Evening star., 1923-06-15
! UMBER MEN SEE
SPLIT IN CABINET
Claim Hoover and Other
Members Divided on Stand
ardizati0n.
w ,c Associated Press.

w hc Associated Press.
CHICAGO. June IJ.-Charging that
j:e National Hard Wood Lumber As
citation had been misrepresented as
..ppoS.ng the activities of the Depart
,cut of Commerce in the standardi-
alton of lumber, John w. Mcclure of
iemphis, Tenn, president of the as
.uciation, presented to the member
ship today "a committee report indi-
,ating that one member of President
i;ardinSs cabinet had urged govern
ent supervision and another had
opposed it.
The statement that there was dis
..,nsion in the cabinet was attributed
~ w. \. Durgin. chief of the dlvi-
!uu of ,simplited practice, who was
,,ileged to have said that his chief
aecretary, Herbert Hoover had op-
.psed the proposal for governmental
.upervision. but that it had been
Urged by another cabinet member in
Ly.reSted in western timberland.
Association Neutral.
Mr. Mcclure indicated that he
wanted il clearly understood that the
association had not opposed the
standardization movement and that
;he "rsanixativn' attitude had been
consistent and that the membership
should so understand it. He named
tir. Durgin as having presented on
March 10 last before the Southern
line AssCc citation communication
t,Grporting. to be over the signature
II Secretary Hoover. containing Il
.Latement that ''one group" persisted
IN miSrepreStnting the motives and
objects of our common undertaking.
We are reliably informed" Prest-
dent Mcclure continued, that Mr.
Durgin later stated that the group
referred to i'll this paragraph was the
National Hardwood Lumber Associa- :
zion"
Forced in Open.
lie added that the committee which
took part in a conference in the Of
ice Of the Department of Justice at
Washington. on May %, 1922. had re-
trained hitherto. out of a sense of
courtesy to the department. from
making any of the information public
that now. under what appears to be
= direct charge OF misrepresentation
made by the Secretary of Commerce.
the officers Of the association believed
they were obliged to acquaint the
membership with the facts.
Under the further belief that the
insincerity evidenced by statements
by Mr.. ". a. Durgiu was of such d
.ature as to completely Justify the
l-cur committee toward the proposed
movement, the association took the
position which it has consistently
sustained.
Mr.. Mcclure added that the officers
felt they were relieved OF the seal of
confidence imposed by Mr.. Durgin "by
reason of the fact that Mr.. Durgfn
has impaired to a member OF the as
Sociation a portion OF the discussion
which he claims to have been en-
gagged in at that meeting"
Text of Report.
The committee report, signed by
Horace F. Taylor. John w. Mcclure,
Earl Palmer and Frank Fish, the
latter secretary Of the association
was as follows:
During the conference at the Of
ices of the Department of Commerce
ca May %. 1922, Mr.. ". A Durgin,
chief of the division OF simplified ID
present. representing the National
Hardwood Lumber Association TO
come 20 his private Office. Your com
lHtttee. composed OF Horace +. Tay
Ior. John w. Mcclure. Earl Palmer
and Frank F Fish. accompanied by
went to Mr.. Durgin's office. After
carefully closing the door, Mr.. Dur
gin said in substance:
"1f any man now in my presence
repeats what L am about to say. |
shall deny that 1 ever said 1T There
IS dissention in the cabinet and op-
position TO my chief, Mr.. Hoover.
Another member of the cabinet in
rerested in western timber lands is
urging government supervision of
rhe lumber industry and Mr.. Hoover
Is opposed to government interfer-
cuce in the conduct Of the lumber
business. In this Standardization
program. covering nearly all branches
nf American industry. harmony is
Titally necessary 10 us from u polftf-
cal standpoint. If We cannot have
harmony, We must have :. show of
harmony, and ] appeal to you men
TO sit in on these lumber committees
and not TO bring discord into this
lumber conference. We do not ex-
pect anything Of Importance will re
suit from this meeting, but IN the
interest of our chief / urge upon
you to reconsider and take active
part on these committees because we
must have unanimous action at this
conference"