Omaha daily bee., 1912-04-07
LUMBER REPORT NOT READ
President Replies to Demand Made
BY Manufacturers.
FACTS ARE NOT COMPILED
Secretary Nagel Calls Attention 10
Fact that Department Cannot
Render Any Verdict in
Matter.

WASHINGTON, April sits demand
upon President Taft for publication OF
conclusions Of the Department OF Com
merce and Labor upon Its fnvestlgs-
tion Of the lumber manufacturing bust
ness. ordered by congress in 1906 was
made public today by the National
Lumber Manufacturer association. with
another correspondence between Presi-
dent Taft and the secretary Of the De-
partment of Commerce and Labor.
we, representing many citizens OF
the United States. who are entitled to
Justice at the hands OF the government
and to that justice which Is doubly
admirable II prompt" says the memorial,
petition you to have made pubic at
the earliest possible moment the whole
conclusion Of the Department Of Com
merce and Labor as 10 the principal
question put to 1t by the congressional
resolutions, that the people OF this
country may no longer have to depend
for their opinion as to the lumber pro-
ducing industry upon insinuations, I'M
verified charges, suspicion or prejudice-"
On receipt Of the statement and pc
tition Of the lumber men. President Taft
referred to the complaint to Secretary
Nagel. who furnished the president with
a reply. This reply states the position
Of the administration in the matter.
The lumber manufacturers, upon re-
cept Of the letter from the secretary OF
commerce, made another appeal to Presi-
dent Taft.
Report on Standing Timber.
In the petition. reference is made to
the fact that while the Department OF
Commerce and Labor made public Feb
ruary Is. 1911. partial report on the
lumber industry, 1t related only to the
private ownership Of standing timber,
in the United States, and advanced
only one Of the reasons for the alleged
high price Of lumber. that this partial
report ignored the request Of congress
to report particularly as to the exist
ence OF combinations. etc. in restraint
OF trade and therefore failed to give
the lumber producers the verdict which
they asked for at conference with the
president, Secretary Nagel and Com
missioner Smith in Washington. January
L.. 1910.
The petition closes with an urgent re-
quest that the charges against the lum-
Der manufacturers OF the United States
he as promptly brought to conclusion
as seem likely to be those against lum-
Der dealers who have been brought into
court"
Secretary Nagel In transmitting 10 the
president the answer to the lumber mems
complaint, says the report of the Bureau
OF Corporations was not only important
and relevant TO the issue involved In
the resolution OF congress. but that the
amount of standing timber and the con-
centration of Its ownership were abso-
luteiy essential to the discussion Of the
questions involved. The secretary says
the bureau found a wholly unexpected
and a very remarkable degree OF con-
centration Of standing timber. It thus
applied q second and absolutely essential
basis fact in the discussion of lumber
prices.
Cannot Render Verdict.
The secretary says the Bureau OF Cor
porations has, considering the magnitude
Oh tHt tdsht huppilcu HttcrSdiSs ioNNS
as rapidly as possibly: that 1t is now
carrying on also an investigation into
competitive methods, report on which
will be presented as soon as possible.
Referring further to the statement of
the lumber men that the first and only
report made by the Department Oh
Commerce and Labor was the report in
1911 on standing timber, Secretary Nagei
says the bureau has also for some time
been carrying on investigations into
the actual course OF the prices OF lum-
Der, and this too will be presented as
soon as finished. incidentally Mr.. Nagel
points out the difficulty of gathering this
information.
Secretary. Nagel says. ~in reply to the
demand for a verdict. that II would be
wholly inpracticable for the bureau
and entirely out Of It's jurisdiction, to
render verdict on the existence Of the
so-called lumber trust or conspiracy in
restraint Of trade; that the question Is
Strictly a legal one. Any attempt on the
part OF the Bureau OF Corporations. says
he secretary. to make such a finding
of guilty or not guilty, would be an
absurdity in itself, and would establish
most embarrassing precedent.