28 Conditions Affecting New York Lumber Supply 
and transportation — necessaries and luxuries alike — because 
the depletion of New York’s forests has placed her in an eco- 
nomically dependent situation. She can no longer command 
one of the fundamental necessities of human existence and 
happiness. 
In 1919, 25 out of 48 industries depending upon wood 
showed a notable decrease in the amount consumed as com- 
pared with 1912. 
The number of firms decreased by #5 per cent. 
The State-grown wood used was 17 per cent of the total 
consumption, whereas in 1912 it was 45 per cent. 
“From him that hath not shall be taken away even that 
which he hath.”’ Unless vigorous steps are taken in the near 
future to increase the supplies from her forests, those manu- 
factures depending upon local supples of wood must either 
curtail their activities or migrate to regious having a more 
dependable supply. Others will no doubt continue operations 
by increasing their imports, paying constantly increasing prices 
for their raw material as the supply becomes scarcer, more 
remote, and more expensive to haul. The finished products will 
cost more in proportion. The importation of supplies from 
other States is at best an uncertain reliance, for those sources 
of supply are themselves rapidly diminishing, not excepting 
much of the softwoods in the Far West, three thousand miles 
away. We must have hardwoods, too, and there is no hard- 
wood supply on the Pacific Coast, or in Alaska. 
Obviously this is a problem which demands immediate action 
on a large seale, such as only the full resources of the State 
can provide and manage. The enlargement of the Erie Canal 
is a comparable project, as regards the effort needed, the com- 
plexity of the problems presented, the probable total cost, and 
the ultimate benefits to be gained. 
The barge canal was in a sense a matter of choice, but refor- 
estation is a-matter of sheer necessity. The alternative is to 
forego the commanding’ position now occupied in manufactures 
depending upon wood and the forcing into other work or into 
unemployment of large numbers of skilled workmen. 
