The Hardwood manufacturers' Institute

431

ti 3 | 83 flSM S30

Hardwood Manufacturers'
Institute

purpose, ar/wf

Temporary Offices: Memphis, Tenn.

THE

HARDWOOD MANUFACTURERS'
INSTITUTE

WHAT IT IS

Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute is an organ-
ization composed of hardwood lumber producers or
manufacturers. It is designed to be national in scope in
respect to membership, and national — and even internation-
al — in the scope of the service it will render manufacturers
and consumers of hardwood lumber.

While for obvious reasons its actual membership is con-
fined to bona fide producers of hardwood lumber and hard-
wood forest products, it welcomes, invites and desires the
views and the fullest sort of consultation and conference
with all having knowledge of any branches of the subject,
especially consumers using hardwood forest products, as it
realizes that the best interests of both are indissolubly uni-
ted, and that what is best suited to serve the consumer is
the most desirable for the producer.

It realizes the imperative necessity of keeping the con-
trol and policies of the industries free from influences which
prevent its serving best the interests of production, con-
sumption and conservation.

THE WASHINGTON LUMBER STANDARDIZATION
CONFERENCE.

Suggestions by Secretary Hoover.

The conference, national in scope, held by Secretary of
Commerce, Hoover, with lumber manufacturers and repres-
entatives of consumers from all over the United States, was
a development of first importance to all elements of the
industry.

To this conference Secretary Hoover made suggestions
for constructive action looking to

Simplification and standardization of nomenclature;

801094

•:"•." $»im'pli-f ication and standardization of sizes ;

>v j .r > - . . '. . .

Provision for and standardization of ways and means
for guarantees to the customers and the public; that is, for
the adoption of appropriate means, such as grade mark-
ing the lumber, car cards showing quantity and quality of
the lumber, etc., in order to assure the movement of the
lumber from the mill to the consumer, without manipula-
tion or change;

And a national instrumentality to provide, supervise,
and administer the necessary inspection service.

Conclusions and Recommendations by the Conference.

The Standardization Conference enthusiastically ap-
proved the program suggested to it and in response to the
suggestions made took the following action:

1. Recommended that the National Lumber Manufac-
turers' Association set up a competent committee with ef-
ficient engineering service, which should seek so far as pos-
sible to equalize grades in all woods, the said committee in
performing its work to confer with and secure the advice
of representatives of the consuming public, the Department
of Commerce and other Departments of the Government.

2. Resolved that grade rules should be based on the
needs of consumption and the ability of the producers with
the timber available to satisfy those needs; that grades
should be so made as to allocate the available supply to the
various consuming industries in proportion to their needs
and demands so that the products of the manufacturer may
be utilized with the least waste and therefore at the lowest
cost to the ultimate consumers.

3. Determined to recommend and work for the follow-
ing program to the end that our industry, as a whole, may
undertake to provide such inspection service and supervision
for the manufacturers in all associations, and those they
serve, as will guarantee the buyers of the product:

"1st. A, That all grading will be done by properly sup-
ervised and qualified graders or inspectors.

"B. That in case of complaint on account of the grade
or tally of any shipment, official association reinspection
will be available.

"C. That where buyers demand, and will pay the cost
a certificate made by a certified association inspector will
be furnished with each shipment so arranged for.

"2nd. To arrange for the placing in each car at the
mill of a card giving grade and contents of car.

"3rd. If found practicable, to place an association
grade mark on a sufficient portion of each shipment to pro-
tect the consumers or re-manufacturers from substitution.
Said grade mark to identify the member mill by number, the
Association it belongs to by letter or other copyrighted in-
signia, and the grade in plain nomenclature or easily under-
standable abbreviations thereof.

"4th. The purpose we desire to accomplish is to provide
a commodity that can be merchandised and cannot be mani-
pulated."

4. Recommended that The National Lumber Manufac-
turers' Association be designated and recommended as the
responsible agency for developing and maintaining the con-
tact by and between those who should collaborate upon the
subject. The resolution was as follows:

"RESOLVED, That with respect to the program inau-
gurated by the Department of Commerce concerning stand-
ardization, simplification, guarantees to the public, and sim-
ilar matters, that the contact between the lumber industry
and the Departments of Commerce and of Agriculture and
other governmental departments, the public and others in-
terested be through the National Lumber Manufacturers'
Association; and that the regional associations and others
representing lumber producers keep the National Lumber
Manufacturers' Association advised of the development and
status of the program undertaken by this conference."

Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute in Complete Accord.

The Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute unanimously
approved the work, accomplishment and purposes of the
Standardization Conference, and created effective machinery
to cooperate in and help carry to a successful conclusion the
work it has undertaken.

3

The resolutions embodying this approval, and defining
the policy of the Institute appear in full -hereinafter in this
pamphlet. Among other things it will be observed from
these resolutions that the manufacturers are unanimous in
their opinion that there is real need for a revision, reforma-
tion and re-formulation of the rules for the grading and in-
spection of hardwood lumber in the mutual interest of pro-
duction, consumption and conservation.

It will be further observed that in working out this
program, it will be done in a thorough and orderly way con-
serving the best interests of all — it is constructive, not de-
structive.

The Progress Being Made on the Standardization Program.

The National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, im-
mediately following the adjournment of the Standardization
Conference at Washington, vigorously took up the discharge
of the responsibilities imposed upon it by the conference by
the resolutions and recommendations above mentioned, and
arranged a series of conferences at the United States For-
est Products Laboratory, at Madison, Wis., at Chicago, and
at Portland, Oregon.

These conferences will be participated in by association
engineers, technical experts, representatives of producers,
distributors, and consumers, as well as by detached experts
such as representatives of the appropriate governmental de-
partments, architects and so forth.

WHAT THE RESULTS WILL BE.

The net result of this, when completed, will be the
most perfect standardization of every aspect of the industry
of which the subject is susceptible. This will embrace adopt-
ion of standard names for the different varieties of trees
or woods ; it will embody a standardization of sizes of mater-
ial and practices as to counting and computing same. An-
other result will be a standardized system of grade rules for
the grading and inspection of all lumber, embodying uni-
form, standardized names or nomenclature ; and a system of
practices, means and methods which will be the best possi-

ble to be devised to insure and guarantee that the consum-
ers and the public will receive, without change or manipula-
tion, what they buy and are entitled to receive. There will
be provided also a plan and agency for inspection or re-
inspection of lumber of such character that the integrity
and methods cannot be questioned to assure fairness and
justice to all.

This service will be open and available to everyone, pro-
ducer, consumer, dealer or any member of the public, upon
the payment of proper fees therefor.

The Hardwood Manufacturer's Institute looks forward
to the early accomplishment of this highly desirable program
with the greatest enthusiasm. It is endeavoring to aid in
the achievement, and will fully support and conform to these
policies, and the measures which may be necessary to make
them effective.

The Policy of the Institute Pending the Completion
of the National Standardization Program.

Until standardized rules, thus scientifically arrived at, are
formulated and announced, The Hardwood Manufacturers' In-
stitute will use temporarily in the interim the rules adopted at the
Louisville meeting, being those which were then in use by the
American Hardwood Manufacturers1 Association; at the same
time the Sales Code of the said Association was adopted by the
Institute.

Inspection Service.

The inspection service of the Institute, for original or re-in-
spection service, for domestic or export business is adequate and
available and is open to everyone desiring to avail themselves
thereof, member and non-member, producer and consumer alike.

Statistical Service.

The Institute is just now perfecting plans for an effi-
cient statistical service, pursuant to the resolutions adopted
at Louisville, as full and adequate as possible, consistent with
the legal limitations which must be observed.

There can be no question that there is ample field with-
in clear legal rights for statistical work of inestimable value
to both producers and consumers.

Importance of Accomplishing the Standardization Ideals.

The accomplishment of the ideals of the Washington
Standardization Conference is of the utmost importance to
the producers and consumers, as well as the legitimate deal-
ers; and all should work for that common purpose. The
Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute believes that these
ideals are right and their attainment assured. It believes
that it is deserving of the moral support of consumers, be-
cause of the policies for which it stands. Its rules and sales
code are free to be used by any who desire to use them — and
its inspection service open and available to all. These are
very fair and satisfactory to buyers, embodying, for exam-
ple, such provisions as that in case of question as to grade
of lumber, (quantity not being involved) the buyer may use
all not subject to question, keeping for adjustment only
that portion of shipment concerning which question is raised.

The Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute is deserving
of the unqualified support of the public, because it stands
for those policies which at once tend to best serve and con-
serve the interest of production, consumption and conserva-
tion of our hardwood timber resources.

CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I
Name

The name of this organization shall be The Hardwood
Manufacturers' Institute.

ARTICLE II
Objects and Purposes

The objects and purposes of this Institute shall be:

1. To secure and disseminate a full understanding of
the facts and conditions concerning and effecting the Hard-
wood Industry;

2. To provide and adopt and assist in the adoption and
establishment of measures designed and intended to provide
and establish;

Uniform standards and improved methods of manufac-
turing and marketing hardwood forest products.

Uniform standardized nomenclature for the industry.

Standardized rules for the grading, inspection and cer-
tification of lumber and forest products.

An inspection service for the enforcement and adminis-
tration of said rules, adequate to meet all needs therefor.

Appropriate and efficient means for guaranteeing, to
purchasers and the public, the integrity of grades, the qual-
ity and quantity of lumber and the improvement of trade
practices ;

3. To acquire, preserve and disseminate information
respecting the industry.

5. To enlist the co-operation of the consumers in pro-
moting the mutual interests of producers and consumers.

6. To adopt such means as will promote the wisest
utilizations and the prevention of waste, thereby serving
the cause of conservation of our timber resources.

ARTICLE III

Mum K A v c Vi i n

-:dmsnt to Section 1, of Article III, by the
ADDITION of the following paragraph:

The Board of Directors in its discretion, may
provide for membership in the Institute, by the
owners of Hardwood or Cypress stumpage or timber
and timber lands, and also by those engaged or
interested in activities which are related to or
closely allied with the producing branches of the

hardwood industry, and shall also determine the je

elegibility, rights and privileges of such members* ft

(May 11, 1923, Annual Convention, Chicago)

r— Jl

for cause, by a majority vote of the Board of Directors but
no member shall be expelled without being given thirty days
written notice of the charges preferred and an opportunity
to appear before the Board and present his defense.

