Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-19
Made Canvass of Trade.

One hears much these days concern
ing the high prices of lumber for build
in" purposes. and the complaint is
often made that the manufacturers ape
to blame. Nothing could be more be-
side the fact. Within the week the
writer has completed canvass of the
market situation in the yellow pine
trade in the southeastern states. and
the result is a situation which is not
in the least understood by the public.
Also ii is situation over which
the manufacturers, wholesalers or
the retailers have not the slightest
control. Present prices of yellow pine
lumber are the result solely of de-
mand greater than the supply.
Never in the history of the yellow
pine trade has there been such a de-
mand for building lumber, and never
has this lumber been SO scarce. The
most unusual conditions have pre-
vailed throughout the yellow pine pro-
ducing territory for the past nine
months Labor in the woods and at
the sawmills has been SO scarce and
the available labor so inefficient that
even under the most ideal sawmilling
conditions the mills have been able
only to limp along at best. This,
coupled with from three to four
months of unprecedented rainy
weather. which for a while brought
the sawmills to a dead stop. prevented
the regular demand of the spring sea-
son.
Buyers Beating the Bushes.
Every one knows that the war put a
stop to building operations in this
country and that its close finds the
nation in need of hundreds of thou
sands Of new structures. besides hun
dreds of thousands of others that are
in dire need of repairs. Against this
situation there are no lumber stocks
in the retail yards in the nations
great consuming territories, nor at
the sawmills. Many dealers have also
accepted orders which they are un-
able to place. Small wonder, then,
that the market has advanced of its
own accord when the buyers in armies
are beating the bushes in the yellow
pine producing territory trying to find
mills that are equipped to accept their
orders, manufacture and ship the lum-
Der This is the real reason for high
prices of building lumber and other
building materials.
Lumber manufacturers are by no
means enjoying the degree of pros
perity, however. that lumber prices
would appear to indicate. In the first
place., the sawmills are all more or
orders that were taken as long as a
year or more ago at prices which
then prevailed. This lumber the
manufacturers are endeavoring to
ship as fast as they can. and this is
one reason why they are not able to
accept more "high-priced" business
than they do. The labor situation is
hardly whit better than it was dur
ing the black days of the war and the
i1oh n vnndS
the mills is scarcely more than so per
cent efficient. Weather conditions are
better. but the demand, periodically
as it may seem, has scarcely started.
Railroads Will Enter Markets.
The building demand in this country,
which has already swanped the saw
mills, constitutes only a fraction OF
the demand that is to come. The rail-
roads, which annually consume a
third of the nations yellow pine lum-
Der, naturally affect the market to a
large extent. and the railroads have
not yet even commenced to buy lum-
Der How necessary it is for them to
do so is obvious at almost any point
by glance at the condition of the
roadbeds and trackage appurtenances.
depots. freight sheds. etc. And the
need of cars is tremedous.|
Not only are the needs of this ma
ton to be supplied with the product
of our sawmills, but all Europe has to
be rebuilt, and the export business
has not yet started in a serious way,
despite the fact that all available
bottoms are already engaged in carry
ing lumber to Cuba, the West Indies,
Central and South America and
European ports. 1t will be some time
before transatlantic trade can ad-
Just itself to the big business ahead
of it, and it would appear to an out
slider looking squarely at the situation
that now is the time to build your
own home" in this country, while
prices as high as they are, are cheap