Co-operation in The West Coast Forest Industries

(Continued from Page 37) ber, feel that he has to battle for ev-ery inch of competitive teriitory with his neighbor on the West Coast.

But today, representatives of these species, to say.nothing of the many-others that might be named, are willing to sit" around the same table and discuss their individual problems with its relationship to the. whole and by this ito."tt a better understanding is being had within the industry itself.

This brings us then to the relationship of the logger to the lumber manufacturer of the Pacific Northwest. For the success of either is dependent on the other. I might include more within this grouP than just the logger and the lumber manufacturer for, as applying to the Pacific Northwest, the relationship of the logging and lumber industry to the whole commercial activity of this particular section of the country is preponderantly the largest in the field. I have said that we are now living in an age of mass production and mass production cannot be successfully iontinued without mass consumption; and during such periods as mass consumption is not possible, then there must be an orderly regulation of production. As all of us know, very strenuous efforts in this direction have been exercised within the past two years and in this effort some of the best minds within the industry have devoted days, weeks, and months of their time toward bringing about a more balanced relationship between the production and consumption. In this work we have encountered many problems. We have encountered the individualist to wtrictr I have heretofore referred, and I can think of no territory in which I have had experience where this has been more pronounced than is true of the Pacific Northwest.

In the industry in rvhich u'e are all engaged we have enjoyed during the past five years the greatest building activity that this country has ever known, and yet notwithstanding this fact the lumber industry has been faced with a constantly diminishing demand and a constant lowering of price levels. We have many times asked ourselves why this should be true, and we have groped around to find a satisfactory answer to the problem. Many answers have been suggested and many remedies have been tried with more or less indifferent results but none that give promise of being permanent. Naturally, we have wondered the reason for this, and particularly is this true because, I think it can be said without fear of contradic- tion, that at least sixty cents out of every dollar that is produced and spent in ihe Pacific Ncjrthwest has its origin either directly or indirectly within the lumber industry. What then is the answer to this perplexing problem? We believe that it is simple and that it can be covered by one sentence: "Cooperation within the industry." fn our effort to secure cooperation within the industry we are very often met with the statement on the part of the so-called mill man that it is "impossible for me to regulate my production because I must run, due to my contractual obligation with my logger, who insists that in order to maintain the price level for his product and which we buy from him he must continue mass production in order to produce at the lowest possible cost that he may have a profit for himself." This then is where the logger should come prominently into play. He should recognize the fact that if his branch of the industry is to survive that he must not attempt to put on the market more of his product than it can comfortably assimilate. It is my candid opinion that the logger has not recognized to the fullest extent his responsibility to the industry as a whole. He and the mifl man that consumes the product should sit across the table from each other and candidly and frankly discuss the problems of the industry and it should be the problem of the logger to advise the customer for his product to not try to force on an unwilling market more than it can comfortably assimilate.

What do we mean by cooperation within the industry? Not merely that of cooperation between the logger and the lumber manufacturer, for while this is where cooperation should take place first, yet all of the kindred industries in the Pacific Northwest should do their share. The banker, the merchant, the heads of our transportation systems, and even down to the man on the street, for with a community dependent so largely upon a single industry as is true of the Pacific Northwest in its relation to the lumber industry we are all in our own way directly connected. It is true that this should begin with those that are most directly connected with the lumber industry and that is with the logger and the lumber manufacturer.

I recognize that this is something that is difficult to do at all times, but if our industry is to survive it must and can be accomplished.

My answer to this problem is that each must be satisfied with his fair share. He must not even seek a temporary advantage of his neighbor, for after all, while one.may gain a momentary advantage it is not long until someone else will be on an even plane or perhaps be in position to go him one better so that in the end we will each get our share of the business that is going.

We very often hear the expression that there is no hope for the lumber industry, that it is a question of a survival of the fittest, and until that time has been reached there will be no profit within the industry. I would ask you to carefully consider this, for what is the end when we consider only the question of a survival of the fittest?

It is perhaps true that by this process certain eliminations would be made but that would be largely in personnel and management. We do not remove the timber nor do we remove the manufacturing facility as it still remains a menace to the industrv as i whole.- We can each of us look around and find where this has happened to some of our more unfortunate neighbors within the industry and yet we see some other individual or some other institution come along, take up these properties and then we are again within the cycle of the survival of the fittest and those who have weathered the first storm are then at a disadvantage because when these properties are re-sold they do not bring anything like their real value and the new owner then is in much better position to weather the storm of low values in the production of his product.

Votuntary group action is rapidly becoming the dominant force in industry and it has no more staunch advocate than President Hoover. For while he was occupying the position of Secretary of Commerce he recognized the trend of the times and stated that we are passing from a period oJ extremely individualistic action to a period of associational activities. If this was recognized-by such a leader in world affairs as the man who now occupies the positiron of chief executive of our nation, is it not a good policy for our industry to adopt and why cannot we recognize the fact that by cooperation we can succeed and by individualistic action we are bound to fall ?

To bring this example more vividly before us, the logger cannot expect that with a declining demand for the product of his logs that he can conduct his business on a mass production basis and find a market for his product on a price level that will be satisfactory to him. He must learn that an over-supply of ,raw material cannot mean anything but lower values for the finished product. On the other-hand the manufacturer must learn fhat a cheap price on his raw material does not mean that he will market his product on a profitable basis. The two must work hand in hand and th-e problems of one must be the problems of the other. They must learn that the counsel of one is valuable co the other and that it is not the lrrowledge of cooperation but the practice of it that counts.

Transformation For Pershing's Birthplace

Laclede, Mo., Nov. 30.-For a plan that would beautify the birthplace of General Pershing, near here, Miss Helen Stambach has been awarded first prize in a country contest, it is announced in the November issue of the BUREAU FARMER. Miss Stambach's plan covers only tree and shrubbery beautification, but the magazine points out how the old homestead could be transformed structurally. preserving much of the old house line but chirnging ornimental detail so as to make a more fitting monument to our World 'War hero. It illustrat€s a plan for remodeling the structure suggested by the National Lumber Manufacturers Association. This plan, more in keeping with the present importance of the structure, could be carried out at nominal expense and would further serve to preserve the house.

Weetern Saeh Gl Door Go.

Cuts So Snooth That Joints Can Be

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SIMONDS SAW AND STEEL CO.

lltr E. Third Strcot 228 Firrt Strcot Loz Angolcr Srn Frrncirco