ARTICLE IV
Departments

Section 1. The activities of the Institute may be con-
ducted by and through such appropriate departments, div-
isions or bureaus as may from time to time be determined
upon by it.

Section 2. Until and unless the Institute at a regular
meeting (or special meeting called for the purpose) acts in
the creation of said departments, divisions or bureaus, the
Board of Directors shall have full authority to act in the
premises, in the creation and setting up said departments,
divisions or bureaus and defining their duties and the scope
of their activities.

8

ARTICLE V
Initiation Fees and Dues

Section 1. The initiation fee shall be $25.00 for mem-
bership in the Institute, and upon payment of same and
election to membership, the Board of Directors shall issue
a Certificate of Membership in the Institute; but member-
ship in the Institute cV.aH -^^ i -'-

Amendment to Section 2, of Article V, by the
ADDITION of the following paragrapht

Class E. This class shall comprise all members
who are not included in the classes set out in
the preceding paragraphs of this section, and
Board of Directors shall determine and fix the
dues, fees and assessments of members under this
class*

(May 11, 1923, Annual Convention, Chicago)

-. .Tv, ^in/o per uiuusana leet Jog scale, based

on the average annual cut for the five years prior to 1922,
or such part thereof as the member may have operated.

Class B. — Fifteen cents per thousand feet, flitch meas-
urement or face measurement of veneer, reduced to flitch
measurement, based on the average annual production for
the five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the
member may have operated.

Class C. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure
based on the average annual footage of logs used for the
five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the mem-
ber may have operated.

Class D. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure bas-
ed on the average annual footage of logs used for the five
years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the member
may have operated.

9

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section 1. Individuals, firms or corporations who are
bona fide producing manufacturers of hardwood lumber or
other hardwood forest products (including also such pro-
ducers of cypress lumber and cypress forest products) shall
be eligible to membership in the Institute. Every member
shall be entitled to one vote, voting shall be in person, prox-
ies shall not be permitted.

Section 2. Applications for membership (except at the
initial organization meeting) shall be made to the Secretary
in writing, and be accompanied by the initiaton fee. All
such applications for membership shall be referred to the
Membership Committee, and if approved, shall be acted upon
by the Board of Directors at its next meeting. A majority
vote of the Board of Directors shall be sufficient to elect an
applicant to membership.

Section 3. Any member may be suspended or expelled
for cause, by a majority vote of the Board of Directors but
no member shall be expelled without being given thirty days
written notice of the charges preferred and an opportunity
to appear before the Board and present his defense.

ARTICLE IV
Departments

Section 1. The activities of the Institute may be con-
ducted by and through such appropriate departments, div-
isions or bureaus as may from time to time be determined
upon by it.

Section 2. Until and unless the Institute at a regular
meeting (or special meeting called for the purpose) acts in
the creation of said departments, divisions or bureaus, the
Board of Directors shall have full authority to act in the
premises, in the creation and setting up said departments,
divisions or bureaus and defining their duties and the scope
of their activities.

8

ARTICLE V
Initiation Fees and Dues

Section 1. The initiation fee shall be $25.00 for mem-
bership in the Institute, and upon payment of same and
election to membership, the Board of Directors shall issue
a Certificate of Membership in the Institute; but member-
ship in the Institute chaii ~~+ i

i Amendment to Section 2, of Article V, by the
ADDITION of the following paragraph!

Class E. This class shall comprise all members
who are not included in the classes set out in
the preceding paragraphs of this section, and
Board of Directors shall determine and fix the
dues, fees and assessments of members under this

(May 11, 1923, Annual Convention, Chicago)

uiousana leet Jog scale,~based
on the average annual cut for the five years prior to 1922,
or such part thereof as the member may have operated.

Class B. — Fifteen cents per thousand feet, flitch meas-
urement or face measurement of veneer, reduced to flitch
measurement, based on the average annual production for
the five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the
member may have operated.

Class C. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure
based on the average annual footage of logs used for the
five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the mem-
ber may have operated.

Class D. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure bas-
ed on the average annual footage of logs used for the five
years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the member
may have operated.

ARTICLE III
Membership

Section 1. Individuals, firms or corporations who are
bona fide producing manufacturers of hardwood lumber or
other hardwood forest products (including also such pro-
ducers of cy — nn i"™irx*r and cypress forest products) shall
be eligible t<
shall be enti
ies shall not

Section
initial orgar
in writing,
such applic;
Membershij
by the Boa]
vote of the
applicant t<

Sectioi
for cause, 1
no member
written no
to appear 1

ARTICLE IV
Departments

Section 1. The activities of the Institute may be con-
ducted by and through such appropriate departments, div-
isions or bureaus as may from time to time be determined
upon by it.

Section 2. Until and unless the Institute at a regular
meeting (or special meeting called for the purpose) acts in
the creation of said departments, divisions or bureaus, the
Board of Directors shall have full authority to act in the
premises, in the creation and setting up said departments,
divisions or bureaus and defining their duties and the scope
of their activities.

8

ARTICLE V
Initiation Fees and Dues

Section 1. The initiation fee shall be $25.00 for mem-
bership in the Institute, and upon payment of same and
election to membership, the Board of Directors shall issue
a Certificate of Membership in the Institute; but member-
ship in the Institute shall not be assignable or transferable.

Section 2. For the purpose of fixing the rates of dues,
the membership of the Institute shall be divided into the
following classes :

Class A. — This class shall comprise the manufacturers
of hardwood ( and Cypress) lumber.

Class B. — This class shall comprise the manufacturers
of sawn and sliced veneers.

Class C. — This class shall comprise the manufacturers
of Commercial Rotary Veneers.

Class D. — This class shall comprise the manufacturers
of other Hardwood Forest Products, such as Box Shooks,
Veneer for Box Shooks, Staves, Headings, Ties and Dimen-
sion Stocks.

Section 3. For the remainder of the present calendar
year the dues of the said respective classes shall be as fol-
lows:

Class A. — Five cents per thousand feet log scale, based
on the average annual cut for the five years prior to 1922,
or such part thereof as the member may have operated.

Class B. — Fifteen cents per thousand feet, flitch meas-
urement or face measurement of veneer, reduced to flitch
measurement, based on the average annual production for
the five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the
member may have operated.

Class C. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure
based on the average annual footage of logs used for the
five years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the mem-
ber may have operated.

Class D. — Five cents per thousand feet log measure bas-
ed on the average annual footage of logs used for the five
years prior to 1922, or such part thereof as the member
may have operated.

9

In all classes in case of a member beginning operations
the fee shall be based upon the estimated production of the
current year.

Provided, however, that the minimum dues for said
first year per member, shall be $50.00.

Said dues shall be paid at such times and in such in-
stallments as directed by the Board of Directors.

Section 4. After the first year the dues of the mem-
bers for the respective classes shall be fixed from time to
time by the Board of Directors.

Section 5. When an assessment of dues is made, it shall
be binding on all who are memhers at the time such assess-
ment is levied, and any member failing to pay same, or any
installment thereof, within thirty days after it is due, will
be subject to suspension.

Section 6. Any member who has paid his dues and oth-
er obligations in full for the calendar year may withdraw
from the Institute by giving thirty days notice in writing
and surrendering his Membership Certificate.

ARTICLE VI
Meetings

Section 1. There shall be an Annual Meeting for the
election of officers and the transaction of other business
each year; the exact date and place of such meeting shall
be fixed by the Board of Directors and notice of such meet-
ing shall be mailed to all members of the Institute, at least
thirty days prior to the holding thereof.

A semi-annual meeting for the transaction of general
business may be held each year, notice of which shall be
given in the same manner as for the Annual Meeting. Spec-
ial meetings of the Institute may be called by the President
or by a majority of the Board of Directors, but at least fif-
teen days notice shall be given of the time, place and pur-
pose for holding such meeting.

Section 2. Meetings of the Board of Directors shall
be held at the call of the President; or a majority of the
Board may call and hold meetings at such times and such
places as they think fit.

10

ARTICLE VII
Quorum

Section 1. At any regular or called meeting of the In-
stitute, those attending being not less than fifty, shall con-
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 2. At any regular or called meeting of the
Board of Directors, those attending being not less than sev-
en, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 3. At any regular or called meeting of the Ex-
ecutive Committee, those attending being not less than five,
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

ARTICLE VIII
Officers and Directors

Section 1. The officers of this Institute shall con-
sist of a President, First and Second Vice Presidents, a
Treasurer, Secretary-Manager and Twenty-one Directors.

Section 2. The President, Vice Presidents, and Treas-
urer shall be elected by ballot at each Annual Meeting for a
period of one year.

Section 3. At the First Meeting of the Institute there
shall be elected twenty-one Directors, seven of whom shall
be elected for a term of three years, seven of whom shall be
elected for a term of two years, and seven of whom shall be
elected for a term of one year, and at each succeeding An-
nual Meeting there shall be elected seven Directors for a
period of three years.

Section 4. The Elective Officers and Directors shall
constitute a Board of Directors, and shall hold office until
their successors have been elected and duly qualified.

Section 5. The President and six of the Directors shall
constitute an Executive Committee. The appointment to
the Executive Committees shall be made by the President
at the Annual Meeting, to serve one year, and said appoint-
ments shall be approved by the Board of Directors. The
Executive Committee shall have the full power of the Board
of Directors save at such times as the Board of Directors
are in session.

11

Section 6. The Executive Committee shall meet at the
call of the President as often as the business of the Institute
requires.

Section 7. The Secretary-Manager shall be appointed
and salary fixed by the Board of Directors and be subject
to the direction of the Board of Directors.

Section 8. The President shall at each annual meeting
appoint a Nominating Committee to prepare a ticket of Of-
ficers and Directors to be voted upon, but nominations oth-
er than those submitted by the Committee may be made
from the floor. A majority of all votes cast shall be neces-
sary for the election of any candidate to office.

Section 9. In the case of vacancies on the Board of
Directors or in any of the official positions, the same shall
be filled by the Board of Directors at any meeting.

ARTICLE IX
Duties of Officers

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the President to pre-
side at all meetings of the Institute.

Section 2. In the absence of the President, the First
Vice President and in the absence of both, the Second Vice
President shall perform the duties of the President.

Section 3. The Treasurer shall keep an account of all
moneys received and expended for the use of the Institute
and shall make distribution only upon vouchers issued by
authority delegated by the Board of Directors. When his
term of office expires he shall deliver to his successor all
moneys, books, papers or other property in his possession
belonging to the Institute, or in the absence of the Treasur-
er-elect, same shall be delivered to the President.

