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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1909)
1, 1909. - 3 THE MORNING OREGONIAN, JANUARY tt ttx ,rTrr? TTPa-K IT W 77 1! II A Ifl) i" ' fTr Wf V I I A T 1 I MM I T M W MM (I I V II K V - IJ r4 at fl IB , t a L vpv tl B II 1 i t , J & ' - J II WM INDUSTRY HAS REACHED GW37 ' PROPORTIONS 'AND TVRE2T6 1 ARE ' jmCnCALLY INEXHAUSTIBLE. LOGS JZfLAJZV SIVAZZ. - ZIZVJ? Off Waahingtoa Lumber Manufacturer Aaaoctation. THE state of Oregon has within Its boundaries one-a!xth of the tand- Ing; timber of the Vnlted Stated. The amount ehown by Foreat Service tabulation In 1i ma a M.niY.oiv.(vii) feet. This timber is one of the moat Impor tant renourcea of the state, yet lta value in undetermined and not rec oanlxed until comparatively recent yearn. Not many yar o the timber wa properly considered by the plo neera aa a Kreat drawback to the set tlement of the country, and much dif ficulty vii experienced in clearing: the (round ao that acriculture waa possi ble. Ktithlee hurning and cuttlna; of l;mbr wre induiaM in to niaki clear In.. lire and there In the Interior of the state adjacent to the railroad a little sawmill would be built to take re of local requirements, bul no con ception of the possibilities of forward Ins; flr from these Inland mills out of Oreson was even dreamed until bout 1S7. when Initial shipments wera made to California. The Oregon California liallroad Company, operating betweeq Han Krn- Ihco and Portland up to 19".' had mv Idea ct the value of the timber, and fGr years considered it a jtreat detriment l them., in selling their grant lands. Gradually the oumb-r of ms. mills in creased a population developed, and as further railroad construction and ex tension occurred, until In 1839 the Southern Pacific put In a rale from Willamette Valley mills to Fan Fran cisco, enabling the inland mills to com pete with Portland and Puget Sound cargo shipments. Timber was then be coming siarce in Minnesota. Michigan and Wisconsin, and subsequently re ports were circulated and estimates were, published showing that yellow pine In the South would be cut out In IS or 20 years. Then the value of fir timber began to be appreciated and s:eps were taken by far-sighted men to secure the timber not already owned by the railroad, and especially that readily accessible to the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. and to pur chase from the railroads such portions as could be readily logged, manufac tured and transported. A period of Industry and develop ment then followed the period of stag nation. Today there are upward of ana sawmills In the state of Oregon. ' with a capacity of 4.non.oon,ooo feet per annum, although the output per an num has not exceeded S.noo.OOO.OOO feet. Including fir. red cedar and Port Orford cedar, spruce, yellow pine, sugar pine and western pine. Under normal conditions the annual payroll of the 40.000 men engaged in the Industry In Oregon approximates l.'0. 000.000. A moderate estimate of the Investment In mill property aside from timber land la loO.OOO.OHO. The output of Oregon mills la dis posed of locally and shipped by rail and cargo. It ia estimated that about one-fifth of the output goes by cargo and two-fifths by rail out of the state. The remaining two-fifths Is disposed f within the state. The city of Port land has been for years a leading fac tor In the manufacture of fir lumber. The mills of Portland produce one third of the output of the state, ap proximately son.ooo.000 feet, of which about 400.VOO.000 Is used locally and alifpped by rail and 200.000.000 by wa ter. Portland Is the largest lumber producing city of the world. - The Interior mills as the years slipped b developed gradually a good rail business Into their natural consuming territory. Interior California. Utah. Nevada. Idaho and Kstern Oregon. A few adventurous spirits Invaded the natural territory of southern yellow pine In Colorado, which has developed Into a great fir-consuming district, even though yellow pine has the ad vantage of a lesa freight rate, and then gradually fir business was extended into Nebraska. Kansas and Iowa. The distinctly cargo-shipping mills during a period of depression and lack In demand for lumber vessels again turned spasmodic attention to their neglected rail business, and in about 1S0J were suddenly awakened to tha