California Refuses to Outlaw Shingles

Well, folks, it is not going to be a crirninal offense to use or sell shingles in California.

As we all know, the Housing bill has beern defeated and the shingle industry of the state has been saved.

Th,e figures show that the bill never had muc,h of a chance to p.ass in the first place, but the nature o{ the antishingle provision-concealed in the heart of what otherwise pr.obably was a meritorious measure-justified all the w,ork that the lumber men did.

And it is no secret, now that the thing is all over, that it was the individual lumbermen themselves-the more obscure lumbermen, if you please-who real'ly did much of the work that accomplished this glorious result.

At the same time the work had to be directed in a systematic manner and the lumbermen were most fortunate in their choice of directo,rs both at the San Francisco and at the Los Angeles headquarters.

The general work in the state was in charge of a committee composed of A. J. ("Gus") Russell of the Santa Fe Lumrber Co., H. M., Cochran of the Union Lumber Co., and J. M. Hotchkiss of Hobbs-Wall & Co. They had their headquarters in San Francisco.

The Los Angeles end was in the hands of another capable committee: B. W. Bookstaver of the McCulloughFagan Lumber Co., J. A. Th,omas of the Coos Bay Lumber Co., and Fred Golding of the Fred Golding Lumber Co. These committees had some high powe.red assistance from a big body ,of entl.rusiastic workers.

Frank L. Mulgrew, an experienced and capable newspaper man, was in charge,of the publicity at San Fr^ncisco headquarters a,nd the results speak of the kind of a job he performed.

While the shingle nranufacturers contributed handsomely to the fund to conduct the campaign in ther state at large the so-callecl small-town retailers. collectively, contributed many times more.

Many retail operators f<tr set'eral weeks prior to the election. derroted all the advertisinq that they regularly nse i,n their local papers to an educational campaign in oppo* sition to the bill and on behalf of shingles. They did this at their own expense, and it was effort like this, multiplied many. n.rany times throughout the state. that made possible the trenrendous vote AGAINST the bill and FOR shingles.

In various other ways the retail lumbermen contributed their tinre and their resources to the fight. Some of ther.n mailed out literatrrre rvith all tl-reir letters going to corresponderrts withir.r. the state. ar-rd with their n.ronthlv statements to their customers.

Those who are gifteci with oratorical powers at'tended political meetings and informed voters on the situation. Others made individual canvasses in their own neighborhoods. For instance the Homer T. Hayward Lumber Cornpany for six weeks befor.e the election, had two of their staff men out among the voters in all the territory along the Coast in which they have yards, making direct appeal to the voters.

The eloquent bit of verse rvritten by Mrs Fred Conner of Sacramento and printcd on the back of miniature shingles distributed generally over the state, did a powerful lot to help.

I'n scores of cities and 'towns the full page advertisments prepared by the Lumberme,n's Servi,ce association of [-os Angeles and printed in the local newspaperq proved an effective medium of bringing the truth forcefully to the attention of manv hundreds of voters.

When people once were correctly informed on the situation they did not hesitate long to make up their minds to vote "No."

So it was this constant effort and the cumulative effect of all this effort that made the victory so decisive.

Just how decisive it is, is shown by the rdturns. The Housing bill has been beaten by a vote of better than five to one. In faci it is near six to one and w'hen the final count is in, it is likely to be six to one, as the outlying districts, that are slowest to send in their election figures. are the ones that went most emphatically against the bill.

In fact some of the so-called rural districts went as strong as fifteen to oire. The latest returns, w[th the count about 90 percent complete, shows 323,811 votes against the bill and only 61,102 for it.

Not so bad, not so bad.

..SHINGLE SERVICE''

Is still possible in California. Have you tried ours?

Once a Customer always a Customer.

Poles, Piling or Tie+-CREOSOTED or Plain, for prompt Shipment by Rail or Cargo. ttYour needs are our special con@rn.tt

H. A. B ROWN I NG

WHOLESALE FOREST PRODUCTS

LOS ANGELES

Stock Exchange Bldg.

Pico 3233

Seattle, Wn., Nov. 9, 1922

Please accept, through the Shingle Branch, West Coast Lumbermen's Association, the sincere thanks of all shingle nianufac.turers of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia for the splendid work and co-operation of your journal in the recent campaign which defeated the anti-shingle bill.

We fully realize the importance of the result, not only as afiecting California, but as affecting future actions in other states and appreciate your suppora.rrr*"r, BRANCH.