662 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



CHICAGO TRIBUNE URGES PRACTICAL 



Q O far reaching has become the educa- 

 ^ tional campaign of the American For- 

 estry Association for a national forest poli- 

 cy and for increased fire prevention for 

 the forests that the newspapers, long a unit 

 in cooperating with the Association, are 

 now demanding action in strong terms. The 

 editorial cooperation with the Association's 

 campaign is one of the big constructive 

 pieces of work the newspapers are doing at 

 this time. As an example of this was the 

 avalanche of editorial expression against a 

 tariflF on lumber following the statement of 

 the eCFect of such a tariff at this time by 

 Charles Lalhrop Pack, the Association's 

 president. An example of this expression 

 is well set forth in the Chicago Tribune 

 whose editorial was headed "Lumber and 

 Reciprocity" and in which The Tribune 

 said: 



Chicago Tribune : Camouflaging its ac- 

 tion as reciprocity, the ways and means 

 committee of the House has adopted the 

 Canadian tariff schedules to apply on all 

 our imports from that country. The sched- 

 ule provides a 25 per cent ad valorem du- 

 ty on all finished lumber. 



It is the finished lumber that is needed 

 to build our homes. This rate is three or 

 four times higher than the Payne-Aldrich 

 rates of 1909 on finished lumber. 



It is defended as a "protective" tariff. 

 Whom does it protect? None but the 

 southern and western lumber men. It does 

 not protect the thousands of residents in 

 this country who are eagerly awaiting an 

 opportunity to build homes at a price with- 

 in their means. It exploits them. It sac- 

 rifices the standing timber of this country 

 and tends to fix permanently or increase 

 the present prohibitive costs of lumber for 

 building purposes. The estimated shortage 

 of 1,250,000 homes in the United States is 

 continued, with the chances in favor of 

 an increase rather than a decrease of that 

 shortage. 



The arrangement in effect gives Amer- 



ican mill owners an advantage estimated 

 at $12 per 1,000 in competition with Cana- 

 dian lumber. This advantage is found not 

 alone in the tariff but partly in the difference 

 in freight rates for dressed and rough lum- 

 ber, the latter costing about $7.50 per 1,000 

 feet more than the former. It means an 

 increase of $250 to $300 in the cost of the 

 average workingman's dwelling. 



It not only thus penalizes the present gen- 

 eration but will take a heavy toll from the 

 future. The American Forestry Association 

 has warned the public and supported its 



"Great Oalu From Tmjr Aconu Grow" Great Flames From Tmjr 

 Sparks 



ber interests have nothing to fear from 

 Canada. The fact that Canada has a 25 

 per cent ad valorem duty and an anti- 

 dumping provision for an additional assess- 

 ment of 15 per cent indicates that they 

 fear American competition. Obviously if 

 our lumber mills are sufficiently productive 

 to menace Canadian lumber interests they 

 would not be deprived of a reasonable prof- 

 it through the competition of Canadian lum- 

 ber. The fact is that our cost of finished 

 production is below the Canadian cost. Al- 

 so we are now exporting considerable quan- 

 tities of undressed timber to Japan. If this 

 is possible at a profit we need not fear to 

 sell timber to our own consumers on an un- 

 protected rate. 



so SHA1.1. YE HEAP. 



Wahl In the Sacramento Bee. 



warning with incontrovertible statistics, that 

 the United States will face a timber famine 

 within 50 years. Every foot of needed lum- 

 ber kept out of this country by the pro- 

 posed tariff will help to destroy a tree in the 

 United States. For the conservation of our 

 resources it is essential that there be no such 

 bar to the use of Canadian lumber in Amer- 

 ica. 



The very point of reciprocity proves be- 

 yond dispute that legitimate American lum- 



This editorial has been widely reprinted 

 but The Tribune does not stop there in its 

 campaign. It calls for some "Practical 

 Politics" in an editorial of that name which 

 follows: 



Chicago Tribune : American Forestry, 

 the magazine of the American Forestry As- 

 sociation, prints a map in the July number 

 showing an area of 1,000,000 acres, covering 

 more than half of four counties of north- 

 eastern Pennsylvania, which is to be pur- 

 chased by the government to protect the 

 headwaters of the Allegheny river and to 

 develop a renewal forest. 



Is it any wonder that the United States 

 senators and representatives from Pennsyl- 

 vania are returned to congress by their con- 

 stituencies term after term? They get prac- 

 tical results for their districts and their 

 state. They are less concerned with pana- 

 ceas or patent nostrums for the correction 

 of national or international ills than w'.th 

 doing something which will improve the 

 welfare of their constituents and provide 

 for the future of their state. 



Reforestation is a commendable enter- 

 prise. It not only conserves the water sup- 

 ply of a large section of Pennsylvania but 



GASOLINE ALLEY 



DOC NEEDS A DEMONSTRATION 



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HOW ABOUT That 

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Now' lint IT 

 j PRACTICAL AS WEU 



King In the Chicago Tribune. 



