As rm\vm<r distances between forests and market 

 increase opportunities for price speculation, more and 

 more middlemen are drawn into the trade. While 

 tin- lesponsible wholesaler is an essential factor of 

 the trade, a surplus of middlemen is an added bur- 

 den of cost upon lumber distribution. It has been 

 estimated that lumber brokerage and wholesalers' 

 offices on the Pacific coast increased 50 per cent 

 during 1919 and 1920. It is often the case that men 

 drawn to the trade by its speculative possibilities are 

 of the less responsible type, whose methods are not 

 to the best interests of the trade and the public. 



Prices in Depeleted or Nonforested Versus 

 Forested Regions 



Retail prices collected indicate that in normal 

 times and much more during periods of shortage and 

 extreme prices, such as the present communities close 

 to large lumber-producing regions, benefit very ma- 

 terially in lumber prices. Retail lumber sales in 

 producing regions of the South and the West are 

 often made at rates which check closely with whole- 

 sale prices in the respective regions. This is an ad- 

 vantage which formerly forested regions, such as the 

 Lcike States, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Eng- 

 land have now lost. Lumber dealers in producing ter- 

 ritories are able to handle lumber on a smaller margin 

 than retailers at distant points, primarily because 

 they are near the source of supply and are not re- 

 quired to carry large stocks or to buy lumber far in 

 advance in anticipation of delayed shipments and 



23 



