Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1899-09-18
IOWA LUMBER TRUST
A Lumber Dealer Tells How Compe.
tition is Killed by Lumber
Trust.
Territory and Patronage Divided
and Prices Fixed by the Whole.
sale Houses.
The Inner Workings Explained
Cummins People Surprised at
Outcome in Cherokee.
Special to Times-Republican.


/ Des Moines, Sept. 1s.-"while you're
looking around for some Iowa trusts
observed a lumber dealer to the Times
Republican correspondent yesterday
why don't you look into the methods
of conducting the lumber business in
this state? If you want the real thing
you can chase it to it's lair in almost
any lumber yard. I'll tell you little
about it, for / do business under the
same rules as other people, and know
something of the workings. If you will
ask some lumber dealer around the
state he will tell you that Nos. ., and
| 4 boards are to advance in price. That
doesn't mean anything to you, but If
you had a bill of lumber to buy it
would mean 50 cents per 1000 feet.
Dubuque practically controls the
business in Iowa now. 1t is common
impression that Clinton is the great
lumber town. but it's a mistake. The
lClinton and Dubuque lumber rafting.
saw milling and manufacturing inter-
ests are largely controlled by the same
Ipeople, but Dubuque is headquarters.
There are the Standard Lumber Com
pany; Knapp. Stout & Coe Company;
Rumfp Lumber Company: The Du-
buGue Woodenware and Lumber Com
pany, and OFT, Mensser e Co. These
tare the big Dubuque concerns, though
there are number of smaller ones. All
4 | have named are engaged either in
rafting logs or rough lumber or else
lin manufacturing. Some of them have
| the rough logs sent down the river and
saw them UP, plane and cut them foi,
market at Dubuque; others have rough
lumber RATED down and plane and
manufacture it.
The other day a travelling man
called on me. Nos. 2, 3 and A are going
up he said.
" 'How's that? / asked.
Dubuque met last week and voted
for the advance he explained. That
meant TO ME that the Dubuque aSso-
citation had decided on the increase
and that what Dubuque said would go
/ with the rest of the concerns that ship
at wholesale into Iowa. The wholesal-
ers and manufacturers have a perfect
understanding, and so do the retailers.
| There is no competition in either class.
/ Every retailer is instructed in the
schedule of prices t which he is to sell
/ IL he is discovered cutting those prices
! he is reported to the Northwestern AS
seciation, which has headquarters at
/ Minnea polls. The following month. III
its report. this association will black
| list the offender and that means he
can't buy any more lumber till hs
makes matters right. Its absolutely
ron-clad.
But this isn't ALL AS among the
dealers in a certain part Of the state
the territory is divided. and no dealer is
allowed to sell in another mans terri
ltory. Suppose there are four towns in
a county in which are lumber yards.
Each town is apportioned a certain list
of townships in which II may sell. II
lpaople within this territory the dealer
Ilnay quote the regular schedule of sell-
ling prices. J. a man comes in from out
side of his own territory he is com
Ipelled TO add certain percentage to
the bill, to drive it to the man in whose
territory that customer belongs. Al
most every lumber bill is figured by
1.-TWO dealers a least. 50 it is reasonable
i w
the man who under this gerryfnander
is entitled to the business. Thus ter-
Iritory is divided as between towns.
\
Now. suppose there are two yards i1.
a certain town. If you take a bill to
them both you will never get the same
figures on 1t. But each one knows what
the other will bid Sometimes the
ilty i- ti,,, ~,
| nate bills; sometimes they agree TO sell
leaual amounts. Ii A sells a $1,000 bill
today. then Is is entitled TO make the
low bid on the two $500 bills that come
in tomorrow. This arrangement is left
70 the local dealers TO agree on details:
but they can safely be expected to un-
| derstand each other fully. Perhaps ii
| will depend on the initial letter of the
buyers name; if his name begins with
A he will get the lowest bid at one
yard; If with b. at another, and so on
alternating through the alphabet.
Il haven't anything to say against
the arrangement. 1t makes lumber a
| good business; it prevents the cutting
and slashing of prices that would be
lcertain to ruin such a business under
otHtF conditions. nave been in the
lumber business for good many years
and these facts are by no means un-
known Everybody understands the
situa ton, in a general way at least
W. r. Day, cashier of the Castana
Savings Bank, of Castana, was here
the other day and discussed the politi-
cal situation in the Monona-Ida dis
trict. He said that the representative
convention for the district will unques-
tionably nominate Scott, of Ida, and
will abstain from all effort to instruct.
The senatorial partisans realize the
county is close and a fight over instruc
tions would injure the party at the
polls. However, the Gear men have
been springing so many surprises in
this matter of stirring up close dis
tricts that they may not abide by such
an agreement. Scott is a Cummins
man, if left uninstructed
To say that the Cummins people were
taken by surprise when the returns
came in from the Cherokee convention
Saturday night In nItfipo II ro;I,5l.,