NRA Hearings on Fair Trade Practices Schedule of Lumber Code

Washington, D. C., April lO.-After five days of spirited discussion and intensive study of problems confronting the Lumber Code Authority in formulating fair trade practice regulations, the NRA hearing on Schedule "B", with Deputy Administrator A. C. Dixon presiding, closed April 7. Schedule "Bl' embodies the Rules of Fair Trade Piactice for the industry as proposed by the Authority after months of deliberation over a maze of many-sided and highly complex issues.

Overshadowing all other questions were the two issues whi'ch have vexed the industry for years-distribution of sales and consignment shipments. Virtually all of the first day and more-than half of each succeeding day's sessions were taken up by testimony from scores of interests dfiected in one way or another by whatever disposition is made of these problems.

__As one of the spokesmen for the Lumber C,ode Authority, Llarry T. Kendall, manager of the Weyerhaeuser Sales Company, at the outset of the hearing described the progo-s-9d rules governing these question! as the Authorily's deliberate atternpt t.o correct "evils which date back almost to the-inception of the industry, and since have disturbed and often demoralized the industry wherever lumber is cut or sold,"

Nominally, support for the Authority's recommended declsions.on various phases of the two major problems came from all branches of tne industry, with ipokesmen for the National Retail Lumber Dealeri Associaiion and the National-American Wholesale Lumber Association stating that the rank and file of their organizations are favorabl"e to the amendments. Many objections to different phases of the rulings, however, cahe fiom individuals and individual firms.

One controversial paragraph lvas ironed out apparently to the satisfaction of the prbtestants, when at onl of thl mid-week sessions Carl W. Bahr, Assistant Exe,cutive Officer and Secretary of the Lumber Code Authoritv. submitted to the Administrator two alternative substitute paragraphs for.the original Paragraph ',C,, of Section 3 of the deneral Kules. 'I'his paragraph was the first to. come under fire, and the substitute paragraphs were offered after confer_ ences with those who opposed the original. Mr. Bahr noti_ fied the Administrator that either su6stitute clause would be ac,ceptable to the Authority but expressed preferen"" io. one.

The Bone of Coqrtention

Th. co.ntested paragraph provided that periodic reports lrstrng all persons to whom discounts or other allowinces are_ granted as wholesalers, commission salesmen, jobbers, and other distributors; and authorized the Authority to de_ termine whether such persons under the provisions of Schedule "B" are entitled to the discounts. Ii further pro- vided- for publication in the Lumber Code Authority Bulle_ tin of names of those persons found by the Authoritv as not qualifying, no furthlr discounts to iuch persons would be permitted.

The substitute paragraphs proposed follow, with first place given to that preferred by the Authority:

Who Get Discounts?

No. l-Substitute for Chapter I, Section 3 (c) : .,(c) All persons subject to the jurisdiction of the Code (inciuding distributors who by receiving discounts or other allow-ances have assumed obligations. thereunder) shall report periodically to the Authority, in such manner and at s-uch times as the Authority may prescribe, a list of all persons to whom dis,counts or other allowan,ces have been granted as wholesalers, commission salesmen, jobbers, and other distributors. The Authority is authorized to make such investigation and require su,ch reports from persons receiving discounts or _other allowances, as in its judgment may be necessary to determine whether such persons qualify as distributors entitled under the provisioni of this Schedule to discounts or other allowances. 'Whenever after such investigatio_n, and due notice and public hearing, the Authority finds that any person does not qualify as1 distributor entitled to discounts or other allowlnces, such person and the National Recovery Administration shall be so notified and unless the decision of the Authority is disap- proved by the Administrator within thirty days his name shall thereafter be published in the Lumber Code Author- ity Bulletin as a person .not qualified as a distributor to receive discounts or other allowances. and thereafter no person subject to the jurisdi,ction of the Code shall grant discounts or other allowances to him until said publicition has been revoked. The powers granted to the Authority in this paragraph shall not be delegated to any subordinate agency.t' No. Il-Substitute for Chapter I, Section 3 (c) : Any person seeking discounts or iommissions for disiributioir services as a distributor entitled thereto, may file with the Authority or with such agen,cy as may be designated by it a certificate stating his qualifications therefoi. Unless after investigation, due noti,ce, and public hearing with opportunity for appeal, the Authority or its said igency finds that such person does not meet the qualificationi prdscribed by the Code for distributors, such person shall be registered as a qualified distributor of the class in which he falls. The Authority is authorized to publish lists of such qualified distributors.

