38 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



will greatly facilitate the work of your inspec- 

 tion, as well as saving yourselves and the asso- 

 ciation considerable unnecessary expense. It 

 is expensive and inconvenient for an inspector to 

 leave his regular route for the purpose of mak- 

 ing a reinspection, and when he gets to his desti- 

 nation, finds that for some reason or other the 

 consignee will not allow a reinspection, and the 

 inspector then loses time while he gets the 

 authority or other instructions. Your instruc- 

 tions in this matter should be full and explicit 

 and cover definitely everything you wish the 

 inspector to do. 



The principal business of the Railroad 

 Committee as reported by Chairman F. H. 

 Pardo3 had been the matter of picking up 

 logs dropped from trains along the right of 

 way. The question had been presented by 

 the speaker and W. H. Holt, of the associa- 

 tion, to the Northwestern Railroad, which 

 company had willingly consented to use what 

 influence it could to work out a feasible plan 

 whereby the lumbermen would be able to 

 secure a just recompense for logs lost in this 

 way. Several of the members entered into 

 the discussion, some of them stating that 

 logs picked up along different railroad lines 

 by railroad employees had been offered for 

 sale by them, but that they knowing the logs 

 were the property of other companies de- 

 clined to purchase. 



The question of the practice of railroad 

 companies furnishing cars for hemlock bark 

 which would not hold the minimum load of 

 20,000 pounds and then assessing the ship- 

 pers for the full weight, was introduced by 

 A. R. Week, of the John Week Lumber Com- 

 pany. A heated discussion resulted and the 

 ultimate conclusion of the Chair was that if 

 the shipper specified on ordering cars, a car 

 of any particular capacity, he would have 

 legal right to be reimbursed by the road. 

 This redress would usually be gotten without 

 any trouble to the Interstate Commerce Com- 

 mission, but Mr. Mylrea stated that a com- 

 plaint must be filed before that commission 

 within six months or they would have no 

 jurisdiction. 



Manager Leonard Bronson, of the National 

 Lumber Manufacturers' Association, was 

 given the floor upon the conclusion of the 

 discussion and discoursed interestingly on 

 various matters pertinent to the lumber busi- 

 ness. He referred particularly to the various 

 happenings of the recent National Conserva- 

 tion Congress at St. Paul, especially depre- 

 cating the attempt to introduce politics as 

 the main point at issue. Following other 

 interesting remarks, Mr. Bronson spoke as 

 follows: 



There has been an attempt this summer to get 

 a better classification tor goods shipped in 

 wooden boxes than for those shipped in substi- 

 tute fiber or paper packages. That matter is 

 moving along all right, I think, and will be 

 taken care of. The railroads have not really 

 announced their position on the subject, but cer- 

 tain railroad officials who have been seen are 

 favorably disposed in the matter. If they adopt 

 that change in classification undoubtedly the case 

 will be taken before the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission, but with the railroads and lumber- 

 men in favor of such a change, and I think also 

 the Forest Service, which is often called in 

 on such cases as an expert, I believe that the 

 commission will decide in our favor. 



The other matter that I wish to present is 

 regarding a special rate on low grade lumber. 

 The difficulty of the plan is to devise some prac- 

 tical means by which to separate low grades 

 from the higher in such a way that it would 

 not be taken advantage of by the dishonest 

 shipper. The railroads appear to be genuinely 

 afraid of that proposition, although they admit 

 the justice of it and its value to them. There 

 is no real opposition to it, except that they don't 

 know where it would lead them in the actual 

 working out. It was suggested by the Western 

 Pine Association that the railroads be requested 

 to make a lower rate on box shooks, figuring that 

 nothing but low grade lumber went into box 

 shooks, and in that way at least a part of the 

 proposition would be covered. You will find, 

 I think, that substitution in the box industry 

 has reduced our market for lumber about 1,250,- 

 000,000 feet, all out of the lower end of the 

 product. If that fact he admitted, is there any 

 question about what is the matter with the low 

 grade lumber, or any question that it affects all 

 the grades of the kinds of wood that are in- 

 volved? I would suggest that you make a 

 recommendation of that sort if you approve of 

 it after discussion. If you approve of lower 

 rates on box shooks I would ask that it bo 

 embodied in a strong resolution as a step in the 

 right direction that is practical. 



