HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



The only complaints that have reached me 

 regarding National Inspection during the past 

 year have come from members who have failed 

 to follow the course of procedure outlined by 

 the inspection department for obtaining the ben- 

 efits that are derived from the application of 

 that system of inspection. The hand booli pub- 

 lished by this association last October contains 

 complete and concise information as to the 

 manner in which tlie inspection department is 

 conducted, and I would commend to this mem- 

 bership a careful consideration of the provisions 

 contained therein In order that any confusion or 

 misunderstanding arising from a lacli of knowl- 

 edge regarding the methods by which National 

 Inspection is administered may be obviated in 

 the future. 



Tlie rules for the inspection of hardwood 

 lumber, as amended at tlie Buffalo meeting, 

 became effective December 1, 1U05, and while 

 some objections have been urged as to the wis- 

 dom of some of those amendments, it is not my 

 belief that these adverse criticisms are sustained 

 by sufficient grounds to warrant any action in 

 opening up the question of a change in the rules 

 at this meeting. While I do not believe that 

 the members in attendance upon this meeting 

 are lawfully bound by the action taken at any 

 previous meeting, in view of the fact that at 

 the Buffalo meeting a resolution was adopted 

 to the effect that no further changes should be 

 made in the inspection rules for a period of 

 three years from the date of that meeting, I do 

 believe that the pledge then given should be 

 respected at each subsequent meeting until that 

 period of time is completed, unless we. are called 

 upon to face conditions in the trade radically 

 different from those prevailing at the present 

 time. It would he well, however, owing to the 

 fact that the hardwood lumber trade is con- 

 stantly undergoing a process of transition or 

 evolution, for the Inspection Uules Committee 

 to keep in close and constant touch with the 

 trade for the purpose of collecting such infor- 

 mation and data as may be afforded, to the end 

 that w'hen the proper time approaches for fur- 

 ther consideration of changes in the inspection 

 rules of this association, that a sufficient amount 

 of authoritative information upon the subject 

 be at hand to enable this membership to enact 

 amendments that shall intelligently and com- 

 prehensively cover the situation as it may then 

 exist. 



The address delivered by me at the annual 

 meeting held in Buffalo last May contained the 

 following paragraph : 



"It has been the belief of the president that 

 the entire energy of the association be devoted 

 to the work of increasing the efficiency of asso- 

 ciated effort in rendering the offices of the asso- 

 ciation indispensable to the hardwood trade, 

 under the further belief that when this is ac- 

 complished it will not be necessary to urge 

 lumbermen to join our organization, as the bene- 

 fits to be derived from such a connection will 

 he plainly apparent to all." 



The soundness of this view, as to the proper 

 method of propagating an extended membership, 

 has been strikingly demonstrated by the results 



B, F. SWAIN, SIIELBYVILLE, IND., DI- 

 UECTOR. 



obtained during the past year, as a comparison 

 o£ our membership list today with that of one 

 year ago will conclusively prove. The story of 

 this increase and how it was accomplished I 

 shall leave to the secretary, as it is not my 

 purpose to discount the effect of any particularl'v 



good item of news nor of an interesting chapter 

 oi; the year's work that is yet to be related by 

 an officer to whom is largely due the credit for 

 the growth tliat has occurred in the ranks of 

 this association within tlie year ending with this 

 meeting. I may projierly state, however, that, 

 while a large addition to the membership has 

 been effected since the Buffalo meeting, the 

 doors of the association liave not been opened 

 to all who have desired admittance. Every 

 application for membership has been submitted 

 to a rigid investigation by the Executive Commit- 

 tee, and if any doubt was entertained as to the 

 desirability of adding a name to the membership 

 roll such application was rejected. 



While the steadfast adherence and consistent 

 support of a large majority of the older mem- 

 bers to the cause of the National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association during the period of its ex 

 istence lias ever been a source of congratulation 

 to those who have had the interests of the asso- 

 ciation at heart, there is today a special reason 

 for rejoicing on the part of this membership. 



"How think ye? If a man had an hundred 

 sheep and one of them be gone astray, doth he 

 not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the 

 mountains and seeketh that which is gone 

 astray? And if so be that he find it, verily, I 

 say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep 

 than of the ninety and nine which went not 

 astray." 



It is my belief that the crowning achieve- 

 ment in the work of the past year was the loca- 

 tion and restoration to membership of more 

 than one way-worn member who had strayed 

 from the fold of this association. Hence I 

 lepeat. there exists a special reason for rejoicing 

 today on the part of this membership. 



