National Retail Directors' Annuaf Meeting

R. S. Finkbine Re-elected President

Washigton, D. C.., Muy 8.-Climaxing the 23rd annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Retail Lumber Dealers' Association, Washington, D. C., Ilfay 6 and 7, R. S. Finkbine, of Des Moines, Iowa, was reelected president. Other officers reelected were Carl Blackstock, Seattle, Wash., vice-president ; G. W. La Pointe, Jr., Menomonie, Wis., treasurer; and Frank Carnahan, Washington, D. C., secretary, Executive Committee members appointed by the president were: S. D. Baldwin, Jersey City, N. J., Don A. Campbell, Lebanon, Ky., R. S. Finkbine, Des Moines, Iowa, Paul S. Larsen, St. Paul, Nebr., Carl Blackstock, Seattle, 'Wash., W. W. Anderson, Ogden, IJtah, F. Dean Prescott, Fresno, Cal., and G. W. LaPointe, Jr., Menomonie, Wis.

The first subject that came before the Directors for discussion was the pending U. S. H. A. Bill, reported on by S. D. Baldwin, chairman of the Legislative Committee. This bill was passed by the Senate at the last session of Congress, but a rule to bring it out on the floor of the Ifouse was defeated. It would give the U. S. H. A. the authority to issue an additional $800,000,000 in bonds, increase the annual contributions of the government by $45,000,000, and provide $20O,000,000 for a program of rural housing.

'Ihe Directors wcnt on record as being unanimously opposed to extension of the activities of the U. S. H. A., and upon their instructions, Secretary Carnahan directed a letter to members of' the House Banking and Currency Committee telling them of the action of the Board of Directors, in the hope that the Banking and Currency Com- mittee would decline to vote to ask the Rules Committee Ior a rule to bring the legislation out on the floor of the House.

All secretaries and dealers present were urged to contact their Congressman in regard to this legislation.

The meeting was interspersed with a great deal of argument in regard to Class 3, Title I, of the National Housing Act. Secretary Carnahan reported that the Washington office of the National Association has been deluged with requests that something be done to secure libt:ralization of the F. H. A. regulations under Class 3; and he askecl for instructions as to what to do about the matter. It was developed that there was objection, not oarticularly to the construction requirements, but to the regulations on propery standards, which are the same as under Title II of the Housing Act. A few of the Directors reported that they had been able to secure Class 3 loans, but it was evident that in most sections the administration of this part of the act is too rigid to afford any sizable volume of low-cost home building. With only one or trvo exceptions, the dealers reported that it is practically impossible to secure Class 3, Title I loans in rural sections or vacational areas. The Directors finally decided to submit this matter to the members of the F. H. A. Committee of the association and let them decide what steps should be taken for correction.

The Monday afternoon session was devoted almost entirely to discussion of the status of the retail lumber dealer under the Wage and Hour Act. The Directors received a report from S. D. Baldwin, chairman of. the Wage and Hour Committee of the association, on the activities of his committee. Several weeks ago it came to the attention of the National Association that the Wage and Hour Division was on the verge of issuing an opinion holding that sales to industrials and to building contractors are wholesale, and, in fact, designating the large part of every retail lumber dealer's sales as a wholesale transaction, and therefore subject to the Wage ancl Hour Law. President Finkbine appointed a Wage and Hour Committee, headed by Mr. Baldwin, to meet with the Wage and Hour officials and try to convince them that they were wrong in their proposed ruling.

A committee of about twenty men, including deal-

TOOITOWPRICES....?

Lower prices thqt result lrom elliciency in mcrnogement cnd production benefit producers qnd consumers olike, but lower prices thot ore the result of "chiseling" of the lqborer crrd the socrifice of fair profits, ruin business qnd degrode the stqndcnds ol the industry.

ers, retail association secretaries, attorneys, and representatives of the National-American Wholesale Lumber Association and the National Lumber Manufacturers' Association, had a meeting with the General Counsel, Assistant Administrator, and other officials of the Wage and Hour Division, and subsequently a very comprehensive brief was filed, the primary burden of which was based on the plea that sales to building contractors should be classed as retail.

Several additional meetings were held by members of the Wage and Hour Committee with Wage and Hour officials during the time of the Board meetings, but up until the time of adjournment no final decision tvas released by the Division. It was emphasized that, no matter what the outcome would be, the association had continuously been on the job, and had spared no effort to defend the traditional status of its members as retailers.

A very optimistic note was struck when D. A. Campbell, chairman of the "Home" Publication Committee, nrade his report on the publication of "Home," a dealerconsumer publication which is a new activity of the National Association. One issue of this magazine has been circulated and another is on the press. There has been established a total circulation of 375,000 paid subscribers serving 983 individual lumber dealers. Mr. Campbell reported he had been advised that this is probably the first time any publication has reached such a large subscription total prior to the release of its initial issue. It is the goal of the committee to secure a total circulation of one million copies by January 15, 1941.

This magazine is to be published six times yearly, issued in urban and rural editions. Among the purposes of the publication are to aid the individual dealers in selling more merchandise; to be a partial medium f,or a Public Relations Program to refute high building cost propaganda, to tell constructive stories about the industry and to keep before the consumer the name of the retail lumber dealer; and to act as a coordinating influence within the man power of the industry. Mr. Campbell stated that the contents of the new "Home', magazine will be highly pictorial, and that house plans will be emphasized, because it is believed that pictures of attractive houses are the most potent sales arg'ument in the sale of the home ownership idea.

At the Wednesday morning session, H. W. Wilbur, president of the Merchandising Institute, reported on the progress of the institute's "Selling Methods', program, the purpose of which is to educate the dealers to do a better job of selling and to make them the source of home building in their communities. Mr. Wilbur described a new plan of operation which includes the hiring of field rnen to \,\'ork through the State and Regional Associations and sell this program to the dealers. So far 11 such men have been put in the field and it tvas Mr. Wilbur's feeling that this method of interesting the dealers in the Merchandising Institute's program has been successful.

Following along this idea of making the dealers the local home building headquarters, H. R. Northup, assistant secretary of the National Lumber Manufacturers, Association, discussed the Small Homes Demonstration.

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