The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-08-11
Protect Lumber Industry Against Soviet
 Labor.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

For some years creeping paralysis has threat ened the Pacific Northwest lumber industry. Its onset has been invited by a complication of ills chief of which are cut-throat competition among manufacturers, the gradual entry of substitutes n the market and uneconomic cutting forced by arbi- trary tax laws framed with little regard for the slow growing nature of the timber crop
 Organization for production and scientific mar keting promised to restore the industry Now how ever, improvement of fundamental factors may be set aside by foreign competition Russian lumber a negligible factor few years ago, is assuming importance in the markets of the world.
 This lumber is produced by cheap enforced labor from timber lands taken without cost by the Rus sian State. So far Government is con- cerned, it do little to help the American lum- Der industry meet such competition in markets out side the United States. The Government can, how ever, protect our own market and it should pro tect it without delay, thus giving work to some of the 10000 unemployed sawmll and logging camo workers in Washington and Oregon
 In telegram sent early last week to the Secre- tary of the Treasury by Col w. B. Greeley of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, it was strong Fly urged that the clear intent of the present law in respect to the importation of articles in whose production convict enforced labor has been en- ployed, be enforced in connection with cargoes of Russian lumber detained and other cargoes nov en route to the United States
 Notwithstanding this suggestion, Assistant Secre tary bowman ruled that the six cargoes of Russia q De admitted it had not been proved that the material had been produced by convict labor
 Thus the specific object of Clonel Greeleys pro- test has been defeated, but the fight should go on until there results some settled policy of protecting American lumber against a form of competition which is manifestly destructive and unfair.
 The serious nature of the threat of Russian Lumber in our own market is indicated when it is told that the mills in Oregon and Washington shp one-ffth of their production now to the Atlant 2 Coast through the Panama Canal in American boats, at freghting charge of from $lO to S14 Q thousand board feet, awhile Russian lumber was shipped last year to the American Atlantic Coast from Archangel for S8 thousand feet In 1927, according to the Soviet year book Rus lsia produced but 3570000000 board feet, most of lit for within Soviet territory This output has been steadily increased until in 1933 according to feet large portion of which is intended for distribution within the United States and in the principal foreign markets where our West Coast woods sold.
 Clearly, to meet this competition our lumber industry must receive the most thoughtful legisla- tive consideration And to meet the present situa ton, pressure should be brought to bear at the National Capital which will effect a reversal of the Treasury Departments ruling and thus exclude Russian lumber in the manner suggested by Colonel Greeley who laid down sound economic and patriotic doctrine when he said
 American labor should not be asked
 under any circumstances, to compete with l Russian convict impressed workers Fully | 50 per cent of the toal cost of logging
 and manufacturing in the Douglas fir re-
 zion is paid to labor directly in wages
 The Pacific Northwest sawmill and logging
 camp worker needs every protection the Fed eral law can throw around him.
 | Every business interest in the Pacific North. west should concern itself with working out meas ures of permanent protection from that threat which Russia carries against the leading industry lof this section