14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Januyry 10, l\t'2'2 



Great Potential Good in Terms Idea 



THK RELATIOX iK'twi-cii tlic furniture iii;iiuitaeturer and 

 retailer is of a thoroughly sophisticated nature. With rela- 

 tivelj' few exceptions the manufacturers' designation of his product 

 as "walnut" or "mahogany" is purely a matter of trade con- 

 venience, and induced by his natural belief that the retailer must 

 have at least such knowledge of the product from which he makes 

 his living as to enable him to easily recognize the materials from 

 which it is made. It is our belief that intentional misrepresenta- 

 tion on the part of the manufaeturer is comparatively rare. At 

 the same time he is morally bound to help clean up shop, because 

 what to him is perhaps merely a convenient trade description 

 might easily be used by the retailer as the inspiration for inten- 

 tional fraudulent representation to the uninformed layman. 



One of Hardwood Becord 's res]>ected contemporaries has, 

 according to recent expressions discounted that moral issue entirely, 

 having discovered within itself the conviction that the proposeil 

 furniture terms are of no jjossible value, in fact, are all bunk. 



Differing opinions are always necessary to the working out of 

 any big movement, but such a flat repudiation of the whole pro- 

 gram ai>i)ears to Hardwood Bkcobd to be untimely and unfortu- 

 nate. The arguments supporting the editorial apparently have 

 ignored the underlying fact that furniture merchandising has 

 admittedly l)een tainted, it might almost be said strongly tainted, 

 with misrepresentation, and that the buying public has already 

 registered an unfavorable reaction from the dawning realization that it 

 can not at all times be sure of getting what it believes it is buying. 

 The editorial leaves little doubt as to the opinion its author holds of 

 standards in furniture merchandising as an agency to create proper 

 background for the campaign for better homes — and better furniture. 



"What's the difference whether we liave misrepresentation or 

 not; let her stand where she is," would seem to be the sentiment 

 about which the writer weaves his effusion. True "it is not a mat- 

 ter of law and it is not a matter of terms — it is a matter of educa- 

 tion — of ethics." .\lso granted that the furniture nianufactiiror 

 and the furniture dealer who "wants" to accurately represent his 

 goods can and will within his own private business arrange moans 

 to establish to a surety the exact character of materials and con- 

 struction which he offers to the purchaser. That in our opinion is 

 the very rea-son why that type of manufacturer or dealer should 

 be given the support of such moral compulsion as will minimize the 

 menace of unfair and unethical competition from those less scrupu- 

 lous. Corporal punishment as an ad.junct to the education of our 

 younger generation is probably not so widely practiced as in the 

 old days, and even then was not administered to the model pupil 

 who wished to and did deport himself in keeping with the regu- 

 lations which governed the common effort to gain education. The 

 recalcitrant, however, usually came out a better man when the 

 desirability of education was emphasized by his seared hide or 

 smarting palm. 



If the furniture manufacturing and furniture retail trades as 

 represented by members of high ethics in both classes were satis- 

 fied to accept as jiermanent and unavoidable the costly menace of 

 unscrupulous competition, it is strange that so many official organi- 



zations within the two groups have expressed themselves otherwise 

 through suggested, and, in many cases, adopted standards of fur- 

 niture description. 



If the admitted existing evil of misrepresentation in furniture * 

 sales is not inimical to the interests of the industry and unfair to 

 the public, the trade should by all means discard all efforts to cor- 

 rect the condition whether such efforts be expressed in furniture 

 standards or through other means. Life is too short to waste time 

 on unnecessary activities. But if the furniture industry is con- 

 vinced that it would be a matter of good business and good mer- ) 

 chandising practice to put the industry in the clear before the 

 public, it stands to reason that something is necessary to estab- 

 lish that position, and furniture standards would seem to have at 

 least such measure of practicability both as a basis for ethics and 

 or nior;il compulsion to warrant their being considered a founda- 

 tion to work on. 



The fact that many groups of furniture men have prepared and 

 recoiTimend respective sets of standards and that these various 

 descriptions have in no two ca.ses coincided has nothing to do with 

 the basic principle of the matter. The very fact that several impor- 

 tant associations have taken the action which has already been 

 recorded is strong evidence that the trade at large is in favor of 

 making it at least unpleasant for unscrupulous members of the 

 industry to stray from the straight path of clean merchandising. 



Nor is the remedy a matter of law. Legislative regulation of 

 furniture sales would be an affront to the majority who are honest 

 and ethical in their intentions and merelj- a matter for evasion by 

 the unscrupulous minority. While legislation is as inevitable as 

 the rising sun, if the situation is not otherwise corrected, the real 

 remedy must come from the voluntary action of the industry as 

 may be expressed through uniform standards or otherwise, and 

 because of the moral weight carried by the ethical majority such 

 action will be far more powerful in minimizing unethical practices 

 than compulsory legislation could ever hoi)e to do. 



Hardwood Record is thoroughly sold on the idea of such fur- 

 niture standards as may be fair and acceptable to all interests 

 involved, and believes the trade at large carries the same convic- 

 tion. It is also convinced that the vigilance committee is a sin- 

 cerely impartial agent through which to work out the standards 

 and to assist in making them effective. And of equal importance 

 is the conviction that the will of the ethical majority can find 

 effective means of permanent enforcement without recourse to 

 legislation through the assistance which the committee can give 

 to the furniture industry as it is giving many other industries of 

 equal importance. 



The real point of Hardwood Record's contention is that the 

 majority of those engaged in the furniture industry not onh' arc 

 ethical themselves but realize the serious jeopard.v to their own 

 business which lies in unethical representation by the lesser num- 

 ber who may not be governed by voluntary trade honesty. There- 

 fore the industry owes it to this majority to sec to it that its deal- 

 ings with the iniblic which are essentially honest, mav not l)e given 

 the taint of misrepresentation which might easily come from the 

 occasional wrong iiractices of the smaller group. 



Table of Contents 



REVIEW AND OUTLOOK: 



General Market Conditions 13-14 



Terms Idea of Great Potential Good 14 



SPECIAL ARTICLES: 



Forecasts for 1922 Are Chiefly Optimistic 3S-36 & 41 * 52 



Grand Rapids Market Opens Satisfactorily M & 45-47 & 50 



Chicago Market Opens Favorably 40 



"Decision Does Not Settle Anything"— Boyle... 22 & 26 



WHO'S WHO IN WOODWORKING: 



H. C. Niemann IS & 29 



J. Geo. Mohlhenrich 15 & 29 



YARD AND KILN: 



End Checking of Glued-Up Stocks — Cause and Remedy 24 & 60-61 



NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL: 



Government Is Still In Doubt as to Attitude On Open Price Practices... 26 



POWER LOGGING AND LUMBER HANDLING: 



The Use of Tractors In Logging 27-28 



CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS: 



Miscellaneous 29-30 



Southern Hardwood Traffic Association Holds Ninth Annual Meeting. .16-22 



A. H. M. A. Will Map Future Course 26 



HARDWOOD NEWS 33-34 & 55-56 



HARDWOOD MARKET 56-59 



CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS 62-03 



ADVERTISERS' DIRECTORY 6' 



HARDWOOD FOR SALE 64-66 & 59 



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