32 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



problem Is. Every acre of land is to be devoted 

 to forests or pastures or farms, whichever I 

 thinlc best, and here, in the neighborhood of 

 Memphis, wnere tlie trees develop very quiclcly 

 on fine agricultural land, it is not so difficult : 

 but there the chances are that second growth 

 will not be profitable. In my Appalachian 

 range, it seems to me. the national government 

 should take steps to make forestry financially 

 profitable, and above all. to protect it and save 

 it from fire, and protect it against the county 

 commissioners. [Applause.] 



Mr. Sondheimer : Mr. Chairman, I got in 

 late. I wish the gentleman would repeat his 

 remarks. 



Dr. Schenck : Complying with your reqeust, I 

 beg to say [Laughter and applause.] 



Mr. Sondheimer : I withdraw my motion. 



President Palmer : I think we are all verv 

 grateful to Dr. Schenck for his remarks on 

 forestry, and the only thing I regret is he has 

 not told us what to do yet. except, possibly to 

 kill off the county commissioners. [Laughter.] 

 Is tuere any further new business before the 

 meeting? 



J. V. Stimson : I have a resolution I wish 

 to offer, as follows : 



Resolved, That it shall be unlawful and with- 

 out authority for any licensed National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association Inspector, while in 

 the employ of any firm or member of the asso- 

 ciation, to receive and inspect lumber for such 

 employer, and issue certificate therefor, and 

 any certificate issued in violation of this reso- 

 lution shall be void. 



Mr. Sondheimer : If you had waited a mo- 

 ment I would have cut that out. I was going 

 to say nobody seconded that motion, from the 

 fact that it is absolutely impracticable. If the 

 gentleman lived in Memphis or smaller centers 

 he would find that it is absolutely necessary 

 for the employer of the National inspector to 

 ask his services from the fact that he is the 

 only man there. It makes very little difference 

 whether that man does the inspection or a man 

 whom he may deputize, from the fact that they 

 are under bond and supposed to be competent 

 men. appointed by the surveyor-general, and I 

 think that is a refiection on the surveyor-gen- 

 eral's integrity, and certainly a reflection on 

 the National inspectors. I consider this entirely 

 out of order. 



President Palmer: No motion was made and 

 this is out of order. 



Mr. Stimson : I move its adoption. 



A second reading of the resolution was called 

 (or. 



Mr. Stimson : I would like to make a state- 

 ment before I read the resolution. There is 

 one thing we desire above everything else, and 

 that is harmony and unity of action, and that 

 the administration of the inspection rules be 

 placed on a plane above reproach and criticism, 

 and that we avoid all places of stumbling as 

 nearly as we can, and that we avoid all oppor- 

 tunities for criticism as nearly as we can. It 

 seems there are or have been instances where 

 lumber was sold on National inspection, and a 

 licensed inspector in the regular employ of the 

 purchaser of the lumber, who received and in- 

 spected the lumber at the assembling point for 

 the purchaser and for his employer, has left op- 

 portunity for criticism. It seems to me that 

 that can be avoided in a degree by placing that 

 matter absolutely in the hands of the surveyor- 

 general, and that the surveyor-general may be 

 called upon to place an inspector who cannot be 

 considered as partial to his employer, to inspect 

 this lumber, and thereby protect both parties, 

 and avoid criticism. It has occurred where lum- 

 ber was inspected by the regular inspector in 

 the regular employ of the purchaser and me 

 lumber taken right on and mixed, losing its 

 Identity, that the seller of the lumber criticised 

 the action, finding the surveyor-general had no 

 opportunity to get on this lumber and verify 

 the final inspection. 



Mr. Stimson again read the resolution. 



Mr. Sondheimer : Mr, Stimson doesn't under- 

 stand the rule. He doesn't know what he is 

 talking about. He says the lumber was re- 

 ceived and its identity lost before the seller had 

 an opportunity to have it reinspected and the 

 matter placed before the surveyor-general. You 

 have a rule governing that. The licensed in- 

 spector's inspection is not final. You under- 

 stand that if you know anything about the 

 proposition. You have a perfect right, if you 

 are a seller, to have the car reinspected, and 

 if the lumber was not inspected properly, orig- 

 inally, the man is responsible under his bond, 

 and if the man makes it impossible to have a 

 reinspection. you have a remedy against him. 



Mr. McMillan : I feel a good deal like my 

 friend Sondheimer. 



Mr. Sondheimer : That is the first time you 

 ever agreed with me in your life. 



Mr. McMillan : That is the first time you 

 ever were right, [Laughter,] 



Mr, Sondheimer : I request a privilege. 



Mr. McMillan : I have the floor. Sir. Chair- 

 man, and I claim protection. 



President Palmer : Mr, McMillan, 



Mr, McMillan ; There is danger in employ- 

 ing any of our personal or firm inspectors to 

 inspect lumber for anybody, I know of cases 

 in Minneapolis where the inspector was employed 

 by an entirely different corporation from the 

 two corporations interested and that man went 

 on the pile and ripped the seller up the back, 

 for the simple reason that his firm always 

 shipped better grades, and he demonstrated it 

 at the shipper's expense. Am I right, Minne- 

 apolis? Certainly, I am. As Mr. Sondheimer 

 says, we have protection and that is the pro- 

 tection we all have, and therefore I move that 

 we lay the motion on the table. 



Motion seconded. 



D. F. Clark : I move that it be referred to 

 the Executive Committee. 



