The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-10-29

of North Carolina or Southern pine
sells his product in active competition
with every other manufacturer, and it !
is this condition which has forced the |
price of LUMBER down, and which |
would have forced it down if the tariff
on lumber had been ten instead of |
| two dollars per thousand. The great |
scare-crow held up to the Southern |
lumberman is the competition with
Canadian lumber. 1t has often been |
stated that our Southern lumber docs |
not compete with the lumber furnish |
ed by Canada, and as a substantiation |
of that fact, we actually exported to |
Canada in the last year, 1907, lumber |
to the value of $4,902,91O
Exports Argue Tariff no Benefit
1t is a well known principle of trade !
that any article Of commerce that s |
| exported to any considerable extent
cannot be benefited in the home mar
ket by protective tariff. unless the
natural laws of trade are interfered
with in some artificial way as for in
stance, when the home market is
controlled by a trust. which is not
loW ana never has been true of the
lumber business. 1t is as clear as
I hat water will seek it's level that no
Eoreign market as long as the home
market bears price in excess of what
| the foreign market will give. And
| hence the export of any article in con-
! siderable quantity is sufficient proof
| that that article is not benefited by
the tariff against the foreign article
| unless it is controlled by n trust. Ac
| cording to the government reports
| lumber was exported from this cOun-
! try last year to the value of $39,S61,-
| 352.
The following article, written by
practical lumberman, Mr.. Charles
Ross of the Observation-Disclosures Bros
Lumber Co. of Harnett county, in
addition to being Il very instructive
discussion of the question, shows that
the lumber people have some prac-
teal IDEAS of their own about these
matters. and that they are not being
fooled by Republican misrcprcsenta-
tOns:
~ Lumbcrman'S Views OH the Tariff
as Affecting North Carolina.
ITO Lumbcrmen:-The protective
tariff is capable of some exceedingly
ingenious arguments. One of the
latest is an appeal to Southern Lum-
bermcn that the price of their lum-
her is affected by the tariff tax of
81 per thousand. Southern Democrats
nave never based their political judg-
; ment upon a monetary standard, as
our Republican friends have been ac-
custOmed to do. Nevertheless some
have been disposed to say that if we
have been robbed by the protective
tariff in the interest of the North, for
half century and the lumber tariff
does really help our section, that We
should not hesitate to take advantage
of it. But does it help us? All of the
surplus lumber manufactured through
this section finds n market in the
Eastern States. The only foreign
lumber that car compete with us in
this territory is lumber from Canada.
Canada has no lumber that comes in
- competition with our yellow pine.
; The Canadian lumber does in some in
5 stances come in competition with our
5 second growth pine. The second
t pine is manufactured principally into
81 box boards and "rOOferS." SiX-inCil
S | 'rUoforS' arc worth in Baltimore to-
t day $3.50 per thousand; in New York
2 they are worth 81 per thousand more
. | Why? Simply because it costs 81 pei
e thousand more freight to ship then
u from the South to New York than il
n does to ship to Baltimore. In Buffalo
d n. y, almost in sight of the Canadian
It line, this same lumber is worth s.
! per thousand more than it is in New
: York, the difference being exactly thu
h difference in the freight rate from tn
: South. IF the cost of Canadian Ium
=. h'r regulated or 'ntIueh"ed thr pfl'
- ,,,,,.I,I XXI 40 ,,,.t - I,,,,,I,n, -,
= due d rs the cost Of the transportatio
ii grow less.
~ "But | have sold this year in Mort
IF TonaWanda, right on tn" Canada
Ic line, . number Of car loads Of lumbe
,r and the price paid Was more tina
st enough to pay extra freight to Mort
n. TonaWanda over what the same lun
No. Der would have brought in New Ior
q city. This makes it plain that tn
n Southern lumber and not the Canada
n lumber fixes the price that our lumbe
- brings in the territory that furnish,
- our customers. Then why any tart
pc on lumber? [ will tell you why. Bac
av in the Northwestern States, along II
-, Canadian line, there is the same kin
~ of lumber that Canada produce
NJ ,,I,,., c..r.,t,. q,