SELLING LUMBER 



195 



is responsible, we have got to correct it, and you have got to give 

 close attention to the work of this meeting and take advantage of 

 what is brought out in this meeting, so you can change this condi- 

 tion of affairs. You are partly responsible and it is to your direct 

 interest to bring about an improvement in this condition just as 

 quickly as possible, and make an increase .in the use of lumber. 



With the present prices of steel and iron and all other com- 

 modities that come in competition with wood for building purposes, 

 brought about mostly by the large increase in the cost of manufac- 

 ture of these substitutes, your path along these lines should be a 

 great deal easier than formerly, but to be able to do this in a most 

 intelligent and satisfactory manner and to be successful in the end, 

 there are several things you will have to do before you can expect 

 any result from this co-operative work. 



You have heard almost daily a great deal in the past year or 

 two about Preparedness, that is preparing this Nation for any 

 eventualities that may overtake it, either in war, commercial com- 

 petition, or in many of the duties of our Government. You, as 

 salesmen, and as sellers of yellow pine should adopt that motto of 

 Preparedness and prepare yourself so as to meet the conditions as 

 they come up in the handling and selling of this product, and if 

 you do not the yellow pine product will become a pauper product 

 and no one will care about representing it. 



The Southern Pine Association has been working along Pre- 

 paredness lines for the past eighteen months for the benefit of the 

 lumber manufacturer, both large and small, and if you have not 

 taken the full advantage of their activities you have failed to pre- 

 pare yourself and, consequently, you are headed for the rocks. 



This meeting has been financed and organized, not only to 

 help the industry, but to help every employee connected with it, 

 and among them, are you. The organizers of this movement cannot 

 do it all, and to make a success of it they must have the earnest and 

 intelligent co-operation of everyone connected with our large in- 

 dustry, and as you are the direct connection, the agency, between 

 the manufacturer and the consumer, there is no one connected with 

 this industry that has greater power or greater opportunity for pre- 

 senting and scattering this information through the length and 

 breadth of the land, and after you have thoroughly understood the 

 efforts of the Southern Pine Association, and had a perfect knowl- 

 edge of the product that they are working so earnestly and intelli- 



High Prices 

 of Competitive 

 Materials 

 Help 



The Associa- 

 tion Practices 

 "Prepared- 

 ness" 



