HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



A Code of Ethics 



Although published in the last issue of Hardwood Record it is 

 doubtful if sufficient emphasis was placed upon Section 5 of Article 1 

 of the constitution of the Cincinnati Lumbermen's Club, which was 

 unanimously adopted at its meeting on November 2. This clause 

 is as follows: 



The president shall, on receiving a request from any 

 responsible firm, corporation or individual, appoint a spe- 

 cial commission with power to act (composed of five 

 members of the club), three to be chosen by the presi- 

 dent and one each by each of the principals to the trans- 

 action, for the purpose of investigating the complaints 

 of buyers or sellers, foreign or domestic, In this market, 

 against any member of this club, or nonmember, of 

 unfair or unmercantile conduct, with the exception of 

 matters of inspection of hardwood lumber, which shall be 

 submitted to and finally decided by a regularly licensed 

 inspector of some recognized inspection bureau. 



It shall be the duty of this commission to investigate 

 such charge or charges, and it shall be empowered to call 

 on club members or the principals to a dispute for infor- 

 mation and evidence, and shall render a finding to the 

 executive board of the club: said finding to be trans- 

 mitted in writing to said principals, and a copy to be 

 retained by the club. 



It shall be expressly understood that in submitting a 

 case for arbitration to said special commission that 

 both the principals agree to accept the decision of the 

 special commission as final and binding. 



Any member refusing to abide by the decision of the 

 special commission, or who declines to submit his case 

 to said special commission, shall be subject to expulsion 

 from the club by a unanimous vote of the executive board. 



Any principal to a dispute, not a member of the club, 

 who refuses to abide by the decision of the special com- 

 mission, shall forfeit all right to again call on the 

 Lumbermen's club for arbitration. 



This section virtually establisiies a basis of fair dealing and 

 insures a square deal between every member of the Cincinnati 

 liumbermen 's Club (which includes practically the totality of the 

 Cincinnati hardwood manufacturing and jobbing trade) and the 

 people from whom they buy and to whom they sell. It is a logical 

 step toward the legitimate evolution of the hardwood trade, and the 

 Record wishes to particularly commend Cincinnati lumbermen for 

 taking the initiative in this important move. It is certain that Sec- 

 tion five of the constitution of the Cincinnati Lumbermen's Club 

 vpill go down in lumber history as one of the most important move- 

 ments ever forwarded by a lumber organization. 



ing to note that the market situation on the Pacific is fully 

 meeting expectations. 



In hardwoods business is picking up right along on the coast, 

 although competition is said to be keener than ever. There is not very 

 much building going on in San Francisco, but there is a healthy 

 .growth in all manufacturing and commercial fields, and the general 

 prosperity is naturally reflected in the hardwood business, and lum- 

 bermen are sanguine of the outlook for a continued and increasing 

 business. 



Imports and Exports of Forest Products 



The monthly summary of commerce and linauoe covering imports 

 and exports for September, 1909, shows that wood and manufactures 

 thereof to a total of $5,537,169 was imported during September this 

 year, as against a total of $3,940,122 for the same month in the 

 previous year. ■. 



The exports of domestic merchandise for the month of September, 

 1909, reached a total of $5,876,450, while the figures for the same 

 niontli of 1908 were $5,044,676 on exports of this class. Of exports 

 of foreign merchandise the total for September, 1909, was $130,635, 

 as against $140,078 for September, 1908. 



It is gratifying to note that there was a substantial increase in 

 .this year's figures over those of last year, except in the last item, 

 which, however, is really quite an unimportant phase of the business, 

 compared with the other two. 



The Lumber Situation on the Coast 



The fir manufacturers of the Pacific Coast feel assured that 

 the good business that has marked the past two months will be 

 continued throughout the fall in the local and rail shipping 

 fields, while cargo shippers are encouraged with a decided in- 

 crease in coastwise and foreign demand with corresponding ad- 

 vance in price. The prosperity of the coast is practically a 

 corollary of the prosperity in the hardwood field, and it is pleas 



Forestry in Germany 



The German l';ini>irr lias nearly 35,000,000 acres of forests, of 

 which 31.9 per cent belongs to the state. German forestry on 

 scientific lines has resulted in raising the average yield of wood 

 per acre from twenty cubic feet in 1830 to sixty-five cubic feet 

 in. 1904. Duriilg the same period it has trebled the proportion of 

 the saw timber s'ecured from the average cut. In fifty-four years 

 it increased the money returns from an average acre of forest 

 sevenfold, yet today the forests are in better condition than 

 ever before. .,..tr« ^ ("■^•i.', 



The experience" of Germany in conserving and perpetuating its 

 forests should be an object lesson to this country, which has dire 

 need of immediate and effective reforestry measures. 



More Good Morals 



In days gone by the embodiment of integrity in a member of 

 a community or an organization was the nice old gentleman wear- 

 ing gold-rimmed glasses, a slick stovepipe hat, spotless linen and 

 nicely blacked shoes, and having a reputation for punctuality both 

 in his business and social life. 



This paragon of integrity was a clean man, physically and 



morally. ^' ''<-^--.y^i ., 



What applies to an individual can well apply to an industry, 

 and undeniably at the present time there is a trend towards better 

 business morals in all lines of trade. There is a trend towards 

 cleanliness. 



You can not always say-.wjiat you think, but you can always 

 think what you say. 



In times gone by in the hardwood industry there were markets 

 that were generally held in disrepute. Shippers would say, "That 

 town is made up of a set of burglars." A community got this 

 reputation through transactions that were pulled off by the unre- 

 generate that threw a stench in the air that reached the sky, and 

 the strange thing about these transactions was that they were 

 never productive of permanent benefit to the men who indulged 

 in them. In all the history of the lumber trade there was never 

 a man who achieved a fortune by robbing his customer or his 

 country correspondent. This fact adds to the glory of the old 

 golden rule of doing business and has the added compensation of 

 pleasant recollections that surround the good name of every man 

 who has had a life-long reputation of doing business strictly on the 

 level. 



Several Pittsburg lumbermen have made an analysis of the poli- 

 cies that have accrued in that market during the last two years 

 and have found that, almost without exception, the element that 

 has gone to the wall has been addicted to the old and threadbare 

 practice of raising tallies on their shipments. 



It has therefore come about, without any united effort on the 

 part of Pittsburg dealers, that several " up-aud-up " lumbermen of 

 that city are now asking their shippers to endorse on original bills 

 of lading the number of feet contained in the car. This endorse- 

 ment reads, "This car contains feet." It is found that the 



railroads are willing to accept bills of lading thus endorsed and to 

 place the question of any shortage between the original shipper and 

 the consignee. 



It is a mighty good feature of trade morals and forms a sugges- 

 tion that it might be well for other intermediaries in the lumber 

 trade to adopt. 



