26 THE AMES FORESTER 



cured with state commissions of similar nature. The difficulty 

 of securing such cooperation with some of the states, and the 

 tangle that would result from a failure to secure it can easily 

 be understood. Some states might feel that Federal prices 

 were too high; others, where lumber interests were strong, 

 might feel that they were too low. A situation might even 

 conceivably arise in which consumers in a lumber producing 

 state would have to pay a high price, fixed by the organized 

 lumbermen of the state, or by a commission under their in- 

 fluence, while consumers across the^ state line were getting the 

 same lumber at a low price, fixed by the Federal commission. 

 A host of unf orseen complications would certainly arise in con- 

 nection with the mere question of jurisdiction. Of course 

 amendment of the constitution of the United States would 

 clear away some of these difficulties, but amendment could 

 be secured only after a long and energetic campaign, if at all ; 

 and even if it were accomplished, state constitutions might 

 still interpose obstacles to effective price regulation. 



The most serious difficulties connected with the whole scheme 

 would of course enter with the matter of price determination ; 

 and the first question would be as to the basis upon which 

 prices should be determined. A vast number of items would 

 clearly have to be considered: cost of labor; logging and 

 milling equipment, original cost, interest charge and deprecia- 

 tion; more remote items, such as fire protection and taxes, (in 

 the first instance these would have to be reckoned for years 

 previous) ; and perhaps more important than all, the value 

 of the standing timber. 



A very careful system of cost accounting would be needed 

 here, and it is probable that the Government would have to 

 prescribe a uniform system for all lumber manufacturers. 

 Many of the mills have had no effective system in the past, 

 and it might be many years before the Commission would have 

 enough comparative data to proceed with intelligence. 



The value of the standing timber would have to be con- 

 sidered. In most cases a price has been paid for it, and to fix 

 a uniform price schedule without considering this price at all 

 would be confiscation; whether the manufacturers themselves 

 own the timber or whether they buy from timber owners. This 



