Possible Remedies for Monopolis 

 tic Conditions in the Lum- 

 ber Industry 



JOHN ISE, Ph.D., L.L.B. 



Associate Professor of Economics, Iowa State College 



In a previous issue of the Forester the writer traced the early 

 history of the United States forestry policy. In a monograph 

 which is now in the publisher 's hands the history of that forest 

 policy has been brought down to the present time, and the re- 

 sults have been analyzed in detail. In that monograph the 

 writer has indicated how as a result of the unwise policy pur- 

 sued by Congress most of the timberlands of the country have 

 gravitated into the hands of a few holders, and how, upon the 

 basis of this concentration in the ownership of the standing tim- 

 ber, there have developed certain monopolistic conditions in the 

 lumber manufacturing industry. It is the purpose of the pres- 

 ent article to consider the various ways of dealing with this 

 so-called ' ' lumber trust ' '. 



Before proceeding with the question of remedies for the sit- 

 uation which faces us, it will be wise to note briefly just what 

 the situation is, first, in regard to the ownership of standing 

 timber, and second, in regard to the lumber manufacturing in- 

 dustry. 



The privately owned standing timber of the United States, 

 according to the best estimates, amounts to some 2,197 billion 

 feet, worth at least $6,000,000,000. Of this total amount about 

 four-fifths were included in the area investigated by the Com- 

 missioner of Corporations; and of the amount in the investi- 

 gation area nearly half was owned by holders of one billion 

 feet or over ; 32.2 per cent by holders of 3% billion feet or over ; 

 26 per cent by holders of 5 billion feet or over ; and 19 per cent, 

 nearly one-fifth, by holders of 13 billion feet or over. Over 

 69 per cent of the unreserved timber in the investigation area 

 is owned by holders of 60,000,000 feet or over. 



To illustrate the magnitude of some of these figures, it may 



