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•

'^,

^ V

FOREST PROTECTION

AND TUB

TARIFF OK LUMBER.

SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.

NBW YORK.
1888.

J. lii. Ctyt-L I >■ >, i i,7if k. ii -s. \. vC%. i ^ C > t

. > >. I. 1 >. C'll 4. C • < > (.

ccmidcViXiicn cj tliesc vaaec, i/i ir.c ho^c t':a: .:

f idler diccussicii and cciijy ii7idjrc:a::Si::{' of :':c
impcri.mcc of ciir 'ctcckC nil' 'cad tc wise

meaczircc fcv Fcvcct (Prcce-rjatioiz.

Neiu Yor'-: City, Jiiizzcary. 2S8C-.

PUBLIC OPIN'ION

FOREST PROTECTION

AND THK

LL'M BER TARIFF.

■

{From the McMiufe of PrcsitUni Arthur.)

The condition of tlu' loreHts of the countrv, and tho wasteful manner
in which their destruction is takini? jdace, irive cause for serious ap-
prehension. Their action in |»r<)te<tinu the earth's surface, in modify-
ing tlu extremes of climate, and in reufulatin.t; and sustaininj-; the flow
of si)ring8 an(t stvenms, is now well understood, and their importance
in relation to the growth and prosperity of the country cannot be
safely disregarded. 'I'hey are fast disappearing before destructive
fires an<l the legitimate re(iuirements of our increasing ])opulati(.n,
and their total extinction cannot be long delayed w ^'sbett-r methods
tlian now prevail shall be adopted for their protect luu ..nd cultivation.
The attention of Congress is invited to the necessity of additional
legislation to secure the preservation of the valuable forests still re-
maining on the public domain, especially in extreme Western
States and Territories, where the necessity for their preservatic.n is
greater than in less mountainous regions, and where the jtrevailing
dryness of the climate renders '\r restoration, if they are once de-
stroyed, well-nigh impossible.

{FVom Prof. C/iarlen iS. ^Sarij( ut. Director oj the Arnold Arhoreturn,
Harvard UuiKerfity and JSpecifd Agtnt hi C/utrye of Foranlry
IStatisticH in the V. >S. Cemms. — North Aiucricun Jieviei''.)

TIIK I'ROTKCTION OF KOKK8T.S.

Forest preservation, as a national (piestion, must soon «)ceupy public
attention. I'lic problem involved is one of ^rave import, and its
solution is not easy and cannot be inimediate. The part taken by the
forest in the economy of nature, and its relations to the wants of man,
are complex, and tlu^ American people are still ignorant, not only of
what a forest is, but of the actual condition of their own forests, and
of the dangers which threaten them. The future prosperity and de-
velopment of the country, however, are so largely dependent upon the
prcservatioTi of the forest that these lessons will in time be learned,
although, judging from the experience of other countries, tl-.ey will be
learned oidy at the cost of calatnities which a better understanding of
the subject might perhaps have averted.

Fatal inntads have already been made into the great pine forest of
the Morth Atlantic region. Its wealth has been lavished with an un-
sparijig hand; it has been wantoidy and stupidly cut, as if its resources
were endless; what has not been sacrificed to the axe has been allowed
to perish by tire. The pine of New Knglatid and New York has al-
ready disap))eared. T'ennsylvania is nearly stripped of her pine, which
only a few years ago appeared inexhau.stible. The great northwestern
pine States, ]\Iichigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, can show only a few
scattered remnants of the noble forests to which they owe their greatest
prosperity, and which not even self-interest has saved from needless
destruction.

The belt of red-wood forest along the California coast has already
suffered severely at the Iriinls of the lumberman, and many of its
finest and most accessible tr» es have already been removed. A large
amount of this valuable timber is still standing — less, however, than
has generally been supjiosed ; and at the present rate of consump-
tion the commercial importance of this forest will have dir>appeared
at the end of a few years more.

)

'Uin,

Htr}/

fn Proff-amr Srirt/ent^s papa; read hefore. the Mussarhusetfn State
Hoard of Aifrimlture^ the follooiing itnportant afatetnent respecting
the white pine in made :

Tlie entire supply (white j)ine) i^rowiiij^ in the United States .-vnd
ready for the axe, does not to-d:iy gieatly, if at all, exceed S0,(»()(),0()(),o()()
feet, and this estimate includes the small and inferior trees, which a
few years at^o, would not luive been considered worth c;)nntin<^.
The annual production of this lumber, is not far from lo,()()(t,O0(),O()()
feet, and the demaiul is constantly and rapidly increasing.

The publication of these ficts a few months ago has greatly in-
creased, and in some cases more than doubled, the value of piiu'
lands; and it does not recjuiri' any j)articular powers of foresight to
be able to predict that the jtrice must a<lvance to still higher figures.
Enough is now known to permit the positive statement that no
great unexplored body of this pine remains; and tliat with the ex-
ception of che narrow red-wood belt of the California coast, no North
American forest can yii'ld in quantity any substitute for it.

)

{The iVetn Yor/i 'J'hncx, Ihr. ;io, 1SS2.)

The Tariff Commission, for some reason which they have not
th(mght fit as yet to explain, made no change in the lumber schedule.
They left the tax on sawed boanls, planks, deals, and other lumber
of hemlock, white-wood, sycamore, and bass»wood as they fouiul it,
$1 per thousand feet, board measure. They also left the duty on all
other articles of sawed lumber at ^2 per thousand feet, board measure.
As shown by a correspondent in another column, the amount of sawed
lumber imported in IHBli was about Ul(),0()(),000 feet, of which less
than 7 per cent., or 4(),()(Hi,()00 fei't, consisted of the kinds above
enumerated, i. e., of hi-mlock, white wood, sycamore, and bass-wood,
while the remainde.r consisted almost altogether of white pine and
spruce. The duty on the 40,0(10,000 feet was *l per thousand feet,
an average of about 12 per cent.; the duty on the "other lumber "
WJis $2 per thousand, or an average of nearly 18 per cent. * * * *
White pine and spruce, though nu>re costly than hemlock, are still
cheap woods. 'IMiey are the raw material of the greater pirt of the
building trade. They furnish the Hoorings, the doors and window-
sashes, the stair-wsiys, the outer approaches, the outer covering of the
great mass of the houses of wood erected all over the country. They

enter in the saine way itito the (onstniction of all outl>uil<liiigN, Itariin^
shedH, stables, of tlu' sliops, stort's, and work-hiiildin^H of tlio conntry
and stnalU-r towns and villairi's. They arc used oxfj-nsivcly in tht'
c'onsl ruction of vessels, uK|ieeially for inland and river naviuation, an«l
for vehicles of tratisportalion. They are the material of the tables,
bedsteads, and furniture of the laborini; classes and of those in ino<irrate
circumstances. They are thus an indispensable elenu'Ut in the cost of
liviuij, of agricultural ami other labor, of trade and transportation.
The tax on them is paid by the consumer, ' •• the conipetition at
home is usually suHiciently limited to secure th:i result, and it is levied
exclusively for tl)e benefit of tlie pine and spruce lumbermen.

At the same moment that this is being d<»ne, the Government, which
im]>oses this arbitrary tax, is cnirag«'d in costly researches and ex-
periments to dieck the wanton waste of pri'cisely these materials, to
induce the lumbermen to adoi)t more intelliiifent and economical
methods, and to promote the growth of trees, because the fact is
established bt-yond all tjuestion that the consumption is far outrunning
the natural suppi}'. This is so true that, as our eorrespoudent points
out, Prof. Siirgent, in charge of the census statistics for this interest,
warns the country that the total estimated supply in the Ignited States
cannot at the present rate of consum])tion last more than eight years.
In other words, to enable the lumbermen to obtain a higher price for
woods which they an- rapidly exhatisting, we tax imported woods
which in eight years will be our sole dependence for one of the most
important necessary articles in use. This is protection run mad. It
is one of many instances in which Congress, under the pretense of
protecting American labor, imjtoses a t!'.^ on the livelihood of Ameri-
can laborers. Nothing can be plainer th;in that, iusti'ad of compell-
ing our people, by an import duty on foreign lumber, to u<e more of
our limited and fast disappearing supply, we should admit such
lumber free of dui v. * -i: * * * *

(7'//c .\'(^/" York- World, Xew VorA; iJcccuihe)' 'M).)

Professor Sargent, of Harvard, showed in his recent article on our
forests, in the North Anierieitn Jievieir, the necessity of taking some
immediati' ste|)s for their preservation. As a first step, it is evident
that the duty on Canadian lumber ought to have been removed. We
impose a tax of |S^ per 1,000 feet on lumber entering the United States

Fr«)in Caiiiid; , and this duty, of courKt.', instt'ftd nf |ti<itt'(tiiijr ihv
foresrs, serves as a houiity for the rap'ul destruclioii of them. It
takes ^2 out of tliO pocket of every man who Imys 1,1)00 f«'et of him-
l»er and hands it over to the lumher manufacturers of Chi'-a.^o and the
Northwest wliom a»id whom only it (h)es protect. Tht's*' lumhermen,
as they very eU-arly ^l»owe«i when they went before the Tariff Com-
mission to <lemand still more protection and en<'oura«;ement in cutting
down such of the pine forests as still remain, are as <rreedy and sluirt-
sij;ht(Ml a class of leeches as even our ridiculous tariff has develope<l.
They will not easily let «;<» their hold, hut tlu'y are not so nuiuj'rous or
so powerful as to offer an effective resistance to the friends of tariff
reform in ('on«^ress, if the.se will work tofjjether. The public miscliief
the lumbermen do is so patent and so serious that there shouhl be no
difficulty in i^i'ttinj; this special ai>omination removed from the tarifl'
durinj; the present session of ('onjjiress.

(77t( Sim, \>'>r York, iMumber ;}l, 18H'i.)

TIIK TARIFF ON Ll.MnKK.

The TariflF Coranussion does not recommend any change of impor-
tance in the present s(diedule of <luties upon imported iuntber. Under
the law there is a duty of one <lollar per thousaiid feet upon hemlock,
whitewood, sycamore, :nnl l»asswood luml)er, and two dollars upon all
other varieties of sawed UunbcM' entering the I'^nite*! States. No sawed
lumber is imported into the United States excejit from Canada, so that
this law operates (udy so far as Canada is ccuurerned. Canada cannot
send us sycamore or white wood, for the reason tliat she has none t<)
send; and we do not require Canadian Iiendock or bass-wooil. It is not
apparent why those words are mentioned at all, except for the pur-
pose of disguising the real meaning of the law, which was intend(>d to
i'heck or prevent the introduction of Canadian white pine and spruce
into our markets ; and this is done for thi' benefit of indivi<iuals
maimfacturing a similai- class of luml)er in the Utiited States.