No person subject to the jurisdiction of the Code (includ- ing distributors who by receiving discounts or commissions have assumed obligations thereunder) shall grant discounts or other allowances to any distributor whose name is not on the published lists, unless such person seeking such discount or commission files with his order a certificate establishing his right to such discount or commission as a distributor as defined by the Code, and that in connection with the sale and distribution of the orodu,cts cove_red by su,ch order he will observe all provisions of the Code and rules and regulations issued thereunder.

The Authority is authorized to make such investigations a1d t9 require,such reports as may be necessary to secure effe.ctive compliance with this sul>section.

Participants in Debate

Among those who objected to one or another part of the original rule were: R. B. Owen, of the H. A. Lawrence Co., Pittsburg, Mass.; O. M. Kile, of the Mail Order Assoc_iation of America; P. E. Hoke, Des Moines. Ia. ; J. W. Gerrity, president of the J. F. Gerrity Co., Boston, Mass.; 4:. M. Crittenden. of the New Haven Reserve Supply Co., New Haven, Conn.; Wm. Denman, of the Coos BJ -Lumber Co., Coos Bav,.Ore.; John P. Cole, of the Biddle Purchasing Co., New York City, and Louis Germain, Jr., of the Southern Wholesale Lumber Association.

Among those testifving in support of the amendment were: W. W. Schupner. secretary-manager, NationalAmerican Wholesale Lumber Association; L. B. Anderson, of the Inter-Coastal Lumber Association; L. Ottinger, 9f tltr llywood Distributors Association, New York City; W. E. Morgan, Columbus, O., representing the National

Association of Commission Lumber Salesmen, and G. A. Vangness, of the Vangness Lumber Co., Chicago.

Anothei proposed ruling having to do with distribution, and around which much ,controversy centered, was contained in paragraphs (a) and (b) of Section 3, Chaptet 2, which endeavored to define wholesale trade; and still another, Section 2 of Chapter 2 which, defines in turn the following: (1) manufacturer, (2) salescompany, (3) whol_esaler, (4) wholesale assembling and distributing yard, (5) commission salesman, (6) seller, (7) retailer, (8) industrial, (9) importer.

Mail Order Houses

A principal protest against the regulation of discounts rvas entered by representatives of the Mail Order Association of Ameiica. Later Mr. Kendall, speaking for the Lumber Code Authority, said that the Authority had arrived at a ruling on mail order houses that classified this type of business as retail, and not entitled to wholesale dilcounts. J. M. Coleman, of Sears, Roebuck & Co., and the Mail Order Asso,ciation, declared that mail order houses are entitled to discounts by reason of their quantity purchases, and that classifications as to wholesaler or retailer has no bearing on the question. Mr. Kile, on the same side of the issue, challenged the right of the Code Authority to refuse the discounts to mail order houses.

Other objections to paragraphs in the Sections defining the various trade classifications were made by Theodore Fathauer, a Chicago wholesaler; M. G. Truman, of the Marsh-Truman Lumber Co., Chicago; R. M. Lucas, Colnmbus. O.. and H. H. McNeil. of the McNeil Lumber Company, New York City.

Strong support of the definitions rvas voiced by Homer Ballinger, on behalf of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association; R. C. Fulbright, counsel for the Southern Pine Association, and Max Meyer, president of the NationalAmeri,can Wholesale Lumber Association.

Transit and Consignment shiprnents

Transit and consignment shipments, under Section 6, paragraph (e) of the ,chapter on General Rules are to be governed to the extent that manufacturers and wholesalers are forbidden to pla,ce unsold stock in transit via rail or lvater, or to place stock on consignment.

Transit shipments are defined as "a shipment for which the shipper or seller has no order" and a consignment shipment defined as "one made without passing title at an agreed value at time of shipment and without agreed or specified terms of sale." The ruling provides, however, that "shipments by persons for delivery to their own wholesale assembling and distributing yards shall not be considered transit shipments."

Mr. Kendall testified that lumber interests owning distributing yards wish to eliminate transit and consignrnent shipments for themselves as well as others, and it was explained that the exception to the rule made for those shipping to their own yards was to avoid any interpretation of the ruling that would interfere with the transfer of lumber under the same ownership. Mr. Kendall said that transit and consignment shipments serve only to glut the market and to sacrifice lumber at distress prices whi'ch are reflected all the way back to the point of manufacture. He termed the transmitting of lumber "a speculative evil" for which there is no adequate defense.

