30 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



df-sires to quote delivered price on hi:^ lumber, 

 should be remedied. A large amount of money is 

 now involved in claims based on incorrect rates 

 quoted l>y freight agents, but against Mhose mis- 

 taices there is no redress under the present in- 

 terstate commerce laws. 



Trade Eelatioxs 

 The ability of scalpers, rogues and others to 

 obtain (|Uotations and get lumber shipped to 

 themselves or to those who are not considered to 

 bo within the class whose requirements entitle 

 them lo buy at wholesale, makes the problem of 

 Iradi.' relations as ditlicult as ever to solve, and 

 while for tiie past few years the recognized 

 trade has been quite satisfactoril.y detined, the 

 situation is not ideal, and greater cooperation is 

 needed. Our members have shown clearly their 

 desire to be fair to the retail customers, and 

 few complaints have been lodged, and I tim 

 pleased to observe the kindly feeling shown by 

 our retail associations and friends, but whom i, 

 at the same time, feel constrained to warn 

 against the apathy which may follow inactivity, 

 trades relations principles or lack of that reci- 

 procity w'bich binds us together as interested 

 Tradesmen. 



-V further word regarding forestry conservation 

 ■\n<i tile so-called lumber trust : As men. citizens 

 of the great Tnited States, and as lumbermen 

 particularly, engaged in the greatest interstate 

 business in the world, we must not sit by and 

 allow our dignity and honest position to be as- 

 sailed, as has been done during the past couple 

 and more years. Be serious in discussing the 

 lumber business with your friends and with rep- 

 resentatives of tlie press : make yourselves a spe- 

 cial local (ommittee. tell your local newspaper 

 editor the truth alK)Ut the lumber business, 

 growth of timber, logging, manufacturing and 

 marketing the product, the keen business fore- 

 sight needed to get the finished product to the 

 house builder at the minimum of expense. lyCt 

 him know that the competition is keen.,and that 

 competition keeps the cost down in the lumber 

 business just as does competition keep down the 

 cost of everything we use. This criticism and 

 ridicule of those engaged in the lumber business 

 has been fostered rather than refuted by us lum- 

 bermen not taking the right attitude against 



UXDEKllILL, I'lllLADKLrlll.V. 

 TRUSTEE 



that ordinary citizen who knows nothing of the 

 liusiness and its intricacies : in this way the out- 

 sider gets very wrong impressions. Lumbermen 

 should not be put on the defensive, the business 

 is as honorable and fair as any, and an ag- 

 gressive attitude in this direction would soon 

 change present unjust criticism and ridicule, 

 and forestall obnoxious laws because of the lack 

 of knowledge and interest. 



Canada Members 



Our members in Canada continue to avail 

 themselves of the member.ship privileges, and 

 each year this business seems to closer inter- 

 weave itself with that of the states, and we 

 have seen almost a reversal of conditions the past 

 few years, large quantities of certain kinds of 

 lumber being constantly shipped to Canada. 



In my opinion the as.sociation should endorse 

 the efforts of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture (Forest Service) in the effort to 

 prepare a practical record of wholesale prices of 

 lumber, based on actual sales f. o. b. each mar- 

 ket. The expense of compiling these prices can- 



not be heavy, and its uses are many and will be 

 a valuable record in later years. 



We have been strongly urged to take active 

 part in movements on foot regarding national 

 tariff commission, federal corporation tax, bulk 

 law proposition as fostered by the -National As- 

 sociation of Credit Men. Atlantic deep water 

 wa.vs congress, uniform inspection of lumber, 

 etc. All of these are having the attention of 

 the Board of Trustees and committees to whom 

 referred, and as found practical and in our line 

 will be brought to your attention for proper 

 action and support. 



Membership 



The Membership Committee has been active 

 this year in its solicitation of new members and 

 with very satisfactory results, especially in view 

 of general trade conditions. While our nearly 

 •iOO memlx>rs cover twenty-eight states and terri- 

 tories and Canada, quite a large percentage are 

 in the states east of the city of Cincinnati, and 

 we have made special effort to include these 

 middle west manufacturers and wholesalers and 

 have been reasonably successful in this respect, 

 and as the leveling up of freight rates and the 

 available timber lands leads the center of the 

 lumber industry further west and south, these 

 dealers and manufacturers will appreciate the 

 benelits of a closer alliance with others in the 

 same line, and the value of the accumulated ex- 

 perience and information now- within the asso- 

 ciation. l*ersonall.v I am agreeably surprised 

 and pleased that we have made such a splendid 

 gain this year. 



Figures are as follows: 



Association 



Members March 1, 1909 374 



Applications received since 50 



■J24 

 Withdrawals 32 



Alcmbership March 1, 1010 ;«I2 



BlEEAU 



Kubscriheis March 1. 1909 liOT 



New subscribers ^ -- 



229 



Uithdrawals 21 



Subscribers March 1, 1910 20.S 



Shifting our convention from Washington, 

 where we have met several years, to Cincinnati 

 this year has for the past couple of months given 

 us considerable added office work, and we hope 

 our members in this section will help us in our 

 meetings and will helj) us to plan for the great- 

 I'st good possible out of next year's work. 