Pine and spruce are articles of prime necessity; they enter int<) the
construction of all our buildings, and our forests afford no substitute for
these woods. It is, moreover, now well known that the supply of white
pine and spruce in the United States has l)een greatly reduced, and
that the speedy and entire extinction of our forests r)f thes*' trees can
be safely predicted.

Public attention has been called to the necessity for forest protection;
the subject has been widely discussed, and its importance is known.
Instead of husbanding our own forest resources, however, and allowing
our neighbors across the boundary to cut their forests for our benefit,
we continue to impose the duty of two dollars a thousand feet on all
pine and sj)ruce entering the United States; that is, we take that amount
from the pocket of every perscm using one thousand feet of these j)rirae
necessities of life and pay it to the lumbermen as a bounty to induce
them, not to protect our forests, but to destroy them with (juitc unneces-
sary rapidity and waste.

The arguments wliich have been used, and which will be brouTlit
forward aijain l)v the representatives of the lumber industry of (he
Northwest — for the exclusion of Canadian lumber is urged in no other
part of tlie country — do not interest the general public. The ])eople
want a constant and reasonably cheaj) supply of lumber; they want to
know that the forests of the country are not unnecessarily destroyed;
but they are indifferent whether a local bt)dy of selfish manufacturers,
already I'liormously rich, became still richer at the expense of the gene-
ral prosperity of the country.

'J'he present Congress will certainly neglect one of its most important
duties if it fails to provide means for the better protection of the forests
of the country. Tlie first step in tliis direction which will be followed
by immediate and tangible results is to place sawed, hewn, and square
timber upon the free list.

We urge tlie consideration of this subject up )n the Committee of
NVavs and Means.

{The Evetnntj l^ont, Xeio York, Ja/inan/ 2, lH8\i.)

THE TAUll'F ox LUMDER.

There is the l»est statistical authority for the statement that, if the
]»resent rate of consuinj)tion of lumber continues, the entire supply of
white pine growing in the United States will be exhaiisted in eight
years. As our ])opulatioii increases, our industries expand, and our
settlements spread, it is certain tliat the consumption of lumber of all
kinds will not only not deciease, but grow considerably larger. It is
no less certain, therefore, that if the (piantity of white pine consumed
be entirely drawn from our home supply, or, at least, in the same pro-
I'ortion as at present, that home supply will be exhausted in less tlian

eight years, ospecially as a vast deal of wanton destruction <»f trees by
improvident lumbermen and by fires goes along with th<* regular eon-
sumption in a business way. What is true of the white pine is more
or lerts true of every other kind of timber. There is not the least par-
ticle of exaggeration in the prediction that, if we continue to drrav on
our timber resources at the present rate, the people of the United
States will, in less that twenty years^ not only depend for tlie neceej-
sary supjdy of lumber to cover their current wants entirely upon foreign
countries, but our country will l)e almost completely stripped of its for-
ests. What the conserjuences of s'tch a condition are every well-informed
person knows ; dried-uj) springs ; destructive Hoods at one season of
the yeai', dry river-beds at another; jjarched fields ; once fertile plains
turned into deserts. We can seethe lesson illustrated in Spain and in
the ruined countries of Asia. This will be our inevitable fate unless
the suicidal course we are now pursuing be i!itopi)ed.

What are we doing? We are levying a tarifl' duty not only on
articles manufactured out of wood, such as furniture and wheel hubs,
and staves and the like, but on sawed boards and hewn tind)er and
other things that may j)roperly be called raw material. What is the
object of this tariff duty ? Scarcely to raise revenue, for the stun of
money flowing into the Treasury from this source is compnratively
small, the duty being high enough to prevent large importations.
The object is, by impeding foreign competition, to enable liind)ermen
to cut and saw tind)er at a tempting profit ; lo protect and encourage,
not the manufacturing of house furniture and caliinet wa' e, and wagon
boxes and band staves — for those branches of industry would be
encouraged most by cheapening, not by increasing the jtrice of the
raw material — but, lo protect and encourage the cutting and sawing
up of trees, and thus the rapid destruction of the forests within our
own boundaries. We ])revent the British possessions north of us from
furnishing from tlu'ir abundance the raw material to our manufactor-
ies, thus obliging our neighbors to keep their forests comparativcdy
intact, while we insist upon swei'ping away (jiir own. In otiu'r words,
we pay to the lumbermen a prenuum for the devastation of our
country.

These facts are so plain and patent, and the disastrous consequences
are so obvious, that it would seem the mere statement of them must
convincre every sane man of the imperative and immediate necessity
of changing our )>olicy. It is not a matter that will l)rook delay from
year to year, for if we persist in our present course, our middle-aged

iiK'ii will surely sim liictiiiu' wlu'ii tlte tMsi* ix past n-iiUMly. VV«' sIkmiM
nitlit'i' pay a bounty to every ii'iporler of sawed boards and liewii
timlier than impose a duty upon those articles. Only the Tarifl" C'oni-
inission did not si'c ihe pre-sintr iieed. It thoui;ht that this was too
Hourishins^ an industry to he disturl>e(l hy the witlnhawal of encourag-
ing protection. The preiniuni on the devastation of tlu- eountiy is
therefore sustaiiu'd. Hut may we not at least hope that son>i' men
may he found in Congress to rt' 'OoiMze an<l urge ujton their colleagues
the ni'cessity of immediate ;ind sweeping action 'i The Committee of
Ways and Means recommends oidy a jtartial and insiginticant reduc-
tion of the (hjty. It is evident that in this case nothing will do short
of placing the raw material, such iis sawed boards, hewn aiul scpiared
timber, etc., on the free list. Of cotirse, there will be the usual screech
against this indispensable measure of protection on the part of the
lumbering interest. But can the American peo))le aflford to sacrifice
an essential condition of the future ]»rosperity of tlie couiitry to the
destru<'tlve irreed of a few lumbermen ?

(.Itul cifftfin, JfdiU'iri/ 0, 1 SJi.)

Lei us now see what they did with regard to those kinds of tind»er
and lumber whidi can be imported for the benefit of the United
States. Pine and spruce lumber to tlie amount i»f o7f), ()()(),()(»() feet, in
round numbers, was imported into the United Stntes during the last
fiscal year. The Government received less than !!5l,'J(i(i,(»iii) in duties
upon this lumber.

Pine and spruce lumber to the amount of 11,()()(),0()(»,()00 feet was
matnifactured in the United States during the past year. The pur-
chasers of this domestic lumber paid a duty of ^22,0()(),itO() — not to
the Government, but to the manufactarers of lumber ; that is, the
great sum of §'2'_',()()(i,(>0() was taken from tlu' growth and pros[»erity
of the country, and ]>aid to a few manufacturers of lumber. It is not,
then, surprising that the manufacturers resist all attempts made to re-
move this duty. Pine and spruce hnnber are necessities of our civili-
zation, but the reduction in price which would follow the I'emoval of
the duty would probably not greatly stimulate their consumption.
Certainly, looking at the subject in the light of the necessity of forest
preservation, the danuvge done to the forest by increased consumption
would be nn»re than offset by the effect which thi' admission of Cana-
dian bimber would have in sparing our own forests.

11(1 lu'Wii

ill (\.„i-

\v;is too
iiL'oiira^-

iintry Ik
>nic iticti

llt'Htriies
nitft'i' of
t rcdiic-
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sacriHci'

y fo tlu'

f tiniljiT
United

> fcc't, in
the la><t.

in (luiies

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riie pur-

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DSperity
I is not,
\e to IV-
ir civili-
loval of
inption.
•f forest
imption
f Cana-

Tlu' roniovai of this duty is soniethin^ inoif tiiaii a <|iicsti(>ii <if five
trade or protection. Its importance must not hi' measured by the ad-
vantages of cheap or dear lumber for the consumer, important as this
(jueslion is, nor by its effect npon the manufacturer. Il means pro-
tection or destruction of tlie forests, and thi- destruction ol ilic fori'sts
means a yreat natit>nal calamity.

This matter cannot be postponed ; our forests, as has been shown,
are rapidly s^vejit away by the drains now made upon them. They
iruist be relieved, and their only possible relief is foutid in Canada.
The ti22,(K)(),000 which the tarilY takes from the pockets of the con-
sumers of lumber is unimportant in comparison with tJie indirect
damaji;e tliis tariff causes to the country by liastening the destruction
of the forests. VV^e must lof»k (his matter clearly in the face ; we
must not deliberately allow our forests to be destroyed, and entail
upon ourselves and our children all the evils which their destruction
will bring, merely to make a few lumbermen rich. On this one point
tariff reformers and protectionists can well meet on tlie common
ground of public necessity. The future prosperity of tlie country is
at stake !

(77(6 EcenliKj /'out.)

PROTECT THK FOKKSTS.

It is to be hoped that our protectionist friends will, at their meeting
to-night, say something on the subject of forest protection. This is
one of which all can unite in urging upon Congress the immediate
necessity. As the Metropolitan Industrial League, a truly protectionist
organisation, most pertinently says, "It seems so unnatural that we
should consuu)e ourselves [meaning our forests | first, and then depend
upon the chance generosity of <tthers, that the free admi8ist>n of
timber is recommended "

The white pine, that has in the past furnislu'd nearly the whole of
our timber su|)plies, and is now furnishing al>out one-half (according
to Profes.sor Sargent), will cease to exist if tlie present destruction of
it is kept up for eight years longer.

Our own State of New York, which thirty years ago swp])lied one-
half of the ei\tir»' production of the United States, is now dependent
wholly for its suj)ply of this wood on Canada and the lower peninsula
of Michigan, 'i'he latter has so far exhausted its supply of this

Ill

timber tliat it in elaitncd from invost illation tliat four years more, at
tlie present rate of euttiiig, Avill exhaust the wliole stock.

Whatever difference may exist as to the ])ropriety <"f protecting
other interests, there can be none patriotically urged against the pro-
tection of tlie remnant of our pine forests. While taking care of
favored industries, the advocates of high tariff duties sliould aid the
pcuplc at U'ast in securing tliis crumb of l»encticent protection for so
imjiortant a general interest, by recoinmen<ling the striking off of the
duty oil lumber and all kindred duties which eJicourage the devasta-
tion of tlie country.

{Kansas Citi/ Times, Jannarij ;i, 188M.)

THE TARIFF ON LIMHKR.

No change will be made \v the tariff on lumber. The <luty is $2 per
1,000 on pine and %\ on hemlock, basswood or lin, as it is called here,
and other soft woods. Lumber is used by every farmer who must
build himself a house or fence his farm. Why should it be taxed?
No country brings lumber lure but Canada. The pine timber there is
practically inexhaustible, while, i( is said, the pineries in Michigan and
Miimesota, and also in the eastern states, are rapidly becoming ex-
hausted. Why not, when the new farms are being settled up and the
l»eople poor, let them get hnnber as cheaj) as possible? Soon our
pineries will be used up and then W"' will be dej)eiident altogether on
a foreign supply.

