feet per capita of population. The ratio of home to foreign 

 timber had declined and in 1914 amounted to barely 10 per 

 cent, of the supply. The value of imported timber had risen 

 steadily for the thirty years prior to the war while the quality 

 had as steadily deteriorated. 



The average annual imports for the five years preceding 

 the war 1909-1913, inclusive, amounted to 10,204,000 loads 

 of wood and timber and 859,000 tons of woodpulp. In 1914, 

 wood and timber imports declined by about 20 per cent, but 

 the quality of woodpulp increased to 990,000 tons and did 

 not decline below the pre-war level until 1916. Apart from this 

 the reduction of imports which began in 1914 was continued 

 at a slightly less rate in 1915, and at an increasing rate in 

 1916 and 1917, to reach bottom in 1918. In 1918 the total 

 imports of wood and timber amounted to 2,479,000 loads or 

 roughly 25 per cent, of the pre-war figure. It was in order to 

 make up as much as possible of the heavy deficit in 1916-1918 

 that the home woods were exploited to the utmost. On the 

 other hand the recovery in imports had been even more rapid 

 than the decline. Wood and timber were imported to the 

 amount of 6,866,000 loads in 1919 and 7,418,000 loads in 

 1920. Woodpulp imports exceeded the pre-war level in 1919 

 and increased in 1920 to 1,094,000 tons, which is the maximum 

 yet recorded. 



As regards prices, the reports show that there was a 

 progressive rise in values as imports declined. The average 

 price of all imports of unmanufactured timber during 1909- 

 1913 was 2.77 per load, in 1916, 6.4 per load and in 1918, 

 11.8 per load. The price fell to 10.5 in 1919, to rise to 

 11.0.8 in 1920. The rise in the price of woodpulp was from 

 4.7 per ton in 1909-1913 to 10.7 per ton in 1916 and 

 30.4 in 1918. The total value of the wood imports in 1920, 

 inclusive of wood manufactures, was 120,326,000 against 

 34,314,000 the average of the five years 1909-1913. 



'That the state of things was unsatisfactory in time of 

 peace was generally admitted," the commission declares in 

 reviewing its first year's operations. "It required but one 

 year of war to show how critical the position was in a time of 

 national emergency. 



