize enough for our 

 product to overcome present losses and jus- 

 tify our investment. This view of the situ- 

 ation, however, does not satisfy all. 



An increasing number of harmful prac- 

 tices in methods and ethics and many known 

 evils are allowed to exist and multiply be- SA.MIKL .1 

 cause there is not united co operative atten- 

 tion given them, and collectively they greatly reiluce the price 

 the lumber manufacturer must receive for his proiluct in order to 

 pay his workmen living wages and to reti;rn to his shareholders 

 interest on capital invested. 



Co-operation can only be forged into an effective force through 

 some duly organized body with the necessary mechanism for get- 

 ting results. Speaking of the yellow pine industry, with which I 

 am somewhat familiar, of 679 large manufacturers of yellow pine 

 lumber in the South, only 259 are members of the Yellow Pine 

 Manufacturers' Association. And only 106 mills are represented 

 in the membership of the Southern Lumber Operators' Association, 

 cypress and hardwood manufacturers being eligible, as well as 

 yellow pine. 



In spite of the lack of co-operation by a majority of the south- 

 ern mills, the Operators' association has, during the last twelve 

 months, given an object lesson in the efficiency of co-operation that 

 should instigate serious thought. It has been said by a gentleman 

 of large experience that its achievements are without parallel in 

 industrial history. A great service has been performed and the 

 work is still being carried on, and never before has such a contri- 

 bution of valuable time, been called for and freely given. The 

 •evils that threaten our industry from an operating standpoint are 

 not local in their character. If they are not firmly met and dis- 

 •couraged at their inception they would soon, with gathering 

 strength and momentum, involve the entire producing territory 

 and create a condition that would be intolerable and result in 

 destroying the integrity of the industry. 



In selling lumber also we are drifting into unbusinesslike meth- 

 ods; each individual distributor fully realizes that certain methods 

 are wrong, but continues because others do it. I refer to terms 

 •of payment, special milling of lumber without the cost added, etc., 

 "with which you are all familiar. 



There may have been temporary advantages in securing orders 

 to the one who inaugurated this custom, but it is of short dura- 

 tion, as his competitors will sell their lumber eventually, even 

 meeting these conditions, if necessary, and the result is that all 

 lumber is marketed on a lower basis. 



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CAHITCNTI':!!. WINNI'IKI.I i. 



It is a conceded fact by students of eco- 

 nomies and forestry that the interest of the 

 people as a whole, as well as those who will 

 live after us, would be best conserved by 

 utilizing the present timber supply to the 

 fullest extent, which would mean that the 

 jiresent generation should be allowed to sever 

 from the soil only a suiBcient amount of tim- 

 ber to supply the existing demand, and 

 should be compelled to manufacture into 

 lumber all parts of the tree for which uses 

 can be found. In order to do this, they must 

 be able to realize enough for the low-grade 

 lumber to pay the cost of production. 



At present manufacturers are leaving in 

 (he woods to rot or to be consumed by fire 

 two or three thousand feet of logs on every 

 acre of ground cut over that would make 

 lumber that could be utilized for many pur- 

 poses, but can not be manufactured and 

 marketed except at a loss at prevailing 

 prices. It is not an economic waste to aban- 

 don raw material that can only be manufac- 

 tured into a useful article at a financial loss. 

 Every existing sawmill operation cuts over 

 a given area of timberland every year to secure its log supply. By 

 reason of his having no remunerative market for his low-grade 

 lumber, the manufacturer can only utilize the choice logs from the 

 tree, leaving in the woods to be destroyed the top logs and all 

 those showing serious defect, and consequently, in order to supply 

 his mill with logs, must cut over a larger area every year than he 

 would if all the tree could be profitably used. This condition is 

 the most serious blow conservation has received. 



The woeful lack of co-operation among manufacturers of lumber 

 is the most discouraging factor in forecasting betterment of con- 

 ditions. It is a regrettable fact that comparatively only a small 

 percentage of those engaged in the industry are active members of 

 the various lumber associations. Some of the greatest minds and 

 most able men for one reason or another are not affiliated and they 

 are so sadly needed. 



Every manufacturer of lumber recognizes the absolute necessity 

 of establishing and maintaining standard sizes and uniform grades. 

 In no other way can large volumes of lumber be marketed. It 

 would be impossible to think of returning to the chaotic condition 

 that obtained prior to the organization of the Yellow Pine Manu- 

 facturers' Association, and the creation of a bureau, of uniform 

 grades and standard sizes. Before this time, as many of you will 

 remember, the nomenclature describing different classes of lumber 

 had no real meaning, and the intrinsic value of a given class of 

 lumber varied at each producing point. 



It was customary for the lumber buyer to visit the producing 

 market to make his purchases,' and to personally inspect the grades 

 of lumber established by each mill, and the lowest price quoted for 

 a given grade did not alwaj-s indicate the best value. The con- 

 suming market was much nearer the source of supply at that time, 

 but as the producing territory is farther removed now, it increases 

 the benefit of established standard sizes and uniform grades to 

 both buyer and seller. 



Practically all sales of yellow pine lumber are made on the basis 

 of sizes and grades established and maintained by the Y'ellow Pine 

 Manufacturers' Association, and all disputes are settled on this 

 basis, and the buyer has no need to give thought to the quality of 



