^4 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



the initial step in a just and reasonable regulation of the lumber 

 tariff might be inaugurated. The obvious injustice of the present 

 basis of rate making where the lumber business is concerned has 

 long been th'j bane of lumber manufactu; ers in all parts of the 

 country. With all other lines of manufacture enjoying a class 

 rate, based on the actual value of what is shipped^ permitting 

 the manufacture and shipment at a profit of the crudest and 

 bulkiest objects, the lumber manufacturer has always had to be 

 content with gleaning his profit entirely from the upper grades. 

 The system has militated not only against the lumbermen them- 

 selves, but in a broader sense against the railroads and against 

 the still broader cause of conservation. The reason for this is 

 concisely put in Mr. Bronson's resolution. , 



While there is a hew and cry all over the country against 

 the depletion of the forests, it 

 is entirely from that element 

 which knows nothing of the 

 conditions surrounding the 

 much-abused lumber trade. If 

 they could but look at the m.it- 

 ter on a common sense basis 

 the prejudice under which the 

 majority of the people most en- 

 ergetic in complaints are labor- 

 ing would be lifted. But it 

 seems to be the sense of Mr. 

 Bronson 's remarks at the Mil- 

 waukee meeting and the opin- 

 ion of various attendants who 

 entered into a discussion of the 

 matter that the railroads are 

 aligned on the side of the ship- 

 pers and are perfectly willing 

 as a business investment insur- 

 ing a continuous income for 

 shipments of forest products to 

 do everything in their power to 

 perpetuate the lumber supply. 

 Only through arrangements 

 whereby the lower grades will 

 be given a rate in accordance 



with their market value can the question be solved. It will be 

 interesting to note the steps of advancement resulting from Mr. 

 Bronson 's action at this and other meetings. 



Co-operative Fire Protection 



The recent forest fires which destroyed so many thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of property in the middle west and western states 

 have created a condition in the public mind never before inspired 

 by any similar disaster. People seem in a mood to back up the 

 authorities in any way or in any plan which they promulgate for 

 the betterment of the fire preventive facilities now in existence, 

 and the lumbermen are ready to spend a gi-eat deal of time and 

 money in co-operation with each other or through associations, or 

 if it seems best by lending advice and assistance to the government. 



That those most interested are ready to take advantage of the 

 recipient condition of the public mind is evident from recent 

 happenings in the Lake States. J. E. Ehodes of St. Paul at a 



meeting in Milwaukee lately out- 

 lined in detail a plan for which 



To value possessions little, 

 to value life — the supreme 

 privilege of being — enormously, 

 to regard all labor as of equal 

 use and honor, and the end of 

 living as something quite be- 

 yond the art of getting a living. 

 — Egbert Herrick. 



Ballinger Still Puts It up to Taft 



A recent rej.ort current in the daily press throughout the coun- 

 try, ?tating that Secretary Ballinger would be put on the grill 

 before the members of President Taft's cabinet at the coming 

 meeting, seems to have been exploded by that gentleman himself 

 by his statement when the question of the authenticity of the 

 repoit was put to him in Idaho. 



Mr. Ballinger announces with the most decided emphasis that 

 not one word of it is true, stating that it is all rot and that 

 he will not resign as long as he is sustained by the Presiient. 

 He maintains his ignorance of any suggestion of connection be- 

 tween the matter of his resignation and the other members of 

 the cabinet, and states that while he will be in Washington for 

 the coming meeting, he knows of nothing connected with him per- 

 sonally which will be brought up at that time. 



But looking at the matter from another standpoint, the report 

 suggests a way of solving the problem which might very wisely be 

 tal;cn udvantaee of by the President. It is true that the contro- 

 versy has thrown the Department of the Interior into such a 

 state of luvmoil and uncertainty as to render it hopelessly de- 

 moralized as far as any public service is concerned. The ques- 

 tion of Mr. Ballinger 's guilt seems to be well established in the 

 court of public opinion, and that the matter can be expeditiously 

 settled in the manner suggested in the rumor seems entirely 

 reasonable. 



he has been responsible, for the 

 regulation of forest fires in the 

 Lake States region. Mr. Ehodes 

 has co-operated with Chief For- 

 ester Graves, Forester Griffith of 

 Wisconsin, Fire Warden Andrews 

 of Minnesota and Whipple of 

 New York and Forester Allen of 

 the Pacific Coast in calling a 

 Lake States conference in which 

 Michigan, Minnesota and Wiscon- 

 sin only will be interested, be- 

 cause of the similar forestal con- 

 ditions in those states. The idea 

 as advanced by Mr. Ehodes was 

 heartih- indorsed by the gentle- 

 men mentioned and the propo- 

 sition has advanced so far as 

 to meet the approval of the 

 governor of Minnesota. At his 

 suggestion a meeting will be 

 called in St. Paul following the 

 convening of the Minnesota 

 legislature, and he is also re- 

 ~ sponsible for the arrangement 

 whereby it will come under the auspices of the state forest board 

 of Minnesota. By authorization of that board Mr. Ehodes was 

 given power to call the conference in January, and he has been in- 

 sured of the hearty co-operation of railroad men throughout the 

 territory involved. Mr. Ehodes states that his idea is that the 

 conference should include the state forest boards, representatives of 

 lumbermen's associations and of the railroads, which wiU mean 

 that the convention will be vested with an authority and power to 

 act never before conferred upon a similar body. 



The meeting of January can reasonably be looked forward to 

 as productive of results of value to the cause of conservation 

 from this most practical viewpoint, that of eliminating the for- 

 est fires, which means not only that the present stand will be 

 safeguarded, but that the second growth on which the country 

 will ultimately depend will be given an opportunity to obtain a 

 merchantable size before the present standing timber is entirely 

 exhausted. 



Conservation as Already Applied 



Capt. J. B. White said in his recent St. Paul address: "Con- 

 servation is not any one man's opportunitj', prerogative or privi- 

 lege. It is for the use and benefit of each and all and can 'be 

 practiced in any business and occupation as an important aid 

 to success. Whether conservation is best promoted by the indi- 

 vidual ownership of certain natural resources is a disputed 

 question." 



It seems evident from these remarks that the question of con- 

 servation can be summed up in one word, "regulation." In all 

 history, wherever there has been regulation of any commodity 



I 



