THE SOUTHLAND

By WAYNE executive vice president

66\fOUR, prices are out of line."

J. fitese are tlte words that every lurnber salesman, every lumber dealer has heard for years from his customer€. It was a standard phrase in the slow building years and it is still a standard phrase in peak building years.

In late 1968 and early 1969 the lumber dealer could point to g'overnment statistics and say, "See all those thousands of board feet of logs going to Japan? That's the cause of our high prices." And to a certain extent the excuse was legitimate, for there were many more thousands of board feet of logs going to Japan at that point in time than there had been earlier, and prices were prredicated on what the mill was pa.ying for logs at auction. Then the Morse amendnent to a foreign aid biU slowed down sales to Japan, and lum'ber prices dropped. Again in 1971 prices began to rise. Concurrently, there was an increase in purchases by Japanese interests. Also there was increased demand from the housing market and reduced availability of raw material because of a reduction in the allowable cut by the federal government which contnrls over 60/o of all commercial timberland. Add to this price control regulations, which are not really workable, and you have all the ingredients for a confused market.

Hence the statement by the purchaser, "Your price is out of line.

ByR.v.PETER'EN T9 executive secretary

assumption of full responsibility by the state, the following stag:es are involved:

That is more than I pa.id months ago. Haven't you heard about price control ?'

Every reta.iler and every wholesaler in the West is acutely aware of price control, but examine the facts about his price.

The retail price is based on the cost from the wholesaler. The wholesaler buys from a mill. Now the rules say that neither of the first two pa.rties can raise their price on a given item except to reflect additional cost of that item to thpm, So, assuming each of the entiti,es mentioned adheres rigidly to the rules, the only price increases they are allowed really reflect the n-ill cost.

By going to the mill level, it can be seen that the manufacturer is allowed to raise the price of a given item to reflect increases in raw material costs only.

Mills today are buying logs from the government at prices that exceed previous purchases of the same specie log just a short time ago by 50-60%. On the assumption that such a price increase is passed down the line, each intermediate step would be entitled to a sizeable increase in price.

MONTANA is now one of two states

*'- started "toward ultimate assump- tion of full responsibility for the job safety and health protection of 200,000 employees in the state,s private and public sectorns."

This is the result of a recent signa- ture by Secretary of Labor James D. Hodgson of Montana's plan for job safety and health under the Occupa- tional Safety and Health Act of 19?0. H-odgson calls the plan ,,a new type of state-federal partnership in worker protection."

For a three-year period leading to o Introduction early in 19ZB of enabling legislation. o Adoption of federal job safety and health standards. o Enforcement of the new standards to begin in November, 19?3, by an initial staff of 2b inspectors. o Establishment of a Montana Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MOSHA) Review Commission

Involved in the development of the

So when the urge comes to make the statement, "Your price is out of line," think that it may be higher than it was previously, but it only reflects the increasing cost of raw material - a cost which conceivably gets higher until as an industrycontractors, builders, material suppliers and manufacturers; i.e,, the Construction Industrywe decide to pool our respec- tive expertise, take the case to the Congress, and point out that unless:

1. Specific steps are taken to alle(Coniinued an Page 36)

Montana plan was an advisory committee of labor and management consultants and 9192,000 in federal grants issued by OSHA. Montana will now be elig"ible f.or 5O7o OSHA grants toward operation of the program.

Meanwhile, efrorts in T[ashington continue toward development of more practicable, acceptable rules and regulations unde,r the act.

By R0SS KINCAID executive vice president

66rnHE best convention we've ever r had!" This remark was oft repeated by many of the 1,000 plus who attended the 69th Western Convention/Merchandise Mart, Nov. !2-14 at the Thunderbird Motor Inn, Port'land, Ore.

Dr. Heartsill Wilson, returning to WBMA's convention kickoff podium for the third time, made his greatest audience impact with a stirring message that implored our people to "stand up and be countedt' in resisting the "forces" that threaten America's continuance as a gteat nation. The five "forces:" (1) Immorality of the people; (2) Breakdown of law and ,order; (3) Denying of a God entity;

({) Financial irresponsibility of the government; (5) Polarization of the population.

When these five forces have been present, every preceding civilization has toppled. No wonder Dr. Wilson brought tears to our eyes . . . It is time to become involved to stand up and be counted for what we believe in . . . if we want the United States of America for our youngsters!

Elected to WBMA's 40-Year Club and recognized "in absentia" were E. E. LeValley, Bellingham, 'Wa., past president of WBMA and W. A. Cochrane, Millwork Supply Co., Seattle.

An unusually high percentage of board members met during the annual meeting with the following highlights:

(1) Developed for submission to NLBMDA the problems faced by dealers as a result of forest product