President Palmer ; The motion to lay on toe 

 table takes precedence. 



The motion w*as not carried, 



Mr, Pritcbard : Now I second the motion to 

 refer it to the Executive Committee, 



The motion to refer to the Executive Commit- 

 tee w'as carried, 



Gardner I, Jones: Inasmuch as we must give 

 this hall up at three o'clock, I move that we 

 proceed to the election of officers, 



Mr, McMillan : I do not think it is wise to 

 proceed at the present time to elect officers, 

 when the election was set for a later hour. 



President Palmer : You gentlemen have a 

 right to say when you want to vote, but if 

 there are some men out at the mills or some- 

 where el.se. you have no right to deprive them 

 of their vote by changing the time of the elec- 

 tion. The chair is going on record as saying 

 that this thing is going off on the square. 



The motion, not receiving a second, was unani- 

 mously voted down. 



President Palmer : Mr. Barksdale will tell 

 you where this election is going to take place. 



Mr. Barksdale : In order that the hotel pro- 

 prietors can use this room for the accommodation 

 of their patrons, while arranging the dining 

 hall for the banquet, we will meet in the billiard 

 hall, across the alley, this afternoon. 



President Palmer : If there is nothing 

 further, a motion to adjourn will be in order. 



On motion the meeting adjourned, until two 

 p. m. 



FBIDAT AFTEBNOOJT SESSION. 



Call to order. 



President Palmer : The Conference Commit- 

 tee appointed to confer with the Exporters' 

 Association that was authorized by the meeting 

 this morning will consist of the following : W. 

 A. Bennett, Alex. Lendrum, R. J. Darnell. 



The Auditing Committee that we were wait- 

 ing on this morning is unable to submit a re- 

 port. The books of the treasurer are In Buffalo 

 and the books of the secretary are in Indian- 

 apolis. For that reason the committee was 



unable to do any auditing. The committee 

 delayed, hoping they might be able to bring 

 in a suitable report, but their idea was that 

 a plain statement of facts would suit the asso- 

 ciation better than anything else. Without doubt 

 the Executive Committee will use its judgment 

 in having these accounts audited. There has 

 never been any expensive grafting on the part 

 of the officers of this association, and for that 

 reason there is no great apprehension felt over 

 the condition of the treasury. It is only fair 

 to state that the amount shown in the treas- 

 urer's report is short by ?500, but not on ac- 

 count of the fact that anybody has misappro- 

 priated the money. That money was sent to 

 Mr. Knight, chairman of the Inspection Bureau 

 Committee, at Indianapolis, and it has been 

 held there by him to pay any contingent ex- 

 penses that might come up. The fund is at 

 Indianapolis intact, and should properly be 

 added to the balance shown by the treasurer as 

 funds now in the possession of the association. 



I desire to call your attention to that relief 

 question. We have a great many pledges that 

 were made yesterday morning at the opening 

 meeting that have not yet been redeemed. We 

 can onl.v send the amount that we have in 

 hand. We do not intend to make a book on 

 the relief question, and therefore we trust every 

 gentleman who has signed for any amount will 

 meet the secretary and discharge his obligation. 

 In addition to that, any liberal gentlemen in 

 the crowd who have .$10. %1'< or $20 to give to 

 the San Francisco sufferers in order to swell 

 the donation to a sum that is creditable to an 

 association of this kind will kindly do so, and 

 it will be cheerfully received. 



Now. have we any new business to come up 

 before this meeting before we proceed to elec- 

 tion? 



No new business being submitted for the at- 

 tention of the meeting, the election of officers 

 was next in order. 



President Palmer : According to the rule sub- 

 mitted by the Committee on Credentials and 

 Rules and approved by the association, it is 

 necessary for the secretary to call a complete 

 roll of the membership of this association. Since 

 the meeting of the Executive Committee yester- 

 day to approve applications for membership in 

 the association, the secretary has received six 

 other applications. He will read the names of 

 the applicants in order that they may enjoy the 

 privilege of participating in this election, if 

 there is no objection on the part of the mem- 

 bers. If there is no objection to the applicants, 

 it will be understood that they be accepted as 

 members and will be placed upon the roll and 

 included in the roll call. 



The secretary then read the following appli- 

 cations : J. B. Ferguson. Memphis. Tenn. ; In- 

 ternational Harvester Company, Chicago, III. ; 

 J. W, Wheeler & Co,, Madison, Ark, ; G. H. 

 Palmer, Sheridan, Ind, : E, W. Leech, Detroit, 

 Mich, ; George H, Styan, Bobo. Miss. 



Upon motion, duly seconded and carried, the 

 applications of the foregoing applicants for 

 membership w^ere favorably received and said 

 applicants were declared duly elected to mem- 

 bership iu the association. 



Election of President. 



President Palmer : The office of president is 

 the first one to be filled. Nominations for 

 president of the association are now in order. 



S. B. Anderson : Mr. President and Gentle- 

 men, allow me to present the name of a candi- 

 date for president of this association. I think 

 we are offering the best man in the association 

 for this position. You all know Mr. Russe. 

 We especially know him. He is known through- 

 out the trade of the country, but not as we 

 know him here. We know him for his courage, 

 his perseverance, his tact, his all-around qual- 

 ities and his good fellowship. He is an ideal 

 candidate for this position. Not only has he 

 the personal qualities of the other applicants 

 for this position, but we refer to his experi- 



