The Day of the Salesman Returns

By IACK DIONNE

A lot of people have been aeking of late: "What has happened to thc lumber business in California?"

Nothing abnormal; nothing tragic; nothing that might not well have been cxpected. The lumber industry in California is GOING BACK TO WORK. That's all. The day of the SALESMAN hag come back.

For the past two years the lumber business has been so overwhelmingly prosperous in California that, to a very great extent,building material sold itself, prices were not considered a matter of vital importance, and it was largely a matter of delivering the goods and collecting the money.

But the history of the lumber business from its inception until now, shows that it swings up, and it swings down. It has to swing down now and then in order to normalize things. It has to swing back occasionally in order that it may be kept sane. It has to have its setbacks to the end that it may not get out of the reach of the building public. It always HAS swung back. It always WILL.

It is NOT an unhealthy process. Simply unpleasant. It's bitter, but the doctor says ttTake it" t

For lumber to prosper, people must buy homes, and barns, and buildings generally. And regardless of everything else, lumber takes a bump every now and then in order, it would seem, that people could still afford to buy these things.

So, here in California, the lumber setback puts us back to digging, and scratching, and hustling for business again. It won't hurt us. It wiil do us good. People are like hens,'anyway. The scratching the hen does in gathering her food is the thing that keeps her healthy. It isn't much different with humans.

Eating without scratching spoils hens. It spoils a lot of people, also. The lumber business has come mighty easy to a whole lot of people in California for a couple of years. Now we're going back to WORKING and SELLING again.

'We're going back to sitting on the lid, watching the costs, hustling for sales, scrambling for a profit; and the profit will be the more appreciated because we got it that way.

That's all there is to it !

It's nothing to worry over. It can't be Christmas all the time. Only the sluggard and the inefficient will be actually hurt.

We're simply going to say goodby to a period of HIGH pay and LOW workl LO.W efficiency and HIGH remuneration; SMALL selling effort and BfG volume.

The Good Book says that we shall live by the sweat of our brows.

The lumber industry of California is carrying out that program right now, and it won't hurt a bit in the long run.

It's simply a case of plan, work, hustle, create, SELL ! And the chances are that as we sow, "so shall we reap."