The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-08-16

If we were given = rate of 45 cents you
see we would still suffer a great handi-
cap: but a Decent reduction in the
tariff would increase the valuation o.
the stUmpage in the state of Washing
ton fully $3.50 000, 600 a"
The speaker was again interrupted
with the query q the desired reduction
would not tend TO greatly injure the
interests of the northern and southern
mills, and he said: No, il would not
At the greatest the northwest could not
supply more than 20 per cent Of the
whole. and we think il is not unreason-
able to ask for this much of the trade
In the territory from Maine to Mime
sofa hundreds Of mills are being dis
lnantled every year because of the for
ests becoming exhausted. The avail
able supply of the combined fields now
feeding the middle states is hardly ade-
Qudte 90 the demand. and their power
to meet it is becoming less all the
while on account Of the depletion of
their resources. In order 10 keep our
heads above water out here we are be
ing forced to skim over our forests.
picking out the best stuff, and selling
only one-fourth of that. so that mill
lions Of dollars worth of valuable tim
Der is being destroyed every year. The
time viii come when the supply of
lumber viii be short, and then the ter
rible wastage that is now going on viii
be all the more deplorable.'
IF your entrance to the market of
the middle states would not cripple
northern and southern competition, and
your product is really neeGed to help
fill the demand, why do not the rail-
roads give you the reduction? What
did Mr.. Hill say about it2'
Mr.. Beckman responded to these
questions by saying: The difficulty
seems TO be in the fact that there is
not enough freight to fill the cars for
the return trip. You see. the haul
from here to the Missouri river is
business. and il would be out of the
question to haul the empty cars half
way across the continent. To remedy
this Mr. Hill has built some very large
steamers which he viii put in the Chi
ma and Japan trade. He will then haul
flour and cotton out TO the coast and
lumber on the return trip. This ar
rangement viii in a great measure
mOllify the opposition to our entering
the field. because if the wheat of the
north and the cotton of the south gets
better transportation facilities. those
sections will gain more than they
would lose by our competing with them
on the cheaper grade of lumber"
Lumber is the fourth among the
great industries of the United States.
/ Corn and wheat are first. cotton sec
ond, iron manufactures third. and
/ then the great forest industries. In
I producing crops the soil can be re-
/ newed, and the acreage increased TO
/ maintain the output but the restora-
I ton Of the forests is no such easy mat
ter The big woods resound with the
ring Of the logger's ak. and the whirr
OF the greedy mills. The crash Of ev-
cry falling monarch marks a lessenfng
or our forest resources. It is a pity
, that such wanton waste could not be
checked, or at least utilized to the fun
extent II the Washington lumbermen
were given that 10-cent reduction in
their freight rate they would be able.
every year afterward. to make the
shingie path extend beyond New York
nearly half way round the world.
The laundering business in Washing
ton differs from that Of other regions
on account Of the immense size of the
trees, the mountainous character of
the land. and the dense underground.
In other localities from fifteen to thirty
logs are required to make 200 feet