22 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



May 25, 1922 



The new idea of the value of inter-association eo-operation be- 

 tween sellers and buyers, which has developed in connection with 

 the sales code study which the National Hardwood Lumber Asso- 

 ciation has been making for the last eleven months, was introduced 

 to the Lumber Group of the National Association of Purchasing 

 Agents at the annual convention of the association in Rochester, 

 N. Y., on May 17, by Earl Palmer of the Ferguson & Palmer Com- 

 pany of Memphis, chairman of the Sales Code Committee of the 

 National hardwood body. 



The title of Mr. Palmer's address was "Associate Co-operation" 

 and he explained that while "the novelty of association effort as 

 between individuals has long since passed .... we are now ap- 

 proaching a still more comprehensive stage of combination, which 

 involves the co-operation of trade organizations, one with the 

 other, for the purpose of promoting more effectively those purposes 

 in which the memberships of the participating organizations pos- 

 sess common interests. There are interests which can be served 

 better by such combinations than by one organization operating 

 independently, just as there are interests which can be served bet- 

 ter by an association than by an individual. Of course, the inter- 

 ests which can be served by inter-association effort are, as a rule, 

 more general in nature, but perhaps not of less importance than 

 those of intra-association concern." 



Specifically Mr. Palmer had in mind the proposal to seek the 

 co-operation of hardwood buyers' associations in enforcing the 

 Hardwood Sales Code, should one be adopted at the annual con- 

 vention of the National Hardwood Lumber Association in Chicago 

 on June 22 and 23. "When such an extended combination of ef- 

 fort is proposed," he said, "it is only logical first to establish the 

 existence of a common denominator of mutual interest, which may 

 possibly be served by the extension of associate co-operation. I 

 believe that the cause which I shall now present to you consti- 

 tutes such a denominator between the National Association of 

 Purchasing Agents and the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion, and, when I have completed its presentation, I trust that the 

 members of this Lumber Group will join me in that belief. 



Buyers Asked to Support Code 



The proposition is for the establishment of a general hardwood lum- 

 ber sales code upon which the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion has been at work for the past eleven months, with the hope of 

 finally and successfully concluding that work at its annual meeting 

 to be held in Chicago next month. The proposed sales code is not to 

 be promulgated in a spirit of selfishness, but in the interest of the 

 general hardwood lumber trade, including, as it must, not only the 

 manufacturer and the distributor of hardwood lumber, but the whole- 

 sale consumer as well; and it is to this last interest which I assume 

 is largely represented at this meeting, that I now appeal for as- 

 sistance and support in the work. 



The general purposes of the code may briefly be stated to be: 



1 — To establish uniform practices in the conduct of transactions 

 involving the sale and purchase of hardwood lumber by defining in 

 plain and unequivocal terms the approved customs and usages of the 

 trade under which such transactions are conducted. 



2 — To remove contradictions when existing between customs and to 

 supply reasonable regulations to cover elements of transactions that 

 are not already covered by established customs. 



3 — To provide intelligent, practical, and responsive means for the 

 settlement of disputes arising between sellers and buyers of hard- 

 wood lumber without recourse to anno>'ing and expensive litigation. 



That is all that is being undertaken. It is a simple program, but 

 it cannot be carried into immediate effect without the co-operation 

 and support of all the interests involved. The National Hardwood 

 Lumber Association believes that the undertaking possesses a suf- 

 ficient degree of general interest to justify its prosecution along the 

 lines of associate co-operation, and, to that end, a number of trade 

 organizations, the members of which are interested in the purchase 

 and consumption of hardwood lumber, have been solicited to join in 

 the work, and the responses to those solicitations have been surpris- 

 ingly spontaneous and hearty. 



No detailed sales code has as yet been prepared by the National 

 Hardwood Lumber Association. It is proposed to defer the work of 

 drafting a code until a delegated meeting assembles for that purpose 

 in Chicago at the Drake Hotel on June 21. The delegates to that 

 meeting will be appointed by the interested trade organizations which 

 they are to represent. The number from each organization should not 

 be more than five nor less than three. The real underlying purpose of 

 this address is to enlist the support and co-operation of the Na- 

 tional Association of P-urchasing Agents in this undertaking. 



I trust that I have made it plain to you that in its membership, in 

 its objects, and in its achievements the National Hardwood Lumber 

 .\ssociation is a worthy coadjutor in any line of general endeavor hav- 

 ing for its purpose the betterment of conditions in our business life. 



Mr. Palmer then asked that the purchasing agents "join hands 

 with us on this sales code proposition by appointing a committee 

 to confer with us at our meeting in Chicago on .June 21." 



Development of Associate Co-operation 



At the outset of his address Mr. Palmer reviewed the develop- 

 ment during the last twenty-five years of the trade association 

 idea, or movement, wherein it gradually superseded the strictly 

 individualistic sentiment in business, which Mr. Palmer said was 

 expressed by the well know maxim, " 'every man for himself and 

 the devil take the hindmost.' " "But the idea (Associate Co- 

 operation) gradually gained ascendency that in trade, as well as in 

 other phases of human existence, man did not live unto himself 

 alone; that there were common interests to be served which could 

 better be promoted by organized effort than by individual en- 

 deavor; and since that idea has become firmly rooted in the minds 

 of business men such great progress has been made in organiz- 

 ing business into trade associations that today no important in- 

 dustry is without its trade organization," he explained. He added, 

 that, in fact, there has been so much associate co-operation among 

 the industries that they have been "threatened with the danger 

 of over-organization." 



In connection with this part of his subject Mr. Palmer gave a 

 history of the National Hardwood Lumber Association and its 

 service, through its Inspection Rules, to the hardwood industry 

 and the multitudinous users of hardwoods. He spoke of the chaos 

 which prevailed twenty-five years ago when there was no single 

 supreme standard for grading and measuring hardwood lumber; 

 and expressed great satisfaction that "today there is but one 

 standard of hardwood inspection, which is expressed by the rules 



of the National Hardwood Lumber Association The 



stability of those rules as they exist at the present time is ab- 

 solutely assured," he added. 



In the administration of these rules, the lumber buyers were re- 

 minded, "the Association guarantees the quality of its service, 



not by fair words, but by a substantial bank balance The 



Association meets all just demands, arising from erroneous inspec- 

 tion with cash payments instead of regretful apologies." These 

 are facts you are not likely to forget and facts which merit the 

 careful consideration of all buyers of hardwood lumber. 

 The National's Achievements 



The notable success of the National Hardwood Lumber Associa- 

 tion in building up a membership of 1,4,'34 individuals, firms, and 

 corporations, engaged either in the production or distribution, in 

 a. wholesale manner, of hardwood lumber, was related by Mr. Pal- 

 mer. The association has maintained "throughout the years, with- 

 out internal misunderstanding or conflict, "the composite quality 

 of its membership," he said, "because that membership believes 

 that there is a community of interest existing between the manu- 

 facturers of lumber and the wholesalers of lumber, which can well 

 be served by common effort and the results attained from the op- 

 eration of the association have amply justified that belief. 



It is idle to deny that a distinct line of cleavage exists between the 

 process of producing a given commodity and the process of distribut- 



