The Portland daily press., 1889-10-11
PRoHIBlTIve LUMBER DUTIES.
Canada's Method to Keep Her Lum-
ber at Home.

| WASHINGTON, October 10.-Thomas w.
Hotchkiss, consul at Ottawa has made a re.
| port to the State Department ON the subject
| of Canadian and American lumber interests
that contains considerable new and import
ant information. After stating the fact that
the value of the industry in the district of
| Ottawa alone amounts to $30O0,00O annually
| and that full stock of logs for the saving
| season of 1889 is assured, Mr.. Hotchkiss
says;
now agitates the lumbermen of Canada is
the United States tariff question of free um-
Der or any change of rate. The chief dir
turbing element, and one which is deep
source of grievance to the American lumber
men, is the export duty levied in Canada on
pine logs going from Canada to the United
States-the only consumer of logs
Then follows a comparative statement of
imports and exports of pine logs and round
manufactured timber between the United
States aud Canada from 1880 to 1888, inclus-
i've, by which it appears that during those
years the value of logs exported from the
United States to Canaua was $4,319, $50, while
the value of logs exported from Canada to
the United States was only $156, 6,741. Rela-
tive to the history and effect of the Canadian
export tax on logs Mr.. Hotchkiss says:
"The efforts being made by the lumbermen
of the United States. after the facts and fig
ures as given above had become generally
known, were redoubled, the clamor for SIM
pie justice from Canada being renewed The
export tax is one in which the owner of tim
Der limits in Canada, desirous of exporting
his logs to the United States, is the principal
party affected thereby. The dealers and
consumers are but contingently affected
This export tax was adopted by Canada
about twenty years ago, and at the time only
means of income The rate of duty was
then 81 per 1000 feet. In 1886 it was advane-
ed to 50, and at that time l had the honor to
advise the department of this increase and
Sd hs for'hs5 doStans otfntSn he % the n
crease until the prohibitive point should be
reached, for it was at this period that
the prohibtive designs were made the poll
cy of the government. In the fall of 1888 it
was rumored that certain Americans had in
tentions and were preparing to cut from
10000, 900 to 200,000,000 feet of logs on their
limits during the present winter of 1S8SS9
On this rumor reaching the government an
Order in Council was issued raising the
duty to So per thousand This increase took
effect Immediately and resulted in putting a
stop to all work in the direction of log cut
ting with view to expectation. Your Con-
sui was then appealed to to use his good Off
ces toward obtaining retractiOn of the or
der In consultation with the authorities l
soon learned that the order would not be re-
scnded. that every facility would be offered
the owners of the timber who were
desirOus of moving their mills and op-
eratl0nS to Canada; but II So per thou
sand did not work as preventive to timber
going out to the States an additional advance
would be made until the prohibitiye point
was reached. This leaves Americans with
millions Of dollars invested in standing tim
ber as dead property, only to be made avail
able by sale or abandonment. This cond-
ti0n of affairs was never contemplated by
the purchasers of the timber limits in their
dealings with the governments, and the sit
natiOn is one most onerous in its effects |
have been informed that the cost of collec-
tion of this export duty exceeded the income,
from which it would appear that from an
economic point of view considerations of its
Judlciousness would have weight with its
projectors. The reason given for the inn
position of this tax is to preserve the tim
ber as raw material for the benefit of the
workingmen and mills of Canada