THE LUMBERMAN'S POINT OF VIEW. 



By J. E. Rhodes, Secretary of the Nationai, Lumber Manufacturers' 



Association. 



1HAVE been intensely interested in the splendid address delivered by Miss 

 Mabel Boardman, of the American National Red Cross, because of the 

 reference which she has made to the lumber industry and the necessity for 

 cooperation between the Red Cross and the lumbermen in giving first aid instruc- 

 tions to woodsmen. 



I am very happy, indeed, to say to her that the proposition which she has 

 presented to the lumbermen will be taken up immediately by the national orga- 

 nization which I represent. The cooperation which she proposes will be placed 

 before the members of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association and 

 through other agencies to the lumbermen of the country. I wish to refer 

 briefly to one of her conclusions to the effect that the fatalities and accidents 

 in the State of Washington might be taken as an indication of the number of 

 accidents, fatal and otherwise, in the other lumber producing sections of the 

 country. Without definite knowledge on the subject, it is my judgment that the 

 number of accidents in logging operations in Washington is higher than the 

 average in other sections, because woods work on the Pacific Coast is more haz- 

 ardous on account of the size of the timber, the mountainous character of the 

 country, and the fact that most of the logging is done by machinery. 



In following Mr. William Irvine so closely, upon a subject precisely like that 

 assigned to him, I think you are entitled to a brief explanation. 



The Forestry Committee, which arranged this portion of the program of 

 the Conservation Congress, invited Mr. George S. Long, of Tacoma, Washing- 

 ton, to present "The Lumberman's View of the Forestry Question." Mr. Long 

 is identified with timber-holding interests of the Pacific Coast, and has given as 

 much sincere thought to this subject as any other lumberman of the country. 

 He was detained at home, and I was asked to substitute for him by the committee 

 who did not know at the time that Mr. Irvine had been assigned the subject of 

 the "Attitude of the Lumberman Toward Forestry" by the officers of the Con- 

 gress. I asked to be relieved from representing Mr. Long under the circum- 

 stances, but the committee has been insistent, and if I shall duplicate some of Mr. 

 Irvine's statements, I will ask both you and Mr. Irvine to pardon me. 



I have not the slighest idea what Mr. Long would have presented to you, but 

 I know that he has very mature views on the problem before us, and I trust that 

 he may be prevailed upon to express them in writing, so that they may be made- 

 a part of the records of this congress. 



I can give you only what I believe to be the views of the average lumberman 

 toward forestry. There is, of course, considerable difference of opinion among- 

 them on this subject, as upon all others, and what I say may not represent the 

 views of certain individuals, but of the lumbermen as a class. 



