Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-02-28
The Lumber Trust.

ne LUMBER lTQSl.
That the lumber trust is a great in
iquity everybody knows. Not long
since the house passed resolution
authorizing an inquiry into the why
and wherefore of the astounding rise
in the price of white pine lumber, with
special reference to the manipulations
of lumber prices by the trust My
own Judgment was and is that the
high tariff on white pine lumber is
the why and wherefore of the trust.
One of my most valued constituents.
Judge H. G. Lakeland of st. Charles,
Mo-, prominent lawyer and business
man, wrote me the following letter on
the subject. which is well worth con.
sideration. Judge Lakeland says:
st. Charles Mo-, Feb. IT,
Hon. Champ Clark Washington:
Dear Sir--I wish to call your attention
to the iniquities of the lumber monopoly
in these United States, nurtured by the
tariff. AS you know, the whole lumber
business is IN the hands of a trust com.
posed of a few thousand men, which
levies tribute on and Expresses and de-
frauds eighty millions of people without
any corresponding benefit whatever. This
syndicate or trust has got possession OF
all the timber lands and sawTnills of the
country and it dictates the prices Of
lumber to the whole country. There used
to be a few independent mills. but they
have all been compelled to come into the
trust and every bill of lumber ordered by
any retail dealer from a supposed indie
pendent mill is sent to one general Office
and the order is filled from that office and
the money collected by it. Every once in
a f1-1tcf he nf hmm
Der. Last January it raised the price OF
the retailers 81 a thousand: last week il
raised the price again another IS cents
and 81 a thousand. The orders for raise
of price are given to the retailer, and he
is obliged to obey at his peril.
But worst of all, they swindle, defraud
and cheat the purchasers and users OF
lumber in a most shameful manner. For
instance, you are going to build home
we will say. You put in a bill to the re-
taller for a certain number of by 4
studding of the desired length, certain
number of 2 by u joist and a certain
number of feet of plank 1 by 10 of any
desired length Instead of giving you the
dimensions your order calls for, they
will give you studding ~ by 315 and
joist ~ by 111s or even II, and plank
q by or 91@, and so on. No matter what
dimensions you order, the lumber is cul
down in dimensions from half an inch tc
one inch on all sizes, ana you are meaSuf-
ed up and charged just as if you got full
dimensions If you do not take it tina;
way, you cannot get it at all. The mills
make in several ways by this method.
They make all they cheat you out of in
the dimensions. which is a great deal
They can make more lumber out of a log
in saving it up, and they can carry more
in a car from the mill to the retailer, and,
lastly, they shave a very thin skin of
one side of each piece of lumber (Which
is no advantage to it whatever) and use
the shavings under the boilers for steam.
Thus you see this trust is not satisfied
with the monopoly of the lumber business
in this big country and the big prices
they make the people pay but they swim.
die and cheat and defraud them in tbs
measurements in a most shameful man
ner know whereof am speaking, fol-
I have been compelled to buy a great deal
of lumber for many years.
If anything deserves to be investigated
by congress. it is this swindling, cheating
lumber trust.
The bar of the tariff on lumber ought
to be thrown down so that it can come
in from all the world. Very respectfully,
II G. LAKELAND.
P. S.-The price Of lumber has become
almost prohibitive.