Evening star., 1896-12-31
THE LuNRER INTERESTS
They Were Presented to the House Ways
and Means Committee.
What the nepfessen'a''se. Ask e'a'--
ed to BE FLO" the Average
Tariff koS Thirty Years.

committee today HSvered wood and manu-
factrres- Of wood and pulp, paper and
books. There We're several large delcga-
tions present. The forenoon was given tc
the lumber interests. c. w. Goodyear OF
Buffalo appeared as the representative OF
a committee of twenty, appointed by the
convention of the lumber men which me:
at Circirnau early in December. At that
convention were representatives of the
lumf'ermen from all parts of the United
States. The committee met in this city
yesterday and prepared the outline Of a
formal petition to the ways and means
committee, which Mr.. Goodyear said
would be presented later. An abstract of
Mr.. Gocdyear's views is printed elsewhere
in The Star.
In conclusion Mr. Goodyear said that the
lumbermen believed that If the protective
idea was to be enforced in regard to any
industry, none stood on a firmer footing
than they. He estimated that the sched-
ule they asked for would be but 20 per
cent ad valoren. while the act of 80 aver
aged % per cent, and the act Of '94 40 per
cent, so that what they asked for was
below the average tariff for thirty years.
There is an impression suggested Mr..
TaWney of Minnesota, that there is trus
to control the output on the price Of ium-
Der. What do you say to that?"
There exists. no such institution" de-
clared Mr.. Goodyear. A lumber trust is
not possible. There may be iron trusts and
other trusts. but it would be as impossible
to form a lumber trust as to combine all
the people of the United States in a trust
agsirst themselves'
Judge Page Morris, congressman-elect
from Duluth. Mimi, was called upon to
speak for the lumber interests He dwelt
upon the disadvantage in the matter of
stumpage. in which the lumbernlen of the
United States. who are obliged to buy from
private individuals or government reserva-
tions, are placed beside those of Canada
me nominal tax for the right to cut in
canada was one cent acre a year, while
IN the United States the tax was the full
value OF the lands. To build a railroad and
mills, it was necessary that there should
De suf1cfent lumber for ten years, and the
risk OF fire, taxes, insurance on plant, etc,
mad to be considered. In Canada the gov
ernment. carried the fire risk, paid the
taxes ana improved the streams, while pay
nent OF stumpage was not required until
the lumber was ready for market The diff
ference IN wages was from 80 to 80 per
cent IN favor of the United States. Cana
dian wages ranged from s. to 80 cents a
aay IN mills, American from IS to 81 % the
average being $3.50 in the United States
and $1.O in Canada. The labor cost on
planks selling at $40 thousand feet was
from $3.50 to 81, so that the tariff to cover
tue labor dfnerence should be s.
He favored free logs because they kept
our mills open. but if Canada attempted to
impose an export duty on logs he though:
the United States should retaliate
l. {: Enochsbof Jackson, Miss, represent
ed the southern lumber interests As a
lumper1nan frGm a, section heretofore never
heard from in tariff matters, he said he
came to join in'ithis' appeal for adquate pro.
lection to lumber
7. B. Walker; ;ofsMinneapolis Mimi. de-
voted himselfslargely to the statistics of
the lumber Industry foundation for the
claim of the lum mbefmen for adequate pro-
lection. 1 stt,I
A. II. Winchester of Buchanan, w. Va,
represented the hardwood district of the
united dStates-SyThermain argument he used
Tor placing aNuniform duty of 50 On ali
woods was that woods were interchange
able, and If oHA class became cheap 1t dis
placed the dearer woods
Representative Boutelle of Maine made
a brief argument On behalf of the lumber
men of the east, who, he said, had never
sought an invdious discrimination in their
favor. The spruce interests of the east he
said, were always willing to cooperate with
the white pine interests of the northwest
At the conclusion of his remarks the COM
mittee took recess
The afternoon session of the Ways and
means committee was opened by Mr. c.
II. Lang of Boston, Mass. who presented
memorial from rattan manufacturers.
Louis c. Wagner of 70 Duane street, New
York, appeared to protest against the dis
elimination against cigar labels and bands
in comparison with other articles consider.
ed as Autographs under the present law
The pulp and paper schedule was next
announced. Mr.. John Morris, business man
ager of the New York World, first spoke.