20 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



ber, both as regards the manufacture of lumber 

 and the sale of it. 



How well these objects have been carried out 

 is a subject upon which we may not all agree, 

 but that we have made considerable progress 

 and have achieved a degree of success I think 

 nil are willing to concede. 



That there is a better acquaintance among 

 the manufacturers of hardwood lumber in Michi- 

 gan than there was before the organization of 

 tbis association is a question about which there 

 is no room for controversy. This acquaintance, 

 however, could be greatly extended, to the gen- 

 eral good of the industry. 



That we have secured a better understanding 

 of the conditions pertaining to the marketing of 

 our product is a statement that I think no one 

 will dispute who has studied the stock reports 

 sent out by your secretary and the reports of 

 the Market Conditions Committee. The matter 

 of marketing their product, however, is one that 

 is sadly neglected by most manufacturers of 

 hardwood lumber. They will work overtime and 

 lie awake nights studying plans to reduce the 

 cost of logging, sawing or piling their lumber 

 ten, fifteen or twenty cents per thousand feet, 

 spend thousands of dollars on a device that 

 promises a saving of a few cents per thousand 

 in the cost of manufacture and then sacriflce 

 from one to live dollars per thousand feet in 

 the sale of their lumber for lack of more in- 

 formation in regard to market conditions, in- 

 formation that could be obtained with very little 

 efliort and iiractically no expense. 



The indifference shown by the average manu- 

 facturer of hardwood lumber in the matter of 

 making a study of conditions pertaining to the 

 sale of the commodity in which he is most in- 

 terested is really surprising. Our July and Octo- 

 ber stock reports were each considered of con- 

 siderable value by the student of market condi- 

 tions ; not that they showed the total amount 

 of hardwood lumber manufactured in Michigan, 

 the total amount sold or the total amount to 

 be marketed, but to the manufacturer, jobber 

 or wholesaler who studied the reports carefully 

 there was comparative information of consid- 

 erable value. The stock report of January 2 

 •was of still more value because of the more 

 complete information it contained and the com- 

 parisons between the conditions shown in that 

 report and the two earlier reports. 



These stock reports of July, October and 

 January have been of considerable value to 

 the manufacturer and can be made still more 

 valuable in the future. The degree of value, 

 however, will depend largely upon how prompt- 

 ly and accurately you make your reports to 

 the secretary. If you are unable to give prompt- 

 ly and accurately the report called for by the 

 secretary, that of itself is sufficient evidence 

 that vou are not giving the necessary attention 

 to the marketing of your stock, for how can 

 vou sell vour lumber intelligently if you do 

 not know at least three times a year what you 

 have to sell? 



That we have made a considerable effort and 

 have been of considerable assistance in securing 

 as near as may be uniform rules for the meas- 

 urement and inspection of hardwood lumber 

 will he very conclusively shown by the report 

 of our grading committee which will be sub- 

 mitted for your approval and adoption. This 

 association has been particularly fortunate in 

 the personnel of the Grading Rules Committee : 

 especially so in the subcommittee that have 

 under hand the matter of our future rules for 

 the inspection and measurement of hardwood 

 lumber. I have followed the n-ork of this com- 

 mittee closely and with more than usual inter- 

 est. I positively know that they have spent a 

 great deal of valuable time and been to con- 

 siderable expense in their efforts to obtain uni- 

 form grading rules. That they have been suc- 

 cessful beyond what we had reason to expect 

 will be shown by their report. 



The members of this organization showed 

 their confidence in the ability and integrity of 

 this committee by appointing them with full 

 power to act for the association, and it is 

 earnestly hoped that their report will be adopted 

 without" a dissenting vote. 



The fourth object for which this association 

 was organized I do not know that it has been 

 accomplished in nearly the degree that it might 

 be. Our customs and usages could easily be 

 made uniform. Now that we have practically 

 uniform and definite rules for the grading and 

 measurement of lumber we ought to adhere 

 strictly to these rules. If we do this our cus- 

 toms and usages as regards measurement and 

 inspection of lumber will be uniform. We should 

 also at this meeting adopt a uniform rule in 

 regard to terms, discounts and time of settle- 

 ment for the sale of our hardwood lumber. 

 There is no good reason why sixty days' time 

 and two per cent discount should be allowed 

 on as staple an article as hardwood lumber. 



A recapitulation of what has been accom- 

 plished during the past year briefly would be 

 as follows : We have to a certain extent pro- 

 moted a better acquaintance and a more neigh- 

 borly feeling among the hardwood manufac- 

 turers of the state of Michigan. We have 

 secured much better information in regard to 



WILLIAM II. WHITE, BOVNE CITY, MEM- 

 BER EXECUTIVE BOARD. 



stocks and supply and demand than we have 

 had heretofore and we also have a better under- 

 slandmg of the general market conditions. We 

 have made considerable progress toward se- 

 curing uniform rules for the measurement and 

 inspection of hardwood lumber. If nothing 

 more has been or will be accomplished the time 

 and expense of this association has been a 

 profitable investment. 



Just how much more we are to accomplish 

 will depend very largely upon the following : 

 How efficient and attentive the officers we elect 

 today will be to the interests of the Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association. A great deal will 

 also depend upon the interest and assistance 

 of each individual member. Please keep m 

 mind that it matters not how efficient your offi- 

 cers may be nor how much money you are 

 willing to spend upon an organization of this 

 kind, the real success of the organization de- 

 pends more largely upon the individual member 

 than all else. Without his assistance and co- 

 operation it will be impossible to make the 

 association work a success. 