Great <juantities of saw logs were cut in Canada and brought to the
IJniteil States to be cut into lumber, but when the tariff was put on
Canadian lumber that go\ernment retaliated by putting an export
duty on saw logs, so that the business of importing logs was killed.
The price of lumber here weilt up two dollars ]»er thousand as soon as
the tariff went into effect, so the Canadians got the old price for their
lumber, and the jx'ople here, who are trying to make the country, are
absolutely robbed of that amount on each 1,000 feet of pine lumber
they buy. The United States treasury don't want the money. It only
enhances the price of lumber to a business the most lucrative and |»ro-
fitable in the country, and certainly opjiresses the farmer in getting
comfortable buildings. Of all senseless tariff regulations this is the
most senseless.

Lumber is an article no farmer can do without. The first settlers
in any new locality have to live in any kind of habitation they can

< more, at.

protecting
st the pro-
'_C <ar{' of
<1 aid the
• 111 for so
off of the
devasta-

y is $2 per
lied here,
who must
he (axed?
M- there is
li^an and
)niing ex-
p and the
Soon our
<j:ether on

fht to the
as put on
m exj)ort
as killed.
8 soon as
for their
ntry, are
e lumber
■. It only
and pro-
getting
is is the

settlers
they can

get — sod houses, diig-ouls, tents, every kind of sul)stitute. Tenderly
nurtured women, men who have been brout^dit up in tine homes, ehild-
ren upon whom the winds of heaven liave never blowri roughly, ujton
some reverse of fortune liave, with breaking hearts and weejting eyes,
found themselves upon the bare prairie with scareely a shelter but the
blue areh of heaven, with the wild winds more pitiful than the pitiless
moekery of a free government at Washington. Why tnx the rough
boards they must have not to make a comfortable liome, but to save
even their lives? Whv, bv a hiuh taiiff, stimulate the i)riee of a e<Mn-
modify that must soon be gone, and thus cause our pineries to be
sooner exhausted ? To keej) the money in the country, do yon say?
The $2 j)er thousand extra would never leave tlie poor man's pocket
that now goes to enrich a few hunber rings who lu.w coi.trol the price
of lumber all over these United States, and not a foot can be soltl be-
low the price they name. The tariff makes it possible for them to do
this, and it should be abolished.

(77!*' Ndtion, A'em York, JunKar;/ 4, I88M.)

THE TAUIFK ON 1,1 MUKR.

The representatives of the Chicago lumber manufacturers who ap-
peared last autumn before the 'J'ariif Commission and advocated tlie
retention of the tariff on lumber, were endowed, it is to be hoped, witli
a f.'iir sense of humor, else they must lose much of the enjoyment to
wliich they are entitled in contuiiplating the readiness with which
their bait was swallowed by the conmiii-sioi.. The joke is excellent,
ev«'n if the jiublic at large ciunot quite appreciate it. Tlie luml)ermen
tliink that (he present <liity ef ^2 jier l,()(i() feet imposed upon lumber
entering the Vnittd States from the l)<imiiiion of Canada is reason-
abb', and the 'J'arift Commission ctiiciiis with (lum in this view.
What are the facts in the case which the T;iiiff Coniiiiission should
have taken into consideration in disdissing this duty iipen Canadian
lumber? We are now, since the jmblication of the Fiiiestiy Bulletins
of the Census, for the first time in a position to examine the subject
really intelligently.

The duty was placed \\\)o\\ Canadian lumber in tlie interest o( the
Northwestern lumbemun. It benetited no other class, and was desired
in no otlier section. The lumbernKn of the Northwest argued that

thi'ir pine t'on-sts were inexhaustibh' — aMe to .^upply indertnitrlv all
the demands till' country could ever make upon tbera: and that beyond
the houndary these forests extended indefinitely, e^Mitainisig such a
body of lunihcr that tlie human mind could not even gra.ip its im-
mensity. They could manufacture all the lumber the country couhl
ever need. IJut if the Canadians, with their fj;reater facilities fm- uian-
iifacturinu:, their lower wages and l)elter timbt-r, should be admitted
to comiietition, the home manufactories nnist perish. By exaggerat-
inir the extent of the nine forests of the I'nited States, thev we'-3 able
to purchase pine lands at a nominal price. l>y maintaining the duty
upon Can.adian lumber, they were enabled to manufacture lumber at
a large ])rofit. The plan was well conceived and suc<'essful ; but un-
fortunately the census brought some disagreeable facts to light. It
showed that in I8S0, even, the pine forests of the country had already
severely suffered, and that chey were not only not inexhaustible, but in
reality almost exhausted. It showed that the proiluction of white-pine
lumber had increased and was increasing with dangerous rapidity, and
that the complete extinction of Chicago as a great lumber-distributing
])oint could be foretold with entire certainty. The publication of these
facts was followed by the natural results: the ))rice of pine land
doubled in a few nu)nths, and in some i-ases even quadrupled. But
the lumbermen still presevered a bold front. They denounced the
census, and set to work to discover undiscoverable pine.

Their first venture was in Tennessee; and on the western slopes of
the Allegheny mountains and the Cumberland Plateau, where the
broad-leaved forest of the Mississi])pi b.i 'n culminates in all its rich-
ness and beauty, their organs discovered grt-at body of white pine,
wb .oil contained more lumber than Michigan could boast upoa the day
of its discovery. The choice of locality had been badly made; Kast
Tennessee was too well known, and had to be aband<med. Their next
attempt was made in the North. A traveler and woodsman of tre-
mendous experience and intelligence rushetl into Chicago, breathless
with excitement. He had discovered, on a little stream flowing from
the north into the Georgian Bay, a body of the most nnigiiificent white
pine the eye of man had ever beheld. It contained hundreds or thous-
ands of billion feet of lumber — enough to supply the United States
and Canada for at least a century. Tnliappily, it was shown that the
stream in (piestion was only about thirty miles in length, that the val-
ley which it w;itere(l was situated near the extreme northern edge of
the pine forest, and that the few pine trees which grew along its banki*

I'fmilrlv .ill
hat bfVoiKl
ing siuli a
a.-p ils im-
111 try could
<'s tor iiiaii-
e ailmittfd
t'.\a<r<j;erat-
\vt" ' able
ir the duty
luHjlter at
I : l»iit u!i-
' liu'lit. It
lad already
il)lf, but in
white-pine
pidity, and
istributing
on of these
pine land
)led. Bui
>unced the

n slopes of
when the
all its rich-
ivliito pine,
►Oil the dav
ia<le; Kast
Tlu-ir next
lan of tre-
breathless
\\'\n]i from
cent white
Is or tlious-
it»'d States
n\ that the
lat the val-
Tii edtje of
\l its Iiaiiks

among the han'ior denseness of the great sub-arctic forests of the
north, \sere sirattered, small, and utterly worthless for commercial pur-
p(»ses.

All this had occurred before the meeting of the Tariff Commission
in Chicago, The lumbermen, finding that they could no longer secure
the raw material at a nominal prii-e, were more anxious than ever to
maintain the duty «>n Camulian lumbei-, and so kee)» up the price of the
luanuractured article. The vast resour<'es of the Canadian forests, and
the dangers which I lirealeiud the lumber m.-iiuifactories of the rnite<l
St.ites from Canadian competition, were still held up as sullicient rea-
sons for maintaining the duty. It is still im]).»ssible to spi'ak with great
precisi«»n of the Canadian forests. Their extent, but not their produc-
tive capacity, is known. They arc composed, east of the Kocky
Mountains, of pine and fir, and west of the liocky Mountains largely
of fir. The number of broad-leaved trees whi(^h extend north of the
Iduindary of the United States is (•oniparativel> small, and none of
them attain either the size or quality of the sann' species further south.
Thecomiietition, tlu'u, which we have t<» fear fnnn Canadian lumber isin
|Mueand spruce; that is, in <'omparatively cheap woods, which enter into
the general ('(/iistruction of all building."*, and which are among the prime
necessities of civilized lifi'. But if the productive capacity ol Canadian
j)ine forests is less known than that of our own, reliable information is not
entirely wanting in reg.ird totiiem. Intelligent estimatesof the amount
of pine standing in Canada have been made, and, although ditf. ring con-
siderably in amount, they are not without value, as it apjiears that the
last estimates made differ from the earlier ones principally because they
include small trees, which a few years ago were entirely disregarded.
It is safe to assume, in any case, that the existing Canadian ))ine
forests will not yield more than 40 to .^(^ooCOOOjOOO feet of mer-
chantable pine. The pnxluction of white-pine lumber in the United
States is now not fur from l(),()()0,oO(t,()0() feet. annually ; so that, in
order to protect the Chicago lumbermen from competition with a
l>ody of pine which does not exceed four oi five years' supidy for this
country, we impose a tax of $2 upon every 1,()00 feet of white pine,
spruce, or Oregon fir used in the Inited States. The manufacturers
of lumber grow rich ; the consumers and the forests suffer.

The country is not without words of warning in regard to the
dangeriL' which threaten the forests ; they have been spoken far and
wide. !'• the meantime we continue to take ^2 from the pocket of
every man using a thousand feet of pine or spruce lumber, an<l hand

it over to the in:muractun'rs jih a bounty <o indue*' fliciii to (U'Ptroy
the forests more iai)iflly. It is natural, then, that the tnanufacturers
renist any attempt to have this duty removed. Tliey will make si still
more determined Kj/lit to prevent it. 'I'liey are bold, rich, and tinited.
They are actuated by a single purpose — to convert the greatest amount
of forest Into the largest amount of money in the shortest possible
time. Their organization is perfect. They contnd Legislatures and
elect members of Congress ; they own (lovernors and Si'uators. They
know what they want and they mean to have it any cost, and without
regard to the future j)ros)MMity of the country. It will lake something
stronger than the Tariff Commission to make them let go their grip
upon the people. We repeat, the tariff duty <,n lumber is a premium
on the devastation of the country, and should be repealed without
delay.

{Tltii WeeJdy Wifvrsn, Neir i'ork, Ja/iuan/ -it/i, l^S:i.)

TIMHKK AND IHIC TAIUKK.

Of all the features of the jtresent tariif it would be difficult to find
one .so utterly stupid and blind to self-interest as that regarding lum-
ber. As every one knows, our timber supjily is being used up with
alarming ra[)iility. Yet we put a jiremium upon the destruction of
our forests by obstructing the importation of lumber from Canada,
and preserve the wealth of our Northern neighbors l)y discouraging
them from cutting their timl»er for our benefit.

The proti'ctive system as applied to manuf:ietui"ing industry, has
many |)lausible arguments in its favor. It is claimed for it that it
makes the country self-dependent in case of war, and that is certainly
a great advantage. It is claime<l that this system makes wages
high. It is clainu'd that protection makes things cheaper in the h)ng
run by inducing such competition in the favored industries as to bring
down prices. There are many plausible argunu'iits such as the fore-
goii'.g, in favor of jjrotection to manufacturing industries; and how-
ever fallacious these may be jiroved to be, it is not to be wondered at
that they find credence in many honest but unreflecting minds.

