REVIEWS 



Some Public and Economic Aspects of the Lumber Industrv. By 

 William B. Greeley. Report No. 114, Department of Agriculture. 

 Contribution from the Forest Service. 1917. 



This report by Mr. Greeley is perhaps the most important contribu- 

 tion to the economic literature of forest industry ever issued by the 

 Forest Service. Although the information presented has existed in 

 scattered form among the various leaders and students of the industry, 

 this report brings together for the first time in a unified whole definite 

 and reasonably accurate information as to the st-atus of the industry. 

 It is bound to be of tremendous value to foresters, and so far as it 

 obtains general circulation, will serve to correct many mistaken ideas 

 on the part of the public. Obviously, such service is of prime impor- 

 tance to the lumber industry itself. 



It is, of course, not to be expected that all will agree as to the con- 

 clusions reached. In some respects these conclusions are not in line 

 with the best economic authorities. It seems to be assumed, for ex- 

 ample, almost as an axiom, that speculation is always and uniformly 

 an evil. For instance, in the introduction it is stated (page 4) that 

 "the public is not concerned with the security of timber investments 

 or the outcome of speculative ventures." As a matter of fact, the 

 public is concerned from more than one standpoint. In the first place, 

 timber investments, while perhaps not so widely scattered as those of 

 better organized industry, such as railroad transportation, are very 

 general. A large section of the public is therefore directly concerned 

 with the security of these investments from the standpoint of the 

 investor. The concern of the consumer is, however, paramount. The 

 frequent failure of timber investments makes the investment of capital 

 in the industry precarious. The interest rates are therefore high, and 

 since interest always forms one of the large costs in industry, this cost 

 must be charged on to the consumer in unduly large amount. Security 

 of timber investments is an absolute prerequisite to the reduction of 

 interest rates in the industry and the saving of large sums thereby. It 

 is a further fact that in a pioneer state as the United States has been 

 speculative capital is by far the most important body of capital avail- 

 able. Speculative capital built our railroads, our telephone and tele- 

 graph lines, and develops every new industry. Our progress is abso- 



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