SOLVING YOUR PROBLEM

We sell anything in softwoods that the California dealer desires.

White Pine, Douglas Fir, Redwood, Cedar and Redwood Shingles, Split Redwood Posts, Ties and Stakes.

Our connections are the best, atd ue gioe the best possible seroice.

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that should in the main be satisfactory to all, the committee can now turn its attention to other details and in the course of time standardization u'ill be a matter of history.

From the standpoint of retail dealers I am sure we will not agree with everything advanced by this committee. Whether or not the standard board is 3-4, 25-32, or 26-32 inch thick will not so affect us as the use of odd and short lengths; and particularly if it becomes obligatory that we should take a certain percentage of these in each purchase. I can understand and appreciate the desire of the manufacturer in this matter and believe that the retailers at large will do all they can to help in this rvorthy cause, but to this particular phase of the subject much thought must be given and a plain line of demarcation clearly drawn.

Not alone on standard sizes l'i'ill all parties interested be benefited. Standard practices of Complaints and Degrades qhould be welcomed by both shipper and buyer. Under the first we have the follor;r'ing:

"Complaints: When a dispute involves grade only, and not tally, the buyer is required to accept the -up-to-grade portion. Only the off grade portion need to be held for official inspection. The portion up to grade may be sold by the dealer to his trade without prejudice to his just claims on account of off-grade material. The buyer shall unload and hold the disputed material, intact, not exceeding sixty days and complaint must be made within ten days from receipt of shipment."

"Degrades: If a shipment is not over 5 per cent offgrade the dealer is to accept the shipment, the amount of off-firade to be paid for as of its actual grade. If over 5 per cent off-grade or where the degrades are more than one grade below that invoiced, the degrades shall be the property of the seller."

These two important practices to become standard July lst next were included in the standardization movement upon motion of the Retail Group of the Consulting Committee.

The thought is becoming prevelant that the success of the standardization movement now rests u'ith the retailer. Assuming that such is true I have no fear for the final outcome.

From an economic standpoint the rvork will do much good. ffowever to the local dealer a matter of equal moment is the reduction of the manv patterns and grades of ceiling, casing, base, moulding, siding, in order to reduce the amount of merchandise investment.

General Standard of Business and Labor

This address is not intended to be a brief for any particular line of business. Merely to point out some things that may profitably be corrected.

Let us turn for a moment to retail merchandising. Not building material alone but all lines. Talk 'ivith any merchant today and get his comparison of cost with that of 1914. The tnost serious problem confronting us todav in our own business is the ever increasing cost of 'distribution. Everywhere vou hear the same complaint. The problem i:r one that we must solve if we are to continue the prosperity that has been ours. Ours is a basic industrv and essential to the welfare of the country. 'We orve a duty to the community that we serve. as well as the country at large and let us give time and thought that rvill help solve this problem.

Froin different parts of the country lve get reports of a $roup of retail dealers who o'ivn and operate a central warehouse. Others have formed a general trucking company and by this method have reduced the cost of deliveries. Again we learn of a central planing mill for the handling of all odd mill work giving a cheaper cost prodnction.

At our last meeting in Spokane we had it very forcefully brotrght to our attention and realization' that there were too many retail lumber y.ards for the population that each served. If you have kept up with the reports you are likewise impressed with the number of yards that have been sold or'closed during the present year. Such is only the beginning of an economical adjustment that must come if we are to have a lower cost of distribution and that lower cost must come. Try to avoid it if you will but remember the day of recokoning is sure to come.

I have every faith that business will adjust itself to these conditions for we already have begun to make such improvement.

On the other hand what are rve to expect of labor? Here we see the same signs of improvement. It is not an uncommon sight to see both union and non union men working together on the same job and there could be nothing of more importance to. the solution of the so-called labor problem. Inefficient labor is a big pioblem today and a study should be made of a further application of piece work in all lines.

Organization is just as necessary to labor as for any line of business and we can point rvith pride to much good done. True there has been some misguided effort, but like the rest of us, they are now profiting by their mistakes and are well on the road to recovery. The fact that civilization has not produced complete happiness, complete satisfaction, or compie'te justice for all'.men and women is due not to civilization, but to human nature. These defects of human natnre, rvhich it is supposed to be the task qf education and religion to reduce or even remove, would mani-' fest themselves with redoubled force if collective control of the instruments of production and exchange were substitrrted for the present system of individual liberty and free competition regulated by law.

Inefficient, wasteful labor must be corrected just as much aS inefficient wasteful business. Both are component parts to the whole, and success for each depends upon the following:

Improve the processes and reduce'the cost of production.

Rid distribution of its indefensible wastes.

Briirg the price of the necessities of life lower and lower. Eliminate periods of depression and recurrent unemployment. Create better working conditions.

Encourage labor to produce more, not less.

Pay higher real rvages.

These are things that facts prove rvill not be optional but obligatory upon both business and labor in the future. And these are the things that u'ill give us decent social and financial progress.

Association

The present moments and the months directly ahead of us constitute a period calling for clear heads and steady hands in the retail business. The situation demands clear thinking and careful speech on the part of all.

During the last ferv years, various agencies have been competing so successfully for the trade served by the retailer outside of the larger cities that the resultant problems have become a matter of grave concern to all those lvho are thoroughly informed on the subject.

If for the next dozen years, local tracle continues to be diverted from its natural channels to the same extent as it has during the last ten, very serious consequences, of a national character. will ensue. Hundreds o ftowns rvill die; thousands of retailers will be bankrupt and hundreds of thousands of the rural population rvill be driven to the industrial centers to search for employment. Observation and study of the conditions in many sections of the country gives definite knowledge of the alarming conditions that have developed and of the absolute need of an efiective remedy. Likervise of what that remedy is and of how to apply it.

