involved. The necessity -of operating under these conditions 

 is advanced as the principal cause of waste since the market 

 is most easily glutted with lumber of the poorer grades, 

 which must then be left unmanufactured. On the other hand, 

 the public complains that the cost of lumber is so high. Over- 

 competition may result in destruction of timber resources 

 with no commensurate advantage to the consumer but with 

 the certainty of unnecessarily high prices later. Yet restric- 

 tion of competition on the part of lumbermen with a view to 

 greater profits for themselves through higher prices is both 

 contrary to law and highly objectionable from the standpoint 

 of public policy. Thus a highly complex situation exists. Any 

 attempt to adjust the present conflict of interests on a basis 

 fair both to the public and to the lumber industry demands 

 full knowledge of all the facts. 



Lines of inquiry provided for by the plans of the forest 

 service include the present lumber output and demand, the 

 conditions known to the trade as over-production, the effects 

 upon production and market prices of speculation in timber 

 and of carrying charges, producing and distributing costs in- 

 cluding freight and the charges levied upon the product by 

 wholesalers and retailers, and the -amount of waste under 

 present methods of exploitation. Special attention will be 

 given to means of utilizing low grades of lumber and by- 

 products. 



It is recognized that the national forests are becoming an 

 increasingly important factor in the timber market through 

 the offerings of government stumpage, and this aspect of the 

 situation will receive careful analysis. The question of fu- 

 ture supplies and the need for the general practice of forestry 

 to provide them is another important part of the field to be 

 covered. 



From the cutset the data gathered by the bureau of do- 

 mestic and foreign commerce of the department of commerce 

 will be correlated with those in possession of the forest serv- 

 ice and the bureau of corporations, to the end that a complete 

 and exhaustive study may be assured. Importations of timber 

 products from foreign countries and the possible extension 

 of foreign markets for our own timber are recognized as fac- 

 tors which must be thoroughly considered. 



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