26 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Hardwood Record Moil 'Bag. 



[In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries as reach this office from the 

 Hardwood Re(Tokd clientage as will be of enough 

 general interest to warrant publication. Every 

 patron of the paper 's invited to use this de- 

 partment to the fullest extent, and an attempt 

 will be made to answer queries pertaining to all 

 matters of interest to the hardwood trade, in 

 a succinct and intelligent manner.] 



President Palmer's Position on Westbound 

 Lumber Freight Eates. 

 I'ADUCiii, Ky., April 12. — Editor Hakdwood 

 Record : In reading the report, contained in 

 your issue of the 10th inst., of the meeting of 

 the \Yisconsin Hardsvood Lumbermen's Associa- 

 tion, held at Marshtiekl, Wis., on March 27, I 

 note that the president "of that organization 

 places me in rather an unfavorable light before 

 the trade with regard to my alleged position 

 upon the question of securing a reduction in 

 the existing rate upon hardwood lumber to the 

 Pacific coast, and quotes certain extracts from 

 a letter written by me in support of the asser- 

 tion that I have been guilty of indifference 

 toward a matter of much importance to the 

 hardwood trade. 



I regret that it is necessary for me to go into 

 print in order to correct a misunderstanding 

 with regard 1o my position on this question, 

 that may obtain in the minds of those who have 

 read the report of the Marshtield meeting, but 

 I believe in justice to myself that the entire let- 

 ter from which the extracts were quoted should 

 be made public, that the trade may have an 

 opportunity to judge whether the charge of in- 

 difference made by Mr. Arpin is or is not sup- 

 ported by the expressions contained therein. 



The letter referred to was addressed to Mr. 

 O. O. Agler, as chairman of the railroad and 

 transportation committee of the Wisconsin 

 Hardwood Lumbermen's Association, written un- 

 der date of .lanuary 2 of the present year, and 

 is submitted below : 



"I have your favor of the 20th ult. inclosing 

 letter from Jlr. Arpin, president of the Wiscon- 

 .sin Hardwood Lumbermen's Association, extend- 

 ing a tentative invitation to the National asso- 

 ciation to cooperate in an effort to secure a 

 reduction in the existing rates on lumber to the 

 Pacific coast. 



"This is certainly competent matter for our 

 association, and in fact for all lumber associa- 

 tions, to carefully consider. 



"While it is not my disposition to be a prophet 

 cf ill omen. I very much doubt whether the time 

 is ijropitious to make such a demand. I am 

 influenced to this opinion by reason of the fact 

 that the western shippers have been recently 

 denied a reduction to eastern points. If this 

 denial has been made to those who are the 

 vei'itable proteges of the railroads, • it is quite 

 likel.v that the eastern shippers in their present 

 disorganized condition could hardly hope for 

 better thinss. Then again, a reduction of 10c 

 per liuudred has lately been made from the entire 

 southeastern territor.v that is dominated by the 

 Southern Railway system, which was only ac- 

 complished after a hard fight, and it is not 

 probable that a further reduction would be con- 

 sidered from that territory at the present time. 



"I hardly agree with Mr. Arpin that the rail- 

 roads are in a conciliatory condition as a result 

 of the recent rate agitation. They are thor- 

 oughly organized and I believe are standing pat. 

 It rate regulation by the government is to come, 

 they are going to wait for it, without discount- 

 ing its effects by voluntary concessions in ad- 

 vance. 



"While these are my views on jthe subject, 

 they should not be construed by you or by Mr. 

 Arpin as evidencing any unwillingness on my 

 part to render all the assistance in ' my power 

 to forward the movement suggested. Before 

 beginning the movement, however, I should like 



to see the ranks of the hardwood lumber trade 

 closed up, so that we can present a solid front 

 to the railroads and to all other industries that 

 are now completely organized. It is sometimes 

 disastrous to start upon a campaign with forces 

 partially organized. Such an enterprise is likely 

 to flash in the pan." 



The statement made by Mr. Arpin that the 

 South, having secured what it wanted in the 

 way of a reduction to the Pacific coast, we of 

 the South were now indifferent to the necessities 

 of the Wisconsin lumbermen, carried with it a 

 discordant and sectional note entirely out of 

 spirit with the advanced commercial conditions 

 of the day. 



The territory to which I referred did secure 

 a reduction, but it was only a reduction that 

 placed its shippers upon a parity with all other 

 eastern and northern shippers. That territory 

 simply threw off the incubus imposed by the 

 Southern Railway Company several years ago, 

 which practically shut that portion of the South 

 entirely out of the I'acific coast trade. 



It would seem that when we are all placed 

 upon an equal basis there is little of which to 

 romplain from a sectional standpoint. 



Earl Palmer, President. 



The editor of the Hardwood Eecobd was 

 |iresent at the Marshfield meeting referred 

 to, and according to his understanding of 

 tlie discussion that prevailed concerning 

 Mr. Palmer's attitude on the subject, there 

 was no suggestion on the part of President 

 Arpin that President Palmer was indifferent 

 to the subject, and especially was there no 

 comment of a sectional nature. However, it 

 is a subject •northy of full and complete dis- 

 cussion, as it will only be through agitation 

 of the matter that the transcontinental lines 

 can be made to appreciate justice in the 

 matter of westbound lumber freight rates as 

 compared with its current rates on eastbouud 

 traflfie. — Editor. 



