Out In Front

By Adeline M. Conner

Today, July lst, 1928, we joyously celebrate the sixth birthday of the California Lumber Merchant; and as we congratulate its founder, Jack Dionne, we recount with keen appreciation the many benefits conferred upon us and upon our industry by both man and journal.

In the less idealistic ages of the past, the man who stepped out in front with a discovery, invention, or nerv idea, was immediately beset by three reactionary f61sss* incr6dulity, ridicule, and active opposition. If 'by superhuman efforts and incredible persistency, he succeeded in turning incredulity into reluctant belief, and ridicule into awed attention, active opposition clapped him into prison for disturbing the peace of time-honored tradition, or musty superstition and the Inquisition finished him.

In this amazing age in which we live, when almost anything may happen, incredulity and ridicule are the weapons oJ the rnoron and active opposition is no longer formidable. Now the man who steps forward with something newer and, better, may present it for our serious consideration, without jeopardy to life or limb. The human race has learned at length to value the discover. the inventor. and the idealist. We give him our polite attention, we listen to his story, read his advertisement. Who knows ? His idea, his' discovery, his invention, may revolutionize the world.

We like to be shown. We moderns who have indeed lifted our faces from the clod, get a thrill out of something new. With quite infantile delight we clap our hands at the crumbling, crashing fall of outworn thebries, beliefs, and institutions. -We iccept the new with avidity. Our minds are open-sometimes, and rve are perfectly willing to make a change in anything; anytime. When we use discrimination and rely upon proper guidance this attitude of mind spells progress and quite often full speed ahead.

-And so it is that today, the man in front will find himself in contagt with three groups of human beings with as many mental reactions to the ideal of work or conduct which he wishes to set up. The first group will be composed of those who have been waiting for leadership. Dissati$ed with the old, they are ripe for the new-ready to advance. They get his view point quickly, recognize the value of his suggestions, and strenuously bend their energies to the task of "catching up." A seccind group will be made up of those who because of limitations, fancied or real, can only follow, afar ofi perchance; and then there is a:third-happily vanishing tribe, who only stand and bray.

In the six years which have elapsed since Jack Dionne stepped out in front with his unique gift of a California Iumber magazine for California lumbermen, a few of the blessed fraternity have actually caught up, and are, at the present time, "shoulder-to-shouldsl" mgn-ornaments to the profession. Many more have learned to follow on, to pjck t1p the dropped stitches, to wave encouragement to those in the lead; but if any one has brayed, I for one, have not heard the racuous sound.

ThCre'has been no occasion for braying. ff iver an industry- needed, revolutionizing, rejuvenating, and invigor- ating it was the lumber industry. We admitted it. We knew that our methods were antiquated, that our machinery c-reaked ominously, that we werd on the wrong track witir disaster waiting just around the corner. We-also sensed the fact that something wonderfully worth while was within the range of our possibilities. There was a beautiful work which we might do, a kindly service to render to those about us. Dreams came in the still watches of the night -gleaming visions with fluttering wings, but we awoke in the cold dawn of each work day to be haunted by tall ghosts that muttered, peeped dolefirlly, and lashed ui into submission with old superstitions which were responsible for our sorry state. ff we see improvement, if our tasks have become more pleasant, if our vision is clearer, if realization of our oppor- tunities for service is keener, if we catch the gleam of beauty where once were only scirdid things, if lhe stars and the clouds are lined with silver, to- what degree has the California Lumber Merchant contributed to that blessed state of affairs ? Oh, thinking lumberman, make answei; The past with all its imperfections upon OUR heads is a thing of the past. The future is ours to make or mar. We have the leadership, we have our six year old California Lumber Merchant to broadcast ideas -dnd idbats fiir

We prayed for a Moses strong and wise enough to lead us from the quagmire in whiih we struggled- into the promised land of humanized industry. He -came in due season, and it would seem that the California Lumber Merchant, which contains the inspirational and sane philosophy of its founder, together with creative suggestions, ethical rules of conduct, and smiles for our leisure moments, was a gift of the gods to the sorely tried and bewildered members of the lumbermen's fraternity.

Now as we celebrate this happy occasion, Iet us ask ourselves if we are truly catching up-following on.I believe that we are. Accbrding to-the-latest diagiosis the lumber industry is recoveringlfuture operations will be successful. The dark days are past, the dawn breaks. With but few exceptions the lumber business is in the hands of intelligent,. courag'eous, irnd competent men. They have brains, experience, and common sense enough to run the industry in a sane and sanitary manner. T-he old pirati- cal methods of competition will soon become anathema. Lumbermen are learning to advertise, to declare their principles, and by so doing are creating new business inslead of building their own success upon the wreckage of their competitor's. They are almost to a man ashamed of the old price cutting tactics of the past; unethical practices are frowned upon. In fact the lumber industry is being up: graded,. surfaced, polished, and fitted to tike its Fla;e 3m9ng the respectable industries of our great and mighty land.

Practical and experienced men are at the helm in offices, yards, and mills throughout the entire state-or should be. There is no place in the lumber game for the man who "muddles through" or fumbles, or lries to fit conditions to his unstudied theories. The lumber industry will probably neve.r sprout wings, but it can develop eihical ideals of servtce.

Ii as Channing once wrote, "One great thought breathed, in-to a man may regenerate him," the regenerating influence of our magazine must be enormous, ind the number of those who step up or follow on will increase miraculously in the days and years to come.