The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1911-02-18
TRUST
Congressman Smith Warns Against i
In Mixing Report % sabj*et
A SUMMARY OF REPORT

- Il.
Control Of Standing Timber in
81 5s Very Few Hands and He Finds
Speculative Holdings Far in ;Ad-
vance of Any Use Thereof.
Concentration Of the control Of
the standing timber in = very few
/ hands, vasts speculative holdings
s'".far in advance of any. use thereof" !"
an enormous increase II. the value
of .this diminishing naturai Re.
source, with great profits to it's own
ers,." and incidently land equally
sinister land monopoly" and "close-
8 " connected railroad domination"
-these-arevthe findings reported to
President Taft, by Herbert Knox
Smith, commissioner Of corporations.
in the first instalment Of his long
awaited report on the lumber indus
I try OF. the country.
The report was made public. -.
!. \ !. - & I. when submitted to Congress by
the President. It constituted the
first comprehensive ant: methodical
Investigation of the amount of and
ownership of our standing timber" !"
The report itself comprises 3S- prit-
4'ed pages, but a summary of its con-
tents is contained in letter sub
mitted by Mr.. Smith.
There are many great combina-
tions in other industries" says the
commissioner, ":whose formation is
complete. In the lumber industry
ion the other hand, the bureau now
finds in the making a combina-
tion caused fundamentally, by q
long standing public policy. s.
t23 .'In the last forty years concen-
tration has SO proceeded that 155
holders, many interrelatsd, now have
practically one-half the. privately
owned timber in the Investigation
area, (which contains 80 per cent
Of tbs whole.) This formidable
process. ;.of concentration, in timber
and In land, involves grave future.
possibilities Of impregaant monop.l
Boly, with far-reaching consequences
to society, it is now difficult to an :
ticipate fully or to overestimate
q .The foremost facts shown are.
First, the concentration of a domi-.
mating, control Of our standing tim
Der in comparatively few enor:-.
nous holdings, steadily tending to-
wards a central control of the lum-
Der industry; secondly, vast hold
ing of timber land far In advance OF
any use thereof; third, an enormous
increase in the value OF this dimin7
ishing natural resources, with great
profits to it's owners. This value,
by the very nature Of standing tim
Der, the holder neither created nor
substantially enhances.
!. ..These are the underlying facts OF
tremendous, service to the public
welfare. They are primarily the re-
suits of our public lard policy, long
continued. The laws that represent
that policy are still largely opera"
tive. The past history and present
status of our standing timber drive
i. home upon us the imperative neces-
sity of revising our public policy lor
future management CT all our re-
naming natural resources"
The commissioner then traces the
interval during which timber land
passed from Government to private
ownership.
l"There is now Left he continues,
.in Continental United States abont
1900 billion board feet of privately
owned standing timber, of whic2
1,747 billion is in the investigation
area covered in great detail by the
bureau. This area ircludes tie Ps-
cif,c Northwest, the Southern pine
region and the Lake States, and cors-
tains about 80 per cent Of all the
private timber of the country. In
addition, there are about 539 bill
lion feet in the national forests and
about 90 billion feet on other vari-
Gus private lands. Thus, the total
amount of standing timber in Con-
t!nental United States is about
$500 billion board feet.
The present annual drain upon
the supply of saw timber is about
so billion feet. At this rate the
timber now standing. without allow
ance for growth or decay, would last
only about 55 years
"The present commercial value Of
privately owned standing timber in
the country, not including the valle
of the land, is estimated at six bill
lion dollars. Ultimately, the con-
sumer will have to Fay higher prices
for lumber, which will give this
timber a far greater value"
The commissioner declares the
holdings of the Weierhaires Timber
Company, the Southern and North
ern Pacific Companies, together, are
2SS billion feet, or nearly II per
cent of all the privately owned tim
Der of the country.
''In the Southern. pine region -
said the report, in taking up the
description of timber land, there
are 634 billion feet OF privately
owned timber. Concentration in to-
tai timber is much less than in the
Pac:ac Northwest. There is, how
l. :.xh onnnn-,trntinn in tha