36 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



-/ecember 



23. 1921 



time to devote to a secretaryship. He suggested M. Wulpi, com- 

 missioner of the Plywood association, as the kind of man that 

 should be employed. Mr. Wulpi, he said, was prepared to direct 

 the association affairs efficiently. 



As an example of how unsatisfactory the present arrangement 

 is, Ke pointed out that the National Veneer & Panel Manufac- 

 turers' Association had failed to subscribe its share to the adver- 

 tising fund, while on the other hand the Plywood association had 

 long ago financed its pro rata of the fund. 



Immediately after his short, convincing talk, J. T. Home of 

 Tuscaloosa, Ala., retiring president, who was in the chair, ap- 

 pointed the committee, which Mr. Kline heads. He named Mr. 

 Sale and H. J. Barnard of the Central Veneer Company, Indian- 

 apolis, Ind., as members of the committee to serve with Mr. Kline. 



The discussion of the publicity proposition took up a good part 

 of the afternoon session and was opened by G. O. Worland of the 

 Evansville Veneer Company, Evansville, Ind., chairman of the pub- 

 licity committee, who reported the completion of all the pre- 

 liminary work of the campaign and urged that the association 

 come forward with its share of the money in order that the work 

 might be carried forward. He urged the importance of taking 

 this action promptly, in order that the momentum gained by the 

 many columns of free publicity given by the various trade journals 

 in the veneer and plywood and allied industries might now be 

 capitalized. He also urged the necessity of prompt action from 

 the viewpoint of 1922 business, showing that a strong publicity 

 effort is necessary in order to insure a satisfactory volume of busi- 

 ness during the year. 



Clendenin Makes Stirring Report 

 Mr. Worland was followed by William Clendenin of the Conover- 

 Mooney Company, which has the contract to conduct the campaign. 

 Mr. Clendenin made a really inspiring report, which carried a 

 punch from beginnnig to end. He said that the preliminary work 

 had been completed with remarkable success and the greatest col- 

 lection of art and technical data ever brought together m sup- 

 port of a commercial product had been secured for use in the 

 campaign. The trade papers had aided magnificently, giving 

 column after column of space to finely illustrated articles. Other 

 journals had done the same and the industry had thus secured 

 publicity of incalculable value without cost. But, he said, the 

 stage had been reached where display advertising had to be used, 

 or the good effect of the preliminary work would be wasted. He 

 urged that the association members get together and prepare to 

 go on. "The time to start is now," he said. "You must stand up 

 for veneer and plywood and tell the public now." The men who 

 are handling the campaign are ready to show the public that the 

 finest furniture extant is veneered furniture, he said. They are 

 ready to begin with an offer to the public of a free booklet on 

 the classics of furniture, showing the classic value of veneer. 



He concluded by reading a letter from Printers' Ink, that great 

 journal of advertising, in which it was stated that the data secured 

 for use in the campaign was the finest the editors of that publica- 

 tion had ever seen. This letter was written to acknowledge receipt 

 of an illustrated article on the campaign, furnished by the Conover- 

 Mooney Company for publication in Printers' Ink. 



Mr. Mooney, president of the Conover-Mooney Company, fol- 

 lowed Mr. Clendenin with a brief and forceful appeal for immediate 

 action. 



When he had finished President Home arose and stated that 

 as he saw the situation there was no question of going on with 

 the campaign — that had been settled — the only thing left to be 

 determined was the matter of a method for raising the delinquent 

 funds. He found out from Mr. Worland that 285 letters urging 

 subscriptions to the campaign had been sent out to the members 

 and others, and that these had failed to bring any response from 

 the members, though outside organization, such as the Perkins 

 Clue Company, had contributed liberally. The Perkins Glue Com- 

 pany, he was told, had contributed $1,000. 



Will Win Traffic Case 



During the morning session C. B. Allen made a report for the 

 Traffic Committee on the fight for more favorable rates on veneers 

 and plywood, which is being conducted for the association by the 

 Southern Hardwood Traffic Association. His report covered the 

 hearing in Louisville November 21 to 25 before Examiner Cassidy 

 of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The witnesses for the 

 association, Mr. Allen said, conducted themselves admirably and 

 delivered some most effective testimony. The hearing was con- 

 tinued at the request of the association, because it was found that 

 the railroads were trying to close the case before all the witnesses 

 for the complainants could be heard. By lengthy cross-examina- 

 tion they held various witnesses on the stand so long as to preclude 

 the possibility of others being properly examined. The subsequent 

 hearing will be before the same examiner in Chicago. 



"As the case now stands," Mr. Allen said, "we are reasonably 

 sure of a favorable decision." There is no reason, he explained, 

 why a premium should be paid the railroads to haul figured veneer 

 and plywood when no other industry pays for the hauling of its 

 products by grades instead of weight. The carriers have merely 

 made "goats" out of the veneer and plywood manufacturers, 

 because they had not been properly organized to resist the dis- 

 crimination against them. The association had to be kept in shape, 

 he said, where it could protect its interests. 



It will be necessary for the association to raise about $750 more 

 to complete the fight for the lower rates, he said. The Plywood 

 association has already put up its share of the expense. 



Mr. Allen reported for D. E. Kline of the Louisville Veneer 

 Mills, chairman of the committee, who was unable to be present 

 because of illness. 



One of the most interesting events of the meeting was an 

 address delivered by Richard Lee of Chicago, president of the 

 Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, who discussed the 

 efforts of the association, through its National Vigilance Commit- 

 tee, to increase public confidence in the furniture business by the 

 standardization of the terms of the trade along lines that tell the 

 truth about furniture. 



Mr. Lee explained that the standards adopted at the Cleveland 

 meeting on November 8 and 9 were nothing more than sugges- 

 tions made to establish a basis from which the furniture, plywood 

 and other industries involved might work out proper standards. 

 He emphasized the fact that the Associated Advertising Clubs 

 accomplish their ends always through co-operation. They leave 

 it to an industry to develop a code of standards which the clubs 

 can adopt. The term "Built-up," which the Cleveland conference 

 saw fit to adopt to describe plywood and veneer products, might 

 not be as good as either of these terms, he declared, and was not 

 a mandatory definition. It would probably not have been adopted 

 if the industries concerned had been there to speak for themselves. 

 It is now up to these industries to co-operate so that suitable terms 

 can be worked out. The clubs will adopt and support any terms 

 agreed upon by an industry which conform to the ethical standards 

 of clean business which the clubs stand for. 



Mr. Lee's description of some of the typical battles the Adver- 

 tising Clubs of the World has fought to do away with shady busi- 

 ness practices and practitioners held the rapt attention of the mem- 

 bers, because these descriptions were as interesting as any of the 

 most stirring of the Rufus J. Wallingford adventures. 



No High-Handed Methods 



In working for high trade standards the National Vigilance 

 Committee of the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World is 

 v.orking for truth in advertising and better business conditions, 

 Mr. Lee explained. The committee is not a critical body, he said; 

 it is not destructive but constructive, and it works from the inside 

 and not from the outside. "Nothing is going to be shoved down 

 your throats," he said. 



Then he explained that at the Cleveland conference on Novem- 

 ber 8 and 9, where suggestions for furniture terms were made, 

 including the suggestion to call veneer and plywood "Built-up," 

 [Continued on page .Ss) 



