National Annual Awards for Lumber Programs

For outstanding service to the commur-rity and the industry, through their public relations programs the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association, \\rashington, D. C., is sponsoring the presentation of annual an'ards to lumber and building material dealers. The follo'iving rules for the contest harre been announced;

Purpose of Awards in Field of Public Relations

(a) To focus public attention upon the outstanding services.performed bv luml>er and building material dealers through their public relations programs. \\/inners of such arvards l'ill be the subject of local newspaper articles, national ne\\'spaper articles, national magazine articles and trade press articles.

(b) To focus attention of allied building industry groups upon the practical public relations being performed by tl-re distributors in local communities and by example to encourage manufactttrer-builder-contractor participation in such local campaigns.

(c) To provide dealers n-ith good practical examples of public relations; to point out some of the means of developing an active and effective public relations program in their orvn localities.

No one can escape public opinion. The state of your public relations is either good or bad. Good public relations consists of accluainting the general public n'ith the true facts and correct information abottt your business; creating favorable opinion and ready acceptance of your organization and industry.

A single act, depending upon the viervpoint, can be construed in different u'ays. (For example, a man hitting his 'lvife on the back because she is choking might be said to be beating his n'ife by a casual observer.)

How Yard Public Relations Programs Are Entered

Public relations programs of lumber and building material yards can be entered in three \\rays :

1. A yard rvith a public relations program can send its entry, including photographs, documents (advertising, publicity, sample letters, etc.), the storl'of the purpose of the promotion, methods used and hon. thel' t'orked, clirectly to the Director of Public Relations, National Retail Lumber Dealers Association.

2. The Editor of any Trade Journal in the field may stimulate the entry of any dealer's program r,vithin his kno'ivledge, or rvhich he has published during the period between NRI-DA Annual I\Ieetings, or n'hich he plans to publish.

3. The staffs of any Federated Associations may submit entries of yards in their own areas tvhich they belier.e from their experience and first-hand knon'ledge are n.orthy of prize-u'inning arvards in the public relations field.

Prize-rvinning entries ltecome the property of the NRLDA, but as far as is practicable, these entries u.ill be made available for Association meetings, to the Trade Press, ancl to other gatherings, through the Director of Public Relations.

The stories of the prize rvinners rvill be made available to all elements of the press.

Awards Will Be Given in fihese Classes

There u.ill be seven classes of entries and one plaque rvill be an'arded in each class. The first five classificatious are based upon population figures found in the RandMcNally Atlas. All entries should be made for a single specific location or torvn.

Class No. l-Yards in tou'ns tvith populations of under 1,000.

Class No. 2-Yards in torvns rvith populations of 1,000 to 5,000.

Class No. 3-Yards in torvns with populations of 5,000 to 50,000.

Class No. 4-Yards in towns rvith populations of 50,000 to 100,000.

Class No. S-Yards in torvns with populations of over 100.000.

Class No. 6-Dealer group public relations programs.

All entries except dealer group entries will be made under the appropriate class indicated from Class No. I tcr Class No. 5.

The group classification \\ras created to highlight public relations programs jointly sponsored by several lumber companies in a single tou'n. I\fanv institntional advertising, publicity, and model home campaigns have been successfully carried out through group endeavors.

. Special fndustry Engineered Homes Award

A special Industry Engineered Homes Ar,vard will be made:

(a) A1l entries in the six classes above which include the construction of an IE Home as part of the public relations program rvill be automaticalll' entered and judged separately for the IE Home Arvard, rvhether or not such an entry has already received an arvard in one of the six classes above.

(b) Any organization can submit its IE Home Program carried out in the community as an entry to be judged for this special IE Homes A.ivard.

Judges

The atvards l'ill be made and prese-nted each year at the Annual Meeting of the National, beginning with 1948. The judges for 1948 u'ill be the editors of the nine trade journals listed belorv :

Ed Gavin, American Builder; Art Hood, American Lumberman i Jack Parshall, Building Supply News; Walt Grinols, Mississippi Valley Lumberman; Bill Parsons, Southern Lumber Journal; Stanley Horn, Southern Lumberman ; Donald Moore, Southern Bldg. Supplies; Jack Dionne, The California Lumber Merchant, and The Gulf Coast Lumberman; Charles Hestwood, Retail Lumberman, Dexter Johnson, Western Building.

Preparation of Entries

One copy of the manuscript explaining the problem, the solution, and proof of effectiveness of the public relations program must be sent to the NRLDA office at least 25 days before the opening of the National Meeting. In the case of 1948, this means that manuscripts will have to be at the NRLDA office, 302 Ring Building, Wasl-rington, D. C., by October 15.

Only one exhibit of photographs, documents, advertising, displays, etc., used in a yard's public relations program need be prepared and the rvinning entries will be on display at the NRLDA Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida,

The actual judging of manuscripts rvill ,take place in Washington, D. C., approximately two weeks before the Annual Meeting, and the u'inners of awards will be notified so they can be present to receive the awards in person at the Annual Meeting before the Board of Directors.

Entries, of course, n'ill be grouped into appropriate classes. A1l, entries shall bear a clear designation of the organization that prepared them.

PAB Line Asks Subsidy On South American Shipping '11

San Francisco, August 3. Pope & Talbot, Inc., has submitted to the X{aritime Commission in Washington, D. C., its final brief supporting the parity subsidy application of its subsidiary, Pacific Argentine Brazil Line, which operates large C-3 type vessels from Pacific Coast Ports to the East Coast of South America.

The Pacific Argentine Brazil Line is the pioneer shipping line in this route, originally established in 1926 by Pope & Talbot. For the 14 years prior to World War II, the P A B Line handled over two million and a quarter tons of southboirnd and northbound cargo. This year it is estimated that the total outbound movement from Pacific Coast Ports rvill reach approximately 600,000 tons of freight rvith over 850,000 tons forecast tor 1949. The basic reason for this high tonnage shows that the West Coast, because of its tremendous industrialization during and since the 'war, is now in a position to compete with the East Coast in, supplying types of merchandise required by South America. The P A B Line served 285 shippers in 1939 and today has 580 shippers, which reflects .itself as keeping in step rvith the 4O/a increase of population in the last seven years in the states of Oregon, Washington and California and its now 14 million people.

According to Executive Vice President Chas. L. Wheeler, the parity subsidy, asked for by the Pacific Argentine Brazil Line, is allowed by our government as an offset to lorver operating costs enjoyed by foreign lines and is.the only way that our merchant marine can carry on against foreign competition. Four foreign-flag lines also operate on this route.

"The issue before the commission," says Mr. Wheeler, "may u'ell reduce itself to whether the P A B Line should be driven out of the route by denial of the parity subsidy support, the result of which would almost certainly guarantee the increase and firm establishment of foreign-flag operation and rveaken the American Merchant Marine.,'

Mcy Build Plywood Plcrnt

The Lloyd Corporation, Ltd., quired much timber land in the Oregon, and are considering the rvood plant in that territory.

of Los Angeles, has acRogue River region of future building of a ply-