Hon. Champ Clark, Washington:
Dear Sir —I wish to call your atten
tion to the iniquities of the lumber
monopoly in these United States, nur
tured by the tariff. As you know, the
whole lumber business is in the hands
of a trust composed of a few thousand
men, which levies tribute on and op
presses and defrauds eighty millions
of people without any corresponding
benefit whatever. This syndicate or
trust has got possession of all the tim
ber lands and sawmills of the coun
try, and it dictates the prices of lum
ber to the whole country. There used
to be a few independent mills, but
they have all been compelled to come
into the trust, and every bill of lum
ber ordered by any retail dealer from
a supposed independent mill is sent to
one general office, and the order is
filled from that office and the money
collected by it. Every once in awhile
this trust raises the price of lumber.
Last January it raised the price of
the retailers $2 a thousand; last week
it raised the price again another 75
oents and $1 a thousand. The orders
for rise of price are given to the re
tailer, and he is obliged to obey at his
peril.
But, worst of all, they swindle, de
fraud and cheat the purchasers and
users of lumber in a most shameful
manner. For instance, you are going
to build a home, we will say. You put
in a bill to the retailer for a certain
number of 2 by 4 studding of the de
sired length, a certain number of 2
by 12 joist and a certain number of feet
of plank 1 by 10 of any desired length.
