The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-07-29


 even the highest prices that could be de-
 manded in conscience, and when they felt
 the least slackenng of that urgency
 they were immediately stricken with a
 panic. This was the case largely with newcomers into the manufacturing field, of which there are a surprisingly great
 number, attracted by the recent high
 prices. These amateurs, as they might
 be called, went into the business at a
 time when the market was booming and made their calculations of q sudden for
 tune on the expectation that those un-
 precedented conditions would last for ever At the first indication that prices
 were slagging they foresaw their doom, and they rushed to cover. And this only
 precipitated the trouble that their fears | exaggerated. These mill men might be seen on the streets of Hattiesburg al
 most any day searching for buyers and graspng at the first offer made them, at
 time when. if they had been posted 1 on conditions and had not lost their head. they might still have waited for l the buyers to come to them with offers
 of much higher figures than they were 1 so eager to cept. Under such circum- | l soon got afloat of sales made at ridcu-
 lously low figures. The result was that 1 the whole market trembled. and even ex- perienced mill men who had been waiting l for the market to regain the normal and | for prices to regain their equilibrium, were more or less affected by the furry. During the late period of high prices 1 for all grades of lumber q large num- l Der of mills have been opened. some of l them of considerable magnitude and oth- CTS small, but all going to swell the output. There are not too many of these
 mills, perhaps, but the fact that most
 of the men engaged in the enterprises 1 are comparatively new in the business,
 and that they expect to become suddenly | rich, while the business Is at high tide
 must be taken into consideration. These l men have been accustomed to have the buyers come to them to beg for q share l of the output of their mills. lt has not been necessary for them to post them
 selves on the general conditions of the 1 market They have joined none of the | associations, and In many cases per ] haps are not even readers of the trade
 papers. They go it bllndfolded. and like
 { nervous horse in bllnlkers, and disposed l to shy at trifles It Is proper to say 1 that those are the men who, by their 1 preclpitancy, came near to transforming | a mere seasonal slackness Into dis
 astrous panic and rout
 In the meantime the old experienced
 mill men have pursued the even tenor 1 of their ways. scarcely affected by the i ripple on the surface of the market. Their
 mills have been running night and day 1 they have not been chasing buyers. and l they have maintained a regular but by no
 means frenzied clearance of their yards | at prices that have been sufficiently l good 10 encourage them to wait for the | resumation of normal market conditions 1 In the fall
 Effort to Uncover Trust.
 | Another effort Is to be made to un-
 cover, a trust among the lumber manu- l lecturers of the United States. The at
 torney general at Washington has re- l gently renewed his request for q tran | script of the evidence collected by the
 joint legislative committee appointed To l investigate the alleged lumber trust dur 1 ing the recent session of the Mississippi
 solons. The request has been forwarded
 to the Hon. w. M. McAllster. who
 served as chairman of the Joint commit
 tee which found that no lumber trust
 exists among the mill men operating in
 this state
 l It is made known from Washington 1 that the government intends to make a
 searching inquiry. and that the taking
 of evidence on the subject will commence | during the early autumn.
 The Mississippi investigation will be
 of very little value to the attorney gen. c;al, further than it will be a reve- lation of conditions prevailing in the lum-
 Der industry at the time the testimony l was taken. The committee did not find any evidence whatever tending to show a general organization among the lum- ] bermen of the United States to control | prices, the only feature of the final re- 1 port critical in character being directed at the retail lumber dealers of Missls- sippi and Louisiana, and finding that an | agreement existed among them whereby 1 mills selling direct to the consumer were compelled to make a per cent rebate | to the retail dealer in the locality where l the sale was made. However. at the | convention of the Mississippi and Louisi- ana Retail Lumber Dealers assoca- ton. held shortly after this report was | filed. manufacturers were excluded from
 membership in the association. thus con veyng the intmatlon that the , per | cent rebate clause had been cancelled, and Chairman McAlister promptly an- nounced that there would be no prosecu- ton of the alleged trust.