fact that they had active competition in the erstwhile despised interior mills. which In several markets had freight differential and routings against them when compared with Portland, and also found that a better rate had been granted the Willamette Valley mills into California than Portland enjoyed. and further, that a few rail-shipping mills at Portland with the same ad- vantages of terminal facilities and freight rates had established trade con- nsctions Into the Middle West and were xx.riixar the nerlected terrltorv of the cargo mills. So while they were con- .M.Hnf onlv the comotition .with sidaring oniy ine competition ,witn mills in tha state, of Washington, and . ,i .1.- - Ariimni T iclpki itiin i.nw icmnrii- tion of yellow plna on special Eastern railway bills, suddenly this keen com f y -jwm r f7 ' ' ' 4 il.rX' ft IJ r(:.-v.- -'IV;,'',.-' . r:--e f ..,7 petition from inland mills of Oregon had sprung Into being uinler their noses and almost without their knowl edge. On considering the facts It was noted that the Inland mills had a decided advantage in owning their own tim ber and being able to get out logs at their convenience and to suit their orders, while a number of the big Port land mills were buying logs on the open market, and were subject not only to price fluctuations, but also to the loggers' convenience. Many of the cargo milla then se cured timber land and commenced their own logging operations, thus bringing loggers to time, and only purchasing logs on the market when this could be done to greater advantage than to cut their own timber. These purchases of timber by big companies were made as recently as 1905. About this time. too. Michigan and Wisconsin lumbermen were coming out to Oregon and investing in timber and establishing mills, as their old holdings were cut out. and this further stimu lated the old-established mills to pur chase timber and to extend trade con nections on account of neighboring competition of an .up-to-date type, coupled with more modern mothods. as well as a keen knowledge of the mar ket conditions of the East. For special long and large or flat and wide stock there has never been and Is no competition with the fir lum ber of the states of Oregon and Wash ington. Such dimensions as 30x30 Inches 120 feet long can only be pro duced In fir. Yellow pine In 32-foot IptirthR anrl 14x14 Inches in rixa is ,h. limit and In nnalltv is fr xflow standard grade of fir. jt was finaiiy realized that the real competitor of tlr was Southern yellow pine, although hemlock and Norway pine, of Wisconsin and Michigan, were factors to be reckoned with In those and adjoining states. The conclusion was then reached that only the united purpose of all Oregon manufacturers would avail in getting railroads to provide routings and fix rates to open up Middle West and Eastern territory and to establish unffATm crAdcs and natterns. Also that advertising and market extension nrk rnuM onlv he nrooerlv handled work couio only oe property nanaiea by associated effort of the Oregon lura- n m r minumi luif le. This Impression finally culminated In Tnis impression nnauy cuiminaiea in meeting of representative lumbermen : ji :! : 1 loir kt JAj T 1 I III ; I iti I I V.'i 4Jfx k ; ! vnnF - $tlr?ji h--7 I d ;x. iv m-.u, -. K 1 f s e- .. x. -.Ts.i- ' xS. v x - V of the atate April IS, 1903, at the Port- land Hotel. Portland, and asain May 6. uno iioiei. rorunno, ana again amy o. 1905. when the Oregon Lumber Manu- i...Ai.iu ,Hif This Association was subsequently in- xaxiuicio ,-iagvxiaiiv i rwna v-1 1 ........ . inn ajjuci non wa junwumnuj corporated July 28, 190S, as the Oregon - Ill- - f s "Mf" ''f! 'i'A r i 'jH xri X i v; & Washington Lumber Manufacturers' Of. aOllllliUil I. LI 111 if- I ,IID II Ul.l .u. . Association, and besides the regular ..,x,ii. .-.. " routine of disseminating information of lnmher ntu'i of Interest has been the has been me medium through thb market extension . - . - ,..xx....... xii.x.,,,.. ... .