Charles E. Twining - Phil Weyerhaeuser: Lumberman

PHIL WEYERHAEUSER: LUMBERMAN

Charles E. Twining

Work on this book and its publication were supported by grants to the Forest History Society, a nonprofit, educational institution dedicated to the advancement of historical understanding of mans interaction with the North American forest environment. It was established in 1946.

Copyright 1985 by the University of Washington Press

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Twining, Charles E.

Phil Weyerhaeuser, lumberman.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

1. Weyerhaeuser, John Philip, 18991956.
2. Weyerhaeuser CompanyHistory. 3. BusinessmenUnited StatesBiography. 4. Forest products industryUnited StatesHistory. I. Title.

HD9760.W49T85

1985 338.7634980924 [B] 84-40663

ISBN 0-295-96218-6

For Marilyn

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This is the story of a man, his family, and his work. John Philip Weyerhaeuser, Jr., would never have approved of its writing for a couple of reasons: he probably would not have believed that anyone would be much interested, and he would have been the last to claim that he had accomplished anything especially noteworthy. He would have been wrong in both cases, and in serious discussion even he might have admitted as much. More important perhaps, he placed such a premium on privacy that he would have viewed a book on his life as an intrusion of the largest order. Phil Weyerhaeuser was a living definition of unpretentiousness and had been raised, through the example of family members, to believe that nothing but problems and pain could result from public exposure. The kidnapping of a son in 1935 only served to underline the truth of that persuasion.

Although Phil Weyerhaeuser was by nature a very shy person, in no way was he a weak one. Among his greatest and most notable strengths was an ability to know and do what needed to be done. His manner of accomplishment was seldom dramatic; he worked quietly and patiently and, insofar as possible, behind the scenes.

In the process, he provided essential leadership to an evolution in the policies and practices not only of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company but of the forest products industry. It was appropriate that he do so, yet at the same time there was nothing that ensured the assumption of such a role. Phil was well born; but advantages, comfort, and security do not automatically nullify ambition or commitment to excellence. Phil Weyerhaeuser would have considered himself a failure had he merely conserved his legacy. He was not a failure. His company and the industry at large were better and stronger as a result of his contributions. The manner in which this was managed constitutes much of this story.

Central to the effort was Phils conviction that the best way for a forest products company to operate was for it to own its own timberlands. This was not necessarily true then, and it remains a question worthy of debate. But Phil had no doubts. He was far more willing to invest in timberlands than were most of his directors. He saw such holdings as necessary if the company was to engage in sustained-yield management. The resource base had to be broadened, and there was no other way to do it. Thus he bought that which complemented what was already owned, including the purchase of cutover lands. While of less basic importance, there was a significant public relations consideration to all of this, a consideration that Phil recognized and used to good purpose. When decisions were being made in government offices and legislative halls, the image of the company was often crucial. Weyerhaeuser was big when bigness was assumed to be an evil. Nothing could be done about its bigness, but the company could prove itself to be efficient, responsible, and generally in accord with long-range public interests. That, of course, was a challenge. Throughout, in terms of its organization, the company had not only to grow up to itself, it had to grow up to increasing demands for accountability.

The years in which Phil Weyerhaeuser served, beginning in the 1920s in the Inland Empire, and from 1933 to 1956 with the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company west of the Cascades, were years of large demands and change. Within his tenure the country experienced the Great Depression and World War II, the reluctant acceptance by business of New Deal and Fair Deal legislation and bureaucratic requirements, and the adjustments occasioned by the managerial revolution. In the case of the Timber Company, the period witnessed its transition from what had been primarily a dealer in timberlands to an integrated manufacturer of forest products, from a liquidator of forest resources to a manager of tree farms designed to be perpetual in their providence.

Stories do not really tell themselves, but they can and often do turn out differently from what was planned or imagined. I had presumed that this would be a fairly straightforward business biography. It became a far more personal account. For one thing, it was impossible to write about just one Weyerhaeuser. Weyerhaeusers were family first, and the family Weyerhaeuser had come to represent and personify the corporate Weyerhaeuser in terms of both commitment over time and consistency of purpose. For another, Phils style was personal; and he led the Timber Company when its size permitted it to reflect not only his wishes and vision but his manner as well. To an extent no longer possible, Weyerhaeusers president was also its heart and soul.

I hope that one of the things this story does is reveal a bit of what it was like to be Phil and to work with Phil. Business histories tend to describe what happened, particularly in terms of what is viewed as progress. I am more interested in the how and why of happenings. As an example, early in 1933 when Phil left Potlatch and moved to Tacoma to head the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, he immediately became involved in a merger effort in the Klamath Falls district of Oregon that went on for some two years. In the end nothing came of it. Some business histories might neglect this endeavor because it proved to be of no apparent consequence. Nonetheless, it took a great deal of Phils time and attention and therefore is important, especially because in its failure we can observe him responding to circumstances not to his liking.

A word about sources (although further comment appears in the brief bibliographic essay at the end of the book). I have avoided, perhaps too assiduously, any direct dependence on secondary works. That approach was used both for reasons of freedom and for reasons of conviction. It does seem that historians can do enough misleading without removing themselves unnecessarily from the evidence. As Josephine Tey reminds us in The Daughter of Time, Real history is written in forms not meant as history, and Truth isnt in accounts but in account books. In this case, for the most part the account books are Phil Weyerhaeusers office files. If forced to approve this undertaking, he would have insisted that it stick to the facts and that it not be treated as some example of a larger movement or truth. If it must be written, he would probably have said, please just make it my story, and keep it simple and short. In that connection, the choice of title may be of interest. It is intended to suggest not only the obviousthe nature of Phils workbut also the manner in which he viewed himself. Had he lived in more recent years, he might have admitted to being the chief executive officer of Weyerhaeuser, but one has the feeling that he would have maintained a preference for referring to his occupation as lumberman, just as he did on his August 10, 1955, passport application.