PacificCoast Wholesale Hardwood Distributors Association

Holds 26th Annual Convention At Lake Tahoe

Bruce Mclean of General Hardr,vood Co., Tacorna, \vas elected president of the Pacific Coast Wholesale llardrvoo4 Distributors Association at the 26th annual meeting of the Association, held at Tahoe Tavern, Lake Tahoe, June 3C, and July 1-2.

Bob Sullivan, Sullivan Hard'ivood Lumber Co., Sa.n Diego, rvas elected vice president, and Lawrence B. Crrlter, J. Fyfe-Smith Co., Vancouver, B. C., was elected secretary-treasurer. Directors elected were Gordon Frost, Norman Sarvers, Bruce l\fossop, Ralph Mannion, Adolptr Wanke, and LeRoy Stanton, Jr.

President Don \\/hite, of White Brothers, San Francisco, ir-r his opening remarks at the Friday morning business session, greeted the delegates, and rvelcomed the nerv menrbers, Norman Davidson, Jr., Jack Davidson, and Chandler' Hart of the Davidson Plyrvood & I-umber Co., Los Angeles, and \\rayne Ran'lings, of Harbor Plyrvood Corp. of California, Sarr Francisco. He thanked Secretary-Treasnrer Don Braley for his fine u'ork during the year, alrrl also the menrbers of the various committees on arrangcments.

L.r outlining the activities of the Association the presiclent said : "Throughout the past year the Association has organized dnd conducted a hardwood inspection course, rvith sessions in Los Angeles and San Francisco. It has also been in correspcndence rvith Mr. Cispert of the Associatecl Steamship Lines in an attempt to get freigirt rates reduced on lumber from the Philippines, following up the resolution passed at the last convention protesting the l5 per cent freight increase. These and some personel missionary rvork in the lr,ay of lectures. and a conference cn the Philippine freight rate siuation are highlights oi our pre-convention activity."

The minutes of the last annual meeting rvere read li-r,' Secretary-Treastlrer Don Braley, and the following conrmittees rvere appointed b1' the president :

Nomir.rationDallas Donnan, chairman; Ralph Mannion, B. \\r. Byrne, Sr.

Resolutions-Frarrk I. Connollv. chairrnan, Jim Davis. Dallas Donnan.

Nlembership-Ralph l\{annion, chairnran ; Lawrence Cr-rlter, LeRcy Stanton, Jr.

Golf-\\rayne Rarvlings, chairman; Ed Cryer, Hal Von Breton.

Publicity-Bruce N{clean and Don Braley.

Reports on the business situation in the various districts up and dorvn the Pacific Coast rvere given by E. G. Reel. Los Angeles; P. R. (Bob) Kahn, San Francisco; Alex Gordon, Berkeley; Bruce Mclean, Tacoma; Adolph Wairke, Portland; Dallas Donnan, Seattle, and Lawrence Culter, Vanccuver. Mr. Culter, rvho had recently returned from a business trip to Australia, reported on conditiorrs ir-r that country, which are not good.

Jack Davidson, Los Angeles, reported on conditions the fir and hardwood olywood business.

Wayne Rar.vlings, San Francisco, in discussing the plyrvood situation there remarked that "price cutting doesn't bring new business, and it cuts profits."

Frank J. Connolly, Los Angeles, speaking on the Philippine hardu'ood situation, said there has been a great change since last year with the embargo now entirely lifted. Grades shipped are on the high end of grade. Prr''duction is 2l million feet per day, and there are 383 circular sawmills rn'orking, with the result that inventory is becoming top-heavy, and prices trending downwards. Country yards are stocking and selling Philippine, and ii th'e effort is made even the small yards can be sold.

Keith McLellan, San Francisco, led a discussion on fire prevention and fire insurance, and told some of the things about insurance that his firm, White Brothers, had learnerl follorving the fire at their Oakland yard. Bob Kahn and LeRoy Stanton, Jr. joined in the discussion.

Saturday Session

President Don White presided. He called for discussi<,r,, on the handling of credits. Keith Mclellan and Bob Kahn for the San Francisco area. E. G. Reel and Hal Von Breton told hcrv credits are handled in the Los Angeles district.

Frank Connolly told of the proposed three or four-hour lecture by the National Hardrvood Distributing Yards Association, rn'hich offered to stand part of the expense of adding the lecture to the course of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association. Don White and Hal Von Breton spoke of the good results from the course given bv Inspector Sr,vartzbaugh of the National Hardwood Lumber Association in Los Angeles and San Francisco last year.

