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CHAPTER 6 Surviving the Great Depression Most of the people would work for a few weeks and they'd be off for a while. And then also at that time there was a lot of work without pay, sort of on the promise that eventually you would get paid. In our particular sawmill, this happened a couple of times. We'd get an order, open up and cut the order, and then close down. Bill McKenna1 The deteriorating American economy convinced many business executives , including those in the forest products sector, that such drastic conditions required immediate attention. Postwar lumber production in the United States peaked at 41 billion board feet in 1925, declin~d to 26 billion feet in 1930, and then plummeted to just over 10 billion feet in 1932. John B. Woods, an industrial forester with close ties to the Pacific Northwest, remarked that the timber business had descended to the "slough of despond."2 Lumber executives, who were normally suspicious of any form of government interference, began to look to Washington, D.C., for relief. As the economic crisis worsened, their proposals became more drastic, taking on overtones of the business syndicalism that eventually appeared in the form of the short-lived National Recovery Administration (NRA) in the 1930s. The effects of the collapsing national economy reverberated from coast to coast and deeply influenced conditions in the Pacific Northwest . Everywhere production outstripped demand, even in the face of curtailed operations and periodic shutdowns. Some of the largest West Coast producers attempted to limit production voluntarily, but to no avail. The Coos Bay Lumber Company stockpiled large inventories of lumber at its finishing plants in California and waited for the market to improve.3 But patience and optimism went out the window when prices and demand dropped even further. Even moderately brisk foreign sales could not sustain the sharp contraction in the lumber market. Eventually, the collapse began to take its toll in business failure and backruptcy. Idle workers were becoming more noticeable on the bay by early 1931. But this form of unemployment was different from the seasonal meanderings of men who were on the move between logging camps. Even when the local mills resumed production after the holiday layoff, the Times reported that at least 400 men were still unemployed. Because there was "little prospect of putting them to 80 SURVIVING THE GREAT DEPRESSION 81 work," industry representatives urged outsiders to stay away from the Coos district.4 Business and civic leaders would give those sentiments added emphasis in the coming months. As the armies of the unemployed increased, it became obviouseven to the Coos Bay Times-that not all was well. Declining lumber orders and heavy inventories, the editor contended, were "the barnacle on the ship of progress" in timber-dependent communities. Yet the editor saw signs of hope in an expanded trade with the Orient and with South Africa, and he praised the West Coast Lumbermen's Association for inaugurating its "Build Your Own Home Campaign." The Times urged residents to join the "Trade at Home" effort to sustain local business. "Think twice," it cautioned, "before you let your money leave town in search of bargains."5 But those admonitions were lost as the tide of economic collapse continued. As in other American communities, service clubs and civic groups organized a central clearinghouse to find jobs for the unemployed, to collect donations of food and clothing, and to investigate requests for assistance. Individuals seeking relief were required to work if they were able. The Marshfield Welfare Association, as the local organization was called, advertised for more jobs, distributed meal tickets to single men, and coordinated work projects for residents who were paid in scrip redeemable for food and clothing.6 The dramatic increase in unemployment soon overwhelmed voluntary relief efforts in virtually every section of the country. Coos Bay was no exception. The largest employer on the bay, the Coos Bay Lumber Company, adopted a sliding scale of wages based on monthly sales in June 1931, and shortly thereafter the firm suspended operations. The company's several logging camps already had been closed for several months. Although work resumed on a limited basis in the fall, market conditions forced the plant to close periodically during the next few years. Elsewhere, the industry fared no better. The West Coast Lumbermen 's Association announced in August 1931 that its member mills were operating at 38 percent of capacity.7 For the bay area, the full...

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