I would like to insert into the record at this point a statement by Senator Russell Long, who regrets that he is unable to attend today, but I can assure you he is deeply interested in the problems of his State of Louisiana.

(The statement referred to follows:)

Hon. STROM THURMOND,
New Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.O.

U.S. SENATE,

Washington, D.C., April 15, 1963.

DEAR STROM: Enclosed is my statement which I would appreciate your making a part of the record of your Shieveport hearing on the southern lumber industry. I regret that I will be unable to deliver the statement in person, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your taking the time to go to Shreveport and to listen to our folks in this matter. I hope everything goes well for you in Louisiana, and if I can be of any help to you, please let me know. With best personal regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

STATEMENT BY SENATOR RUSSELL B. LONG

RUSSELL.

Mr. Chairman, the Louisiana lumber industry takes great pride in its major contribution to the economy of our State. About 5 years ago, the Louisiana Forest Industries Committee, in cooperation with the American Forest Products Industries, Inc., published a set of facts on the Louisiana forest industries. At that time, more than half the land in the State of Louisiana was covered with forest. Surveys have shown that Louisiana forests have in the neighborhood of a quarter of a million cords of wood in trees 5 inches and over.

The forest industries, and by that I mean those that make lumber and similar products, furniture, and pulp paper and paper products, need their abundant forests and raw materials. There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000 people dependent upon the industry for full-time jobs in the State of Louisiana. One out of $5 paid out to Louisiana industrial workers comes from the forestdependent industries. Products turned out in Louisiana by the industry were valued at over a half billion dollars in 1958. I am sure it is somewhat higher

now.

We celebrated our 350th birthday 6 years ago in the lumber industry. In 1608, the first southern pine was manufactured commercially for use in the New World. Our State of Louisiana has produced more than 3 billion board feet of southern pine lumber in a single year.

I could go on citing figures to show the importance of the lumber industry to my State. I am particularly interested in the more than 12,000 persons who are directly employed in the Louisiana lumber industry and are dependent upon it for their livelihood.

It is for this reason that I am happy you have seen fit to investigate economic conditions in the Southern lumber industry and to obtain information firstband by going into my State to conduct a hearing.

By holding its Shreveport hearing, I believe your committee will gain invaluable insight into the problems that face the lumber industry in Louisiana. And there are problems. I have received a number of letters and telegrams from and I have talked to the people in Louisiana concerning these problems.

One such problem that is of great concern is the importing of Canadian lumber. Recently, figures provided me by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C., show that there were 400 carloads of Canadian lumber shipped into Louisiana in 1953. In 1961, the figure had been doubled and 800 carloads were coming into Louisiana. This is displacing a number of jobs from my people who are dependent upon the lumber industry for their livelihood. Further, it has taken this much out of the dollars and cents available for expansion of our general economy of the State.

Throughout the South, there are some 15,000 carloads of lumber being shipped into Southern States. This amount of Canadian softwood lumber represents over half a billion board feet of lumber. If this larger quantity is being shipped into the South, think what it must be displacing in other areas of the country.

There have been a number of proposals made to curb the importing of Canadian lumber or to increase the competitive position of U.S. lumber. I am confident that your committee and the other committees of Congress, to which such proposals have been referred, will give them serious consideration and will attempt to meet the problems of the domestic lumber industry in a reasonable way.

Another legislative item of genuine concern to the lumber industry in my State is the recommendation in the President's tax message for the elimination of capital gains treatment on timber sales. Since the proposal will be considered by the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am a member, it will bear my special attention; and I will be most interested in any findings which your committee may provide in this connection.

I know the committee will listen to the comments of the people from my State, and I stand ready to lend my assistance to this major Louisiana industry. Senator THURMOND. Now, I might say as we start, I'll tell you who these people are here. On my left is Mr. Mason, Tom Mason from the Commerce Department. He's with the executive branch of the Government. He is attending these hearings as an observer.

On my immediate left is Mr. Sam Stilwell, a member of the Commerce Committee staff.

On my right is Mr. Ralph Horton, a member of the Commerce Committee staff, and our reporter is Mr. James Hosford.

I have a letter here from Congressman Waggonner which I'd like to read. It says:

Dear Senator: It appears now that I may not be able to attend the lumber hearing you will conduct in Shreveport on the 4th of May because of previous engagement to speak at an inauguration of the new president of my alma mater of the Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in Ruston, La.

In the event I am unable to arrive back in Shreveport in time to attend the meeting, I would greatly appreciate it if you would have the attached statement read into the record of the proceedings, along with my apologies for my absence.

Best kindness. It would be greatly appreciated. I trust you will have success in the formal meeting with representatives of those vitally concerned with the success of the industry in the surrounding area.

Sincerely yours,

JOE E. WAGGONNER, Jr.

