28 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Eighteenth Annual National Wholesale Lumber 



Dealers' Association 



Tlie opening session of the cigliteenth 

 annual of the National Wholesale Lumber 

 Dealers' Association, at the Hotel Sinton, 

 Cincinnati, on March 2, was well attended. 

 There was a total attendance of 330. 



This association has a membership of 

 390 in twenty-eight states and Canada, as 

 was announced in the program. This mem- 

 bership transacted a total volume of busi- 

 ness for the year 1909 of $298,500,000; the 

 total quantity of lumber handled being 

 14,290,000,000' feet, requiring 877,975 cars 

 for transportation, the balance of 7,798,- 

 250,000 feet being transported by water, 

 which gives a clear idea of the importance 

 of this organization. 



Previous to the regular busines? of the con- 

 vention. President George F. Craig of Phila- 

 delphia introduced several prominent men of- 

 Cincinnati who welcomed the association in 

 behalf of that city. Mayor Schwab, J. J. 

 Heekin of the Chamber of Commerce, and 

 Clifford S. Walker, president of the Lum- 

 bermen 's Club, enthusiastically welcomed the 

 attendants to Cincinnati. 



Following these speeches President Craig 

 called for the gencr:il rdl-call of members 



GEO. K. CR.VIi;, I'lIILADELPIIIA, RETIUI.Vli 

 I'KESIDBN'T 



and for the reading of the minutes of the 

 previous meeting. Both of these formalities 

 were dispensed with by vote of the associa- 

 tion, aud the president then proceeded with 

 his annual address, which was as follows; 



Address of President. 



It h.is been a custom which this .year it might 

 he well to honor in the breach, rather than in 

 the observance, for the president's report to 

 rfcord the condition of the past year's business 

 and to prophesy as to the future. 



The ye.ar 1GC9 did not measure up to the hopes 

 and e.-cpectations which were entertained for it, 

 and while in- volume of business it was fairly sat- 

 isfactory, as to conditions and prices it left 

 rauoli to l>e desired. Perhaps its most prominent 

 feature was irregularity, and while on several 

 occasions it showed signs of fulfilling its duty 

 of returning to something of the halcyon days 

 of lOO,! and 190G. it invariably lost confidence 

 and weakened at the crucial moment. A glance 

 at the report made by the president at the four- 

 teenth annual meeting would almost lead to the 

 belief that he was the victim of an Utopian 

 hallucination. 



For the coming year there is promise based 

 not so much, perhaps, on tangible fai-ts and 

 promises, as on general confidence, and, all said 



and done, is not this the real substructure of 

 business prosperity? 



With one feature of- the prosperity of 1906 we 

 ran well dispense, and the fact that we have not 

 had for two years to contend with a shortage in 

 car supply forms a silver lining to the cloud 

 which envelops the months which we hope are 

 now past. Guided by their former experience, 

 the railroads should be better able to cope with 

 the situation and prevent, in its most severe 

 phase at least, a repetition of conditions which 

 so seriously hampered all shippers of freight in 

 bulk. 



The government has apparently abandoned its 

 efforts to discover the trust microbe in the corpus 

 of the lumber industry, and has consoled itself 

 by levying a special tax on our pet practice of 

 incorporating under the laws of New Jersey or 

 Delaware. 



The tariff has been agitated and settled, and 

 while we may be able to hold the reduction of 

 tlfty cents responsible for a small part of un 

 satisfactory prices, it would recjuire more than 

 a rhiladelphia lawyer to saddle it with the full 

 burden of our woes. 



>.or is it probable that the doctrine, "From 

 the maker to the consumer," can Ite relied on ttt 

 solve the probkai of narrow margins in time of 

 business depression. Alluring as it appears in 

 theory, in practice it would ultimately work back 

 to the old question of supply and demand, and 

 in the final adjustment the manufacturer might 

 find difHculty in establishing his right to be 

 considered as the "maker" of the forest products. 



The work of the association has gone on with 

 satisfactory regularity, but without especial bril- 

 liancy, and on this line there is little to i-ecord 

 beyond the facts and figures set down in the very 

 able and ample reports of the chairmen of the 

 several committees. I can, liowever, sa.v a few 

 words which would not perhaps become the mod- 

 esty of the committees and officers to say for 

 themselves. 



Financially, we are closing the year with an 

 increased balance oyer the previous .year, due 

 partly to the fact that there have been no ex- 

 traordinary expenditures. The revenues have 

 been well maintained, and with some sligbt nec- 

 essary exceptions the ordinary expenses have not 

 increased. It might be well" for the association 

 to consider voting life tenure of office to the 

 present competent and genial guardian of the 

 exchequer, whose only glaring fault is his pre- 

 disposition to arrive late at all meetings. 



The Bureau of Information moves forward as 

 regularly as heretofore, preserving its high mark 

 of etlicienc.v, and is still the greatest source ol 

 direct and computable benefit to our members. 