There is likewise something to be said in favor of duties even upon
many raw materials roduced in this country.

But how is it in tuc case of timber? Our forest resources are not
only not inexhaustible, but a very few years will see the end of them.

to (loptroy
MifnctiirtTs
iimIvc ',\ still
i!i(l united,
est amount
'st possible
aturcs and
tors. They
lid without

HoinetliinLj
• their grip
a premium
'd wil^hout

ult to find
•tling lum-
'd up with
ruction of
;n Canatla,
!Cou raging

lustrj-, has
it that it
5 certainly
:es wages
ti the long
s to hring
s the fore-
and liow-
indered at
ds.
iven upon

es are not
i of them.

Wood is a raw mali'rial than whieii there is none of more general and
imperative need. Frame houses are huilt of it. JJri :k and Htone
houses recprire it for floorings, doors, window-sashes, roofs, etc. It
enters into the construction of barns, stables, sheds, and outbiiildingf?
of all kinds. It is the material for tables, bedsteads, and other furni-
ture. Steamboats and wagons are made of it, and it i» used in im-
mense quantities for railroad tics. Indcc*! it would be hardly pos-
sible to overestimate the value of wood, and the impcjrtance of ensur-
ing an abundant supply. And yet wh.i bus been our policy in this
matter? With one hand the government offers timber claims and
various bonuses to induce farmers to jdant forests which will not be
available till some distant future day; while with the other hand it
offeis a premium to lumbermen to cut away the forests we have, which
have been generations in attaining their present size. Canada has
vast forests which wo might hive drawn upon, under free trade —
that is, if the Canadians had been foolish I'nong'-. to cut them as reck-
lessly as we have cut ours. On the contrary we have delil)crately
obstructed the importation of Canadian lumber, and not only com-
pelled our people to i)ay a big' er price than otherwise for this article
of prime necessity, but destroyed in the m<^st prodigal fashion a herit-
age which it is hardly possible in the lifetime of this generation to
restore. All this has been done for tl.. benefit of a few wealthy lum-
bermen, who may be depended u})on to make consumer* pay the high-
est possible i>rice, and who care moi'e for immediate profit to them-
selves than for the future timber resources of the country. If there is
any possible way of defending such protection as that, we would like
to know it.

{27i£ Commercial Gazette, Cincinnati, January o, 1883.)

nOUNTIKS TO DKSTKOY THE PORKSTS.

Scientific people say that forests temper the extremes of climate,
equalize the rainfall, equalize the flow of streams, and so preserve fer-
tility, and increase comfort. They dej^lore the rapid cutting down of
our forests, and patriotic men have formed associations to promote
the jdanting of woods, to counteract this tendency to drouth and bar-
renness. The object seems highly patriotic. But while we are thus
trying to propagate forestry by individual and associated voluntary

:lii

cflort. arc wo !!.»!, as a wliolc, stiiinilatii)f; tlic (■uttii\g(»f our fore t by
an cxtraord'marj' (JiiviTiimcut Ixmiity y The duties laid on iinportc*!
tinilKT and linnbcr arc a direct l»«tunty j»aid l>y the i»eo|»Ie for inowinj;
down the forests of our country.

As well send out an army of incendiaries, and then expect to ecjual-
ize the moisture by following witli a liand-sciuirt, as trying to counter-
act the effects of this bounty in cutting down the forests, by planting
trees. We are even more absunl than this ; for the Government gives
the ])ublic lands as bounties to those who [)lant them with trees, whili!
it pays this bounty for cutting off the natural forests. The duty on
timber is tweuty-tive per cent, on ''hewn and sawed, and timber us.ed
for spars, and in Ituiiding wharves," and ^1 a hundred cubic feet on
'' s((uared or sided, not especially enumerated;" on sawed boards,
deal, and other sawe(l lumber, jj!;.' per thousand feet, e.\ce[)t on hendock,
basswood, sycamore and wliitewood which are '%l per one thousand
feet, board measure, and from si. 50 to ¥.{.r)0 for boards in the several
'degrees of planing and grooving ; <ti) hubs for wheels, posts, wagon-
blocks, and all sorts of sawed or rough-hewn blocks, twenty per cent.;
and so on through staves, shingles, lath, clapboards, and tlie rest.
The Tariff Commission lets these duties stand.

These duties on timber and luinlier are not jtrotective in the sense
that other protecti- ibities are held ; they are destructive. The ob-
ject of protective duties on foreign products is to extend over our pro-
dnctio'i of th(»se articles; but the lundier dutiesdo not promote the pro-
duction of lumber in our country ; on the contrary, they destroy the
s«ip|)ly. It is like paying a bounty to encourage the eating up of seed
corn. These destroyed forests are not renewed. Either the land is
taken for tillage, or it is left to grow up with poor scrubs. It does
not again renew the same timber. This affair can be considered apart
from any question of the theory of protection, for these duties are
not protective of the home product.

The sn\all revenue from the wood duties proves their effect in stimii
lating the destruction of our forests. And while these duties are ex-
tinguishing the great store of timber which the bounty of Nature gave
us, they are a burden upon every industry and upon the living of every
workman. Besides, their lack of discrimination makes the farmer ])ay
the same bounty to the domestic lumbermen on the inferior boards-
for fences, barns and sheds as the importer pays upon clear lumber
and the finer (jualities. And at the same time mahogany, rosewoo<l
and satinwood are admitted free.

[• fore ?t bv

1 iin]M)rt('<l
or mowinic

;t to equal-
to couuttT-
)y planting
mu'tit n'lvi'H
IrceH, while
he 'liity on
iniber uicd
bit', feet on
'ed boards,
)n hemlock,
e thousaiKl
the several
sts, wagon-
y )»er cent.;
d tlie rest.

the sense
The ob-
er our })ro-
[jte the pro-
estroy the
up of seed
the land is
It does
lered apart
duties are

ct in stiniu

ties are ex-

^"^ature gave

tiLT of every

farmer ])ay

lor boards-

ar lumber

, rosewood

Let Congress al)olish its land bounties for tree culture, so long as it
continues to force the consumers of lumber to pay a bounty to the
hnnbernu'ii for mowing down our forests. Canada has a vast <lofnain
of forest, conci-rniiig whose uitinnte I'xhaustion we need not trouble
ourselves. Let her furnish our lumber, or a part of it. Let oui lum-
bermen go there and bring it iii free of duty, and so do good to every
branch of labor. Even if i> should diminish the protits of the great
iuono[»olists, who have bntuirht up va<t tracts of the pine lands, it will
he for the general good, .md, prol)ably, in the end, will not reduce
their gains. The duties on tind)er and lumber should be wholly abol-
ished, as not protective but destructive.

( 77/r iSk/i, Jdnuarif iStli, 188:}.)

FOKEST I'RoTKiriON.

The intelligent discussion which the action of the Committee oi
Ways and Means in recommending the retention of the duty upon
lumber entering the Cnite<l States has excited in all ])arts of the
country, is gratifying. It indicates that purely economic (piestions are
growing in popular favor, and that everything relating to our fore^'.s
or forest protection interests the jjcople.

It is probably this interest in forest protection, rather than the de-
sire for cheaper lund)er for the consumer, which underlies this discussion.

It is the height of folly, of course, to tax foreign lumber. The
duties collected in this way by the Government are insignificant in
amount, and every dollar thus collected is taken, over and over again,
from the consumer of domestic lumber for i le sole benefit of the man-
ufacturers. These have not the excuse of a weak and undeveloped in-
dustry which must be built up at the expense of the consumer for the
general good of the country.

The manufacturers of lumber are rich, prosperous, and strong.
Their methods and facilities for carrying on their business are unsur-
passed. No possible competition can deprive them of large profits.
If there exists mi the l"'nited States a single industry which is in the
position to flourish without protection, it is the lumber industry.

From purely economic grounds this duty should be removed. It
has served to build up dangerous monopolies, and it represses the pros-
perity of the country. It is evident, however, that the wide interest
manifested in this question arises less from the feeling that it is desir-

ablo fo prevent monopoly tliiin Ironi the fact that the removal of this
•luty is tlie iirst, and :ui in<lispensal»K'. step toward forest protection.
The forest (juestion is hecominj; one of the popular (pie<tions «»f the
day, and every thinjx which relates to the extent and eondition of our
forests is eagerly read an«l disensseil. It reipiires no great knowledge
of the siihjccl to und(Mwtjjiid that if Caii;idian hnnher is i-vcludcd hy
the tariff, tlif drain upon on. forests must he greater tlian if Canadian
lumber was alloweil to ('<impete on e(pial terms w ith the product of
our own forests. Tiu' people undti'stand this ; tliey understand that
the destruction of the forests means something more serious than a
<learth of lumlter. They apprehend that the removal of the forests
will he followed hy se\<'re climatic changes; that the rivers of the
country will often he eliange<l t(» torrents or I'cdiiced to streandcts;
that springs anil streams will disapjjcar ; that agriculturi- will perish
and niinufactures languish. They see these evils hastened hy the re-
tention of this pnttective duty; they ask themselves hy what right the
prosperity of the country is])laecd in jeO|iai'dy because it is the pleasure
of a group of men to grow rich, and because Congress is too ignorant
or too indilTercnt to stop this abuse. No more vital (piestioji can come
before Congress; perhaps no Ci)ngress has ever been called on to de-
cide an economic (piestion of greater moment.

Is there no man who can j^in tlu' discordant elements of the Pro-
tectionists, the Tariff Reformers, and the Free Traders; who can unite
Democrats and llcjiublicans on the broad plat form of public nei-essity,
to check this destruction of our wasting forests ? Such a man will
deserve the name of statesman and the gratitude of tlie countrv.

{lioxtou lit r all, Janmirij 10, 1883.)

LOGIC OF P!{OTi:CTION.

In the tariff on lumber another consideration apjjcars. Lumber
needs no protection. The price has rapidly advanced under the law
of supply and demand. Our forests are disappearing. We need to
protv'ct them from destruction.

It wo>dd be wisdom to encourage the importation of lumber from
Canada to save our own forests. On the c(mtrary, we shut out Cana-
dian lumber by the tariff. * * ♦ * *

-j»».i_.

■al of tlnH
protection.
HIS of tlie
loii of our
ktiowK'di^o
:chi<l('(l l)y
f Caiiinlian
|»ro<liu'l of
staml that
ous than a
tht' forests
'^ers of the
streamlets;
will perish
l)y tiie re-
it ritj;ht the
he pleasure
DO ignorant
m can come
il on to de-

of tiie Pro-

o can unite

necessity,

a man will

nlrv.