Section 4. It shall be the duty of the Secretary-Man-
ager to give notice of and attend all meetings of the Insti-
tute and th* Board of Directors to keep a list of all mem-
bers of the Institute; to collect all dues and pay them to
the Treasurer; to keep properly classified accounts of all
receipts and expenditures; to prepare an annual and semi-
annual report of all transactions and the condition of the
Institute and to perform any and all duties which may be
required of him by the Board of Directors.

12

Section 5. The Board of Directors shall have power
to select its chairman; to appoint Committees from the
membership of the Board or of the Institute; to receive
moneys and to disburse same, to devise and to carry into
effect such measures as they may deem proper and expedi-
ent to promote the objects of the Institute; and shall be
vested with full powers of the Institute, save at such times
as the Institute is in session.

ARTICLE X
Amendment to the Constitution and By-Laws

Section 1. The Constitution may be amended at any
meeting of the Institute by a majority vote of the members
present, but no amendment shall be considered at any such
meeting unless written notice of the proposed amendment
or changes shall have been submitted to the membership at
least thirty days prior to the date of such meeting, and it
shall further be the duty of the Secretary-Manager to incor-
porate any proposed amendments or changes in the call or
notice for the holding of the said meeting.

Section 2. The Board of Directors of the Institute
shall be authorized to make and amend the By-Laws of the
Institute.

13

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE I

Section 1. The order of business shall be as follows:

Roll Call.

Reading of the Minutes of the last meeting.

Report of the officers.

Report of Committees.

General Business.

Election of Officers (at annual meeting.)

New Business.

Adjournment.

Section 2. Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the
meeting of the Institute and its subservant bodies as to par-
liamentary usages when not inconsistent with the Consti-
tution and By-Laws.

Section 3. The Secretary, at any regular meeting shall
make a register of all those present entitled to vote.

ARTICLE II
Committees

Section 1. The President shall annually appoint stand-
ing committees as hereinafter enumerated for the purposes
as designated.

Section 2. All standing or special committees of this
Institute shall have full power to act, subject to the ratifi-
cation of the Board of Directors at any meeting of same.

Section 3. Committee on Membership: To take such
steps as are necessary to increase the membership of the
Institute ; to receive and to pass upon the eligibility of those
making application for membership, taking into considera-
tion their status as manufacturers and their business in-
tegrity and reputation.

Section 4. Committee on Assessments: Consisting of
five members, who shall assess the annual dues as provided
in Article V of the Constitution, with power to have audited
the records of the members as to their production.

14

Section 5. Committee on Advertising: This Commit-
tee shall consist of five members and shall co-ordinate and
supervise, subject to the Board of Directors, such advertis-
ing as the Institute may cause to be done.

Section 6. Committee on Finance: To consist of three
members, who shall attend to the auditing of the books of
the Institute and handle such other matters as should prop-
erly come before such a committee.

Section 7. Committee on Resolutions: To consist of
three members to be appointed by the President at each
meeting of the Institute, to which shall be referred all mat-
ters which should properly come before such a committee.

Section 8. Committee on Reports and Statistics: To
work out plans for the securing and tabulating of such in-
formation and statistics as will be of interest and value to
the membership and to determine on the form in which in-
formation shall be distributed to the public, with power to
have audited the records of the members on which their re-
ports are based.

Section 9. Committee on Standardization, Nomencla-
ture, Grading and Inspection Rules and Inspection Service:
To consist of five members to whom shall be referred and
who shall consider and make recommendations in respect to
all subjects respecting, Standardization, Nomenclature,
Grading and Inspection Rules and Inspection Service, report-
ing thereon to the Board of Directors.

Section 10. Committee on Press and Publicity: To
consist of three members.

ARTICLE III

Section 1. The Board of Directors may in accordance
with Article X, Section 2, of the Constitution amend these
By-Laws and make such additional By-Laws and Rules for
the transaction of the business of the Institute as its devel-
opment may require.

15

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE HARDWOOD

MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE, LOUISVILLE, KY.

JUNE 15th and 16th, 1922.

The members of The Hardwood Manufacturers' Insti-
tute, duly assembled at the Henry Watterson Hotel, Louis-
ville, Ky., June 15, 16, 17, 1922, in open session do unani-
mously resolve :

1. That, WHEREAS, at the Conference held at Wash-
ington, D. C., May 22nd to 26th, 1922, between the Secre-
tary of Commerce, Honorable Herbert C. Hoover, and dele-
gates from the various associations representing Lumber
Manufacturers, Secretary Hoover suggested that efforts be
made to the standard sizes and nomenclature, determine on
a system of grade branding lumber, and other means for
affording guarantees to, and for the protection of the pub-
lic the establishment of a National Independent Agency for
the administration of inspection of all kinds of lumber, and

WHEREAS, delegates of the American Hardwood
Manufacturers* Association participated in the said confer-
ence and by vote and action supported in every detail, the
suggestions made by the Secretary of Commerce, and pledg-
ed themselves to fully co-operate in the accomplishment of
the program outlined.

Therefore, the action and course of conduct of the said
delegates in the said Washington Conference aforesaid are
hereby approved, and the said delegates are commended
for the efficient and patriotic way in which they represented
the wishes and purposes of the hardwood lumber manufac-
turers.

2. That they endorse as a whole the purposes, work
and accomplishments of the said Washington Standardiza-
tion Conference, and pledge the support of the Institute in
carrying the program suggested by Secretary Hoover to an
early and successful conclusion.

3. That they congratulate Secretary Hoover, and the
officers of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association
upon their vision and insight in calling said conference, and

16

upon the remarkable measure of success attending the ses-
sions of the conference as a whole.

4. THAT; In the interest of the preservation of self
government in industry, and of the ideals of individual en-
terprise under the law, we commit ourselves to make ef-
fective, in conjunction with the other lumber producers,
the following program :

(1.) Simplification and equalization of hardwood lum-
ber grades, and standardization of sizes, so far as consistent
with the reasonable needs of the hardwood consumers and
with economy in manufacture;

(2.) Grade marking, as a practical measure of protect-
ion to the buyer and consumer;

(3.) Inspection service available to producers, distribu-
tors and consumers, supervised and administered by a Na-
tional Lumber Inspection. Bureau.

(4.) Arbitration of such disputes as to grade, size quan-
tity or delivery as may not have been satisfactorily
disposed of by official re-inspection.

5. That they favor the equalization and simplifica-
tion of grades in all woods, and the adoption of standard
names, nomenclature or designations therefor, and the adop-
tion and creation of means to guarantee to purchasers and
the public the quantity and quality of lumber and to assure
the elimination of objectionable trade practices which have
heretofore obtained in some phases of merchandising lum-
ber.

. They approve the action of the Washington Standardi-
zation Conference on this subject, and recommend that the
Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute appoint a committee on
standardization charged with the special duty of co-operat-
ing with the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association,
in dealing with the subjects pursuant to the action taken at
the Washington conference aforesaid.

6. That; WHEREAS, it will require sometime to cre-
ate and adopt a national system of standard nomenclature
for hardwood lumber and a national system of rules for the
grading and inspection thereof; it is recommended that in

17

the interim, and temporarily, the rules in use at the present
by the American Hardwood Manufacturers' Association be
used by the Institute, and

It is further recommended and resolved that the In-
spection service of the Hardwood Manufacturers* Institute
be used by all needing inspection service.

AND THAT, until otherwise directed the services of
this Institute shall be available upon the following terms
and conditions:

a. The Inspection service to be available to every
one whether they are members of this organization or
not at such reasonable cost as may be fixed by the
Board of Directors.

b. In case the dispute between buyer and seller con-
cerns only the grade and not the measurement of lum-
ber shipped, the buyer should be required to only hold
intact that portion of the shipment which in his judg-
ment does not comply with specifications of the grade
for which it was sold.

c. In the event either party to a re-inspection is not
satisfied with the finding of the inspector, the right of
appeal within five days of such finding is extended to
either of the interested parties, and a second inspection
shall be made by the chief inspector.

d. When an inspection by the chief inspector is re-
quested by a consumer (in this class is included all
manufacturers, fabricators and retailers) the national
association representing the industry to which such
consumer belongs is invited to select a thoroughly com-
petent inspector to be present when the inspection is
made by the chief inspector, so that all members of the
industry involved may be satisfied that the inspection
has been fairly and properly administered.

7. That they are in complete accord with the views
of the Washington Conference aforesaid as embodied in the
following resolution:

"RESOLVED, That the formulation of rules for the
grading and inspection of lumber is a function of the manu-
facturers and that grade rules should be based on the needs

18

of consumption and the ability of the producers with the
timber available to satisfy those needs, and that grades
should be so made as to allocate the available supply to the
various consuming industries in proportion to their needs
and demands so that the products of the manufacturers may
be utilized with the least waste, and therefore, at the lowest
cost to the ultimate consumer."

8. That in respect to hardwood lumber there is real
need, for a revision, reformation and re-formation of the
rules for the grading and inspection of hardwood lumber for
the reasons that:

(1.) Each grade of lumber that is made should
have for its purpose the answering of some particular
consuming or fabrication requirement and should be
constructed in line with these needs as closely as possi-
ble and as nearly as can be done consistently with the
timber that is available and economical production
methods.

(2.) Admittedly, hardwood lumber manufacturers
would be unable at once to draft specifications that
would properly conform with the principles herein set
forth, on account of the vast number of different woods
involved and the many different uses to which they are
put. This is a problem that can only be worked out
properly after thorough scientific research, and largely
constitutes an engineering problem. It is recommend-
ed that a competent forestry products engineer be em-
ployed by this Association to make an exhaustive study
of this problem, taking up each wood separately and
submitting at a later date, suggestions for the proper
construction of the grades, based on consuming require-
ments and in conformity with the manufacturing capa-
bilities of the producer.

(3.) The hearty co-operation of the consumer is es-
sential to the success of this plan and it is suggested
that each National Organization representing the vari-
ous branches of consuming or fabricating industries
using hardwoods employ competent engineers to consid-
er the subject from their standpoint and to confer with
the engineer of this Institute relative to their particular

19

needs, resulting, it is believed, in the eventual complete
agreement between the producer and the consumer and
the elimination of much of the waste that now occurs
in the utilization of hardwood lumber.