A resolution was adopted to the effect "that this convention supports educational activities that might be entered ir-rto by the International Order of Hoo-Hoo, and the activities along this line that might be sponsored by the Nzrtional Wholesale Distributing Yards Asscciation.

Follon'ing a discussion on the kiln drying of hardvvoo<i lumber a resolution rvas passed authorizing the Association to take up rvith the National Wholesale Distributing Yard Association the matter of the responsibility of the dry kiln operator in the drying of hardwood lumber.

Jas. B. Overcast rvas in charge of entertainment for the ladies as chairman of the ladies' committee.

The annual bancluet r,vas held on Saturday evening. Dancing was enjoyed during dinner. Miss Alice Wanke rvas declared "Nfiss Hardwood of the Pacific Coast" for 1949. Chairman Jim Overcast in behalf of the ladies' entertainment ccmmittee presented gifts to Mrs. Don White and Mrs. Don Braley, and arvarded the Door Prize to Mrs. Nelson Jones.

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* *-l.t"ral

The above, which was part of a letter written by our magnificent war leader to a member of Congress, was more than a bombshell in the ranks of the "let the government do it" gang in Washington; it rvas an atom bomb that hit dead center.

And in THIS ."". o.,] J."L.rr. did not take refuge in his frequent expression about a "red herring." Eisenhower isn't exactly a red herring type of man. Mr. Truman kept mum, which showed a lot of wisdom. Of course here and there a human minnow struck out at this American whale, but they made no impression.

Senator Morse, "r or.Jr",-*io t ". a lot of trouble deciding whether he is a Democrat, a Republican, a New Dealer, a Fair Dealer, a Mugwump, or just a political decimal point, got up and jumped all over General fke. There were no scars discernable on the General's hide when the jumping was over. A few other small fry did likewise. But as a rule they let him alone. FIe wasn't fooling with minnows, as the old saying goes; he was out after whales'

Another bomb of atom size dropped on the socialistic thinking coterie when another of our most distinguished and respected Americans said about the same thing that General Ike did. This was James F. Byrnes, former Secretary of State, former Assistant President, former Supreme Court member, and one of our fundamental Democrats. With characteristic frankness that has always marked this man, Mr. Byrnes spoke his mind freely on the subject of President Truman's legislative program, and he made the headlines in even bigger type on all front pages than even Eisenhower's remarks.

FIe was speaking p.ruriJy l Jv""rri"gton and Lee graduating exercises, and he made a timely and effective argument against unrestrained federal spending. He said that the several projects advocated by the administration would, if made into law, tend to "make galley slaves" of every American citizen. He thought that if Congress should continue to expand federal activities in the direc- tions demanded by the President, the government will eventually become the sole employer, and we will all be working, directly or indirectly for Uncle Sam. He thought that common sense and ordinary prudence should counsel marking time on projects involving immense outlays of fresh currency at this time, regardless of their merit, even if no questions of regimentation or extension of state control over the affairs of the individual were involved.

We may judge how serious Mr. Byrnes considers the situation when he used the words "galley slaves.". Because "them's fighting words." He did not feel that way any more seriously than does the average thinking American, but what the average man says to his friends and neighbors is one thing, but what Jimmy Byrnes says publicly to the American nation is something else again. Every man I know has been saying privately just exactlyprobably more profanely-what Byrnes said; which made his remarks all the more popular.

*tr<a

As a matter of fact Congress, under pressure from the thinking people of this nation, has been very busy of late trying to keep Harry Truman from hanging a real depression on this country. The other day Congress killed his effort to repeal the Taft-Hartley law and put back into power the damnable old Wagner Act. I believe as I believe in the goodness of Providence that had Congress done as he asked, the recession we are now wading through would have become a major depression overnight. fforv can anyone doubt it? Is there, do you suppose, an employer in all this nation who would willingly operate a business or an industry under the Wagner Act? And what do you have when employers are unwilling to employ and investors are unwilling to invest?

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The day after election last November, the stock market took a nose dive and has been giving a splendid characterization of a sick cat ever since. Can there be any doubt why? Mr. Truman had made promises of what he would do if elected, and he is known to be a stubborn man. So, said the investing and employing elements of this nation, if we are to have the Wagner Act, higher taxes, higher payroll deductions, higher gifts to farmers, tremendous increases in government expense for social and other purposes, civil rights with a threatened black-and-tan replacement of white population, and the invasion of individual rights in a thousand directions by federal government; if these and other unpleasant things are to be thrust upon us, then things don't look so good.