At a meeting of the hoard of managers, con- 

 vened directly after the adjournment of the last 

 annual meeting, it was decided to employ a sec- 

 retary, who should devote his entire time and 

 attention to the elTects of this association. In 

 accordance with this arrangement the board of 

 managers met in .July for the purpose of con- 

 sidering a number of applications for the posi- 



our association met with a hospitable reception 

 in the Iloosier capital, the location possesses 

 some objectionable features : it is not as easy 

 of access as some other cities, and as a result 

 the secretary does not come in contact with as 

 large a percentage of the members of the asso- 



GEOIiGE .T. LANDECK, JIILWAUKEE, DI- 

 RECTOR. 



lion. After careful investigation of each appli- 

 cant the unanimous choice of the board re- 

 sulted in the election of the incumbent, Frank 

 1'". Fish, who took charge August 1. Since enter- 

 ing upon the discharge of the duties assigned to 

 him Mr. Fish has contributed much to the suc- 

 cess of the administration now ending, and has 

 proven himself entirely competent to conduct 

 the affairs of an office the importance of which 

 is vital to the interests of this organization. 



I believe it is entirely proper for me to take 

 this opportunity to congratulate the board of 

 managers upon its happy choice in filling this 

 important office, to congratulate Mr. Fish upon 

 the success that has attended his administration 

 and the association membership upon its good 

 fortune in obtaining the services of so competent 

 an officer. I trust that the connection may be 

 continued indcflnilely, because I know of no one 

 who can aicouiijlisli more for the association 

 than can Mr. Fish, and neither do I know of 

 another organization that will appreciate his 

 exceptional abilities to a greater extent or sup- 

 port his office in a greater degree than will the 

 National Hardwood Lumber Association. 



At the July meeting of the board of mana- 

 gers it was decided to establish the office of 

 the secretary in the city of Indianapolis in con- 

 nection with that of the surveyor general. While 



CHARLES 



II. BARNABY, GREENCASTLE, 

 IND., DIRECTOR. 



elation as would be the case if the office were 

 located in some of the larger hardwood markets. 

 I would, therefore, recommend that at the meet- 

 ing of the board of managers to follow this gen- 

 eral meeting the expediency of changing the 

 location of the office of the secretary and sur- 

 veyor general be considered. 



It gives me pleasure to be able to report that 

 the finances uf this association have stood the 

 test of every strain to which they have been 

 submitted during the year, which condition 

 amply confirms the opinion expressed by me at 

 the Buffalo meeting that "So long as this asso- 

 ciation continues to earn valuable returns upon 

 the investments of its members, no apprehension 

 need ever be entertained as to any difficulty aris- 

 ing from a .scarcity of money with which to 

 carry forward any practical undertaking that 

 may be proposed in the interests of its mem- 

 bership." 



At the last annual meeting it was decided 

 that the importance of the widely discussed 

 subject of forestry justified the appointment of 

 a standing committee, the duties of which 

 should be to keep in touch with the effort that 

 is Ijeing made to convert a nation of tree slayers 

 into a nation of tree planters, and by thus 

 recognizing the necessity for concerted action In 

 the premises, this association should appear upon 

 record as being ready and willing to uphold those 

 who were earnestly striving to establish in this 

 country a system of practical forestry. 



I do not consider that any obligation rests 

 upon lumbermen to maintain or restore the for- 

 ests that is not equally as binding upon every 

 other inhabitant of the country without regard 

 to occupation, for, while lumbermen have been 

 in a large measure the actual instruments of 

 the denudation that is occasioning such wide- 

 spread discussion and alarm at the present time, 

 what they have done was at the behest of the 

 entire people who demanded from the forests 

 material wherewith to construct houses, barns 

 and stores, to build boats and railroads, to fence 

 their lands and supply their homes with furni- 

 ture. Hence. I insist that, according to the 

 well-defined principle of jurisprudence which 

 holds the receiver of stolen goods equally guilty 

 with him who committed the theft, lumbermen 

 are no more responsible for the condition in 

 which the country finds itself placed with re- 

 gard to its timber supply than are the remainder 

 of the inhabitants. 



But while I deny any special responsibility on 

 the part of the lumbermen for existing condi- 

 tions. I believe that, as lumbermen come in closer 

 touch with the situation and possess a keener 

 appreciation of the emergency by which this 

 country is confronted than do those not con- 

 nected with that trade, it is eminently proper 

 that they be found in the front with the work- 

 ers who propose in a measure to prevent the 

 distressing condition by which this country is 

 threatened. The practical knowledge gained by 

 lumbermen in years of experience In the forests 

 will be of incalculable assistance to the govern- 

 ment and to the several states when a compre- 

 hensive system of practical forestry is finally 

 inaugurated, and to such a system i can safely 

 pledge the unqualified support of the National 

 Hardwood I^umber Association. 



This membership will recall the action tsiken 