9. THAT they condemn;

All grade jugglery and manipulation, whether prac-
ticed by the producer, wholesaler, retailer, or any other
branch of the industry, is condemned and this Institute
brands the intentional shipment of lumber of a quality be-
low the grade specified as plain dishonesty. It pledges itself
to endeavor to eliminate all such practices, to expel from this
membership anyone who may be found guilty of such prac-
tices and to use its weight and influence not only in the pre-
vention but also in the punishment of such offenses.

10. THAT they believe ;

All lumber should be plainly grade marked. Each
piece that is shipped should bear the mill grade mark and
everything possible should be done to protect the public and
to place the products of the mill in the hands of the ultimate
consumer without grade substitution or manipulation.

11. They favor the adoption of a sales code that will
place the industry on a high moral plane making clear the
obligations of buyer and seller and the Institute solicits the
concurrence in such sales code by the national organization
representing the various branches of consumers using hard-
woods.

12. That this Institute pledges itself to insist upon its
individual members carrying out their commercial obliga-
tions and appeals to the national associations representing
those industries using its products to co-operate with it in
this matter with a view of placing the contractual relations
between the producer and consumer on a basis that shall be
above criticism.

13. That they favor the settlement of disputes arising
between its members and the users of its products by arbi-
tration. The support of all national associations represent-
ing the users of hardwoods, to this principle of arbitration
is solicited and it is recommended that commercial disputes

20

arising between members of various industries be settled
by arbitration, according to such plans as may be decided up-
on by all associations involved, to be fair and equitable.

14. THAT they favor;

The establishment of a technical department in
charge of a competent engineer for the purpose of supply-
ing to the consuming public such reliable information as
may be of assistance to it in determining the relative value
of various woods for specific purposes or of wood as com-
pared with other materials. This department also to be
used for the purpose of carrying on such research work as
may be necessary or desirable to promote the elimination of
waste and develop more economical and efficient uses of
lumber.

15. THAT they recommend;

The collection and dissemination of such statistics as
will be beneficial to all branches of the industry and to the
public and as may be determined to be in accordance with
the law.

16. THAT they believe;

Much good can be derived for all concerned through
a closer contact and co-operation between the producer and
the consumer and suggests the appointment of a commit-
tee by the various national associations representing the
users of hardwoods, with which committee a like committee
from this organization can confer regarding questions that
are of mutual interest to the end that the manufacturing
practices of the producer be made to conform as closely as
possible with the needs of the public and to enable the in-
dustry to provide the maximum service at the lowest possi-
ble cost.

17. THAT this Institute at once apply for member-
ship in and fully affiliate with the National Lumber Man-
ufacturers' Association.

21

ADDRESS OF C. H. SHERRILL IN ACCEPTING OFFICE

OF TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN AT MANUFACTURERS'

MEETING, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY,

JUNE 15th, 1922.

I assure you that I appreciate this honor very deeply.
I do not know how to express it other than to use the fol-
lowing words: From the depth of my heart my mouth
speaketh. To have the endorsement of my fellow workers,
those with whom I break bread at the table of industry in
which I am interested is worth far more to me than to be
crowned with the jeweled crown of public service.

We have gone through the valley of the shadow of un-
certainty and distress during the past several months and
we have stood shoulder to shoulder to meet the issues
which were unpleasant, and unprofitable to us from a finan-
cial standpoint; but we have come through those periods of
distress and uncertainty to an era which today I think
points to a consumation second to none that has ever come to
the lumber industry of the United States.

It is needless to say that I tremble as I approach the
responsibility that goes with this position in which you have
placed me because in a measure it is expected from a Tem-
porary Chairman that he shall offer some remarks dealing
with principles that may or may not be endorsed and it is
not without fear and trembling that I offer my own express-
ions because I am democratic enough in principles to accept
the edict of the majority of those with whom I labor.

But I believe that you endorse the principles which I
am going to give you in just a few brief words, that the
hour has arrived in the lumber industry in this country when
we have to recognize the fact that we must build on the
principle of equal rights to all the special privileges to none.
I think I express your sentiments in those words and I be-
lieve they will have the unanimous endorsement of this
body, because from these conferences will come a true his-
tory of the state of affairs that reflect to us as never re-
flected before the undeveloped thought that has been ne-
glected in the hardwood industry during the years that have
gone by.

22

I do not believe you will challenge the statement when
I say that the hardwood industry stands out prominently
as the one factor in the industrial world of this country
which has made the least progress. We are today making
hardwood lumber just exactly as it was made one hundred
years ago. There are a few improvements in the methods of
transportation of the logs to the mill but the same principles
are there that carry it through the saw, out into the yard,
to the railroad car and off to the ultimate consumer. That
is not true of any other branch of the lumber industry, the
yellow pine, fir, cedar, cypress or white pine. We are bound
to acknowledge that they have accomplished far more than
we have, notwithstanding the statements of some of the
most eminent men in the industry to the contrary. The
time is at hand when we must recognize the fact that the
hour for progress is here and that a step forward must be
made. I hail with delight the great thought that came as
an inspiration from the Secretary of Commerce when he
caught the vision that it was necessary for the United
States Government through one of its department heads to
tell the lumber industry of the country that they must come
and sit at his table and listen to what he was giving to the
world.

I was fortunate to be asked as a representative of the
American Hardwood Manufacturers' Association to that
conference and I must acknowledge that the great vision I
got in the few moments of the early part of that pro-
gram revealing to me the surety and certainty and the ab-
solute soundness of my thoughts on the same subject years
ago, and that I have expressed wherever I could, that we
have failed in the past to take into account the great public
which must be protected by our Federal authorities. We
have all along neglected that great factor. We have only
considered from a selfish standpoint the quickest way to get
the money and the results. We have lost sight of the great
consuming public and today we are confronted in my opin-
ion with the great thought that I expressed a moment ago,
that it is the business of the United States Government to
protect its people and I believe I express the sentiments of
every hardwood manufacturer in the United States when he

23

is in sober thought and free from petty prejudices when
I say that I hail with delight the great principle before us
and that we should adopt the great constructive program
set up by Secretary Hoover in the great Washington con-
ference of May 22nd.

It seems to me that it is not allocated to your Tem-
porary Chairman the duty and necessity of covering the en-
tire field for thought and consideration during the confer-
ence, but I believe we should be impressed with these
thoughts at the beginning, namely: that we have two prin-
ciples that we must not overlook and that both must stand
out boldly in all of our considerations. One is that there
must be a standardization of name, quality and sizes of all
lumber produced in the United States to the fullest extent
possible. And the other thought is that this service must be
given to the public on the same basis that it is given to the
members of the association. I am glad that the Department
of Commerce at Washington has taken up this standardiza-
tion program and I want to apologize for the fact that our
organization in the past has not cooperated with that great
branch of the Government as we should have, for we have
lately seen the influence that can be exerted through the
head of that Department.

If you will grant me the privilege of reading one or two
paragraphs which doubtless many of you have read before
I shall be pleased to do so. The first one thus states :

"The hope of the Department of Commerce in calling
this preliminary conference was provision of a system
throughout the country for inspection and guaranty of
the quality, quantity and grade of lumber with a view
to affording all possible protection to the consuming
public ; that ways would be found to simplify the dimen-
sions of lumber *and secure the right proportion of lum-
ber to different types of consumers with a view to
eliminate waste, decreasing cost of distribution, and to
see that agencies for accomplishing these purposes
should be set up by the lumber industry itself.

"The Secretary of Commerce proposed that a nation-
al system of inspection and certification should be cre-
ated by the industry to embrace all of the lumber trade ;

24

that descriptions of the different species of lumber as
to grade and quality should be made as uniform as pos-
sible throughout the country; that the inspection ser-
vice should be open to consumers in settlement of all
disputes ; and that, in order to better establish the rep-
utation of American lumber products abroad, this sys-
tem of inspection and certification should be extended
to foreign countries."

In the early sitting of this Conference at Washington,
sitting on the Committee on Names of Grades, I had the
honor and it was my pleasure to introduce the following
which was embodied in the Committee's report:

"Realizing the great field for thought in developing an
equality of grades in all woods and appreciating the possi-
bility of such accomplishment, we recommend that the Na-
tional Lumber Manufacturers' Association set up a compet-
ent committee with efficient engineering service, seeking in
so far as possible to equalize grades in all woods and that
said committee confer with representatives of the consum-
ing public, the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture
and other agencies of the Government in their efforts as
the occasion may demand."

The Committee on Guarantees of Quantity and Quality
passed the following resolution:

Resolved : That the formulation of rules for the grad-
ing and inspection of lumber is a function of the man-
ufacturers and that grade rules should be based on the
needs of consumption and the ability of the producers
with the timber available to satisfy those needs, and
that grades should be so made as to allocate the avail-
able supply to the various consuming industries in pro-
portion to their needs and demands so that the products
of the manufacturers may be utilized with the least
waste and, therefore, at the lowest cost to the ultimate
consumer.

But concretely speaking, this whole program is only a
furtherance of the great thought expressed by the Declara-
tion of Independence handed to us generations and genera-
tions ago, growing sweeter and dearer to us as the days
come and go, and I repeat a statement I made a moment ago,

25

that we must have equal rights to all and special privileges
to none.

In closing let me urge that we be big enough and broad
enough to let the dead past, bury its dead, and grasp new
thoughts in keeping with the Declaration of Independence.
The big idea is to forget petty differences, go into these de-
liberations with only constructive thoughts and criticism
and forget everything that may have ought of destructive
nature connected with it. This is no time to consider the
bickerings of the past. This is no time to consider little
petty jealousies. Let us present one common solid front,
standing by the thought as expressed in the Standardization
Conference in Washington on May 22, and continue to pre-
sent that front, and that when the time comes for the meet-
ing for the setting up of the standard grades and guaranty
to the public we shall be enrolled among the mighty, and
that we will not only be there with our brains and best con-
structive effort but that we shall be there in sufficient num-
ber to be recognized as proper representatives of the Am-
erican Hardwood Manufacturers of our country.

26

REPORT OF B. F. DULWEBER ON STANDARDIZATION

CONFERENCE, WASHINGTON, D. C.

MAY 22 TO 26, 1922.

There has been gradual betterment of conditions for
the hardwood saw mill operator but this improvement has
been pitably slow. We have been in bondage. We have
been unable to accomplish for ourselves or for those who use
our products what we would like. At last, thanks to the full
awakening of the industry, the realization to our plight by
our fellow manufacturers of other kinds of lumber and the
honest and sincere co-operation, that I am sure will result
from this meeting, the day of our deilverance is at hand.

