Evening star., 1946-09-02
Nation Knows Ii Faces
Crisis in Building Plans
u. S. Finds No Parallel in
Dealing With Lumbermen
BY Dapid Laurence

| ~ cs IIuOS 4NO NJ allSl HI
Dealing With Lumbermen
By Dapid Laurence
From all parts of the country letters
are coming in telling Of the crisis In
the lumber situation and the black
markets. The letters confirm the state
ments printed in these columns from
the secretary of a retail lumber asso-
citation in Southern State.
Here is letter from Northern State.
just received:
i have been in the retail lumber
business for over so years. served as
president Of the National Retail Lunn-
Der Dealers Association for three
years and went through the blue eagle
days, but never have ! seen such a
condition as exists now. Between OPA
and Mr.. Wyatt we are in o mess. Mr..
Wyatt is about to issue a new order
to freeze rs per cent Of all lumber
construction items obtained on per.
centage certifications in the retail yards,
subject only to HH ratings. It will
not work-wholly impractical. This
means a 100 per cent black market.
The lumber will back up at the mills;
the lumber is now by-passing the
yards In other words the honest re-
tail dealer Is licked.
Blame Upon Wyatt.
"Mr. Wyatt is just fooling the GIs and
the public. One of our builders has
been over eight months trying to finish
20 houses.
THE more regulations we get, the
blacker the market. Only yesterday
we were offered a million feet of fir
fob, port Newark, all sizes and grades,
cash before lumber was put on the
boat at price that averaged $40
over OPA ceiling. We just turned it
down, but some one will buy 1t at that
price.
IF OPA could be made to work 1t
would be all right, but it has been
proven, human nature being what 1t
is, that it will not work."
Another communication comes from
specialist in lumber matters, who
lives in Louisiana and has for years
written for trade journals in the lum-
Der industry. He writes:
II have read with intense interest
your article of August 20. Every word
of it Is true, and could be emphasized
a dozen times without exaggeration.
I know at first hand the extent of
the disaster to the lumber business of
the South that has been caused by the
control of this business by the OPA.
Thwarting Of Absence Cited.
II have commented on this fact scores
of times in the past year or SO, and
pointed out from the beginning that
black market would be the logical re-
suit of attempting to apply uniform
prices to such varying product as
lumber, where the small, poorly
equipped mill was guaranteed the same
list prices as the frst-class manufac-
turer, whose product was worth great
deal more than that of the average
mill, and which absurd control de-
stroyed completely all semblance Of
competition or fair returns for the in
vestment. Herewith is sample COM
ment from lumberman of Charlotte,
N. c., saying in brief that there Is no
need for controls. That is fact. The
lumber market and industry has been
politicaliZed to death. 1t will take years
to recover from the terrific blow it has
received, as the best operators are
fradually getting out of it."
The latest issue Of the Southern
Lumberman" publishes series Of dis
patches from its correspondents.
From Philadelphia, here is the re-
port:
"Since OPA has been reinstated re-
ports are that less lumber is coming
through from the South than prior to
July 1st."
From Chicago comes this report:
Every little yellow pine has been COM
ing into the Chicago market in recent
weeks and once again the yardmen are
blaming OPA"
| figures prominently in the Southern
pine situation = " lumbermen say they
are losing money on present prices.
Several of them have declared fatty
that they will shut down their mills
and stop all production If they are
not given ceiling price whereby they
can make profit"
From Boston: Little hope is seen
- as any increases in price will not
be enough to encourage production and
discourage the black marketeers."
From several centers come reports
| that, aside from the effort to finish
houses under way, there is likely to DO
slowing down in the construction in
dustry. The whole lumber industry
seems to be awaiting some relief from
the OPA.
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