Executives Meet at Madison and Develop Program lor 1937

Washington, December 17.-At an enthusiastic meeting of the Executive, Trade Promotion and Advisory Committees of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, held at the Loraine Hotel, Madison, Wis,consin, December 7,8 and 9, the lumber industry made plans looking to new prosperity highs for 1937. For the first time in many years observers reported that an overtone of pre-depression confidence and optimism prevailed throughout the three-day sesslon.

High light of the business session was the decision of the Association to launch in 1937 a nation-wide ho,me building demonstration of unprecedented s,cope. As a result, in 1000 or more communities of the ,country early next spring more than 30oO demonstration homes will go up, ranging in ,construction cost from $1200 to $2500.

At the Monday session of the Trade Promotion Committee, led by Chairman I. N. Tate, the staff of the National Lumber Manufacturers Asso,ciation made presentations of the Association activities and aggressive trade promotion work of American Forest Products Industries, showing definite ",coming back" progress which the industry has made in Association activities.

Later that afternoon and again on Wednesday the lumbermen present at the meeting had an opportunity to witness a demonstration of the extensive and fundamental scientific research work being done by the Forest Products Laboratory, and to see evidences of the scientific advances whi'ch the Laboratory staff has made in the field of ,chemical utilization of wood and its phvsical and mechanical utilization. Interesting developrnents in prefabrication, seasoning, gluing, painting, preservation and constru,ction with the use of TECO metal connectors were explained to the group.

Tuesday afternoon C. P. Winslow, Director of the Laboratory, with his staff, were guests of the lumbermen at a dinner at the Madison Club, where again the Laboratory technicians made interesting presentations, especially in the 6eld of plasti,cs.

Executive Committee Actions

The Executive Committee of the Asso,ciation met all day Tuesday, December 8. The meeting was opened by President Nettleton. who briefly described the a'ctivities of the Association and reported that the American Forest Products Industries, Inc. has been initially financed sufficiently to make a start on specific trade pr:omotion projects. Wilson Compton, Secretary and Manager, reported the Association's progress and submitted its program lor 1937. He presented a balan,ced budget for the Association lor 1937, rvhich was approved.

Small llomes Demonstration

At a luncheon meeting there rvas a showing of the FHA film-"Constrnction of Three Small Homs5"-wthiqh was based on the three small homes built by the National Association in Bethesda, Maryland. Mr. Compton then submitted to the gathering the proposal to extend this demonstration to everv section of the country. Through the cooperation of the National Lumber Dealers Association and retail lum'ber dealers throughout the country, ground will be broken for the construction of homes in l,000,communities or more on March 1,1937, to be officially opened simultaneotrsl;' on Ma1' l, 1937, the openirrg rlal' to be rnarke<l by a national radio broadcast uncler the sponsorship of the Federal Housing Administration. Mr. Cornpton preseutecl this plan as a practical opportunity for the industry, for the first time in history, to bring small homes within the reach of 7l per cent of American families estimated to be financially able to pur'chase homes costing not in excess of $5,000. "Before the Bethesda homes were completed," Mr. Compton said, "mors than 300 persons wanted to buy them. We in Washington looked upon this local demonstration as no more than a first step, and it is our purpose now to re-enact this demonstration in 1,000 or more communities of the United States during the next six months."

Mr. Theodore Damm, Chief of the Industries Section of the Federal Housing Administration, then described in detail the activities of the Federal Housing Administration to aid in this national movement. The Association's proposal for this Small llomes Demonstration was enthusiastically received and approved.

Other Executive Committee Actions

At a later session that afternoon the Executive Committee adopted the following resolutions:

Resolution on Forest Co,nservation Conference

]. That the President of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association call a Conference on Forest Conservation to meet as early as practicable after March l, 1937. The purpose of the Conference is :

(a) To review industry practi'ces in forest conservation and recommend such furthei developments thereof as seem desirable.

(b) To review the public activities and legislati,on pertaining to forest conservation and recommend noted public action and legislation, with reference particularly to supporting and giving full effect to the prog'ram of the industry.

2. That the industrv representatives at on Forest Conservation consist of: the Conference the Forest Con-

(a) Offrcers of NLMA and members of servation Committee.

(b) Delegates selected by the several regional associations equal in members to their respective membership upon the NLMA Board of Directors.

(.) Such representatives at large as rnay be invited by the President.

3. That the President also invite to the Conference the Secretary of Agriculture and representatives of his department, the Se,cretary of Interior and repr,esentatives of his Department, representatives of State Department of Forestry, and such other representatives of public forest agencies and national organizations interested in Forest Conservation as the President shall select.

It is the intent oi this resolution that the number of representatives of public agencies and organizations invited to the Conference shall be approximately equal to the number of representatives of the industry.