I am on the program as submitting a report on behalf
of the committee representing Hardwood Lumber Manu-
facturers at the Conference of the Lumber interests with
Secretary of Commerce, Hoover, in Washington, May 22nd
to 26th. I am so impressed with the glorious opportunities
that are before us as a result of this Conference and the
great constructive development that I am sure will accrue
therefrom, that I hardly know where to begin and it is with
difficulty that I give voice to my thoughts. The conference
while preliminary in character, constitutes the greatest con-
structive step that has ever been taken in the industry and
the ultimate outcome will be greater stability in our own
business and better service and lower costs to the consumer
and the public. This will not be accomplished in a day but
its coming is as certain as death and taxes, and it can best
be speeded on its way by every one putting his shoulder to
the wheel and pushing for all he is worth.

There are little details that require adjusting in the
other lines of lumber manufacture, but these are insignifi-
cant in character and while there still exists some slight dif-
ference of opinion on certain questions, I predict that before
we have proceeded far, these differences will be completely
harmonized. While this conference will result in much good
to other branches of lumber manufacture, to hardwoods it
is as a gift from Heaven and through its medium for the
first time we will have real standardization.

27

Secretary Hoover expressed the belief that the indus-
try including all kinds of lumber should strive for

1. The construction of grades and specification to
best serve the public and standardization of nomencla-
ture as nearly as possible.

2. The grade branding of lumber at the mill and
guarantees to the public that it will obtain the grade
that it buys.

3. The simplification and standardization of sizes
as will make for greater economy in transportation,
production, distribution, etc.

Mr. Hoover also expressed the view that there should
be created by the industry, itself, a national instrumental-
ity of an entirely independent character that would be free
from suspicion and enjoy the confidence of the public for
the administration of inspection rules on all kinds of lum-
ber, in cases of disputes between buyer and seller; the ser-
vice of this organization to extend to foreign markets.

Your committee voted in favor of all of these proposi-
tions and they met with the almost unanimous approval of
the delegates in attendance.

The opinion prevails that unless the industry itself
brings about a betterment of conditions, that governmental
control and regulations was the alternative.

This view is absolutely correct, but I think it is agreed
that such intervention would be ill advised and would not
accomplish the same beneficial results which we, ourselves,
are capable of bringing about.

I am not appealing to you, my friends, however, to
join in and support this movement because of fear of gov-
ernmental intervention, for to my mind, "he who refrains
from crime because of the fear of punishment, is no bet-
ter than the criminal, himself." I am appealing to you to
join in this great forward movement because it is right,
and being right, it must eventually result to the material
good and profit of yourselves and of those you are seeking
to serve.

That the specifications covering the inspection rules
of hardwood are inadequate and are not scientifically con-
structed has long been realized by everyone who had given

28

the subject serious thought. In the beginning hardwoods
were used almost exclusively by furniture manufacturers
and this class of manufacturers at that time instead of
specializing in the manufacture of certain articles produced
a large variety of different pieces of furniture so that a
great variety of sizes of cuttings and different qualities
could be utilized.

It must also be borne in mind that at that time the
price of hardwood was materially lower than it is today and
that the average quality was very much higher, so that the
question of waste and economical utilization was not the im-
portant problem that it has since become. The result was
that at that time practically all hardwood was sold log run.
After a time it became evident that the term "Log Run"
meant nothing and that there was a wide difference in the
intrinsic value of different lots of log run lumber and for
the purposes purely of having some measure by which the
value of the log run product could be determined, hardwood
inspection rules were originally devised. Even after the ad-
vent of these rules, the consumers continued buying the
full product of the log, but instead of buying it at a fixed
average price, it was bought at different prices for the var-
ious grades which had been fixed by the inspection rules
adopted.

Today the situation as regards consumption of hard-
wood is entirely different and the same vehicle that may
have satisfactorily met the situation in the beginning, is at
this time wholly inadequate. The price of hardwoods due to
the greatly diminished supply of timber is very materially
higher and for the same cause the average quality is lower.
On the side of consumption, we find the furniture manufac-
turer specializing in the production of certain articles of
furniture instead of manufacturing general lines, thus re-
stricting the character of lumber that can be advantageous-
ly used in the various individual plants. In addition, we find
entirely new uses for hardwoods such as hardwood flooring,
interior trim, automobile bodies, etc., each presenting its
own peculiar problem.

It will be seen therefore, that the inspection rules for
hardwoods originally came into existence, not for the pur-

29

pose of creating grades that could be most advantageously
used for certain manufacturing needs, but constituted pure-
ly an arbitrary basis, having for its purpose the determina-
tion of the average value of the log run product ; and despite
the growth of the hardwood industry and the greater var-
iety of uses to which hardwoods are now put, we have con-
tinued to do business on this antiquated, costly and wasteful
basis of grading.

The lack of development in this important feature of
our business I feel is due to the following causes: —

1. We have lacked effective organization of the
hardwood manufacturers. We have had at different
times sectional organizations of manufacturers that
have accomplished much good but we have never had all
hardwood manufacturers from all parts of the country
united into one body and all working together for the
development and welfare of the industry.

2. Because of lack of co-operation on the part of
the manufacturer, the unscrupulous intermediate deal-
er has been able to inject himself into the situation and
largely through his efforts the present unscientific
basis of lumber inspection has been continued, his in-
terest in the matter being the profits derived through
grade manipulation and substitution which this sys-
tem encourages and makes possible.

3. The lack of interest on the part of the consumer.
It is surprising what little thought the average con-
sumer has given to lumber. Most manufacturing plants
using lumber also use other materials and we find them
employing consulting chemists, engineers and seeking
other competent advice as regards other material en-
tering into their work, but practically no thought has
been given to lumber and the tremendous waste that
has resulted in its utilization has been looked upon as
a necessary unavoidable evil. Only one consuming in-
dustry, the wagon and implement business, has given
any thought to this important subject and has grades
covering their consumption — such as box boards for in-
stance— that are truly scientific and that reduce waste
and utilization cost to the minimum.

30

That the present hardwood rules are wholly inadequate
and wasteful in the extreme, is an opinion that is shared by
competent engineers and experts who have had occasion to
study the problem. This seems clear from a passage which
I encountered only a few days ago in a pamphlet on "Wood
Waste Problems" issued by the Forest Products Laboratory
at Madison, Wisconsin, and written by Arthur T. Upson. —
This passage reads as follows:

"These rules are in most instances the outgrowth of
early conditions when the use of lumber was not re-
fined as it is today. The result is that the lumber grades
not only do not fully meet the requirements of use in
most cases, but they are so complex and misleading that
the average consumer has no assurance that he is get-
ting material best suited for his needs."

We must not delude ourselves in the belief that waste
and cost in the utilization of our product is no concern of
ours. I am sure that every thinking man realizes that every
dollar's worth of unnecessary waste or cost in utilization
is a direct tax on this industry and never was it so impor-
tant as now that such unnecessary waste and cost be elimi-
nated. The competition from now on, with metals, fiber
products and other wood substitutes will be extremely keen
and we can not carry the handicap of excessive cost of utili-
zation and successfully meet this competition.

Now the question arises, how are we to construct such
a set of rules as will enable our product to better meet the
needs of the consumer and minimize waste and cost utiliza-
tion ? Broadly speaking, every grade of lumber that is made
should have for its purpose the meeting of some particular
manufacturing need as closely as it is possible and in con-
formity with the timber that is available and economical
production practices. The question then arises, how is this
to be done?

I have for several years served as Chairman of the In-
spection Rules Committee of the American Hardwood Man-
ufacturers' Association and I yield to no man in the know-
ledge of inspection rules, either in their written specifica-
tions or in their actual application, nor in the practical uses
to which our product is put, but I do not mind admitting to

31

you frankly that I am wholly incapable of, within anything
like a reasonable time, suggesting specifications that will
properly meet this situation. Nor could any committee that
you might select satisfactorily accomplish this work.

The only way in which this problem can properly be
solved is to employ competent engineers to make a careful
study and survey of the situation, taking into account the
different uses to which our product is put and the natural
restrictions under which we are laboring, the character of
timber we have available and our manufacturing limitations.
The interest of the consumer should be developed and they
should be asked to assist our engineers in working out this
problem. Each wood should be considered separately and
the work could be very advantageously carried on in con-
junction with the Forest Service which has already col-
lected considerable data that would be of great value to us.

When all of this data had been collected, specifications
could then be provided that would meet the different con-
suming needs as closely as possible. It is the elimination
of waste and the reduction of cost that I am sure Mr. Hoov-
er primarily has in mind and the accomplishment of these de-
sired ends would be of material benefit to the producer,
consumer and the public.

The grade branding of lumber at the mill and proper
guarantees to the public are matters of extreme importance.
This industry has suffered untold injury through grade jug-
glery and manipulation and we should stand unitedly for the
elimination of such practices; and the grades of hardwoods
should be so standardized and thoroughly established that
when a man exchanges his money for our product he would
know absolutely that he was getting 100 cents on the dollar.

This is a doctrine that we must not only preach but
must live and practice, and I want to say to you that if there
is a single mill operator present who does not believe that
this is the right principle and who has not firmly resolved in
his own heart to deal honestly and fairly with the public
and to ship lumber exactly according to specifications of the
grades that may be devised, then I say to that man: Do not
come into this organization. If there be such a man, the day
will come when he will realize that this is the correct and

32

proper way to do business and, aside from the moral ques-
tion involved, will ultimately pay bigger dividends ; and when
that day of realization does come to him, he will find the
hand-clasp of welcome extended to him and we want him
to be one of us.

Mr. Hoover's other suggestion, involving the creation
of some national instrumentality of an independent charac-
ter for the administration of inspection rules on all kinds
of lumber is a splendid one and should have the unqualified
support of this meeting. Such an instrumentality could func-
tion, perhaps, through the National Lumber Manufacturers'
Association and its service could be extended to foreign
countries with the result of great stabilization in these mar-
kets and the creation of a confidence on the part of the for-
eign buyer that has been previously sorely lacking in Am-
erican industry.

