Building Moteriol Disrribulors Hold Biggest Convention

A 94% membership attendance, with total registration up almost 3ofti fuom last year's meeting, brought together 348 building material wholesale distributors and manufacturers' representatives at the two-day annual meeting of the National Building Material Distributors Association, held at the Sheraton hotel in Chicago, November 14 and 15. Building material distributors from 32 states were present, and 53 wives of members in attendance enjoyed the special program planned for them.

R. R. Maylone, president, stated that this was, by far, the best attendance and most interesting business program yet developed by NBMDA.

Clyde E. Rapp, discussing "Is the Building Material Distributor Using National Advertising Effectively?" stated that of the fifty million dwelling units now in the United States, 20/o are comparatively new and in good condition70/a need repair and improvement to bring them up to modern living standards.

He pointed out to the group that the home improvement repair and alteration market today is estimated at between 10 and 12 billion dollars annually-a little more than half of n'hat is needed to keep our housing up to normal living standards.

Indicating that the distributor laces a new challenge in helping the retail dealer capitalize on this home improvement market with qu4lity lines of nationally advertised products-it was Rapp's opinion that the building material wholesale distributor is one step closer to the consumer than the manufacturer of the goods he supplies and, therefore, the wholesale distributor is in a much better position than the manufacturer to infuence the retail dealer sales.

Congressman Noah M. Mason, (R. Ill.) rvho followed Mr. Rapp on the first day's program, told the audience that there should be written into our basic laws a limitation on tax rates beyond rvhich tl-re government would be forbidden to enter except in time of war. A top rate of from 25 to 35/o, properly applied, would bring in more than 50 billion dollars a year and that, Mr. Mason declared, is "a sum much greater than any sum ever collected by the federal government up until 1952, three years ago."

Mason also proposed changes in the present tax laws which would bring about tax equality among business competitors. "Corporations now pay 52/o of their earnings in

Freemqn on NBMDA Boord

R. E. (Dick) Freeman of So-Cal Building Materials Co., Los Angeles, rvas elected to a 3-year term on the NBMDA board of directors as a west coast representative at the recent meeting. Another Southern Californian, I. Stark Sowers, Inland Lumber Company, Bloomington and Anaheim, served as a panel memlter on one of the convention sessions. Other Californians at the meeting were J. W. Booth, also of Inland; Raymond Haley, Haley Wholesale, Santa Barbara, and John D. Scouller, president of So-Cal Building Materials Co.

income tax. Savings and loan associations; co-operatives ; credit unions, other mutuals, and government-orvned businesses are privileged, by larv, to pay little or no income tax, though their earnings are very large. Taxation of these groups, on the same basis as the companies with which they compete, would bring in a billion and one-half dollars of new revenue," the Congressman stated.

"Congress has the right to tax co-operatives and the other tax-dodging businesses," he concluded. "The question now is, does Congress have the courage to do so?"

The final morning speaker, Dr. George Cline Smith, economist for the F, W. Dodge Corporation, told the distributors that the year 1956 has an excellent chance of setting further new records for construction.

Retail Lumber Dealer Survey

Closing the morning session, T. F. Bright, advertising manager of The Saturday Evening Post, revier.ved the exhaustive survey his magazine had made at the retail lumber dealer level. He observed that a growing trend was developing among retail lumber dealers torvards becoming better merchants by expanding their lines and using creative selling and merchandising techniques.

An afternoon session lvas devoted to a panel discussion moderated by President R. R. Maylone on "Current Trends in Distribution." Manufacturers represented on the panel included G. C. Stone, Pres., Independent Nail & Packing Co., Bridgewater, Mass., and W. J. Ritchie, Gen. Sales Mgr., Western Div., Evans Products Co., Plymouth, Mich. Building material wholesale distributors participating in-