Lumber

er the law

Te need to

iniher froni

t out Cana-
* *

An>/ (iifithi Jiiniiiir;/ 14:
The tariff on luniher is woiking as badly o»i the Pacific coast as in
the rest of the country. The mills on Pni^et Sound, which supply a
larLCe proportion of the lumber other than redwood used on the coast,
are in tlu' eontnd of a combination by wl.'ieh prices are kept up, which
bears heavily on the growth of Washington ttMTifory and Oregon.
There is an abundane of lundn'r in liritish Columbia, but it is ke]>t
out by the duty of *'2 a thousand. The Anu'riean forests, which most
needs protection, ar(> not protected by this jiroleetion polic}'.

( The Iti'.fnr^l and (iituh, Xein yOrk. .huinnnj l.'J, 188.'J.)
Ill his last messsage. President Aithur made reference to the ra})id
destruction of the forests throughout the cou'itry, and stated that
''their total extinction cannot long be delayed, unless better methods
than now jirevail shall l)c adoptccl for their protection and cultivation."
Ani)ther eminent autln»rity, Professor Sargent, give^ it as his opinion
that within eight years the whole of the white pine forests will have
been subjected to tlu' axe, and that the c((untry will thereafter be
dependent for its supply from foreign sources. It will thus be seen
that unless Congress interferes to stop the further destruction of these
trees the country will within a few years be deinided of a timber
which is usi'd more than any other f(»r buihiing. furniture, ship-build-
ing, and a variety of other |»urj)oses. It is true that forests of pine
trees can l)e recultivated, but as it w<iuld take a generation before
they would reach maturity and be ready for th'> ;narket, it is evident
that for many years the country would have to obtain its supi)ly from
Canadian and other extraiu'ous sources. It i surprising, in view of
the>e facts, that neither the Tariff Conunission nor the House Com-
mittee of Ways and Means have reco]nmende<l tiie abolition of the
tariff on timlier at a linu' when this appears t<* be so necessary. It is
true the latter lia\i' advised t' „• reduction of twenty-tive per ci'iit. on
certain articles of lumber ; Imt as the items I'ected do not yield an
annual revenue of nu)re than a few thousund collars, the (piestion can
hardly bv^" said to have been touched on the fringe. The entire annual
revenue from imports on all kinds of lumber is <jnly ^i,500,i)()(>, a sum
which can be easily spared from the Treasury ; and now that the
necessity for their abolition has been evident, it is to bi ho[)eil that
Congress will not fail to place them on the free list wlien they come
to deal with the (piestion of tariff reform.

(il

{The Nein Yor/>- Dail;/ Commercial Bulletin, Januar)/ 1:1.)

TIMHEK ANI> TIIK TAKIFF.

For some years past there has been a growing interest in the suhject
of forestry, and througli tlie labors of Forestry Associations the pub-
lie have been brought to some extent to reaUzethe ]»ro<ligality in our
consumption of timber. The interest has irisen mainly from eonsid-
era*^ions of climatic and meteoric changes, thought to be induced by
the destructions of forest, liurtful l»oth to the public health and to
tlie agricultural interests of the country. It has been sought to
remedy the evil by inciting the landowner to i)lant trees, and to
endeavor thus, for the benetit of i)is posterity if not for himself, to re-
store the equilibi'ium that has been so unwittingly desti'oyed. Some
enthusiasts have even urged the prolitableness of tree-i)lanting as a
cr<»p, seeking to demonstrate that the growth would yield a good rate
of interest, and that profits can be taken in a very few years. Nor
has this matter bec" regarded as concerning solely, or even mainly,
the oldei" sections of the country, l)ut rather as having a special bear-
ing u])on those regions of the West where llu' large supply of par-
ticular kinds of wood have brought them i to common consumi)tion,
and where vast prairie regions are treeless and the teeming iidiabitants
and their property are at the mei-cv of storm- and winds that gather
fury in their long sweep, unltroken and rntenipcred by forests.

All this is very \vell, no doubt, and j)rizes, as pro)»osed, may well be
offered fen- tree-planting in this country, as in England and im the
Continent. Hut there has suddenly come to the front a new ])hase of
the subject, brought conspicuously to light by the late census report
on the lumber industry of tin; country. This report was made by
Professor Sargent, a gentleman eminently fitted for the task, and it
reveals the startbnix fact that the destruction of our forests, in the
prosecution of the lumber industry, is proceeding at so rapid a rate
that we are on the verge of an exhaustion of the su)>])ly This com-
mercial aspect of the situation is of })arami>uut interest to the country,
and deni'inds a pronijit and candid consideration <»n the part of the
people and of Congress. The extent of the tree slaughter may be
seen in the following item of sawed products as returned in the
census of 1 .S80 :

Feet of lumher 18,091, iWfJ.OOO

Nutnhor of laths 1.7(il ,7H8,0()0

Numhei' of sliiugles 5,5.').'), 04r),000

Number of staves l,248,22r).00i)

1^3

n the subject
)ns tlic pub-
j;ality in our
rom consid-
iiuluccd l)y
'liltli •md to
1 soufxht to
rees, and to
injself, to rc-
oyed. Sonic
anting as a
a good rati"
years. Nor
'vcn mainly,
special l)ear-
)l)ly of par-
consumption,
g iidial)itants
that gather
Drests.

may well he

and on the

u'w ))has(' of

cnsus report

as made l»y

task, and it

orests, in the

■apid a I'ate

This eom-

) the country,

part of the

liter may he

turned in the

18,01)1, :5.')(i,000
l,7(il, 788.000

5, r,r)r>, 040,000

1,348,220.000

Numberol' sets lieadiiigs 14(5,523.000

Feet of bol)l>in and spool 34,070,000

Value of products |233,307.729

But, besides these items, there are great quantities of trees brought
down for other purjjoses than for sawing. Professor Sargent says
that in a few years the entire present stock will be gone. This is
especially the ciise with the supply of white i)ine. Tiie total quantity
of this timber standing is ])ut at not above S0,00(),0()0,0()() feet, ;ind
the annual cutting of it at about 1(),()0(),()00,000 feet ; at which rate,
before another census year rolls around the sui>ply will be exhausted,
A genuine alarm has l)een sounded for some months. The President,
in his late me.s.sage, referred to it, and advised legislation for the pro-
tection of < ii forests. It is certainly incundient u))on Congress to
discourage this wholesale and reckless destruction of an articde of
])rime necessity. We have to t'le north of us, in the British Domin-
ion, a storeh(»use of pine timber, j)erpetual by its situation beyond
the encroachments of agricidture, to which Ave should be looking for
relief. We have gone far enough in the direction of consuming our
own su])i>ly at anything like the jux'sent rate, and should begin at
once to draw more freely upon other sources.

But, in the face of these facts, the late Tariff Commission further
eiu'ourage and stimulate the present rate of oi'v timber waste by
continuing the tariff on the imi)ortation of lumber. This would
incite not only the lumber dealers to itu'rease production, but every
farmer having a marketable tree, tc cut it down. On the other hand,
the dealers are numerous and wealthy. The numl)er of sawing estab-
lishments in 1880 was 2"), 708, and their cai)ital ^lyi, 180, 123. They
have bceti alive to the situation that has been revealed, but in a direc-
tion (»})p()sed to the welfare (d' the country. They l\ave sought to
<lisparage the census report and have been shrewd enough to capture
the Tariff Commission. It is ordinary human nature on the ]»art of
the dealers to do this, though short-sighted ; but it is humiliating
weaknes on the ])art of the Commission to make sucii an exhibition
of its ignorance. What the country really needs is to have the duties
on foreign limber abolished altogether. It is another one of those
blunders on the part of protectionists that are rapidly arousing the
people to demand of their legislators to dissociate taxation from pro-
tection. Let us have a tariff that will protect the jieople — the country
at large — as against special interests. If the present tinkerings do not
do this, they should be thrown aside until real representatives of the

people are intrusted with legislation. At any rate, let, us have the
legislative protection to our forest supplies that the President lately
advised ; and beyond this it is highly important that the public should
be brought to understand the advisability of using other materials
than timber, such as coal for wood, wire for fences, and stone, brick
and concrete for houses, as well as planting trees for health, use and
beautv.

{Daibj Gazette and Free I^ress, Elmira, Ja)niary 15, 1883.)

TIIK DUTY ON LUMUER.

If there is any one article which should jO admitted into our ports free
of duty and the import, of which should be in every way encouraged,
that article is timber. It is the height of folly to tax it. The duties
collected in this way are insignificant in amount, and every dollar thus
collected is taken, over and over again, from the consumer of domestic
lumbei- for the sole benefit of the manufacturers. These have not the
excuse of a weak and undeveloped industry, which must be built up at
the expen&e of the consumer for the general good of the country.
These manufacturers of lumber are rich, prosperous and strong. Their
methods ;uid facilities for carrying on tlu'ir business are unsurpassed.
No possible competition can dej)rivc them c their immense profits. If
there exists in the United States a single industry which is in the posi-
tion to fiourisli without protection, it is the lumber industry.

If from no other, from purely economic grounds, this should be
removed ; not reduced but absolutely, completely removed. It has
served to build up dangerous nu)nop()lies and represses the prosperity
of the country. There is a wide interest in this matter manifested in
this country, not only from the fev ling that the duties at present ex-
isting tend to the buihling up and continuance of monopolies, but from
the fact that public attention is at present specially directed toward
the preservation of our forests.

As a first step toward their preservation it is evident that the <luty
on Canadian luml»er ought to be removed. We impose a tax of two
dollars per thousand feet on lumber entering the United States from
Canada, and this duty, of course, instead of protecting the forests,
serves as a bounty for tlieir ra]»id destruction. It takes two dollars
out of the pocket of every uuui who buys a thousand feet of lumber
and hands it over to tlu' lumber manufacturers of Chicago and the

IS have the
sident lately
lublic should
ler materials
stone, brick
ilth, use and

I, 1883.)

[)ur ports free

encouraged,

The duties

•y dollar thus

r of domestic

have not the

)e built up at

the country.

rong. Their

unsurpassed.

ite profits. If

IS in the posi-

try.

lis sliould be
)ve(l. It has
he prosperity
u;\nit'est(.'d in
\t |)resent ex-
•lies, but from
ccted toward

th;ir Ihe duty
a tax of two
d States from
>; the forests,
I's two dollars
L»et of lumber
cago and the

northwest, whom and whom alone it protects. This duty is a daily,
deadly drain on the resources of the country. It touches every man
w!)o builds a wooden liouse, barn or fence, or who pays rent to the
builder. It attacks every industry which uses wood in any way. We
pay more for our furniture, for our floors, even for our daily kindling
wood, because of this duty, and in addition to this per|)etUMl tax we
are destroying our own forests, robbing our children and doing incal-
culable iniurv to the climatic future of the ('<)untrv.

