The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-01-28

perfect right to do so; but they are cer- tainly under no sort of agreement or ob- ligation to the association. A trust" as it is understood, implies the power of a combination of persons or capital to stihe competition and thereby establish q monopoly From the nature of the business of such condition is possible in the lumber trade, either in Mississippi or elsewhere
 There is a state association of Mis- sissppi lumbermen, and while its main object is to secure uniformity in meth ods of manufacturing and marketing It's products it also fixes prices; but 1t is not on record that the prices the con sumers have to pay are affected In the least thereby.
 While it is a matter of graduation that the per capita consumption of lumber in all the southern states, including Missls- sppi, with its large population of ne- groes and other cabin dwellers, is rapid ly increasing, 1t is not to be supposed that the 96O mills of that state are de- pending upon the local demand for their goods One prominent manufacturer Of lumber in Mississippi tells us that his lo- cal retail trade has increased fully 40 per cent In fifteen months but there are numbers of large manufacturers who do not care a rap whether they sell foot of lumber in the state or not. The total  and 'shacks," in that state do not give promise of an excessive demand for lum- Der in the near future.
 A Joke or Ridicule.
 There Is room for great doubt whether the concurrent" resolution concerning lumber trust adopted by the Missis- slppi legislature was intended as a joke and to give five committeeman and two stenographers a nice little junket over the state or was the result of q total mishpprehension of the existing condi- tions. If the former, it is certainly a good joke on every lumberman who takes the matter seriously If 1t was intended seriously and the committee undertakes a serious investigation, the joke on them will partake of the nature of rldicule and subject the author of the resolution to the imputation of being as ignorant of the lumber business of his state as cer- tain prominent Tennessean of the manu- facture of lampblack.
 In the early days in Middle Tennessee q certain man of considerable local prom inence-he was a "squire," chairman of inc county court and kin to nearly every one in his "settement'-W riding 10 the house of a relative late one afternoon when he was hailed by the lady Of Inc house with: Hello, Cousin Jeems; light and come in. l want to see you.
 On entering the cabin he exclaimed: 'eNhy hello, Nancy What on earth ls the matter with your hands, and the faces and hands of the childrenY
 well, that's what 1 wanted to see you abott I've been making lampblack to- day. and I want you to guess how much I've made
 "Ohl don't know" he said
 I know you don't know, and that is not what I asked you. I want you to guess now much lampback I've made today
 ''Why, I have no idea at all.
 ''I know you haven't any idea. You never had one since I've been old enough to recollect anything; but can't you guess how much lampblack I've made today?"
 T don't know Anything about lamp black l don't know what 1t Is made of; don't know how it is made; don't know what sort of vessel you make 1t in; don't know"
 Hold on, Cousin Jeems. You might sit here a month telling what you don't know and not get half through with the job. I thought maybe, you did know enough to guess how much lampblack I've made today.
 'I guess yoh made ten thousand bar rels"
 .sI sec" she said, with that quiet resig- nation born of fixed conviction, you don't know.'
 If the fact that a woman's hands and the faces and hands of her children are blackened in evidence that she has made ten thousand barrels of lampblack. the prices charged by the retail dealers of Jackson. Miss, for building materials ought to be accepted as an indication of the existence of trust, and with this sciue" the committee should be able to lorate H.