Right then things "t"ria t. l"*. I don't believe busi- ness today would be any worse than it was a year ago had it not been for the varied threats of Truman legislation. I have been saying that same thing with the small voice of this column, and many others have also. But when a couple of giants like Eisenhower and Byrnes, men of conspicuous position and power and with no axes to grind, join the chorus in public fashion, it makes us little folks feel good. It makes strong our good resolves, as some smart guy once said.

General Ike made an.*r.l.ri.s quoted at the beginning of this piece while arguing against proposed federal aidto-education legislation on the grounds that, no matter what safeguards might be attempted, education in this country r;vould be forced to become just another vehicle by which the believers in socialism would gain additional power for an already too-powerful government. Governor' Alfred E. Driscoll, of New Jersey, told a Congressional Committee that: "We are losing self-government in America, and destroying our federal system by the continued expansion of a pernicious system of so-called grants-in-aid." At the same hearing Governor Driscoll offered to cite FIFTY EXAMPLES of waste and incompetence in the handling of federal funds.

'k**

A business man of size and respectability said about the same thing the other day in addressing a national business convention. He is M. E. Coyle, executive vice president of General Motors Corporation. He attacked government in business, and present government efforts to get much farther into business. He said: "The government isn't smart enough to run our business. Its leaders can't run our government intelligently."

:t<** mail received from their home folks by members of Congress of late, and basing its opinion on the letters Congressmen get, reports as follows: "Letter writers say: Cut the cost of government. Avoid tax boosts. Do nothing to unsettle business which is already having troubles. Pressure mail is discounted but Congressmen heed letters from home. These letters, on the conservative side now, are slowing the Truman program."

Bill Henry made a brief appraisal of Congress the other day in one of his columns. He is a nationally known writer and radio commentator, and Washington representative of the Los Angeles Times. He wrote: "We've got some show-offs and some mountebanks' some complete phonies and some narrow-minded bigots, and SOME VERY FINE STATESMANLIKE PEOPLE. WC'VC got some people who would sell their mothers for a dime, too. And we've got blue-bloods."

Business has noticeJ oian* ,na.rest and satisfaction lately a trend that may prove very helpful in handling the present slack business situation. AFL has called on its locals and members to try and help the business situation by increasing the output per man-hour. Nothing like that has been heard before in a long time. AFL definitely links higher wages with greater productivity. It tells its members that workers must help make their employing unit more efiEcient, and reminds them that in many cases the only way men can make more money is to create more goods. Many specific reports from the building industry in particular indicate a definite and considerable increasi in the efficiency of construction workers.

A Hollywoodian was .lrri* lo d.""riu. the dumbness of a movie queen who has been much in the headlines of late. He said: "You meet her, and she says 'Hello, how are you?' .And you answer, 'Fine, how are you?'. And then she's stuck for an answer."

ll2 Year OId brdian Chiel Helps Dedicate Logging Rcrilrocrd

When the 67 mile long logging railroad connecting N{cNary and Maverick, Arizona, was completed on June 18, a ceremony was held for the driving of the last spike. This honor was conferred on Tipah, an Apache tribal chief, who is 112 years old. Maverick, the railroad terminal, is in the very heart of the country where the Apache rn'ars occurred during the latter part of the nineteenth century, and is on the Apache Indian reservation. Chief Tipah was a soldier of the United States and served in the Seventh Cavalry under General Crook in the Indian wars of 1860 and 1870

Business Week Optimistic

The magazine "Business \Aleek," in reviewing the building industry so far this year, reports that home-building is still a boom all over this country, and predicts that 1949 will be the second-best year for postwar residential lrrrilding.

Yes, Sir, They Recd the C. L. M.

On May 3rd we sent you a release which you subsequently published, regarding the appointment of J. O. Parrish and Patrick H. Jackson as sales managers of The Diamond Match Company's commercial lumtrer operations in California and the Northrvest, respectively.

Ir-r the second and third paragraphs we referred to these men as managers instead of sales managers. This err<>r of ours has caused some confusion and rve have received a number of calls and letters from friends asking what the score is.

This has demonstrated two things: (1) You'r'e got a lot of readers, and (2) we should have been more careful in writing the announcement.

I'd deem it a great favor if you'd be good enough to correct the wrong impression created by our release, perhaps by publishing this letter.

c. E. o'coNNoR, JR., Special Assistant The Diamond Match Company. New York City.