50 LOGGING 
for many states have passed laws specifying the period which 
may elapse between pay days. In some regions where logging 
operations are remote from settlements, payment of wages due 
may be deferred until the close of the season or until the workman 
leaves the employ of the company. Settlement is then made 
by check or by order on the head office or on some store or bank 
located at the nearest accessible point to the operation^ 
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE WAGES 
The wage paid for forest work depends largely on the following 
factors : 
(1) The amount of labor available. As in all industries, the 
labor cost fluctuates with the abundance or scarcity of labor. 
Although some features of logging require workmen with a special 
knowledge of their trade, the demand is chiefly for more or less un- 
skilled labor. In any case, loggers, both skilled and unskilled, 
easily adjust themselves to various other forms of industrial 
work; therefore, the logging industry, in times of a general labor 
shortage, finds it necessary to raise its wage standards in line 
with that of other industries. 
(2) The degree of skill required. There is marked difference 
in the degree of skill required of loggers in the various forest 
regions, depending chiefly upon the extent to which machinery 
is used to move the timber from the stump to the main trans- 
portation system which carries it to market. Where animal 
logging prevails, a high degree of mechanical skill is not required, 
while on operations where machinery is used, skilled mechanics 
are necessary to operate and maintain the machines, and a rea- 
sonable degree of mechincal skill is essential for the members of 
the yarding crew. Consequently, the average wage commanded 
by power loggers often is greater than that received by those 
who are employed on operations where machinery is not used 
extensively. 
(3) The conditions under which labor is performed. Laborers 
1 The laws of many states include statutes giving a lien on logs to those 
who may perform labor in connection with the preparation, and the transpor- 
tation to market, of forest products. These so-called statutorj' liens do not 
imply possession of the logs at the time labor was performed, but do neces- 
sitate the attachment of the property before the lien can be enforced. For a 
comprehensive discussion of this question see The Essentials of American 
Timber Law, by J. P. Kinney. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1917. 
