Southwest Washington labor press. [volume] (Hoquiam, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1926-09-03


II am not before you on any
philanthropic mission this evening,
quite the contrary. / deem it an op-
portunity from quite selfish stand
point to 60 into my problems as a
lumber salesman, as yours as 3 lum-
Der craftsman.
"Gsntlemen, your guild or craft ia
one Of the Oldest and most honorable
in history, and it Is my opinion that
it has never been so threatened az
at the present time. With the assist
ance of few charts that I have
with me l expect in the next few
minutes to bring home to you, az
carpenter craftsmen, the nature Of
this threat.
"The laws Of supply and demand
are constantly working either for on
against our particular interests, and
it is as potent q factor in advanc-
ing the lot Of labor as it is materials
and goods. The logger, the manu-
facturer, wholesaler, and retailer of
lumber is no more interested than
you, the craftsman. You and your
craft is absolutely tied to the for
tunes, good or bad, of the material
you work with. Yours is a special
lied guild. The common laborers
looks to the general welfare Of a
community, while you are more par
ticularly bound to the fortunes Of the
particular material that you have
apprenticed yourself to and become
skilled in handling.
"What is this threat that | have
suggested? Lumber Substitutes, and
the army Of products that have been
brought into the building field and
called lumber substitutes have been
yqnita aptIy. and properly named,
"articles that are used in place of.
1t would be taking more time than
the occasion warrants to try and
itemize the multitude of articles that
have been offered. Suffice it to say
that from the patent roof to Stucco
sidewalks and steel frames, up and
down, in and out, the owner has not
been benefited and the lumberman
and the carpenter have been injured.
"Let us analyze this situation a
bit. Chart No. l show lumber pro-
duction for 1926, ,0S0, ,9S6,O00 feet;
1911-37, ,O03, ,207, 900 feet, or as much
less as the entire lumber production
of this great Grays Harbor territory,
while in the same period Of time build
ing contracts have scared immeasur-
ably, seven times, to be comparative
ly exact. Where has this material
and labor increase gone?
Chart No. 2, Face Brick produc-
tion for 1909-816, $4,000. Ran fair
ly even until 1919 when it jumped to
2,119, ,731, 900 in 1924, while lumber
production in 1924 was 1000, 900 feet
less than in 1919. Did the carpenter
benefit from this Face Brick market
"Chart No. 3. Portland Cement
production jumped from 64,991, 900
bbls., in 1909 to 148,859,0 900 bbls., in
1925-from 100 per cent to 229 per
cent. Did the carpenter benefit from
this? Bear in mind that road con-
struction only accounts for 20 per
cent of Portland Cement consumption.
"Chart No. a. Roofing Material
production VS.. Wood Shingle produc-
tion from basic 100 per cent in
1909 to 439 per cent in 1925 as
against shingles basic 100 per cent
in 1909 to 46 per cent in 1925, is the
story Of shingles downfall--a loss of
over eight billion shingles annually.
Certainly no gain to the carpenter
in this chart Making 100000
squares at hour per square for lay
ing, a loss to carpenter journeymen
of 100000 hours or $10,0O0,0O0 at
current wage scale.
"Chart No. 5. Wall Plaster, Wall
Board and Compositions, show an
increase from the basic 100 per cent
to 576.4 per cent while lumber has
dropped from the basic 100 per cent
to 86.7 per cent an increase of $751; :
100000 per annum for the substitute
and a Az billion foot board measure
decrease for lumber.
"Chart No. 6. Iron and Steel
Doors, Shutters, ETC., have gone from
$3,006,OO0 in 1909 to $15,S67, 900 in
1925, from a basic 100 per cent to
511.2 per cent.
"Chart No. z. Gypsum production
shows an increase from a basic 100
per cent to 223.8 per cent.
~Chart No. 8. Wood and Metal
Lath. Metal Lath shows an increase
from a basic 100 per cent to 407 per
cent. Wood also shows a slight
strengthening. Both prove the in
roads Of Stueco substitute for lum-
Der walls. Unfortunately the only