Has His Nerve with Him. 



About the richest piece of literature that 

 lias come to the attention of the H.^rdwood 

 Record in a long time is a communication 

 tl;at was forwarded through the courtesy of 

 the Swann-Day Lumber Company of Clay 

 City, Ky., witli the notation "How is this 

 for a hot one ! ' ' 



The letterhead is inscribed "John 0. JIc- 

 llahon, Attorney and Counselor at Law, 32 

 Bversou Bldg., Syracuse, N. Y. A specialty 

 of corporation law and the promotion of 

 lumber companies. Bargains in timber lands 

 and lumber products. Machinery and enter- 

 [irises bought and sold. ' ' The upper portion 

 of the letterhead is devoted to the following 

 solid chunk of edifying matter: 



Dear Sir : Would you like to invest in the 

 safest and most profitable of American enter- 

 prises, and in that greatest of American money- 

 making machines, the manufacturing corporation'^ 

 If so, then come in with us in the organization 

 of a corporation to put together some bargains 

 in machinery and timber lands and manufacture 

 lumber, with ample capital to insure the best 

 success. 



I have enclosed a duplicate of our subscrip- 

 tion paper which you can sign, with a statement 

 of your address and the amount of your proposed 

 investment and any additional conditions, as 

 well, which yon may wish to attach. 



This subscription paper will convince you that 

 there is no chance for hidden profits to dishonest 

 promoters, since it is expressly provided that the 

 timber lands and mill equipment are to be se- 

 lected and acquired by the proposed company 

 after the completion of its organization. 



People wishing to sell timber or machinery will 

 be willing to allow a ten per cent commission to 

 the agent or promoter who creates the oppor- 

 tunity to sell. They will be willing to allow this 

 commission when they will not be willing to re- 

 duce the price for any other purpose, so that the 

 commission, taken care of for the promoter, will 

 not, in any sense, be an expense to the investors ; 

 but will be his well earned compensation, in lieu 

 of the hidden and usually enormous profits se- 

 cured by the option promoters, at the expense of 

 investors. 



Every mill is nearly six months behind its 

 orders, and the prices for l\imber have doubled 

 in ten years and are still advancing. 



Rents are likewise advancing in all the cities and 

 towns and there is a growing demand for new 

 houses that must be built within the next few- 

 years regardless of the prices of lumber. 



Numerous great lumber companies are oper- 

 ating in the South and Northwest making mil- 

 lionaires of every one of their larger investors. 

 Their profits seldom fall below 100 per cent 

 per annum upon their capital actively employed, 

 and in many cases a single year's operation will 

 pay for the plant and thousands of acres of tim- 

 ber as well. 



It is a simple business to conduct. It is al- 

 ways easy to find similar successful operations 

 elsewhere that can be imitated to fit every con- 

 ceivable situation. The sawing of lumber is a 

 simple operation and lumber sells itself at the 

 mill, at the moment of manufacture, so great is 

 its demand. Railroad rates for lumber are ex- 

 ceedingly friendly to distant mills. For instance, 

 the rate from Arkansas to New York City is less 

 than 40 cents per hundred and from Florida to 

 New York about 30 cents per hundred, which is 

 less than the rate ou household furniture from 

 Syracuse to New York City, 



In my business of hunting up and bringing 

 together the sellers and buyers of bargains in 

 timber lands and second hand saw mill equip- 

 ments I have found many sawmills in the Middle 

 West and Northern states that have exhausted 

 the timber in their vicinity and that can be 

 bought and removed at great bargains, about one- 

 quarter the cost of a new equipment. While 

 timber lands near the railroads are held at a 

 comparatively high price by speculators and be- 

 cause of the demand for them on the part of 

 small operators, such a corporation as we are 

 organizing, with ample capital, can run a switch 

 back into the forests for a few miles and procure 

 tracts of the most desirable virgin growth tim- 

 lior. hundreds of thousands of acres in extent, 

 iu numerous places rn the South and Northwest 

 for .$3 or .$4 per acre : lands which when cut off 

 would be valuable for stock ranches ; timber 

 which in the state of New York would sell 

 quickly for $100 per 'acre. 



Kindly investigate the truth of my assertions 

 about the lumber business. Read about it in the 

 magazines and newspapers, and then learn from 

 experience of its profits by making an invest- 

 ment with us. Yours truly, • 



In the small remaining blank space of the 

 letterhead below this document is the follow- 

 ing letter, typewritten, which practically 

 amounts to a confession of faith, and is as 

 monumental a piece of nerve as is often en- 

 countered, even in a lawyer — or an imitation 



of one: 



April 5, mOG. 

 Swann-Day Lumber Co.. Clay City, Ky. 



Gentlemen : I am entirely without practical 

 experience in the manufacture of lumber, some- 

 thing that I find necessary in order to carry out 

 my plans in "lumber" promoting. 



