HARDWOOD RECORD 



19 



It is true that muL-li progress has been made 

 in past years tciwaril tlie development of stand- 

 ard rules of iuspecliim. and miu'li iias been ac- 

 complislied br tue Uiiles (•ommitteu of tins as- 

 sociation during tlie past year, in liaving some 

 ^amendments made while in eonterenee with the 

 committee from the National Association at 

 Chicago and which were in part adopted by the 

 National Association at ils annual meeting in 

 Atlantic City. Hut there was one important 

 point left, out, which I was sorry to note and 

 that was, iioth sides ot the .board sliould be 

 taken into consideration by the inspector w'hen 

 decLdiug on the higher grades, especially m Ihe 

 thick stock. . , 



a'he ideal rules o£ inspection, when tormii- 

 lated and adopted, will be such rules as will 

 secuie to the manufacturer a grade tor his 

 product, based upon the quality of material and 

 mautacture entering into the board. In the past 

 the rules have been so general and so inucli 

 has been left to the judgment of the individual 

 inspector, that not only has there been a lack 

 o' uuiformitv in inspection, but the doubt when 

 (here has been doubt as to the inspection ot 

 any board or piece, has been against the manu- 

 tacturer In other words, no matter how slight 

 the defect which operated to change the classi- 

 tication of any piece from a higher to a lower 

 -rade the manufacturer has had to stand the 

 foss although from a consumer's standpoint, 

 such pieces have tjeen quite as valuable to lum 

 as though the technical defect did not exist. 



I do uot say that this is always true, but; I 

 do sav that it is constantl.v happening witli 

 the result that for our higher priced lumber 

 we have been getting less than its stumpage 

 value on a great deal of it, bearing m mind 

 ot; course that a large percentage of the hard- 

 wood lumber furnished the trade from Michigan 

 is finished from one side. . 



Our Grading Committee, through its chair- 

 man will be able in his report to show to this 

 meeting what rules we will expect to use for 

 the iuspection ot our lumber after December 1, 

 the same to be known as the National Inspection 

 Rules, and if his committee recommends the 

 adoption of these rules, it will be the duty ot 

 this convention to accept them and to authorize 

 their being put into etteci as agreed upon with 

 tlie National Association, as this committee was 

 appointed with power to act. _ 



I have worked on hardwood inspection rules 

 for ten or twelve years and expect to continue 

 this work. The argument used by a great many 



■■I.,eave the rules where they are and raise 



the prices" — does not appeal to me ; tirst, be- 

 cause concerted action from a price standpoint is 

 impossible, even if the law of the land permitted 

 such "restraint of trade" : and second, to stop 

 work on the rules would mean to go back. The 

 most adhesive brake would not hold us on the 

 hill-side, and it is a hill-side up which we are 

 driving our commercial wagon. Inspection in 

 hardwoods must be always evolving to a higher 

 plane. We want to keep as close an eye on 

 inspection rules as we do on the prices, as our 

 timber is becoming scarcer every day; the qual- 

 ity of logs lower and the price of stumpage 



Later on there will undoubtedly be articles 

 manufactured which will require grades of lum- 

 ber which we do not make today, and such 

 grades will be worth as much to the man- 

 ufacturer of this article as the grades of 

 lumber we are producing today which cost more 

 money. In other words, as the lumber becoroes 

 more scarce, trade will produce a poorer article 

 and we will have to adjust ourselves to the 

 demand; if not, we will not be getting the true 

 value of our product. I. therefore, take the 

 stand that the inspection rules will have to be 

 watched just as closely as the manufacture and 

 sale of the product. As years go by time and 

 things change and we must keep pace with 

 time and changes. IIow could you furnish lum- 

 ber today on the rules that were in existence 

 ten or twelve vears ago? At the prices we are 

 receiving, based on stumpage values, under the 

 rules upon which we shipped twelve years ago 

 we' w'ould 'not -play even, and still the quality 

 of lumber that we are furnishing now is just 

 as well suited to the consumer's requirements as 

 the grades furnished at that time. 



Let No Motemisxt Stop. 



I would urge our association to let no part 

 of our work stop where it is, either in reference 

 to the manufacture, the marketing ot our lum- 

 ber, or the inspection rules. Let us be strenu- 

 ous and uncompromising for that which is right 

 and let every member throughout the year give 

 ■ all the support he possibly can to the officers, 

 the grading committee, the marketing committee, 

 and to the secretary. It is necessary to do this 

 in order to make the officers' work effective. 



• ■■ ■ A PEKMANENT SECEETAnY. 



I understand we have to secure a, permanent 

 secretary and we should it possible secure a man 

 . who understands traffic matters. • .This will he 

 as much help to the different manufacturers 

 as the lumber reports. He can assist in getting 

 the proper rates from certain points to the cen- 

 tral markets, instruct each member how to or- 



F. A. DIGGINS,. CADILLAC, PRESIDENT. 



der ears and how to route- them, and if any 

 difficulty should arise between the railroads and 

 the shipper, such traffic manager could certainly 

 be of good service in helping to straighten the 

 matter out. I would also suggest that at all 

 times our secretarv work in harmony with the 

 railroads and not antagonize them in any way. 

 and thus get the cooperation of the roads and 

 with that cooperation the very best results. Tire 

 secretary- proposed, in order to do effective work, 

 should reside in the same town as your presi- 

 dent.. 



