HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



and rights; forms of labor contracts; names of foreign and national 

 banks and of steamship agencies; table for the conversion of 

 foreign money into Argentine currency, and other specific informa- 

 tion which will enable the foreigner to quickly grasp the situation 

 in his newly adopted home. 



There is no question but that this move will go a long ways to- 

 ward attracting the attention of the immigrant classes to the 

 southern republic, and while this country still has a host of foreign- 

 ers coming to its shores every month, it must consider that a per- 

 centage of these will each year be diverted to the progressive 

 countries of South America. If we are going to maintain a com- 

 petent and efficient source of supply of labor, we must look to the 

 means of keeping at least on an equal competitive footing with 

 our southern neighbors. 



The Chamber of Commerce 



At various times Hardwood Record has mentioned the newly 

 created National Chamber of Commerce, the result of a conference 

 of representatives of commercial bodies in various parts of the 



In a general way the objects 



country, called by President Taft. 

 and the possibilities of this new 

 organization have been outlined 

 but its importance and the mo- 

 mentum which it has already 

 gained are best illustrated in 

 a bulletin recently issued by 

 President Harry A. Wheeler of 

 Chicago, from the President 's 

 office. The bulletin goes into 

 details as to the possible bene- 

 fits to be derived from such a 

 body by the commercial inter- 

 ests as a whole. The two basic 

 principles laid down by the Na- 

 tional Commercial Conference 

 for the government of the 

 Chamber of Commerce of the 

 United States are that absolute 

 democracy is assured and that 

 all action shall be only by ref- 

 erendum. The first feature is 

 guaranteed by a provision that 

 no member shall be allowed 

 more than ten delegates and 

 ten votes, regardless of numer- 

 ical strength. Organizations in 

 states of less than 50,000 shall 



be given representation at one -half dues, and every member may 

 elect a national councilor without regard to the number of dele- 

 gates to which it is entitled. 



As to the procedure of action, it is maintained that only national 

 questions afi'ecting the commercial life of the country shall be con- 

 sidered. An exhaustive and impartial analysis is provided for 

 every question proposed for action before presenting it to the 

 members of the chamber. The chamber is in no wise committed by 

 the board of directors or any committee for or against any legis- 

 lative proposition until by referendum an expression of opinion be 

 invited from its members. 



An idea of the relative magnitude of the new association can be 

 conveyed by the statement from the bulletin that about 700 dele- 

 gates representing 392 chambers of commerce, boards of trade and 

 associations were in attendance at the conference. This represents 

 practically every state and territory and in addition delegates from 

 the dependencies of the United States were present. The bulletin 

 reviews further in detail the purposes of the organization, tells of 

 the regulation governing its membership and representation, and 

 of the duties of the national council and board of directors. 



The national council is a body made up of one representative 

 elected by each member. National councilors are charged with the 

 responsibility of keeping the Chamber of Commerce informed as 



A Thought for the Week 



When the worries and cares of the day fret you, 

 and begin to wear upon you, and you chafe under 

 the friction — be calm. Stop, rest for a moment, and 

 let calmness and peace assert themselves. If you 

 let these irritating outside influences get the better 

 of you, you are confessing your inferiority to them, 

 by permitting them to dominate you. Study the dis- 

 turbing elements, each by itself, bring all the will- 

 power of your nature to bear upon them, and you 

 will find that they will, one by one, melt into nothing- 

 ness, like vapors fading before the sun. 



— William George Jordan. 



to local or trade conditions upon which action by the chamber is 

 desired. At each annual meeting of the general Chamber of Com- 

 merce the national councilors for each state will htfld a caucus 

 electing the state member of the nominating committee to bring in 

 the various nominations. The national council is but one of the 

 details of the plan, but its importance is manifest. 



The scope of the association can be estimated from the enumera- 

 tion of the various committees. There are committees on mem- 

 bership, membership qualification, domestic commerce, under which 

 come sub-committees on state regulation, statistics and standards, 

 tariff and taxation, industrial workers, industrial education and 

 commercial education; foreign commerce, under which come sub- 

 committees on North American-European trade, Latin-American 

 trade. Oriental trade, statistics and standards, patents, trade-marks 

 and co[)yrights and consular service. Under the committee on 

 traffic, transportation and communication are grouped sub-commit- 

 tees on railroads, canals and rivers, oceans, telegraph, post-office 

 and telephone. In addition are committees on legislation, currency 

 and banking, immigration, publicity, commercial organization, ways 

 and means and auditing. 



This further expression of 

 the workings and organization 

 of the National Chamber of 

 Commerce seems appropriate 

 when the paramount importance 

 and the vast possibilities of such 

 a body are realized. It should 

 not be long before its powerful 

 influence will be felt in all 

 important matters of national 

 commerce. 



Phases of Conservation 



A commercial agent of an 

 English railroad recently re- 

 turned from a visit to the 

 United States having for its 

 object the interesting of lum- 

 bermen in a British dock proj- 

 ect which will be available to 

 the Pacific eoJist lumber trade 

 after the completion of the 

 Panama canal. The reason for 

 the visit was that the opening 

 of the canal will undoubtedly 

 furnish a vast outlet for Pacific 

 coast lumber products to foreign 

 countries, and probably will enable Pacific coast manufacturers to 

 practically double their output. 



One of the suggestions which seems most pertinent is the fact 

 that by obtaining a reduced rate of transportation a great deal 

 of stuff which now, to all intents and purposes is waste, will be 

 marketable in various consuming centers and will return to the 

 manufacturers a profit over the investment in manufacture and 

 transportation. 



One of the most serious and probably the most serious drawback 

 to modern conservation of timber reservations — the feature which 

 absolutely prohibits the utilization of low-grade forest products — is 

 the matter of high freight charges on such products. These charges, 

 as the trade is well aware, amount to the same as freight charges 

 on the highest class of lumber, and have always militated against 

 a close utilization of the products of the modern sawmill. How- 

 ever, with the material reduction in freight which will be effected 

 with the opening of the canal, both through the Panama itself and 

 by reason of competition of canal steamship lines with railroads, 

 there would be ample opportunity to market low-grade product. 



The question is one the details of which can not be suggested at 

 this date, but there is every reason to believe that the opening of 

 the canal will not only prove of benefit to Pacific coast manufac- 

 turers, but will be of distinct benefit to modern forest conservation. 



