Millwork Institute Meets at Fresno

The irnportance of carrying on without interruption the work of the Institute was stressed by the board of directors at the annual meeting of the Millwork Institute of California held at the Hotel Californian, Fresno, Saturday, December 17.

Not a single director or rnember showed any inclination to give up the State organizatton, and some of them contributed some splendid ideas for future cooperation.

Outstanding on the program of future activities was the practicable; and after months of strenuous work on the part of these men, Standard Sash & Door Schedules No. 132 were published in loose leaf form. This loose leaf form of the book has enabled the Committee to conveniently change those pages of the book where experience and criticism have brought to light certain imperfections. The policy of the Committee as regards their desire to receive constructive concrete criticisms in order that Schedules No. 132 may be so improved from time to time, has been generally announced to the industry; and as now set up, such information should rnake for the development of these schedules to an ever increasing accuracy.

Furthermore, under the same system, changes in the prices used for materials or ally other elements afiecting the Schedules may be readily incorporated.

The Institute has fostered their general use throughout the State through organized groups wherever they were functioning, and likewise through direct contact with individual firms. Up to the present time, 1878 copies of Schedules No. 132 have been distributed to firms in California, and the Schedules are in use in every section of the State.

Local Associations

A. V. Bernhauer President

L. G. Sterett Secretary

decision that- the Institute with the cooperation of its local directors should give a great deal of time during the next year to local association problems that have to do with price stability. It is recognized that the State Institute is in the best position to accomplish results in this regard.

Policies were also decided on that will have to do with enlarging the Institute's membership on some sort of basis as to increase the active support of all mills and lumber yards that benefit directly or indirectly by the Institute's service, such as price schedules and the like.

L. G. Sterett, secretary of the Institute, made his annual report, extracts from which follow :

Selling Schedules

Owing to the various price changes on lumber, glass, stock items of doors and sash, etc., which took place subsequent to 1929 when Sash and Door Schedules No. '129 were issued, this publication had a year ago become grossly out of balance and was gqing into disuse. Where there rvas an attempt to s.till cling to it. discounts had become necessarilv numerouS and therefoqg under competition even a semblance of stability had become well nigh impossible to maintain.

A. W. Koehl. Southern Vice-President of the Institute, and who lvas appointed Chairman of the Institute's Schedule Committee one year ago, enlisted the cooperation of as lr1any rnembers of that committee, and some others, as

Although the Directors of the Institute have in the past, felt its work should be divorced more or less from the details of operating local price bureaus, it has been a concern of the state organization to sponsor and formulate, as an outside agency, various local groups, leaving subsequent operation to the local group itself. Inasmuch as the Institute is ,concerned with all angles of the industry's welfare, we must continue to concern ourselves with the price situation. Through the several years, however, local associations in the various parts of the state have come and gone, for reasons well known to yourselves; and unfortunately there have been periods r,vhen the lack of local cooperation has resulted in disastrous competition. Until local interests are amenable to .cooperation, it seems at times impossible to alleviate the situation, although the Institute. is constantly concerned with, and at work endeavoring to promulgate a willingness to cooperate betrveen local firms.

The actual operation of local asso.ciations formed for the purpose of maintaining reasonable price stability, has been an activity in which the Institute participated but indirectly, although as stated the Institute has had a direct interest in formulating and assisting in the maintenance of such groups. To accomplish this, it is necessary to overcome opposing individualism, past animosities which had disintegrated personal confidence and to find one plane upon which confidence can be reasonably expected, considering relative investment, customers, prior volume, territorial relations and market conditions. Sometimes success

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