The forest (piestion is becoming one of the popular (juestions of the
day and everything which relates to the extent and condition <»f our
forests is eagerly read and discussed. It requires no great knowledge
of the subject to understand that if C'an;idian lumber is excluded from
this country l»y reason of a tax on its importation, the drain upon our
forests must be much greater than if foreign timber was allowed to
compete on equal terms witli 'he products of our own forests. The
people understand this. They know that the removal of the forests
will be followed by severe climatic changes; that the rivers of the
country will often be changed to torrents or red::ced to streamlets; that
springs and streams will disappear ; that agriculture will jx'rish and
nuxnufactures dwindle and languish. 'I'hey see these evils hastened,
by the retention of this protective duty and see no earthly reason why
it should be retained. Tile puhlie mischief that this tax is dobig is
so potent and so serious that its early abolition is imperatively de-
manded.

[Boston Dalhj A(ln*'rtisei\ Jan. 16//j, 18S3.)

THK LI MUKU TABIKF.

Neither in the senate nor in the house tariff bill is any ciiange made
in the wood schedule, which was also left unchanged l)y the Tariff
C'ommission. It wouhi be interesting to learn by what process of
reasoning the nu'inbers of the Tariff Commission an<l two conunittees
of C'Ongress have persuaded themselves that the I'nited States should
continue to iuij)ose a duty on lumber. The question may be looked
at from various points of view, but we can discover no way in which,
from any point of view, the tariff can he logically defended. It is
certainly not because we need the revenue that the duty should be
retained, antl that part of the case may be dismissed at once. It is
equally certain that the reason cannot be that the c iisumers of lum-

^rr

I !

L'G

bcr dt'siiv that :i ta\ l)e l:ii<l iii)on a part ov wlioU.' of tlie liinibor they
use. H(i\v is the duty t<i be (lefeiidcel as a ineasuii' of protection V
The object of protection is not to confer a benefit Uj>on the producers
of the articles protected, but to benefit tlie whole country. Unless a
protective duty either lielps to develope an industry which it is im-
))ortant for the whole country shall be developed, or helps to maintain
the cxisteiure of industries which the good of the i-ountry requires
shall be maintained, there is no good defense of the <luty. How
stands the case with lumber V Tuder the])reseiit tariff the whole bur-
den of the home demand for lumber is thrown u])on the home forests.
Less than si\ ]»er cent, of the pine and spruce manufactured in the
United States in the course of a year is imported from Canada, which
is our only foreign source of su])j)ly. But we u^^e about eleven thou-
sand million feet of these kinds of wood every year, and according to
the last census there is left stamling not more than eighty thousand
million feet of white pine in the whole country.

The protective sy;-;tem, as applied to sugar, is not justifiable, be-
cause it is imj>ossi1)le that with the utmost possible protection the pro-
]»roduction can be so stimulated as to give us a good supply
from home sonrces. It was because the farms of Great IJritain were
incapable of producing enough wheat to feed the ])eoplc of the British
Isles that the corn laws became indefensible, and the repeal of them
was wise and necessary. It is the same with sugar in this country ;
and it is even more strongly the same with respect to lumbiM*. Instead
of increasing under the stimulus of the tariff, our forests are d!sa])i)ear-
ing so rapidly tlnit in a very few years there will be nothing left to
|)rotect. Wood is a prime necessity, and will always be so. Notwith-
standing the use of stone and brick in building, and the abundance of
coal for fuel in England, enormous (juantities of wood ari' im])ort-
ed into that country annually. It must always be the same with us,
after our forests have beeii exhausted. Meantime, we are not dimii
ishing the consumption of lumber by the tarifl', nor are we inducing
anyborly to cultivate forests for timber, b .t we are enabling the own-
ers of woodlands to obtain a high price for their lumber. In short,
the protective tarifi" benefits nobody but these lumber kings.

Finally, the abrogation of the (bity is called for by the necessity
w»' are under of j)rotecting our forests in order to protect ourselves.
Instead of destroying our own forests we can destroy those of Canada.
And it must not be forgotten that the protection of forests means
something more thnn keeping up a supply of lumber. The ])roduction

nibcr they
jrotfction ?
' pi-oducors
I'niess ii
I it is ira-
to maintain
•y requires
ity. How
wliolo bur-
mo forests,
ired in tlie
I ad a, Avhieli
even thou-
^cordinii; to
i tliousand

of lumber is by no means the most imjiortant function of the forests ;
the part they play in inoderatinii- climate, in proteetinij the surface
of tlie irround, and in re<>nihitintj the flow of streams, and in preserviiiij
springs, i;: now well understood by scientitie men, and we cannot safe-
Iv continue the rate of forest destruction which is now ifoino; ou in
every part of the country without serious danger to our future pros-
perity. As a step, then, towards checking tlie destruction of our for-
ests, for the removal of this duty can only delay for a few years thei
Hnal extinction of the white pine forests of the North, we urijjc u|)on
Congress the necessity of placing lumbei- and forest ))roducts of all
sorts, entering the United States, upon the free list. If there is any
place for protection in this schedule it is u])on furniture, woodenware
and other manufactures which recpiire something more than a saw-mill
for their ])roduction.

'ifiable, be-
ion till' pro-
ood supply
ritain were
the British
il of them
s country ;
Instead
disa]>pear-
ing left to
Notwith-
undance of
ire imjtort-
e with us,
not dimii
f inducing
g the own-
In short,

necessity
: ourselves,
of Canada.
ests means
])roduction

(Spi'i.n(iP\i<l liipvhlican, Jait. IQf/i, 1S8.'1.)

TIIK Ll'MniOi; TAKIl'F.

Apparently neither the Seiiate Finance Committee nor lie Ways
and Means Committee of the House ])!-oposes to (jualify the duty on
lumber whicii thi- Taritt' Commission left as it was at |2 per M. If
wc had an unli-nited sup[)ly of lumber so that we could draw upon
oui' own resources without fear of exhaustion, or if timber <rro\vin«r
had become so well naturalized as to insure an unfailing supply by a
new growth, there might be some excuse for this imposition. As it
is, it simjdy shuts out the Canadian supply and puts a bounty on the
sweeping off of our own forests. It does not ''protect'' the forests
but destroys them, enriching the lumber niille:s, l)ut impoverishing
the people an<l inducing climatic changes and results of the greatest
gravity.

The census bureau investigation was able to tiiid only 8."i,()00,<>nO M
of white pine lumber standing in the United States, \\hich at th(> outside
would represent ten years' supply, at the present rate of c Iting. The
Canadian supply is estimated at less, but probal)ly approaches in amount
the American. The Canadian competition with our own forest> is in
white pine and s))ruce. — two of the most serviceable and Avidely used
woods in all the commoner uses to which lumber is put. The South-
ern supply is largely of hard pine, and the American broad-leaved
hanl woods can be ijrown much more readilv than a yood (lualitv of
pine.

Prof. ('. S. tSargont who liud charge of the forestry statistics, found
staiKling May 31, 1S8(>, 47r),000 M of white j)iue in Maine, a, 000,000
M of spruce. During the year ending at that date there was out in
the same State i:)8,825 M feet of pine and .'K)1,000 M feet of spruce.
But in. Maine more attention is paid tluin elsewhere to tlie seh'ction of
oUl trees for market and the growth ot young ones, allowing tlie for-
ests to be prolital)ly worked at stated periods of from fifteen to
twenty-tive years. In New Hampshire and Vermont the white pine
is exliaustcd, and tlie spruce standing in 1880 was estimated at 1,510,000
and 755,000 M, res])ectively. But the destruction by one company
alone in Essex <'ounty, \'ermont, the i)resetit winter will be 80,000 M.

We believe that forestry growing is destined to be a j)roiltable in-
terest in this country, i)nt our peo|)le do not take leadily to invest-
ments which make slow reiuriis. In the intei'val it does not seem
wise to aggreijate the threatened destitution b\ excluding the Cana-
dian pine and spruce. Everything which enters into the construction
of duellings aflFects the j)eople most direccly. Besidi's. as Prof. Sar-
gent s)u)wed in some of his recent talks to farmers, there are numer-
ous industries in wooden ware of great nggregati' magnitude, wliich
depcml ujion a steady and reliable supi)ly of a stock at reasonuble
rates. Take off the duties and sj»;ire our own forests, for the jtresent
at least.

{'J7ie World, Xew York, JdiiiKfr;/ IX, \\m:^.)

TIIR LUMIJKJJ SWINDLE IN CONiiRKSS.

Mr. "■' * * the inde}tendent and public-spirited Senator from
Nebraska, yesterday made an emphatic protest against one partic-
ularly outrageous swindle of the tariff. Me moved to strike out the
wliole list of duties on wood and woodenware and let all these things
in tluty free. This was a ]>atriotic j»ro])osition, and was naturally oj»-
j)osi'd by * * who repri-seiits the men wh(» are anxious to clear out
what is left of the forests of Michigan, and * * who represents the
men who are anxious to clear out what is left of the forests of .Maine.
These greedy creatures in asking for a duty on timber or its products
are simply askii>g for a liounty to be given them for making awav
with the i)atrinu)ny of the country. The fact is that then is now onlv
eight years' supply of white pine left i^ the country. In round num-
bers, half the supj)ly in the markets of the Eastern States comes from

r^asfS'^j

U's, founc]
0,000,000
as cut in
)f spruce,
lection of
i tlic for-
iftccn to
liitc |)inc
1,510,000
company
0,000 M.
i tabic in-
o iiivost-
lot seem
he Cana-
st ruction
*rof. Sar-
' nunier-
c, which
■asdiiable
I' lUH'sent

or from
* partic-
out the
e things
rally oj)-
•Icar out
icnts the
■ Maine.
•roductK
g away
ow only
k! num-
es from

Canada and half from the lower peninsula of Michigan. In the latter
there were in 1880 estimated to be twenty-nine thousand millions of
feet remaining, and since then nine thousand millions of feet
have been cut and marketed, leaving at this rate between four
and five years' Hupply still available. It is this supply whicli we ought
to take some measures for preserving and protecting that * * * and
his clients insist we shall clear out as fast as possible. A pine tree is
not marketable until it is fifty years of age, and at that Jige only be-
gins to make clear lumber. The clear lumber, which ten years ago
formed 13 per cent, of the whole supply from Michigan, now
forms only 3 per cent, of the whole. This lumber comes from
trees between the ages of seventy-live and a hundred and twenty-
live years ; and the diminution from more than one-ninth to less than
one-thirtieth of the whole supply contributed by such trees means that
virtually all of them that are accessible have already been cut. How
their rei)lacement is to be secured is the problem that ought to agitate
statesmen. The problem that does agitate statesmen of the school of
* '^^ and of ■•' * is how can the rest of the forest be most speedily
and effectually cleared, and a bounty for clearing them, in the form of
a duty upon the competing product of Canada, is the device formed
by these statesmen for that end. We have seen tiiat the supply of the
lower peninsula of Michigan will be exhausted, at the present rate of
cutting, in less than live years. The pine forests of Maine, at the
present rate of cutting, will disappear in seven years. Mr. * * *
of Michigan, and Mr, * * of Maine, think it better that their lum-
bering constituents should have large profits and quick returns than
that the next generation should have any timber to cut. But there is
no reason why other Senators should not deem it more important that
the forests shouhi be preserved than that * * and * * should con-
tinue to adorn the Senate by dint of grinding the axes of their tiraber-
cuttine: constituents.