The problem is not local nor sectional, but national, in its scope. The remedy must take on like proportions' There must be a closer co-operative rvorking organization from the dealer in the smallest town thru a group of organizations that eventually take on a national scope. This for the following reasons:

To counteract the mis-information and mis-representation constahtly being circulated with a view to discrediting the retailer.

To teach the fundamental facts that the country town and the smaller city occupy the strategic position in our business and social life.

To assist in the rvork of the commttnity, develop merit in order to conserve local trade and population.

To educate the public to the meritable consequences of destroying the country torvn and the smaller city and depopulating the rural districts.

To emphasize the interdependence and the mutuality of interest of town and countrv people.

To promote the spirit of human brotherhood and to develop the sense of collective responsibilitv.

To counteract the insidious and revolutionary propaganda which aims at the creation of class co'nsciousness and the denial of the right to private ownership of property.

Various agencies have been established and many plans have been devised to deal'r,r'ith these problems. I am positive that the imperative need arising from such conditions that have developed is an organization sttch as the Western Retail Lumbermen's Association, workiirg hand in hand rvith others of the same kind and purpose whether they be state, sectional or national.

The church and school are a necessity to the commttnity. Trade associations are necessarv to the life of the retailer, and our association compares most favorably lvith any of its kind.

Please note with care the reports that will be given by the Secretary and Mr. Brown of the Traffic Department. Also note that the benefits derived from this last department alone bring back to the member the most of the money paid out as cltles, and this rvithout cost.

After a year of close association in this work I am con- vinced that there should be an increase of revenue in order to carry on the lvork more effectively. There is but one logical source and that is from the membership ancl r,vhether it be by a flat raise <-rf dues or a pro rated method is something worth our consideration.

The branch office in this city to-date is an experiment and must be treated as such for the present. Whether or not it will bring the desired results time alone will tell.

With increased income a man could stay in the field rvhich rvould result in much good.

A nTeeting of the board of directors should be held dur. ing the year, tho on account of finances neither of these have been possible.

Let me again remind you that the success of this meeting is in your hands, I urge that you llse every moment of the time in earnest, sincere application to things that are essential to the rvelfare of our business.

I want to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to serve for I feel in this case it is the servant n'ho has benefited most.

The Spreading Tree

Who looks upon the spreading tree And fails the glory there to see, May find no azure in the skies, No crimson bars in sunset dyes, No brighter star among the throng

As in review they pass along, Or gather in the open field

Where all their glories are revealed.

To nre the tree is beautiful; Its form majestic and sublime. Though other things have passed away The tree endures in every clime. Give praise to God who made the trees, With friendly, foliage laden arms; A haven in the summer hpurs, A shield against the storm's alarms.

-EI. H. FISK, Placerville, California.

Arizona Cypress Does Well In Dry Situations

H:j'?.t"f[?,:, t'j:ff: r:'.cfi;;.; i a;. ::::ir$:ff: rhe ablitv or Arizona cvpress (cupresstts grabra) to

D. Edw. Bowen, Bruce Lbr. co..... ...Los Angeles thrive in localities where sttch species as western yellor'r'

Roy E. Burnett, W. R. Spalding Lbr. co.. Lindsay pine fail for lack of moisture is sho\vn l>y recent observiiLloyd E. Cole, Hammond Lbr. Co..... .Los Angeles tions at the Fort Bayard Arboretum, New Mexico, states

A. H. Cuenod, Hammond Lbr. Co.. .....Los Angeles the F'orest Service, United States Department of AgriculIrland Davis, Hammond Lbr. Co.. ....I-os r\ngeles ture. Sites on the Cameron Creek rvatershed above Fort Walter R. Fiier, W. R. Fifer Co..... ..Los Angeles c. w. Gamble, Boise-payette Lbr. co..... ......Boisc, Ida. Bayard which show themselves unable to support over 2@

R. S. Gray mature trees to the acre are coming up slowly to western Jas.L.Green,Wilberg-GreenCo..... ......;...LongBeach vellor,v pine. Recent droughts have dealt severely with

H. B. Hard, Hammond Lbr. Co.. Los Angeles these,vonng stands, according to observations of the Fort W. C. Jackson, Owens-Parks Lbr. Co..... .....Los Angeles Valley Forest Experiment Station; b'rt an outstanding feaH,erman K. Moore, Bettingen Lbr. Co.. .....Arcadia , ', ,, _i .'.:.

John s. Murphy, Fred J. Theriot. ......Los Angeles tttre of the plantations is the remarkable showing of the

Robt. R. pattison, Calif. & Ore. Lbr. Co..... .San Francisco Arizona cypress. Trees on a few plots established beCarl O. Ruder, Owens-Parks Lbr. Co.. .Los Angeles trveen 1911 and 1914 have grown to 12 and 18 feet in Geo. O. Spurrier, Wm. Smith Co..... ..Los Angeles heighth, fully tu'ice the grorvth of the yellorv pine herr: of C. L. Stanton, A. B. Rice Floor Co..... ......Los Angeles the same age. The trees show no sign of suffering from John J. Sullivan, Lounsberry & Harris, .Los Angeles r -_-_r^r ^,1, ,r^r_ ^^*^^:& ^_^_--_^ ^:.^

D. E. Thompson, D. E. Thompson Lbr. co.. ..Los Angele" drought, and their compact cro\vns, extehding clear to the Hanold B. wiscombe, Ea'rl Hofiman co.. .....Los Angeles ground, make them an excellent species for watershed pro-

V. L. McFadden, Wm. Smith Co.. .....Los Angelestection.