338 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



appears that, in curtailment campaigns, members could operate only 

 by consent of the company. Thus the minutes of one of the meetings 

 of the directors contain the following: "The manager reported that 

 Mr. Izett had made application to him to be allowed to operate his 

 camp and dispose of the logs at $1 off the Association list. On motion 

 it was ordered that the request be denied.'"^ 



Secretary Beckman of the Pacific Coast Lumber Manufacturers' 

 Association reported in January, 1902 : "Eleven cases of alleged price 

 cutting were investigated during the year." Two years later he re- 

 ported that "the members paid $154,264.93 in penalties, which was 

 divided among members not penalized." Thus it seems that this asso- 

 ciation imposed penalties for violation of trade agreements, and was 

 strong enough to collect them.^ 



The Maple Flooring Manufacturers' Association had a similar 

 penalty clause in its agreement of 1898. Under this clause each mem- 

 ber was required to deposit $500 with the treasurer of the association, 

 to be forfeited in case of any violation of the terms of the agreement, 

 and each member was further required to forward to the secretary 

 each month a sworn statement that his firm had complied with the 

 rules of the association as to prices, grades, and other matters. This 

 association was said to represent 95 per cent of the maple flooring 

 manufacturers in the United States.^ 



EFFORTS TO FIX PRICES 



Thus an important function of most lumbermen's associations has 

 been that of trying to fix lumber prices. Most of the associations have 

 at various times tried to control market prices, either directly or by 

 means of curtailment of output. 



Previous to 1906, organized activity among lumber manufacturers 

 was openly promoted by lumber associations as part of their official 

 work, and written or oral agreements were commonly made to main- 

 tain uniform price lists. At that time, most manufacturers' associa- 

 tions issued price lists regularly, and these were widely used by the 

 trade. In some cases they established price lists at their meetings, and 



5 "Lumber Industry," IV, 356, 361. 



6 "Lumber Industry," IV, 388, 392. 



7 "Lumber Industry," IV, 879. 



