The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-06-17
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TION
BURE AU
FREDERIC J, HASKIN. Director.
Washington, D. C
LUMBER BUSINESS LOST IN THE
WOOnC
Washington, D. C

| NOOOSs
Washington, D. c., June 1.-THE
price of lumber has risen steadily.
and the prospects are that it will rise
! still more. with the result that it is
becoming more and more difficult for
an American of moderate means to
| build a house for himself.
| All wood products are sharing in
| the rise. Especially is this true of
paper. All branches of the publish
ing business are handicapped and
American capital is going to Canada
, for paper pulp. Wood working indus
tries, such as furniture, vehicle, sash
! and door and box factories are closing
/ in many sections because of the ex-
haustien of the supply of material.
And yet the men who own and cut
the timber are not getting rich, either.
Quite the contrary. Ever since about
1907 the lumber industry has, in the
words of one expert, been flat on the
| black" 1t has had too much money
| tied up in timberlands, and too many
mills have been built. The domestic
and foreign reconstruction markets
promise it relief, but the relief has not
| been felt generally as yet.
Nor is the present situation due to
an inadequate supply of timber in the
country as a whole. There is enough
! timber in the United States to last it
for many years in any case, and
enough forest ianQS 10 supply the ma
ton with wood indefinitely, if they are
properly administered.
What IS the trouble them Why.
with an abundant supply of timber
in the United States. is lumber be-
coming too dear for the average citi-
zen to build a house? Why is the
nation unable to supply its wood
working industries with raw material
and to keep its presses supplied with
paper? Why. above all, is the lumber
industry in precarious state?
These questions are being forcibly
put to the public and to the lumber
industry by the United States forest
service. and especially by Chief For
ester Henry S. Graves. The forestry
experts have certainly made the point
that the situation is anomalous, and
that something must be done about it,
Furthermore. they have pointed out
the causes of the present situation,
and have outlined. in a general way
plan to remedy it. This plan will
sooner or later be laid before con-
gress.
The cause of the present situation.
according to the foresters, is that we
have no national policy with regard
to that part of our timberland (about
three-fourths of them) which are in
private ownership. The result is that
the industry has become unsound thru
speculative financing. in the first
place. In the second place, it has
exhausted the more accessible stands
of timber, thus depriving certain sec
| tons of the source of supply. This is
leading cause of the high price
which we pay for lumber and wood
products; for 1t means that lumber
must be hauled longer distances, and
the freight is a large factor in the
cost of lumber.
In the third yolaco In
so cut timberlands that they are prac-
tically destroyed as forests instead of
cutting scientifically, so that the
stand of timber would reproduce itself,
as is done on the national forests
The forest service would remedy
TINS situation by passing laws-state,
federal, or both-compelIing the own
ers of timberlands to cut the timber
scientifically, and enforcing this by
government inspection. They would
also compel the industry to protect
the forests from fire. In a word
these forests would be administered
much as the national forests are adj
ministered, but under government
supervision instead of government
ownership.
This. of course. would all be heavy
expense to the industry. This extra
expense should be made up to the
operators, in the opinion of forestry
state taxes on the timberlands, by
taking measures to stabilize prices.
and by giving them scientific aid in
the technical phases of the industry
1t is contemplated, in a word. that
the public should be assured that its
t1mberlands are being conserved not
destroyed, and that the industry
should be assured of a reasonable
profit. Neither of these results is be-
ms oh tot -
Labor Is the third human factor
in the problem, and the forest service
has paid special attention to it. In
some branches of the lumber indus
try, labor conditions are perhaps
worse than in any other industry in
strong among the lumberjacks, and
labor troubles have not a little to do
with the present condition of the Ium-
Der industry.
The chief cause for the miserable
condition of so many of the woods
men is that the nature of their calling
makes it impossible for them to have
homes. They are constantly moving
from one operation to another. But
If the forests were worked on a con-
servation basis, they would become
the permanent homes of the men who
cut the timber, guarded against fires,
and did the other work of forestry,
just as farms are the homes of the
men who work them Villages could
be built. The lumberjack would have
home, wife, family, church and school.
This policy of state and federal
supervision of privately owned tim
! berlands would be supplemented by
a policy of government purchase of
cut-over timberlands which are not
fit for agriculture, IN order to reforest
/ them.
| If this policy were carried out, all
! timberlands of the nation. private and
public, would be administered as a
unit. This would help to stabilize
| prices. and would be benefit to the
| industry as well as to the public.
| This plan has been presented to the
lumber industry by Chief Forester
Graves in several speeches, and the
| government men expect to carry on
/ the discussion with the operators in
| a series of conferences The attitude