The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-02-18
GREAT LUMBER TRUST.
IMPORTANT REPORT BY COM
MISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS
ANNOUNCED.
Growing Tendency Toward Monopoly
Public Land Policy Needs to BE
Changed to Correct Conditions.

washington, Feb. 15.-COncertra-
ton of the control Of the standing
timber in a very few hands, vast spec
ulatlVe holdings far in advance of
! any use thereof" an enormous in
crease in the value of this diminish.
ed natural resource with great prc ;
to its owners" and incidentally
equally sinister land monopoly, d
closely connected railroad don. ma
tion"-these are the findings reported
to President Taft by Herbert Knox
Smith, commissioner Of corporations
in the first installment of his long
awaited report on the lumber industry
of the country. The report was made
public today when submitted to Con-
gress by the President. 1t constituted
the first comprehensive and metho-
dical investigation of the amount of
and ownership of our standing tim
ber." The report itself comprises
| thlrty-elght printed pages but a
summary Of its contents is contained
in letter submitted by Mr. Smith.
There are many great combinations
in other industries" says the COM
missioner, whose formation is COM
plete, one the lumber industry Of the
country, and, the bureau now finds in
Fundamentally. by a long standing
public policy. In the last forty years
oncentration has SO proceeded that
155 holders many interrelated, now
nave practically one-half the privately
| owned timber in the investigation
area (Which contains so per cent of
the whole.) This formidable process
! or concentration, in timber and in
! land, involves grave future possibili-
ties Of impregnant monopoly, with far
reaching consequences to society. it
is now difficult to anticipate fully or
to overestimate.
The foremost facts shown are:
(Frist) concentration of a domi-
mating control OF our standing tim
Der in comparative few enormous
holdings, steadily tending toward a
central control of the lumber indus
try; (second) Vast holding of timber
Iand, far in advance of any use there
of; (third) An enormous increase in
the value Of this diminishing natural
resource, with great profits to it's own
ers. This value by the very nature of
standing timber, the holder neither
created nor substantially enhances.
These are the underlying facts. of
tremendous service to the public well
fare. They are primarily the results
of our public land policy, long con-
tinued. The laws that represent that
policy are still largely operative. The
past history and present status of our
standing timber drive home upon us
the imperative necessity of revising
our public policy for the future man
agement of all our remaining natural
, resources"
The commissioner then traces the in
terval during which timber land pass
ed from government to private owner
ship.
There is now left" he continues,
lin continental United States about p
200 billion board feet of private stand
ing timber Of which l,747 billion is in
the investigation area covered in great
detail by the bureau. This area in
cludes the Pacific northwest. the
southern pine region and the lake
States, and contains about 50 per cent
of all the private timber of the coun-
try. In addition there are about 593
billion feet in the national forests and
about 80 billion feet on other various
private lands. Thus the total amount
of standing timber in continental Uni
ted States is about $500 billion board
feet The present annual drain upon
the supply of saw timber is about fifty
! billion feet. At this date the timber
now standing, without allowance for
growth or decay would last only about
thirty-five years.
The present commercial value Of
privately owned standing timber in the
country, not including the value Of the
land, IS estimated at six billion. u
timately the consumer will have to
pay higher prices for lumber which
/ will give this timber a far greater