rEvie;ws 735 



portance, but nevertheless serious to specified localities. The con- 

 clusion is well expressed that "shortages and high prices, accordingly, 

 seriously affect the whole Nation." 



Since the Capper Report was prepared there has been a recession 

 of lumber prices. At the writing of this review mill prices of many 

 grades have fallen as much as 35 per cent. Recessions in the retail 

 trade are not as marked ; in some cases they have been as much as 

 20 per cent below the peak of a few months ago. Some of the con- 

 ditions that caused the great rise of prices still exist and it is probable 

 that prices will continue to be a handicap to our best industrial re- 

 covery and advancement. 



The Senate Resolution was directed primarily toward the question 

 of forest depletion and its effects, including its influence on lumber 

 prices. For over a year the foresters of the country and others had 

 been calling attention to the continued process of depletion of our 

 forests. The main facts regarding the progress of forest depletion 

 and devastation had already been set forth and reiterated many times. 

 In the public discussion of these facts differences of opinion rapidly 

 developed, especially as to the interpretation of the economic conse- 

 quences of forest depletion. Certain groups of lumbermen undertook 

 to minimize the situation and to assure the country that the quantities 

 of timber still standing were adequate for many years. It is fortunate 

 that an occasion has been given for a full official statement by the 

 Government regarding the forest situation, for it entirely clears away 

 any grounds for controversy as to the basic facts. 



The economic consequences of forest depletion can not be indicated 

 by a mathematical formula. At first glance it would seem as if our 

 country were still well stocked with timber. We are informed that 

 there is still nearly 2,215 billion board feet of standing material. Our 

 sustained needs are estimated at 35 billion feet. It would appear a 

 simple matter of division to show a supply of nearly sixty years, not 

 counting new growth. It is exactly such calculations that have formed 

 the basis of appeal by those lumbermen who urge that our forest 

 problem is not serious. In point of fact this method of computation 

 of our forest supplies does not represent the true situation at all, for 

 it ignores the character of the forests, their location, and their availa- 

 bility to existing industries and individual consumers. Nor does faulty 

 figuring of this kind convey any conception of the economic hardship 

 resulting from the exhaustion of localities built up and sustained by 