------ committee of distributing throughout ?flNG r?OCGf 5-OtrSRN the B:ast 6500 sets of samples of fir. hemlock and sprtice nmsn, siainea 10 Illustrate the variety of color to which Oregon fir is susceptible, and also to show the beautiful grain of this lum ber. These samples were sent to lum ber dealers, contractors and architects and have been instrumental in creat ing a demand for fir finish that can not be overestimated. The association also served as the medium for conduct insr the litigation before the Inter state Commerce Commission and in the - ... , .u if - t courts, ana uuMaif , the transcontinental railroads in the - of ' the transcontinental "5 ' , all of 190i. when tney aicempieu u xa.i i . - niKe n unwarr-n l "' u";n ter. ..... ,. ,i.i,t raten tn Fustem ter- advance in freight rates to Eastern it v "x " i c" 4 " f O&EGON JZEDWOOlXSr ritory, which, if made effective, would have paralyzed the lumber industry in this state. The next step is an exhibit in the East at the Atlantic seaboard, and thereby illustrate to great numbers of pros- pective builders, by samples and ex- hibits, the virtues and possibilities of fir as a finishing wood. Such an adver- Using scheme is now being considered, and if put through will be a wonderful factor in advertising Oregon, and ef- feet nianv sales of iiv in the big East- ern cities where now Mr finish is a name o v, and to which points the main shipments consist of railroad ,,mh,r, ,nd wharf tun- berg and dredge and ship-building stock, which is in constant demand. These special classes of fir t'.at go to the Atlantic seaboard, however, are tha onlv classes that can pay 7.1 cents per hundred weight .r'-iglit: equivalent to $24.7-1 per 10UO feet board measure on rough dimension stock, which on ex isting freight tariffs has to pay the same freight as clear finish, with but one-third its value. The freight rep resents, in this instance, over twice the value of lough dimension stock at the mill. Competition exists In AtlanMc states from Georgia. North Carolina and other yellow pine producing states, and through their ability to deliver c m nion lumber for lower freight rates shut out common fir. Coming farther west to Ohio there is a 60 to 6.1-cent freight rate or 21.50 per M. while yellow pine gets in from Mississippi or Louisiana for one-half that amount, thence on west to Illinois and Indiana, where a 53-cent rate prevails, or tU per loon, against yellow pine from Texas, which pays also about one-half our rate, as well as hemlock and Nor way pine from Minnesota and W iscon sin on M cent rate, or $5 per 1000. Is It unreasonable, in view of thes comparisons for the lumbermen of tin Pacific Northwest to stand out against increased freight rates on lumber, ami to advocate the establishment of a less rate on common low-priced lumber than prevails on clear high-priced stock? It would appear the low value of this product would be a convincing reason for putting In a low trans portation rate to get it to the market where It Is needed, and especially so when going into close, competitive ter ritory where competing wood enjoys a very much less rate. Kvcn now. with the loggers' effort to conserve and save timber In the woods, much top timber and manv poor logs that would produce coarse lumber, and which would be salable In the prairie states, is left In the woods, as transportation rates are excessive, and owners cannot get the excess of coarse stock to market. Io we also want to have our compe tition increased in the Middle West, which is even now disastrous to the Pacific Northwest, and have our prod uct eliminated entirely from the Atlan tic seaboard by admitting British Col umbia and Ontario and New Brunswick lumber into the United States without dutv. and at freight rates from British Columbia as low and in some instances lower than our freight rales? We must also consider that tlic British Columbia timber is fir. practically as good as ours, and capable of producing the spe cial sizes end the finish we have just been bragging about, so that the At lantic seaboard market, now consid ered as belonging to Oregon ami Wash- ingrton on special sizes, would again become strongly competitive, It will therefore behoove those in- terested In the development of Oregon to consider the interests of the lumber industry, and not to encourage a back- ward step to tills great commonwealth by crippling our greatest resource. Ths effect, too. of a removal of duty would be to leave In the woods much tlmbei now manufactured 'nh.co''"0" tf.t;ak; as competition would be so keen that only the best of the tree would be n.a - kctable. with much consequent was e and acting dian.etrica l" oppos ,te . tne conserx mu... .. . - ward as the principal reason for ra moving the duty.
