How Far Can You Throw a, Boomerang?

By Roy A. Dailey, Manager, North Coast District National-American Wholesale Lumber Association, Inc.

Not long ago, a Coast buyer for a large Retail firm operating yards in the Middle West, rather heatedly reported to this office that a Coast (non-member) wholesaler had boldly disregarded the industry's ancient and honorable code of ethics to the extent of selling a bill of lumber direct to a contractor (or maybe it was a consumer) located in his firm's territory.

Our investigation developed the following facts:

That this Coast buyer was under instructions to disregard the wholesalers and purchase his firm's lumber requirements direct from the mills as close as possible (and it's mighty close) to wholesale prices, on retail terms of payment. That the retail firm considered itself under no obligation to consider the wholesaler in its purchasing policy, but nevertheless-The wholesaler was expected to religiously refrain from trying to do any business in the retailer'sterritory, but should perhaps patiently await a change of heart on the part of the retailer which might sometime result in his offering the wholesaler a few crusts from the banquet.

This should not be construed as an attempt to suggest rules for the conduct of any firm's business, but simply to point out the rather obvious conclusion that having adopted this policy, such firms should not feel so badly sinned against if, in some instances, the changing trend of things forces the wholesaler to adopt a reciprocal policy which might leave certain retailers as far out of the picture as those retailers have left the wholesaler in their plans.

Perfect Matching-

In the proceedings of all the local and national lumber conventions held this winter and spring, these salient conclusions stand out most prominently: First: Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers alike have expressed their recognition of each other's functions, rights and obligations. Second: There never was a time in lumber historv when close cooperation between the three main branches-was so essential to success. Ail anv fair minded manufacturer or wholesaler asks is an "even 6reak'with his legitimate competitors, but history has p.roven that lamentable consequences ensue when open discrimination is shown against any particular branch of the industry.

A "horrible example" of the results of alleged discrimination against the wholesale distributor by certain large retail firms exists in the Western Canadian provinces today. The growing menace of "direct to consumer" shipments of lumber products in that district by Coast and Mountain shippers has become one of the gravest problems faced by the retailers who are being forced to adopt all sorts of retaliatory measures to combat the movement. As Mr. Cheney pointedout in his Chicago speech the other day, "This inteidistributor competition has often proved to be an even greater cause of individual business deaths than the other types of the New Competition."

Cooperators, you know, are of two kinds. Those who expect cooperation-and those whoreally cooperate. It might be well for some firms to carefully considei the question "How far can you throw a boomerang before it starts back,"