HARDWOOD RECORD 



ades as silk, or shoddy is mixed witli the longer staples in the pro- 

 duction of yarn, it is absurd to supiiose that the experionpcd manu- 

 facturers -who buy the stuff do not hnow all about it. Similarly the 

 .shoe and harness manufacturers knew what leathers are weighted 

 and what are pure, lu most instances the manufacturers and- whole- 

 salers are conscious of what is done. Even the general public — 

 the innocent consumer — is not entirely deceived. Where competi- 

 tion ( xists adulteration results in lower prices all along the line. 



It may be that occasionally there is a "price buyer" of hardwopd 

 lumber who does not know that when he buys a grade of firsts and 

 seconds oak at five dollars a thousand less than the current market 

 price he is not receiving a straight grade, but the majority of them 

 seem to be satisfied with doing business on these lines, and positively 

 know that when they make purchases in this way they are receiving a 

 percentage of the lower grade mixed with the higher one that the 

 order calls for. 



It is interesting to note the iirotestations that many whole- 

 sale consumers of hardwoods make regarding the use of lower grades 

 shii)ped in higher ones, and as a rule the practice is condemned, but 

 the very same protesters continue 



to demand straight grades at the 



price they pay for ' ' salted ' ' ones. 



Stringent laws against adultera- 

 tion and the substitution of inferi- 

 or for superior grades would be wel- 

 comed by many fifms who are now 

 compelled by the stress of competi- 

 tion to resort to practices which 

 are repugnant to tlieir sense of 

 commercial honor. There can be 

 no reform, however, that does not 

 take into consideration the respon- 

 sibility resting alike upon the man- 

 ufacturers and consumers of de- 

 based and adulterated goods, and 

 the absolute necessity of rearrang- 

 ing prices to agree with a new 

 standard of quality. 



The Freight Rate Battle 



The opening of tlie Interstate 

 Commerce Commission rate hear- 

 ing in Chicago, August 22, will be 

 the beginning of one of the great- 

 est commercial battles in history, 

 according to local indications. Un- 

 der the terms of the recently 

 amended Hepburn act, the rail- 

 roads are going to try to convince 

 the commission that they are poor, 

 struggling corporations, which can- 

 not long survive unless allowed a 

 general and marked advance in 

 freight rates. 



Opposing them will be an army 

 of shippers and shippers ' organi- 

 zations, contending that the rail- 

 roads are bursting with ill-gotten 

 gains and that the rate raise de- 

 manded is only another scheme for 

 looting the public. 



Letters to the president advocating a rate increase submit these 

 arguments: 



Increase in the cost of living; increased wages and cost of equip- 

 ment warrant increased rates. 



The agitation over railroad demands is hurting business and should 

 be ended by giving the roads what they want. 



The arguments enunciated by tlie protesting corporations are: 



The railroads have been wallowing in profits for two decades and 



POINTERS ON PUBLICITY 



STOPPING an ad to save money is like stopping a 

 clock to save lime. 



The time to advertise is all the time. The man who 

 fishes longest has the largest basket of fish. 



Advertising is an insurance policy against forgetfull- 

 ness. It compels people to think of you. 



The unprofitableness of advestising is not in doing 

 too much of it — it is in not doing it correctly. 



Like eating, advertismg should be continuous. When 

 to-day's breakfast will answer for tomorrow's you can 

 advertise on the same principle. 



If advertising is not a profitable investment WHY 

 do so many successful houses in all lines of trade keep 

 continuously at it? Are THEY in error or are YOU? 



Advertising does three things — informs the public 

 WHO you are — WHERE you are, and what you have 

 to SELL, thus strengthening your correspondence and 

 backing your salesmen. 



Advertising is the silent drummer that tells the 

 public what the business man wants it to know about the 

 goods he has for sale. 



No one lies awake thinking of your business; out of 

 print, out of mind. The Presidential candidates are well 

 advertised every four years. Ask your neighbor who ran 

 with Bryan the last time — five out of ten will say they 

 have forgotten and the other five will think long before 

 they correctly answer. — Carriage and Wagon Bnildcr. 



their increase in earnings more than offsets any increase in expenses. 



A rate advance is needed by the roads in order to support divi- 

 dends on an ocean of watered stock, and any general increase allowed 

 will he likely to prcvipitate another stock watering panic of the 1907 

 Ijrainl. 



The railroads should be compelled to open their books and prove 

 that they need the money. 



The alleged increase in expenses is largely due to grafting conces- 

 sions to officials within the mauagemeut of the railroad corporations. 



The Chicago hearing will be supplemented by a general hearing 

 to be held in Washington in September, which will be given over to 

 a greater extent to the shippers. The railroads are believed to have 

 every line of defense well worked out and it is expected that their 

 evidence will not delay matters at the hearing. 



The examiners of the commission figure that the rate advance 

 proposed is about twenty per cent on first class and about ten per 

 cent on sixth class, which would make an average advance of about 

 sixteen per cent. 



The commission is expected to act in one of three ways in the 



case: either to permit the roads 

 to have the sixteen per cent ad- 

 vance; none -at all, or to permit 

 them to have a smaller advance. 



To Fight Express Rates 



What are declared to be unrea- 

 sonable and extortionate rates and' 

 practices of the express companies 

 are now under fire in every sec- 

 tion of the United States. 



On top of several investigations 

 and orders reducing rates made in 

 recent months by the railroad com- 

 missions of over a dozen individual 

 states a petition has been filed with 

 the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion asking that body to make a 

 general investigation covering the 

 rates, rules, regulations, classifica- 

 tions and practices of all express 

 companies engaged in interstate 

 commerce. The petition noted 

 is in behalf of one hundred and 

 twenty commercial organizations 

 representing nearly every state in 

 the Union. 



Counsel for the associations have 

 already gathered valuable informa- 

 tion regarding the rates and finan- 

 cial conditions of the companies 

 which will be placed at the dis- 

 posal of the commission. A con- 

 siderable fund has been raised to 

 carry on the campaign. 



The specific complaints made are: 

 That competition between the 

 express companies has been elim- 

 inated by exclusive contracts with 

 the railroads; 



That the rates are from two and 

 one-half to four times the amount 

 of the first-class freight rates charged by the railroads; 



That contracts giving the railroads approximately fifty per cent 

 of the gross earnings afford the railroads an excessive rate above the 

 first-class freight charges; 



That the division between the express companies- and the railroads 

 upon a percentage basis of the gross receipts results in an exijessive 

 over-i)aynient to the railroads for the transportation of small par-^ 

 cel.5, because it includes the charge for terminal service not per- 