4. That the President invite the industry representatives to meet shortly in advarrce of the Conference, to discuss the problems to be considered therein.

The President and Secretary Manager are authorized to take su,ch further steps as may be appropriate in carrying out the purposes of this resoluti,on.

Resolution on WPA Purchases

RESOLVED, That we again affirm our deper-rdence on the properll' orgarrizecl retail dealer as the channel through rvhich our lunr'ber shorrld move to the 'consumer, and our desire to rvork ciosely with the retailer to the end that he tr-rar' handle as large a proportion of orrr proclu,ction as practicable.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That inasmuch as purchases of WPA are limited to $25.000 in Federal funds with additional amounts paid f rom local taxation, therefore, WPA requirements are recognized as not being direct governmental purchases as covered by the present distribution statement, and such purchases should ,be made through the usual retail channels. We further urge all lumber manufacturers and wholesalers who desire such business to seek it solely through our'channels.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we commend the Works Progress Administration for their bulletin No. 7 of November 24, 1936, in rvhich they order that specifications may, first, call for grade marked, trade marked lumber, or second, for a Certificate of Inspection by established lumbers manufacturers' associations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That if appeal is made to the President to change the existing executive order covering WPA purchases, as described above,. so that such purchases must be made through retail dealers, we approve such change subject to all su,ch lumber being grade marked and trade marked.

A Res,olution was Dassed to the effect that NLMA re,cord appreciation of the ionstructive activities of FHA toward home modernization, improvement and repairs, and urged that the part of Title 1 of the National Housing Act, authorizing insurance loans for the repair, alteration and improvement of property, be extended by the next Congress, and notation be sent to FHA, to members of Congress, and to all lum'ber associations for similar action.

It w,as also resolved that the National Lumber Manufacturers Association urge extension by Congress of the guarantee, by the United States, of principal and interest of the debentures of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund issued by the Federal Housing Administrator in exchange for properties foreclosed under insured mortgages. This was resolved in consideration of the fact that the exoiration of present guarantees at a time before the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund had had opportunity to build up through a'ccumulated premiums, might be a -serious handicap to a beneficial program.

Mr. Compton reported on the status of legislation enacted at the last Congress as applied to the lumber industry, especially the Robinson-Patman Act, the Walsh-Healey Government Contracts Act and the Social Se'curity Act. He also discussed the prospects of legislation in the next session of Congress convening January 3. The authority of the President to enter into new agreements under the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, he predicted, would be extended beyond its present expiration date of Ju,ne 12, 1937. In this connection he described the Lumber Export Import Service of the National Association now extended to inclttde the servi'ces of a firm of Commerce attorneys.

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co'r'renclabte proposals were submitted to the Trade Promotion Committee as activities in which the National Association should engage. Among these 'ivere the Retail Sales School Plan submitted by Wilbur Hawley; the Archite,ctural M,onograph Series, submitted by Mr. George Lindsay; Farm Products Storage and Warehousing, and cooperation with 4-H Club a'ctivities presented by Mr. Elrner: Hole; FHA radio program of electrical recordings submitted by Mr. Dulany. These and other proposals were thor.oughly considered by the Committee. After lengthy discussion the Committee clecided that the approved minimum essential activities of the National Lumber Manufacturers Association should be 'continued without interruption or financial handi'cap. In the field of its AFPI aggressive promotion it was decided to concentrate, with the limited financing available, on what may be grouped as three major activities: (1) Housing; (2) Strengthening of Building Code Activities; ancl (3) Cooperation with the Timber Engineering Company.

The field of Housing will in,clude the Small Homes Demonstration Program, the publication of booklets on designs in Wood Exteriors and Interiors, and the extension of the Joint Retail Merchandising Service.

In AFPI building code activities, work will be concentrated on fireproofing and in educational work on termites.

The work of cooperation with the Timber Engineering Company will be devoted to investigation of new methods, patents and inventions and, if practicable, augmenting its englneerrng servrce.

Mr. George W. Dulany, Jr., reported briefly on the InterInsurance Exchange, and also described in some detail the National Homes Finance Corporation, of which he is President, and the financing facilities whi,ch are available through that organization.

Mr. Dulany also introduced a resolution on the Lumber Products-Better Paint Campaign, which was adopted.

Revisits Bay District

William M. Gunton of Chicago, retired lumberman, is paying a visit to his son, Howard M. Gunton of MacDonald & Harrington, San Francisco.

Mr. Gunton, who recently celebrated his 75th birthday, has been in the lumber business all his life. His father was also a lumberman, which makes Howard the third generation of lumbermen in the family. He is particularly interested in visiting the San Francisco Bay distri'ct from time to time, as he spent some years in the retail lumber business in San Francisco, starting in 1906 just after the fire. He has been renewing many of his old friendships, and making the acquaintance of a number of present day lumbermen.