20 



HARDIWOOD RECORD 



out the whole plan In detail lor our best inter- 

 ests. We must not expect to perfect this matter 

 all at once, but as weeks and mouths go by 

 after we have started, necessity will show us 

 what is needed to develop our lumber interests 

 and add the necessary details to perfect our 

 organization. 



I understand that the Hardwood Manufac- 

 turers' Association o£ the United States have 

 been very successful in their plans, and I also 

 understand thev are willing to allow us to 

 profit by their years of hard labor, expense and 

 untiring energy, and to turn over to us any 

 of the knowledge that will help us, as manu- 

 facturers of the South should be helpful to the 

 manufacturers of Michigan. It seems nearly 

 impossible now to go single handed aud accom- 

 plish the desired results which are expected 

 from the lumber business, and which can be 

 gotten if we work and pull together. 



I am ready now to take hold of this matter 

 and work with the manufacturers if we can 

 outline a policy that will be beneficial and 

 helpful to promote the welfare of the lumber 

 industry of .Michigan and brother manufacturers 

 of the United States. 



I would advise organizing a strictly Michigan 

 association for the present until we get all the 

 desired details worked out and see whether we 

 want to athliate with the Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation later on, and in the meantime work in 

 harmony with them. 



It does me good to see some of foe memtiers 

 of the Hardwood Manufacturers' Association 

 here todav. with whom I have worked for some 

 years. One man here is very well posted in 

 their work, and will be able to tell you what the 

 association has done for its members. I refer to 

 R. H. Vansant of Ashland. Ky., who will please 

 favor us with a talk. 



R. H. 'Vansant Addresses Meeting. 

 Mr. Vansant : I am not accustomed to mak- 

 ing public addresses, and I liave made no prepa- 

 ration for this one. However, in 1!)0^ the 

 manufacturers of the South and Southwest 

 found the condition of their business very 

 deplorable. Hardly any two manufacturers did 

 business in the same manner. Some of the 

 manufacturers of poplar lumber early in the 

 year 1902 called a meeting at Lexington, and 

 there was organized a Poplar Manufacturers' 

 Association. Some time later a further meeting 

 was held at St. Louis and the Hardwood Manu- 

 facturers' Association of the United States was 

 organized. This was and is strictly a manufac- 

 turers' association. No others are permitted to 

 have membership in it. We do not mean that 

 those who are not members are not legitimate 

 dealers in lumber, but we have always thought 

 that the progressive manufacturers — especially 

 of Michigan — know best what the log will pro- 

 duce and what the consuming trade demands in 

 the way of grades. 



In the year 19<i2 we had 46 members, with 4<i 

 mills and' an output of L'oii.niKi feet; 1903. loo 

 members, 17.5 mills, .-,(i(i.(i(in.iiiiii feet; 1904. ISO 

 members. 250 mills, 9.'.".oii(i,iiii0 feet; 190"). 17.5 

 members, .32.5 mills. l,l.-)0,uu().(inO feet; Jan. 1. 

 1906, 210 members, 400 mills, 1,200,000,000 

 feet • .Inly 1, 190G, 240 members, 4.50 mills. 

 l.SoO.OOO.bOO feet. 



I am getting these statistics from the secre- 

 tary's report. There has been a steady increase 

 in "membership and production, aud this year 

 more rapidly than ever before. The basis and 

 aims of the" association are to give everyone a 

 fair deal, and to educate the manufacturer who 

 is not up to date. We have been much annoyed 

 by what we call inexperienced or smaller mill 

 nien. In the Southwest there are a larger num- 

 ber of small mills than in any other section. 

 Getting these men into line has incurred con- 

 siderable expense. Today, however, our associa- 

 tion is in a more flourishing condition than ever 

 before. Our methods are familiar to some or 

 you, and any details can be readily given by the 

 secretary, w'ho is present, and we invite you to 

 go into our Chicago offices and see how the 

 business is conducted, and see our list of mem- 

 bership, methods of disseminating information, 

 etc. 



We have found it absolutely necessary that 

 one manufacturer assist the other manufacturer. 

 We do not believe that any one m_aii can start 

 out and reach the highest point cf excellence 

 in the manufacture of lumber without assist- 

 ance from outside parties. One man cannot 

 study out all the details of a business ; at least 

 he will become an old man before he gets to 

 that point of excellence. 