{T/ir >Snn, New Voy/c, Jum/a/'// 2'3<7, 1883.)
LUMBER.

We observe with regret that some of the re])resentatives of Mich-
igan are mucli excited at the proposal to admit Canadian lumber free
o( duty, by way of ])reserving a little longer the pine forests of that
State, as well as those of our Northern country.

The speedy destruction of the forests of Micliigan will prove a ca-

ii '

lamity ol' which itts }»reseiit iiu'inhers ol" Congress appear to have no
adequate concej)ti()i). These forests can never l>e rej)rocliU!ecl, and it
is the ))art of wisdom t<» preserve tliem. Hy judiciously and gradually
thinniiii; them out, thev may be made to last for ages, and vet furnish
as much luml»er as is necessary for the use of the peo))le. On the other
hand, l)y destroying them at once a few lumber speculators may get
rich, but the State will be permanently impoverished.

This is not a question of protection or free trade. It involves no
controversy respecting the develoi)meiit among us of any branch of
useful industry. Wliy, then, sliould we hasten the destruction of our
forests? Why should we |)romote such a disaster, when the Canadian
woods are ready to be drawn ui)on ? Do our legislators think it their
duty to take better care of Canada than they take of their own
country V

Al! lumber should be admitted free of duty. Even protectionists
should vote for this measure, because it tends to ])rote('t the interests
of our own country.

:>■'

{77ie f<t(tr, A\'W York, Janunri/, 1880.)

LKT LU.NriiKlt UK I'KKK.

Were it known tluit the whole su|tply t)f iron and anthracite coal
remaining in the mines of the United States would be exhausted in
less than a dozen years at the ])resent rate of production, no one would
for a moment dream of e.xcluding iron and coal by a protective tariff.
Any step which could be taken to posti>one such calamities as would
follow the exhaustion of these articles of priine necessity would be
eagerly taken. Pine and si)ruce lumber are also articles of prime ne-
cessity ; and we know that at the present rate of consumption the
spruce and white pine lumber remaining in the United States must
disappear in something less than a dozen years, unless the present rate
of consumpti<m can be checked. But the forests of Canada still con-
tain large quantities of this lumber, and by admitting the Canadian
lumber to free competition in our markets, our own forests would be
[)roteeted and their devastation checked. Every builder in the country
is anxious for the remission of this duty. The lumbermen of Maine
and the Northwest, who have secured vast tracts of timber lands,
oppose it. The Tariff C'onmiission, captured by the lumbermen at
Chii ago, recommended the retention of the duty. The Committee of

Ways and Means of tlu? Ilousf, and tlii' Finance Commit tec of the
Senate, in response to the tn-gc!)t demands of the representatives of
Maine and the Xortli western himber States in (\>ngres8, approve the
recommendation of the committee. Senator * * * declared that the
himber of Maine should be protected as well as the iron of Pennsyl-
vania and the sugar of Louisiana ; but in spite of his energetic i)ro-
testations, the Senate voted to |»ut himber on the free list, -whidi has
brouglit a powerful lobby interest to Washington to prevent the pas-
sage of tlie bill. And there is too much reason for believing that th^
lumber monopoly will carry its point in the House or in the Confer-
ence Committee before the measure is whipped into shape for final
action. Free lumber would tend directly to save the forests of the
country, which, once destroyed, cannot be easily restored, if restored
at all. The interests of all classes, save the lumber speculators,
require that tliis article s^hould be free.

{The MctroitoUtdn Industrial Leagfie.)

WOOD.

The principle and j)olicy of the League is "true })rotection and
justice to all American Industries," based upon our true conditions and
possibility of future developments and say respecting lumber :

It appears so umiatural that we should consume ourselves first and
then depend on the chance generosity of others that the free admis-
sion of timber is recommended. Canada will doubtless protect
herself.

{SoutJwrn Lumherman, Nashrille^ Jan. \st, 1883.)

TIMBER TARIFF AUSIRDITY,

The report of the Tariff Commission naturally excites a great deal
of attention, and the fact that it is the object of high commendation
on the })art of })rotection journals, as naturally subjects it to a good
deal of suspicion. It certainly, in the words of the New York Post^
although more enlightened than it was generally expected to be, con-
tains some very glaring absurdities. An instance of absurdity ap-
pears with respect to the timber duties, recommendini; that they
shor.ld be retained. The absurdity of this is a])parent, when we re-
member that with great cause we are complaining of the demolition
of our forests, and our government offers bounties to induce persons
to plant trees upon public lands. To offer a premium to extend our
stock of growing timber, and then give an inducement of twenty per
cent, to cut it down, is one of the most complete absurdities that can
be pointed out.

{Jiomr JJaifi/ Sentinel^ Jau. 8, l^ss:i.)

TMK FOUKSTS AND TIIK TARIFF.

I3y rc'cominoiidiii*; llic retention >f' tlio duty upon lumber enterinp^
the Unite*! States, the Connnittoe of Wmvs and Means lian aimed a
blow at forest protection that generally finds no favor amonir the
people who have given the subjeet due attention.

As a matter of course it is folly to tax foreign lumber as far as the
national treasury is c(uu*erned. The duties which arc collected by
the government in this way are very small. Neither can the lumber
industry be said to ucimI the protection. It is one of those inclustries
Avhicli have long since passed their infancy and have reached a vigor-
ous manhood. It has outlived the necessity of protection supposing
it ever needed it, Tlu! manufacturers of lumber are powerful, even
to tlie extent of forming a monopoly, and they have grown rich from
the ]»rici's which taxation of foreign lumber lias enabled them to
charge the consumer of domestic lund)er.

Hut it is clear that the permission to buy Canadian lumber free
from tariff restrictions and demands, will cause a decreased drain upon
the forests of our own country. What tlie trees of America need is
a chance to grow and multii)Iy. It is well understood tliat the de-
struction of the forests means severe climatic changes, that the eflFect
upon rivers and streams will be such as to work iiu-alculable injury to
the agriculture, manufactures and commerce of the country. These
evils are hurried on by the retention of the protective duty, which
virtually tells tlie people that they must cut down their own trees first
befoie they can hope to go into a foreign m;»rket to buy their wood
without any tariff charges to i)ay. Meantime the prosperity of the
country is threatened that a little company of men wlio are already
rich, may add something more to their hoards.

This Tariff sharpens every woodman's axe. It encourages prospec-
tive wreck and ruin.

{The Chicago Tribune, February 3, 1883.)

TIIK LUMISER BARONs' PETITION.

Four respectable and worthy gentlemen in this city — large owners
of Michigan pine-lands — have issued an addrops to all persons engaged
in the lumber trade to obtain signatures as rapidly as possible to a
petition which they have prepared, and wliich they forward with the
address. This petition is addressed to Congress, and we reproduce it
that the public generally may see how in an emergency even such re-

^pec-

vners
aged
to a
the
ice it
ill re-

spectable gentlemen will resort to statements s«> utterly inc«tni|irehen-
sible that they wouhl, if uttered by otliers, be classed as exaggera-
tions unbecoming churchmen of their own high standing. The peti-
tion rej)resents that the signers do :

Most respectfully rtMiHiustiatciiirainst the pioposilion now before your ln)n(iriil)lo
bodies, iiiu. adopted in the Senate of the L'nited Stales, lookitijr to the admission
of the manufactured lumber of the Province of Caiiada to tlie markets of tlu;
riiil<''l States free from duty, to luinously compete witli h traflic triving ( niploy-
ment to fully one million ial)orers and involvinir <'Mpital of not less than sfliDO, ()()("),-
000 in its prosecution. I'ririui: that the admission of Canadian lumlwr free from
duty would be but adding tiie present rate of the duty to value of Canadian stand-
ing timber, opening up a competition injurious to Anuricau mamifacturerH. while
not decreasing' the cost of building material to tiie milli()ns who form the consum-
ing classes. Urging, further, tiial so h)ng as the Canadian (JovernnK'nt retains
th<' tax upon linuher imporledjnto Canada, it is manifestly unjust to admit Cana-
dian lumber free, wiiile the Anerican product, now largely in demand in VVin-
nepeg and some otlier portions of tlie Dominion of Canada, is iiurdened
with ii la.<, thus elfectiiall}' yivintr to tlie Canadian product the control of the
markets of this country by llie admission of their lumber product free in the East-
ern States, wliitlier it is most largely imported; and as well c Mitrol of the Western
markets tlirough their ability to exclude the American product, e.\ce[)t upon pay
ment of duties, from Winnepeg. to wiiich their own lumber may bo sent without
duty.

The statements of this petition are most remarkable. It asserts
\ that the " manufiictured" lumber of Canada is to be admitted with-

out tax, and by manufactured lumber is intended the rough i)roduct
of the saw mill.

This lumber is Intended for the use of Western farmers for fencing,
for outhouses, bains, and sheds, for all rough building ptirposes, for
rej)airs and sidewalks, aiid countless purposes for which rotigli ])ine
lumber can be emjduycd. To admit this lumber for consumers free
of tax, it is declared, will be ''ruinously" to compete Avich American
lumber. For whom is this government established ? Do the handful
of capitalists who own the renniants of the pine forests consume this
lumber? Do they pay the tax which is collected from it? Do they
produce the pine forests which they hold possession of and which for
purposes of insatiable greed they are rapidly destroying ? The ])er-
sons who are demanding and exacting this tax on the people of llli-
inois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have neither produced the forests
nor are they consumers. They are nothing more than toll-gatherers
standing at the gates and taking in a tax from tlie millions of con-
sumers in the treeless States to whom lumber \» an article of ])rime
necessity, but who are overcharged by these speculators in stumpage
and logs. They have the hardihood to say that this tax is levied for
the benefit of the "traffic." That is to say, not for the axemen or the

ranncrs wlio l)uy the sttitT, Imt for tlio nKin who " tnifiic "— that is, do
Avliat llu'y can to ijct tlie advantage of each other.

