]IHtr SOUTHLAND

By WAYNE GARDNER executive vice president

IVOMEN mature and become beautiful, men become seasoned veterans, whiskey mellows, coins and stamps become collectors' items, furniture becomes antiqueand a magazine becomes an institution, especial- ly in this day of a vacillating public and advanced media concepts,

And so it is with The Mercllant, as we now know it. With this issue ?De Merchant celebrates FIFTY YEARS of keeping the lumber and building materials industry informed about what is happening.

Looking around, there can be found only a few companies that were in business when the first issue of The Merchant came off the press ih July of 1922-few other magazines can match this. Change is inevitable! tious, deliberate efforts to bring problem areas within their plants into compliance with OSHA. Others have good intentions but continue to procrastinate; to these the old saw "it is later than you think" might serve as a warning. The law offers no alternative to compliance.

The editors and publishers have always been a part of the industry, with a healthy concern for improvement, as reflected in their editorial policy.

As the industry changed, so did the magazine. Readers of long standing will remember when it was The California Lumber Merchant. As the product mix of the industry changed to accommodate the consumer, the advertising content and the editorial nature of the publication changed, to better reflect present day needs.

We may not agree that it is good law, and, judging by the current flurry to get on record in Congress with modifying or amending legisla- tion, it is apparent that there are Congressional second-thoughts about the act as good legislation, good reasoning or good politics. We believe the law can and should provide adequate assurance of job-safety without providing opportunity for punitive policing, authorized harassment or arbitrary dictation by regimented enforcers.

If you have not addressed yourself to your Congressman with suggestions to make this a more reasonable, applicable law, may we suggest again that "it is later than you think."

Recognizing something that was an integral part of yesterday, as well as today, and therefore not changing it, the present editor still devotes a lot of column spaee to the "Personals." This has always been a favorite of every reader. Nothing thrills the average person more than hearing his name pronounced correctly, or seeing it in print, spelled correctly, and in the latter category The Merchant is almost infallible.

The articles on nevr' operations, as well as old, reflect in-depth reporting and are well balanced with photographs and written material.

It can truly be saidThe Merchant Magazine fowd its niche in the industry and has represented and reported on it most fairly for the past FIFTY YEARS!

The Lumber Association of Southern California is honored to have space in each issue and does sineerely wish for the editor and publishercontinued success for at least another FIFTY YEARS!