Our association has proven very profitable to 

 the manufacturers. We have done this by 

 keeping the market price before all our manu- 

 facturers. 



The secretary's office keeps in touch with the 

 consuming trad"e and with the manufacturer. If 

 there is too much of one thickness being manu- 

 factured, he tries to post our members so as not 

 to have an over-production in any one item or 

 thickness. We also have a method of reporting 

 on grades, and a svstem whicli shows bow those 

 who buy lumber treat the shipper. This is 

 reported only to members. For instance, all 

 manufacturers are asked for a report on a 

 certain buyer, and the reports that come in are 



distributed back to all the members. A great 

 many details regarding our methods it Is Im- 

 possible to go into. 



We are very glad to meet with you and would 

 be very glad to "receive every one of you as mem- 

 bers o"f our association, I feel that we could 

 be of as much advantage to you as you would 

 be to us. Our rules are formed by those who 

 manufacture different classes of wood. We ba.ve 

 not had any members who manufacture maple 

 as vet a wood which belongs exclusively to the 

 \orth When it comes to adopting rules on a 

 certain wood, no one is entitled to have a voice 

 except those who manufacture that wood. \\ e 

 do not think you as maple manufacturers would 

 adopt a set of rules not suitable to cover re- 

 ouirements of the consumers. We have con- 

 Hdence that you would not take such a step as 

 that. I'ou "would get together and discuss 

 market conditions and your own views. Tlie 

 poplar men would have nothing to say about 

 maple whatever. All the business of the country 

 is studied verv thoroughly through the secre- 

 tary's office, as we will show you if you will 

 come to Chicago. 



I am glad to meet you gentlemen, and to tell 

 vou that the average increase in value of our 

 "lumber since our association was formed is 

 about $7.50 a thousand. Some kinds of lumber 

 have advanced more than that, and of course 

 this has been extremely advantageous to all 

 manufacturers of hardwoods. We shall he very 

 glad to meet vou at any time, and if you unite 

 with us. to hold our annual meetings in a sec- 

 tion which will be convenient to you. But 



UIjrCE ODELL, ('AMILLAC. ACTING SEC'i' 

 MICHIGAN HARDWOOD .MFRS. ASSN. 



whether you become affiliated with us or not, we 

 tire always glad to be with yen as fellow 

 lumbermen. You are most welcome to the 

 benefit of our experience, and we heartily invite 

 vou to become members of the Hardwood Manii- 

 ■facturers' Association of the United States it 

 your consideration deems fit. Gentlemen, I 

 thank you. 



Mr. White: We would be glad lo hear from 

 the secretary, Lewis Doster. 



Lewis Doster Talks. 

 Mr Doster; After Mr. Vansaut's compre- 

 hensive talk I can hardly explain anything but 

 the intricate parts of association work which I 

 have studied verv carefully in the last five 

 years. We organized in 1902 and to forego the 

 trouble which 'Mr. White brought out so plainly 

 in bis address — that the principal work of an 

 association in adopting systems is to study the 

 conditions and operations of other successful 

 associations — it became necessary on organ- 

 iziu" to study the successful work of other 

 associations, aiid. looking over others resulted in 

 our adopting the association system which pre- 

 vailed among manufacturers of white and yellow 

 pine. These people operated in white pine feu- 

 twenty years successfully, and we found the 

 yellow pine people had been adopting their rules 

 and regulations with success and so we natu- 

 rally adopted their methods. Since then the 

 cvpiess association has been formed and has 

 adopted similar svstem. and later some of the 

 west coast manufacturers did the same. So out- 

 work is in line with other associations and 

 adopted by evei-v producing element. I bad the 

 honor to "be under the tutelage of Mr. George 

 K. Smith, secretarv of the Yellow Pine and of 

 the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association. 

 After we formed our plans of association work. 



it naturally became our aim to get on a firm 

 basis ■ to have a full understanding that all 

 manufacturers should consult with each other ; 

 to formulate rules for their protection ; to pro- 

 cure full information ; to carry on statistical 

 work, and to promulgate other ideas that would 

 be of benefit to every member of the association. 

