The "Mess" in California

Bv Jack Dionne

My good friend Carl Crow would have us believe that the effort to prornote the use of unlform and standard methods of grading and marking lumber for the California market, and the grade-marking of same, is responsible for present unhealthful conditions in the lumber business in this state. Carl says this campaign is what "messed" up the California situation

Well, if all the rest o{ the lumber markets were not in at least as bad a "mess" as California, there might at least be room for debate. But, since the California situation, unlovely though it undoubtedly is, is better than the average situation throughout the rest of the country, throwing the blame for lack of prosperity in the California trade upon a thoughtful effort of straight-shooting and thinking rnen, is highly untenable.

One would think that until the uniform grading and standard specifications effort came along, everything in the California lumber trade was hunky-dory, and the goose hung high. Looking back over the past decade DOES; indeed, make retrospect look rosy. But that applies to all the world, and not just to California. Who wouldn't like to trade today's situation for that of a few years back? But placing the onus of present conditions, in California or elsewhere, upon some particular phase of the industry, is the same school of thought that blames the local administration of city government in some particular town, for the world panic we have been going through.

The proveable fact is that we HAVE had a "mess" in the lumber situation in California-have had it alwaysand THAT very definite nxess is what the sponsors of the campaign to introduce into the California lumber trade the same definite and intelligent standards of grades and specifications that the rest of the country use' are trying to correct. It was that mess that made California the dumping grounds of the Pacific Northwest for decade after decade. It was that mess that made the California market more wildly undependable and unreliable than that of any other part of the lumber using world. It was that mess that kept the California lurnber market fying up and down eternally like a window shutter in a gale of wind. It was that mess that left the lumber industry of California with .fewer known quantities and more continual chaos than ever existed elsewhere.

' There never has been and is not today any question at issue of the QUALITY of lumber shipped into California. The QUALITY of a piece of lumber is inherent in the fiber itself. What the proponents of standardized grades and specifications are seeking is intelligent and understandable UNIFORMITY of manufacture and grading of lumber; and they suggest that when lumber has been so rnanufactured and graded it shall be plainly marked so that all concerned may identify it for what it really IS.

The lumber industry ", " -n"" has agreed that lumber should be uniformly and exactly graded to eliminate the innumerable vexations that followed the industry in earlier days. In the beginning there were few lumber grades, and those were considerably vague. The demands of industry brought about the separation and distinguishment of grades, so that lumber might be intelligently bought, sold, and used. These progressive changes took place everywhere except in California. Up to two years ago Caliiornia was sticking to her old timey standards; her few and vague grades and specifications; her countless unknown quantities and their attendant evils; her few periods of profit making, and long stretches of low price eras.

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ft was the Government of the United States itself that called the entire lumber industry to Washington and suggested to it that it was high time to inject a few known quantities into the lumber business; that uniform methods of manufacturing, grading, etc., be agreed upon, and then accepted by the industry, in order that the consumer, and all others concerned, might have definite and understandable measuring sticks for identifying lumber. It was from this origin that the standardizing and grade-rnarHng. movement originated.

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And that initial effort found California, from a standpoint oI lumber grades and specifications, to be in about the same position that the remainder of the industry was thirty years before; just a few primitive grades, and few reliable known quantities. And the standardizing and grade.marking movement-when it came to Californiacame to a territory that needed it sorely.

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The lumber industry of California has seen fewer and shorter periods of lumber prosperity than any other part of the country, and the fact that it was a great cargo dumping ground unquestionably is the answer to the questionwhy? Lumber fired straight from the saw to the boat, and from the dock to the trade, with a minimum of preparation, separation, and frequently unsold, is always going to be low priced lumber, regardless of its quality. It wiU never make much profit for anybody en route to its final destination. And, when demand is slow, it will always sell cheap. It always HAS. That's the history of California lumber.

The lumber industry in California is a sick horse; no one will deny that. But it is NOT as sick as the average of the lunr,ber industry the country over, because California is not as sick as the average of the rest of the country. But grademarking and standardized uniform manufacturing and grading has nothing whatever to do with conditions HERE-any more than elsewhere. And, when this cruel war is over, the intelligent efforts of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association and of the organized lumbermen of California to bring order out of chaos, and give to California lumber understandable grades and specifications just as they exist elsewhere-and as the Government of the United States has both requested and demanded-will bring good fruit.ft can't help it. The intent, the purpose,.and the effort is high-minded and constructive.

Red Cedar Manufacturers Join National Trade Extension Subscribers

Washington, March 1.-A group of seven additional western red cedar mills have notified the National Lumber Manufacturers Association that they intend to participate in national trade extension activities and will accordingly sign subscription contracts. This group includes five mills in Washington and two in British Columbia engaged principally in the production of rvestern red cedar.

At the same time, Trade Extension Manager Walter F. Shaw announced renewal of the subscription of the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company, with offices at Scranton, Pennsylvania.

The new west coast group includes: Bratlie Brothers Mill Co., Ridgefield, Washington; Capilano Timber Company, Vancou.ver, British Columbia; Hammond Cedar Company, Ltd., Westminster, British Columbia; John McMaster Shingle Company, Seattle, Washington; E. C. Miller Cedar Lumber Company, Aberdeen, Washington; Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing Co., Seattle, Wash.; Whatcomb Falls Mill Company, Bellingham, Washington.

D. E. Liggett Low Gross Winndt

The first of a series of monthly. golf tournaments for lumbermen and building material men of Southern California was held at the Hacienda Country Club, near Whittier, on Thursday afternoon, February 25. D. E. Liggett, Liggett Lumber Company, Santa Ana, was the low gross winner, and C. C. Barr, Barr Lumber Company, Santa Ana, had the second low gross score. Notices are to be mailed out on all future g'ames which will probably be held on the third Thursday of each month at the various clubs throughout the Southland.

The following took part in the tournament: F. P. Baugh, Tom Walker, D. G. McDougal, G. O. Fogelman, D. E. Liggett, Wm. Dempwolf, C. C. Barr, Wm. Godshall, Art Kelly, Robert Holden, A. Corcoran, E. Steffensen, Ross Hostetler, Lester Isbell, Robert Browne and N. E. Lentz.