132 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



be narrow in its viewpoint, each producing region working independ- 

 ently, the chief aim, apparently, being to secure the lion's share of 

 Government orders, and every effort was exerted to push the particular 

 species in which a given region was interested without regard to the 

 welfare of other producing sections or of the country as a whole. In- 

 trasectional strifes and competition developed. Differences of opinion 

 on policy also existed among operators from the same region, and by 

 presenting conflicting propositions complicated the administration of 

 Government business in Washington. There was but little evidence of 

 the existence of any real national conception of the problems at issue. 

 This was unfortunate, since only by taking a broad-gauge viewpoint of 

 the situation could the problems be solved with the least harm to the 

 industry as a whole. 



In the presentation of arguments before the authorities in Washing- 

 ton, the representatives from the various lumber-producing sections 

 showed that they were not thoroughly familiar with many of the funda- 

 mental economic factors upon which the lumber industry is based, and, 

 judging from their attitude, there is but little inclination on their part 

 to improve this situation in the future. It is scarcely conceivable that 

 in an industry which is of such great importance in this country uncer- 

 tainty should still exist on questions of the true factors underlying cost 

 determination, lumber distribution in all its phases, uses of its product, 

 and like factors. While it is true that lumbermen are devoting con- 

 siderable time and effort to straighten out cost data, they do not seem 

 to manifest much interest in many other important economic phases of 

 their industry. The dearth of information on the distribution and uses 

 of woods was most striking, and while strenuous efforts were made to 

 collect these data when it appeared that these factors might play a 

 prominent part in the distribution of Government business, the interest 

 in the matter largely subsided as soon as the crisis was past. 



Although some lumber-trade associations have collected statistics on 

 production, shipments, orders received and stocks on hand for some 

 years, various inconsistencies were detected in the work when a careful 

 analysis was made of the data. It was found that, due to the manner 

 in which the statistics were submitted by the mills, the figures were 

 largely guesses, and while representing tendencies did not represent 

 actual conditions. 



One group of operators, who were an important factor in producing 

 war material, made a strong eft'ort to secure a large amount of Govern- 

 ment orders on the plea that in the production of essential material for 

 military purposes they were accumulating large quantities of lumber. 



