HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



and systematic handling will be felt — at least it would do no harm 

 and certainly deserves consideration. An etiSciency man might 

 possibly be appointed on large enough operations, not necessarily 

 a man of technical training, but a man who could devote his time 

 to keeping his eyes ' ' peeled ' ' for different ways whereby money 

 could be saved without making the cost of the extra vigilance 

 greater than the saving itself. This, of course, would not be applied 

 to smaller operations, but in a more limited degree they could look 

 to the small leaks and remedy them in their own way. 



The more modern lumber manufacturing plants are giving 

 increasing attention to the saving details of their business but the 

 rank and file of the mills have a broad field to work in, wherein 

 tKey can find countless methods which need improvement. 



Labor a Serious Question 



It is hard to reconcile the fact that while from reports vast 

 numbers of men are unemployed in the cities, at the same time 

 industrial plants outside of or immediately contingent to the cities, 

 are finding the greatest diflieulty in employing suflicient men to 

 meet their actual needs. This condition is emphasized constantly 

 by reports from various indus- 

 tries, and probably lumber man- 

 ufacturers are suffering as 

 heavily, if not more so, than 

 any others in this respect. 



Iron and steel plants are con- 

 stantly finding greater difficulty 

 in keeping their working forces 

 up to the necessary number. 

 Reports from the north-woods 

 suggest that great trouble is ex- 

 perienced in recruiting a suffi- 

 cient force of woods and mill 

 men to carry on the work at 

 the mills, while in the South 

 this condition has been apparent 

 for some time. 



There is undoubtedly consid- 

 erable truth in the statement 

 that labor is being diverted from 

 this country to other countries, 

 notably South America, by in- 

 creased wages in those sections, 

 and that increases in wages in 

 the home country keep a great 

 many prospective emigrants at 

 home. Nevertheless, it seems 

 that the vast number of work- 

 ing-men in the United States should be sufficient to adequately 

 take care of the nation 's industry. 



The farmer has difficulty every year in harvesting his crops, 

 owing to an insufficient number of farm hands, and the cry from 

 various industries in all sections of the country is constantly that 

 in running full time, they can not fill their shops. There has been 

 some agitation in various quarters looking to the "back to the 

 farm" movement, but it can not be said that this sentiment has 

 had any material effect upon the portion of workmen in the city 

 and in the outlying country. 



In the lumber business particular difficulty is experienced, 

 probably owing to the fact that the mills are so far distant from 

 the chief centers of labor. They do not lie on any regular beaten 

 path of the wandering laborer, but the man who reaches the 

 sawmill is apt to either just happen there or to have come for the 

 specific purpose of getting a job. There is no reason to believe that 

 there will be any general movement of laborers to the woods, but 

 on the other hand, the sawmill man will very likely have to make 

 strenuous efforts to locate sufficient help to carry on his operations. 

 The work in the logging camp or sawmill is not unusually 

 strenuous, and it is certainly more agreeable than working in a 

 stifling factory or foundry, and surely gives the workman a much 



^ draper 



(II]r bay rrturna auii brtnga uh Hip pptty 

 ramxii of irritating rnurrnta aitb butira. 

 iSplp na to play tl]p man. Ijrlp na tn pprfnrm 

 tljpm luitli laugl|Irr anb kiniii farpa, let rl^rrr- 

 fulnraa abounii uiitli iubuatru. <^m ua 

 Btrpngtli tn go blitliplii on our buaineaa all 

 tl|ia iau. bring na to onr rpating btbs uipary 

 anfi rontpnt ani nnbialjononrrd, anh grant 

 ua in tl)p enh tl)p gift of shtp. 



-R. L\ S. 



better opportunity of saving a proportion at least of his wages as 

 he has not very much chance of spending it. He is well paid in 

 proportion to other laboring men, and there is no reason why a 

 sawmill man should have any difSculty in filling his needs if his 

 requirements are adequately placed before the working class. 



Big Manufacturers Misjudged 



The cry of the laboring man has always been that his interests 

 and those of the capital employing him are so diversified that the 

 sole object of the employer is to grind him down in every way 

 possible, getting the most work out of him with the least possible 

 reward. The agitation in favor of adequate workmen's compen- 

 sation legislation has been viewed by the laboring element in this 

 same light. They have argued that the big employer is constantly 

 striving to block legislation in the interests of the injured laborer. 

 He has been described as the embodiment of selfish greed, and has 

 not been given the credit for a single emotion. It is 

 gratifying to see now and then concrete evidence of the error of 

 this assumption on the part of the laboring element. 



One of the most striking examples of the active movement among 



big employers for the betterment 

 of the conditions among work- 

 men is seen in resolutions adopt- 

 ed by the National Association 

 of Manufacturers at its recent 

 seventeenth annual convention 

 at New York. These resolutions 

 in two instances Trere intended 

 for the' specific betterment of 

 the laborers in their industrial 

 and private lives. The first was 

 adopted with a view of volun- 

 tarily providing for adequate ac- 

 cident prevention and work- 

 men's compensation. In it the 

 association deplores the lack of 

 sufficient knowledge of accident 

 compensation on the part of 

 employers, legislators, workers 

 and the public at large. It was 

 suggested that this ignorance be 

 overcome by education. 



The resolution further recom- 

 mends that a committee be main- 

 tained with the idea of working 

 out specific benefits through co- 

 operation with state and federal 

 organizations and local bodies, 

 and through a comprehensive system of education, utilizing every 

 possible medium. 



Still further evidence of the sincerity of the big manufacturer, 

 as exemplified by the membership of the National Association of 

 Manufacturers, is shown in a resolution recommending such a 

 system of education as will provide for a thorough training of 

 children leaving school at an early age. It outlines various 

 recommendations, all with the idea of improving the mental train- 

 ing of the workingman's child. 



The vicious campaign as conducted by Socialists as a body, and 

 trade unions against the large employers of labor, does not take 

 into consideration the increasing evidence of interest on the part 

 of the capitalists for the welfare of the wage earners. There is 

 no reason to suppose that this increased interest is the result of the 

 agitation as conducted by those bodies, but is rather in spite of it. 

 It is to be hoped that such activity will be rewarded by the 

 approval of the public at large. 



Proper Selling 



A young wholesaler in a northern market recentlj' said that he 

 made an average profit of sixty-five dollars on every car of lumber 

 sold during June. This does not mean that this particular chap hail 