(Jur association is well equipped to take up 

 lorcibly any work with individuals, clubs and 

 other associations which may he done on a 

 cooperative ba.^is, and as many of our members 

 .ire also memliers of other local organizatious, I 

 (rust you may alwa.vs keep this in mind, so that 

 I be opportunity for any good we may do with 

 present equipment may not be lost to us. The 

 held is large and organizations, though numerous, 

 with but few exceptions conflict very little with 

 ( ach other's operations. It is because of this 

 attitudi' on onr part that we have been able to 

 do what we have in the past. 



I am pleased to report that the association 

 ivork for tlie year has gone along smoothly and 

 I here are no disturbing features to be reported, 

 ;ind so far as I can observe the association is 

 brought up to this point all in good order. 



Uespect fully submitted, 



K. F. Perry, Secretary. 



The secretary's report was duly jias^eil 

 upon anil filed. 



A. L. Stone then reported for the Board 

 of Managers of the Bureau of Informa- 

 tiuu: 



Report of Board of Managers of Bureau of 

 Information 



The Board of Managers of the Bureau of In- 

 formation Is pleased to report that its work the 

 past year shows its continued growth in cfli- 

 I'iency and consequent value to the members of 

 the association. 



During the past twelve months claims amount- 

 ing to nearly a quarter of a million dollars have 

 been tiled for collection ; of these, a large per- 

 centage has been collected and returned by our 

 members. The earnings in fees amount to" some 

 $3,000, a slight gain over a year ago. The col- 

 lection of this large amount of money for our 

 members very forcibly emphasized not only its 

 capacity to handle slow or bad accounts, but 

 particularly that our members should use our 

 credit reports more, and gain therefrom the spe- 

 cial information which is always at their dis- 

 posal, thereby reducing their claims very ma- 

 terially. 



Those of our members who are guided by these 

 credit reports have learned their special value in 

 lietermining their lines of credit. They also 

 know with what special care they are compiled, 



to the end that justice in every instance shall 

 be rendered and signs of caution only pointed 

 out when, all the facts carefully weighed, deter- 

 mine them the part of prudence. 



Our members, generally, have given us of their 

 information in the making up of these reports 

 with great willingness and care to reflect the 

 facts in each instance, so that all of our sub- 

 scribers have learned that they can be depended 

 on and taken at their face value. 



Of the entire membership, 207 are subscribers 

 to the Bureau of Information and these have 

 access to our files of nearly thirty thousand re- 

 ports, which are revised from tinie to time and 

 are continually kept in a fresh condition. These 

 reports cover a very large territory, including 

 the middle West. 



The conditions during the past year have 

 again tested out our system, and it has been 

 amply demonstrated that the bureau is handling 

 its work in the most practical manner to give 

 tlie greatest value to its subscribers. 



In thanking them for their continued assist- 

 ance in the working out of these details, the 

 board wishes, particularly, to emphasize the fact 

 to the nonsubscribers in the association who do 

 not use the bureau, that they are losing the as- 

 sistance of one of the most valuable assets which 

 is at their command, for no reports obtainalile 

 can be compared with those of this association 

 in dependable information, in simple statement 

 of fact, unprejudiced by any misleading or un- 

 war rant I'd conclusions. 



It again urges all of our members to make use 

 of the bureau and get all the good obtainable 

 from this source, 



A. L. Stone, Chairman. 



The chair next introduced George H. Holt 

 of Chicago, chairman of the Central Commit- 

 tee on Fire Insurance Supervision, who talked 

 on fire insurance supervision. Excerpts from 

 his remarks follow : 



.1. V. si'iMsox. iirNTixcr.riti;, TursTEK 



Mr, Holt's Talk on Tire Insurance Inspection 



Gentlemen, the position of chairman of the 

 central committee (so called) on Are insurance 

 supervision came lo me at the request of a num- 

 ber of the local representatives with headquar- 

 ters in Chicago and a number of different na- 

 tional organizations of trades of different kinds. 



We are convinced that the present system of 

 fire insurance regulation operates as a gross in- 

 justice to and a handicap upon all commerce 

 and industry, not only in Illinois but through- 

 out the United States." Even though the lumber 

 business itself, for example, is not concerned 

 directly with foreign commerce, it cannot pros- 

 I>er as it ought if industr.y as a whole is han- 

 dicapped by charges and expenses from which its 

 competitors in other countries are free. The 

 figures with which we are dealing are of enor- 

 mous size and of almost inconceivable value. 

 The amount of money taken out of industry and 

 commerce in the way of insurance premiums 

 amounts to $4.000.000.'000, which will be diverted 

 from commerce into insurance premiums in the 

 course of the next ten years unless something 

 is done to change the situation. 



Our competitors abroad get their insurance for 

 one-tenth of our cost. If we sijend ,'5300.000,000 

 a vear thev spend $30,000,000, a handicap in 

 their favor of .f 270,000,000 ; or, taking the 10- 