 After we formed these plans we got up to 

 methods of grading. We discovered that the 

 manufacturers who formed this association were 

 intelligent ; they had been sawing and marketing 

 lumber for years, and they were perfectly 

 familiar with" what the trade wanted. The 

 trading rules which we formed for southern 

 hardwoods were adopted on the line of what the 

 consuming market wanted. After making rules, 

 which was a long and hard matter to accom- 

 plish, we published over 50,000 copies of them, 

 for it was our intention to place them in the 

 hands of the consumer as well as of the manu- 

 facturer, so that both could understand what 

 the one was making and what the other was 

 buying. We found it was necessary to establish 

 a "system whereby every manufacturer could 

 mak"e a uniform grade, for unless we had this 

 we found that we could not maintain a uniform 

 market. This resulted in plans for educational 

 work We found a great deal of trouble with the 

 market because of lack of uniform manufacture 

 and grading, and our work was to employ inspec- 

 tors and place them at different mills to educate 

 the local inspectors aud manufacturers up to a 

 uniform system. This was successfully done, 

 although bv -hard work. We increased this 

 corps of inspectors and had them travel about 

 from place to place. They are men above the 

 average in intelligence. This department is the 

 most expensive, but the most vital one of our 

 work The men we hire we get with the idea 

 that they will always carry out a square deal, 

 and wherever thev have been they invariably 

 have left the impression that they have acted 

 fair with both buver and seller. Our inspection 

 force often travels about the mills to educate 

 the inspectors employed there. We move them 

 from one market to another, believing that an 

 inspector is only an average man and that 

 influence might possibly be brought to bear 

 which would lead him astray. So we endeavor 

 to keep them going from one place to another. 



Unjust complaints are often made, so that we 

 finally caused a system to be inaugurated which 

 slioukl give members full information regarding 

 who made complaints and who did not make 

 them— legallv or illegally. A great many times 

 after lumber had been consumed a man was still 

 making complaints about it. We found many 

 cases where thev refused to pay for the lumber, 

 (lur members, as a result of our now compre- 

 hensive system of information, have caused Duu 

 and Kradstreet to be put on the lower shelf, 

 and use our files for the purpose of getting the 

 exact status of a man. We do not delve into 

 financial standing because we have discovered 

 that some of the best-rated institutions are the 

 hardest to please. We give to members of the 

 association an insight into mcu-ai conditions 

 which are of more importance for them to know 

 than mere financial standing, and which no 

 credit bureau ever gives. We have compiled a 

 .system whereby anv member of the association 

 c"an ask the standing of a bu.ver and a thorough 

 canvass is made of the membership for inform.a- 

 tion about him. All replies are compiled and 

 the result represents actual business experience. 

 These reports are sent only to members, but are 

 sent to all members, whether asked for or not, 

 whicli makes excellent future reference. 



Our organization has a vice president repre- 

 senting every state, with a number of directors 

 elected from each la proportion lo the output 

 of the state. The vice president is chairman 

 for his state, and the directors are elected 

 ."eographicallv. to form a state organization. 

 WTien committees are appointed on the different 

 woods thev also are represented in different 

 states ; thus with the vice president, and two or 

 three directors, who are members of different 

 committees, anv legislation which may be neces- 

 sary for that Tocality can readily be obtained. 



Our organization is carried on so that the 

 business of everv state in the hardwood pro- 

 tiucing section is" controlled through the secre- 

 tary's office, which is the hub. We found that 

 in "the South we had a great many competitive 

 woods of about the same value. We found a 

 difference of $20 a thousand feet in some in- 

 stances, as our figures published in the last Issue 

 of the II.\RDWnoD Kecohd will show. We have 

 made a specialtv of compiling and distributing 

 statistics, with verv beneficial results. «e find 

 a o-reat mauv firms are able to obtain more 

 money for their output than other concerns, and 

 it is our idea to establish so just a basis of 

 values that all can get it. Our target is the 

 highest possible price that is reasonable and we 

 want to educate the poor marksmen how to 

 shoot. 



We have our offices in Chicago, close to you. 

 We have a systematic manner of carrying on 

 our work, and" the offices are open to all manu- 

 facturers. I certainly would be delighted to 

 have anyone visiting Cliicago at any time come 

 in and s"ee how our work is carrleG on. I might 

 add something Mr. Vansant referred to— that in 

 the development of our grading rules we have 



