M. .1. QCI.NLAN, SOPEnTOX. WIS.. 

 DIRECTOn 



KIiWAIiD DICKLEY. MANISTEE, MICH., 

 DIIiECTOK 



GARDNER I. .TONES. BOSTON. MASS . 

 DIRECTOR 



I pi-esunip wo all understand undor Section G of the eonstittition of 

 the I'nited States that a member of Congress can make any statement 

 of any kind, Ijecause this section says : "For any speech or debate 

 in cither house they shall not be questioned in any other place." I 

 do not believe this great association should remain silent when such 

 wholesale accusations are made against the business wo are engage I 

 in. I believe it is high time for this association to say to the men. 

 newspapers and magazines that are making these charges, either "put 

 up or shut up." I renew the request of last year that every member 

 of this association watch national legislation and write .vour senator and 

 representative if you find legislation proposed that is inimical to intelli 

 sent forestry management, oppose it. With some members of Congress 

 public opinion is the most powerful factor in influencing their actions. 

 Oa motion, the report was referred to the eomniittee on officers' 

 reports. 



Report of Committee ou Overweight Claims 

 Next James E. Stark of Memphis, in behalf of the committee 

 on overweight claims made his report, an abstract of which is 

 ^iven below: 



Since the appointment of this committee at the meeting in Memphis 

 UiSt year we have been in active correspondence with a number of the 

 members on the subject of •cars being incorrectly weighed and claims 

 being filed on an estimated basis and have accumulated a considerable 

 amount .>f information regarding the reweighing of cars, where they 

 havi' been overwi-ighed in the first place and even in sotne instances the 

 lirst weight confirmed by the second weighing of the car, whore we know, 

 beyond a questi'in, that the lumber could not possibly have weighed 

 what the railroad's scales showed. 



After reviewing this sub.1ect with the numerous members and learning 

 that the Grand Rapids Lumbermen's Association had in contemplation 

 file tiling of a petition before the Interstate Commerce Commission to in- 

 vestigate the weighing of lumber shipments and to arrive at .some equit- 

 able basis by which cars incorrectly weighed could be adjusted, your 

 committee deemed it to the best interest of the association to co-oprrate 

 with the Grand Rapids Lumbermen's Association, as its traffic manager. 

 E. L. Ewing, had the matter well in hand and was thoroughly familiar 

 with the situation. Wo therefore recommended to the executive board 

 of the National Hardwood Lumber .\ssociation that it approve the action 

 of the Grand Kapids Lumbermen's Association in filing this petition and 

 we became, through this, parties to the petition which has been filed by 

 the Grand Rapids Lumbermen's Association and on which there has al- 

 ready been a hearing in Chicago and in order to take evidence on this 

 subject and at which hearing this association was represenfed by its 

 secretary, F. F. Fish. There will bo further hearings held liy the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission at numerous places to be designated later in 

 '■rder to lake additional evidence before the matter will finally .go to the 

 commissioners for their final decision. 



In addition to the indorsement of the action of the Grand Rapids Lum- 

 bermen's Association your committee also took up the subject with a 

 number of tile other organizations and secured the indorsement of fbi- 

 Lumbermen's Club of Memphis and the Lumbermen's Exchange of St. 

 Louis. 



As you are probably aware, the wheels of justice grind slowly and on 

 this account it -.vill be necessary for your committee to ask your indul- 

 gence as to the final outcome of the subject referred to. but we feel thai. 

 with the matter in the hands of the Grand Rapids Lumbermen s Associa- 

 tion and with the co-operation of the other associations that are i)artios 



to file suit, wi' will be able to *arry this through to a successful con- 

 clusion and arrive at some equitable basis by which members of the asso- 

 ciation can tile their claims based on estimated weights, and which will 

 i)!' recognized l).v tht railroad companies. As the matter now stands the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission will not iiermit the railroads to pay 

 any claims based on estimated weights, hence it is necessary for us to be 

 prepared to rae(!t the issue before the commission and furnish the neces- 

 sary evidence in support of our contention. 



We consider this a subject of very great importance to the lumber 

 trade at largo and wo wish to urge your members to give whatever 

 assistance they can at the hearings of the Interstate Commerce (Commis- 

 sion, even to the extent of going to distant points to give evidence and 

 attend hearings, as tln^ commission is influenced by the amount of in- 

 forost shown, but where anaI)lo to attend it is incumbent on us all to 

 fnrnisU the Grand Ra|)ids Lumbermen's Association with any information 

 and evidence that will assist it in its fight. 



In closing we recommend that this association not only lend its moral 

 Init financial support, and that the matter be referred to the executive 

 coniiaittee for action. 



On invitation, Emil Guenther, chairman of the transportation 

 committee, was called upon for a report for that committee. Mr. 

 (.iuenther's report follows: 



Report of Transportation Committee 

 The committee on railroad and transporfation begs leave to submit 

 the following report for the past association year, dealing with matters 

 as they have come to our attention : 



One of the most important questions that is yet to be settled between 

 the carriers and shippers is the matter of the methods of the railroads 

 in determining weights. Geuei-al recognition of the fact that the mat- 

 ter of weight in determining the cost of transporfation is a factor equally 

 as important as the matter of rates, has resulted In the devotion of 

 considerable time and attention to this subject, especially with refer- 

 ence to the methods of determining carload weights as practiced by 

 the railroads. Considerable criticism has been brought to bear upon 

 the railroads because of the mofhods which in many instances have been 

 shown to be very unsatisfactory, .and as a result of the numerous com- 

 plaints, the matter was brought to the attention of and later taken up 

 by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Several hearings Iiave already 

 been held at which shippers have shown the methods to be completely 

 inadequate and productive of inaccuracies, that in the aggregate amount 

 to many thousands of dollars loss to the shippers annually, and it Is 

 the opinion of many who have attended the hearings, in face of the 

 evidence subaiitted, that the coninilsslon, will doubtless take some 

 steps as win compel the carriers to correct this evil and lead fo the 

 establishment of a system that will be fairly accurate. 



There is another matter which is a gross injustice to the shippers 

 that should have been remedied long before this, and which has been 

 brought before state legislatures and Congress in the form of various 

 bills, but it is in only very few Instances that any favorable action or 

 relief resulted. The matter referred to is the payment of freight claims 

 hy the railroads within a reasonable time after presenlment. In many 

 instances claims have been passed along by the railroads through what 

 they term their rc'jular channels for an indeflnlfe period until the 

 time provided in the statute of limitations for the presentment of claims 

 to the Interstate Commerce Commission has expired, and the shipper 

 Is left without redress should his claim be returned by the railroad with 

 the information that It cannot be considered. There has recently been 



—31— 



