550 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



At best, willow growers have to meet 

 the competition of split-wood baskets, 

 as well as that of the cheap imported 

 willow-ware which floods the American 

 market in spite of a relatively high 

 tariff. But the chief difficulty they have 

 to face, in certain centers at least, has 

 neither economic nor moral justifica- 

 tion. This is the pressure of monopoly, 

 brought to bear by the middlemen. 

 There is danger that the future devel- 

 opment of the industry will be seri- 

 ously hampered unless this pressure is 

 relieved. 



The basket-makers who have in the 

 past grown the greater part of the wil- 

 lows produced in this country have been 

 immigrants from the willow-producing 

 centers of Europe, with only a slight 

 knowledge of the English language and 

 no knowledge of business methods. As 

 a consequence, it has been a simple 

 matter for men with capital to gain al- 

 most a complete monopoly of the 

 willow-growing business. Years ago, 

 when most of the basket-makers came 

 to this country, there was an open mar- 

 ket for both raw material and manufac- 

 tured goods. As a rule, the more indus- 

 trious then made a good living. Most 

 of them were soon able to pay for a 

 home and a few acres of land. Gradu- 

 ally, however, as the industry grew 

 larger, the influence of the middleman 

 began to be felt. At first, jobbers paid 

 good prices ; but as they gained more 

 and more control of the market they 

 began to "squeeze" here and there. The 

 small grower, with his year's work tied 

 up in his willow crop, was an easy mark 

 for capital. Before long, he found that 

 he must either do business with the 

 jobber or not do business at all. If he 

 tried to sell his crop independently, he 

 was underbid, and the need of cash 

 prevented him from holding his crop or 

 disposing of it in small lots. Thus, most 

 of the growers who continued in the 

 one-sided game were forced into line. 



To-day, in certain localities where 

 there should be a fair profit in willow 

 growing and in basket-making, the big 

 dealers so manipulate things that they 

 get the profit both ways, and hardly a 

 living is left to the willow producer or 

 to the basket-maker. In . fact, many 

 growers and basket-makers who for- 

 merly were prosperous do not now even 

 own their homes, and mortgages cover 

 everything they possess. The mort- 

 gages are largely held by the big willow 

 dealers, who thus have complete con- 

 trol of the situation. 



This evil state of affairs is not uni- 

 versal, it is true. In the middle western 

 states it is far less grave than in some 

 parts of the east, though even there the 

 middleman undoubtedly gets some of 

 the profits which should go to the pro- 

 ducer or consumer of raw material. In 

 Indiana and Ohio, especially, the grow- 

 ers get good prices, owing to the open 

 competition among the buyers and users 

 of willows ; and in these places willow 

 culture is prospering. But the bulk of 

 the willow crop is raised in the east, 

 over a good part of which monopoly 

 presses heavily. 



The harmful results of such a sys- 

 tem hardly need to be pointed out. Who 

 will embark in an industry in the face 

 of this sort of discouragement? The 

 production of willows must decline. 

 Those who can get out of the business 

 will do so, and those who cannot get 

 out, because of limited resources or lim- 

 ited skill, tend to become little better 

 than slaves. Lower quality and higher 

 prices will impair the market for the 

 product, and subject the consumer to 

 the hardship of paying more for poorer 

 ware. It is high time that intelligence 

 and enterprise should take hold of this 

 situation, free the industry from this 

 costly burden, and assert their claim to 

 a legitimate share of the profits. 



