East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1915-08-06
Trade Commission to Help
SolUe Industrial Problem

phase Of the situation now before the
commission, which has also direct
bearing upon the inquiry in progress,
is the request from many lumber
manufacturers that limited form of
combination for engaging in export
trade be permitted. The commission
has arranged for a series Of hearing
during the summer on this and other
subjects relating TO the lumber indus
! try.
a study was undertaken ten months
ago by the Forest Service with the aid
/ Of other Federal bureaus, to find out
how the timber supply OF the country
is being utilized and whether or not
j normal and healthy conditions exist
I in the forest-using industries. The
former Bureau Of Corporations was
one of the original cooperators in the
] plan and the action now taken BY its
successor, the Federal Trade Com
mission, insures the continuance of
this cooperation.
As the situation is described by the
Forest Service although logging and
forest fires are reducing the timber
supply by SO or more billion feet a
year much lok-grade timber is not
marketable. From a quarter to
third Of the material grown in the
forests are wasted in manufacture.
From the lumbermans standpoint the
tn ha oil faA
Der; but while some manufacturers
have reduced their output for the time
being, there is no prospect Of any per.
manent weakening in the attack Of
the $4,000 sawmills upon the remain
ing forests. The necessity for real
izing on investments in timber to-
gether with other causes. has led ap-
parenuy 20 the construction Of saw
mills with an output greatly in excess
Of demand.
At the same time many people he
teve that lumber costs too much
Retain prices have gone up in the last
two decades, due in part to the fact
that the supplies Of timber nearest
the thickly populated states have been
reduced There has also been much
speculation in standing timber which
mas tended 10 enhance timber values /
and to increase the prices demanded
by lumber mills. The development of
associations Of lumber manufactur-
ersc and distributors has occasioned
more or less belief that prices were /
being raised artificially. To what ex-
tent the rise in lumber prices has re-
suited from causes such as longer .
freight hauls. more costly logging, |
and increased cost Of labor and sup
plies, and to what extent it has re- 1
suited from speculative advances in
timber values, and price understand
ings among lumber manufacturers or
dealers. has been in dispute.
The part PLAYED by the Forest Ser
vice in the inquiry begun last year
deals with the ownership of standing
timber, the waste in its utilization.
and the factors controlling the pro-
duction and distribution of lumber.
The Forest Service is endeavorinr 10
determine the profits or losses of
lumber manufacturers and dealers in
and distributing lum-
Der from the standing tree to the con
sumer.
The forest service has been
brought into close touch with condi-
tons in the numbering industry
through its administration of the bul,
of the public timberlands, its efforts
to develop forestry throughout the
United States, and its study of the
utilization of forest products II re-
CARDS the present conditions. by and
large, as making the development Of
forestry and the rational conserva. I
ton OF the forest resources OF the
country an impossibllity Hence a
study of the situation in its bearing
upon forest conservation has been
brought home to the forest service !
as one of the most necessary things
to he done
The bureau of foreign and domes-
tic commerce. with its large facilities
for the study of trade opportunities.
is conducting an investigation Of for
eign markets, particularly in South
America and the orient with a view