I might say for you people who live here in this congressional district, Congressman Joe Waggonner is one of the ablest and most dedicated Congressman in the Congress of the United States, and I am glad to come to his home district. I am going to ask Mr. Stilwell to read his statement. It's just about four pages. And then we'll proceed with the witnesses to testify.

Mr. STILWELL. Statement for Representative Joe Waggonner for inclusion in the hearings on the southern lumber industry:

Mr. Chairman, I want to be on record in favor of urging your committee's every consideration for assistance to aid the American lumber industry. Louisiana, and particularly my congressional district, is greatly dependent upon a healthy lumber economy.

There are over 1.5 million full-time forest industry employees throughout the country. The annual industry payroll is in excess of $5.2 billion, and the value of the goods produced by the industry exceeds $23.5 billion.

The record should show that there are in excess of 32,000 sawmills throughout the country, 360 pulpmills, 800 paper, and paperboard mills, and 300 veneer and plywood mills.

Louisiana plays its significant part in the lumber industry having an estimated 41.4 billion board feet of saw timber, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture timber resources review, which is not up to date and does not reflect the full volume in my State of Louisiana.

99-563 0-63-10

Recently I was provided with some information from the National Lumber Manufacturers Association in Washington which showed that some 800 carloads of Canadian softwood lumber were being imported into my State of Louisiana. This figure was computed for 1961. In 1953 there were only 400 carloads shipped into Louisiana. The latter figure is significant but certainly one would not think in 8 years that there would be twice as many carloads of Canadian lumber coming into our State.

Louisiana was not one of those hit the hardest. Throughout the South there were approximately 15,000 carloads of lumber coming in from Canada in 1961, displacing American-made southern pine. This is almost four times the amount that was computed 8 years ago. At this rate there will be but a few years before an even larger percentage of the southern market may well be displaced with Canadian lumber.

This is much more serious than any of us realize. Last month the lumber coming in from Canada had increased to such proportions that 1 out of every 5 board feet was Canadian lumber. I call the committee's attention to this fact and ask if this is not significant enough for the committee to be concerned and, indeed, for the employees of the lumber industry to be concerned. Jobs are being displaced and plants are closing down as a direct result of the imports of Canadian softwood lumber.

Several months ago my colleagues in the Congress introduced a series of bills to help assist the American lumber industry. This action was necessary because the U.S. Tariff Commission had decided on February 14 to deny the industry's request for assistance in the way of a tariff or quota. The Tariff Commission report stated that the industry had many ills and agreed with the industry's determination of what the ills were. They said, however, that there was noth

ing they could do under the language of the new bill, but called upon the U.S. Congress to enact legislation to assist them.

The bills that were introduced by my colleagues in the House and Senate called for:

(1) Amending the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the marking of lumber and wood products to indicate to the ultimate purchaser of lumber in the United States the country of origin.

(2) To amend the National Housing Act to provide that only lumber and other wood products which have been produced in the United States be used in construction and rehabilitation covered by FHA-insured mortgages.

(3) To amend section 22 of the Agricultural Adjustments Act to include lumber and wood products.

(4) Joint resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to impose an immediate 6-percent emergency quota on all imports of softwood lumber.

(5) A bill to establish in the Department of Agriculture an office for two additional assistant secretaries, one of whose prime responsibility will be forest

resources.

Hearings have already been held to require that lumber be marked with country of origin. The Senate Finance Committee held hearings March 21 on an amendment to a package-marking bill previously passed in the House and sponsored by my colleague from Florida, Representative Sid Herlong. The amendment was sponsored by Senator Len B. Jordan, of Idaho, and was the language contained in his and other Congressmen's bills to require that imported lumber be marked with country of origin. Both labor and management are behind this bill. The AFL-CIO has also filed a letter with the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee requesting passage of that bill.

I know that this committee under the able chairmanship of the Senator from South Carolina, Senator Strom Thurmond, will write an effective report and out of these hearings will come support for legislation to assist the lumber industry. I heartily endorse any legislation which will help the lumber industry in my congressional district, my State, and throughout the country.

That's all, Mr. Chairman.

Senator THURMOND. Congressman Waggonner has presented an excellent statement. He is to be commended for his interest in this important industry. I'd like to add that Gov. Jimmy Davis informed me that he planned to be here today, and then he sent me word that he could not be here but he would be represented by Mr. Riley.

Mr. Riley, would you like to come around and sit up here with us. We'd be glad to have you, if you will.

Mr. RILEY. Yes, sir.

Senator THURMOND. Just have a seat right over here.

Mr. RILEY. Thank you. May I make a brief explanation. Mr. Chairman, Governor Davis was expected to be here, as you know, until late yesterday. He knew I was going to be in Shreveport this morning so he asked me to come and extend his best wishes and to make a short statement on his behalf.

