PAR YI 
CONDITIONS AFFECTING LUMBER SUPPLY 
OF NEW YORK 
ABNORMAL Busrtness Conprrions 1n 1919 
This revision was undertaken during the latter part of 1919, 
at a time when business in general was endeavoring to adjust 
itself to changed conditions following the world war. The 
absence of four million men in the army caused a serious dis- 
ruption of their connection with the industries. The transfer 
of countless others to war industries further disturbed the 
balance of the economic machinery of the country. Once 
broken loose from quiet pursuits the roving habit began. Large 
numbers of workmen, after discharge from military service, 
never returned permanently to the country districts and vil- 
lages where they were enlisted, and others drifted to the cities. 
Labor troubles were acute and strikes were of frequent occur- 
rence, sometimes accompanied by violence, sabotage, and other 
forms of direct action. The shortage of labor affected not only 
the wood-working factories but also the sawmills, the logging 
camps, and the railway systems. Embargoes intended to regu- 
late the transportation of commodities became increasingly 
frequent and throttled the normal transmission between the 
mills and the lumber yards. At the same time wages in all 
branches of labor had been approximately doubled to meet the 
increasing cost of the necessities of life. Behind and beneath 
these surface disturbances lay the fact, often flouted but inex- 
orable, that the depletion of the timber supply in the United 
States has arrived at the acute stage. 
The result of these conditions was an unprecedented rise in 
the cost of lumber of all kinds, which became notable during 
the summer of 1919, and continued steadily until it reached its 
[9] 
