THE plans now being perfected for the forest service part 

 of the inquiry to be made jointly by the departments of 

 commerce and agriculture into timber and lumber-trade 

 conditions in the United States provide for covering entirely 

 new ground. 



Lumbermen are now admittedly conducting their operations 

 with a large percentage of waste, said to be largely due to 

 market conditions which make close utilization unprofitable. 

 There is no general agreement as to the actual causes of ex- 

 isting conditions and the responsibility for present undoubted 

 evils. With rapidly diminishing supplies of timber to draw 

 upon, wasteful lumbering has come to be recognized as a 

 matter of serious public concern and an inquiry to discover 

 the causes and seek for possible remedies is regarded by 

 forest service officials as an urgent need. It is believed that 

 the lumber industry itself recognizes the need and will wel- 

 come an inquiry conducted along constructive lines. 



Private capital invested in timberlands, mills, logging rail- 

 roads, and other forms of equipment reach an enormous ag- 

 gregate and the lumber industry, which employs 739,000 per- 

 sons and has an annual output valued at one and one-sixth 

 billion dollars, is the third largest in the country. In seek- 

 ing to realize conditions which will safeguard the public 

 against wasteful methods of timber exploitation, possible tim- 

 ber monopoly, and other objectionable practices while insur- 

 ing healthy conditions and fair treatment for the lumber 

 trade, an understanding of the basic facts is indispensable. 

 These facts, however, have never been ascertained in their 

 entirety. It is the purpose of the forest service to obtain and 

 interpret them impartially in co-operation with the other bu- 

 reaus assigned to the study. 



Lumbermen complain that the carrying charges created by 

 interest on long-term investments, taxes, and cost of fire pro- 

 tection where such protection is given compel them to oper- 

 ate even where lumber prices will not repay them the costs 



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