New-York tribune., 1911-02-15
NATIONS TIMBER
Commissioner of Corporations
Warns Against Monopoly.
BLAME LAID TO OLD LAWS
Half of Privately Owned Trees
in Hands of 1876 Holders
Government May
Investigate.

Washington. Feb. 1i.-Concnntration ot
the control Of the standing timber in Il
very few hands. vast speculative holdings
''far In advance of any use thereof" m
enormous increase In the value of this
diminishing natural resource, with great
profits TO its owners" and Incidentally "dh
equally sinister land monopoly and
CLOSELY connected railroad domination -
these arc the findings reported to the Pres
ident by Herbert Knox Smith, Commission
er or Corporations. in the first instailnent
Of his long-awalted report on the lumbHr
Industry I'm the United States. The report
was sent TO Congress to-day by the fresi-
dent.
In n forecast of the future the report
parfakes OF the sensational. 1t is in part
as follows:
There are many great combinations In
other industries, whose formation is com
pletc. In the lumber industry, on the other
hand. tho bureau finds now in the making
combination caused. fundamentally. by
lonc-standing public policy. The concenra-
ton already existing is sufficiently impres-
sive still more impressive are the posi-
bilities for the future.
In the last forty years concentration mas
so proceeded that one hundred and ninety
five holders, many interrelated. nave now
practically one-half Of the privately oWheo
timber In the investigation area 'which
contains eighty per cent Of the Whoie''
This formidable process Of concentration m
timber and IN land, certainly involves grave
future possibilities Of impresnable monop"-
listic conditions, whose far reaching conse-
ouences 10 society 1t Is now difficult 10 an
ticlpate fully or TO overestimate.
The report shows about 900. .0oO.oooco feet
of standing timber IN this country. The
annual drain Is about N,0Ooo@'"p.
I've detailed report shows that the three
,r,erosts named own one-quarter of the
| o12 coo ooo. .0nD feet i'm the Pacific Northwest.
In Minnesota. Wisconsin and Michigan H5
holders control 60 per cent of the l@'o"'"o'-
600 feet standing.
Together, 1902 holders Of timber have
| &579.OOO acres OF land. an average OF Z"
square miles. This menacing concentration
of land does not include railroad holdings
,, in non-timbered regions. The control OF
| mineral wealth In this connection is pointed
| out as a menace. The report continues in
| part:
The Big Holders.
Three vast holdings alone. the greatest
| In the country, those Of the Southern Pa
| cifc Company. the Weyerhauser Timber
COMPANY and the Northern Pacific Rail
way Company dncluding their subsidiary
Icompaniesl, together have 5000, 100000 feet,
or nearly II per cent. OF all our privately
owned timber" the report says. With the
five next largest they have more than Is
per cent of the total privately owned tim-
4 Der. Finally, nearly one-half GS per cerD
! of the private timber in the investigation
area is held by only 195 great holders.
Such concentration in standing timber
10 perritted 10 continue and increase
lInakes probable final central controi o'
the whole lumber Industry. \ few strong
interests ultimately holding the huiE o'
the timber can set the price Of tmher and
it's products.
With intent 10 file some sort of an anti
| trust suit against the lumber interests, th'
! Department Of Justice has been at wori
| nearly q year investigating complaints o
discrimination. blacklistins. price raisins
and combinations 20 apportion territory
MANY hundreds Of such complaints haV
been received from small lumber dealers
lindependent mills and individual consumer
in all sections II the country. and the anti
trust agents have given detailed inyestiga
tion to many Of them.
II seems 30 be the plan of the department
10 devote it's attention first 10 ono Of th
so-called divisions Of the interests, an
what may be an antitrust suit against on
OF these is now being perfected. II Is likeI
that when the investigation in this one par
ticular case Is complete, however. no fu'
will be filed Immediately. Despite the rae
that several antitrust cases are ready I
he started. II is the disposition Of tho al
ninjstration 10 wait until decisions of TN
Supreme Court have been given IN IN
Standard oil and Tobacco cases
The Investigation which the Department
. Of Justice has been making has been en-
tirely separate from that made by the Bn
! reau Of Corporations.