The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1929-06-26
Clague Urges Senate To
Drop Tariffs On Lumber


Minnesota district, appearing before
the senate finance committee urged
elimination from the Hawley tariff
bill. of the duties on shingles and
other lumber products, attacking the
schedules which have met with so
much protest. He said:
Gentlemen of the committee: I
have asked for this opportunity to
appear before your committee for
the purpose of expressing my objec-
lions to a tariff on wood shingles,
cedar lumber, and birch and maple
flooring. l am speaking to you as
a consumer of these products. My
congressional district in Minnesota
is wholly farming district, and it
is a district similar to many others
in the, United States. In my opinion,
more than 80 per cent of the shin
giles used on the farms in my state
are wood shingles. My people are
largely users of not only shingles
but also lumber and other building
materials. One Of the heaviest items
of expense of every owner of farm
is in building and maintaining his
buildings in a paper state of repair.
"In the last two years have CIV
en- careful study to the tariff COM
mission reports heretofore made on
the lumber and single industry. l
have carefully read all of the hear
ings before the ways and means COM
mittee of the house, and have come
to the conclusion that there is no
justification for tariff at this time
on shingles, cedar lumber and birch
and maple flooring.
Cites Trade Letter
~ have sought information from
dealers, lumbermen, single manu-
facturers and others with a view of
arriving at the facts concerned in
these articles. A few days ago I re-
ceived in the mail an article from the
Lumber Trade concerning the shin
gle tariff. No doubt you gentlemen
have read it. I understand it was
mailed to all members of congress.
This article sets forth that the shin
gle industry of Washington and Ore
gon is in a depressed condition, and
states that it is due entirely to the
competition from British Columbia
shingles. 1t depicts the single in
dustry of Washington and Oregon as
on the verge of complete extermina-
tion, and appeals to the sympathy of
the Americans by ascribing the condi-
ton that it claims exists almost en-
tirely to the competition of cheap
oriental labor.
If these conditions as described in
this article were correct and based
on facts 1 should be the last man in
the world to appear before your COM
mittee against tariff on shingles for
l am firm believer in giving to any
industry that measure of protection
to which it is fairly and rightfully
entitled. In many ways the article
to which I refer might not merit an
answer, but find that it is cleverly
designed to appeal to the sympathy
of those unfamiliar with the facts,
and largely bases it's statement on
the ground that this industry has
been treated unfairly by congress.
A careful reading of the article fails
to develop any evidence that will
back up the statements that it makes.
The only figures or facts that can be
said to have any ground in truth are
the statements that shingles produc-
ton has declined in Washington and
Oregon over a long period of years,
and the additional fact that Cana
dian imports have increased.
Facts Easy to Get
Il have gone to considerable
trouble to ascertain as best l could
the facts. Fortunately, there is
available an unusual amount of data
on this subject. Largely at the re-
quest of those now appearing asking
for tariff, and under the direction
made very thorough and
of President Coolidge, the tariff COM
exhaustive study of the economics
and facts pertaining to the industry
In British Columbia and in Washing
ton and Oregon, collecting data from
the books of large number of COM
panies in the United States and Cana
da as to costs, wages, quality of shin
giles produced, methods of marketing,
prices, etc. In addition to this, there
is a large record of the hearing be-
lore the ways and means committee,
1T is unnecessary for me to detail
this information to your committee
since it is all available, but wish to
summarize briefly some of the out
standing facts which I find from a
study of the records.
First of all, it is true that shin
giles production has declined not only
in Washington and Oregon, but in the
United States as whole, but this
decline is clearly due to causes other
than imports. The primary cause is
probably the substantial depression
in our timber resources. Not so very
long ago shingles were manufactured
quite extensively from white pine
lumber in my own state of Minnesota.
but that is now all gone, and the
pine single is now unknown. Sim
ilarly, the heavy stand of cedar living
in the lowlands and near the tide
water of Washington and Oregon has
nearly disappeared, and the cedar