750 . JOURNAI. OF FORESTRY 



opinion as to the resolution advocating a broad program of scientific 

 and technical research and its generous support by the Federal Govern- 

 ment, which was adopted by the American Federation of Labor at its 

 recent convention in Atlantic City. "This resolution makes it seem a 

 far cry to the time when working-men manifested their suspicion of 

 inventions by destroying labor-saving machines. Increasingly labor is 

 recognizing that research is not only not inimical to the welfare of the 

 worker, but is actually essential to it. In the last analysis it is research 

 that will make possible the realization of labor's just demands for better 

 opportunities and better living conditions. For if these demands are 

 not to be merely a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, the industrial 

 changes which they involve must be accompanied by increased efficiency 

 of production. Improved appliances, new methods, closer utilization of 

 raw materials, are all necessary to meet the new conditions of industry. 

 The worker will be the first to be benefited. These improvements are 

 dependent on research. 



"Take, for example, the case of forest products. As a result of 

 laboratory investigations, followed by commercial demonstrations, it 

 has been proved that several kinds of wood hitherto regarded as value- 

 less for the purpose can be substituted satisfactorily for spruce in the 

 manufacture of pulp and paper. Again, improved methods have re- 

 sulted both in the time required for the artificial drying of wood and 

 the loss formerly resulting from it. These, like other improvements 

 and factors that increase the efficiency of production, introduce econo- 

 mies from which the laborer in the long run should benefit. 



"In the field of forestry a direct and great benefit to the workers 

 must come from the scientific handling of the forest resources them- 

 selves. Altogether there are a million or more wage-earners who, with 

 their families, are dependent for a livelihood on the forest and wood- 

 using industries. If these industries are to survive, the forests must be 

 protected and perpetuated. But the forest is as much a crop as any 

 other product of the soil and therefore is profoundly affected by cli- 

 mate, soil, and many other factors. If it is to be handled so as to yield 

 good returns its management must be based on principles that have 

 been developed by intensive investigations both of the life and behavior 

 of the trees themselves and of their relation to their environment. 

 More and more we must look to making the forest industries perma- 

 nent and stable. If forest establishments can be assured of continuous 

 raw materials, we have the opportunity for better living conditions than 

 exist in many places today ; the opportunity to bring about steady em- 

 ployment and a home, in contrast to the nomadic life characteristic of 