Mr. . ai-p^Miter and thi- other <,'entliMn"n wlio tralVic in liiinher make
the monstrous assertion tliat tlie hiiiibcr business wliich needs '' pro-
teetion" ^ives employment to - lully l,t)i)(),0():i hihon-rs." Even for
gentlemen who "swap" fish yarns this tin;urL' is a lari^e one. The
census reports show that in I8S() the whole numln-r of persons en-
craivcl ill the United States in tlie lumber business was loO,!?!^ males,
4:{;{ females, ;ind 5, '.17 I ehildren! That is a |)retty large fraction short,
even in lumber measure, of "fully 1,()()0,00(> laborers." Throwin,';- in
the women and chil(lr(>n, the whole is considerably short of a million !
I>ut these gentlemen s]ieak only for a }' )rtiou ttf the three States of
3Iichigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,* and the census gives tlie whole
nund)er of men engaged in felling, sawing, and planing lumber not
only in these three States, but in all the other thirty-five States and
the Territories ; and not only of the pine himber of these three States,
but of all the various kinds of lumber in all the States of the I'nion.
Moreover, the census returns show that the whole number of males
of 16 years an<l over engaged in all the industrial mechanical employ-
ments of the United States was 2,025,506. Mr. Van Schaick and the
other gentlemen send forth undtr their certification the statement
that "fully 1,000,000 of laborers" are employed in lumber-making —
that is, one-half the American males over It; years of age working foi-
wages in the whole United States at industrial oc(Uipations are en-
gaged in the lumber trade, and this, too, without including the w<^men
and children. Messrs. Carpenter and Van Schaick send the petition
containing this marvelous statement to their customers, with an ap-
peal that it be signed and sent to Senator * * * «< ^„([ j^ ,j^j^y ,iQt
yet be too late" to save the million of laborers who are threatened
with " ruin ! "

* Tlie census returns for 1880 of the Luuitiering Industry s;ive total average number of hands
employcil. includini,' wonicii and cliildicn. in Michigan, 31,'~'33; in Wisconsin. 8,4(15; in Minnesota,
•J,8.")4; nuilviiii^ in all 85, rw-.'. 'I'licse fj<'ntlenion. of course, meant when talking; of millions, tliose that
have to pay them the extra $3 per M on lumber the duty inlpoHe^^. J5ut, however many nuiy be
employed prodiicinu lumber, does any sane man fancy there would l)e one man less employed in
this country were the duly removed. 'I'he oidy etl'ect the removal of the duty would have would
be to allow Canadian lumber to compete witli "them, iuul possibly reduce somewhat the enormous
profits of a few lumbernun and land speculators. Take for instance the two establishments with
which these two f;entlemen are coninxted, which sawed in 188;J nearly 120,000,000 feet, or about ons
(juarter of tlie annual inii)ort of this lunilx'r from Canada— the duty on this at %'i would be
g210,0(Kl. Th(^ dift'erence of the comiietilion mi<,'ht be to reduce tlieir yearly revenue from about
88 per M, or §'.H)0,000, to ^(5 per M, or g7:i(»,0(X). Still with this amount comini; in yearly there
would be but slif^ht danfjer or their i;o:nt; to the Poor House, and it inijrilt be some little relief to
the poor people who are now compelled to pay them about any jirice they choose to ask.

A scnnewhat noted Senator once remarked, that about the only thiiiK meaner than $5(K).000 was
S1,0()0,(X)0. One wjuld he led, from the action of these gentlemen, to oelievc that the only thing
meaner than a poor lumberman was a rich one.

•

Th^' petition does not mi'iition what proportion of the lumber cut-
ters in Michigan and other States are CJanatlians hrouucht to tiiis coun-
try to c()mpete at h)vv wages with tiie rest of the million to tax the
farmers of the treeless States.

The pi'titiou asks intelligent persons, (!ven himber dealers, to certify
to Congress that to remove the tax from lumber would be to add
that much to the value of Canadian lu:<iber. If the repeal of the tax
on lumber will not admit Canadian lumber cheaper than our lumber
where, when, and how is the " ruin " to take place?,

The Canadian (Toverinnent will not admit Michigan lumber into
AV'in!iipeg freif of tax, and the reason is, that Canadian lui ber is taxed
in this country and has been for years. Their tax is in retaliation for
ours. The repeal of the American tax will, of course, be followed by
the repeal of the tax collected at Wiiniipeg.

Thi« petition is a most ^ludiitrous exhibition of the rage of the "fully
1,00(),0()() of American laborers" ;it the prospect of a repeal of a tax
under which the consumers of American luml)er have seen the price
of lumbei" rise from $-1 to $0 |)er thousand feet during the last four
years. We reproduce tlie Ciiicago prices of lumber since 1878 :

Nov. 15, 1878. Not. 9, 1883. Adv. p. c.

A Stock board.s .$ii4 00 .f :{0 00 25

Fcnciiiu-, No. 1 10 00 K! 00 66

Fciicinu-, No. 3 00 18 00 44

Oommon Imiuds 10 50@11 00 15 00(gil8 00 HOOftS

Oiiiu'iision .stiitT, SO to :}(> f(!((t long. 10 ()0@1« 00 10 r)0@23 00 65@43

Picket.-, lougli - 7 00 13 00 78

Shingle.s standiird 3 25 2 00 28

Lath. 150 2 75 83

Now, suppose the effect of the rejjeal of the bounty the Illinois
farmers pay to Mesers. Carpenter, Van Schaick, et (d., should happily
be to reduce the present excessively high price of lumber to the peo-
ple of the prairie States by $2 per 1,000 feet, would it not be aj)ublic
))lessing to millions of toilers, and would it not still leave a big price
and a large profit for the speculator in pine lands'*

The Albany i)rices for the three up})er qualities show the follow-
ing changes in three years;

September, 187!». September. 1882. Adv. p. c.

Clear $40 to |42 $C3 to ,f64 56

Fourihs 35 to 37 57 to 59 61

Selects .• 30 to 33 52 to 54 71

GENEEAL OBSERVATIONS

AOOOMPANYINQ PAMPHLET ON FOREST PROTECTION.

The compiler of this Paniplilet has been advised of excellent arti-
cles liavins: a])peared in other papers, but those inserted therein, were
all that came under his own observation, or of which he could immedi-
ately obtain copies. He had also in his possession, nuist valuable arti-
cles written by gentlemen who have devoted time and labor, in call-
ing the attention of the public, to this, the most important economic
question of the day — one, before which all others sink into insignifi-
cance in comparison ; for nothing can be more true, than the remarks
of " The Glasgow (Scotland) Herald " when reviewing an article on
the subject in 18V6, which says : " The knowledge we have gained of
a dearth of cotton may help us to appreciate ' the terribleness of the
calamity that would be experienced from a dearth of timber' in Can-
ada and the States. In point o" fact, both Canada and the States are
busy sawing from under them the high-reaching, fortune-making
branch, on which, like conquerors, tliey are now sittuig and overlook-
ing the world."

When we consider the importance that an abundance of the most
valuable timber has had on the past welfare of the country, and come
to realize what "a dearth of timber " means, all will readily see that
the foregoing is by no means an overdrawn statement. If we also con-
sider the fact, that every human being in this country, must have
timber in some form or another for his jirotection or comfort — t^hat
our shelter is of timber, the floors we walk on, the chairs we sit on,
the tables we eat from, the conveyances we use ; even our cradles and
coffins are of wood ; we can readily see that in one form or another
"we must have timber.

Tlie great ingenuity of "the everlasting Yankee "has not even yet
touched the subject. Notwithstanding the fences of wire, the use
of iron in building, the terra cotta atid straw-lunber, still the

i » * i 1 • J

consumption of our old friend wooden lumber increased nearly
fifty percent, in the ten years from 1870 to 1«80, the former being
12.755.54:5.000, and Ihe latter 18,091,850,000 feet, and tliough it
has always been claimed that iron and lumber keep together, cheap
lumber accompanying cheap iron, we now finil iron so low that
producers claim they are at the lowest rung of the ladder, whilo
lumber has advanced in three years fully 50 per cent., with every
pi'ospect of still further increase ; and yet we, in the north, are
infonned that we are within eight years of the time when our sup-
plies of white pine and spruce, which are our great stock of this
indispensible material, must cease ; and this is not the stateinent of
interested parties, which might be open to suspicion, but of those
specially employed by the government of the country to ascertain the
true coixlition of the forests.

It will no doubt be said, "what of this, there are still vast forests
in the south to be drawn upon V " This may be a matter of great
value to the south, but to the people of the north, who now nuxke
and use five-sixths of the sawed lumber produced, it is a matter
of the most serious importance. The value of the lumber now pro-
duced in the north exceeds !5'200,(iOO,000 a year as it falls froni the
saw — that it is all wanted there can be no better evidence than the
fact that demand and price arc both increasing — and to replace it
would cost from two to three times this sum, even if the s.ame lumber
could be obtained elsewhere, which cannot be ; and 1500,000,000 a
year would not replace it ; so that in a verj^ short time this northren
country, instead of having a great and profitable industry, advancing
and helping every interest, will be called upon to pay out hundreds
of millions of dollars annually for such material.

But even our southern +"rieuds are interested with us in the jjreservation
of this timber, as the uses to which it is applied are so different from
theirs, that large quantities are aimually sent south, and the govern-
ment of Canada, recognizingthis fact, while imposing a retaliatory duty
on the white pine admits southern i)ine, <luty free. It is further to be
hoped that southern governments mav learn a lesson from the prodi-
gality of the north, and preserve their most valuable timber for the
benefit and wellfare of the con\munity, instead of giving it away to
timber land speculators, or to such an ignorant race of destruc-
tionists, as have gobbled up the timber of the north, or they too will
Boon be dispossessed of one of the greatest blessings that Providence
Las vouchsafed their country.

> •

t « • t

< > >

When people talk, as they sometimes do, of the incxhaustable for-
ests of the south, they little know the sawing capacity of the northern
mills, which could in twelve months time convert the whole merchant-
able pine of the state of Georgia into lumber, and be but six months
in using up the pine of Florida: and the men that run these mills, not
only have the will but the greed to do it.

When one considers the many industries engaged in the various
processes involved in the use of this material and the hundreds of
thousands of laborers directly depending thereupon for their livelihood
— and that it is an ai tide required by every individual of the whole
community, one can readily see that every means should be adopted
for its preservation and protection.

While England that has cheap coal, cheap iron and cheap labor,
and that can get her supplies at the cheapest rates from the north of
Europe, annually expends nearly $1()0,000,()0() for timber, one can
readily recognize how much it would cost this country (that is yet to
be built up) to import its huuber from any foreign source. It lias
been estimated that it Avould take the entire sailing tonnage of the
world to convey the amount of timber annually consumed in this
country from any foreign lumber port. But where to get it at any
price in the enormous quantities used in this country is a question that
would puzzle those best informed on the subject to determine.

From the foregoing we recognize the truth of the statement made by
a writer in the accompanying pages, wherein he says : " No mork

VITAL QUESTION CAN COME HEFOKE CoNGRESS. PeRIIAPS NO CoNGRESS
HAS EVER BEEN CALLED ON TO DECIDE AN ECONOMIC QUESTION OF
GREATER MOMENT,"