I think from what he told me, that I need not tell you of his personal friendship for you and his admiration for leadership which you have furnished in the Senate and Congress. I judge from what he said that he feels that you are a real personal friend and he deeply regrets that he wasn't able to get here at the last minute to have this opportunity to visit with you and to make a statement on behalf of the State of Louisiana.

Unfortunately I do not have his memorandum, but if it would be. permissible and proper, the Governor would like to file a statement representing his views and the interest of the State of Louisiana.

Senator THURMOND. I'd be delighted, Mr. Riley, for him to do that. We will keep the record open for that purpose.

Mr. RILEY. All right.

Senator THURMOND. I suppose within a week or 10 days?

Mr. RILEY. Yes; I think we could, and I think maybe he has his remarks prepared, but it was just impossible to convey them to me at the last minute. You know, of course, and all these people know of the great concern that Governor Davis has and all the governmental level in Louisiana has in the interest of our timber and forest resources and so we want to congratulate you upon the effort that you are making to bring this to the attention of the people in the country and in Louisiana. And we want to assure you of the Governor's greatest cooperation in this project that you have undertaken. Thank you.

Senator THURMOND. That's very kind of you, and you just stay as long as you can. We're glad to have you represent the Governor. We're sorry he can't be here personally, but I can certainly understand that. I have been Governor myself, and I know the tremendous demands upon a Governor. We greatly appreciate Governor Davis' fine interest in this matter. I am sure his statement will be a great contribution to the record. I wish you would extend to him my best regards. Mr. RILEY. Thank you.

Senator THURMOND. Now the list of witnesses has been furnished me down here, and we will not restrict it to these if others wish to speak later. I'll just call them in order as they are given here.

First, Mr. C. H. Lewis, of the Louisiana Forestry Commission. Mr. Lewis, will you come around?

Mr. LEWIS. Yes, sir; that's the Louisiana Forest Association. We are not a Government agent. We are a private enterprise. We have about 2,700 members in this private thing. Senator, we welcome this opportunity to appear before this committee and tell our story of the southern lumber industry.

You have heard testimony in Atlanta and Columbia in the last week or so concerning this Canadian import lumber problem and some other related problems. You are probably aware of the fact that

Crown in Canada practically owns all of the timber in Canada, and competition from Canadian lumber is not what you might call a real fair fight insomuch as the Crown is permitted and does fix a price for timber at whatever level is necessary in order for lumber to come into the United States at competitive prices. It's operated on the concession system that you are probably aware of which the Crown gives an operator's right to cut a million feet of timber at a price of so much. No competitive bidding is involved, or very little of it. And as a consequence the Canadian Government is more concerned with providing jobs and increasing tax per wealth and getting their return from manufactured goods than they are in getting the money from the sale of timber, and that's kind of the guts of this problem so far as we're concerned down South here.

Now, I want to read you from the April 19 Kiplinger's Newsletter a small item here that is very disturbing in this statement, very disturbing to us because of the line of thinking that poses a real threat to the southern lumber industry. I quote from this letter:

Lumber imports * * they are rising, so industry is urging Congress to curb them. One plan is to require stamps showing the country of origin, and other such import quotas. Another would deny FHA loan insurance for houses not built with U.S. lumber. The lower imports with boosts in costs of home construction.

So we think Congress in turn would turn down all of these bills. Senator, if the prime concern of this Nation is in getting cheap lumber, Canadian imported lumber would do just exactly that, but there is a whole lot more to this problem than that. As a matter of fact we see private industry and private enterprise system in this lumber business at stake in this issue. I'd like to develop that in just a moment; so it's this sort of competition that we face from a government, actually a government-subsidized operation in the form of cheap or low-cost lumber provided by the Canadian Government. We are having to come back down as a result of these pressures. We've had to lower the cost of lumber and lower the cost of lumber to meet competition.

Now the cost of manufacturing lumber has gone up about $10 a thousand in the past 10 years as a result of the increases in the minimum wage and; as you well know, a federally sponsored move by our own Government to put us in somewhat of a hole. The cost of manufacturing lumber has gone up. The price of lumber has come down. That's put a tremendous squeeze on our resources, that is the tree that grows on the farmer's land. Now, down South here, 91 percent of all of the timber is owned by a private company or private individuals, and 74 percent of that is owned by Tom, Dick, and Harry like me and you, no sawmill and no pulpmill-and we are completely dependent upon a healthy southern forest product industry to sell these things.

Now, if we don't have a healthy industry, then this whole business of encouraging people to grow trees for crops, tree farms we call them, is completely invalid, the whole basis for which we have sold this program to the people of the South.

That is our concern in this whole issue. Now, if it's the concern of the Federal Government to keep this land in private hands; it