St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-10-26
Canadian and American Lumber Inter

The Suns Washington special says
Thomas w. Hotchkiss, consul at Ottawa,
has made report to the State Department
on the subject of Canadian and American
lumber interests that contains considerable
new and important information. Alter
stating the fact that the value of the 10
dustry in the district of Ottawa alone
amounts to 100000 annually, and that
q full stock of logs for the saving season
of 1899 is assured, Mr.. Hotchkiss says:
The greatest disturbing element which
now agitates the lumbermen of Canada Is
the United States tariff question of tree
lumber or any change in the rate. Inc
chief disturbing element, and one which
is deep source of grievance to the Amer
lean lumbermen, is the export duty levied
by Canada on the pine logs going from
Canada to the United States, the only con-
sumner of logs"
Then follows a comparative statement
of imports and exports of pine logs and
round manufactured lumber between the
1888, inclusive, by which it appears that
during those years the value of logs ex-
ported from the United States to Canada
was S4,319, $50, while the value of logs
exported from Canada to the United States
was only 1856, TAI. Relative to the his
tory and effect of the Canadian export tax
on logs, Mr.. Hotchkiss says:
"The efforts being made by the lumber
men of the United States after the facts
and figures as given above had become
generally known, were redoubled, the
clamor for simple justice from Canada be-
ing renewed. The export tax is one in
which the owner of timber limits in Can
ada, DESTROYS of exporting his logs to the
United States. is the principal party af-
fected thereby. The dealers and consum-
ers are but contingently affected. This
export tax was adopted by Canada about
twenty years ago, and at the time only as
a means of income. The rate of duty was
then 81 per 1000 feet. 1t 1886 it was ad-
vanced to So, and at that time | had the
honor to advise the department of this in
crease and of the further intention of the
government to continue the increase until
the prohibitive point should be reached,
for it was at this period that the prohibi-
tive designs were made the policy of the
government. In the fall of 1888 it was
rumored that certain Americans had inten-
tons and were preparing to cut from $780,,
0OO, 600 to 2G0, 900, 900 feet Of logs on their
limits during the present winter, 1855
On this rumor reaching the government
an order in council was issued raising the
duty to So per 1000. This increase took
effect Immediately and resulted in putting
a stop to all work in the direction of log
cutting with a view to expectation. Your
consul was then appealed to to use his
good office toward obtaining a retraction
of the order.
'In consultation with the authorities |
soon learned that the order would not be
rescinded, that every facility would be
offered tho owners of the timber who were
DESTROYS Of moving their mills and opera
tons to Canada, but if So per thousand
did not work as preventive to timber
going out to the States, an additional ad-
vance would be made until the prohibitive
point was reached. This leaves Americans
with millions of dollars invested in stand
ing timber as dead property, only to be
made available by sale or abandonment.
This condition of affairs was never con-
templated by the purchasers of the timber
limits in their dealings with the govern
ment, and the situation is most onerous in
it's effects. | have been informed that the
cost of collection of this export duty ex-
ceeded the income, from which it would
never appear that from an economic point
of view considerations of its righteousness
would have weight with it's projectors.
The reason given for the imposition of this
tax is TO preserve the timber as raw ma
terial for the benefit of the workingmen
and mills of Canada
After giving descriptive account of the
forests of Canada, and the quantity and
quality of timber growing in them, Mr.
Hotchkiss comes to the conclusion that if
he were asked which country-Canada or
the United States-would, under existing
and probable future conditions of demand,
first surrender to the inevitable in an ex-
haustion of its supply of marketable COM
mercial woods, he should unhesitatingly
reply that Canada would first be compelled
to face these conditions. He adds: Great
as the supply of timber has been and still
is in Canada, the conditions of supply are
still greater and of far superior quality in
the United States The forests of the
United States abound in valuable soft and
hard woods, several of which are not now
fully appreciated, because of the still am
pie supply of pine are and will be for
long years hence utilized to all mechanical
purposes as = the pine of the to-day. Z
allude to the white wood yellow poplar
of the Middle States, the white hemlock Of
New York and Pennsylvania, and the
South. The growth of tin Der in the
United States has been more rapid than in
Canada, all varieties of timber being of
much larger growth. The lumber product
is certainly double tree for tree"
Referring again to the export tax, the
consul says: 81 think it ungenerous to
suppose that, had the government of Can
ada been cognizant of the true condition of
the traffic in logs between the two coun-
tries, the export duty on logs and round
timber etc, as imposed by them would
have had any degree of consideration
through the palpable inconsistency of such
action nor is it reasonable to suppose
that the American people are SO consti-
tuted by nature that, except in ignorance,
they would for years conteltedly have
paid to Canada this export tax while allow
ing Canada to have, free of taxation, all
the logs she desired in return. The time
was when the Americans would have been
content with the return to the original
export duty of 81, possibly with the con-
tinuation of the So tax, but under the
consideration of the disproportionate char
acter of the exhibit of the imports and
exports of logs, ETC., they have concluded
that the only satisfactory course to them
will be the entire abolition of the export
duty, and have, as the only constitution al
means left them, petitioned congress to
amend the tariff laws by enacting, as in
section of the Baker bill now pending,
viz:
T. THAT in case any foreign country shall
IN pose an import duty upon logs, shingles,
,NSMts, or other kinds of woods, ETC., that
zhch export duty shall be added to the pre-
'vAiling import duty only on the manufac-
thred product of such kinds of logs, bolts,
or woods when imported from such coun-
&ru m nortinn such aYnort dutu I hara 70