"Organi zation and Cooperationl'

By Kenneth Smith Secretary, Lumber Dealers' Association of Los Angeles Excerpts from Address DeliveredBeforetheLumbefments Club of Arizona at Nogales, Arizona, M.aY 17'

We talk a great deal about the problems of our business and I wonde"r sometimes if we do not magnify the indi"ia""r problems to an extent where we do not realize that Jieitli.* constitute just one-problem in the final analysis, which is how to makl a profil out of the time, effort, energy and money invested in our businesses' -.'drJ"iis nof brought out of chaos by the waving of- a rnoi. wand, but onty- by the arduous labor of idealists who nti? t." a far ofi vision of orderly competition between themselves and an aggressive co-operation to meet the new competiti.,on of industly upon industry for a share of the .onJume.s' d.ollar, and- then set out to sell that vision to their fellows in the trade-a long, tedious, at times hcartbreaking, and a never-ending ,undertaking'

I am iure that you have made progress this past year rn srappling with these problems and I have in m,ind today iouifu"e" on these de6iled problems, only incidentally, to the devElopment of two th&ghts that I would like to see vou tur"i"g over in your mind and putting into practice ittir.o-i"[ year. Thly are (1) the profits that are to be had from .iott ing together and going out after only -your .h*. "i the business" that is in youi community and .(2) rcalize, and use, the strength that you have as aa organrzation in grappling with your problems.

There sebms to be a general agreement that the paramount problem of busin-ess t9dll, generally, and. of the .lumber business, parficularly, is how to eiiminate the menace of unfair corqpetition, how to get the unfair competitor to see that he is not only hurting his competitors and his industry as a u'hole, but that he is gradually rvreckilg h.ts o*n business. I think the quickest road to solution lies in the realization by those who work at the problem .that unfair competition is usually only uni-n{ormed competltlon' fn other words, the problem is a problem of educatton' 'r he men who "ee eye to eye with you are the men whose inlot-"tio" and jidgment match yours' and if we accept tha! premise we go from that to an understanding that we.are 'ourselves larlely responsible for what our competitor does and for the attitude which he takes.

The real function of a modern trade association is to brinE about a mutually thorough knowledge of the operationif economic forces and to foster the development ot a ttisn t.".t of competitive conduct without hampering the BtZgt.tt that comes from the exercise of independent action. -- fit. National Lumber Manufacturers' Association and the seventeen regional producing organizations affiliated *iitt it, are paindng ot i broad canvas these days' Th' idea has finatly woi acceptance all over the country-th4t we cannot have prosperous conditions- in the lumber busines" by producing more lumber than the c-onsuming public iswilling to usJ and that curtailment of production to match co"nsumption is absolutely essential on the one hand' Also that it is just as essential on the other hand to promote an increased use of the product if we would not ultimately curtail ourselves out of business and turn the field over to the substitutes. The manufacturer is fathering his product and striving to assist thg merchant who retails his product to the coniumer, and he has come to a keener realization than ever before in history, of the surpassing importance of the distribution end of the business.

Last year I made the prediction thatwithin fiyq y-e3r-s *. *o,tid all be selling giade-marked lumber, and I think I would be perfectly sife today in saying that it will now be within two years. Conditions in our industry are changing rnighty fasi, faster even than we fellows who have been priaching- modern merchandising had anticipated they would. ealifornia dealers have asked the manufacturers to sirpply them with grade-marked lumber. A small quantity is iiready coming to them marked, and there is a very definite swing, in Southern California particularly, to merchandising luiber only. on straight grades. Every progressive merchant realizes that he will make more rhoney sr'vimmtng with the tide and that the industry is actually changing over from a warehousing business to a merchandising business.

I think we all must realize the necessity of control in order to prevent demoralization and be readl to--co'operate with any-and every legitimate and reasonable effort in that direction. There ii nJ question but that stability of wholesale and primary markets is a great aid to the stability of retail maikets, and that it would be a boon to each branch of the industry to co-operate heartily with every other organization in it.

We 'have found over in Southern California that those things which I have been saying about group co-operation are iot just theory, but that they do work out in practice. There are thirteen organized gr6ups of retailers in Southern California and seven of them immediately surround Lqs Angeles. Before these groups began working together there was constant friction between what was loosely termed clty yards and country yards. Today. rve have very little such iriction. Naturally rve have not learned to co-operale g-erfectly and there will probably always be occasional rifts, but ihere exists today,-in Los-Angeles, a sentiment in each of these groups that ihe members of ttre other groups should be as caiefuliy recognized as the members of their own individual gtoupt, att-d this fact alone has lead to an interchange of infbrmation, and to the taking of pains not to tread-on the other fellow's toes, which has resulted in every dealer feeling that the great majority of other dealers in Southern California are tlying to co-operate with him' I not only firmly believe, but positively- know. from experience, thit you-can accomplish many things by education of the individual members to thinking along the same line that cannot be accomplished by force or agreement' i.or instance, there are two iroblems that pr,eserrJ themselv.es in every community which are, im-possible of solution by definite-agreement because of the fact that any agreement which would take care of the situatio.n would be illegal, not because the end would not be good, but because of ihe-fact that if the law permitted agreements between retailers on the one hand, and wholesalers and manufacturers on the otler, it would too easily work injury to the public.

