Evening star., 1946-08-27
Inside Black Market
Story of Lumber Told
Itinerant Truckers Play Part in
Overceiling Price Deals
By Dapid Laurence

| Il AiNN I&diS
By David Lavrence
There come to this correspondents
| desk many letters telling the inside
story of what is going on around the
country. They are not written for pub
| lication, and to disclose the names of
their authors might create unnecessary
embarrassment for them.
One letter which arrived tAday con-
tains story Of what is happening in
that all-important commodity-lumber
which is needed so badly for hous-
ing. The letter comes from the execu-
tive secretary Of retail lumber dealers
association in certain State in the
South. Because of the important news
that letter contains, it is reproduced
| here:
Government controls in lumber have
created black market second only to
the black market that existed in meat.
They have utterly disrupted the normal
channels to which all types OF building
| materials flow. thus creating inflation-
| airy prices In all types of building costs
| and forcing thousands of potentially
honest lumber and building material
| dealers into certain unethical practices
that are most repugnant to them.
$4,000 Distributors in U. S.
There are approximately $4,000 re-
tail distributors Of lumber and building
material in the United States. A large
| majority OF them are predominantly
small businessmen. They were for
merly held in position of trust and
high esteem by their fellow townsmen
and as whole they are an honest,
hard-working bunch of businessmen
and among the most substantial citi-
zens in the community In which they
! live.
Under the present unrealistic con-
trolls placed on them by OPA and CPA,
they are faced with the problem of
either violation or liquidation and re-
gardless Of which road they take, they
will eventually come to but one end.
"The conditions I mention are not
localized, they prevail everywhere so
| you can start right there in Washing
ton and proceed in any direction. From
Seattle, Wash, to Miami, Fla. from
Portland, Me. to San Antonio, Tex,
the story is the same.
There has been a complete break
down in both OPA and CPA enforce
ment. Both agencies are stated with
inexperienced personnel, the qualifica-
tions of the majority Of them being
that they simply needed a job and no
one else would hire them at anything
like the figure the Government pays
them.
They roam the highways and by
ways with the proposed purpose of
hunting down violators but they can
not see the forests on account Of the
trees.
! Truckers Enjoy Trade.
'Itinerant truckers come down here
from points North with load OF corn
they have picked up from some farmer
at over-ceiling prices, they sell this
corn to some hard-pressed feed mill
which pays over-ceiling prices. Then
they proceed to some small sawmill,
pick up a load Of green lumber for
which they pay anywhere from $50
| per thousand to $50 per thousand,
which price, incidentally. is from $40
| to $40 per thousand over the ceiling
| price They haul this lumber out into
the grapefruit region Of Texas and sell
| it to some poor lumber-starv con-
sumner for prices ranging anywhere from
| $12o to $50 per thousand. Then they
for shipment, come back through New
Orleans and dump this Of on some
shady wholesale fruit dealer. Then they
head back into the lumber section and
again pick up a load Of lumber which
they haul back up into Missouri, nli-
nois, Indiana or some other State
where they again take some poor devil
| for a cleaning.
Now, if it is not corn he brings down
here, it Is hay, peaches, beans or some
| other commodity grown in his home
section, so it is just regular merry
| go-round day after day.
mot SO long ago one of these boot
leggers who had taken onsa few drinks
| too many and just enough to make him
| talkative, conf1ded to friend Of mine
| that he made one of these round trips
from st. Louis-where he is apparently
making headquarters-in anywhere from
10 days to two weeks, depending On
how quickly he could get loaded and
unloaded, and that he averaged over
and above his expenses anywhere from
$3.50 to $500 per trip.
Little or No Tax Paid.
Nov, this is money that the Treasury
Department collects little or no tax from.
"One of the small mill men who
happens to be catering to this black
market, when asked if he was not afraid
of being picked up by OPA made the
remark that he wasn't worried because
| if he was caught he would probably
| get few thousand dollars fine and
| these controls on for another II
months he would be in a position to
pay good stiff fine and he might even
be able to pay out part of jail SEN
| tence, and that he could still retire for
the balance of his life and not worry.
This sort of thing goes on day after
! day, not only in this State but In all
Of the areas where lumber is produced.
| Good sawmills that refuse to be-
| come involved in these black market
activities are being forced to close down.
One of them that I happen to know
about operated for 40 years. but finally
had to bow out of the picture.
| TT is sorry mess and some one
ought tn exnose IL In all its roftenness"