Let's Stop Feeding Pessimism to Each Other in California

By lack Dionne

ttAr a man thinketh in his heart. ro ie he."

There isn't anything on earth that travelr so fart and makeg so much impr-rion, ar bad neltylr and peuim,irtic opinions. -

And there is only one cafe and sure antidote for peseimisrn, end that is enthusiastic optimirm.

And the ltmrber indrstry of California ir right now badly in need of a tonic that itr mernberr may earily furnishwell distributed optimism and enthuriastic hopefulnetr.

The California lumbernrentr greatest need right now ir t-o take home unto ttemselver and follow that good old rule in any line of businecr-"if you haven't romahing GOOD to say, don't say anything."

T[i oH man *ai on f,ir death bed, and calling hic children round him he raid: t'Boyr and girls, Itve lived a lo11& long life and lmown rnany sorrowi and troubles. ^A'ND MOST OF THEM NEVER HAPPENED.''

And in retroepecg the lumber indurtry of California will be able to'look -back upon the rpring and summer of 1926 and make that same remark that the old man made.

I never saw the time when there were &t many peoplc in the lunber industry talking hard timec and bad conditionr and evil future ac there are right now in California.

And most of the things they are sying are not truer mo* of the gloom is imaginary, molt of the physical facts and conditions point toward optimirm rather trhan peerimirm' and the only *ay deep trouble can come to the ltrnber indurtry of Cdifornia is for everyone to ttink, talk, and fear the worst.

The facts are that the lumber busineer fu NOT in bad rhape, either in California or nationally.. And mort of the tro'ibie that DOES exist is caused by the lumber MEN and not by lumber THINGS.

ThLy tatk about hunber conditions being bad in Lo9 Angelec and surrounding territory. What are lhe factr? Building permits in Loc Angeles in Janrrary were $61973'252; ii February $8,536,580; in March $13'879'558; in April $11,2O7,289; in May $1O,7O2,8M.

-Is there anything: in thoee figrrrer to be pessimirtic about ? Thse is no other city of like size in the country with anything to compare with that amotmt of building for the Vgarr Y9t a lot ol them are h"ppy, proaperous, and boartful, while the Lor Angelel lumbermen morrn "hard timec."

The entire atrrrounding distric ir in about the rarne condition. Business from a volume rtandpoint ia very good in the building indrutry of Southern California"

Take the lumber movement by water into Southern California. In May lhe movement of lurnber into ttece ports waa 151,O(X),(XX) feet. Where is that lumber? Piled up romerrhere and begging fo,r purchaaera? Not at all The lurnbe,r docks of Southern California are in very normal shape. That lumber har been sold and- rhippeiil. It it etorid in the retail yardr? Not by a long ehot. The average retail yard etock in Souttrern California is reported to be io:west in-years, mcre hand to mouth buyins being done than ever before.

So it is evident that there ir plenty of buildingtein-g dong' a great ded of hunber ir being biought r1r, eold, ahippqd' arrd rold to consumer. The volume of businese reemr to be good in Southern California.

Northern C-etifornia is in very good phyeical shape, b"tt.t probably than in Southern California. There -ir plenty of buiUinn beinc done. plentv of lumber being sold.

Yet lhere are cloudr of pecsimism fiUins the air of tihe California lumber indurtrv. It were folly to deny it. In fact, by facing it, demonrtrating its trseleosnesr and truthlerrneu ir the way to get rid of it

Two years "So, itt ihe srunmer of 1924, thlnss w€re this way. Pbycicaly-they were much WORSE than thev -1rr9 thii nrmrier. fte d;cks of Southern Cdifornia wcre piled high with rmsold and apparently unrranted lumber.- A larg-e number of lurnber "eerils were swinging at anchor, d6 nothing to do. There was plenty of peceimism and qgertion and doubt. Thinss were *orse nationally in the lumber in' dustry thur they are now.

Dia YOU know that for the first five months of 1926 in tbe entire SOFTW@D indurtry of the United Stater, sales and rhiprnentr have both exceeded production? Thg Fg- urel of- the National Lumber Mantfacturerr A*ociation prove that to bc a fact u,p to June firet. - Yet, by Septembet 1924, the silver lining of the lumber cloud had tunled out, ever5rthing war improved, and t'he in' durtry was back on the job again.

This spring reveral unfortunate thingr have happe'ned h the California lumber indrstry that have caused an exceP' tional and unusual wave of gloom.

The trouble with the lumber indurtry of California simply ir that itc morale ir low. ^A,nd the way to cure ttat affliction is to irnprove that rnorale. The lumber indrutry ie largely a MENT.{L thing. It is the mental end of the buiners that makec prorperity and brings deprersion, ar ir proven by the preaent rituation, and has been proven hun' dredr of times before.

There ir one thing for cvery lumbenman in Cdifornia to start doing right now, and that is to TA'LK OPTIMI$ flCALLfORDON'T TALK. There is really more to talk brightly about, than tfiere ia the other way, if we will jurt look for it.

Quit saying that businesc is bad. THAT IS WHAT MAKES IT BAD.

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