In conclusion I want to say a few words regarding a
matter that is to me a most deplorable development. There
exists in the hardwood industry another organization com-
posed of wholesalers, dealers and some manufacturers and
an effort has been made to make it appear as tho this move-
ment is solely an attack on that organization. If any one
here present today is impelled by any such motive he is,
I am sure, entirely out of harmony with the spirit that ac-
tuates this great movement.

We are here, not in criticism of any other organization
nor in protest thereof, but for the purpose of bringing to-
gether all of the hardwood mills in this country, of uniting
into one organization all of that class of people possessing
a unity of interest to the end that we may improve condi-
tions within our industry and place ourselves in position
to more efficiently serve the public.

We have no word of criticism of the wholesaler or in-
termediate dealer who transacts his business honestly. He
is an important factor in the industry and should receive
encouragement. The wholesaler or dealer who thrives by
manipulation, substitution or other sharp practices is a para-
site and him do we condemn and we should not rest until he
has been completely eliminated.

The wholesalers or dealers have unity of interest and
should properly unite into one organization, and it is proper

33

that they should handle the problems that confront their
branch of industry without molestation from us. It is like-
wise proper that these problems that peculiarly affect the
manufacturer should be handled solely by the manufacturer
without interference from the distributor. The question of
inspection rules and other kindred questions are problems
that must be worked out by the producer with the assistance
of the consumer. The distributor is not concerned in these
problems and the honest wholesaler is content to merchan-
dise lumber of such standards as may be decided by the
manufacturer, with the assistance of the consumer, to best
meet the situation.

Do not permit ourselves to be embittered against fellow
hardwood manufacturers who may at this time not be asso-
ciated with us, because of unwarranted attacks on us by
some other organization to which they may belong. Remem-
ber, their interests are ours. Whatever good we accomplish
must be shared by them. They may not see things now just
as we do, but the day of awakening is not far distant. Grad-
ually the mist will clear from their eyes and they will see
where their interests lie. Until that day comes, we must
preserve a kindly helpful spirit toward them, make them
realize that at heart we are brothers, that their interests
are our interests and let them know that our doors are ever
open to them and that we look confidently to the future
which we know will find them firmly united with us in this
great constructive work we are undertaking.

We have been attacked unjustly, we have been misrep-
resented and lied about, but I beg of you, do not depart from
the path that leads to the accomplishment of our purpose
into the by-paths of senseless, groundless bickering.

We have no argument or dispute with any one, it must
be clear to all the world what we are seeking to accom-
plish and let us pursue the objective to a successful con-
clusion.

To those who seek to injure and destroy us let us an-
swer with a smile and treat them with the spirit that was
displayed by the humble Nazarene when he was attacked
and villified and which spirit he so forcibly expressed in
those simple words "Forgive them, for they know not what
they do."

34

STATEMENT BY MR. W. M. RITTER AT CONVENTION,
LOUISVILLE, JUNE 15th and 16th.

Mr. Ritter: — I would like to ask you to postpone any
talk from me. I can only repeat what these gentlemen have
been saying and simply weary you with listening to my rep-
etition.

Chairman Sherrill : — I do not think we can respect your
wishes, we want to hear from you.

Mr. Ritter: — I will say that the Chair is an autocrat. I
do not know that I can add anything to what has already
been said. It is rather embarrassing to me to try to say
something that would be interesting after the field has been
covered so ably by others. ******** I think we should all
become aroused to the importance of this situation. We have
a problem here. Must I say the same thing I said this morn-
ing?

The Chair: — Go to it.

Mr. Ritter: — Our problems are something like this. We
have been struggling along for twenty or twenty-five years.
We have had good years and we have had bad years, and
we have been trying to do our business on certain policies
and plans which we believe to be proper, and we have found
things existing from time to time that did not please us.
We fought it out single handed for a time and then tried
to get a lot of people to come in and help fight against these
evil practices.

I agree with our good friend, Dr. Compton, that we
want to avoid the criticism of the public, which might bring
about Governmental control. This criticism is made because
we have been sleeping at the switch and not working to
see that our business was conducted properly. Too many of
us have been willing when we sold a car of lumber that the
other fellow could do as he pleases with it, and the result
was that the man who made the lumber got the punish-
ment.

I think we have all felt that these evils should be cor-
rected, but we have been too prone to let "George" do it.

Now we have come here and there is something definite for
us to work at collectively. As individuals we cannot accom-
plish anything.

We were invited to Washington by the National Lum-
ber Manufacturers' Association at the suggestion of Sec-
retary Hoover, and we participated in all of the conferences
of which you have heard. I was never so thrilled and
so excited over the possibilities of what can be accomplish-
ed by that kind of cooperation with the National Lumber
Manufacturers' Association with the doors of the Depart-
ment of Commerce thrown open. I have never seen any-
thing that has enthused me so much, and if it is the last
thing I can do, I want to arouse you to the feeling I have
so that you will not allow anything to stop you from going
to the extreme end oT the road in carrying forward this
magnificent program. It is the manufacturers' problem. It
may cost you a little money, but you will get returns ten-
fold. You will get the returns when you do not know you
are getting them.

Our firm can probably stand the unsatisfactory condi-
tions and criticisms as well as any other. I do not mean to
say this boastingly, but I believe it is true. I want to help,
and I want each of you to help all you possibly can. I cer-
tainly will give my time for the success of this movement
as I have been doing for the last four or five months, for
I want to do my part towards placing the industry in the
best possible light. This should be done in justice to our-
selves and to the industry. I am for this program 100 per
cent and am willing to give of my time and money, if nec-
essary, for its success.

36

ADDRESS BEFORE

THE ORGANIZATION MEETING OF THE HARDWOOD
MANUFACTURERS' INSTITUTE, LOUISVILLE, KY.,

JUNE 16, 1922.
By Wm. A. Durgin.
Gentlemen :

These are pregnant days for the lumbermen! The
recent disscussions of your various groups with the Nation-
al Lumber Manufacturers' Association at the Department
of Commerce, may be regarded as the first step in a move-
ment which, we hope, will co-ordinate all parts of the great
lumber industry in the development of essential unity in
standards of service, of product and of business ethics.
While these discussions were essentially preliminary in
character, the interest shown by producers, distributors
and users, and the almost unanimous determination to go
forward in straightening out the tangle of grades, names,
sizes and inspection rules which now exist, give most en-
couraging promise of the prompt formulation and adoption
of genuine correctives.

Any one of these specific measures toward simplifica-
tion or standardization may well prove of great import, but
the underlying basis — the development of wise self-govern-
ment under the inspiration of the industries' now leaders —
is of far greater importance. The real question, we think,
is whether the lumber group can thus make effective the
wisdom and vision which some of its leaders possess in de-
terming a farsighted policy of high public service and of
fundamentally sound practice, or whether the lumber indus-
try and other great industries will permit the blindness of
immediate self-interest and of clique jealousies to so dom-
inate, that the great consuming public must, in self-defense,
insist upon Federal regulation as the only possible correct-
ive to the inevitable iniquities of an utterly self ish program.

This matter of sound self-government, as repeatedly
emphasized by Secretary Hoover, is fundamental to every
great industry, but, gentlemen, it is of especial significance
to lumbermen.

37

For many years our people have realized the almost
public utility nature of your business, founded as it is upon
control of one of the great elements of national wealth. Re-
cently, instances of malpractice have focused public atten-
tion on the industry with telling concentration, and while
these dishonesties have been limited to very few, the entire
group is in some measure hampered by suspicion.

Certainly no time could be imagined more favorable for
the development of an new breadth and unity among all
branches of lumber. Secretary Hoover has sugested, as you
know, a most promising means to this end — the establish-
ment by your industry of a national inspection bureau sup-
ported pro rata by the several associations, and available
to every citizen upon payment of appropriate fees. His
thought is not that the inspection of the National Bureau
shall supersede present services of grading, sizing and in-
spection, but that the new organization shall co-ordinate
these services and gradualy develop any necessary modifi-
cations of sectional practice required to give greatest stabil-
ity to the lumber business and greatest ability to the lumber
user.

Let me emphasize again, that there is in the Secretary's
proposal no implication of the necessary substitution of a
new service for services already functioning properly ; rath-
er his proposal is the co-ordination of present services under
a representative national organization which can aid in the
broadest and most constructive development of the lumber
resources of America.

This proposal the Department of Commerce feels to be
basic. Without a def inete correlation of all lumber inspect-
ion, it is almost impossible to conceive the proper protection
of the consumer and such proper development of producers'
interrelations as shall meet present criticisms and build
stably for the future.

We confidently expect the broad visioned men in the
sub-groups of lumber to lead in working out a practical pro-
gram for such national service. True, we are told that there
are certain natural divisions in lumber which make it im-
possible for any true unification of the entire field. It is
stated by some representatives of hardwood interests that

38

no similarities whatever exist in softwwod and hardwood;
that nothing in the way of practices applying to one can
possibly apply to the other. As against this we are told by
other representatives of hardwood and by the best technical
men that all wood is essentially similar and that, while many
modifications of rules and procedures applying to specific
uses must be recognized, the great fundamental basis of
grades, inspection and nomenclature can well be identical for
all lumber products.

In such questions the Department of Commerce must
await the recommendation of the industry itself. If hard-
wood and softwood producers insist upon existence as sep-
arate industries, with all the weakening of self-government,
with all the misunderstandings and limitations which must
inevitably follow, the Department of Commerce must accept
that decision, much as we shall regret it. Our only function
in lumber, as in all industries, is to support the best thought
of the allied groups when those groups shall unite in unani-
mous action.

It appears most difficult to obtain realization that this
is our true function. Following last month's discussions we
have been in receipt of great numbers of letters and tele-
grams, particularly from hardwood interests, stating that
this group or that group does not properly represent hard-
wood; that this group or that group now has perfect in-
spection, perfect grading, perfection indeed in every detail
of practice, and that any one dissenting from such 100 per
cent performance is an insurgent-revoluntionary unworthy
of hearing. These letters and telegrams show much funda-
mental misconception of the purpose of the Department!
We cannot decide between groups. We can only serve a
united industry which conceives itself a permanent closely
knit unit in our commercial structure.

When the majority of the harwood producers can agree
on proposals for grading, sizing, and naming of goods, the
Department of Commerce is at their service in presenting
those proposals to truly representative conferences of all
interests. If these conferences will adopt the original pro-
posals, or some modification thereof, the Department of
Commerce will publish these as its own, giving the weight

£9

of its moral support and prestige to the movement, but un-
til producers of hardwood are in substantial agreement
among themselves, and in further agreement with producers
of softwoods, the sort of national constructive action for
which Secretary Hoover hopes is quite impossible. So long
as personal jealousies or the assumption of present perfect-
ion controls the councils of lumber, broad-self-government
is but a dream and forecast of the future must regard gov-
ernmental regulation as the most probably outcome of the
pitifully foolish policy of uninspired self-interest.

