The Northwest Lumber Cartel Forms in Tacoma
Major mill owners from across the Puget Sound region organize to stabilize prices and set standard grades for timber.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
All the long-distance car shippers of the Northwest met in Tacoma this afternoon and evening and organized a Car and Lumber Shippers' Association for the purpose of securing a uniformity in grades and price of lumber shipped in car loads. C. F. White, of Cosmopolis, was elected president; W. H. Hanson, of Tacoma, vice president, and John B. Denny, of Seattle, secretary. The mills represented included the Tacoma Mill Company, Western Mill Company, Fremont Mill Company, Allen Nelson Mill Company, and several others from Buckley, Olympia, Cosmopolis, and Hoquiam. Much difficulty has been experienced as a result of no uniformity in the quality of lumber sold and prices asked. The object of the new association is not to make any marked changes in prices or corner the output, but to secure uniformity of prices and grades and increase sales. A new price list was considered and adopted, covering various dimensions of fir, laths, and ceiling products. An adjourned meeting will be held tomorrow in the office of the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company.
“The object of the new association is not to make any marked changes in prices or corner the output, but for the purpose of securing uniformity of prices and grades.”
This meeting marks a foundational moment in the consolidation of the Pacific Northwest’s timber industry. While they claimed the goal was simply 'uniformity' rather than a monopoly, the move reflects the long-standing tension between the region's resource-based economy and the desire to control market fluctuations—a dynamic that persists in modern debates over corporate control of Pacific Northwest land.
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