24 



HARD WOOD RECORD 



at the Buffalo meeting with regard to the sup- 

 port to be extended to the Xational Wholesale 

 Lumber Dealers' Association by our association, 

 in the elfort being made by the former organi- 

 zation to secure an equitable adjustment of the 

 car stake question at the hands of the various 

 railroad companies. At a meeting of the Na- 

 tional Wholesale I^umber Dealers' Association, 

 held in Ottawa last August, an executive com- 

 mittee was selected to take charge of the prose- 

 cution of the work. The president of this asso- 

 ciation was included in that committee, which 

 held its tirst meeting in Chicago in October. At 

 that meeting the president, who had already 

 been empowered by the board of managers to 

 act according to his best judgment in the prem- 

 ises, subscribed, in the name of the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association, the sum of .$400 

 to assist in defraying the expense connected 



B. E. THOMPSON, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.. 

 DIRECTOR. 



with properly bringing the question at issue be- 

 fore the Interstate Commerce Commission. 



An attorney was employed for that purpose 

 and proceedings against the railroads were in- 

 stituted and prosecuted with so much vigor that 

 the railroad companies in suit acquiesced to 

 the demand for the 500 pounds' allowance in 

 weight on account of temporary equipment, and 

 suggested the possibility of a compromise with 

 regard to permanent equipment of flat and gon- 

 dola cars. In order to exhaust every means for 

 a peaceable settlement of the vexed question 

 this proposition was accepted by the executive 

 committee, and the proceedings before the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission were held in abey- 

 ance pending the result of the efforts at com- 

 promise. Since that time there have been two 

 conferences between the executive committee 

 and the representatives of the railroads, at each 

 of which this association was capably repre- 

 sented. Sub-committees were appointed' to con- 

 tinue the investigation with regard to the prac- 

 ticability of equipping flat and gondola cars 

 with permanent stakes, but nothing definite as 

 yet has been accomplished. While I am not 

 disposed to criticise the action that has already 

 been taken in the matter, I believe that, unless 

 some substantial assurances of good faith are 

 submitted by the railroad companies as to their 

 actual intention, the compromise conferences 

 should be discontinued and the case be resumed 

 before the Interstate Commerce Commission. If 

 relief is to be obtained, the sooner it is secured 

 the greater the saving to the lumber interests, 

 and if it transpire that the compromise confer- 

 ences are but a dilatory measure to postpone the 

 day when that relief is to come, then the shorter 

 the period of procrastination the better for the 

 lumbermen. 



If the issue of this car stake and equipment 

 case results in a complete victory for the lum- 

 bermen, as I believe it eventually will, a valu- 

 able precedent will have been established as to 

 what can be accomplished by the lumbermen of 

 the country when they act in unison upon a 

 given proposition, and this precedent should not 

 be forgotten when the necessity arises for simi- 

 lar action in seeking to improve other conditions 

 in the trade. 



In October I attended the rate regulation 

 meeting held in Chicago as a self-appointed del- 

 egate of this association. For reasons that ap- 

 peared good and sufficient to me at the time — 

 and the soundness of which I have not had 

 occasion to doubt since — I allied myself with the 

 gathering held in the Studebaker theater. I 



have never been able to determine with any 

 degree of accuracy just what portion of this 

 membership I represented, as I am aware that 

 some of our members attended or have since 

 supported the action of the meeting held in 

 Steinway Hall. Neither am I disposed at this 

 time to argue the merits of the cause espoused 

 at either meeting. I have never regarded the 

 split that occurred upon the occasion referred 

 to as an unmixed evil. If in this country we 

 were all to take one side of a question the 

 ship of state might list violently, either to port 

 or starboard. But when divergent views are 

 held by nearly an equal number of the people 

 on each side, the final decision generally results 

 in a middle course, in which each may find some 

 part of bis belief expressed, and such I believe 

 will be the final result of the rate regulation 

 harvest which is now being threshed out on the 

 floors of congress. 



It was my pleasure to represent this asso- 

 ciation at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin 

 Hardwood Lumbermen's Association, held in 

 ililwaukee. and of the Indiana Hardwood Lum- 

 bermen's Association, held in Indianapolis. The 

 National association was honored at each of 

 these meetings by the courtesy extended to Its 

 president b.v these state organizations, and b.y 

 the adoption of resolutions commending the work 

 now being performed by this association, each 

 pledging its support in carrying forward that 

 work to a successful issue. The local hardwood 

 lumber associations, exchanges and clubs the 

 country over may be properly regarded as con- 

 stituting efficient buttresses to the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association, and as such they 

 deserve the gratitude of this entire member- 

 ship. 