In Conclusion. 



In conclusion let me say. in laying down the 

 honorable office of first president of this asso- 

 ciation, that I desire to thank the membership 

 for the cooperation given me and to say to you 

 now that no effective work can be done by the 

 officers of the association without the intelligent 

 coiiperation of the membership. If you expect 

 results from the association, you must not let 

 all the enthusiasm, all the work, and all the 

 suggestions come from your officers and from the 

 members of your committees. Your interest must 

 be an active one if you hope to realize the best 

 results. An officer can only execute that which 

 is framed for him by the membership. 



I would suggest also that every member of 

 this association become a committee of one on 

 membership and in making suggestions to our 

 secretary on any line of work which might tend 

 to simplify and better the organization. 



I will venture to say that our new officers will 

 be grateful to any member who will give them 

 an intelligent thought along any of these lines, 

 for you must remember that they all have busi- 



A. BIGELOW. BAY CITY, 

 PRESIDENT. 



FIRST VICE 



ness of their own and work of their own to 

 attend to and it takes time to do this worlt. 

 Remember, too, there are no salaried men but 

 the secretary, and that every one of us is in dutj 

 bound to give a helping hand where it is needed. 



1 particularly commend the work of the chair- 

 man and the "Committee on Rules for the in- 

 terest taken and the results achieved in securing 

 the adoption of the amendments to the rules by 

 the National Association, and to the chairman 

 and the Marketiug Committee for the improve- 

 ments .aceomplished, which I have attempted to 

 outline in the way of better market conditions. 



The membership- at this time represents 9iJ 

 per cent of the trade in Michigan and I predict 

 for , Qur association under the direction of its 

 ^n.ew- officers a successful future. 



' Mr."'-"White : One thing I liave overlookeil. 

 .''We -have' received a' gi'eat deal of help from 



our' sister states in our work, and in form- 

 'ing; rules 'for our guidance ; viz, "Wisconsin 



■ and Indiana:, ' I. -rt-ould like to see this go on 

 when the new officers are elected, working iu 

 harmony 'with those states, especially with 

 "Wisconsin, since their woods are so 'similar to 

 ours;, and then also with those fine fellows 

 from' JncUana: Secretary Odell will read the 



■ mimitcs of our last meeting, held at Grand 

 Eapids. , 



After hearing the minutes read the asso- 

 elation approved them by vote ' and they were 

 ordered spread upon -the records. Mr. Odell 

 then presented -the report .of the secretary 

 and a financial statement' as follows: 



Financial Keport for Year Ending July 

 31, 1907. 



Received for membership fees . . . !f SOO.OO 



Received for assessment No. 1 — 

 2 cents- per M. ft. on ship- 

 ments Jan. 1 to Apr. 1, 190 1 - Si fa-bo 



Received for advances irom 



members over assessment.... -s^.sj 



Total amount received and paid -,,00. 



- to treasurer .- :. $l,iUU-Unt 



ExPENDITUKES. 



Salary of secretary July 13, '06. : 



to June 13. '07 $825.00 



Paid Miss E. B. Spencer as 



stenographer, 30 weeks dbU.UU 



Paid I. M. Shaw, stenographic 



and other work...: • 40.00 



Paid blank books, printing and 



stationery SS'ifv 



Paid typewriter •■■.••• °»-^ 



Paid typewriter cabinet -O.oo 



Paid postage ■ • • »»•"" 



Paid telephone and telegraph.. 5.94 



I'aid freight and express...... 3.4a 



I'aid expense stenographer, Ber- __ 



lin. Wis., to Cadillac '-03 



Paid expense secretary to Mack- 



inac Island meeting 1_.0U 



Paid expense secretary to Trav- ^ 



erse City meeting - o.b- 



■Paid expense secretary to Grand ^^ 



Rapids meeting 1— '- 



-Total expenditures per orders, 1 

 to 41 inclusive, and vouchers 

 ■ in hands of treasurer....... -"^'"-g.JJ 



Balance held by treasurer "'•"■' 



$1,700.04 

 Secretary's Keport. 



Vs many of you know, the ilichigan Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association was organized at Ot- 

 taw"" Beach, Mich., July 13. .1000 by about 

 tw^enty-flye of the faithful, with the able as- 

 sistance of representatives of the lumber .lour- 

 nals and various officers and -members ot othei 

 hardwood lumber associations.; 



The objects of this association were declaied 

 ■to be as follows, viz: ^ . „,„„„ 



First • To promote better- acquaintance among 

 hardwood lumber manufacturers of the s^tate. 



Second- To secure a better . understanding of 

 the conditions surrounding the lumber -market lu 

 the territory covered by - this association bj' 

 means of stock reports showing the aniount of 

 lumber cut, amount held by the manufacturer, 

 both sold and unsold, and such other information 

 -as would aid the manufacturer to intelligently 

 market his product. . • 



Third ■ To assist in securing, as near as may 

 be uniform rules for the- measurement and in- 

 spection of hardwood lumber. 



Fourth ■ To establish unitorm customs and 

 usages among manufacturers of hardwood lum- 



