Business Kept Sound by Strong Vitality Despite Adversity

"Proof that our business life has an underlying vitality of surpassins strength is shown clearly by its ability to "ope rit""ersiully wiih a series of unfavorable factors rvhich i"L-*."t"t sitriation might well have caused a depression'

"In sDite of floods, cyclones, the coal strike, lorv- price of steei, over-productiori of oil, financial turmoil in Japan' "na oofiti."l ipheaval in China, conditions are essentrally sou"f, and we ought to have for the immediate future a wholesome business."

T. H. Tregoe, executive manager of the National Associ"tio" of tt.ftii'tvt.", makes theJb statements in the association's May monthly survey. He continues:

"Our credit situation is sound; consequently o.ur money situation is in good shape. Deflation of commodity prtces has pterrettted Jommodity speculations' Our largest enter;;itJt "t" i" a strong fiirancial position, our foreign trade litu"iio" is encoura{ing, and, *hile the problems of the Dresent are enormous and demand the htghest tyPe oI !t itt tor their discreet handling, there is nothing apparent to unnerve us'

"We may feel reasonably confident- that for the remainder of.9Z/ we shall continueio have wholesome business, unless something unforeseen happens.

"Commodity prices show no.change-from the level of a -orr1h "*o. in the construction field April was a good *o"ttt an"d the total for the first four months this. year was but a shade less than the total for the correspondrng perlod in 1926.

"General production in April held up well' It was computJ ai neirly eight per cent above a.long-term no,tTl\ Two soft spots must be pointed out, however; coal ano automobile'production. The latter was about 1O per cent below normil.

--i'barloadings'kept at a high peqk.- The week ending-May 7 recorded -"ot" th"tt a mi'ltioh freight-loaded cars' Bank "t""i""".t compared favorably with the same period of 1926,'

For the week ending May 19 bank clearings in ltew. ]^o^rj< rvere 4.6 per cent above the corre-sponding lveek ot lyzo' Outside oi New York they were 7-9 per cent above the corresponding week of last Year' in a special survey of the New England states, a questionnaire sent to a - large number ol manufacturers and wholesalers there brougtt replies showing that 43 per cent of the reporting concerns.had-larger sales in April-than.tn March, while't-he remaining 57 per cent had smaller sales in April.

"'In dislribution, improved weather conditions in some sections of the countri helped retail business directly and wholesaling indirectly. The Mississippi flood, of course, is having iTs efiect ott dist.ibution, but as the flood recedes improvements are being reported."

Comparing the sales ofApril, 1927, with sales in Apri-l' 1926, 4i per-cent of the reporting houses had a larger volume during April this year. Sixty-two per cent reported larger volu--me of sales ln 1926 than in 1925.

J. H. COOLEY RECENT BAY DISTRTCT VISITOR

-J. H. Cooley, Medford, Oregon, was ? recent visitor in San Francisco where he attended the Presbyterian convention. Mr. Cooley has extensive interests in Northern California and Southern Oregon, and is president of theMedford Lumber Co., the Thiee C's Luntber Co., Ashland and the Yreka Lumber Co., Yreka. While in the Bay distiict he was a visitor at the offices of the Strable Hardwood Company.

In the collection field, 64 per cent had a larger -voltlT-e of collections in April than ln March. OnMay l, 19.27, 54 per cent of the ?eporting firms had-larger sums owing them than they had o-n May 'I, 1926. Looking toward the immediate suni-er months,-67 per cent anticipated a larger number of failures over the same period of last year'

As to improved sales and collections during the summer, 37 per cent looked for an improvement,-44 pet cent anticipatld no change, and the remaining 19 per cent believed that conditions would be worse.

Discussing conditions in New England, Mr. Tregoe said, "There is a homogeneity about the New Englind states that permits comp6site [reatment. IJnseasonable weather undoubtedly afiecied the sales of m.erchandise-, parti-cularly wearing apparel, after the Easter s'eason; and a difference is sho#n iti ttte'volume of sales during the latter part of April and in May as compared with earlier business, when conditions were seasonable.

"speaking on the average rather than for.-particular lincs, it w6uld se-em that the rierchandise distribution for New England for the first four months of this year will. not'exceei, if it will measure up to, the distribution in the same oeriod of. L926. The imrirediate outlook throughout New 'England for merchandising distribution -is. a little below whit we might term norma-i, and it will- likely show no improvement over the summer period of' 1926.

"Collections on the whole are fairly encouraging' The-y are well abreast of lasLyear and they tend to keep the volume of receivables in -good control. The factories and wholesalers should havJ no larger volume of receivables now than they had a year ago.

"stocks of merchandise in retailers'. hands throughout New England will'run a little below normal. This same conditiori should prevail also in the stocks of wholesalers, but with some of-the factories stocks are above normal as hand-to-mouth buying is forcing the factories to carry larger stocks to take tare of orders for immediate delivery.

"New England has her serious merchandising problems' There is str6ng competition among wholesalers which too frequently leads to fhe selling of-1erms. The small merchant is finding it exceedingly difficult to comPete with the chain store, "tt-d I should say that the biggest problem in New England to day is the making of profits.

"This situation has broughl about the failures of a number of small enterprises and I do not see any immediate-relief in sight. Thi retail merchant unable to merchandise efiectively and to hold his own must go under.

"The situation in New England ofiers no discouragement. Big problems are there an{they must be handled. I can "eJ itt awakening spirit in New England that will assure the successful haidfins of these problems, and basically I can recognize no chanle from hei conservatism and sotrnd situation] Merchandiiing, however, must be conducted carefully and competition mustbe saner than it is at present."

I. V. G. POSEY & CO. SUPPLIED SPRUCE FOR - LINDBERGH'S PLANE

Grays Harbor spruce played a part in the successful flisht 6f Capt. Chasl A. Lindbergh from New York to Paris, thE spruce used in the "spirit of St. Louis" having been supolied to the manufactqrirs of the airship, Ryan Airlines, San Diego, Cal., by J. V. G. Pg.-.y Q Co.,. Portland, Ore., from the-ir-factory, the Posey Manufacturing Co., at Hoquiam, Wash.

Quite Necessary

If it hadn't been for lumber

Where would we be today?

We wouldn't be at all, at all, That's what I'm here to say; For when the floods were roaring And all earth's skies were dark, If there had been no lumber There would have been no ark.

If there had been no lumber

The good old U. S. A. Would still be undiscovered. That's what I'm here to say; Columbus had his visions, His charts and trusted notes, But the rvhole wild trip depended On three small wooden boats.

If there had been no lumber

What would Mount Vernon be?

A sorry mass of crumbling stoneOr so it seems to me.

But now we hail Mount Vernon, The home of Washington, It's built of sturdy lumber Unmarred by storm or sun.

If there were now no lumber

What would we do today?

We'd have a funny time of ii, That's what I'rn here to say.

We'd have no shingles, posts, and shakes, No paneled walls and doors, No wooden beams and pickets, No handsome polished floors.

M. C.

Since their organization, the six Associated Lum' ber Mutuals have returned to their policyholders in dividends a grand total of $34,915,845-rep resenting a saving of approximately 40/s in insurance costs. At the same time they have given -and are now grving the most complete service and protection the lumberman has 6vsl lsrevyndesigned for and distinctly fitted to the needs of the lumber industry.

Ll/ilte any of our companies for full information about both the ltrotection and the soaing represented bg iur policies,