It is only to be regretted that all of our mem- 

 bers do not appreciate its advantages, as there 

 is almost no other conceivable reason wh.v at 

 least ninety per cent of the total membership is 

 not included in the bureau. Indeed, a plan to 

 extend the privileges of the bureau to all mem- 

 bers of the association, by increasing the associa- 

 tion dues to cover this service to all, would seem 

 lar from unreasonable to those who have profited 

 liy the reports. 



The Collection Department is most gratifying 

 in results obtained as often by moral suasion 

 and the prestige of the association as by formal 

 legal action. Not infrequently its benefits are 

 conferred on the debtor as well as on the cred- 

 itor. 



The Transportation Bureau, from an experi- 

 ment, has become a necessity. Its advantages 

 are not to be computed in the ratio of its in- 

 come to its expenses, but by the unrecorded 

 value of the information and assistance %vhich 

 it furnishes free of charge to a large number of 

 our members who avail themselves of its expe- 

 rience and cooperation. The members who have 

 not consulted this bureau should make a point 

 of doing so at the first opportunity. 



The secretary and his assistants are to be 

 congratulated and commended for the success of 

 the detail work of these bureaus. 



'A'o arbitrate or not to arbitrate is a (luestion 

 which sometimes disturbs us, due to an inherent 

 iielief in our own infallibilit.v. But granted that 

 we are altogether right and the other side alto- 

 gether wrong, and aside from the advantages 

 gained in time and expense saved, is it not more 

 reasonable to expect an impartial and intelligent 

 vedict from a jury of our fellow members than 

 t!'om the average twelve men who sit in judgment 

 in our civil courts? Arbitration can O'rtainly 

 lay claim to modernness of method and the spirit 

 of fraternity. 



The benefits of the good work of the Fire In- 

 surance Committee are always with us and we 

 must not let familiarit.v beget lack of apprecia- 

 tion. It is only to be regretted that our co- 

 workers, the lumber insuring companies, have not 

 found some means of establishing rates based 

 on actual conditions and their own experience, 

 rather than on the arbitrary and often unjust 

 inspections of the o'd line companies. 



The report of the Marine Insurance Committee 

 will show an equal opportunity for economy and 

 cooperation in its branch of underwriting, and 

 those of us who are most directly interested in 

 the subject of coastwise risks unite in hoping 

 that some means may be devised for obtaining 

 on marine business the same benefits as accrue to 

 the holders of fire policies. 



There would seem to be a place also for mutual 

 underwriting in the line of emplo.vers' liability, 

 in view, perhaps, not so much of the high rates 

 charged as of the frequently unsatisfactory char- 

 acter of the indemnity secured. 



For the Special Membership Committee we 

 claim more than ordinary success in the face of 

 adverse circumstances, and we do no injustice 

 to the other members of that committee in par- 

 ticularly commending the tmtiring zeal and un- 

 flagging energy of the chairman, Gouvernenr E, 

 Smith. To have increased the roll since the last 

 annual meeting may not be appreciated by those 

 who have not participated in the effort, but it 

 draws from your president the earnest hope that 

 the incoming administration may be as fortunate 

 in the selection of the next committee. 



Forestr.v is progressing, not from the lumber- 

 man down to the theorist, but from the theorist 

 up to the lumberman. The fact that our mode 

 of procedure is not so much at fault as the lack 

 of public education and conditions warranting 

 recommended methods is more and more recog- 

 nized. Lumbering is our business ; all business 

 is for profit, and until trees can be planted and 

 matured at a profit through increase of stumpage 

 values and under legislation which does not tax 

 them i>ut of cxistcnci\ private enterprise will 



K. n. BAi'.cDCK, rrrTSBi'Ri;. first vice- 



I'KESIDENT 



not be attracted to this form of investment for 

 the benefit of future generations. 



In the matter of hardwood inspection, we have 

 stood firm in our resolutions to occupy a neutral 

 position, but prepai-ed to confer upon unanimous 

 request of the purely hardwood interest.s. and to 

 endorse any rules w-hich they may unite in 

 adopting for the uniform and universal grading 

 of their product. 



The code of ethics was revised at a meeting 

 of the American Lumber Trades Congress held 

 on June 8, 1909. Notwithstanding some criti- 

 cism, and perhaps justifiable criticism, it is 

 nevertheless the consensus of opinion of all 

 branches of the trade. Other organizations have 

 attempted to amend it or to formidate other 

 rules for the regulation of trade, but these fail 

 of their purpose in that they can never be more 

 than an expression of personal opinion or prefer- 

 ence. A true code must he generally accepted 

 and held to govern in the absence of other mu- 

 tual arrangements, and we could do not better 

 than to endorse the revised code, relying on the 

 wisdom of the majority for fiu-ther revision as 

 conditions demaud them or the change of general 

 opinion warrants them. 



The Legislative Committee, the Railroad and 

 Transportation Committee and the Special Con- 

 gressional Committee will each report fully in 

 its own department and I would commend their 

 reports to your- thoughtful consideration. 



