Federal Trade Commission Decides Against Use of Term "Philippine Mahogany"

And now comes The Federal Trade Commission, at Washington, a body created and maintained by a special Act of Congress, and, under date of August l6th, 1927, annbunces its final opinion that the woods that are commonly known in this country as "Philippine Mahogany," have no right to the name "mahogany" and must not be advertised or sold in this country under that name, and on that same date this august body has issued to the seven defendants in the now famous Philippine Mahogany case a "cease and desist" order, forbidding them the further use of that name on interstate business. The several members of the defendant list in the State of California are in receipt of this order at the present time.

After stating the opinion on the subject at which the ma- jority of the Commission has arrived (Chairman of the Commission W. E. H. Humphrey demurring against the majority report and offering a minority opinion in favor of the Philippine importers and manufacturers) the following "cease and desist" order is given:

"Now, therefore, it is ordered, that the respondent, its offrcers, directors, agents, employes, and successors, do cease and desist from advertising, describing, or otherwise designating or selling or ofiering for sale under the term "Mahogany," "Philippine Mahoganyi' or any other term of similar import, woods known under the common or trade names ttred Luanr" "white Luanr" ttTanguiler" t'Narrar" "Api- tong," "Bataanr" "Lamaor" ttAlmonr" ttOnon," ttBagaacr" "Balak," and "Balachacan," or any other wood, lumber, or wood products unless such wood or lumber or the wood from which such products are made is derived from the trees of the Mahogany or Maliaceae family."

The respondents are allowed sixty days in which to make written reply to the "cease and desist" order.

The history of the Philippine Mahogany case has b,een fully,reviewed in these columns. The first decision of the Commission was likewise against the importers and disffibutors of Philippine hardwoods. A re-hearing was asked and granted, the Philippine backers presented their case fairly well, and norv comes the second decision.

The law that created the Federal Trade Commission, gave it no power of enforcement of its decisions except recourse to the courts, just as an individual or corporation must resort to (for which the business men of America have much cause to thank God) and th,e next step in this controversy will be recourse to the courts. The defendants can cohtinue the use of their trade term Philippine Mahogany, and have the Federal Trad,e Commission bring court action. or they can take the initiative and call on the courts for assistance. It is entirely safe to say at this instance that they will do one or the other, the chances being that they will move to the attack themselves and not wait for the Commission to attack.

One thing is said to be absolutely certain, and that is that they will not accept the d'ecision of the Federal Trade Commission in the matter.

Another is that they rvill be at much better advantage before a court of justice in the trying of this case, than they were before the Commission, where every form ot personal opinion, unsupported statements, and other testimony that could have no standing in court, was admitted as "evidence" against the Philippine Mahogany men, and in favor of .their monopoly-se,eking competitors from Central and South America.

In our opinion, to begin with, there never was, is not. and never shall be, any public interest at stake in this entirely unnecessary case. It is purely a competitive proposition, in which a very small group of min engaged in bringing into this country and marlieting product! of foreign lands, seek to shake off a threatening American competitor.

It is a case where woods grown in foreign lands, would strangle the competition of valuable and worthy woods grown under the Stars and Stripes, owned by Americans, manufactured in American mills, imported by Americans, distributed by Americans in upright American fashion, and sold to the public without deception or falsehood, direct or indirect.

For many years there has been coming into this country woods grown in Southern Mexico, Central ,A,merica, South America, ahd to some extent in the West Indies, and commonly known as Mahogany. It is recognized as a very hard, dark red cabinet wood, that takes a brilliant finish, .and has attained great popularity. The Mahoganies are from the general tree family known as Meliaceae, and what we generally call "true Mahogany" comes from the Swietenai branch.

When we Americans began developing the natural resources of the Philippine Islands under the American flag, we found great forests of extremely beautiful and practical hardwood timber, which we began cutting and importing into this country for cabinet wood uses, and which spontaneously took the trade term of "Philippine Mahogan;r." There are many varieties of these woods, and as their virtues have been unfolded by experience, their use has been followed by appreciation and popularity. With every season that passes the cabinet using trades of the country have been learning more and more about Philippine Mahogany, and the consumption of the wood has increased very rapidly as they learned to overcome some of what at first had seemed to be objectionable characteristics of the wood, and the makers of the very finest of cabinet things began substituting Philippine Mahogany for other woods.

It is not really surprising that the competition that felt this new competition the most-the foreign mahogany folks -should move to the attack. They had been enjoying a very juicy and non-competitive plum at sky-high prices too long to submit tamely. Nor was it really surpr,ising that they took The Federal Trade Commission Route for their first effort. The results have iustified their choice. Their strangle-hold on the throat of our American cabinetwood users was not to be loosened without a struggle. And they have won the first two heats. But the race isn't over.

Possessing neither the practicability of Cato, the justice of Aristides, nor the wisdom of Solomon, the Federal Trade Commission have not satisfied these defendants that their American product is going to be disposed of quite so easily, or that they are wrong in using the appellation "Philippine Mahogany."

If they had called it Mahogany, and by so doing had sought to deceive someone, they would have been wrong, and they admit it. Their wood does not come from the original Mahogany tree, and they haven't said it does. They simply call it Philippine Mahogany, to distinguish it from

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