In regard to the general question of railroad 

 rates, some people have been asking why the 

 National Lumber Manufacturers' Association is 

 not doing something. We are doing what we 

 can and a great many people realize that we 

 have accomplished something. But here is the 

 question, gentlemen : We can't enter into the 

 matter of protective rates on different woods 

 coming into direct competition from different 

 sections of the country. For instance, if wo 

 favored a lower rate on Pacific coast products 

 into Kansas and adjacent territories, the south- 

 ern pine people would be on our backs at once 

 and in some instances in the North that same 

 proposition arises. But beyond that I haven't 

 the experience nor the time to handle the general 

 railroad situation as it should be handled. I 

 think that I could hire a man who could do it 

 under my guidance, but there the question of 

 funds comes up and the question as to how far 

 the National association would go in that matter. 

 I think that we could at least do this : We 

 could keep an absolute record of anything and 

 everything that is going on in the way of rates 

 affecting lumber in the United States. We could 

 classify and arrange that information and give 

 notice to everybody concerned and to those asso- 

 ciations involved, and also devise special means 

 of obtaining information by which a great deal 

 of advance information as to the plans of the 

 railroad companies would be valuable. Secretary 

 Knox of the Michigan Hardwood Association 

 knows how this is. He Is able to get a good 

 deal of information in advance of action by 

 the railroads as to what they are about to do. 



I don't feel that it is worth while to under- 

 take that work unless it is done thoroughly, and 

 if it is undertaken your assessment would be 

 raised a whole lot. There are other things 

 that we can do within our present means, but 

 if we are to do this work it would not supplant 

 your own association activities in that direction, 

 but would be another added feature. While 

 I believe it would be fully justified because of 

 the way in which we could coordinate all these 

 influences and get you to working together, it 

 would Involve "Birectly a much larger assessment 

 of every association affiliated. 



J. E. Rhodes, of St. Paul, a former secre- 

 tary of the association, was the next to ad- 

 dress the meeting. He presented two mat- 

 ters of importance in which he has had a 

 personal interest. He first spoke of the 

 proposed freight advance of one cent from 

 all shipping j)oints in the North to the Cen- 



tral Freight Association territory. He stated 

 that the rate was increased from one to 

 three cents a year and a half ago and then 

 added that while he had no authority from 

 the Northern Pine Association to make defi- 

 nite arrangements, still he suggested that the 

 raUroad committees of the two associations 

 co-operate in opposing the contemplated ad- 

 vance. Mr. Rhodes stated that the Northern 

 Pine Association would willingly do its part 

 and would be willing to make any arrange- 

 ments with the Hemlock and Hardwood As- 

 sociation that would be effective in bettering 

 the interests of both. 



The subject of forest fires was next taken 

 up and presented in a new light by the 

 speaker. He referred to the recent disastrous 

 fires in the West and middle \vest, stating 

 that the public mind is now aroused as it 

 has not been for many years. He deprecated 

 the proposed action of politicians and others 

 not conversant with the actual conditions 

 and requirements in proposing new laws and 

 regulations which could have no beneficial 

 effect and would ultimately produce great 

 hardship and inconvenience to the lumber- 

 men themselves. The object of his discourse 

 was to induce the lumbermen to take an ac- 

 tive and vigorous interest in the matter and 

 see that any legislation which is passed would 

 be along the lines of sound common sense. 



Following Mr. Rhodes' remarks, George H. 

 Chapman spoke, approving of the idea of 

 employing a railroad expert in cooperation 

 with the Northern Pine Association for the 

 purpose of furthering the interests of the 

 lumbermen in all railroad matters. A motion 

 was then put to the members for the ap- 

 pointment of a committee of five to repre- 

 sent the association, in cooperation with a 

 similar committee of the Northern Pine As- 

 sociation for the organization of a protective 

 association among timber owners to combat 

 the fire evU. The committee is composed of 

 T. A. Greene, A. R. Owen, W. O. Holt, J. B. 

 Bronson and G. W. Earle. 



Secretary Lewis Doster, of the Hardwood 

 Manufacturers' Association of the United 

 States, next took the floor. Among other 

 things he spoke in detail of the practice 

 among southern mills before the organiza- 

 tion of his association of shipping almost en- 

 tirely log run, pointing out that this custom 

 left the sorting to be done in the city mar- 

 kets by high-priced labor and necessitated 

 paying large sums for storage at the same 

 points. A still greater evil was that it made 

 necessary the utilization of all the grades 

 of every kind of wood shipped at each of the 

 market points receiving, whereas with the 

 present custom of grading at the mills the 

 law of supply and demand can be strictly ad- 

 hered to and only such grades and varieties 

 of wood as are actually called for need be 

 shipped. In this way a more complete utiliza- 

 tion is accomplished and a vast saving in 

 labor and other costs is effected. Mr. Poster 

 further stated that at present the business 

 among the members of his association is un- 