J. W. Gerrity, of the J. F. Gerrity Co., Boston, Mass', was among those opposing the provision excluding from classification as transit shipments those made by persons to their own wholesale assembling and distributing yards. Carl Anderson. of the Anderson Lumber Co., St. Louis, asked that transit shipments not only be barred over rail and by water, as the proposed regulation now reads, but also by truck.

H. P. Wyckoff, of the A. C. Dutton Corporation, Boston, Mass.. declared that one Eastern distributor has stored unsold transit lumber in a half dozen retail yards and said this lumber almost automatically precludes the sale of other lumber at those yards.

Charles L. Adams, representing the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association, strongly supported the provision and declared that the sentiment of the lumber retailers is almost unanimous against transit sales of lumber, whi,ch he said "hangs like a pall over the retail market."

B. L. Knowles, member of the executive committee of the Associated General Contractors of America, defended transit shipments because, he said, they afforded immediate deliveries.

Sidney L. Hauptman, representing the California Wholesale Lumber Association, offered three proposed revisions of the ruling on transit and consignment shipments, stating that any one of the three would be acceptable to the California group. He said the revisions were proposed to meet the situation in Los Angeles where three wholesaler members of the Association dealing in West Coast woods own distributing yards and three others, also members of the asso,ciation, do not have such facilities. He held that if the ruling is allowed to stand unrevised it will deprive the wholesalers lvithout yards of all spot delivery business. Woodwork and Douglas Fir Door Angle

One day's sessions were largely devoted to the proposed rules in the Woodrvork Division and the Douglas Fir Door Subdivision, with Frank Stevens, of Waco, Texas, chairman of the Woodrvork Division, presenting the Authority's re,commendations in the form of a revised edition of the original Chapter 3.

E. Raymond Snedaker, president of the Frank C. Snedaker Company, Philadelphia, led a group protesting against the definitions of "jobbers" and "wholesalers" in millwork, and particularly opposed the words "resale prin(Con,tinued on Page 19)

This Guy Really Was

Optician: "Near-sighted, eh? How many lines can you read on this chart?"

Patient: "'What chart?"

MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

I would that I possessed the art of words to fix the real issue with which the troubled world is faced, in the mind and heart of every American rnan and woman. Our country and the world are today involved in more than a financial crisis. !1/e are faced with the primary question of human relations, which reaches to the very depth of organized. society and to the depth of human conscience. This civilization, and this great complex, which we call American life, can alone survive upon the translation into individual action of that fundamental philosophy announced by the Saviour nineteen centuries ago. Part of our national suffering today is from failure to observe these primary yet inexorable laws of human relationship. Modern society cannot survive with the defense of Cain "Am f my brother's keeper?"-Herbert Hoover.

The Ambition Of Genius

The celebrity was being interviewed by the gushing young lady reporter who asked amazing questions. Finally she asked:

"And what,'r?y I ask, was your greatest ambition as a child, and when did you attain it?"

"Madam," said the celebrity, "I have never yet attained my greatest childish ambition."

"Goodness! And what could it have been?"

"To throw an egg into an electric fan."

Progress

"f have spun me a beautiful silk cocoon. .I shall rest in it ever after. ***

Values

Our most valued possessions are those that can be shared without lessening; those which, when shared, multiply. Our least valuable possessions are those which, when divided, diminish.-W. H. Danforth.

Fishing

The youngster was late for Sunday-school, and the teacher inquired the cause.

"I was going fishing, but father wouldn't let me," said the kid.

"Now, that's the kind of fathers we need in this country," said the teacher. "No\ r tell the rest of the class why your father wouldn't let you go fishing on Sunday."

"He said.there wasn't enough bait for two."

A Swell Office

"My wife is working now in a downtown office, and she comes home from work every night just too tired for words."

"Boy ! Wonder if I could get my wife a job in that office?"

SPRING'S HARBINGER

When first I note upon the mart

The California artichoke, A gush of joy pervades my heart And tears of glee my whiskers soak.

My cheeks resume their normal tinge, My spirits leap from their retreat, I moult my old, rheumatic twinge And throw rny crutches in the street.

Not that for artichokes I care.

I loathe their taste, you understand?

But when I see the darn things there, f know that spring is close at hand.

W. E. Farbstein.