May ro. 1922 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



21 



Fish Explains Sales Code to Wholesalers 



That the proposed Sales Code of the National Hardwood Lumber 

 Assofiatiou is being formulated upon practical and wholly en- 

 lightened conceptions of the requirements of such a document and 

 that the experience of the best minds in the hardwood lumber 

 producing and consuming industries is being brought to bear upon 

 it, was revealed by Frank F. Fish, secretary-treasurer of the Na- 

 tional Hardwood Lumber Association, who addressed the quarterly 

 meeting of the Northern Wholesale Hardwood Lumber Association 

 on this topic at the Athletic Club in Milwaukee, Wis., on May 12. 

 Some of the wholesalers present at the meeting may have been 

 ''on the fence" in regard to the proposed Code before Mr. Pish 

 spoke, but after he had revealed the brand of wisdom that 

 the Code will incorporate, it is doubtful if there was a man 

 among his auditors who had not become a staunch advocate of the 

 Code. The men who, under the leadership of Earl Palmer of Mem- 

 phis, are building this Code, are working upon the conception that 

 a hardwood sales code, to be successful, must be so equitable as to 

 equally safeguard the interests of seller and buyer and to provide 

 means of enforcement not only upon the seller, but upon the buyer. 

 The fatal weakness of all other proposed hardwood sales codes has 

 been, Mr. Fish explained, that they provided only for disciplining 

 of offending lumbermen, and did not sutficiently provide for equity. 

 The code which will be presented at the twenty-fifth annual meet- 

 ing of the National Hardwood Lumber Association in Chicago in 

 June will be so framed that it will operate to "discipline the con- 

 sumer of our product through his own organization. ' ' 



This is the distinguishing feature of the proposal which will be 

 presented in June. "The Sales Code committee feels that differ- 

 ences might be arbitrated between members of the National Hard- 

 wood Lumber Association and members of consumers' associations, 

 and will try to bring this about, ' ' Mr. Fish explained. The plan is 

 to come to an agreement with the National Council of Furniture 

 Associations, and other associations representing consumer groups, 

 for inter-association arbitration of differences that arise between 

 buyer and sellers on the basis of the Sales Code. It is conceived 

 that the secretary of the National Hardwood Lumber Association 

 and the secretary of the association to which the buyer belongs 

 will act as arbiters. These two men will consider the ease and 

 render a decision and will then through the power of their respec- 

 tive associations enforce the decree upon the disputants. The at- 

 tempt of either party to the dispute to act unfairly and in a recalci- 

 trant manner will result in his suspension or expulsion from his 

 association. 



It is easy to understand that such a code will function and that 

 it will command the respect and adherence of the best elements 

 of the hardwood and consuming groups. 



Code Charts Established Customs 

 Mr. Fish made it plain that the code is "no new thing." That is 

 to say, that it will not undertake to arbitrarily set up a set of 

 rules and regulations for the buying and selling of hardwood lum- 

 ber; but will merely define, in unequivocal terms, the established 

 customs of the trade. This was stated in the tentative preamble 

 to the proposed code, which Mr. Fish read to the meeting. 



This preamble further said that the code will undertake to estab- 

 lish a uniform practice in the sale and purchase of hardwood lum- 

 ber; provide for settlements of disputes; establish the principle 

 of the inviolability of contracts and the theory of "substantial 

 performance." 



The fact that there is much more than a casual need for such a 

 code was shown by Mr. Fish when he spoke of the Universal Sales 

 Act. "That act has got dynamite in it for the lumberman; it is 

 poison!" Mr. Fish said. Under its radical provisions a buyer may 

 reject, if he is disposed to be so arbitrary, an entire shipment, if but 



one board in that shipment fails to measure up to specifications. 

 "But the courts will recognize established customs of a trade," 

 Mr. Fish said, "when they are interpreted and sustained by a Code 

 such as the National Hardwood Lumber Association proposes to 

 set up." He then cited judicial decisions which confirm concretely 

 the disposition of the courts to rule in this way. "The Sales Code 

 will invoke the rule of reason," Mr. Fish said. 



Another thing that Mr. Fish made clear is that the Code which 

 will be presented to the members of the National will not follow 

 the outline nor be based upon the "Memphis Code." It will repre- 

 sent entirely new and independent investigation and conclusions. 

 It will have been built from the ground up. 



In the effort to compile recommendations for the new Code the 

 consumers have been consulted as extensively as have the sellers; 

 they have evinced a great deal of interest, and the recommenda- 

 tions will be the result of their thoughts just as much as they will 

 the thoughts of sellers. 



Mr. Fish mentioned the Sales Codes conference which will be 

 held at the Drake Hotel, Chicago, on June 21, the day prior to 

 the opening of the National's convention. He invited the whole- 

 salers to send representatives to this meeting and T. T. Jones, 

 president of the Northern Wholesale Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion, accepted the invitation, naming A. L. Euth of the G. W. 

 Jones Lumber Co., Chicago, and Geo. D. Griffith, the Geo. D. Grif- 

 fith Lumber Co., Chicago, to represent the committee, together 

 with himself and J. H. Hayden, secretary of the association. 



In addition to his exposition of the Sales Code, Mr. Fish paid a 

 tribute to the wholesale element of the hardwood trade, defending 

 the lumber wholesaler against the aspersions that have recently 

 been east upon him by certain of the manufacturers in connection 

 with the current grade marking and tally counting movement, 

 and on other occasions. Mr. Fish declared that in his long expe- 

 rience in lumber association work, extending over a quarter cen- 

 tury, he had found that the wholesaler assayed about as high a 

 percentage of "pure gold" and about as little "dross" as any 

 other element of the trade. "I have found the wholesaler always 

 ready," he said, "to relinquish his private advantage to the good 

 of the majority in the interest of harmony in the trade." 



The meeting was presided over by President Jones with his 

 characteristic vigor. 



Lower Grade Problem Analyzed 



The other outstanding feature of the meeting was a report of a 

 study of the problem of marketing the lower grades of hardwood 

 lumber. This report was delivered by G. A.' Vangsness of the G. A. 

 Vangsness Lumber Co. of Chicago, who headed a committee com- 

 prising, besides himself, H. S. Walker and R. J. Clark of Chicago, 

 which was named by Mr. Jones at the annual meeting of the asso- 

 ciation in January. The report follows: 



At our last meeting your president appointed a committee of three 

 to investigate the advisability of instituting a campaign to educate 

 the consumer to use lower grade lumber. This seemed necessary as 

 the supply of high grade lumber is rapidly being depleted, and the 

 supply of lower grades is greatly in excess of the demand. 



The last report (January 1, 1922) of our own membership showed 

 stock on hand 65,000,000 feet. The following percentage of grades: 

 Firsts & Seconds, 13%; No. 1 and Select. 24%; No. 2 Common, 23% 

 No. 3 Common, 40%, with Firsts & Second in fair demand: the other 

 grades very slow. 



Your committee and its chairman upon making a personal survey 

 in the trim or sash and door industry, and the furniture industry, find 

 the following conditions: The trade is almost unanimous in their 

 stand that we take the initiative by equipping our mills to work up 

 our lumber to sizes used by them, and in that way eliminate nearly 

 all waste and save millions of dollars annually on freight charges 

 alone. The greatest objection we find to this is the lack of standard- 

 ization in all lines where wood is used, and our belief is that if a 

 (.Continued on page 23) 