You probably instantly think of the problem created by the yard which is an out and out outlaw, making no effort whatever to co-operate with his neighbor, ant doing everything possible to destroy profit for the industry, and then of the- problem presented by new yards being started by inexperienced, incompetent and under-financed opera- tors. There is absolutely nothing that you can do with either of these problems by agreement among yourselves or by agreement between yourselves and manufacturers and wholesalers, but there is a tremendous lot that can be done by dealers doing some constructive thinking and acting for them'selves.

The yard which occasionally breaks ranks is not a serious problem, because if you exercise patience he will gradu- ally become a better and better co-operator, but we all recognize that there is here and there an outright outlaw who will not play ball with his fellows. This man is as well known to the wholesale and manufacturing fraternity as he is to the dealers and the maiority of those men are-voluntarily discontinuing solicitation ind sale of their products to such outlets. Those who have not seen it vbluntarily for themselves as good business will very quickly change if they find that the sound, well financed, reputable retail operators are placing all of their business with the wholesalers and manufacturers who have the good sense and business vision to redlize thattheir divisions of the industry cannot profit unless sound and profitable conditions are maintained in the distribution end of the business.

Exactll the same thing applies to the starting of new yards. Not the slightest thing can be said or done about the man who elects to start a nerv yard that is adequately financed except that the man who has enough money to properly finance a yard is usually very glad to look elsewhere if he meets dealers who will honestly and frankly open their books to him and show him exactly what volume is obtainable in the community and the investment and facilities which are already dividing it. If such frank exposition of the exact conditions of the business does not convince him there is nothing then left except to secure the very best co-operation possible from him.

But the problem presented by the inadequately financed operator who must depend upon the credit of the supplier and who isvirtually certain to become eventually an unethical operator because of the exigencies of financial pressure, should never be financed by the wholesaler or manufacturer with the molley that he collects on the due date from sound operators. It used to be that wh6lesalers and manufacturers were looking primarily for outlets, for volirme, but loday most of them realize that there is only so much lumber business to be had out of a given community, and that there is more profit to be made by selling excluSively to sound and reputable operators. Here again there is an immediate remedy in the hands of the dealtrs themselves bbcause any seller who has not reasoned this thing out for himself is not entitled to the support of retail operators who pay their bills.

No agreement is either needed or desirable to correct these situations. The prescription is very simple. It is just to use common sense and play ball with your friends. You are the buyer and so long as you are working along common sense, and sound economic lines you have the control of your business in your own hands. There is only one lesson that you have to learn in connection with it, and that is that you cannot eat your cake and have it, too. If you pass your business along to the wholesaler or manufacturer who follows practices that are destructive to your

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WHERE INDEED?

We may live without poetry, music, and art, We may live without conscience, and live without heart, We may live without friends, we may fy helter-skelterBut civilized man cannot live without shelter.

We may live without books, what is knowledge but grieving?

We may live without hope, what is hope but deceiving? We may live without love, without liquor that foams, But where are the men who can live without homes?

ANDY GUMP'S ADVICE

. "Instead of waiting for opportunity to knock at my door, f unscrewed the door and went hunting for opportunity. Climbing up the ladder of success is a harder job than rolling down the hill of misfortune, but any time you may want to wipe out hard luck, just use hard work for your eraser' and you will soon find the whole world at your feet. I'm giving you the recipe, but you'll have to mix it yourself."

The One Route

All the wild ideas of unbalanced agitators the world over in their ignorant and pitiable quest for happiness through revolution, confiscation of property and crime, cannot overthrow the eternal truth that the one route to happiness is over the broad and open highway to service. And service means industry, thrift, respect for authority, and recogni' tio4 of the rights of others.-William G. Sibley.

Truthful Adam

Many, many men have pulled this old gag, but Adam was the only one to speak the truth when he said: "You are the one woman in the world for me."

The Retort Dirteous

"Bzra, tomorrow is our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary; hadn't we better kill a chicken?"

"Why punish the chicken for something that happened twenty-five years ago?"-\ll/isconsin Octopus.

Mule Shy

A colored mule driver was harnessing his steed. "Does that mule ever kick you?" asked a friend. "No, suh," replied Mose, "but he often kicks whah Ah jest been."

Smile

What good did it do to be grouchy today?

Did your surliness drive any troubles away?

Did you cover more ground than you usually do?

Because of the grouch that you carried with you?

If not, what's the use of a grouch or a frown?

If it won't smooth a path, or a grim trouble down?

If it doesn't assist you, it isn't worth while. Your work may be hard, but just do it-and smile.

-Detroit Free Press.

To A Horse

O, horse, you are a worldrous thing No horns to honk, no bells to ring; No license buying every year With plates to screw on front and rear. No spark to miss, no gears to striP; You start yourself, no clutch to slip; No gas bills mounting every daY

To steal the joy of life awaY.

Your inner tubes are all O. K.

And thank the Lord, they stay that way. Your spark plugs never miss or fuss; Your motor never makes us cuss; Your frame is good for many a mile; Your body never changes stYle; Your wants are few and easy met; You've something on the auto Yet.

Listen

If you would accumulate wisdom, be a good listener. No one ever delivered an oration to an oyster.

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