KEEPING THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE 

 LUMBER BUSINESS. 



Washington, D. C., July 12. Wilson Compton, secre- 

 tary-manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation, today issued a statement designed to clear the at- 

 mosphere with regard to the relation of the Department of 

 Commerce to the movement to standardization in the lumber 

 industry, placing strong emphasis on repeated declarations 

 of Secretary Hoover that the last thing he wants to see is 

 Government interference. 



Attention is called to the fact that from the outset Mr. 

 Hoover has sought to make it clear that he considers stand- 

 ardization and simplification of grades, nomenclature, di- 

 mensions etc., as a problem for the industry, the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce desiring to cooperate in a helpful way 

 only and with no thought of dictation. 



It should be recalled in this connection that the Depart- 

 ment of Commerce under the law is clothed with only ad- 

 ministrative authority. Its functions are not of regulatory 

 character and it has no power of disciplinary action. Its 

 one job is to help American business, industry and com- 

 merce within the limits of the laws under which it operates. 



Mr. Compton's statement follows: 



On May 24, 1922, Secretary of Commerce Hoover said 

 to a group of fifty representative lumbermen in conference 

 with him in Washington: 



"The whole object of this conference is to see to it 



if we can not develop what I think is a primary interest 



in American industry, and that is self-government. 



We do not want the Government in any of these issues 



in any shape or form. And by the success of these 



conferences we will have effectually buried agitation 



that has been in progress -in that direction. * * 



There can be no demonstration more positive than this 



of the purpose of a high official, charged by Federal law 



with the duty to foster American industry and commerce, 



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