Our first year has been somewhat of an ex- 

 periment. Jiany have wanted to go slowly and 

 incur as little expense as possible until it had 

 been demonstrated what could be accomplished. 

 Because of this the office of secretary has been 

 a sort of a side issue, but if our association 

 is to continue successfully the duties of a secre- 

 tary have passed that stage, and you will find 

 it absolutely necessary to employ a secretary 

 who has considerable tact and ability and who 

 can give his entire time and attention to asso- 

 ciation matters. Under an arrangement of this 



W. W. MITCHELL, CADILLAC, MEMBER 

 EXECUTIVE BOARD. 



kind you can secure much more complete in- 

 formation as regards lumber statistics and mar- 

 ket conditions generally. The secretary's office 

 could be made a sort of clearinghouse for the 

 sale of your stock, especially of any surplus 

 stock that any members may have. If the 

 information were given out generally that the 

 secretary of this association was familiar with 

 the amount, kind and condition of hardwood 

 lumber that was held by the members of this 

 association it would be but a short time until 

 his office would be filled with inquiries and 

 opportunities to dispose of stock to good ad- 

 vantage. I would recommend that tbis plan 

 be adopted and that each of you keep the secre- 

 tary advised freely as to the stock that you 

 desire to move. It would not be necessary for 

 the secretary to make the sale himself but if 

 he had inquiries for certain kinds of stock and 

 he supplied the prospective customer with the 

 information as to who had the stock, the grade 

 of it and the condition, it would enable many 

 of you to make prompt sales of stock that you 

 might otherwise be unable to sell to advantage. 

 There is anotiier matter in connection with 

 the secretary's office that I have given consid- 

 erable study and think it could be made a very 

 profitable addition and that is a traffic depart- 

 ment. With the new railroad laws and frequent 

 changes in rates, the numerous rulings of the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission and various 

 other changes in regard to rates and routing, 

 the average sales department of a hardwood 

 lumber manufacturer is nearly helpless in regard 

 to rates and routing. Very few local railroad 

 agents are able to give you any assistance and 

 if you want a rate to a certain point, especially 

 if "it be to a Western point, the chances are 

 that the local agent is unable to supply you 

 with the information and will have to refer to 

 the general freight agent to secure it, which 

 means a delay of three to thirty days and the 

 probability that you will be quoted the highest 

 rate by the longest route. I think it would be 

 possible to secure for the secretary of this 

 association a man who is thoroughly conversant 

 with the matter of freight rates and who has had 

 sufficient lumber experience to handle the work 

 of secretary with what assistance he would be 

 able to obtain from the oflicers and members 

 of the association. 



Were an arrangement of this kind made my 

 idea would be to apply to your traffic depart- 

 ment for rates and routing Instead of to the 

 railroad company. A department of this kind 

 could be supplied with all the tariffs, freight 

 laws, rulings of the state and Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission and be just as well equipped 

 to furnish informatif>n of tills kind as any rail- 

 road company. I have discussed this matter 

 very carefully with many of the traveling freight 

 agents and the general freight agents of several 

 lines of railroad and without exception they 

 liave looked upon an arrangement of this kind 

 with favor, and advised that the railroad com- 

 panies will not only be willing but will be glad 

 to assist a traffic department in every way that 

 they can. 



Were an arrangement of this kind made all 

 claims for damages, overweight and overcharges 

 could be submitted to this department. Many 

 of us sometimes feel that we have a claim 

 against a railroad company when if we knew 

 of the laws, rulings and customs pertaining to 

 it we might, in fact, have no just claim. Were 

 this the case, a traflic department would be 

 able to advise as to the facts and the claim 

 not go any further. On the other hand, if we 

 had a just claim against a railroad company a 

 traffic department would be able to handle the 

 claim more effectively than any individual manu- 

 facturer. This department should be able to go 

 before the railroad company and show good and 

 sufficient reasons why the claim should be paid. 

 Another advantage in this matter of claims is if 

 the railroad company knew the department is 

 handling the business of seventy-five to one hun- 

 dred manufacturers they might give the matter 

 more prompt and careful attention than they 

 would individual claims. 



The assessment of two cents per thousand on 

 shipments will yield an amount sufficient to pay 

 a competent man for his entire time, pay his 

 traveling expenses, pay a stenographer, rent and 

 all other expenses of the association. Unless 

 vou employ a competent man who will give all 

 ills attention to the association there will be 

 more work for the president and executive board 

 than thev will be willing to do, as you probably 

 will not' be able to find any one who will be 

 willing to accept the office of president and give 

 tlte work as much of his time and attention as 

 Mr. White has done during the past year. The 

 president should not be burdened with the detail 

 work of the association, and if he is not to he 

 this work should be done by a competent secre- 

 tary. 



Your association has now reached a point 

 where it mu.st either go forward or go back 

 rapidly. There is plenty of room for expansion 

 and linprovement but a very slight retrograde 

 movement will be sufficient to disband your' 

 organization. Our membership is now around 70 

 to~7.T and to get the best results It should be 

 increased to 12o or 150. This can be done within 



