F. S. Buckley Tells of Changes Belgium Reduced Tariff on U. S. in Dftribution Methods in Lumber by 15 Per Cent

Sash and Door Business

"During my thirty years of experience in selling sash and doors I have seen the'method of distribution change three times," said Fred S. Buckley, of the Bu,ckley Lumber Dealers' Supply Company, Portland and San Francisco, recently to a representative of this paper.

"First the volume of distribution was from warehouses and factories located in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and cities along the Mississippi River, whose source of lumber supply was from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Then as that source of supply became depleted the factories and warehouses located in the Middle West began to secure their supply of lumber from the Pacific Coast states, and at this time some factories were organized in California and Oregon to produce stock sash and doors.

"There being practically n,o other new supply of lumber than that in the Pacific Coast states, and since the manufacture of sash and doors by factories located there has become more specialized,, I have .come to the conclusion that the most economical and orderly method of distribution is for stock sash and doors and other millwork items to be assembled near the source of supply and manufacture.

"As a result of .this ,change in the method of distribution the recently organized Buckley Lumber Dealers' Supply Company has located its plant at Kenton Station, Portland, Ore.," Mr. Buckley stated.

Mr. Buckley is a native Texan, son of a former pioneer planing mill owner of that state. He gained his early lumber experience by working for five years in a retail lumber yard prior to 1906, in which year he began selling sash, doors and millwork in Texas for John A. Gauger & Company, Chicago. Later in the same territory he sold for another well known millwork concern, Foster-Munger Company, Chicago.

He then pioneered the sale of fir doors in all the Southern states from Texas to Florida for the Pacific Mutual Door Company of Tacoma. After that he came to the Pacific Coast to become sales manager for the Nicolai Door Manufacturing Company of Portland, Oregon.

IIe'came to California in L921, when he organized and became manager of the Nicolai Door Company of California. In 1923 he sold his interest in both the San Francisco warehouse and the factory at Portland of this .company, and in the following year established a business of his own, the F. S. Buckley Door Company, in San Frbncisco, which business has recently been liquidated.

Mr. Buckley is 'continuing to make his San Franeisco, where he is in charge of the headquarters in California office

Washington, D. C., Feb.27,--Today's publication by the State Department of the terms of the new reciprocal tariff agreement with Belgium announces a reduction of 15 per cent in the tariff on the majority of American hardwood and softwood lumber items usually ,exported from the United States to that country.

Prior to the new tariff agreement, Belgium maintained two separate lumber classifications-one for oak, ash and walnut items, and another for all other woods. The latter 'carried a differential in the customs duties of approximately 15 per cent above the three species named. Through the new agreement all lumber items will take the lowsr rate, giving advantages to the United States as a major lumber exporting country. American concessions in the form of tariff reductions on imports from Belgium include no items which adversely affect American forest products industries.

As is customary in most Furopean countries, tarifi duties are levied on a weight basis, which places some of our woods at a disadvantage when compaied with similar species of European origin. 'American shippers, however, have the advantage of quality and the ability to furnish practically any length and width desired. The new tariff will, at the average rate of exchange lor 1934, amount roughly to approximately $19 per thousand feet for softwoods and $26 for hardwoods.

In 1933 Belgium imported about $37,000 worth of softwood and hardwood timbers and $1,50O,000 worth of softwood and hardwood lumber. The country possesses no appreciable timber resources of its own and the tariff is ther'efore largely for revenue purposes only. American exporters will find in the 15 per cent redu,ction, efiircted by the new agreement, the lowering of another barrier to international trade.

The National Lumber Manufacturers Association. through its newly established export department, is closely following reciprocal tariff negotiations with other countries and is keeping the case of lumber before government agencies having these matters in hand. Recent developmentsparticularly the agreement with Cuba, whi,ch resulted in appreciable pick-up in lumber trade with that countryhave afforded marked encouragement to American lumber exporters and clearly indicate results whi,ch may be accomplished through concert€d action. The Association will submit to the State Department soon its recommendations with supporting evidence regarding Canadian and American lumber tariffs.

H. W. COLE IN NE\^I ORLEANS

Harry W. Cole, Code Executive of the Redwood Division, San Francisco, left March 8 to attend the meeting of the National Control Committee of the Lumber Code Authority to be held at the Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans, March 12 to 15. The main business of the meeting will be the setting of the production allotments for the second quarter of 1935.