At the risk of becoming tedious, I have gone 

 into details regarding the affairs of this associ- 

 ation for the purpose of affording to the mem- 

 bers a comprehensive understanding of what is 

 being done within the ranks of the organization 

 to the support of which they are called on to 

 contribute. I doubt if any, other association is 

 covering a wider Held of effort with more satis- 

 factory results. I believe that this membership 

 fully appreciates what is being accomplished, 

 and so long as it shall he apparent that this 

 association is conducted in the interest of its 

 members and so long as each member is able 



E. F. DODGE, CHICAGO. DIRECTOR. 



to trace tangible results from his connection 

 therewith, just so long will this association 

 continue in the course of prosperity upon which 

 it is now so successfully launched. 



Whatever degree of success if any may have 

 attended my work during the past two years 

 has been largely due to the enthusiastic and 

 consistent support which I have received from 

 the membership, the directors and officers of this 

 association, and any attempt on my part to 

 publicly express my thanks for the quality of 

 that support would appear perfunctory in nature 

 and would fall far short of conveying a proper 

 idea of my full appreciation of the generous 

 treatment accorded to me by all. 



In conclusion I desire to recall the following 

 metaphor used by me In my brief inaugural 

 address at Cincinnati two years ago : "The 

 presidential pathway looks rosy enough from 

 my present point of view, yet I doubt not but 

 there be now and then a thorn among those 

 roses." 



The thorns were there according to prediction, 

 but the scars made by them have long since dis- 



appeared while the fragrance of the flowers 

 that bloomed by the wayside, the flowers of 

 trust, loyalty and friendship, will remain with 

 me until the shadows have grown long in the 

 evening of my life, and the day will not come 

 when I shall cease to be proud of the fact that 

 for two years I was permitted to wear the badge 

 of honor of the National Hardwood Lumber As- 

 sociation. Eakl Palmer, President. 



W. A. Bennett : Mr, President, I move that 

 a committee of three be appointed to consider 

 the suggestions and recommendations contained 

 in the president's report. 



J. W. Thompson : With the consent of the 

 original mover, I suggest that we put Tom 

 Moffett, W. H. Russe and Maurice M. Wall on 

 this committee. 



President Palmer : I would suggest that we 

 include the secretary's report and the report 

 of the treasurer in that motion. 



Mr. Bennett : I accept the amendment. 



Motion seconded and carried. 



President Palmer ; We will now hear the sec- 

 retary's report. 



Secretary's Report. 



Mr. President and Gentlemen — In the prepa- 

 ration of this report for the consideration of the 

 membership of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Association at this, the ninth annual meetins, 

 I have been handicapped in a degree by a lack 

 of knowledge of the history of the association 

 which I have the honor to represent as secre- 

 tary, as well as by ignorance of the precedents 

 that have been heretofore established as to the 

 proper subjects for discussion in the secretary's 

 report. 



However, I am encouraged to believe that the 

 profitable results following the efforts put forth 

 by the otficers and directors during the past year 

 will compare favorably with those of any pre- 

 ceding year in the history of the association. 

 That the ground covered by this report may not 

 transgress the limits accorded to the office which 

 I occupy, owing to the fact that I was not in- 

 stalled in the secretary's office until August 1, 

 any credit that may be due that office for what 

 has been accomplished within the year should 

 be shared in a large degree by my esteemed 

 predecessor, A. R. Vinnedge, to whom I owe a 

 debt of gratitude for many courtesies extended 

 and much assistance rendered during the first 

 months of my official career. 



I have also found in the president a wise 

 counselor upon all matters pertaining to the 

 work of the association, and there is perhaps 

 no one who understands as fully as I the amount 

 of time and attention devoted by him to the 

 interests of this organization. I have been 

 greatly inspired in my new field of labor by 

 tlie absolute sincerity of purpose and the per- 

 fect confidence In ultimate results entertained by 



J. WISTAR EVANS. PHILADELPHIA, DI- 

 RECTOR. 



all the officers, directors and members of this 

 association with whom I have come in contact 

 in the discharge of my duties. While I possess 

 no practical experience in the lumber trade, 

 it Is not diffleult for me to understand and ap- 

 preciate the benefits that will assuredly accrue 