Gentlemen, you have great opportunity. By forgetting
past animosities, by uniting in genuine effort to develop a
national lumber practice of highest ethical grade, you can
place your industry in the lead of great American projects.
You can forestall regulation by making such regulation ut-
terly unnecessary. The Department of Commerce stands
ready to assist in every way in bringing such unification to
consumation, but the problem of developing wise national
practice, is your problem, not ours. We can, and will, sup-
port and follow up stabilizing recommendations to the full,
but our Department — any department of Federal Govern-
ment— can aid only in so far as you build for lasting stabil-
ity and the greater ultimate rewards attained through the
vision of broad public service.

Gentlemen, we are looking to you to so build — to wipe
out any lingering enmities in the hardwood field — to estab-
lish unified proposals for all aspects of lumber service — to
go forward with the same energy that has carried your busi-
ness to its first rank of importance, to that clarifying and co-
ordination of policies which shall place you among the lead-
ers in the stabilization of our American industries.

40

STATEMENTS OF VARIOUS HARDWOOD

MANUFACTURERS MADE AT THE MEETING AT

LOUISVILLE, JUNE 16th, 1922, IMMEDIATELY AFTER

THE ADOPTION OF THE RESOLUTION.

Mr. S. M. Nickey: — All I can say at this time is that
we are on the right track and in the end right will prevail
as it does in everything. A good many of us have fought
along these lines for a great many years, and we have real-
ized as manufacturers and producers of lumber that there
was something wrong with our business, and we hardly
knew. what it ,was. I heartly endorse everything done yes-
terday and today and wish success to this Institute.

Mr. G. W. Allport:— Many of the thoughts I have had
in business for some time have been crystalized here today,
and if we go ahead and carry out the balance of the pro-
gram laid out before us, I believe that the whole hardwood
lumber industry will be benefited. I want to lend all the
support I can and will do all the work I am called on to do
to make this Association a success. I am proud to be con-
nected with an Association starting out under the condi-
tions as expressed here yesterday and today.

Mr. R. M. Carrier: — There is no question but that we
are working on the right line, and if those here will back
up this Institute and the officers of it along the lines out-
lined, there is no question but what we shall succeed. This
work is going on because of the needs of our business, and
the only thing we want is to be able to conduct our busi-
ness in a successful and intelligent way, and I am one that
always believed and will always believe that the manufac-
turer of a product is the one to say what the grades shall
be, taking into consideration, of course, the needs of the con-
sumer and the wishes of the public. If we go on with the
work as outlined in the last few days, we will come to the
point where we can intelligently and successfully conduct
our business.

Mr. M. W. Stark : — Some of the things that have been
said here today are basic and fundamental to such an ex-

41

tent that I cannot imagine any difference of opinion as to
them. The thought that stands out in my mind at this
time is that we have taken on a large order. We can fill
that order but we cannot fill it by letting "George" do it,
or any other person but ourselves. There is work here for
each one of us and no one must fail to do his full part in
supporting the Officers and Directors. It is going to re-
quire the thought and intelligent cooperation of every man
in the Institute. We must go back home and tell our neigh-
bors what has been done and explain the whole matter to
them. This will enable us to increase our membership two
or three times in a very short time. The faster we add to
our membership and the faster our program can be devel-
oped, the sooner we will arrive at the goal for which we are
all striving.

Mr. R. L. Jurden: — We are 100 per cent behind you. I
am glad to say that the time has come when the manufac-
turers have awakened and are going to run their own busi-
ness.

Mr. G. W. Martin : — I am sorry that Mr. Murray of our
company is absent. We are in the hardwood business, but
have been manufacturing yellow pine for a number of years.
We are very enthusiastic along any line which will improve
conditions in the hardwood industry and we are ready to
help in any way in the program which has been outlined by
this organization, and you may be sure that there will be no
discount on the part that our company will play.

Mr. Max Sondheimer: — You may think you have dis-
covered a new proposition, and there are some of you who
will remember an occasion twenty years ago when I was al-
most barred from an association because, in the discussion,
I advocated the very proposition you have adopted here to-
day ; namely, that the manufacturer is the man who has the
right to make rules for disposing of his property, this, of
course, to be done in conjunction with the needs of the con-
sumer or the public he serves.

Mr. W. E. DeLaney : — It seems to me that today we are
about to throw off the shackles which have held us in bond-
age for years, and out of this meeting we are going to have

42

a 100 per cent organization that can speak with authority
for the hardwood producers of this country at Washington
or any other place. We have been unfortunate and had our
troubles, but we have always played fair. I do not think
there is a man who was a member of the American Hard-
wood Manufacturers' Association who felt that he had done
anything wrong although the courts of this country did not
agree with us. I am proud of the fact that none of our
members have ever unbraided the Supreme Court when the
Supreme Court decided that we were wrong, and as 100 per
cent loyal Americans, we abide by that edict. I believe in
upholding the law.

Mr. F. K. Conn : — I feel almost too good to say anything.
I have long felt the need of such an organization as we have
brought forward here yesterday and today. Going back into
our homes and stirring up enthusiasm is no big job now. We
are going back and know before we go that every fellow at
home who is manufacturing lumber is going to fall in line,
and it is not going to take much of an effort to get him to
come into this association. I am 100 per cent for an organ-
ization of hardwood manufacturers, and for my company I
gladly endorse everything that has been done here.

Mr. B. F. Dulweber: — I am delighted with the results
of this meeting. It is the culmination of my highest hope.
For years I have felt the need of an organization repres-
enting the manufacturers. Not such an organization as we
have had before but an organization qualified to speak for
the manufacturers throughout the entire country. I am
sure we have laid the foundation here today for such an or-
ganization.

Mr. C. M. Kellogg: — I can say "Amen" to what the rest
of you have said, and I do not know when I have been in a
meeting of men who were so sincere in their purposes as
you gentlemen seem to be today. I cannot help but feel that
anything but good could come to this organization. I think
we have started something that is going to make history
and it will be history that will be good for the manufacturer
and the consumer as a whole. I, of course, will do everything
I can for the good of the Institute.

43

Mr. H. B. Anderson : — You have turned this into an Ex-
perience Meeting. Judging by the remarks, I should think
the audience would like to sing "This is the day for which
I long have sought." The Government, thru broad-minded
constructive statesmen, has held out a hand in order to give
us self-government, and it is simply a question of whether
the old medieval lumber industry can get up to it. Right
now the telephone is almost obselete. in a i'ew years the
automobile will be obsolete as the ox cart is now, yet the
hardwood lumber industry is operating under medevial prac-
tices that will not and cannot be permitted. This is simply
a movement to bring the hardwood lumber industry up to
the standard of the 20th century.

Mr. Himmelberger : — I believe we are on the right
track. An association of this kind has been needed for a
long time. We are for it and will do all we can to help it
along.

Mr. E. A. Lang : — I am proud to be associated with men
who have the nerve to carry out what you have done in this
meeting. Speaking for my company and for myself, I en-
dorse in full the plans you have adopted. As far as I can
see, we are right. Let's go.

Mr. John Raine: — I think we can prove to ourselves
and the Government that we are capable of self-government,
and again I say "Let's go."

Mr. E. B. Norman : — I have not very much to say be-
cause my brother has said a good deal for the Norman fam-
ily, and in a large measure what he has said expresses my
personal views. I will say that we are going to call upon the
membership as probably never before and there is going to
be an effort to make this in every sense national and in no
sense sectional. I believe it is expected of us that we form
a manufacturers' association, national in scope, and we are
going to make an effort to get all lumber manufacturers
and lumber manufacturers' associations coordinated with us
in some way or another. I am in hearty sympathy with The
Hardwood Manufacturers' Institute.

44

KEEPING THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE
LUMBER BUSINESS.

Washington, D. C., July 12. — Wilson Compton, secre-
tary-manager of the National Lumber Manufacturers' Asso-
ciation, today issued a statement designed to clear the at-
mosphere with regard to the relation of the Department of
Commerce to the movement to standardization in the lumber
industry, placing strong emphasis on repeated declarations
of Secretary Hoover that the last thing he wants to see is
Government interference.

Attention is called to the fact that from the outset Mr.
Hoover has sought to make it clear that he considers stand-
ardization and simplification of grades, nomenclature, di-
mensions etc., as a problem for the industry, the Depart-
ment of Commerce desiring to cooperate in a helpful way
only and with no thought of dictation.

It should be recalled in this connection that the Depart-
ment of Commerce under the law is clothed with only ad-
ministrative authority. Its functions are not of regulatory
character and it has no power of disciplinary action. Its
one job is to help American business, industry and com-
merce within the limits of the laws under which it operates.

Mr. Compton's statement follows:

On May 24, 1922, Secretary of Commerce Hoover said
to a group of fifty representative lumbermen in conference
with him in Washington:

"The whole object of this conference is to see to it

if we can not develop what I think is a primary interest

in American industry, and that is self-government.

We do not want the Government in any of these issues

in any shape or form. And by the success of these

conferences we will have effectually buried agitation

that has been in progress -in that direction. * *

There can be no demonstration more positive than this

of the purpose of a high official, charged by Federal law

with the duty to foster American industry and commerce,

45

to keep the wasteful hand of Government out of the affairs
of ordinary business enterprise. It is particularly note-
worthy to lumbermen. It is a direct challenge to the lum-
ber industry to settle its own trade problems; set its own
high standards; eliminate its own wastes and itself correct
whatever inefficiency there may be in lumber manufacture
or defects in lumber distribution. It is an invitation to a
constructive program that will bring more certain profit to
the producer; more satisfaction at less cost to the consumer;
and gradually the more complete utilization of raw mater-
ials— a consideration of no small importance in this day of
clamor for conservation. It comes from the Department of
Commerce, whose sole obligation under the law is to stimu-
late and aid business and which has no disciplinary or regu-
latory powers whatsoever. The lumber industry in recent
years has seen so much of the Federal Government's "police-
men" in the War Industries Board, the Federal Trade Com-
mission, the Department of Justice, and in some respects
the "tax gatherer," the bureau of internal revenue, that it
is not easy to understand and accept the offer of aid from
a department of Government that has no regulatory author-
ity ; no power to discipline anything or anybody, and no pow-
ers of compulsion.

The specter of Government regulation for many years
has been dangled before the eyes of the lumber industry.
Public and governmental control has been experimented with
from time to time in one industry or another and in some
form of degree for twenty years.

Industries whose operations involve the use of natural
resources are the chief objects of this experimentation. The
imminence of this threat has been often greatly exaggerat-
ed. That is indefensible. But more often it has been un-
duly minimized. That is foolhardy.

The lumber industry has witnessed both extremes. The
foolish man urges that the industry ignore its public and
governmental relations, stick its head in the sand and just
saw wood. The wise man knows that if the industry does
that, it will not saw wood very long.

The vast majority of lumbermen recognize that the
public has a rightful interest in the efficient, stable and hon-

46

est conduct of the lumber industry. But in that particular
they want the industry to do its own regulating — without
the intervention of governmental authority which inevitably
drifts into bureaucracy, paternalism and the undermining
of the ideals and opportunity of individual enterprise.

When a great industry deliberately commits itself to a
constructive program of self-government, it is undertaking
the one thing which will effectually bury public agitation
and clamor for governmental regulation. That situation and
that opportunity now confront the lumber industry. Such
popular dissatisfaction as there has been with the lumber
industry has risen largely out of four types of more or less
misguided political or economic belief:

First, that the industry has been "profiteering" —
whatever that means.

Second, that lumber manufacture is inefficient and
is deliberately wasteful of natural resources. Ridicu-
lous, but wide-spread.

Third, that natural resources really ought never to
have become private property but should have been
held for all the people. Sentimentally attractive per-
haps~'but economically impossible.

Fourth, that the costs of sawing boards from trees
are excessive; that the methods of distribution are
loose, inefficient and cost too much; and that the con-
sumer is the victim, is often imposed upon and is left
to "hold the sack." Probably a half truth.

1. The "profiteering" charge is based upon extraordi-
narily high prices that have occasionally prevailed for brief
periods. The occasional "peak" prices have incensed the buy-
ers and have developed a false standard for adjudging the
profitableness of the industry. These short periods of ab-
normal profit are followed by much longer periods of no-
profit or of loss. Both buyer and seller will benefit if this
"see-saw" of lumber prices can be eliminated or at least re-
duced.

2. During the last few years requests have been made,
even from within the lumber trade itself, that the Govern-
ment establish the lumber grading rules and itself conduct

47

the inspection. The arguments in support thereof — stripped
of pretense and disguise — amount in substance to the asser-
tion that if the Government would only fix and enforce the
grades of lumber, then the sawmill men could be compelled
to put fewer defects in their lumber; and that the buyers
could get thicker lumber and get it cheaper. An absurdity
to be sure ; nevertheless asserted by men themselves engaged
in the lumber trade.

It is impossible to have at the same time fewer defects
and thicker sizes on the one hand, and lower prices and less
waste of natural resources on the other. The trees are not
made that way. The efficiency of utilization of the raw
material by the lumber manufacturer will keep pace with
the willingness of the consumer to use suitable lower grade
material and to pay a reasonable price for it. The solution
of the so-called "waste" problem lies in the hands more of
the buyers and consumers of lumber than of the producers.
The sawmill man will utilize everything that he can sell
without loss. The consumer can largely settle this prob-
lem by refraining from demanding lumber of a quality bet-
ter than he needs; or of sizes thicker than is reasonably
necessary for the purpose for which it is used.

3. There is a considerable group of neo-socialists who
are uncertain whether they are near-believers in socialism
or believers in near-socialism who protest the private own-
ership of natural resources, the basis of our national wealth.
They are favorable in general to any measures calculated to
result in the return of the natural resources to the public,
thru Government ownership ; and they are not without sub-
stantial representation in Congress and in Government de-
partments.

4. The respects in which the methods of distributing
the products of the sawmills from producer to consumer
are loose and defective are well known in the lumber trade.
Systems of grading of lumber and inspection service to in-
sure the proper application of the grades, and, sometimes,
the arbitration of disputes not otherwise settled are the gua-
ranties to the buyer and consumer which the lumber trade
now affords.

48

Inadequacies in Grading Rules.

But these are known to be generally inadequate. The
grading systems, altho well developed, are by and large, di-
verse, dissimilar and sometimes confusing. Inspection ser-
vice is often not available in such manner and upon such
terms as to secure the universal maintenance of the pub-
lished official grades. A sound or lasting system of lumber
distribution can not be built upon a basis which permits ir-
regularity, manipulation or substitution either at the saw-
mill or in the course of distribution.

It is apparently generally agreed among practical lum-
bermen that grading systems can be simplified and made
more intelligible to the ordinary buyer and consumer; that
grade names can be made more logical; that variations in
size and standards, as between species, can be considerably
reduced (altho a single set of uniform size standards for all
lumber is wholly impracticable) ; that grades can be marked
at small expense on pieces of lumber; and that inspection
service can be made available to buyers and sellers when-
ever needed to enforce the observance of standard official
grades. These things are agreed to be practicable. The
only question is whether they are necessary and worth what
they would cost.

The problem of securing to the wood-using public an
adequate supply of lumber, with advoidance of unnecessary
waste, at reasonable cost, and with suitable guaranties of
both quality and quantity is one which the lumber trade it-
self should settle. We should not leave it to public or gov-
ernmental authority or run any chance of "police" tak-
ing any foothold whatever. But until the lumber in-
dustry does all that it can reasonably do in that di-
rection it can hardly expect the complete measure of
confidence of the lumber-consuming public, which it ought
to have. Nor will the lumber business be as stable as it
ought to be; nor as profitable.

Efforts Made To Solve Problems.

The plan of simplification of grades and sizes and en-
larged inspection service which the lumber industry has
undertaken during the last two years is the effort of the
lumber industry to demonstrate its ability to settle its own

49

*fc

problems, without legislation and without governmental in-
tervention in the conduct of the lumber business in any
shape or form. A few lumbermen have expressed concern
lest the co-operation of the secretary of commerce for this
purpose might mean some form of governmental regulation
or interference. The exact statements of Secretary Herbert
Hoover to the lumbermen in conference in Washington, May
22 to 26, should be re-assuring on this point, coming from
an official who under the law has no authority to regulate
or intervene in business affairs and has repeatedly denounc-
ed governmental interference with ordinary business af-
fairs, in no uncertain terms.

One of the difficulties of our whole national economic
system is the expensiveness of our distribution. And these
questions that we are going to discuss here, practically all
of them, are distribution questions ; the guaranties of qual-
ities, the simplification of dimensions, the grading of lum-
ber, all of them, are steps in advance toward reducing the
cost and the wastes in distribution.

Now I take it that we have a pretty definite program
to discuss, and there is little occasion for generalization.
Whatever is arrived at must be arrived at at your initiative
and upon your agreement.

The first is the question of grading lumber. When we
come to questions of grading, the first thing that one runs
against is the nomenclature — of the actual names that are
in use for different commodities, and different quality of
standards of that commodity. So that a primary necessity
is to have some agreement on the terms that are to be ap-
plied.

Then we come to the questions of guaranties as to how,
after lumber has been divided on any such basis as we may
determine as to its nomenclature, the public is to have any
assurance as to what it gets. And there we have to enter
into the problems of inspection, and certification, and mark-
ing, or other devices that might be developed to give some
assurances to the consumer.

Now, the third branch of the discussion is that of sim-
plification; simplification of dimensions and other items
that make for economy in both production and transporta-

50

tion and distribution. The difficulties, of course, are very
large, more especially as there are some 40,000 sawmills in
the country.

I would like to make this general observation, that
there has been agitation in the lumber trade, or among the
public, for the last twenty-five years for some kind of Gov-
ernment grade and Government control of that type. Some
of the branches of the lumber trade themselves have recom-
mended measures of that order. My own feeling is that if
we can develop these things thru the internal machinery of
the trade itself, as a matter of self-government in the trade,
that we will have secured something even more fundamental
than that, and that is the sense of self-reliance in the Am-
erican people.

The trades can do these things infinitely more efficient-
ly than Government can do them. If the Government does
them, it means the further establishment of bureaucracy,
and one of the most dominant notes of all Government bu-
reaucracy is to try to grab something more, some new func-
tion which it can undertake.

Now the inefficiency of bureaucracy in the conduct of
its business needs no elaboration from me. Its inefficiencies
are inherent in the character of its works. The clear object
of good government is to keep governmental functions down
to the minimum.

This is fundamentally a question of developing business
standards and business ethics, developing them in the in-
dustries themselves for the protection of the consumer and
the trade, for effectuating simplifications that will make for
economy in production and distribution, and to give actual
guaranties, if we can devise them, that will go straight thru
to the consumers.

One of the great objects in this work is that we should
make a demonstration to the public that the lumber industry
is able to clean its own house, and set its ethical standards
at such a high level as to be beyond all challenge, and in that
way we are able, if we may succeed here, to avoid the old
and much mooted question of governmental interference.

51

What the Lumber Trade Can Do.

It is,* of course, important that lumbermen have a clear
understanding of the purpose, nature and direction of the ac-
tivity thus undertaken with the cordial support of the De-
partment of Commerce. The lumber trade can if it wishes
do all these things without any reference to, or any contact
whatever with the secretary of commerce or with any de-
partment of Government. Some detached, disinterested and
impartial agency, however, has been necessary to get the
lumber trade to work together on this matter and to give to
the lumber trade in this effort the confidence of the con-
sumer and the general public, which is invaluable if results
are to be lasting.

Moreover, the secretary of commerce has the wisdom
and the courage and the definite intention to confine his
cooperation to helping the lumber industry to help itself.
This constructive program has the definite purpose of avoid-
ing governmental interference in the conduct of the lumber
business. It must not be permitted to involve the industry
in any of the "policing" powers of Government. The indus-
try can do its own "policing" if it will, and when it is need-
ed. That is the aim and end of this constructive program
which in the opinion of those lumbermen who have studied
the industry's need, and have both seen and heard, is de-
serving of the confidence and support of lumbermen who be-
lieve in self-government in industry; who are interested in
the lumber industry because they intend to stay in it; and
who would rather run their own business than have it run
for them.

52

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPEDBELOW

LD 21-50m-l,'33

U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES

801094

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY